Equipping For The Trip

P-Rock here

I thought I'd take a little time to talk about some of the trip planning for our Alaska run. Those of you that know Blackie and I know that we are compulsive-excessive planners. In my humble opinion, there can't be too much of that for this trip.

First off, consider some of what we will be dealing with, considering this is a 7000+ mile trip in three weeks before you add in any side trips:

* Rough terrain, unimproved roads, road construction.
* The elements: snow, rain, wind, hail, thunder, heat, cold are all very real possibilities.
* Nature: small and large animals including buffalo, elk, caribou, bears (black, brown/grizzly), mountain goats, moose, deer, opossums, ground hogs and worst of all, black flies and mosquitoes.
* Accommodations and food. Laundry and hygiene needs.
* Basic maintenance items: Fuel and oil, tires and air, mechanical.
* Bike-to-Bike communication, Emergency communication, entertainment.

Our average day will be over 350 miles, or 7 hours of travel at 50mph average. The good news is that as we head north, we get more daylight each day. The bad news is that we need to keep close track of our progress as compared to the plan to make sure we get back in time to still have jobs. In a future segment we'll discuss the route itself and some of the planning that goes into that, but for now just assume that anything we put forth before we leave is subject to constant change.

There's an old adage about Alaska: There are two seasons... Winter and Road Construction. As you can imagine, the winter conditions up there can take a tremendous toll on the roads, and the summer is short - so a lot of work has to be concentrated into a short period of time. Because of this, we will have to take into account what sorts of delays we will have each day. Much of this information comes from other people we will talk to each day, and also from various travel resources. One of the more important ones is The Milepost. The Milepost is the premier Alaska/Canada travel guide and is indispensable in helping to understand what challenges are in front of you each travel day. Blackie and I each have a copy and access to the latest info via the online version as well. Again, more on this and the travel planning in another post.

Weather will be an important consideration for each travel day. We will always have a destination goal, but weather may have something to say about that. Obviously the first consideration will be our safety. The higher elevations can have snow and summertime is typically the rainy season along our route. Road construction where roads are dirt/mud can be very slick, and with our loads (which can tend to the top-heavy side) handling a big touring bike can be quite a challenge. While we both have motorcycles with full fairings and windshields, they are not 100% effective and heavy rain, snow, thunder and low visibility can reduce our speeds or even stop us entirely. As far as gear is concerned, we will be equipped with waterproof rain gear, cold weather gear, warm weather gear and two helmets each in addition to our standard clothing. One expectation is that we will likely transition each day from a cold weather gear start to warm weather gear later and possibly rain gear, then on long days back to cold weather gear near the end of the day.

Nature presents some interesting challenges along the way. Of course we need to make sure we steer well clear of all the large animals. Many of them use the roads to migrate from shelter to food/water sources - and because there are very few roads - this concentrates them along our route so a constantly vigilant eye is required. Small animals can be a hazard both as road kill in the path and darting in front of us as we travel. Black flies and mosquitoes are a constant problem when not moving, so good high percentage DEET repellents are essential. We had considered doing some camping along the way, but right now that's not high on our list of options. Camping requires us to carry a whole lot more gear, and we also would need to be more cognizant of dangerous animals overnight as well as weather issues. One advantage to camping is that you have a lot of options for your stay (like, everywhere!) and it's pretty cost effective.

Our accommodation plan is to try to stay a day (sometimes two) ahead and book each night's stay at the end of the previous day. This will allow us to more definitively adjust plans based on known changes in weather, known construction and room availability. One thing is for sure, in most places there are quite a number of mom-and-pop motels, lodges and B&Bs - the information we have today is that reserving a room a day in advance isn't usually a problem. Having a room somewhere also addresses most of our hygiene and food problems too. We plan to take about a week's worth of clothing with us, so that we will only need to find laundry facilities a few times during the trip (as well as after every close encounter with a grizzly).

Bike maintenance can present some unusual challenges. We talked for a long time about own-vs-rent bikes for this trip - and brand. For one thing, renting a touring motorcycle for three weeks is an expensive proposition - on the order of $2500.00!! For that money you get a basic touring rig - no frills - and unknown quality of maintenance. There are some good rental outfits out there like EagleRider, but frankly we both trust our own level of maintenance much more than leaving it to someone that's in a for-profit business. A set of tires typically last about 10,000 miles +/- on a motorcycle such as this, so we both are opting to leave with new or nearly new tires. Blackie by virtue of his brand new motorcycle, me by virtue of my wallet. Since the BMWs need an oil change every 6000 miles, we're going to leave with less than 2000 miles each on the clock since the last oil change, and we've built in a day in Anchorage to get an oil change and address any other non-critical maintenance items.

As I mentioned above, one big discussion was the brand of motorcycle. While Harley Davidson was near the top of the list, we decided that the BMW was a better choice for a number of reasons, including better reliability, more load carrying capability, and an overall better design. Now obviously this is subject to a LOT of debate, especially by HD flag wavers, but our research drove us to this conclusion. One advantage HD has is that there are about a half dozen dealerships with service and parts between the continental US and Canada. BMW has one directly on-route in southern Canada (and a couple more within a few hours of the route), but two dealerships in Alaska (Fairbanks and Anchorage). So what we have done in addition to the obvious tire repair kit and powered tire inflator is to add some common parts that can put you out of commission into our kit. Because we both have the same model of BMW with many many common parts even considering the age difference, this helped out a lot with costs for parts we intend to take along. This way we hope to be able to fix any "routine" problem and if it's more than we can handle, we call for help or leave a bike behind and go two-up to find help.

Communication takes several forms. We've removed smoke signals from consideration, so for bike-to-bike we will be using FRS radios. My bike already has a COM system installed, so I will have full push-to-talk, mike and speaker capability. Blackie may get a COM system installed as well (with bluetooth, the lucky SOB - I have wires and more wires), or just go handheld. My bike also came with a CB Radio, which we plan to use for emergency purposes and to get road reports. Lastly, we both have similar GPS systems, ipod capability and I have AM/FM/Weather Radio/XM Radio as well. I think we'll stay entertained :)

OK, thats enough for today, as you can imagine we are putting a whole lot of effort into this to make sure it's an excellent experience. P-Rock, OUT.

The Dingman's Shakeout

P-Rock here

Last Sunday was one of those beautiful April days in the high 60s - you know the ones - they're sandwiched between the 40 degree rainy windy days. Blackie and I made plans to go put some mileage on the LTs. Blackie to run up his break-in miles, and me to shake out any issues with all the maintenance work I've been doing lately.

So we decided to load up the cameras and ride up to Dingman's Falls, near the NY/NJ borders in PA. An excellent ride up and a chance to test our camera skills at the falls. Blackie took us up some nice back roads over Blue Mountain to Rt 209, then up to Stroudsburg, and into the Delaware Water Gap up to Dingman's.

For those of you that know us, Blackie is the real photographer, I'm a rank amateur - but I still enjoy capturing those great shots. Once we got to the falls, the place was pretty much empty, so we stopped and took some shots of a smaller waterfall, then up to the big falls where we climbed up and took shots from every angle. It never ceases to amaze me how powerful water is. We had some very challenging light conditions, but I caught a few shots worth showing, which are included here. On the way back down we encountered several other groups on their way in, and one thing was in common with everyone. Every single person with a digital SLR was carrying Canon equipment. Some pretty good stuff too.

On the way home, we switched steeds for about 20 miles to check out the differences between the older '01 model (mine) and the new '09. I have to say that the '09 is a very smooth ride and the refinements in the dash, controls and small change in steering rake have really tweeked it in the right direction. Also the '09 seat is very nice - although I think it'll get even better after a little more break in (which I may have accelerated with my bulbous you-know-what). One thing is for certain, both of these bikes take motorcycle visibility to another level entirely. Between sheer size, lighting and profile, it would be very hard for a cage to miss us rolling down the highway.

After switching back to our own horses, we rolled down I-80 to PA 715 near the crossings, then took a beautiful ride down 715 back to 209 and back home. It was a total of 175 miles for me, a bit more for Jeff as he had to come up my way to start out. All-in-all a great day (I had raccoon eyes- a sure sign things went well) and with no LT issues at all, I'm a happy camper and I know Jeff is too.

Monday we both went to a local bike apparrel store and purchased armored multi-season jackets. I think this will be a great investment . With shoulder and elbow armor, it should really save the bacon in the crash we all don't ever want to be involved in. Pretty stylish too. I tried one jacket on that Jeff said "made me look like superman". After a big smile and the urge to buy it on the spot, I went with the more practical option for our trip.

I hope you all have a great Easter (if you are the type the celebrates Easter, that is) and we'll be back with more soon.

P

Prelude, Part Deux

P-Rock here.

I've always been one to enjoy getting my hands dirty learning and doing things mechanical. The new BMW motorcycle is no different in that regard. In the past few weeks I've had it reasonably disassembled multiple times for maintenance and improvements. This last round of work was by far my most ambitious. I had to install a new pair of shocks, a GPS and associated wiring - including an XM satellite receiver tied into the bike's communications system, remove my antique 6 CD changer which was taking up valuable clothing (beer) space, a set of highway pegs and a new set of speakers.

So I proceeded to tear the beast down to it's undies and get started. As you can see it was quite the project, but the end result will be worth it. In order to accomplish all of this work I had to remove the left front, right front, nose, instrument panel and right rear body panels. Then I had to remove the seat, passenger seat, the "Stingray" which houses the radio and com system and the gas tank. I then performed some surgery on the front and rear speaker assemblies to install my new Polk speakers, removed and replaced the front and rear shocks, bolted on the highway pegs and then installed a new shelf for the GPS. This all took place between Friday and Sunday last weekend.

Once wiring was complete I buttoned her all back up (for now). I still have to install a steering damper, a new brake pedal and the trunk lock, but none of those require the major surgery this did. And you know, I did all this work and then had to leave town on business, so I haven't even had the chance to ride it yet with all of the new goodies. I guarantee you it'll get a workout this weekend, so I can get the shocks adjusted to my liking. Also, doing this kind of work gets the bike all dirty and grimy, so it'll be bath time as well. All-in-all, a very satisfying experience. Of course the best news was putting the key in the ignition and having the bike start - no leaks, shorts or other issues - **AND** the GPS worked first time out, including the XM radio. WOOHOO!

Now where did I leave that beer?

P-Rock.