Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Category: Trip Planning

Posts about planning and preparation for the upcoming motorcycle trip

  • New AGM Battery for F650

    After sitting without running while I did all the suspension and wheel bearing maintenance my battery wouldn’t start the motorcycle when I wanted to do a test ride. It was obviously fading when I tore the motorcycle apart, but figured I’d deal with that when I was done. I checked with a multi-meter and it was reading under 7 so it was toast.

    The current battery was a Deka maintenance free battery that didn’t quite fit in the battery compartment so I wasn’t looking forward to another wrestling match to get a new one installed.  The guys on the forums had said it took them 30 minutes to install the Deka. It took me 3 hours. Evidently more muscle was needed than I could provide and I didn’t want to go through that again.

    Bad experiences with acid battery

    There was also no way I would consider going with an acid battery again. When you have to take off all the plastic to check the battery it’s not something you look forward to on a regular basis. And the acid had leaked on my brand new motorcycle (because the dealer didn’t attach the drain tube) and dripped down the side of the engine causing permanent damage. I didn’t want that to ever happen again. And since my motorcycle seems to spend more than it’s fair share of time down on it’s side I thought it imperative to have a sealed battery.

    Scorpion YT12CL Battery

    After once again reading the forums I found some guys on advrider.com who had tried a Scorpion battery from BatteryStuff.com and been happy with it so far. It was mentioned the maintenance free batteries don’t last quite as long as a well maintained acid battery, but I’d rather change it than service it regularly.

    The Scorpion is an AGM, cost $63, shipping is free, and I had it 2 days after ordering it. Before placing the order I called and confirmed with them that the battery really does fit in a 2007 F650 GS and they told me it would be a perfect fit.

    Installation

    After the difficult time I’d had with the Deka battery I was pretty excited when it was absolutely painless to put the Scorpion in. It is indeed a perfect fit and the battery posts are located in the exact position needed on the F650. I had it installed in no time and the motorcycle fired right up.

    A friend was shocked I had started the motorcycle without charging the battery so I called BatteryStuff.com again and they confirmed AGM batteries are ready to go out of the box and no charging is needed.

    It will be interesting to see how long the battery lasts, but at $63 with an easy installation it won’t be a heart breaker if it only lasts 2 or 3 years. I love recommending dealers who offer excellent service like Batterystuff.com.

  • Gilsson hard wire for Garmin Nuvi 2450

    While I like my Garmin Nuvi 2450, the battery doesn’t last all that long on the road so I wanted to hard wire it to the motorcycle.  I’m not sure why, but Garmin doesn’t offer a hard wire for this model but Gilsson, who claims to be the largest manufacturer of Garmin-compatible accessories, does have the GUSB5V-B:

    Gilson GUSB5V-B for Garmin Nuvi 2450

    “This Gilsson direct wire cable is eight (8) feet long, with a voltage converter and fuse box in the middle, four (4) feet from the connector and four (4) feet from the power source. Please note this new version is an improved and extended version from our prior version, allowing customer to hide the voltage converter box and away from the GPS receiver.”

    Installation

    I wanted the GPS to turn off with the ignition switch so I wired it into the Centech AP-1 fuse box that handles all my accessories. The problem was what to do with the “egg” since it sits right in the middle of the wire and prevents it being fished through small spaces. I had to pull the wire forward to the handlebar, and then backward to the fuse box that sits at the very back of the area under the seat. The 8′ length made this possible.

    I finally found a place the egg could reside, although it would be buried under the seat so I wouldn’t be able to check the green power light on the side of it.

    The bad thing about this hard wire is stripping the outer layer to expose the negative and positive wires. The wires are so thin that my first few attempts cut right through the red and black wires exposing the copper. I had to painstakingly cut away the outside layer with a skill knife to expose enough wire to feed to the fuse box. It was such a pain I felt like calling Gilsson and asking them what they were thinking…

    I had it wired, turned the key on the motorcycle, and the GPS powered up perfectly.

    Conclusion

    The “egg” voltage converter and the flimsy wire makes this a somewhat more complicated install than it should have been but compared to dealing with an approximate 3 hour battery life of the 2450 it’s worth it.

    Gilsson sells the hard wire for $23.95 + $8 shipping but I ordered it off eBay where the shipping was free so research who is selling it before ordering.

  • Leaf Peeping in New England & Quebec

    I’m heading back to Quebec and New England to do a fall color ride for the first time in that area. I’m meeting Jean-Francois in Quebec where we’re starting since the colors are already beginning to turn there and then move a little further south to Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont before heading back home.

    I’m taking a different route north this time since I think I’ve seen enough of Little Rock and Tennessee for the time being. I’m going up through Oklahoma to cut across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana and cross the border at Port Huron, Michigan/Sarnia, Ontario. From Sarnia I will go to Toronto so I can ride along the north coast of Lake Ontario and then follow the St. Lawrence Seaway until I have to cut east around Montreal.

    I’ve located locks on the St. Lawrence and plan to stop and see them in hopes ships may be in them being raised or lowered. I want to see the Eisenhower and Snell Locks on the US side and the Beauharnois in Canada so I will be crossing back into the US in New York from Ontario and then back into Quebec. The border patrol will probably wonder what I’m up to, but it’s the only route I could figure out to see more than one lock.

    Leaf peeping will start in Quebec north of Montreal and then progress south with the goals of camping and photography. Temperatures have recently cooled there, so it will be the first time I’ve seen and felt a real “fall” in a long time.

    My departure has been delayed since I didn’t want to ride into the back side of the remnants of Hermine as it’s moving north. Judging from the amount of rain it dumped in the Dallas area, I don’t think it would be a very motorcycle friendly storm to ride through. I hope to make the 2000 mile ride to Quebec in 4 days, but since I want to see the St. Lawrence on a nice day it may take a little longer.

  • Reward trip for my dogs

    Okay — this wasn’t a motorcycle trip, but it was motorcycle related. My dogs, Nikki and Ellie, are so good about being home alone for long periods of time with the neighbors popping in occasionally to feed them and let them out so that I can take off on motorcycle trips. I think they deserve a treat once in a while as a reward for their patience. This time the treat was going to the ocean for the first time and being surf dogs.

    As yellow labs they have an unbounded exuberance for water as it is — their reckless abandon in the ocean had everyone on the beach laughing. Ellie (the younger one) was a natural at surf. She got put underwater by one wave and from then on knew to leap up when a wave approached. She even sensed when they were coming from behind (when she was heading back to shore) and did the same thing. Nikki was a little slower to catch on, but both instinctively knew how to handle the waves and loved it.

    This is the slide show that includes some other pictures and probably way too many pictures of the dogs.

    http://tinyurl.com/23gqffp

  • Vermont Trip Wrap Up

    Jeff Fauster, one of the organizers of the Northeast Jailbreak, said I was the heartbreak story of the rally. I didn’t know why he thought that. He said it was because of having to stop in Louisville because my motorcycle was broken.

    I quickly disagreed with him and told him that breaking down along side the highway with no shade in 104 degree heat would be a heartbreak story. Getting help from a fellow F650 rider, being able to ride the motorcycle up to the service door of a BMW dealership, having them immediately work on it and get it back on the road was most definitely not a heartbreak story. It was just a delay.

    If something went wrong, it went wrong in the best way it possibly could have, so no complaints from me. And the motorcycle ran perfectly for the rest of the trip. Definitely no complaints from me.

    I wish it could have been cooler getting out of and back into Texas, but I’m still very glad I went north. It was worth meeting the other F650 riders and it was nice to be in green mountains and cool temperatures for a while.

    Not a bad summer — 4200 mile ride west to California in May and a 4200 mile ride east to Vermont and Canada in August.

    Routes for Californa and Vermont/Canada

    Gear

    I don’t know scientifically which is best in extreme heat — zipping yourself into a solid suit or wearing mesh. The mesh gear worked well for me and I used the liners for both warmth and rain protection at different times. I would also like to know scientifically if the evaporative cooling from the vest really does any good. It felt like it did. I do know that hydration is critical so I’m glad I have the compartment for the water reservoir in my tank bag. I think if I had to tackle high heat again I would stick with the same gear, but then again I was in Death Valley in my Aerostich and Gerbing jacket and pant liners and was shocked when 90 degrees just wasn’t that bad. It was almost like I was being insulated from the heat. But then Death Valley was a tad drier than the humid air I was riding through on this trip. For summer I think I’ll stick with the mesh.

    My little $55 Sandisk Sansa-Clip+ was great. I don’t watch video on little portable devices so at the moment can’t imagine investing in a big expensive MP3 player again. 8GB of music kept me nicely entertained for the ride.

    I really like my new Nolan helmet. The visor on my old helmet would not stay at a partially open position at highway speeds and the Nolan does. I can hear my music equally well whether the visor is open or closed and the helmet is extremely comfortable too.

    Not quite sure what I think of the Ztechnik windscreen. I suppose the additional wind that hits my body did help in the heat (it does not help in the cold). It vibrates at an alarming rate from the wind wash off semi trucks when I pass them. I’m not sure if it’s going to get ripped off at some point. It does shoot insects up and over my visor where my old windshield was a finely crafted insect delivery system straight onto the visor.

    A sampling of questions/comments I received when people found out I was traveling by motorcycle alone:

    “So you’re a thrill seeker?” “No, not at all. I just like to do fun things and see beautiful things.”

    “Wow, you’re really brave.” They should have seen me crossing the steel grid bridge and riding through the severe thunder storm…

    “Are you crazy?” — “Maybe, but stupid may more likely cover it.”

    “Do you like traveling alone?” — “No, but it beats the heck out of staying home and sitting on the couch when I have no one to travel with.”

    “Are you straight?” — this was at 5:00 AM in the morning and made me laugh out loud “Are you asking if I’m heterosexual??”

    “I didn’t know BMW made motorcycles.” I didn’t quite know how to respond to this one.