Misadventures in wrenching and riding

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flynrider
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My Motorcycle: '93 Honda Nighthawk 750
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#201 Unread post by flynrider »

Skier wrote: Thankfully I have a plan for solving the eye-rolling-student problem: a squirt bottle. Just mist in their faces every time they make a comment!
Good idea. That also works great on cats with bad attitudes :laughing:
Bikin' John
'93 Honda CB750 Nighthawk

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Skier
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#202 Unread post by Skier »

ALASKA '08 is quickly coming!

Tentative dates are August 2nd through August 31st. There's still a ton to do!

To acquire:
1. Mini-Goldwing setup (AKA Mini-wing): side racks and 36 liter Givi cases for the Hornet.
2. Spare clutch lever, gear shifter (already have a spare clutch cable).
3. Cheap point and shoot camera for keeping in my tank bag.
4. LDRider underwear for long days.
5. Heated vest for extra comfort.
6. 90/10 adventure tires: Pirelli Scorpio Syncs.

Maintenance items:
1. Repeat 16k maintenance checklist except valves and steering head bearings.
2. Change oil and filter before leaving.

Tentative route:
Since I'm doing this trip solo now, I'm axing Prudhoe Bay. My current route looks something like this. (Google Maps)

On the good news, everyone front, I traded my basket case Katana for some cash that allows me to get almost all of my "to acquire" list to my door. :)

Things are coming up soon, better get on it!
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Nalian
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#203 Unread post by Nalian »

Good luck on the trip! I just got a full set of Givi's for my 650 for a recent trip, and man did that make a huge difference in ease of the experience.

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Skier
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#204 Unread post by Skier »

I finally got my Stebel Nautilus mini airhorn installed on the Hornet. It took a while to fab up a tiny bracket with my crappy drill bits, but it's on there now!

The horn already received some use when a car was trying to blindly back up into the street. A couple toots and they thought something big was coming their way. :laughing:

Good times.

On the ALASKA '08 front, I have most of my items on the way. Big things left to order:

1. Tires
2. LD Comfort shorts
3. Non-cotton pants

I am to have those ordered by the end of the week. It's been an expensive month for me. :shock:
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Skier
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#205 Unread post by Skier »

My GF took this photo up in Sandpoint, ID:

Image

Looks a touch small, gonna have to change how my resizing script scales the images.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Skier
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#206 Unread post by Skier »

Monday was tough: took a day off work to hop on the bike:
Image

Went a little ways up a forest service road to get away from other people:
Image

Lit up a smoke and had a read in the beautiful outdoors of Oregon:
Image

Image

Then I had some delicious fish and chips made from salmon. This was the view from the parking lot, but I was 10 feet from here when chowing down:
Image

:)

Had a Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve. The stick didn't burn evenly but that may have been from the wind.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Skier
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#207 Unread post by Skier »

Ah yes, side cases:

Image

36 liters of fury per side:
Image

Shopping bag of parts:
Image

Side racks:
Image

Of course, one of the turn signals has to be relocated to look extra goofy- err, for clearance. This means taking the toprack frame off along with the three body panels on the bike:
Image

A quick hole drilled and some lengthening of wire and we're set:
Image

Of course I have no pictures of the cases on the bike ( :mad: ) but the install is done!

Image

Sometime in the future I'm going to make a bracket to bring the turn signal down and mount it on the license plate bracket. It'll be a few inches back and down from the stock location but it won't look this goofy.

It's starting to look as if I should have purchased a bike more touring-oriented! :laughing:
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Skier
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#208 Unread post by Skier »

Turn signal relocation bracket complete. Looks much better.

My buddy picked up a new Yamaha FJR1300 over the weekend. Can't wait to see it, should be an awesome bike. :)

This week I've brushed up on responses to the usual question of "aren't you hot in that?" when I wear my Roadcrafter about town. I picked up some good ones from a different forum:

1. Why, you're not lookin' too bad yourself! :inlove:
2. I'm hot out of this, too. :twisted:
3. Nah, this is one of those new air conditioned suits. :innocent2:

Despite record-breaking heat, nobody has asked me any of these yet. Almost as if they know I have a witty retort to regurgitate.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Skier
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#209 Unread post by Skier »

Holy Hell this trip is coming up in a hurry.

To do:
1. Mount my new Pirelli tires.
2. Make multiple copies of my passport, driver's license, insurance info and vehicle registration.
3. Test pack everything in my cases. Make sure a two gallon jerry can will fit on top somewhere.
4. Get a little bit of cash to secret about my person and luggage.
5. Get list of places to stay and hash out a more specific itinerary.
6. Verify I have my oil change materials so I can bang that out the week before I leave.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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Skier
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#210 Unread post by Skier »

A month on the road looms in the immediate future! I’ve got a rough itinerary outlined so folks know where to find my remains after the bear has its fill.

Day one: To Lolo, MT to Missoula, MT to Glacier, MT. Sleep in/around the state park. 380 mi.

Day two: Glacier to Calgary, AB, Canadaland. Stay in the KOA out of town, hang out at a pub and drink tea, hopefully meeting some folks on a forum I frequent. 230 mi.

Day three: Calgary to Kamloops via Trans Canada Highway. Beginning the Kamloops… loop. They should come up with a better name. 386 mi.

Day four: Kamloops loop - Kamloops to Kamloops. 463 mi.

Day five: Kamloops to Prince George, BC. 327 mi.

Day six: Prince George to Hyder, AK. Hot springs, watch bears eat salmon, pay for items in an American town with Canuckbucks. 437 mi.

Day seven: Hyder to Watson Lake, YT. 406 mi, Google Maps says 19 hours.

Day eight: seriously, Google said 19 hours.

Day nine: Watson Lake to Carmacks, YT. 366 mi.

Day ten: Google said 28.5 hours for that leg.

Day eleven: Carmacks to Dawson, YT. Home of the infamous Dust to Dawson event. 221 mi, easy day.

Day twelve: Dawson to Inuvik, YT. That arctic circle don’t cross itself! 481 miles, 30 hours.

Day thirteen: continue to Inuvik.

Day fourteen: Bomb around Inuvik, back to Dawson, YT. 482 mi.

Day fifteen: continue to Dawson.

Day sixteen: Dawson to Fairbanks, AK. 388 mi.

Day seventeen: Fairbanks to Homer, AK. 579 miles. Camp on the spit.

Day eighteen: Homer to home via the Al-Can. 2,475 mile.

Day ninteen: continue.

Day twenty: continue.

Day twenty one:continue.

Day twenty two: continue, reach home.

Total mileage: 7,620.

Brutal.

I have a full month off of work so I have a few slop days to take care of adventurous things, such as: bike catching on fire, getting partially et by bears, bike setting bears on fire, harassed by angry shopkeep with shotgun and, of course, general tomfoolery like hangover recovery- err, rest days.

Trip prep:

Got my chain and sprockets all cleaned up. Slapped all my luggage on the bike and started figuring out what goes where. The addition of a big red fuel container for the stretches in YT mixes things up a bit, but it should all fit well. I’ll have my 36 liter side cases, 52 liter top case and huge tank bag to fit all my stuff in: clothes, food, fire making materials and the most important bit, cigars and booze.
[url=http://www.motoblag.com/blag/]Practicing the dark and forgotten art of using turn signals since '98.[/url]

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