I have uploaded some pics, no time to sort or add captions, you get what you get.
The "before" folder
http://s122.photobucket.com/albums/o258/farriders/Davo/IBR%2009/
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Friday - it's getting close
So it's Friday now in Spartanburg South Carolina. I have mostly been hanging out talking to riders and so on all day, its 2:30pm now.
All is good, my bike needed nothing to be done although my mobile phone connecting is playing up on the bike, I can hear but can't transmit. I will live with that.
I have to go stick the ezpass on the bike that Greg bought for me, but other than that its just wait.
Most of the riders are here now. Tech inspection is tomorrow.
All is good, my bike needed nothing to be done although my mobile phone connecting is playing up on the bike, I can hear but can't transmit. I will live with that.
I have to go stick the ezpass on the bike that Greg bought for me, but other than that its just wait.
Most of the riders are here now. Tech inspection is tomorrow.
Monday, August 17, 2009
The US let me in
I guess they have lower standards than I thought, they let me into the country without a problem.
Got to LA at 4:30pm Thursday the 13th, now that's funny as I left Australia at about that time and date, time zones are interesting. After a walk about the airport and a sit and chat (yep that's me Davo havachat) I boarded the flight to Portland OR and arrived there at 11:20pm on the 13th.
All went to plan, Jeff and his wife collected me and up to their place we drove, lucky we had no accidents as they all drive on the wrong side but it all works out ok as they sit on the wrong side of the car as well.
Friday was spent doing things on the bike, lights to fit, new GPS to get sorted and fitted but it all went well. Rode for the first time here and went to get my new heated jacket liner from Warm & Safe, Mike even wired it for me, great product and people.
That night we had a BBQ and food was excellent.
Saturday (its Sunday now) spent more time working on the bike and went out for dinner.
Now it's Sunday, had to sort out the mobile phone as I had the new GPS updated with new maps finally (took almost 24hrs to download) although the Garmin 2820 is bluetooth I am without a cable so had to fit the bluetooth adapter to the Starcom. So off with the aux tank, off with the panniers, off with the seat again and got that done. Still no good, I can hear phone calls but not mic. Will look at it in a few days.
In the next hour or two I will ride with Jeff across to the coast where I will start my 50CC Gold from. That's across the country in this case Seaside OR to Charleston SC a distance of 2995 miles under 50 hours hence its name 50 hours coast to coast.
So no more from me for a few days, talk to your all from the east coast of the US.
Got to LA at 4:30pm Thursday the 13th, now that's funny as I left Australia at about that time and date, time zones are interesting. After a walk about the airport and a sit and chat (yep that's me Davo havachat) I boarded the flight to Portland OR and arrived there at 11:20pm on the 13th.
All went to plan, Jeff and his wife collected me and up to their place we drove, lucky we had no accidents as they all drive on the wrong side but it all works out ok as they sit on the wrong side of the car as well.
Friday was spent doing things on the bike, lights to fit, new GPS to get sorted and fitted but it all went well. Rode for the first time here and went to get my new heated jacket liner from Warm & Safe, Mike even wired it for me, great product and people.
That night we had a BBQ and food was excellent.
Saturday (its Sunday now) spent more time working on the bike and went out for dinner.
Now it's Sunday, had to sort out the mobile phone as I had the new GPS updated with new maps finally (took almost 24hrs to download) although the Garmin 2820 is bluetooth I am without a cable so had to fit the bluetooth adapter to the Starcom. So off with the aux tank, off with the panniers, off with the seat again and got that done. Still no good, I can hear phone calls but not mic. Will look at it in a few days.
In the next hour or two I will ride with Jeff across to the coast where I will start my 50CC Gold from. That's across the country in this case Seaside OR to Charleston SC a distance of 2995 miles under 50 hours hence its name 50 hours coast to coast.
So no more from me for a few days, talk to your all from the east coast of the US.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Today is Fly Day - even though its Thursday
In mid April 2008 this day seemed so far away it was almost like a dream
As the months progressed all the little bits of this and that needed started to fall into place. Like a long ride you break it all down into "doable" chunks or as I say "chunk it down"
There is no problem so insurmountable that you can't break it down to something you can achieve.
So today all that has finished, well until I actually get onto my Kawasaki 1400GTR and ride. I have not seen the bike since the end of May, I have not ridden at all in the last 6 weeks (I had a loan bike for a while)
Today my ever supportive wife will drive with me to Brisbane, I will catch a flight to Sydney then onto LAX. I have never left Australia before, this is huge on my scale of things to do. It's "on my bucket list"
I have not even thought about the fact I am going to see lots of North America, although I obviously will. To me its all about the road.
After all .......... it's just a road
Thanks to everyone for the emails and support over the time. It's great each morning to read them all.
If you are reading this on Facebook it's because FB grabs it from my Blog. A link to all that is here
Wish me well, take care all.
David "Davo" Jones
As the months progressed all the little bits of this and that needed started to fall into place. Like a long ride you break it all down into "doable" chunks or as I say "chunk it down"
There is no problem so insurmountable that you can't break it down to something you can achieve.
So today all that has finished, well until I actually get onto my Kawasaki 1400GTR and ride. I have not seen the bike since the end of May, I have not ridden at all in the last 6 weeks (I had a loan bike for a while)
Today my ever supportive wife will drive with me to Brisbane, I will catch a flight to Sydney then onto LAX. I have never left Australia before, this is huge on my scale of things to do. It's "on my bucket list"
I have not even thought about the fact I am going to see lots of North America, although I obviously will. To me its all about the road.
After all .......... it's just a road
Thanks to everyone for the emails and support over the time. It's great each morning to read them all.
If you are reading this on Facebook it's because FB grabs it from my Blog. A link to all that is here
Wish me well, take care all.
David "Davo" Jones
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
2 sleeps
Its two sleeps to fly time.
I had this discussion with my sales guys this morning and as odd as "2 sleeps" sounds it really is a great way to explain the time left.
There will be times on the ride I will wish I had "2 sleeps" to go, even one good solid sleep would be good. We do the miles, we learn the lessons but you never know what you are capable of until you push the envelope.
It is not about speed, its all about managing yourself and working within your frame of experience. Years of doing the longer rides teach you lessons. Even a mistake is a lesson learned, in fact you need to fail to learn and move forward.
2 sleeps
I had this discussion with my sales guys this morning and as odd as "2 sleeps" sounds it really is a great way to explain the time left.
There will be times on the ride I will wish I had "2 sleeps" to go, even one good solid sleep would be good. We do the miles, we learn the lessons but you never know what you are capable of until you push the envelope.
It is not about speed, its all about managing yourself and working within your frame of experience. Years of doing the longer rides teach you lessons. Even a mistake is a lesson learned, in fact you need to fail to learn and move forward.
2 sleeps
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Preparations done
I have everything sorted that I can.
Bike is insured in the US, travel insurance is done plus other paperwork stuff.
I have had a new supporter come on board which means that I will be swapping the Hella driving lights now on Roo for a pair of Visionx HID driving lights. Neil the Australian importer gave me a really good price so I had to do it.
WarmnSafe a US based company have also offered me a great deal on a heated jacket liner so it looks like I will be cozy and warm if it gets cold.
I now have two Garmin GPS units, both Street Pilots, a 2730 and a 2820 which has bluetooth so I can connect my mobile (cell) phone.
I have a US SIM card in my phone so I have a US cell number already.
I fly into LAX late afternoon of the 13th (yeah the same time I leave, funny with time zones) and then jump a Alaska airlines flight to Portland OR where Jeff will pick me up. Jeff has had my bike since it landed a few weeks ago.
dats about it...
Bike is insured in the US, travel insurance is done plus other paperwork stuff.
I have had a new supporter come on board which means that I will be swapping the Hella driving lights now on Roo for a pair of Visionx HID driving lights. Neil the Australian importer gave me a really good price so I had to do it.
WarmnSafe a US based company have also offered me a great deal on a heated jacket liner so it looks like I will be cozy and warm if it gets cold.
I now have two Garmin GPS units, both Street Pilots, a 2730 and a 2820 which has bluetooth so I can connect my mobile (cell) phone.
I have a US SIM card in my phone so I have a US cell number already.
I fly into LAX late afternoon of the 13th (yeah the same time I leave, funny with time zones) and then jump a Alaska airlines flight to Portland OR where Jeff will pick me up. Jeff has had my bike since it landed a few weeks ago.
dats about it...
4 days till I fly
Keeping this blog up to date has not been something I have been able to do obviously.
So whats happened in the last two months.
I had the loan 1400GTR from Kawasaki Australia but we had a slight fall over.
http://farriders.com/forum/index.php?topic=1294.0
I have just emailed KMA and canceled our agreement for my use of Ruku as a major part of their sponsorship support. I am unable to financially accept the risk attached to the agreement given the recent accident and the high excess. I will find the money this time but am not in a position to accept that ongoing risk financially.
I will be doing a oil and filter change at Charleston SC after I cross the US for the 50CC Gold all going well. Fellow Concours owners are helping me here and I am staying with one, Tom at Charleston SC.
The tyres on Roo will get me across the US and to Checkpoint #1 at St Charles IL
I will also do a oil change at St Charles mainly because I will have time while tyres are being done. This is being done by more Concours owners and they already have the tyres (I bought and had collected) and oil, filter.
Oil in both cases was organised by John Warrian who is one of my longest serving sponsors of Fuchs Silkolene lubricants.
There has been some discussion on when to change tyres elsewhere but my view is this. You either run with some hard compound tyres that will be crap in the mountains and wet roads or change tyres.
As I will be fresher at Check #1 I will do it then. Many are doing it at #2 . If you need to change why do it when you are tired and under more pressure.
So whats happened in the last two months.
I had the loan 1400GTR from Kawasaki Australia but we had a slight fall over.
http://farriders.com/forum/index.php?topic=1294.0
I have just emailed KMA and canceled our agreement for my use of Ruku as a major part of their sponsorship support. I am unable to financially accept the risk attached to the agreement given the recent accident and the high excess. I will find the money this time but am not in a position to accept that ongoing risk financially.
I will be doing a oil and filter change at Charleston SC after I cross the US for the 50CC Gold all going well. Fellow Concours owners are helping me here and I am staying with one, Tom at Charleston SC.
The tyres on Roo will get me across the US and to Checkpoint #1 at St Charles IL
I will also do a oil change at St Charles mainly because I will have time while tyres are being done. This is being done by more Concours owners and they already have the tyres (I bought and had collected) and oil, filter.
Oil in both cases was organised by John Warrian who is one of my longest serving sponsors of Fuchs Silkolene lubricants.
There has been some discussion on when to change tyres elsewhere but my view is this. You either run with some hard compound tyres that will be crap in the mountains and wet roads or change tyres.
As I will be fresher at Check #1 I will do it then. Many are doing it at #2 . If you need to change why do it when you are tired and under more pressure.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
One week to go
Roo ships in a weeks time.
Update:
I did the fuel pump removal and pulled it apart, there is nothing in the workshop manual that says you can do this and you can not buy the parts separately. It was the filter screen inside the pump that was the problem, removed, cleaned and bike performed faultlessly over the 3000klms this past weekend. Link to what I did.
I upgraded the light globes to Phillips +80 E-xtreme Power, H4's for the headlights and H7's for the Hella FF50's. VERY happy with the result and light increase.
Sorted out a niggling problem with audio from my GPS, pulled the cig/speaker fitting apart and soldered the audio straight into it and then instead of having the power come from the cig lighter fitting I hard wired it to constant battery power.
Tomorrow I ride to Brisbane for some minor alterations to my seat, get new tyres and then back home. Thursday Roo gets its final service before I leave. This weekend will be filled with cleaning and final loading tests.
Next Wednesday I ride 1100klms down to Sydney, get a pic with the Australian Kawasaki manager Robert Walker and overnight at a mates place.
Thursday I ride it to the container depot and get it ready to load. Once done I go and collect Ruku (Kawasaki's 1400GTR) then ride home.
Update:
I did the fuel pump removal and pulled it apart, there is nothing in the workshop manual that says you can do this and you can not buy the parts separately. It was the filter screen inside the pump that was the problem, removed, cleaned and bike performed faultlessly over the 3000klms this past weekend. Link to what I did.
I upgraded the light globes to Phillips +80 E-xtreme Power, H4's for the headlights and H7's for the Hella FF50's. VERY happy with the result and light increase.
Sorted out a niggling problem with audio from my GPS, pulled the cig/speaker fitting apart and soldered the audio straight into it and then instead of having the power come from the cig lighter fitting I hard wired it to constant battery power.
Tomorrow I ride to Brisbane for some minor alterations to my seat, get new tyres and then back home. Thursday Roo gets its final service before I leave. This weekend will be filled with cleaning and final loading tests.
Next Wednesday I ride 1100klms down to Sydney, get a pic with the Australian Kawasaki manager Robert Walker and overnight at a mates place.
Thursday I ride it to the container depot and get it ready to load. Once done I go and collect Ruku (Kawasaki's 1400GTR) then ride home.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Getting close now
Well whats been happening.
Roo now gets loaded for shipping on the 28th May in Sydney, dates moved to fit in better with available ships so Dave at GetRouted says and thats ok by me as it gives me an extra week after FarRide #10 to Albury and back on the 16/17th May (3000k loop in 2 days)
Little lite is fitted, aux tank cover fitted and tested a couple of weeks ago with a 2500k loop to Home>Cobar>Bourke>Cunnamulla and home over 2 days.
Surge problem seems to be the filter in the fuel pump, not supposed to be cleanable but I will attempt what has been suggested by KMA over the weekend.
Final money paid to a few things, only travel insurance to finalise and that's it apart from expenses in the US.
Oh I also upgraded all my lights, headlights and Hella FF50's with Phillips +80 E-Treme Power globes. Very happy with the lights now.
more later ..................
Roo now gets loaded for shipping on the 28th May in Sydney, dates moved to fit in better with available ships so Dave at GetRouted says and thats ok by me as it gives me an extra week after FarRide #10 to Albury and back on the 16/17th May (3000k loop in 2 days)
Little lite is fitted, aux tank cover fitted and tested a couple of weeks ago with a 2500k loop to Home>Cobar>Bourke>Cunnamulla and home over 2 days.
Surge problem seems to be the filter in the fuel pump, not supposed to be cleanable but I will attempt what has been suggested by KMA over the weekend.
Final money paid to a few things, only travel insurance to finalise and that's it apart from expenses in the US.
Oh I also upgraded all my lights, headlights and Hella FF50's with Phillips +80 E-Treme Power globes. Very happy with the lights now.
more later ..................
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