Great Lakes Tour: Prep Work

My next moto adventure is a tour of the Great Lakes -- hope to dip a toe in all five of them! I'll be hitting the road next week. With the research and planning accomplished, this weekend has been all about prepping the bike(s) for the 3,800 mile loop between there and OKC. With Hurricane Ike unloading a steady drizzle on Oklahoma Saturday and me hanging near the TV to watch the MotoGP race from Indy on Sunday (I actually had tickets to attend, but that's another story), there hasn't been much else to do besides wrestle with tire changes.

I'm not 100% certain which bike I'm taking on this trip, so being the glutton for punishment that I am, I prepped two. The ZZR would be mighty nice for blasting up there and back, since my sightseeing plans are focused on my birth town of Altoona, Pennsylvania and the Great Lakes region. Everything between OKC and points north will just be a blur as I cover maximum ground in a minimal amount of time. On the other hand, when it comes to sitting up and enjoying the scenery, as well as pulling off pavement pretty much anywhere I choose, you can't beat the Tiger. I'm pretty sure the Tiger's gonna win the argument, but to leave all my options open until I actually climb in the saddle and ride out of the driveway, I prepped both bikes.

The ZZR didn't need much -- just a new rear tire and a couple quick shots of grease to the swing arm (it's so nice to have grease fittings back there and not have to remove the whole swingarm to get at the bearings!). The new lift sure made things easier on my old achy back. I mounted my favorite sport-touring tire on the Kawasaki, an Avon Storm.



The Tiger also needed a new rear tire, plus an oil change. Tire of choice: Metzler Tourance. Even though the front tire on the Tiger was fairly new, it had been displaying a wobble at around 90 mph, especially when caught in the tail wash of a big truck. The wobble had lessoned as the tire scrubbed in, but was still there. Hoping it's a balance issue, I pulled the tire and rotated it 180 degrees on the wheel. We'll see if that eliminates the wobble.





As always, there's just something drop-dead-sexy about brand new rubber.



I had help on my tire changing: my daughter's new Morky pup, Kai. Lacking in thumbs, he couldn't offer much more than encouragement, but he did keep me company all day long.



Only thing to do now is pack...