Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Category: Trip Planning

Posts about planning and preparation for the upcoming motorcycle trip

  • Still no motorcycle

    With departure less than two weeks away I would typically be wrapping up my pre-trip maintenance. Unfortunately it’s a taking a long time to get the warranty repairs completed.

    The good news is that my extended warranty will completely cover the broken radiator fan and also replacing the water pump seals. The bad news is they just ordered the parts yesterday and the motorcycle won’t be ready until next Wednesday. That gives me Thursday and Friday to change the fork oil, change the brake fluid, put new brake pads in and get the new Ohlin shock put on.

    Brad Miller, the local guy who does the Ohlin shocks, it being really cool about it and leaving Thursday open so I can ride over and hang out while he gets the shock installed.

    A friend is on standby and going to take me to the dealership as soon as the motorcycle is ready and then come back to my house to help with the maintenance. Some things take a little more strength and a few more hands than I possess so he’ll be available for that.

    In the meantime, I’ve gone through the camping gear to check everything, got it organized, and packed. I have been going through my camping food and I will have the organized and ready to go on the bike before the motorcycle is done. The other big thing is to get my clothing figured out and ready to go.  I hope to have everything ready to simply stick in or on the the motorcycle the end of next week.

    While it wouldn’t  make me happy, if it becomes necessary I can always drop off some stops and shorten the ride out there. I am very excited about Mesa Verde National Park and Great Basin National Park so I hope I get to see both.

  • Preparing for Yosemite but no Motorcycle

    I need to prepare for departure and my motorcycle is still at the dealer awaiting approval from the extended warranty company. After that they will need to order the parts. Which all leaves me wondering at what point I will have my motorcycle back in the garage to do trip preparation.

    Once I have it back I will need to change the fork oil, change the brake fluid, and change the brake pads. I’ll be doing that work myself.

    I decided to not risk my shock going out on this trip so I contact Brad who rebuilt Jean-Francois’s shock right before the Canada trip and he’s ordering a new shock for me so he can install it before I leave.

    All this doesn’t include actually packing the motorcycle for a two week trip that includes a lot of camping so I will be leaving fully loaded with camping gear and food.

    I wanted to make stuff sacks for both my Gerbing jacket liner and pant liner today, but realized the pant liner is in the side case on the motorcycle. I did get a bag made for the jacket liner, but will have to complete the other bag when the motorcycle is back.

    Since I can’t work on physical preparations I’ve finalized my routes and am preparing route summaries for each day that I can put in my map case. I’m hoping to make it easy on myself to navigate on my own — I’m so spoiled by Jean-Francois do all the navigating so I need to get used to handling all that myself on a long trip.

    I’ll get my computer, camera, and other electronic equipment ready while I’m waiting for the motorcycle.

    I’ve also been drying food for camping. I did a fruit treat for myself — strawberries and bananas. I also tried making beef and turkey jerky from ground meat for the first time. For some reason I thought ground meat would be easier to chew, but from what I sampled it’s not that different from regular meat jerky. I’m not sure how well it will keep either, so I’ll report back on that after the trip.

    I’m definitely in the learning stages for drying food for motorcycle trips so I proposed a  newsletter question to Chef Glenn at BackpackingChef.com — I want to know if you can over dry food.

    The good thing about planning for this trip is that I can basically use the same packing list from the Canada trip. I used everything I packed and really didn’t need to buy anything other than a fleece jacket — I definitely needed that for nights and mornings outside the tent. I also wrapped it around my pillow to make it a little more substantial for sleeping so I consider the fleece jacket required camping gear now. It’s a great packing list that is an Excel worksheet with everything put in categories and also where I pack it on the motorcycle. I may publish it for others to use after a little clean up.

    I’m doing what I can to prepare and keeping busy with other projects while I wait for the motorcycle. I really hope I get it back later this week.

  • National park list for Yosemite Trip

    I’d already mentioned my wish to stop at Mesa Verde National Park to see the cliff dwelling and swinging by Grand Canyon on the way back.

    I have ridden by Capulin Volcano National Monument several times and have decided it’s time to go up to the top and see the view. After checking out New Mexico state parks I decided on Sugarite by Raton — much prettier than Clayton Lake. I talked to the rangers at the park today and they said they do get snow in mid-May sometimes. I’m hoping 2010 isn’t one of those times…

    Next stop will be in the southwest corner of Colorado to visit Mesa Verde National Park — I plan to camp there two nights so I have an entire day to see the cliff dwellings. From there it will be a little loop down into New Mexico and then up to Utah to Glen Canyon National Park and then head on to Zion National Park. The NPS web site mentioned heavy road construction and possible gravel roads through Zion, so it could be an interesting ride.

    From Zion I want to head northwest into Nevada and go to Great Basin National Park. I had planned to bypass this stop until I saw pictures of the park and changed my mind.

    From Great Basic I will head west to California to get to the rally in Yosemite. I think I will be more than ready to stay at a nice lodge and have a private bathroom and hot shower for a couple days. I’ll be in Yosemite Thursday evening through Sunday morning.

    On Sunday I’m going  to head south through Kings Canyon National Park and Sequoia National Park. I looked for a place to stay that night in Kernville and everything was too expensive — even camping was $45 a night. So I’m going to go to Ridgecrest where I was able to find a reasonably priced room.

    From Ridgecrest I’m going to head north to go through Death Valley National Park and hope to make it to Williams that is near Grand Canyon. In Death Valley I plan to take Badwater Road to hit what is supposed to be the lowest spot in the United States at 232 feet below see level. I’m looking forward to the route to Williams since I will detour to take a portion of historic Route 66 outside Kingman.

    Grand Canyon National Park will be the last park for the trip. From there I will head to Albuquerque to stay at a hostel and maybe stop for the night in Lubbock the next day if I’m really tired. If not it will mean a 650 mile day to get home and I’m not sure I’ll be up for that.

    I have located reasonably priced motels as backup to my camping stops if it’s raining or I’m too tired to do the camping thing. Even with the Tenaya being a bit pricey for three nights (split with a roommate) I think I’ll be able to keep my lodging expenses down pretty well. I don’t eat all the much and with getting over 50 MPG, neither does the motorcycle.

    So the plan is 12 days, 10 national parks, and maybe only spending $1300. Hope I can pull that off.

    1. Capulin Volcano National Monument
    2. Mesa Verde National Park
    3. Glen Canyon National Park
    4. Zion National Park
    5. Great Basin National Park
    6. Yosemite National Park
    7. Kings Canyon National Park
    8. Sequoia National Park
    9. Death Valley National Park
    10. Grand Canyon National Park

  • Difficult maintenance decision

    After the motorcycle overheating in Big Bend I took off the plastic when I returned and found a slightly mangled radiator fan. I’m not sure what happened — it almost looks like something got in the fan and damaged the blades, but I can’t imagine what could have dropped down in there. I don’t have much doubt that the overheating issue is a result of the fan being damaged.

    The good news is my extended warranty covers the fan — which is a $300 plastic piece from BMW — so I can take it in and have it replaced.

    The bad news is the forecast is perfect for this weekend, the blue bonnets are at peak bloom in the hill country, and there’s the Texas Rally in Llano, Texas that I’d like to check out.

    So do I take the motorcycle in so they can start working on it or do I head down for bluebonnets?

    I ran the idea of going by Jean-Francois and since the temperatures are supposed to be in the 70’s he suggested disconnecting the fan so if it has seized it can’t cause any collateral electrical damage and go ahead and make the trip.  Since this is a Saturday to Sunday trip, hopefully there won’t be any stop and go traffic.

    After a lot of vacillating I decide to go. I want to see blue bonnets, I want to go to my first rally, and I want to camp.

  • Starting to Plan for Yosemite

    I need to get serious about planning for the ride to California to go to the Treasures of Yosemite rally. The president of the Expresso riders, Bob Morrow, has been my point of contact for the rally and he’s been really wonderful. He helped me track down a roommate to split the cost of the room and even kept an eye out for folks coming from my part of the country to see if I could come up with people to ride with. The latter didn’t pan out, but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Bob’s part — and he lined up a great roommate. I’m looking forward to meeting him at the rally

    http://www.expressoriders.org/2010%20Rally.htm

    Since this will be my longest solo ride to date I want to have it well planned out — how many miles I want to do each day and a variety of options of where to spend the night that include motels, hostels, and camping.

    It’s a 1,600 mile one way ride if I go straight to Yosemite from home, but I have no interest in blasting out and back on the interstate and want to stop at some national parks, especially Mesa Verde in southeast Colorado. I really want to see the cliff dwellings there and hopefully get some pictures.

    I am still trying to add states to my motorcycling resume so I want to take a northerly route out that loops up into Utah and then a southerly route home that will take me through Grand Canyon. Obviously Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico will be repeats, but I’ll be adding Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona.

    One book I used in planning the route to and from Canada last summer and am using again is:

    National Geographic Guide to Scenic Highways and Byways, 3d Ed.

    A new one that I bought for this trip is:

    National Geographic Guide to the National Parks of the United States, 6th Edition

    I would highly recommend both and I’m really enjoying the information in the national parks book. Great write ups on what to see at each park and how to plan for visits of different lengths. And as you’d expect I’m doing a lot of research on the internet and plugging sample routes into MapSource.

    I would like to do no more than 500 miles a day. With stops to do some sight seeing and picture taking that should get me to my overnight spot before dark. I’m checking on US hostels to save money on lodging, but the trick will be seeing if I can coordinate that with the end of a 500 mile day going to the places I’d like to see. I want to do some camping while on the trip and other than that I want to find really cheap hotels since I’m traveling on a budget. I should be gone around two weeks for this trip and after splurging on the Tenaya Lodge where the rally is, I’m going to need to seriously watch my nickels and dimes for the rest of the trip.

    I’ll post more as the planning progresses.

    Motorcycle Sport Touring Association’s STAR 2010 rally