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.
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