Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Beemers and Pancakes

Every year around this time my motorcycle club (http://www.yankeebeemers.org/) does a ride to Gould's Sugar House in Shelburne Falls MA for the seasonal closing of the restaurant. I met Marc, Valerie, and New Guy Ray at our usual Hwy 2 meeting spot and we took 2 to meet the rest of the group in Orange MA. We hung out in Orange for about an hour. Marc had a "super secret" route planned for the ride to Gould's, but a few others were planning the same route so it wasn't much of a secret. In order to prevent getting stuck behind a bunch of motorcycles, we jumped out a little early and started the route ahead of everyone so we could move along at our own pace. It was a great ride with lots of twisted roads to negotiate. It was a technical ride and definitely not for a beginner. We took so many turns that there is no way I could do that route again without Marc. He's got it memorized. I'd like to do it again this weekend, but I think we're heading to Vermont. Anyway, we did about two hours of riding before arriving at Gould's for some pancakes and conversation. Marc and Valerie had to go home after lunch, but New Guy and I had some time to do a little more riding. We did a nice loop around Heath MA including a bit of gravel which is always fun to me. We dipped into southern Vermont for a little while on VT100 and VT9 before linking with 119 through southern NH and then dipping back into Mass along 119 to Moto Market in Acton. Moto Market is a cycle gear shop. I ordered a cable from them and had to pick it up. It is a cable to replace the one I have that goes from my iPod to the helmet so I can listen to the iPod on the road. We got there just a few minutes before they closed. A couple other club members were there so we chatted for a bit and then New Guy and I booked it home. He lives in Medford which is near Chelsea so we basically took the same way home. It was a nice day on the road.

Monday, October 18, 2010

IBR preparations continue. The boxes are arriving on a regular basis. I received my cb and comm system late last week. I think the fuel cell will be the last thing to arrive. Once I get that, I will bring the bike to the shop. I did a nice little ride yesterday. The Yankee Beemers monthly breakfast was in Mendon MA yesterday. I met a group in Cambridge early Sunday morning and we cut through some backroads to get to Mendon. After breakfast a few of us did a backroad route to the Vanilla Bean coffee shop in Pomfret CT. Someone from the club mapped the route and I loaded it into the GPS. We split into two groups. I hate riding with more than three people in tow. We must not have matching map sets because my GPS took us through a CT state park with nothing but gravel and boulders for a road. It was an interesting challenge to get through there. We hung out at the Bean for a couple hours before riding the high-speed pavement back to Boston. It looks like I will be nominated for a club officer position for next year. More on that in another post. I spent some time last night mapping out a local 1,000 mile loop which includes a border crossing into Canada and back into the U.S. I think it will be a decent prep route for running some local weekend SS rides before the big event. I've also mapped-out a cross-country BBG3000 and SS3000 I would like to do before next June. The tough thing is finding the time to do these things.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Iron Butt Rally Prep

The tag line for the Iron Butt Rally is 11 Days 11,000 Miles. That is true, but I have heard it as 11 Days 11,000 Dollars. I am in the process of modifying my bike for the Rally and it is quite the ordeal. I have a checklist of items and a schedule to get things done well in advance of the Rally in June. I want the bike to be totally tricked-out by February. I want to break everything in and get used to the bike and the modifications. It is going to be a completely different ride when I am done with it. Some of the farkles and mods include: Ohlins suspension upgrade, digital HID headlight replacement kit, 4.5 gallon aux fuel cell, custom fuel cell cover, cb, satellite radio, communications system, and a bunch of other stuff. I don't think it will amount to $11,000, but it is still a lot of stuff to buy. I have been chatting back and forth this week with the guy who is building my fuel cell. He is in Washington state. The base for the cell is the passenger seat on the bike so I had to scour the internet to find a used seat to send to him. I did not want to ruin the one I have because I am thinking I won't have the cell on the bike all the time and want to be able to swap it out with my seat. I found one on a BMW forum board and it is being sent to my guy in Washington now. Once the cell is done in a couple weeks, I will have it sent to the woman who is going to make a custom cover for it in Florida. A lot of moving pieces to coordinate all of this, but I love doing that stuff. So far, the plan is working and things are moving along. The good thing about this fuel cell is that it is basically plug and play. He is building the cell, mounting it on the seat base, and will be providing all the necessary plumbing to connect it to the tank. I've heard good things about his tanks so I am looking forward to that modification. With the addition of the fuel cell, I will have a range of almost 400 miles without having to stop for gas. For everything else, the plan right now is to get everything ordered and then have my mechanic install everything that I can't do myself which is most of it. Their labor rates are significantly discounted during the winter months so I will have them do it in December.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Colors in the Catskills

I was out the door by 4:30 am on Saturday. I made good time up to Hunter Mountain in Hunter NY for the Colors in the Catskills Rally and Oktoberfest. The Rally was organized by the BMW Motorcyle Owners of America (http://www.bmwmoa.org/) and sponsored by Max BMW. I wanted to get there early and sign-up for the demo rides. The BMW demo truck was there with about 20 demo bikes available for rides. As I prepare my bike for the Iron Butt Rally, it is going to be less and less of a canyon carving sport touring bike and more and more of a long haul long distance trucker so I was looking forward to testing out some potential new bikes. I would really like to have a second bike for my weekend rides. I wanted to test the BMW K1300S model bike. I got to take one out for a 30-minute ride on Saturday and I was ready to buy it after spending five minutes on it. It's a perfect fit. It has gear shift assist so you don't even need to use the clutch to shift up. You can just hammer on the throttle and speed shift up. Very cool. I spent the day riding demo bikes and hanging out with a few friends then made my way back home. I started the Iron Butt Rally spending frenzy today with the purchase of a new Garmin Zumo 550 GPS. What's better than having one GPS? Why having two of course. Now I will be able to have a route mapped on one GPS and manage scenerios, options, and timing with the second one without interrupting the routing on the primary GPS. I've heard good things about the Zumo 550. It is a rugged waterproof GPS so it should be serviceable on the RT in all sorts of conditions. Many more farkles to come.