Tuesday, June 16, 2009

15 & 16 June

There's something to be learned from my experience so I'm going to continue the blog for a bit more.

Saturday we determined that the motor was broken beyond repair in the near time frame. I flew out of Edmonton at the crack of dawn on Sunday. We all know what a huge PITA it is to fly these days so I won't go into too many details except for the out of the ordinary. First, I was on a motorcycle trip and thus was packed to carry stuff in lots of small bags and wearing a full riding suit and helmet. In order to get all that stuff into the fewest number of bags I ended up wearing the riding boots and carrying the Roadcrafter suit. I threw away my tank bag and anything that I could call worn out or expendable. That got the load down to three small bags so I put the GPS, computer, camera, and medication in a bag that I could carry on. The other two bags I checked and somehow was not charged by the airline. It was awkward carrying that suite around but the flight crew let me put it in the overhead so all was well. Funny, none of the passengers wanted to sit near this guy wearing huge boots and carrying a space suit. Go figure.

Monday I started to learn how difficult it is to ship a bike from Canada to the US. The carriers I would normally call don't ship to Canada. Federal...NO, Allied...NO; Daily Direct...NO, Fwd Air...get the bike to Toronto or NO, J. C. Motors...yes, $1212; still waiting for a quote from N. G. Jensen. If you are shipping within the US it looks like Daily Direct is the one to call first (888-285-2453). At the same time I have told the folks in Edmonton that I'm prepared to make a great deal on a Multistrada if they want to buy it as is. Mark called to let me know they were in Whitehorse, staying in a very nice hotel. He had just come from the brewery so maybe that's why he was in such a good mood.

Tuesday, more phone calls to get a better quote for shipping. Waiting for the word from N. G. Jensen. Mark made it to Fairbanks last night (600+ miles) including some gravel which he and David did not like at all. Today they will get new tires mounted, do some sightseeing, and maybe take a bit of a rest. I think we'll keep the blog going so he has a record of the entire trip. After all, it's his trip as well as mine. We can add photos once he gets back and thus have a good record of the whole adventure.

2 comments:

  1. That's the pits. Maybe a cruise next year?

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  2. Hi Peter! We just caught up with your great adventure. So sorry to hear of the setback, but really pleased to see that you are making the best of it, and getting time with the grand-kids.

    I'll keep my fingers crossed and wish for the best and easiest fix that gets you back in the saddle and enjoying the road ASAP.

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