Not a lot of new gear for this one, but what little there is tends to be pretty critical stuff.
I have always been torn between sticking with my Aerostich and wearing a mesh jacket and pants. Since I dehydrate easily it seems like the Aerostich would help slow that down where mesh would accelerate it. But I just don’t feel like facing 100+ temps in the ‘Stich so I picked up an Olympia Airglide jacket off EBay for a great price. I already had Airglide pants so that’s what I’m going to wear on this trip. Both have water proof, thermolite insulated liners for cooler temps and rain. I still don’t know if I should pack my Aerostich — jeez, it’s almost like a security blanket to me.
My well loved and well used Toshiba MP3 players officially bit the dust. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, I got an 8GB Sandisk Sansa Clip+ off Amazon for $55 and an accessory kit for $7. The kit included a 12 volt charger for the motorcycle, a wall charger if I don’t want to drag my computer in at night (advertised 15 hour battery life), ear buds, screen protector, longer USB cable (the Sansa Clip+ came with a 8″ cable — what a pain…), and a silicone protective cover. The Clip+ has a slot for mini SD cards so I should be able to take all the music and books I want. My hope is that the flash drive will be a more stable storage media in the high vibration environment of a motorcycle, but I have no idea. Only time will tell. The Clip+ is tiny and so light weight that it’s almost not noticeable. I’ve tested it on the motorcycle and it cranks the music.
And, of course, my new Kouba lowering links that have brought the motorcycle back down to my height even with the Ohlin shock. I can’t wait to get on the road and see how this combination works out over the long haul.
I felt like I had a slow leak in my front tube after getting new tires put on, so I pulled the wheel off and took it to Grif’s Cycle Sports in Lewisville to have a new tube put in. Really great people at this shop — they had it mounted and balanced in no time for $20 plus the cost of the tube. I feel much better heading out of town with a fresh tube — I don’t know about anyone else, but I thinking finding air while on the road is a pain and most places charge for it. I have a mini compressor, but I hate to dig that out and wait for it to inflate unless I’m stopped for the night. A good tube is a much better bet.
There’s been a lot of maintenance. The water pump had to be done again, but that was covered by my extended warranty (which I think may be worth it’s weight in gold). The water pump involves dumping both oil and coolant, so those are both fresh. I changed the brake fluid, the fork oil, and put new brake pads on the rear caliper. As mentioned I put new tires on again.
I think the motorcycle is good to go. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Ztechnik windshield is in HOT weather, since I have already experienced how much colder I am in cold weather. Maybe the increased air hitting me will help with the heat.
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