Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Ten days to go, and counting!

The bike pictured on the right is purported to be the bike ridden by John and Sylvia Sutherland in the Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance story.  It looks just like mine but note that the rider is neither John nor is it me!

A lot of last minute testing of the bike and the rider has been going on.  A trip last week to Richmond, Virginia put over 400 miles on the bike and all was well until a few miles from home when the main fuse I added blew because of a chafed wire to a directional signal.  I called a good friend who happens to be a ham radio operator as well as the owner of an old BMW like mine and while he was coming up the mountain I figured out the problem and was able to ride home with the lights off, with him following behind in his car.

This resulted in me redoing the wiring on those home made lighting units and putting new bulbs in as well.  The fuse box I put in is pretty hard to get to and I have been thinking of relocating it, but that may cause other issues so it will stay put.  I might need to take the seat off to see the fuses, but I was able to replace the blown one by feel.

The APRS tracking device that relays my position to the internet via ham radio got a test in my car yesterday. It worked just fine on my commute to work.  It is not on the bike yet because I can't decide on a mounting place for the antenna until I figure out how all the gear will be placed.  Weight balance on a bike like this is critical.  I made a trip to Winston-Salem (about 250 miles) Sunday to visit a relative and my wife who was there helping her out, with all the gear I expect to take.  I lashed it down in two different ways to compare comfort and handling and have now figured out where that little antenna can be mounted.  That will come in the next few days. 

Finally I have ordered new pads for my old Aerostich suit, new float needles and gasket kits for the carburetors and I think I'm about ready to travel.

There are several things in the works with Not Alone and I'll tell you about them all as they come about.  One thing I will say is that if you'd like to join me on the last day of the ZAMM2011 ride, it is planned for Saturday, July 30 from Winchester, Virginia to Ocean City, Maryland.  That ride goes right through Washington DC (US-50 is New York Ave) so let me know and you can join us at any point along the route. I will have a map on-line as the day approaches and we can tweet our progress for you bird lovers out there! You don't have to be on a motorcycle, just come and join the fun.

1 comment:

john said...

Hey Dude. Right on and blessings to you on your trip. Hoping the best for you.

I'm in San Francisco and yes you should let me know when you get here and i'll show you Alices - should be a weekend of course - place is hoppin on weekends . You might be able to put together some publicity / reporters to meet you up there - there's always something goin on there ..
cheers
john