Gearing Up

2007-09-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

The countdown has begun!!

I have finally found a tank bag that is almost perfect.

You can see that it does hit the handle bars a bit when they are fully turned. I had to mount it farther back on the tank, so it is slightly in the way for stand up riding, but nothing too serious.

(Check out the colour of the leaves - it is time to blow out of this joint!!)

Now that just leaves about 50 more things to do before we go.

One day, I hope Conchita and I can live up to this slogan.

Photocopies for the "friendly" Central/South American police people. "What, you are going to keep my Drivers Licence until we go to the bank and get money to pay a bogus fine???" "Sounds fair to me - see ya!!!"

Here is some of the gear that we have been getting together for the trip.

First Gear -Kilimanjaro Air Jacket with (as Conchita has pointed out on many occasions) unmatching Squadron pants. They may not match, but they sure are comfy; and turn into shorts as well.

Here is Conchita in her full gear. She has a Frank Thomas Jacket and pants (with removable liner). We are still waiting on her Shoei RF1000 helmet. The monument is the site of the Frog Lake Massacre. I always thought it was the white man killing aboriginal people, but it was the other way around. There were around 15 people killed.

Some goodies arrived in the mail today.

Cycle pump,tire repair/pressure gauge and rim protectors.

Seems like it would take up a lot of room, but once it is packed into the cases, it isn't too bad at all. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that until I have packed everything onto the bike. I might be swearing at the size of the kit then!!

Everything here is going on the bike as well-except the bed of course!! Sleeping pads/down sleeping bags, stuff sacs and a frying pan (or maybe not). I decided to go with down instead of synthetic, because it packs smaller and is generally warmer. The one drawback is when down gets wet, you're hooped. The plan is simple on paper: Do not let it get wet!!! We may bring two small synthetic bags just in case.

So, all this fits into this......

Two sleeping bags-(Down and Synthetic) and a sleeping pad- all x 2.

Update: we decided to take only the down-filled bags. They are plenty warm, and we needed the extra space.

Can't forget the laptop,it should be lots of help. Worth it's weight I guess you could say.

Powerlet heated liner with heat controller x 2. These take up very little room and eliminate the need for large sweaters. I am quite certain that Conchita will fall in love with this piece of equipment. I am actually thinking of adding a pair of heated socks to her gear as well. A warm woman is a happy woman!!

May 7, 2007

The goodies just keep coming in. Like this $150 piece of rubber with glue on the back. Looks like the manual is worth more than the back rest!!

Here's what it should look like when I finally get around to sticking it on.

Radiator guard.

Of course I had to go with the fancy "GS" emblem.

Headlight protection. This is very easy to remove for night riding. The fittings are rubber/friction mounts. Just have to pull on the lense and off it comes.

The bionic lock through the back wheel and over the seat; so I dont ride away without removing it. If I can't feel that lock under my butt, there is definitely a problem!!

May 26, 2007

Waterproof bag liners from Bob's BMW.

8 foot Python lock and a folding sweet saw. The lock will be for locking our gear (jackets-helmets etc) to the bike. The folding sweet saw will be for.....?? Hmmm good question!!

Now it is starting to look like an Adventure bike!! May opt for a smaller tank bag. The GS bag is quite large and gets in the way a little.

Finally the Sargent seat has come in. Took 5 weeks just like they said it would. Very nice, quality seat. It puts me about 1.5 inches lower and looks like Conchita will be 2 inches higher. It is comfy (have yet to go on a long ride), but I notice that I am just a bit farther away from the handle bars. My arms are almost straight.

The silver welt looks all right, but I am thinking that black might have looked better.

Shoei RF1000 Helmet in flat black. I like the look, but I think it is harder to keep clean (ahh who needs to have it clean anyway!!???).P.S- I dont always look like this, usually I am much more handsome - just ask Conchita!!

Gearing Up For South America

Gearing Up