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Do you ever look at the road ahead, and forsee a big rig running a red light and smashing you into oblivion? Do you ever picture yourself taking the next curve, and low siding into a guard rail, possibly loosing a limb or two? Do you think about a car crossing the yellow line in a curve, right into your lane, and do you picture yourself sprawled out on the ground afterwards wondering what happened?

I do. Not all the time, but a least one or two times during say, an hour ride. What does this mean? Am I paranoid? I'm not sure. I think if anything it keeps me on my toes, and keeps me from doing anything stupid. On a 1200cc bike, there is a fine line between normal, safe riding, and doing something really dumb. So I think it takes a bit of paranoia, a bit of horror and blood and guts, a real threat, to keep you from say, going 120mph down that one road.
Maybe with me, part of it is that i've been riding for 8-10 years and have never been involved in an accident. I suppose I shouldnt even mention it as I'll probably jinx myself.
This past year i've found myself on two wheels more and more, and I love it, but at the same time sometimes I just wonder how much longer it will be until something beyond my control happens. I just hope I'm prepared for it as much as possible, and I hope I can eventually get back on the bike afterwards.


I'd much rather live life, taking risks, and maybe get hurt, then sit on the side and watch. This is one of the reasons I love motorcycling.


Ride Safe

today I had the idea to take some pics of my commute. Basically have the camera follow me on my daily routine. It was a good until, and I got some great pics, except my camera died as I was getting the pics off

So here's one, until I can get the rest off and do the post I wanted to do.I wonder if anyone actually reads this stuff ?





This is about half way through my 7 miles commute. I actually work in one of those large building you see. That is teh skukill river.



ben franklin blvd. I always thought this road looked like the Champs De lesay in Paris. Yea, I have no idea how to spell that. The girl on the scooter in front of my if my GF, on her way to work. We both work in downtown Philadephia, in different building though.


I have to say, taking digital pics while driving a sport bike is one of my best ideas ever

More to come.

Hello,
This blog is going to get more interesting, as there have been some changes in my life recently. Some good, but mostly bad. My relationship is ending with my girlfriend, the one pictured earlier in this blog. I won't go into details, but she was my riding partner, scooter buddy, best friend, and all that stuff. We live together, but not for much longer. Sometimes things just dont work out, not that knowing that makes it any easier. Very sad.

Anyway, that said, the good news is, that I'm planning a cross country motorcycle trip, Philadelphia PA to San Diego Ca. I've actually been in the planning stages for this ride for several days now , but I'm going to start using this blog as I gather info about my trip, make updates to my bike (which i've only had a month) , and eventually, post details about the trip as I'm on it.

Here's the tentative plan. I planned to use two weeks of vacation for this trip, and originally was going to ride out, visit with my friend in san diego for several days, then ride home. As I started looking into the details, it became apparent to me that the trip would be more enjoyable given more time. 2800 miles x's 2 over 14 days, plus time to visit, plus time to stop and look at things was just too much. So the newest plan is to take 10 days and ride out, take hopefully 6-8 days to ride, then 2-4 days to visit, then fly home. My friend out there will store the bike for me for a month, at which time I will fly back out and do the ride home.

So, I'm not yet sure which weeks I'll be traveling, but I'm shooting for either the departing or return trip to happen somewhere around september 15th, as that is my 30th birthday. Melissa (the friend putting me up in San Diego) has her 30th b-day two days after me, so we plan to get a few drinks sometime during that time.

So most likely, either the departing or returning trip will be September 9-17th. I'm hoping for it to be the return trip, as I'd really like to get going soon.

The reasons for this trip are many. I've wanted to do a cross country trip on some vehicle , be it a bicycle, motorcycle, or whatever, for some time now. Its all just a matter of timing in my life. This summer seems to be working out to be the time to do it.

That is it for this post. I'll be doing another in a bit that will have the info i've gather on the my bike so far. How i'm going to set it up, things like that. See you soon.

-Brian


p.s.. one more thing, just to give a little bit more about me; although i've been riding bikes off and on for 8 or 9 years, i've never toured on one, never done more then 300 miles in one day, and i've never been on one for any extended amount of time for more then one day in a row. As I think i've mentioned in the past though, I have toured on bicycles a good amount, so I'm hoping a lot of those experiences will be helpful here. Also, I do plan to camp most nights as I'm on my trip.

the bike
1986 Yamaha FJ1200
27k, less then 1k put on by me. I just bought the bike a month or so ago. I got it because I wanted a bigger bike for longer trips, I wanted a more agressive seating position then my old nighthawk, and in my opinion, the bike was a good deal. I paid $1100 for it and it came with brand new dunlops (a few hundred themselves). Its not the prettiest bike. It has been down before. But I had my mechanic go over it when he mounted the rear tire, and he gave it a clean bill of health. It does need some tweaking , like a slow oil leak due to a cracked cover on the right side, and eventually, the aftermarket 4 into 1 vance and hinse system will need to be replaced since it is old and rusted. The steering bearings were also overtightened at one point, and should be replaced as well, but I probably wont until the end of the season. Aside from these things, the bike is good. it's got a new gel battery, and i'm putting new brakes on it this weekend.

I've joined a very active FJ yahoo group, found at http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/yamahafj/ that have been a huge help as far as teaching me about my bike.

Apparently no one has been able to kill a well maintained fj1200 engine in as much as 200k miles. Since I only have 27k on mine I expect to have it for a while, and I'm not worried about taking this 20 year old bike across the country. I will of course, have my AAA card with me though:)

Getting Started
Since this past Saturday, I've put just over 400 miles on the bike doing testing runs. That includes 150 last night after work. I ride the bike every day, but my commute is only 8 miles, so thats not much saddle time. I need to really test the bike out, and see what needs to change for this trip, what gear i need to buy, what i need to change on the bike.

So that brings me to gear. Here is my list so far of how i'll be equiping the bike. The list will change i'm sure, and if anyone has any suggestions, please chime in. I still need to buy lots of things.

GPS System
I have a great Megellan GPS - http://www.thegpsstore.com/Detail-Magel ... system.asp

its great in that it has a lot of features, talks to you, can reroute you around traffic, can locate the nearest gas station or restaurant, plus a lot more I probably havnt even used it for you. You literally just type in the address you want to go to, have it map it, then go. It does everything for you except drive. I use it all the time in my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

The drawback for this trip is probably its size. Its kinda big. And it talks, so I'm not sure I'll be using that feature on this trip. We'll see.

I'll be mounting it between my handlebars using a mounting kit I pieced together from here: http://www.gpscity.com/
I'll post more about that when it comes in the mail, and I do the install.

Accessory power
Needed for things like the GPS, an ipod, a radar dector maybe? My first use wil be for the gps. I'm considering a few things here. There are kits available ,such as the ones found here :
http://www.sporttouringusa.com/www/powerlet_main.htm
I may eventually go with something like that, like a two socket setup so I can power the GPS, and say, an ipod (i've never ridden with music), but for now, I picked up a $5 cigarette power adapter thingy at Walmart, just so I can hook the gps up after my mounts show up. I'm sure there will be more on this subject later.

Luggage
As it stands, this is also one area where I need to make some purchases. Right now, I have a smallish Cortech Tank bag, and medium sized tailbag, and a red bungee chord . Since I'm planning on camping, I'm going to need a decent amount of space, although I am pretty good at not packing things I dont need, and keeping the load fairly small. I will need to pick u some good sized saddle bags, and I'm considering getting a top box, something like a givi. I've been scouring ebay and classifieds for deals. I'm not made of money, and I have no problem buying something used as long as it is in good shape.

Seat
I have the stock seat right now. So far, it hasnt been that bad, but i've had corbin seats in the past and loved them. They are pricey though, so I'm not sure i'f i'll be able to afford one for this trip or not. Its probably going to be determined by how much money is spent on other things for the bike.
I'm told by the Fj listers to get a Sheepskin to put on the seat, to make it more comfortable. I'll probably be tryng that out. I'm also hoping that that would help insulate me from the heat that comes up from the bike.

One of my complaints about the FJ is that its gets HOT in the, uhm, crotch area. There are vents located on the sidecovers, like right below your butt, and the heat comes up, and collects, right near your boys.. even when the bike is moving. Sitting in traffic, that 1200cc engine is like sitting on a boiler, especially on a nice hot humid Philadelphia day. So i'm hoping I can do something about that before my trip.

Other stuff
The seating position isnt bad for me, but I am going to try getting a set of risers from either genmar http://www.zianet.com/GenMar/ or Helibars http://www.helibars.com/. I think if the bars were an inch or so taller the position would go from "pretty good" to "great", so I'm going to give them a try. They do cost about $100 though.

I'm also on the lookout for a taller windscreen. Not sure what route I'm going there yet. Suggestions?

Also, i'll be getting some throttle lockers - http://www.throttlerocker.com/info.html

thats it for this post. I'll be posting about what i'll be wearing next.

ok, i'm going to continue this, but just for my own paranoia that i'm the only one reading this, will someone chime in and say... something? Anything?

I think it will be a really interesting trip. I wish I had time to do the same (though in the other direction), and I'm reading... interested in how you set everything up.

I was kinda wondering how you were going to manage it until you said you'd ride here, fly back, then fly back to ride home. Otherwise I'd think you were nuts.

How many hours a day are you going to ride?


I have mapping/routing software... and if you dial in 10AM start, 4PM stop, w/ 15 minute breaks every 2 hours, routing on secondary highways by preference, it estimates 10 days from phila to SD. I guess that's probably about how you estimated your trip time?

I'm envious of your trip. I have also been wanting to ride/drive/something cross-country for years, and I didn't think you were nuts for wanting to do it all at once either. I think that's the way I'd do it, for it would be like the end and the beginning all at once, ya know? Anyway, I'd never seen the "throttle rocker" before, and I think I might purchase one now--I've been pondering riding my CL350 from Michigan to Tennessee and back this summer also. I'll be reading to see how everything turns out.

Ian

Thanks for the replies guys!
Good to know someone is actually reading this other then me.

Anyhow, answers:

>>>>>How many hours a day are you going to ride?

well, I wont really know until i go, or at least do a similiar multi day trip beforehand. I can say that when I toured on an upright bicycle which has a more extreme seating position then my FJ does, I would start sometime around sunrise, and finish somewhere around 5-6, unless it was an espcially long day, and then i'd ride until dark. That probably included 3 hours worth of stops throughout the day, but i wouldnt say any more then that.
I kind of expect the vibrations of 1200 cc's to have more of an exhausting effect on me then pedalling a bicycle, so I'm not entirely sure it is fair to compare the two. I'll be happy with 8 hours a day on the bike. We'll see.

I'm hoping your estimate of 10 days is way off, because I want to do it comfortably in 6, or 8 most. I know people who have done it in cars , i assume taking major highways get it done in 3-4 days.

So basically, I just dont know. But 10 days is the absolute most I can take without missing my flight home. So it better be sooner .
This is another reason i'm going to do this in two trips. If the trip out in the time i've allotted is just too much like work, I'll give myself more time to get home.

I guess that was the only question for me to answer so far, but it had a long answer

I'm going to write some more tomorrow about what gear i'll be wearing, on my budget So look for more then.

Oh and, thanks again for reading this! Much appreciated...


-Brian

You've probably seen this already, but I just found it and it makes interesting reading:

http://www.visi.com/~dalebor/index.html

Guess what today was? Christmas!

Sitting on the stoop for me after coming home from work, was my gps mount and my new boots! Thanks New Enough.com! Then, to top it off, the dealer down the street called and said my brake pads were in! Yayy!



So, I waisted no time. I'd already purchased a cheapo(less then $5) power outlet from walmart.


It was time to get some GPS action going on the FJ.

Just like any manly object should, the GPS mount comes with two balls. One that has a bracket made to mount to the back of my Magellen 760, and one that has a threaded insert that will get mounted on the, uhh, nut thing that holds my handlebars on. I dont really know what its called. Then there is a grabber thing, that grabs each ball, and tightens the entire thing. Perhaps a pic will explain better then I can:

Here is the mount, attached to the gps:



then i took the nut that holds my bars on, drilled a hole in it, then mounted the other ball.
Here is what it looked like first, pre drilling:


and here is with it drill and mounted:


I then wired the power outlet directly to the battery. I still need to add a fuse, and some quick disconnects, since when I'm not using it, I'll just take it off, and put the wires under the seat. I might actually mount the outlet somewhere in the fairing eventually, but for now everything just goes in my tankbag. Here's what it looks like hooked up:





That was that, at least for now. Then I threw my new boots on!
They are made by Setup, which is the same people that make Sidi:





My initial reaction was that they fit wayy better, and were way lighter and less hot then my Alpinestar Touring boots. The Alpinestars are really cold weather gortex boots. These ones, I could actually feel a breese come through the uppers. They also just fit me better. I have big feet and Italian shoe's are always hit or miss with me. My Alpinestars are actually kinda big on me.

So i took my new boots, and the gps system, and hit the road for a quick, 30 minute shakedown run. Everything was great. LOVE the boots. The gps is great, and I cant wait to put it to use on the bike. Its the kind that talks, and tells you when to make turns and whatnot, and as long as I wasnt full throttle, i could actually hear it pretty well, so I didnt even have to look down at it really to see what I needed to do.

These things will work nicely on this trip. Now I just need to get myself some leather pants, and some more storage for the bike. Oh and, I'll be putting the new rear brakes on this weekend. I'm hoping the weather holds up and I might do a nice long day ride.

One more thing, on tonights shakedown run, I took a pic of a locally famous building that is a few miles from my house. Can anyone tell me what it is? Think boxing...



later


------------------------------

dieziege wrote:
You've probably seen this already, but I just found it and it makes interesting reading:

http://www.visi.com/~dalebor/index.html


i have seen that, altough not for a few months. Lots of info there, thanks for reminding me about it.