Countdown - 67 days
I started this blog looking for ways to share this adventure with others. I hope that it will still be that way. There's still quite a bit of time before things start 'getting exciting'. But I'm reaching out to my followers and hoping for a little positive feedback. A little nudge from you will go a long way.
Call me selfish. Call me insecure. Call me a little crazy (okay, more than a little). But just call me! Well, you don't have to call me, but give me some feedback, or a comment or something to let me know you are there.
I am grateful that you have been following so early on. I'm grateful that you are following at all. And I'm grateful that you are still following.
Yes, I'm feeling a little lonely about this trip at the moment because I got a rejection letter from Monster Energy this morning. No, not the best way to start a Monday, but then again, I'm not through. They've only rejected the request for a monetary donation to charity. So I've decided to go back to the well and see if they'll still give me some swag to give away on the trip. And yes, sure, I want to have my daily fix of Monsters, but think about it: If you gotta go 600 miles in a day, what's the best way to power your body for endurance? Yup, Monster Energy. Works for me! And hey, if they decide not to go with me, I'm sure I can find another energy drink to power my way. Maybe even one with the cajones to make a donation to a great charity. I'm sure they'll come through.
Much more work to be done yet, and if you'll keep tuning in, I'll keep you up to date. Now how about a little encouragement? ;-)
Gordo's Vancouver Adventure - the Blog!
Gordo and his metal steed, Cheeto!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Back on the Right Track
Countdown - 69 days
If you've been following along, you know that I had a minor electrical malfunction the other day. Actually, it was a brain malfunction, and it was while I was doing electrical work on Cheeto.
Well, since today was a cool, rainy mess, I decided to try and fix the problem I created the other day. And I'm happy to report that there was indeed success! I now have my cig lighter recepticle wired and ready to plug the GPS into. I still haven't tested with with an actual GPS (I'm skeered) but I'll be testing it with a cheap $3 plug-in light tomorrow. If the light blows up, I'm going all the way back to square one. I blew up a continuity tester in all this, so I'm out all of $5 there, but worst is I no longer have a functional continuity tester!
I bought (but haven't yet mounted) a new horn for Cheeto. I'm a huge fan of loud, disturbing horns. [Insert your 'horny' joke here]. So I went to Harbor Freight and found a $10 air horn that I think will work once I can figure out where to mount everything. That's the biggest pain about it. Sure, I could hook this up in a matter of a few seconds, but I want to try and mount all the components in a way that they are visible and aesthetically pleasing OR hidden and functional. And since I couldn't even get the fake plastic 'chrome' horns for $10, I bought some orange spray paint so that I can pain the horns to at least come close to matching the bike. If orange looks crappy, there's always black.
Cleaned both front and rear wheels the other day, using a ton of elbow grease and aluminum polish. Put that shiny crap on the new tires too to give them that fresh, wet-look. Scrubbed Cheeto down and got most of the nooks and crannies clean.
All in all, I'm just an oil change away from being ready to hit the road, and I've still got 69 days to go! Next up will be figuring out how to get folks to donate to the charity - or at least know they have the option. That means website technical stuff and mailing list coordination. I apologize in advance for the solicitations you are about to receive!
If you've been following along, you know that I had a minor electrical malfunction the other day. Actually, it was a brain malfunction, and it was while I was doing electrical work on Cheeto.
Well, since today was a cool, rainy mess, I decided to try and fix the problem I created the other day. And I'm happy to report that there was indeed success! I now have my cig lighter recepticle wired and ready to plug the GPS into. I still haven't tested with with an actual GPS (I'm skeered) but I'll be testing it with a cheap $3 plug-in light tomorrow. If the light blows up, I'm going all the way back to square one. I blew up a continuity tester in all this, so I'm out all of $5 there, but worst is I no longer have a functional continuity tester!
I bought (but haven't yet mounted) a new horn for Cheeto. I'm a huge fan of loud, disturbing horns. [Insert your 'horny' joke here]. So I went to Harbor Freight and found a $10 air horn that I think will work once I can figure out where to mount everything. That's the biggest pain about it. Sure, I could hook this up in a matter of a few seconds, but I want to try and mount all the components in a way that they are visible and aesthetically pleasing OR hidden and functional. And since I couldn't even get the fake plastic 'chrome' horns for $10, I bought some orange spray paint so that I can pain the horns to at least come close to matching the bike. If orange looks crappy, there's always black.
Cleaned both front and rear wheels the other day, using a ton of elbow grease and aluminum polish. Put that shiny crap on the new tires too to give them that fresh, wet-look. Scrubbed Cheeto down and got most of the nooks and crannies clean.
All in all, I'm just an oil change away from being ready to hit the road, and I've still got 69 days to go! Next up will be figuring out how to get folks to donate to the charity - or at least know they have the option. That means website technical stuff and mailing list coordination. I apologize in advance for the solicitations you are about to receive!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
So, I'm not an electrician...sue me.
Countdown - 73 Days
I'm down to the little nitty gritty items now, in preparation mode. I've got all the big stuff done:
Tires, luggage, super good cleaning, brakes, coolant flush, etc. Now it's the little stuff.
Like a better system for powering my Garmin GPS. Prior to today, I had your standard GPS power cable running from a cigarette lighter adapter in my saddlebag all the way up to the front of the bike. Worked fine, but it was a pain in the rumpus to connect and disconnect power to it quickly (without draining my battery).
I have already installed a switch for my Bambi lights (these are an extra set of passing/driving lights that I've mounted on my bike to make sure I see as much of the road in the dusk/dark as possible). The switch works out great (as long as I remember to shut it off). So I thought, why not go ahead and wire the GPS up to that power source and get rid of the 6 foot cable running the length of the bike?
Well, it sounded good. Unfortunately, I must have wired something funky because as soon as I plugged the GPS in, I got nothing. No flash of the screen, no smell of burning wires, nothing. It just wouldn't power up. Ever. Even just trying to power up using the internal battery didn't work. I even tried plugging it into the lighter socket in my car, in case I had a short somewhere, but no dice. So, apparently I blew it up.
So now I have to decide whether I want to get a different GPS mounting system and take my wife's other GPS (wider, newer, cooler), or just replace my old one. Either way, we're looking at a nice unexpected expense. And since Garmin stopped making my cheap model a couple years ago, I'll have to resort to Ebay and cross my fingers.
And before I do anything else, I'm checking with the nearest electrical expert (or Radio Shack store manager) and making sure that what I have wired now won't burn out another GPS or give me one helluva shock riding down the road.
As Matt would say, "That's how you learn these things." Yeah? Well I'd much rather learn by NOT spending all that extra dough on replacement items! I even tried to pep talk myself into doing it right. I kept saying, "Gordo - be smarter!" Didn't work.
I'm down to the little nitty gritty items now, in preparation mode. I've got all the big stuff done:
Tires, luggage, super good cleaning, brakes, coolant flush, etc. Now it's the little stuff.
Like a better system for powering my Garmin GPS. Prior to today, I had your standard GPS power cable running from a cigarette lighter adapter in my saddlebag all the way up to the front of the bike. Worked fine, but it was a pain in the rumpus to connect and disconnect power to it quickly (without draining my battery).
I have already installed a switch for my Bambi lights (these are an extra set of passing/driving lights that I've mounted on my bike to make sure I see as much of the road in the dusk/dark as possible). The switch works out great (as long as I remember to shut it off). So I thought, why not go ahead and wire the GPS up to that power source and get rid of the 6 foot cable running the length of the bike?
Well, it sounded good. Unfortunately, I must have wired something funky because as soon as I plugged the GPS in, I got nothing. No flash of the screen, no smell of burning wires, nothing. It just wouldn't power up. Ever. Even just trying to power up using the internal battery didn't work. I even tried plugging it into the lighter socket in my car, in case I had a short somewhere, but no dice. So, apparently I blew it up.
So now I have to decide whether I want to get a different GPS mounting system and take my wife's other GPS (wider, newer, cooler), or just replace my old one. Either way, we're looking at a nice unexpected expense. And since Garmin stopped making my cheap model a couple years ago, I'll have to resort to Ebay and cross my fingers.
And before I do anything else, I'm checking with the nearest electrical expert (or Radio Shack store manager) and making sure that what I have wired now won't burn out another GPS or give me one helluva shock riding down the road.
As Matt would say, "That's how you learn these things." Yeah? Well I'd much rather learn by NOT spending all that extra dough on replacement items! I even tried to pep talk myself into doing it right. I kept saying, "Gordo - be smarter!" Didn't work.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Baby Has Brand New Shoes!
Countdown - 82 Days
Cheeto got some new shoes! By the way, if you haven't been following along with this blog, Cheeto is the name of my motorcycle. She's orange, with flames, and lots of character. She's an 8 year old, with lots of experience. She's got 1,100 cc's of power and her bloodline is pure Honda. And now she has new shoes as part of the preparation for the Vancouver Adventure. "Shoes" in this case are tires.
Without boring the non-rider too terribly much, I've used Metzler Marathon 880's for past couple of years. This time I've switched over to Avon Venoms. My wife's bike has the same brand and she swears by them. So do many of our friends, so I may as well try them. I've not been disappointed by the Metzlers, but it's time to broaden my horizons.
Aside from tires, I've got other preps ready: coolant flush, oil change, etc. Those are relatively easy. The tires on the other hand, were not. Let this edition of the blog be a bit of tribute to friends.
My buddies Matt and Roger hooked me up with the service on the tires. Roger has all the equipment and much of the knowledge. Matt has the knowledge, experience and the brawn. Both are excellent teachers. It took a little longer than we expected for the tire switch (remove each wheel, one at a time, take old tire from the wheel, prep the rim, put on new tire, balance it, and re-install the wheel). I suppose if we weren't keeping our whistles wet the whole time, it might go more quickly, but it wouldn't be as much fun.
Matt is the kind of guy would do anything for you. Yeah, that's easy to say about people, but let's face it, if it weren't true, would he have taken the time to drive 6 hours, pull my trailer and bike with his truck, and put up with me for 24 hours, JUST to bring back his son's bike from Roger's house? He is dependable. He's concerned and caring. He's reliable. He's trustworthy. Matt is just a great friend, plain and simple. There's so much more to it, but it really comes down to that.
Roger is much the same. He's the father figure to many of us, or at least that's the way I look at it. He has the mechanical expertise, he has all the tools, and best of all, he has the desire to teach. He's one of the those people you can turn to to trust. He won't pull any punches and he won't blow sunshine up your...well, he won't just say what you want to hear. He's brutally honest, and that's appreciated.
So thanks to these two great guys, I'm a very large leap forward in being ready for 'kickstand up' time. And my Cheeto has some sweet new kicks!
Cheeto got some new shoes! By the way, if you haven't been following along with this blog, Cheeto is the name of my motorcycle. She's orange, with flames, and lots of character. She's an 8 year old, with lots of experience. She's got 1,100 cc's of power and her bloodline is pure Honda. And now she has new shoes as part of the preparation for the Vancouver Adventure. "Shoes" in this case are tires.
Without boring the non-rider too terribly much, I've used Metzler Marathon 880's for past couple of years. This time I've switched over to Avon Venoms. My wife's bike has the same brand and she swears by them. So do many of our friends, so I may as well try them. I've not been disappointed by the Metzlers, but it's time to broaden my horizons.
Aside from tires, I've got other preps ready: coolant flush, oil change, etc. Those are relatively easy. The tires on the other hand, were not. Let this edition of the blog be a bit of tribute to friends.
My buddies Matt and Roger hooked me up with the service on the tires. Roger has all the equipment and much of the knowledge. Matt has the knowledge, experience and the brawn. Both are excellent teachers. It took a little longer than we expected for the tire switch (remove each wheel, one at a time, take old tire from the wheel, prep the rim, put on new tire, balance it, and re-install the wheel). I suppose if we weren't keeping our whistles wet the whole time, it might go more quickly, but it wouldn't be as much fun.
Matt is the kind of guy would do anything for you. Yeah, that's easy to say about people, but let's face it, if it weren't true, would he have taken the time to drive 6 hours, pull my trailer and bike with his truck, and put up with me for 24 hours, JUST to bring back his son's bike from Roger's house? He is dependable. He's concerned and caring. He's reliable. He's trustworthy. Matt is just a great friend, plain and simple. There's so much more to it, but it really comes down to that.
Roger is much the same. He's the father figure to many of us, or at least that's the way I look at it. He has the mechanical expertise, he has all the tools, and best of all, he has the desire to teach. He's one of the those people you can turn to to trust. He won't pull any punches and he won't blow sunshine up your...well, he won't just say what you want to hear. He's brutally honest, and that's appreciated.
So thanks to these two great guys, I'm a very large leap forward in being ready for 'kickstand up' time. And my Cheeto has some sweet new kicks!
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