Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Snow is melting!

Things are coming together nicely. Plane tickets are purchased, crates for the bikes are secured, I have acquired more motorcycle oriented gear than I have EVER thought I would (just ask my wife...). The bike now has handlebar mounts for my GPS and digital video camera and the tank bag is wired to keep things charged up on the road.

Our fourth rider, Singh, has purchased a beauty 2004 1150GS which he will be picking up a few days early near Coeur d' Alene, ID and meeting up with us in SLC, UT on May 22nd. Gary has a nice 2005 1200GS sitting at the BMW shop in SLC waiting for him. He also will be going down a few days early (mainly just to figure out how to ride the thing!) to get organized and pick up the bike. Hopefully all will go well with the new ride, the pictures look great!

Eric and I are waiting on boots to arrive at AK leather. Other than boots and a few odds and ends I think we have gear taken care of.

Tires are still a concern... We are trying to figure out if we should pay Alaska prices and get them done here or wait till we are in SLC or somewhere along the way to get a better price. The issue in waiting would be having to schedule the change somewhere along the trip or do it right when we get to SLC. This decision will have to have some more debate.

I managed a quick couple of rides over Valentines day due to the unseasonably warm weather. It was nice to get back on the bike and put a few miles on. A day or two later we had a fresh foot of snow on the ground and my bike has been tucked in the garage ever since.

A week or two ago, Eric and Gary came to my house and we did the 12000 mile service on my bike. It was fun to get into it and see what all was involved. We got a good idea of what tools to bring on the trip and feel pretty good about digging into the bike if something was to act up on the trip. Hopefully there won't be any gremlins!

This last week the weather has been fabulous! Above freezing during the day and only down into the 20's at night. I've been chomping to get out and go for an evening jaunt, but a nasty cold has kept me grounded for a few weeks. I finally went to the doc and got a z-pac which cleared things up nicely. I may get a ride in this week after all!