27 June

Message from Mark, they are still in MN but the weather has been crappy so I'm not sure they got to any fishing at the fishing camp. Bummer. Tomorrow they plan to head south and get into KY to tour the whiskey trail...evidently they can go to a bunch of whiskey makers. That sounds interesting...and then get back on the bikes??? They might get back to Roanoke by Wednesday.

24 June

Mark called to check in from Grand Rapids, MN. He and David rode 560 miles today, including a 21 mile detour (each way) to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Mark got to stand in the headwater wearing his waterproof Sidi boots. OK, rub it in, your boots don't leak! Oddly enough they were staying in the same motel we used on the trip west. This is the motel where we celebrated my birthday at the bar across the street. The odd part is that today is David's birthday and they are going to the same bar to celebrate. I'm sure the bartender will have a raised eyebrow when she sees the same guys once again celebrating a birthday, never to be seen again. It will look like we are only after free drinks...well, guilty as charged. Tomorrow the guys plan to go to Mark's niece's fish camp and relax for a few days before heading home.

23 June

Mark just called. He and David finally rode out of the rain and saw the sun for what seems like the first time in months. They celebrated by stopping to buy some ice cream. Now they are in Williamson, ND and staying in a decent motel where they got the last room in the place. That's not a bad way to end a 575 mile day on the bike. David says that 500 miles per day simply seems normal after doing it for so many days. They are losing an hour every day now due to the time changes so it seems that they are starting later every day. Tomorrow they could push to get to Mark's cousin's place in MN but that's a bad part of the country to be riding near dark. He said that he will make it a conservative day and not try to push for those last 100 miles if it is late in the day. They are taking US 2 across the country and basically retracing their steps in MT, ND, and MN.

22 June

Mark called today to tell me that he and David were in Whitefish, Montana. They rode in the rain all day, about 475 miles. That's significant when you consider that they have been on the road for almost three weeks and have put in so many 500 mile days that it's now the standard. To do 475 in the rain is true Iron Butt stuff. After three adult beverages they were ready to go to bed...at 8PM. Yes, these are real night owls!

17 & 18 Jun

Well, the good news is that Mark and David got to Fairbanks, did some sightseeing, bought $1000 worth of tires, and are now headed south. Last night (17th) they were trying to get a plane ride to see Denali but the cloud cover was a problem. Maybe today (Thursday) if the weather breaks they will see the 29,000 ft peak. At any rate they plan to get back on the road around noon today and try to make it as far as Tok, Alaska.
On the home front, more shipping issues so now I have changed shipping companies. The low bidder would not give the assurance that he could do this job without damage to the bike. He did not have the capability to put the bike on a pallet so it would have to be strapped to the deck of a semi. Even the agent did not feel good about that situation so now I am contacting a company that specializes in motorcycle shipping. It's more $$$ but more security. As cheap as I am it's hard not to go with the low bidder.

Here in Virginia it's getting hotter by the day and my garden is exploding. That gives me something take my mind off you know what. Tomorrow Sara and I leave for CT to pick up our grandchildren for an extended stay. Sara was going to have this experience all by herself so she is relieved to have company. Eight hours in the car with two young girls can be a challenge even with the best of children. We will be back on the 23rd.

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.

13 Jun

Well sports fans, after weighing all the options I decided to ride to Edmonton with the bike so I could make a value judgement while talking to the folks who had the best chance to fix the bike...if the problem is simple. If a quick fix was possible I could then get back on the road and try to catch up with Mark and David. If not, head home via air since buying here is prohibitive and renting is totally out of the question. It took 5 hours of steady driving to get to Edmonton and we made it just 30 minutes prior to closing. The head Ducati mechanic immediately took a quick look, listened to the engine and agreed that there was a problem. When he pulled the plugs prior to taking the cam covers off to look at the cam gears, etc, he saw that the verticle cylinder belt was balled up. It looks like the cam froze due to lack of oil and stripped the belt. The horizontal cylider is probably just about to do the same thing. This could easily mean two complete heads so I plan to ship the bike home ASAP and tear the motor down to see what is salvagable. There is no sense in talking about fixing it here because this is such an unusual problem that nobody in Canada would have the two complete heads and there might be more damage, such as the crank. In other words, the motor is toast!
I fly home tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Now is when I see how much crap I really have. The Roadcrafter suit is so big I can't very well stuff it in a bag so I will probably have to wear it through the airport. This will be very interesting! Ah, travel, nothing like it to broaden your views. Now for a cold beer!

11& 12 June

I'm having to backtrack for the blog....our internet connection was totally lame when in Shelby. Enough for the excuses. On the 11th we got up and were on the road at a good time. Although David and I wanted to blow off going to Glacier .



We went as far into Glacier as allowed, 13 miles, then retraced our tracks and headed north to Canada. The boarder crossing was painless. We had a killer breakfast and headed north to the Cowboy Trail. This runs parallel to the mountains and is a nice change from what is otherwise the flattest terrain I have seen since the deserts of western USA. The trail took us north. I had been concerned about my rear tire as it was wearing much more quickly than I liked, The plan was to get new tires in Fairbanks but that was a good 2000 miles away and I was already down to the wear marks on the tire.


We figured that the only solution was to go into Calgary for a new tire but that was backtracking. As we rolled through a small village we saw a shop that seemed to deal with motorsports. As luck would have it he had three new tires in stock...all the exact size I needed. I pulled the wheel off the bike.


$200 later I had a new tire on the bike.
Don't let anyone tell you that motorcycling is cheap. The old tire only had 3500 miles on it. At least we will be able to make it to Fairbanks with this rubber. We moved on to the Icefields Parkway. This turned out to be absolutely breathtaking. No kidding, this makes the grand canyon look less grand.



I was amazed that earlier I had been stripping clothes off as it got hotter and now I find myself shuddering in the chill of the glaciers. We had about 80 miles of breathtaking scenery, so much that it gets to be old hat.


We finally rolled into Jasper, exhausted after 12 hours in the saddle. Man, that first beer tasted as good as the very best I have heaver sipped. Magnificant. We also met Eric, from South Dakota, who is going solo to Alaska. He is trying to make 850 miles per day but finding it to be really tough. He was exhausted and we could understand having busted ass to do 500 miles in a day with the tire situation.




Today (12th) we got up at 6:00, left at 0730 with the plan to really crank out the miles to Dawson Creek. We did the normal 100 miles before breakfast through some truly desolute forests. We saw moose, antelope, deer, and black bear but almost no people. This was 132 miles between gas stations. After breakfast we continued on to highway 40, the Bighorn Highway. This is probably the best motorcycle highway in the continent. No kidding, We rolled along at 120 kph watching out for animals and saw moose, deer, black bears, antelope, and fox. Some of these were actually in the roadway....that's MR MOOSE to you. Oh well, we were making great time. That's until I was rolling long just after passing a construction zone and suddenly my engine made a horrible sound and then quit. I rolled to the side of the road and got the engine to start but it was running like shit while making really bad mechanical noises. Remember that oil light that has been on for the past 1000 miles? Well, the next few hours were filled with wreckers, motorcycle dealers, and lots of alcohol. At least this happened 25 miles from the largest town between here and Fairbanks. Earlier or later could have been so much worse. We even found the perfect motel....50 yards from a bar with decent food, 50 yards from a liquor store, next door to a restaurant serving breakfast, free wireless internet access, and CHEAP.

It's pretty neat when we can laugh at the disaster of today. And this was before we had any drinks!!!



Now we are faced with some options which range from bad to horrible. The nearest dealer is 5 hours away and even if I get the bike there the chances of a quick fix are less than slim. I suspect some serious damage to the engine. At first I thought that this would be a great excuse to get a new bike. Now I find that motorcycles in Canada sell for at least 25% more than the same bike in the USA. Go figure. That means that the Honda that goes for 13K in the US is 20K here. Oh, and the exchange rate is 1:1.01 so it is basically 20K for 20K. Sad. We looked at a few options and after factoring in the airfare home, airfare to Fairbanks, shipping costs, repair costs, and cost of repair it is starting to look like the best bet is to buy a used bike in Grande Praire, ride it to Alaska and home, get the Ducati fixed, try to sell it in Canada, or ship it home. Right now that is the plan. Hell, I'm so close to Alaska and this chance may never be in my lap again. It's only money and I can't take it with me. BTW, shipping the bike to the dealer will cost $1300. Everything costs more here. At least the beer is cold.
It's now 9:45 and the sun is still so bright that it is like mid day. This whole trip is an adventure. We are enjoying every bit of the trip, good and bad. Just think of the tales we will be able to tell our grandchildren. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. Fuck it, Drive on.

10 June 09

This morning we got up at 0600 fully expecting to hear the sound of rain. After all, we have had rain every day so far so why not today. Imagine the joy at seeing a hint of blue sky. On the other hand we did have frost on the bikes so it was below freezing. No problem for these intrepid travelers, we simply plugged in the electric gear and rode off onto US2 headed west. We quickly found ourselves in Montana and did our normal 100 miles before breakfast. By that time I was more than ready for a hot cup of coffee and a break from the chill of 70 mph when it's below 40F. We ate at a small cafe where the other patrons were local and much older. Imagine what they thought when thee guys came in dressed like space men. It did not take long for most of them to find a way to say Hi and find our what we were doing. The couple at the next table strongly recommended a side trip to the Fort Peck Dam.


Our planned destination was Shelby, MT, 380 miles away, so we had time for a short side trip. Off we went to Fort Peck and I can say that it was well worth the extra 30 miles. The Dam was built in the early 30's as a method of controlling flooding on the Missouri River. The final product is the largest earthen dam of its type in the world. We watched a Corps of Engineers movie all about the construction and now I feel like a walking history book. This was really neat. The center also had lots of information and displays concerning the prehistoric animals that lived in the area long ago. Once again, pretty neat stuff.

Mark, the vet, just had to see what I would be like with horns:




Back on US 2 we blasted west. This part of 2 is two lane with very little in the way of trees or brush so you get to see the huge vista of the great plains.


The speed limit is 70 and we tried to stay within a few miles of that....well, less than 90 most of the time. In short, we were rockin' and rollin' across the state. The miles rolled under our tires and we started to see mountains in the distance. About that time (just after Mark and David passed some large trucks but I did not) my oil pressure light came on. That's the red one in the middle of the dash that is telling you STOP RIGHT NOW OR YOU WILL DIE. I pulled over. Nothing wrong that I could see. There is oil in the engine, it runs fine, no funny noises. I had cell coverage so I called Dave Lillard in Yorktown for a conference. He is convinced I have one or more bad sensors and that I can ignore the light. Mark and David showed up, listened to the discussion, put duck tape over the warning light, and agreed that we were ready to go. That's easy to say when you are not riding the bike. Well, the next town was nearby so we got gas there and took another look. All OK. The town after that was 100 miles away so off we went, but now at a moderate pace of 70mph. Within 30 minutes I was cresting a hill and saw a car approaching....the car was a cop....he flashed his lights for about 2 seconds....either to say 'neat bike' or more likely to say 'slow down' which I did. I was only going 74. Not long after that we saw two antelope by the road, one actually in the roadway. Now we had lots to think about. At the next town (Shelby) we found that the road through Galcier National Park is still closed due to snow so we had to adjust our plans. We finally ended up near St. Mary and are now in a rustic lodge at the end of a dirt road.


We were the only guests there. Some locals showed up for drinks and heard stories about the fights they have every weekend. The lesson here is 'don't mess with the locals'.

Quaint is the vest description I can think of. Now, after a few beers and dinner I feel much better. This might be our best day so far, maybe because it is the first with no rain. We covered 528 miles today.

Mark here - thought I'd trying blogging for the first time in my life (from somewhere on a Blackfeet Indian Reservation.) Today was undoubtedly the best riding day thus far - NO RAIN. (Minnesota was nothing but rain - the "land of 10,000 lakes" now has enough rain to make it 10,001.) Brought out my sunglasses and dialed the Yamaha on. Actually, found out it tops out at 140 MPH in top gear (at 8400 rpm; redline is 9,000 rpm.) Will need to tune it up so I can run faster. The Yamahas get about 40-41 mpg at 80 MPH, the Ducati about 38 mpg. I expect a congratulatory letter from Obama for not taking the police car (7 mpg) on this trip. We're putting in about 10 hours on the road, which is about enough. The cold Budweiser at the end of the day is the "carrot" that keeps us going. We heard that it the daytime temps in Canada and Alaska is in the 70s - about 30 degrees warmer than Wisconsin and Minnesota. Yeah! We cross into Canada tomorrow morning - will need to buy some Canadian money at a bank. The trip is going well thus far -good traveling companions. Talk to you blog readers tomorrow.

9 jun 09

The geographic center of North America is in Rugby ND, right on our route of travel. It's about 50 miles south of the boarder with Canada. Think about it, half of the continent is north of this spot so there is a whole lot of land above the boarder. That helps explain why we are not quite at the half way point for our trip even though I have gone 2240 miles so far.
We met Art in a convenience store. He's a farmer in North Dakota and explained that although their soil is really rich it's not that deep, only about 6 inches. East of here the soil is much deeper. The local crops had been wheat and barley. Now they are planting corn but the seasons have been tough to predict. This year has been much colder than normal. We also talked about motorcycles (Art had an Indian and a Harley) and old cars.
Along US2 we came upon the Big Fish Inn and had to take a photo. Take a look at those teeth!
When we started today the temp was only 38F and it was really foggy. We thought that the fog would break up as the sun came out, which never happened. In fact, we has a light sprinkle and the sun stayed beyond the clouds all day. The high for the day was only 52F.
It's worth mentioning geography now. We have been on US2 across Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North Dakota. In Michigan this was a 55 mph two lane through swampy forests with very few towns along the way. In Wisconsin the speed was the same and the only change was a few more towns. By the time we got into Minnesota the forests had much larger trees, the speed went to 65mph, and the roads had fewer curves. In North Dakota the road was mainly 4 lanes divided (like the interstate) and the speed limit was 70. Today we made good time and covered 525 miles mostly at 80mph.
We ended up in Willistown ND and got what appears to be the last room to be had in the entire town. It turns out that the Miss North Dakota competition is happening now. Oh well, we are dry, had dinner and a couple beers so life is good. Tomorrow we hope to get across Montana and maybe up into Canada. In a few minutes we will check to see if the passes are open in Glacier National Park.

7 & 8 June

In the interest of full disclosure this entry is being done after indulging in a birthday celebration which included some free beers, a few shots, and a little food. You have been warned.

So, we left Merissa's house on the 7th at the crack of dawn or thereabouts. Make that 7:15AM. Not bad for a 6am plan. The day started out with partly cloudy skies and 65F temp. As we rode north on US23 we noticed that the clouds got darker but did not think much of that. Around 1300 the temperature suddenly dropped and the wind picked up. Then is started to rain. Soon it was 50F in the rain. We thought that this would blow over and the sun would come out. Not so. By the time we got to the Mackinoc bridge the wind was about 25kts and was blowing us almost all the way across the lane of traffic with each gust. We got to the north side and took some pictures while we calmed down. At that point we picked up US2 which we plan to take all the way to our entry into Canada. Now we were in the part of the world known as the Upper Peninsula. That is shortened to UP for those in the know. Anyway, we rode across the UP to Escanaba and along the way noted the large number of motels that had closed (gone out of business). I suspect that is the combination of high gas prices in '08 combined with the credit problems of '09. At any rate, it looks like the tourist related businesses in the UP have taken a huge hit. We finally got to Escanaba around 1800 and were both tired and cold. Our motel was within walking distance of a nice bar and restaurant where we relaxed in style. At least the motel had queen sized beds, a refrigerator, and lots of towels. That latter came in handy as we tried to dry all our stuff. Oh, I almost forgot, I left my journal at Marissa's house so I lost all accounting of our mileage. We think we rode about 500 miles on the 7th.
Getting up on the 8th (my birthday) I could not help but notice that it was RAINING. Oh well, we will not melt. We got on the road and headed for Duluth. If you look at the map of the UP you will find that there aren't many roads. That's because there aren't many people...or gas stations. We seemed to ride forever and longer through total wilderness. I'd like to say that the scenery was beautiful but the truth is that it was raining and all I saw was enough road to keep from hitting a deer or one of my buddies. Believe me, it was raining cats and dogs. As we rode through one small town I saw that the bank thermometer was reading 40F. No wonder I was cold. That was the story for the entire day. The only thing that changed was how much rain we had. I can now say that my boots are not waterproof. Close, but not perfect. My 'waterproof' electric gloves soak up water like sponges. They are still warm but get heavier as the day goes along. With my electric liner and gloves it was like riding in an electric cocoon. I was warm unless I got off the bike and unplugged from the battery. Life was good but totally plugged in. It must be like having a sugar daddy.
One of our goals for the trip was a stop in at Aerostich in Duluth. For those who do not ride, Aerostich makes what I consider the be the best riding gear in the world. Anyway, after about 1500 miles of serious riding you are ready to correct any problems that have cropped up. We walked into the showroom with a mental list of stuff we had to have. We had the place to ourselves since the weather was so horrible that nobody else would venture out. Oh, I wish you could have seen us crossing the bridge from SuWI to Duluth MN. The wind was about 35kts and it was raining like hell. I can remember crossing lanes in gusts. Scary does not begin to describe the event. Anyway, the folks at Aerostich were fantastic. I did some serious retail theapy and now feel confident that I can deal with any weather. Hell, at this point we already laugh at the weather!
We left Duluth and headed west at top speed. When we finally got to Great Falls we decided to quit for the day. Luckily we found a good motel located across the street from a bar. That take us back to the opening paragraph.
To date I have ridden 1712 miles on my walkabout.

Peter Y.

Day 3, 6 June

We could hardly sleep so it was easy to get on the road at 0800. Since we were going only a short way we stopped in at the American Motorcycle Assn. museum for a visit. The current bikes are themed on stars of screen and music. Although they are popular I did not have much of a clue about most of the owners. The bikes were neat so it was not totally lost on me. We then rode to Mark's niece (Melissa) and Troy's house. They have the ultimate man cave without any of the rough edges. We found time to plink with some Glock 40s, an AR15 and shotgun. What a great way to spend time on a bike ride. Melissa is a Sheriff's deputy, as is Troy so they can entertain with cop stories. He is a K9 cop and that's even more fun.

We only rode 90 miles today. Tomorrow we plan to go to Mackinaw MI, 385 miles.

Day 3, 6 Jun

I guess it's pure anticipation that gets us up early today. The three of us tossed and turned in our cots until 0600 at which time we simply could not stand it any more and got up to shower, etc. We left at 0800 with our destination as Mark's niece's house about 50 miles away. His parents are going to join us for a big family gathering so this is a big deal. Still, we had lots of time to kill so we went to the American Motorcycle Museum in Pickering, OH for a visit. Of course it is neat to see a collection of special bikes but the current display is of bikes from the stars (movie stars, that is) so I was not as blown away as others might be. I don't even own a TV and can't care less who some of these people are. The bikes were cool.
Late breakfast at a small town spot and then off to Melssia's place way out in the country. She is a Sheriff's deputy, as is Troy. Between them they have the ultimate man cave out in the country,but without any of the rough edges. We spent some time talking and having a fine time until Troy asked if we wanted to do a bit of target shooting. Well, not one to turn down such an offer I said HELL YES so we headed off to a deserted part of the property. Between the Glock's, the AR15, and the shotgun we had a wonderful time throwing lead at paper targets. Troy is a K9 handler so we got to see all the dog stuff. Man, I'm glad we have a guy like him in that job.
On the tech side, the bike is running great. That new battery is charging at 14.29V and everything seems to be perfect. My low fuel light came on at 141 miles, I refilled at 190 and had lots left. I saw that my tires had lost about 1.5 psi and will fix that tonight since Troy has compressed air.
Tomorrow we want to make it to Mackanaw City (sp) which is about 385 miles away. With an early start that should be do-able and will be our longest day of the trip. I'd actually like to go beyond that but we are still figuring out our riding patterns. Now it's time for burgers on the grill and some really great beer. Life is very good.

Day 2, 5 Jun

Up early and what do we see? RAIN. Well, that means we might as well get a slow start so we left at 8:45 wearing all our rain gear. Since I had discovered yesterday that my riding suit leaked Mark loaned me a rain jacket to wear over my Roadcrafter. This loaner looks like it will be up to the job....but it's PINK with some blue. Oh well, I feel good about my manhood and dry is worth any cost so away we go. We decide to take the Interstate as far as Charleston WV since the backroads would not be much fun in these conditions. Along the way the rain just gets worse. At one point we were putting along at 75 going up a hill and a tractor trailer decided to change lanes right in front of Mark. Wish I had had ABS at that point. No contact, just a bit of pucker factor. At that point the rain and clouds were all around us. By 1300 we finally found dry roads and started stripping off rain gear. We got to Parkersburg WV, got off the slab and soon got on Ohio 555. This is a must do road. Go to Google Earth and follow 555 north and you will see a road that is clearly a paved goat trail. At 45mph it is all the fun I can stand. In fact, lots of the road are fun at 35mph if you like to pactice your riding skills. Much better than the Dragon! By the time we had put 20 miles on 555 I had to force myself to concentrate because I was getting tired and on this road you need to be on your "A" game at all times. There were countless times I reached the top of a hill only to find that I could not see which way the road turned, oh, and the suspension was now light and the road was falling away fast. Exciting.
We finally got to our destination in Newark and spent the night with Mark's old friend Steve. Steve's brothers showed up and we talked motorcycles and other manley stuff until late. Man, what fun. In total we rode 376 miles today under challenging conditions. My check engine light did not come on so the battery must have been the problem.
Riding in the rain for a few hours leads to some serious mental exercise. Think about that damn drip inside the helmet that lands right on my nose. Why do some car drivers tailgate in the rain? The middle of the toll booth is coated with a thick layer of slime that is like a wet bar of soap in the shower. When you want to pay the toll for the group it's always hard to dig out the money. Bob Evans is the wrong place for fast food at noon. A hot cup of coffee is great when it's raining. A cold beer at the end of such a day is priceless.

Day 1, 4 June 09

OK, today's the day. After hardly sleeping at all last night it was easy to get up and get on the road. I took the scenic route from Portsmouth to Rt 5 along the James River until I got on US40 headed west. What a delightful road! I rode the two lanes through
some of the prettiest rural scenery in Virginia. There were lots of small town, tobacco barns, old mansions, livestock in the fields, and exactly what one would hope to find while 'out in the country' until I got to Fort Pickett. That's where 40 bisects an Army post. Hence, the 'Tank Crossing' sign. That's for real tanks. I did not see any, just their tracks.
Along the way I stopped in Victoria for lunch. When you can have a country ham sandwich, iced sweet tea, french fries, and cake for $6.25 it's hard to complain. I particularly liked the OPPS! cake. That's where the cook made a yellow cake which the day crew topped with chocolate iceing...not knowing that the cake was a lemon cake. It was still good tasing.

When I was leaving Portsmouth I looked at the weather radar and saw bad stuff to the west. Thus I fully expected to see some rain before I got to Roanoke. True to that it started to rain in Gretna (about 2PM). Correction, it started to POUR. In fact, some trucks simply pulled over when they could no longer see the road. I was looking for an overpass, with no luck. My waterproof suit ain't waterproof. At least my boots stayed dry inside but there were a few rivlets of water which always find their way to my crotch. The rain continued all the way to Mark's house and in fact it's still raining now at 8:30. We expect rain in the AM and might delay our departure just a bit to let the worst go past us.

Mark and David met me in the garage

David decided to cut his hair off for the trip, with some help from his Mom, Beth. What a trooper she is.

Tomorrow we think we will have about 6 hours travel time. If it's raining like now we will take the Interstate to WV, then hop over to Ohio 555.

Today I only rode 276 miles but it seemed to take all day. I guess those stops to call Redline really cost me some time. The check engine light still comes on after the bike warms up. I finally figured out how to call up the trouble code and it says 'battery HI' which is not a greeting. It's either a bad battery or bad regulator. As soon as I got to Roanoke we bought a battery (last one this size in the entire metro area) and it is charging now. Oddly enough I am showing a charge of 14.2V when going down the road so everything should be OK. Go figure. If this does not take care of the problem the regulator is next. Gotta get that from a Ducati dealer, not what you find on every corner of the globe. Oh well, it's supposed to be an adventure.

T Minus one

Boots seem so basic as to be ignored. Actually they are critical to having a good trip. If your feet are wet, cold, pinched, or cramped you will have a horrible time. These are 12 years old, made for Aerostich, and took me two years to break in. Here I have them sitting the sun so a fresh coat of SnoSeal will soak into the leather. This makes the boots more supple and helps keep them dry on the inside. Don't believe anyone who claims that their boots are waterproof. They just have not ridden through a long enough rainstorm.

The first thing people ask about when we talk about a long distance trip is how sore by butt will be. OK, let's cut to the chase....yes my ass does get sore. This gets better as the trip goes on but I try to solve the problem by having a decent seat and moving around on the seat. This trip I will be using a sheepskin pad.

It's handy to have a way to carry stuff you get along the way. I also use this net to help dry my socks if they are not dry from hanging in the room overnight after a wash in the sink. Note the attachment points on the hard bags.
My bike has chain drive. I like the fact that it is the most efficient way to transmit power but the fact is that you need to lubricate the chain to keep road grime from eating away at the built in lubrication which is sealed with 'O' rings. The lube also keeps rust at bay. I'm using an automatic oiler that dispenses oil based on distance traveled. I can change that setting on the fly if, for example, I am in a heavy downpour that is washing the lube from the chain. I use ATF as a lube because it slings dirt off and keeps the rust away. Yes is does make a mess on the rear wheel so I have the unit set for very light delivery.
It seems a shame to have all the electrical gadgets we love to have but also have a huge lump of chargers that must be plugged into the wall every night. I have run 12V electricity from the bike into my tank bag. In the bag I can charge my cell phone or IPod.
Speaking of electrical stuff, I have installed a volt meter just above the controller for the ProOiler. Above both you can see a knob that controls the heat to my heated vest. Once you try heated gear it's hard to do without.
Of course everyone seems to use a GPS nowdays. Mine is a Garmin Zumo. Oh, I still carry a bunch of paper maps. The GPS is a handy backup for the Ducati speedometer and a reminder of when I have gone 150 miles and should start looking for fuel. The gas gauge on the Multistrada is not to be trusted!!!
Here you can see the adjustable levers, handguards, and throttle assist. They combine to make the bike fit me better as well as offering a bit of comfort on a long trip.

T Minus 2

With time getting shorter and shorter I spent yesterday getting some of my last minute tasks done; waterproof bag, ear plugs, hi tech undershirt, and an attempt to figure out why I have that check engine light glowing from time to time. The plan included hooking up my computer to the bike and using Techno Research software to diagnose any trouble codes on the bike computer. Of course things did not go as planned. I could not get one computer to talk to the other. After a series of calls to Michigan to talk to the tech guys at Techno Research we realized that I had a very old copy of their software along with an old driver for the interface cable. Once I loaded the new software at least I now had the two computers talking but then I discovered that the Ducati computer does not save a history of trouble codes! Now I'm back to square one. As I will worry constantly if the trouble light is burning I think I better bite the bullet and replace the fuel filter. For the non Ducati owners this means taking much of the bike apart because the tank is a large plastic gizmo that actually extends to under the rider's seat. The filter is inside the tank along with the fuel pump. Oh well, might as well start now.This is the fuel pump with fuel filter. At shop rates I bet it takes $200 to install the $4 part.
This shows why I hate to remove the tank. That's the gas tank on the towel....it's huge!

T Minus 3

Now is when I need to do the final changes/packing for the trip. Last weekend I did a 500 mile shakedown ride to West Virginia. Since I had quite a few new additions to the bike this trip was critical. Here's what I found: The new tires grip just fine in spite of their much more aggressive tread pattern and the higher tire pressure worked well too. I'm running 38F and 42R in an attempt to get more mileage for this trip. The new chain did not stretch but I was able to cut back on the oil delivery of my ProOiler. I started with table 12 and am now up to table 18. The chain still has enough lube but my rear wheel no longer has a coating of oil. I thought that the 'low oil pressure' light was coming on. Now I see that it is the 'check engine' light. I already knew that the stepper motor was bad so maybe that's what this new light is all about. The built in diagnostic program does not show what the error is all about and the bike runs great so I can only hope that Dave Lillard can find the problem on Tuesday. The stepper motor only controls idle speed so I can go on the trip without it. We ordered the part last week....all Ducati parts come direct from Italy! Let's hope the problem is not a clogged fuel filter or something else that requires removing the gas tank. What a huge PITA that is!
Clothing is always a challenge. I travel light but on this trip I need to pack for cold conditions as well as wet. It's a good thing that I experienced some brisk conditions last weekend. Now I know that I need a fleece jacket (but a thin one). I should also take another long sleeved undershirt to add a layer for medium days. My electric liner works great so for really cold days I just plug that in however that does not help when I get off the bike. Today I'll go through all my stuff and see what I can leave behind. Nevertheless, it looks like I will need a small waterproof bag to carry on the passenger seat so I have less jammed into my other bags. That's a good place to stuff extra gloves and maybe dirty clothes.
Another observation from the weekend trip, my gas tank holds something like 5.2 gallons of fuel (yes, I should know the exact amount but I simply don't trust the Ducati figure on this). The fuel gauge is notoriously unpredictible. My low fuel light comes on as early as 90 miles sometimes and this weekend I got to 149, 154, and 162 miles before the light came on. On the final tank I rode 203 miles before I put 4.3 gallons in the tank. That's almost 47 mpg! The importance here is that I feel more confident in the fact that I can go 200 miles on one tank. Gas stops can be few and far between when out in the less populated parts of North America. I think I'll also carry a 3' section of gas hose just in case.
Today I go to the bank to get cash (dollars and loonies), then a supply of good ear plugs, the dry bag, and double check fasteners on the bike.