Intermission

Got an email today:

"You are receiving this e-mail because of your application for a ride
certification. This note is to let you know that your ride has been
approved and although your ride documents may take a few more weeks to
arrive, your membership has also been approved and entered into the
Iron Butt Association's member database.

Welcome to the Iron Butt Association!"

Woohooo!!! 

The ride documentation (from January 2007) was finally mailed sometime last month, so the good news is that the IBA seems to be getting really fast with turnaround.

Of course, this can't be encouraging for all of you waiting for the rest of my trip report. Yeah, I procrastinate sometimes.

//I'm working on the whole trip report thing. Really!

///IBA #33634 

////dances off in glee

42k Service, Tires, & Pre-trip update

I broke all the rules by doing the 42,000 mile service on the R1200ST over the weekend (@42500 miles).  I leave on an 11 day tour this Thursday.

I started Saturday morning by reinstalling the wheels (new rear tire and remounted a spare front tire). 

Sidenote: Big Thanks to Patrick at Motorcycles Unlimited. He'd reserved a Z6 for me when I called on the previous Tuesday morning, but when I got there Tuesday afternoon, he asked me if I'd like a just delivered Pilot Road 2 instead. These are the first PR2s that he's recieved, so he asked for a review after I'd put some miles on them. I was sad to report that they would see 1600 miles of I-10 before they ever see twisty roads.

After a quick breakfast, I pulled the valve covers and did a valve adjust following Jim VanBaden's excellent tutorial. I finished by changing the engine and transmission oil. The bike was buttoned back up by 1:30.

On Sunday I packed all my camping gear into a large tail bag and dropped it off at my parents house. They'll carry it to Santa Barbara for me, simplifying my load for the 2-day I-10 run from Houston to Santa Barbara.

Steven, a very good friend from 4-H and also one of my college roommates, is getting married this Saturday. I plan to attend the very casual wedding (Santa Maria style Tri-Tip BBQ, anyone?) and then embark on a California and Southwest US (mostly Utah) tour. I'll end the trip with 2 nights in Alpine, TX for the Sport-Touring.Net Region 2 meet.

Keep an eye on this blog starting Thursday!

First Look: SPOT Satellite Personal Messenger

The first of my holiday presents to myself arrived (or rather, was picked up) this evening at my local REI.

This little gadget has gotten a fair amount of notice in the motorcycle touring world. I've been scouring the net for reviews ever since it came out in the beginning of November.

From the manufacturer:

"SPOT. The World’s First Satellite Messenger.
With the SPOT Satellite Messenger, you and your loved one have peace of mind knowing help is always within reach. SPOT is the only device of its kind, using the GPS satellite network to acquire its coordinates, and then sending its location – with a link to Google Maps™ – and a pre-programmed message via a commercial satellite network. And unlike Personal Locator Beacons, SPOT does more than just call for help. Tracking your progress, checking in with loved ones, and non-emergency assistance are also available, all at the push of a button. And because it uses 100% satellite technology, SPOT works around the world – even where cell phones don't."

As a solo tourer, I know that my family worries about me all the time when I'm thousands of miles from home in the middle of nowhere. While cell coverage in the sticks improves every year, I still often find myself in places with no signal.

Because it uses a satellite network, the SPOT works where cell phones don't. With the press of a button, I can automagically notify my family and closest friends not only that I'm ok, but my exact coordinates.

Another button lets them know that I need help. Yet another button (to be pressed only in emergencies) calls 911, summoning Search and Rescue to my exact location.

SPOT also has a tracking function. When I enable it, people that I've given login information to can watch my progress on a map updated every 10 minutes.

Conventional PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons) are more powerful and hardened, but basically exist just for emergencies. They can cost $500 and up. Satellite phones are also expensive and make no sense for me to carry around for day to day use.

The SPOTs extra communication features and economical entry cost ($150 for the unit, $150/year for service) are an acceptable trade-off for beacon power to me. SPOT is waterproof.

The packaging was attractive, lithium batteries were included, and online account set up was super easy. I set the unit outside on my patio in clear view of the sky and pressed the "I'm OK" button. A few minutes later I had an email in my inbox with a link to my coordinates in Google Maps.

I'll do more extensive testing of the non-emergency features this month and report back with a more comprehensive review.

So far, I'm happy. Now, off to educate my parents....

Some Websites I've been Tracking Lately

http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm
http://home.nps.gov/yell/planyourvisit/hours.htm
http://www.cotrip.org/atis/web.Travel_ConditionsMarshal?Travel_Conditions=0&mode=html

Signs

I’ve enjoyed collecting signs in the past, but now I need to get serious about it. A couple of the forums I’m on have “signs” threads…and for the amount of travel that I do, I’m woefully behind.

I’ll update this post periodically.

States Visited by Motorcycle

State Welcome Signs:

National Park Signs:

National Park Service Signs:

Other Signs:

June Tour

I've been waffling for a while over whether to front or rear-load my June tour and appearance at the ST.N national meet (June 13 in Custer, SD).

I finally decided (and officially office-calendared) on June 11-22 off work, which means that I'll have roughly 4 days (Arkansas, Missouri, Wisconsin?) to get to Custer, SD, and then over a week to spend exploring Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and wherever else whim takes me. (yeah, the route isn't set yet).

Aaaaand, be watching the blog this weekend for my New Mexico trip. I've put in 40+ hours in 3 days at work this week trying to get some drawings out for a deadline....and I'm SOOOOO ready for some seat-time. Motorcycle seat, that is.

BIG Smiles

It was truly beautiful this evening...80 degrees, clearing skies with low humidity.

I got home from work around 7pm, perfect timing to finish installing the seat and bags onto the BMW and do a short shakedown ride to the TWTex bike night at PO's Burgers.

I had almost forgotten how much the R1200ST *growls*. :D

I'm happy to report that there are no immediately noticeable problems with the front end. I have an appointment to have the brakes bled and new brake pads installed at the dealer on Saturday.

Oh...and....I think....I *might* have to give the ST a bath. I was getting a lot of grief tonight over the fact that the cleanest thing on the bike was the front wheel. If you'll remember, the last time I rode it was in that huge Dallas dust storm in late February. Yeah. It's dirty.

Roadside Assistance

When I got my license to drive at age 16, my parents handed me a AAA card along with the keys to the car. I vividly remember the first time I locked the keys into the car and had to wait an hour or so for the tow truck to come rescue me. A few of those experiences later and I was sold-for-life on having some kind of roadside assistance plan.

In September 2004 I found myself in Brady, TX with a broken motorcycle and no real plan. AAA (or at least the California version at that particular time) had no coverage for motorcycles, and I was roughly 2000 miles from home. Luckily, my parents lived half a day away, so Mom and Dad graciously wasted a day driving back and forth across Texas to rescue me, and then provided lodging for my Yamaha in their garage until I could drive back and retrieve it.

I was prepared in 2005. The AMA has a roadside assistance program called “Motow” for a little extra money on top of the membership fee. Happily, my mishaps in 2005 were minor or close to home and I never utilized the service. I dropped AMA membership after a year, mainly because I didn’t agree with many of their key lobbying issues (but that’s not a subject for this post).

My motorcycle roadside assistance needs were theoretically covered in 2006 by the plan provided by BMW with purchase of a new motorcycle. I am very thankful that I never needed the plan, because it covers shockingly little…

…which brings me to 2007… and a little matter of running over some lumber in the road. I was 115 miles from home. Through barest luck, my dad was around that weekend and able to drop what he was doing to drive 4 hours round trip to rescue me yet again.

But what if I’d been living on my own? What if Dad hadn’t been available? What if all my other truck-owning friends were out riding and thus unreachable?

For that matter, what if I’d been 1000 miles from home with a broken down bike? It’s happened before and it’s eminently possible that it will happen again, possibly even this summer while I’m out on one of my various tours.

As a frequent long-distance sport-tourer, motorcycle roadside assistance is something that has been on my mind many times in the past few years. I’ve done a lot of research on different plans and options. I’ve read countless discussions on various forums and mailings lists. I *think* I’ve found the best option.

KOA RVRoadhelp.

For about $80/year, you get unlimited towing to the nearest “capable service provider”. From every review I’ve read, unlimited really means unlimited. If you’re 200 miles from the nearest real town in the middle of Nevada, well, the towing is covered. No other plan (that I’ve seen at least) provides this level of service. The plan covers all your vehicles, not just the motorcycles.

It also includes a KOA Value Kard for discounted camping at KOAs. Some people may not ever use this, but it’s been something I’ve purchased pretty much every year for the past few years. I stay at KOAs often when on tour.

I’ve been putting it off, but I finally signed up this morning… so whatever happens (knock on wood) my 2007 summer touring season is covered.

Update

It's been a while....

The NEW wheel I ordered finally came in and I picked it up at my favorite little local motorcycle shop yesterday. It's ready to go with a fresh Pilot Road tire and a nice shiny, bug-free finish (Oooooh shiny!). I still need to install my brake rotors and ABS-ring before the R1200ST can come down off it's perch on the car jack.

I'm also in urgent need of some new brake pads. I'm slightly bitter at my local shop for talking me out of ordering them a week ago. But really.. I love my shop. They mostly do Japanese bikes, so I understand them being a little confused by the peculiarities of my BMW.

The conversation went like this...

A week (or so) ago:
Me: "I'm ordering this outrageously expensive new wheel. I know that I need new front brake pads too. Should I buy them now too?"
Shop: "Nah...we've got plenty of brake pads in stock. You can pick them up when you pick up the wheel in a week."

Yesterday:
Me: "Oooh...nice wheel. Looks good. So how about those brake pads?"
Shop: "Let me just look in my handy dandy catalog to check what brake pads your bike takes. Oh! We don't stock those. Would you like me to order them for you?"
Me: ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH. No. I'll order them online and get them shipped to my door.

Today:
Me (looking online at aftermarket pads): BACKORDERED?!?!?!?! Til mid-April?!?!?!?!

Spring Schedule

My Spring 2007 Riding Schedule is starting to come together.

March 23-25 – A quick ride to Kerrville for the BMWSportTouring.com Hill Country Rally.

April 21 - I’ll be tagging New Mexico as I head to Cloudcroft for the Sport-Touring.Net Region 2 Meet and Eat.

May 4-6 – Find me in Junction, TX at CheapSTOC for more spectacular Texas Hill Country riding.

June – The Sport-Touring.Net National Meet is in Custer,SD on the 13th. I’m planning to make a two-week tour out of it. I haven’t yet decided whether to front or back load this trip.

July 12-15 - My Uncle Rob and Aunt Debbie are attending the BMW MOA Rally in Milwaukee, WI. I would really like to join them there. I'll have to see how vacation time and logistics arrangements work out. At least it's only a 1.5 day ride away. ;)

August - My little sister, Jessica, is getting married to her long-time boyfriend Dave. Congrats to the happy couple! I'll be attending the wedding in San Diego, CA. I may be riding out there... haven't decided yet.

September 21-23 – I’ll head to Eureka Springs, AR for the Central Sport-Touring.Net meet.

A Busy Schedule

I think I complained back in October about my busy schedule of motorcycling social events during the week. This week was busier than most.

Monday:
Rebecca’s first weekly Sugarland Coffee Meet was a hit! Replacing our Monday Night Football for a few months, we had a great turnout at a little café off of US59. Rebecca’s report and pics are on her blog here.

Tuesday:
I had an office dinner this week at a very nice restaurant in The Woodlands and couldn’t make it this time, but Patricia documented a very nice turnout at my normal PO’s Burgers meet in Cypress.

Wednesday:
It’s normally my quiet evening at home, but some sharp eyes had noticed a short blurb in my community newsletter about a new meet in the neighborhood. I stopped by briefly after dinner to meet eight riders who live in my community. It was a good mix, with a Kawi sportbike, an Aprilia scooter, two Harleys, and several metric cruisers.

Thursday:
I headed down to Ming’s Café at Montrose and Westheimer for some yummy Chinese food and some Italian, British, and German metal. The café’s owner beamed over his Ducati while assuring me that it’s meant to be an All Brands Bike Night and EVERYBODY is welcome.

Friday:
And now, it being just a few minutes past 6pm, I’ll head out for a quiet Friday night at home. I think I’ve done enough this week.

New Gear & One Year on the R1200ST

Just in time for winter.....

I decided a few months ago that my FirstGear Hypertex Air Pants weren't going to cut it for winter. While I don't expect to see any snow, Texas does get colder than California.

After much research and agonizing, I settled on a new Tourmaster Transition jacket, Tourmaster Caliber pants, Sidi Strada Tepor boots, and Racer Multi-top gloves. I updated my gear page with short descriptions of my new gear.

A good in-depth review will have to wait. I've had the stuff for about a week, but only ridden once. The weather has been bad and I had to deal with Cali's illness. Furthermore, I'm leaving for Cancun on Wednesday for an office "retreat" that will last through next weekend.

Look for pictures from Cancun over the next few days, and hopefully a gear review and maintenance write-up once I get back. (Yeah - I still haven't done my 18k service).

In other news, I will have officially been a BMW owner for one year on November 13. In celebration, I finally joined the BMWMOA (BMW Motorcycle Owners Club). The birthday boy R1200ST has 18,800 miles as of today, and I doubt I'll be able to put any more on by the 13th.

STN on hiatus

One of my favorite internet forums, Sport-touring.net, is currently down while some long-needed maintenance is performed. No one quite knows how long that is going to take, so activity levels are up at a couple of regional forums as STN addicts look for another way to get their fix.

For Region 1 (west coast), twist and bsd43 have put up http://www.wcrst.net/forum/

For Region 4 (north central), try http://www.wisconsinmotorcycling.com/

Personalized plate approved

I just took a quick break from packing to open an envelope from the TexDOT. My application for license plate RKTBNY has been approved and I should be able to pick up the plates from the main Harris County Tax Office sometime next week.

Woohoo!!!

Weekend trip to Arkansas!

I'm giddy. I just made hotel reservations in Mena, Arkansas for this Saturday night. Wheeeee!

I'm gonna combine the August TWT pie run with some Arkansas & Oklahoma twisties!

Getting *Legal* and Rear Tire #3

Before work this morning I went up to the Harris County Tax Office in Tomball to get the truck and BMW plated. I was happy to see that there was an actual line to stand in (instead of the voodoo-esque "take a number" system employed by the CA DMV). After filling out a bunch of paperwork and writing a check for $350, I walked out license plates in hand in less than 1.5 hours. I'm told that initial registration is more expensive than renewals.

Now I have to find my social security card so I can go down to a different agency's office and get my drivers license transferred. They have a really convoluted system here.

In other news, at 15,200 miles on the R1200ST, I installed rear tire #3.

This was also my first attempt at maintenance on the ST.

From reading the manual, I knew that I had everything needed except the big T50 torx bit for the rear wheel bolts. I rolled out of bed on Saturday morning and called Cycle Gear to make sure they had the tire I wanted in stock. I had them pull a Pilot Road rear for me. Then I checked with Dad to see if he had Torx bits. He did, but not big enough, so it was time for a quick trip to Lowe's for a full set of Torx bits that would work with my torque wrench (Dad's wouldn't).

Coming home, I grabbed some latex gloves, had Dad help me get the BMW up on the center-stand and then started going through the steps to removing the rear wheel. It was amazingly easy, taking probably 3 minutes. You loosen the clamp on the exhaust, rotate it out of the way, and then remove 5 bolts.

Then it was off to Cycle Gear to get a new tire installed. The guys at CG had previously assured me that they could handle the funky rear wheel, but it turned out that they were unable to balance it because of the huge axle hole. Their spacers didn't go big enough. I ended up taking the wheel down to the BMW dealer to get it balanced. I think I might have to invest in a Marc Parnes balancing axle (~$150) so that I don't have to run around like this again.

Back home, reinstallation was just a reverse of removal. The only hitch was that the owners manual only listed torque values in Nm whereas my torque wrench is really made to be used in Ft-lbs. I found a torque value table for the R1200GS on the internet that translated Nm to Ft-lbs and wrote them into my owners manual so i'll have them next time.

I'll be replacing the front tire next month. The removal procedure looks a little more complicated than for the rear, but shouldn't be a problem.

Euro Bike Night at Ming's

My social schedule has been getting rather hectic lately.

There's Monday Night Football (hot waiter watching) at the Fox&Hound pub, Tuesday night TWT meet, Wednesday night "show my face at home", Thursday night in Katy or Montgomery, and then Friday night go out with whoever doesn't shoot down my plans. :P

Last night I tried something different. In an effort to meet some more new people, I got on my bike on an amazingly hot and humid evening to head inside the I610 loop for the Euro Bike Night at Ming's Cafe on Montrose @ Westheimer.

I could tell it was a different crowd immediately upon stepping through the door. I turned to the nearest person holding a helmet and tried to introduce myself. "Hi....I'm..."

"Becca." He finished for me. "Yeah, I recognized your bike from your posts on TWT."

Don't you just love it when lurkers on forums (that you personally have less than 200 posts on) recognize you?

It was a great conversation starter at least. After speaking with him for a few minutes, I started rotating around to different tables, introducing myself and trying to come across as friendly and respectful.

A couple of Ducati riders invited me to put down my jacket and pull up a chair, so I ordered my chinese food dinner and sat down to get to know them.

It was really wierd. The two of them (young men probably around my age) seemed nervous and were slightly turned away from me during further conversations - strange after the initial invitation to sit at their table. I tried to make small talk, but maybe they were just shy...

No worries - I moved on from them and finished eating with a slightly older group who seemed more social. After dinner, most of us gravitated outside to sit on the patio, sip delicious raspberry iced tea, and talk bikes. One other TWTexan that I recognized showed up on his Ducati Multistrada and introduced me to some more people, including the owner of a south Houston BMW/Triumph shop and the sales manager of one of the big Harley dealers.

There was quite a variety of bikes too. I don't think I've ever seen so many Moto Guzzis in my life. There were several Ducatis, Triumphs, vintage and newer BMWs, etc. I think there were only 2 japanese bikes there, a Honda 599 and a Silverwing.

Some pics (it was dark - quality isn't great):

A new R1200S. It wasn't yet plated. This is the first one I've seen in the flesh.

A British Racing Green Triumph Sprint ST. For years, this was my dream bike. Green and made for sport touring. Mmmm. If only it came with shaft drive.

A Honda Silverwing and a Moto Guzzi. Interesting juxtaposition because I once owned a 1983 Honda Silverwing...which shared the scooter's name, but had something like the Guzzi's opposed v-twin engine.

Femmoto 2006

Ok - so after wrestling with the website for days (I'm apparently very dense) I finally managed to get my registration through to attend Femmoto 2006. I'm registered with Bluepoof and Stargzrgrl for the Saturday morning MSF dirt beginners course and the Saturday night riders banquet.

Carolyn comments with a "yay!!!!!" in 4...3....2.....

New Helmet! and another TWT Pie Run

Yesterday was yet another TWTexans Pie Run. This one was held in Hutto, TX, just a little NE of Austin.

I've been wanting to visit Lone Star BMW in Austin for a while, mainly because I'd heard a nasty rumor that they carried Caberg brand flip-up helmets.

My trusty 3 year old Arai had been damaged in the crash in Nashville in June, so I was in the market for a new helmet and really wanted to try a flip up. Dante's Dame had a Caberg Justissimo (link goes to a review) at the STN WV meet, and I really liked the features. Unfortunately her head is a bit smaller than mine so trying on her Xtra Small wasn't going to work. I don't like buying helmets without trying them on, so I've been delaying my purchase and just wearing my Arai.

According to Mapsource, it was 130 miles from my door to the pie run location in Hutto. Figuring in the 20 miles from Lone Star BMW to Hutto, I determined that if I gave myself 3.5 hours to get there, I'd have time to shop a little in Austin.

Well, after slabbing out to Austin on 290, they had Cabergs, but the only medium was a glittery (not flat) black. I kind of wanted a silver, but all my previous helmets have been black, and I'd rather reward the dealership for carrying these rare helmets. The sales assistant seemed knowledgable and was able to demonstrate the features of the helmet. A cheaper version of the Schuberth flip ups, the Caberg has an integral smoke shield that drops out from the helmet internals (no more extra shield to carry!) and the clear main visor has a fog-free coating. The flip up catch is metal (supposed to be better than the plastic ones seen on cheaper flip ups). It seemed to have adequate vents, but I don't generally sweat that much. My only concern at this point is that the Caberg is reputed to leak in rain, but we'll see how much of an issue that is.

I wore the helmet in the dealership for about 20 minutes to make sure the fit was correct with no pressure points. The price onthe box was $299... but again, I was able to try it on...so I figured on paying for that convenience. Happily, it only rang up to $250 at the register, much more inline with online prices. I got out of there in the $270 range including tax.

I walked out of the dealership and sat in the parking lot to transfer my helmet speakers from my Arai (note - I will need to buy an open-faced Starcom speaker kit with a boom mic). The Arai and the collapsed box for the Caberg all fit snugly into my trunk. I headed off to the pie run to show off my purchase.

After being social and consuming a pretty good mushroom swiss burger and some very rich peppermint patty pie, I decided to ride home on a somewhat twisty route. Rebecca had made her own way to the pie run, and wanted to ride back with me. I was fine with that, but didn't really want a large group since I knew I was the one with the route on my gps...and would be leading.

Somehow rumors spread and we ended up with 6 people total. Grrr.

I was feeling a little off during the first part of the ride. My new helmet was feeling weird - the noise was different and I somehow felt taller on the bike. At one point, I was thinking to myself that I'd had more fun slabbing out there alone that morning than on twisty roads leading a group in the afternoon.

I think I started to relax and have fun when we hit FM696 and I asked Rebecca to lead the 16 miles to Lexington. I waved everyone forward and got to have some stress-free time in the back.

From there it was more of the trading off lead that I'd enjoyed so much during the hill country ride. I'd guide us through complicated road turn-offs and then Rebecca would take over during the fast twisties.

At a turn-off about 80 miles into the ride, I asked Rebecca if she thought the others needed a break. I usually don't take breaks except for gas and food, so I didn't need one. She didn't think they did, so we continued on. About 20 miles later, Debbie passed the two of us and pulled the group over in a shady turn out, complaining that she "thought we'd never stop!"

I was able to rate the day's ride as thoroughly enjoyable by the time we hit US290 and started going separate ways.

I really didn't take any pictures today, but Rebecca posted a pictorial report on her blog

States Visited

Here's an updated map of states I've visited by motorcycle - ie actually RIDING through.

And states visited, by car or bike. I don't count flying over. (to my knowledge - it may be more...mom? dad?

create your own visited states map