US MotoGP D-Day -4 hours

4 hours to go
Only 4 more hours until we begin our adventure. We are ready, locked and loaded. We wake up at 4:00 am and hopefully be on the road by 4:30. Bikes are fueled, loaded, and we couldn't be more ready. It is even tough sleeping, but I gotta sleep before I hit the road.

Today was spent cleaning up loose ends at work and some minor details like getting new earbugs for our iPods, paying bills, doing last minute things for customers. Adam is feeling much, much better and is ready for the trip. He is still a bit sick but is off the pain medication and has been eating full meals for two days, so he is getting some weight back. He plans to take the pain pills at night and Tylenol during the day, plus his antibiotics. He also got his new iPod back that was replaced under warranty and got all his music downloaded to it. We will be rocking and rolling. I would have liked to have had XM radios for both bikes, but the portable ones for bikes are about $300 each so I nixed that idea. The little cheap ones at less than $100 really don't work on bikes very well without hard wiring, which I don't want to do on a sport bike. I think XM or Sirius radio is going to be a great thing for motorcycle entertainment, since you never lose coverage while you travel.

We are checking out, hopefully can post some info in the next couple of days.

US MotoGP D-Day -2

36 Hours to go

The time is approaching - but not fast enough. Adam and I are both watching the hours tick slowly by like the last drops of oil dripping from your bike's drain plug. Drip, drip, drip - oh the agony. The bikes are completely ready and we did final packing tonight. Every nook and cranny of our Coretech softbags are stuffed full. No souvenirs for us. We have clothes for 5 days and will be doing laundry on the trip. Adam and I both took the bikes out for a quick test spin in the neighborhood to get a feel for the weight and to make sure everything was strapped down good. I think we are set.

Being the adventure traveling family, we don't have a set route for our trip. No hotel reservations, no firm dates we have to be anywhere except Friday morning at Laguna Seca, nothing but our bikes and gear, credit card and some cash and a general idea of where we want to go.

Our general plan is to ride out I-40 so we can make time across the hot Texas panhandle and get to the cool air and twisted roads of the mountains as quickly as possible. Our first night we plan to spend in Red River, New Mexico. This is one of our favorite stops. The town is a small mountain ski town, just right for motorcycles.

Next we plan to ride up into Colorado and catch a bunch of winding roads up and down through the Rockies. Maybe spend the night in Cortez, before launching off our third day for southern Utah. One of my all time favorite roads is Highway 12 out of Escalante. We want to cross the Colorado River basin early in the morning while it is cool and get to the mountains west of the river before it starts getting hot again. Third night maybe stay in the Salt Lake City area, then high tail it across the Nevada deserts to California and ride those roads until Friday morning when we get to the races.

After the races we plan to ride the pacific coast highway north to Oregon and Washington, then across the US/Canadian border to Montana, then follow the Rockies back south to Colorado and home.

That is our plan in general, we will modify it as we go.

35 hours and counting!

US MotoGP D-Day minus 3

Today I had business in Dallas all day so I didn't get much time to work on the bikes until I got home. We have the bikes pretty well all set to go with just a few minor details to attend to. Here is some of the modifications we have done for the trip.

Navigation
I am a pilot so have been using GPS navigation for years in my airplanes. After trying several different units on motorcycles over the years I have settled on Garmin for my GPS equipment. On my bike I have mounted a Garmin 276C. It is a marine unit that also can be used for vehicle navigation. It is water, shock and dust proof so is well suited to the rigors of motorcycle use. I have used this unit extensively off-road and it is bulletproof. I put in a Powerlet plug on my left front fairing panel so that I could plug the GPS into motorcycle power. A RAM mount bolted to the front brake reservoir holds the GPS. You can't even tell it is there when the GPS is off the bike. Adam has a Garmin 60c that is battery powered. He is also using a RAM mount. With only 56MB of RAM the 60c doesn't have enough memory for all our maps but at least he can get some for key areas. The 276C has a 256MB data card so I can load detailed topographic maps for just about our entire route. I love using a GPS for motorcycle navigation. It allows me to see the roads and curves ahead, where the roads lead, if there are upcoming intersections or towns, and make decisions before I get to a crossroads rather than while I am driving through the crossroad. I just won't hardly travel without one.

Radar Detector
We both are using Escort radar detectors on our bikes. We have the H.A.R.D. Helmet Assisted Radar Detector system that provides wireless radar notification to your helmet display. There is a HARD transmitter wired in-line to the radar detector, and a HARD receiver that velcro's to your helmet. A small red LED runs inside your helmet and lights up when the radar detector goes off. If you slam on the brakes immediately, viola! No ticket. Motorcycles have such a small radar cross section that if you are smart and use other traffic as a "radar shield" you are pretty well invisible to radar. You can detect the radar well before they can detect you. Even with the instant-on systems, if there is any traffic around, you will see the cop flash their radar at the vehicles ahead, so you have plenty of time to slow down before he flashes you with the instant on radar.
What I have read is that you have about 1-2 seconds to get your speed down before the radar can lock on you. Hence, my philosophy is if the light flashes the brake smashes. So far I have never even been pulled over when using the HARD system. You have to be smart and not just speed oblivious to your surroundings, but if you are smart, use traffic to your advantage, watch out for eyes in the sky, you can regularly make good time and significantly reduce your risk of getting a citation.

Tank Bag
In the past I have used all types of tank bags, ranging from strap on to magnetic. I like the magnetic bags the best, but the CBR has a plastic faux tank so magnetics don't work. I hate having those straps all over the bike, plus they tend to rub the paint off. I found these Luggage Locker lock on tank bags that don't touch the paint and lock onto the bike. They look a bit strange but seem to work just fine. I have only used mine on one trip so far but I think it is going to work out OK. You install the mounting ring by removing three bolts on the gas tank port. When you get back from your trip, just remove the mounting ring and you are back to stock condition.

Hope this works out well. I think it looks kind of ugly when off the bike but I like the fact that it doesn't scratch the tank and seems pretty sturdy. It is easy to remove so I think it is going to be fine.
Luggage
I have tried all types of luggage over the years, from soft to hard bags, factory and aftermarket. Adam had a set of Coretech sportbike bags that I really liked so I got a set also. His worked great when we went to Birmingham for the AMA Superbike races at Barber. It poured rain on us for 6 hours, coming down in sheets. He put the covers on his bags and they stayed as dry as could be. They also look pretty cool. We both have the tailbag and the saddlebags. I decided to get me a set and try them out. The CBR and most late model sport bikes have a very wide rear tail section so it is a bit of an awkward fit. I to like the center up exhaust and the fac that that the CBR exhaust is tucked in tight. This saves the luggage from exhaust burns. When I looked at bikes I really liked the looks of the Yamaha R1, but the center up exhaust on that bike really didn't work well for soft luggage, so I ruled it out.

Adam Sick

My really big worry at the moment is that Adam has been really, really sick for about a week now. He has a severe sore throat that has kept him from eating. He has lost 14 lbs from his 162 lb frame, so he is just skin and bones right now and is very weak. We took him to the doctor on Saturday and to the ER on Sunday. After the medication they gave him he is starting to feel slightly better, but he is really weak so I am quite concerned about being able to leave on Friday. I don't want him riding a high performance sportbike when he is on painkillers or otherwise not feeling up to snuff. Today he was much better than yesterday, so hopefully he will be recovered enough by Friday so that we can keep our original schedule. If not we may have to delay our departure a day or so for him to fully recover.

Packing

Both bikes are packed and pretty well ready to go. We did oil changes and new tires last week so the only thing left is just a few minor details and final packing. We plan to tent camp for most of our trip. Our tents and sleeping bags are made for backpackers, so they are light and compact - great for a sportbike. We will eat in restaurants so we won't have to carry food. We will be in our riding gear most of the time so the only clothes we are taking are some hiking pants that you can zip the legs out for shorts, along with socks, tshirts and underwear. We just take enough for about 5 days and then hit the laundromat on the way. All our stuff packs up small and tight so we can fit it in the Coretech luggage. Rain gear is essential for a long trip, so we have some good rain gear that has proven reliable in multiple downpours. I am taking a very small Sony laptop and my Nikon D70 digital camera so that I can update our blog while on the road. I also have a point and shoot Canon, but I hate point and shoot cameras so decided to make room for the SLR even if it means leaving something else at home.

We are both pumped and ready to go. Adam was home sick again today so he got to watch motorcycle shows on cable all day. He said that helps him get fired up and hopefully get over being sick.

Three more days and hopefully we will be on the road!

Hallett track day

Here is a picture of Adam at a recent Hallett track day. This was before I got my CBR or I would have been passing him like he was tied to a Fat Boy. Those red bikes are just so darn slow, I guess that paint has some type of friction or something. The silver ones are just SO much faster, I guess they have that special aerodynamic paint that generates the extra speed. I'm just gonna have to show him who is boss when we get in the twisties!

US MotoGP D-Day minus 4

Well folks, this is my first blog. Hope you like it.

My son and I have been planning a motorcycle trip from our home in the Oklahoma City suburbs to watch the MotoGP races in Monterrey California. We will both be mounted on 2004 Honda CBR1000RR's. My son Adam has the slower red one, while I have the much faster silver one;) I purchased tickets in October 2004, 10 months in advance.

We are really pumped and have scheduled 17 days for our trip. The goal is to ride every twisty, crooked, switchbacked piece of pavement we can find between OKC and California, then ride north to Washington and do the same thing on the way home. This ain't no sissy ride. Our goal is to ride the wheels off the bikes. No sightseeing (except from the bike at high rates of speed), no setting at starbucks waiting for it to warm up, no stopping to visit or shop - just ride, ride, ride. Hopefully we will wear the edges of our tires off by the time we get to Laguna Seca and have to put a new set on for the trip back.

Today I put a new Bridgestone Battleax 012 on the rear of my CBR. The OEM tire was only worn about 1/2 down, but I wanted new rubber for the trip. I kept the old tire and will probably use it up when I get home.

Anybody dealt with these new bike-specific tires? Adam's CBR came with Pirelli Diablo Corsa's and mine with the Bridgestones. Both tire manufacturers make tires specifically for the CBR1000RR only. I was unable to find replacements locally for a decent price so I had to purchase the generic tires - 190/50's. While the OEM tires are the same size, they have a G designation making them bike specific. You can see the OEM tire has a flatter profile than the generic tires. Adam has had the generic Corsa's on his bike for a couple of weeks and he said it changes the handling, makes the bike prone to turn in.

Anyway, tonight I mounted the new rear on my bike. 95 degrees makes for a hot job. I have included some pictures of me getting my bike ready.

Adam's bike in the garage, packed with bags and just about ready to go.

Mike bike waiting on the rear tire. It is nearly 100 degrees today, I am NOT looking forward to this.

My tire is ready for mounting. The OEM tire I plan to remount when I get home since it has about 50% tread left. Maybe use it for a track day.

Boy, got that job done. It was pretty easy but HOT. I have been impressed with the CBR, Honda just has good engineering.

Hope you don't mind my screwed up pictures, this is my first try at blogging so I am still figuring all this out.