Happy birthday Victoria

Now that it's over I can actually post about it. When I was planning the trip I was bummed because Victoria wasn't going to be in NYC when I was originally going to arrive. As it turned out, because of the early drama on the trip, I only showed up after she got back. Yesterday was also her birthday. And, Titus had worked out a surprise party for her after we went to see Kinky Boots. Kinky Boots is a great show. I still think its a great commentary on how capitalism should work as opposed to how Republicans and Democrats think it should work. Anyway, we made it back to the apartment and Victoria was appropriately surprised. Even Fudgy the Whale was there.

On a different note, while I was hurrying through Columbus, Ohio I saw a large AMA sign by the highway and had no choice but to make an unscheduled stop.

There are more pictures here AMA Museum pictures. It was really nice to have a tourist stop so totally targeted to motorcycle riders (obviously). Covered, concrete parking and a place to stow gear was very appreciated.

Hello New York

I didn't have time for a proper post yesterday, so here it goes.

After a great night of camping at Spruce Run in New Jersey where there were bear warnings on the benches, does wandering the camp sites, and bucks rutting in the trees I packed up, said goodbye to Luke and Taylor, then hit the road. First stop breakfast. I followed the interstate signs to the Readington Diner which I found makes really good hashbrowns. Hit a BofA to replenish my cash. Then braced myself for the drive into the city.
After a couple of detours I got to the Lincoln tunnel. The hot tip for dealing with tolls is to have a jacket with a key pocket in the arm and always have a $20 in there. That way you can pay and throw the change in a pocket without wasting too much time.
Within a few minutes I was soaking wet from sweat. I made it to Titus and Victoria's apartment where I unbagged Envy and changed into some jeans and headed for King Cycles in Brooklyn. After an hour of battling with Manhattan traffic, which isn't much better on a bike, I got to my destination. Envy's tucked away until Monday getting new shoes and an oil change. Then a short walk to the train station and I was back to the apartment. Titus, being the great host he is, had a cocktail waiting for me after my shower. Then another before dinner which was excellent Indian at a BYOB place where we split a bottle of Malbec. Victoria had to go back to a conference so Titus and I met up with Kyle at a bar for a couple of drinks in Alphabet City. Then another bar followed by a cigar lounge. I think the total for the night was five cocktails and two glasses of wine. Then back to the apartment for a shower and bed.
In the morning Titus and Victoria rushed Kinky Boots far too early (I think they left at 5:00-ish). I woke up much later for a run to Brooklyn Bagels and got us breakfast. Best bagels ever. A couple of loads of laundry. A little bit of work. And now I'm good to go for another night.

Definitely not dry tonight

Made it to NYC without a problem. Currently making up for having no scotch last night.

Dry tonight

In more ways than one. No scotch and no beer. And the sky looks clear. I'm camping in New Jersey tonight. Which, once you get away from the interstate is really nice. A couple of young deer were in my way as I rolled in. Then more passed through the evening. Once I was settled I had dinner with a young couple who are going through some rough times. They made for really good conversation.
Pennsylvania has the worst drivers I've encountered so far. Just as bad as LA, but they last through the entire state. I can't wait to see what New York drivers are like. I have a feeling Pennsylvania may not keep its title for long.
This was supposed to be posted last night, I just noticed that the post failed from my phone.

I would like to be dry now

It rained all night. Not just rain, I got two severe thunderstorm warnings on my phone. But, I made it through despite running out of scotch. I'll have to find a liquor store today.
The guy that works at the KOA I stayed at is an old biker named Jay. I listened to some of his stories over coffee in the office. Real nice guy that laments what Harley riders have become.
As a side note, yesterday was my second four state day of the trip. Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The other was the first day of the trip. California, Nevada, Arizona, and Utah.
Now for breakfast and eastern PA.

A bit on camping

OK, I just got an alert on my phone about severe thunder storms in south west Pennsylvania. I'm sitting in a two person tent and my biggest concern is that I'm down to 100ml of scotch. During a lull in the rain I grabbed my laptop from the tail box of the bike. When it booted up there were a bunch of Verizon MiFi hotspots active. So much for roughing it, right? Considering there are at least a couple of other tents around me instead of only RVs bigger than my last apartment I guess there are some people that still do it the old fashioned way.

PS
For Titus' benefit I'm posting this via a tether to my phone.

PPS
My Sierra Designs Lighting 2 is awesome. As is my REI Travel Down bag and Thermarest mattress.

I may have picked the wrong night to camp

It's raining now. Hopfully it won't rain all night.

What's high in the middle and round on both ends?

Short run into Ohio this morning. I should have camped as everything was dry this morning. Well, as dry as it can be out here. I'm drinking bad decaf at a McDonalds because the hotel didn't have WiFi. I did find another bike shop east of Dayton that I hope will have gloves. Their website gives the impression that they're fairly large. So, my hopes are high.

Update: Gloves acquired. Lets hope I don't need them.

Another day, another state

The rain eventually let up in Peru and I headed down to Bloomington. First, I stopped by the only motorcycle shop in Peru to see about some water proof gloves. They had none of course. But they were a small shop. So, down to Bloomington. When I got there I stopped at a McDonalds for free Wifi and lunch. Both shop there are closed on Sunday, so still no wet gloves. While I was eating I overheard the conversation a couple of tables down. There were two older guys discussing their travels. The older guy was telling a story about jumping on trains and avoiding the bulls. The younger of the two came up to me while I was gearing up in the parking lot. He's a Harley rider that's done a lot of traveling and gave me some kudos for getting out and riding. He did recommend that I swing through Elkhart and see the place that made the trailer for his Harley.
I made a long dash from Bloomington through Indianapolis. I was thinking of camping and set my GPS for the Summit Lake state park. My GPS seems to be in "you should take the back roads" mode, which is nice. It took me through Pendleton and into New Castle. Both very cool old towns. If I get a chance (it't not raining) I want to go check out New Castle a bit.
As I rolled into New Castle I stopped at a Walgreens for some Gold Bond cream (if you need to ask, you don't want to know). A guy on a DR rolled up and was thrilled to see another dual sport rider. Wade and I chatted a bit and he gave me his number if I needed anything.
After getting my Gold Bond, I looked up the weather. Overnight thunderstorms and more tomorrow. Ditch the camping idea and on to a hotel.
I'm at the Garden Inn down by the 70 again and think I'll run along that for a bit tomorrow. But we'll see. For now I think Envy wants to sleep inside tonight.

Another goal checked off

I nearly caused an accident when I swerved off the freeway when I saw their sign. Now lets see what the fuss is about.

Updated: It was different, but not very good. In-n-out is better by far.

Ah, the simple problems

The rain has cleared up. So, I walk next door to Target to pick up a couple of things. While I'm gone the battery on my room lock dies and the maintenance guy is MIA. With my luck it'll start raining again by the time I can leave. At least I'm drinking coffee in a dry lobby right now.

Really? You haven't heard of Shinko?

I just called King's Cycles in Brooklyn to make sure I had tires waiting for me. I wanted Shinko 705s but they've never heard of Shinko. So, I'm getting another set of stock Dunlops. I'll try to find a shop in Tennessee to get the 705s for me. At least the weather seems to be giving way.

Today is going to be rough

I'm going to drop south to see if I can get out of this weather. Unfortunately I think I'm going to be wet until New York.

F U Iowa

Last night was great. I stayed at the Howell Station campground. I hit a bit of luck as all of the signs for the campground said they were full. But, I continued on and they had a few early departures. Then I got even luckier and scored some free firewood. By far it was the best night camping.
This morning I noticed the lake the campground is next to is man made.

And a shot of the bike. Envy is doing very well so far.

And some of the carnage Envy's inflicted on the bug population.

This morning was great too. Nice and sunny. I broke camp after a couple of cups of coffee and was on my way. I already summarized the downpour. Eventually it stopped and I took off for the I-80. That only lasted a few miles as the winds were so bad I could barely keep the bike upright. I pulled off and had to throw on a sweatshirt since I was now freezing from the evaporating water in my jacket. I also found that the 6 runs along the 80 for a while. So, I took a more backroads route which was nice. There were a couple of small towns the likes of which I've only seen in movies. I also got a bit lost in Amana which is a interesting little tourist town. Eventually I got back on the 80 in Iowa City. 

The big milestone for today was crossing the Mississippi. Almost as soon as I entered Illinois everything got better. Sunny. Warm but not too hot. Almost no wind. I was hoping to camp near Joliet. But, the skys were turning dark quickly. I stopped to check the weather and thunderstorms are expected tonight. So, I'm in Peru at a hotel for the night enjoying free WiFi and a dry bed.

Now I'm a little wet

After a great night of camping in Pella, IA, I started off just as rain started. It didn't seem like it was going to be more than a drizzle. Before I hit the main road it turned into a major downpour. I stopped and got Envy's rain gear on which includes a trash bag over the duffle with my clothes. Then, with all of my vents closed up, tried to make it back to I-80. It would have been a really nice ride except for the wind and water. I lucked out and found a patio covered picnic table at the gas station by the on ramp. Waiting for the worse of the rain to pass, I enjoyed a nice hot cup of coffee. Eventually my hands dried out enough to use my phone and found a McDonalds (free WiFi) 12 miles away in Grinnell. Grinnell is very much a stereotypical midwest town.
According to weather.com the storm I went through is travelling in the same direction I am. So, I shouldn't get any more rain. But, it doesn't look like I'll get clear skies for a while. I may stay in a hotel tonight just so I can dry out a bit. Tomorrow I'll have to try to find a moto shop where I can get some better wet weather gloves.
Almost forgot, I've now been at this for a week. It doesn't seem like it's been that long. So far it's definitely been a journey.

Liars

My water proof gloves are more like sponges. Thanks Joe Rocket.

Ah wildlife

Almost stepped on this little guy while I was breaking camp. I'm just glad he didn't try to snuggle with me last night.

Good morning rain

When I pitched my tent last night I didn't put on the rain fly. At about 1 am I was woken up by a few drops and fumbled with getting the fly on. Good thing as its raining now. Not too bad and its letting up. At least Envy is getting a wash.

Hello Nebraska

For a while I thought I wouldn't get this far. The biggest problem I ran in to today was getting Brian's back door to lock. I don't think I'll ever by Pella products based on today's ordeal.
True to my word, I stopped often today. Envy likes taking a break now an then. Her new battery is doing great and we made it to the Mormon Island SRA. Which is way too expensive. Seventeen dollars to stay the night.
I'm not sure if it posted properly, but I put up a picture of a storm that I thought was going to catch me. I barely missed it and got one drop of rain on my visor. I ran into a guy at a rest stop that told me it was hail and it had cracked his windscreen. We chatted a bit and it turns out he grew up in Victorville. Odd since about an hours earlier I met another guy at another rest stop that was from LA and driving to Chicago. Today seems to have been the run into other Californians day.

This is a thing

First rain?

Lets hope not.

Batteries and shift linkages

The good news is Envy's electrics got a clean bill of health. Her battery was just bad. Thankfully Fay Myers had a Yuasa maintenance free battery in stock. Unfortunately it took forever to get the new battery charged. I finally hit the road back to Brian's place at about 5:30. I stopped at a FedEx store and shipped home a bunch of stuff I could really live without to save weight. I also got to experience Denver rush hour. Not fun on a heavily loaded bike.
As I was puttering along on I25 I saw a couple on a bike pulled over on the shoulder. Since I had everything I would need to fix my bike, I moved over as fast as I could to see if I could help. This maneuver reinforced my opinion that Denver has worse drivers than LA. It turns out the shift linkage on the guy's Harley had separated. It's the worst idea for a shift linkage I've seen. Would it be that much more expensive to use proper Heim joints? He had tried to wedge it on with chewing gum wrapper. That didn't work as it fell apart when I barely touched it. I grabbed a zip tie from my saddlebag and did a figure eight around the linkage and he was good to go. As we were getting on our bikes a police car pulled over. But, you would think the cop would help us pull back onto the highway, right? Wrong. Must have been too busy with a donut. But at least I had a deposit in the karma bank.
I'm back at Brian's place now. Tomorrow I want to make it into Nebraska and camp at the Mormon Island recreation area. It's about six hours away and I'm probably going to stop every half hour to make sure things a good. For some reason I'm really paranoid about bike problems now. I wonder why.

View Larger Map

I'm just going to write off today

Its already noon and they're still looking at the bike at Fay Meyrs. So I'm going to stop at a FedEx and ship some stuff home then head back to Brian's house and crash.

Maybe this is a good sign

Woke up to see this outside. And, Brian has Mad Men on his DVR so I get to watch the episode from Sunday. So, the day is starting okay.

FML

First, say hello to Envy. I was going to do a variant on Cece but didn't want to risk any bad vibes carrying over. Yeah, bad vibes on a 650 single, part of the game, right? So I thought I'd go with the Spanish plan again, like Viejo Gris. So I was going to do Nuevo Verde, NV for short. Then I thought Envy was appropriate since right now I envy everyone with a working bike.
So I picked her up this morning. Rode her sans helmet (check that off the goals list) to the hotel and loaded her up. Ran back to All Terrain Moto to pick up paperwork and I was off to Golden, CO.
My first clue that everything wasn't well was when I plugged in my GPS it didn't register as plugged in. The GPS has been tempermental so I didn't think much of it and carried on. I did make it to Brians place in Golden and was greated by a nice sizzling sound from under the seat. I've gotten good at pulling KLRs apart at this point and got the boiling battery out. Turns out the fuse was blown for the cigar lighter. I packed spares. Then off with the tank to check the wiring. Nothing seemed wrong. But I borrowed Brians trunk and bought a multimeter. Still nothing amiss. I'm guessing its a faulty bettery at this point. Going to call All Terrain in the morning to see if I can work something out with them.

A bit of morning trivial

I'm trying to pinpoint on Google Maps where I was stranded on I70. I haven't found it yet, but I came across this snippet on Wikipedia:

...the 110 miles (177 km) between Green River and Salina makes up the longest distance anywhere in the Interstate Highway System with no motorist services.

I literally broke down in the absolute worst place you could break down in the United States. Fun times.

So, option three

So, I'm buying another KLR and finishing out the trip. All Terrain Motorsports has a used, low milage KLR that I'm going to buy. The bad part is I'm only going to get the salvage value on Cece. On the upside, they're being awesome and transferring the racks, nerf bars, skid plate, cigar lighter, and top box plate for me. Extra bonus is I don't have to pay tax. I'm walking down there tomorrow to write a check. And, the hotel is going to hold onto my luggage while the bike is finished up.

It's all in her head

The damage that is. The best I can guess, when the muffler end cap blew off she started running very lean although the temperature gauge never got very high. At some point a cam seized and did a wonderful amount of damage.

So, I have three options. I can have the shop crate her up and ship her back to Oceanside and call the trip done. I can wait here until next week to put a new top end on her. Or, I can trade her toward a new KLR and swap over the trip bits. I'm waiting to here back about the repair bill and what the trade in value will be. Until then, I've gotten another hotel and returned the U-Haul. Now I wait.

Just a quick update

I was able to rent a UHaul in Moab this morning, got the bike loaded and made it to Grand Junction. The motor is being looked at now and I should know something in an hour or so. Until then I need to find a place to return the truck and maybe a hotel.

So, I wanted an adventure...

Sorry this post is out of order. It should have gone up last night. But, my mind was elsewhere and I screwed up.

I had a whole post written up about the first day of the trip. But Blogger on my phone decided to not save the draft. So here are the highlights.

Barstow to Baker was jammed because someone decided to park their pickup upside down. Which is when I learned that lane splitting for 10-15 miles isn't fun and that trucker can be assholes.

Las Vegas smells like weed.

The most beautiful time to arrive at Zion is at dusk.

The worst time to find a camping spot at Zio is at Dusk. Unless you happen to be noticed by a couple of Belgian brothers that are taking a three month motorcycle tour of the states and they offer to let you put up a tent in their spot.

All in all a great first day.

Now day two. Everything started out fine. Broke camp, took a nice ride through the park, stopped for breakfast at the Thunderbird in some town I don't remember, then off I go. I stopped at a church in Hatch to look over the bike. Everything was fine except one bodywork well nut fell out. No big deal. I was worried about the muffler end cap. But, it was fine. For now at least.

I finally hit my first "Warning: Last fuel for xxx miles" sign. So I stopped in Salina (pronounced Sa-line-ah) and headed off for a 110 mile desert. About thirty minutes later the exhaust gets much louder. At first I thought my ears had popped. I pulled off at a rest stop a couple of miles later and got a few healthy backfires. When I dismounted I found the culprit.

There was horrible cell service at the rest stop but I got out a couple of text messages and headed back to Sa-line-ah (30 miles in the wrong direction). After some web searching I found a Kawasaki shop in Grand Junction with a parts guy with a stock KLR exhaust. So I start limping to Grand Junction or at least to Green River.

Nope. About 30 miles away from Green River I get another good backfire and the bike dies. I coast to the shoulder to see what's up. The bike will turn over and I can smell gas. So, spark, right? I pull apart the bike to check the plug. Which, why Kawasaki, do I need to remove the side covers, seat, side fairings, and tank to get to the f**king spark plug? The plug looks workable, but I throw in a spare anyway. I should mention for a good part of this a retired Harley rider had pulled over to help. The water was excellently cold. So I fit the tank back on and try again. Nothing. At this point I start an hour long phone call with AAA trying to get a tow. After they finally agree to come out and figure out where I am (how hard is "mile marker 110 on I70 east bound" really) I wave Cliff and his wife off. While I waited I put the bike back together. At about 7:30 the tow shows up with a very helpful driver. He suggested we stop at his buddies hotel o see if he'll truck my bike to Grand Junction. But that didn't work out. So, now I'm in the Moab Best Western waiting to call U-Haul tomorrow to rent a truck.

Yeah, it's been a day.

So this is happening

First tank down. Still feeling out the mileage with the bike loaded. Cece only drank 3.4 gallons to get to Barstow.

I'm on my way to Burma Shave

 

Buying a bike and prepping it for a cross country trip turns out to be not very trivial. After ordering nerf bars, a skid plate, and center stand from Happy Trails there was a bit of a snafu with my order. You'd think when you call and tell a customer service guy that you need them by Wednesday for a cross country trip he would: a) Tell you that the center stand and skid plate were back ordered. And b) actually get the parts shipped on Monday since I'm paying for 2nd day delivery. After calling on Thursday wondering why my stuff didn't arrive on time Jen found and overnighted a skid plate to me. Unfortunately no center stands were available. So I ordered a different one that'll be delivered to NYC.

After spending a long Friday night installing the skid plate, nerf bars, cigar lighter, and a new chain, Cece's as ready as she's going to get.

And in case you didn't get the title reference.

Say hello to Cece

Here's the bike that will be taking me across the country. She's a 2008 Kawasaki KLR 650 previously owned by my neighbor's son, Shawn.

So here's the plan

I generally have a rule about posting things to the internet. But, enough people have asked that I email them pictures that I decided to start a blog. So what exactly is happening over the next month?

And VG's out

After filling the gas tank this morning I noticed a large puddle beside the bike as I was about to kick her over. When I got off I found the tank had developed a very healthy leak. Between this and the fact that I still haven't been able to get it registered I have to make the call that VG will not be making the trip.
Now I have to find another bike in the next couple of days.