July 16 - Monday - Bike & Packing details

I get asked a lot of questions about my 12K mile trip on the Versus X, the bike, how everything worked, etc. So I am creating this blog entry to answer those, and also to remind me next trip what I took and what to bring or not bring next time. Kinda disorganized but I'll tweak it as I remember stuff or get asked more questions. I also provided an equipment list at the end with links to where I got stuff (some stuff I just had laying around).

My old bike:
You can see the Versys in the foreground and my old Beemer in the background. It is a 1998 R1100RT and has been my faithful companion for the last 20 years on numerous cross country trips, Still runs great but getting a little long in the tooth, not just the 106K, but some expensive maintenance is coming up, it has put on weight as I have gotten older (62 and also put on weight), it does not like gravel, and refuses to go up goat paths. I also have a 1996 R1100RT with 122K I bought as a local bike when the 1998 was parked in New Mexico for a couple years.
I have a Yamaha TW200 which is a fun "mud season" bike, and loves goat paths, but does not do anything faster than 45 mph(OK 50 if I beat it). So you can see, the Versys X can do all of these things. I am thinking it is time to simplify my life and boil it all down to one bike. This last 12K mile trip on the Versys was the test and it passed with flying colors.
My son got his license and bought this bike last summer in June and after breaking it in and riding it around, he left in August and returned in a snowstorm in October with 16K miles on it. I started riding this spring and thought, "what the heck, maybe this could go cross country". When I was 20 years old, my buddy and I circumnavigated the US in 6 weeks and covered about 10K miles. SO at the tender age of 62, I thought maybe I could do it again. And did. The last 40 entries of this blog are about that trip and now I just want to review all the equipment.
Overview:
In general it all boils down to 4 bags.
1. The Giant Loop Great Basin bag (grey and black) underneath)
2. LL Bean bag (red bag) on the back, my "motel bag) with everything I need to take into a motel at night.
3. Double ended Dry Pod (yellow) with all my weather gear.
4. Tank bag with all that stuff you need during the day.
Helmet, earbuds, phone, shoes, mesh jacket, and motorcycle pants.

Farkles:
I design products for  living and I am a minimalist so I don't like a lot of crap, but just enough crap. So here is what I added to the basic Kawasaki Versys X:
1. Centerstand - Absolutely got to have or you get lazy with the chain, you can't really check or change the oil properly.
2. Power jack - I use this to charge a battery pack in the tank bag. Kawasaki charges too much for it, but I paid it, and you need the relay kit as well (turns power jack on and off with the ignition switch). If you are camping, this is your only way to charge your phone and Bluetooth headset.
3. Madstad windhshield - the original is not too bad but the Madstad lets you get the geometry just right.
4. Compass ball - This is the most useful thing I added to my Beemer years ago. It is like a security blanket you check constantly to be assured you do not end up in Cucamonga when Google girl goes on the fritz. Dumb and cheap but awesome.
5. Thermometer - Kawasaki did not include one so I added one, sealed it up with E-6000 adhesive so it can get rained on. Nice to know what temperature it is.

6. Kickstand pad - I just found a 2-1/2" flat washer and a bolt that would go through the kickstand hole and a Nylock nut (so it does not come loose, and voila, kickstand pad. This is fantastic because I can park on gravel beside the road, or soft pavement and get on and off the bike "cowboy style" and not worry about tipping over. Simple, rugged and cheap.

7. Flippers - ok, these are cool. About three days into the trip I had gotten the MadStad adjusted just about right and I still had some helmet noise going on. I noticed if I held my glove up to the mirror the noise went away. So I stopped at a Wally World (Walmart) and got some bright orange duct tape and just taped it up where my glove was. The helmet noise was gone. The best part is, people always ask what the heck that is all about, real conversation starter.

8. Throttle Rocker - he dumbest cruise control you can imagine. The little plastic do-hickey just slips on the throttle and it takes the pressure off your wrist muscles. My first road bike was a Triumph 650 Bonneville and by the end of the summer I would have this Charles Atlas knot of muscle in my wrist from pulling those two carburetor slides up. There is another simple one I tried to find before coming back across the Dakota's but the bike shops were all closed.

OK, that's it for farkles, now lets tear the bags apart.

Dry pod:
  I used to keep dry stuff in the left pannier on the beemer and warm stuff on the right side. This dry pod setup is quicker and easier. It sits right there so when the drops start, you just pull over, unroll the end of the bag, pull out the rain stuff and roll it back up. A down jacket is in the right side and I ended up not needing it, but it is one of those things you put under the motorcycle jacket on cold mornings. I have a Frogg Togg high visibility jacket that goes on over my mesh jacket if the temps are below 65 and comes off when the day warms up. It keeps me warm and dry. I have used "waterproof" motorcycle clothes before and I end up with "seepage". So I buy Frogg Togg stuff, patch it if it ever leaks and throw them away if they wear out (or I lose them). In a pinch you can go to Walmart and get them (cheaper ones). They scrunch up in a ball, are cheap, and I usually get a few years out of them. The more expensive Frogg Togg pants take up more room, cost more, and the zippers all failed, so I stick with the cheap pants, but the better jacket.
The Givi tank bag cover goes in the dry pod and gets put on when it starts to rain. It came with the tank bag.
I have really wide kinda screwed up feet so I have to buy 6EE shoes. So no go on motorcycle boots. I found these boot covers on Amazon that work really well (see equipment list below for link). They slip over, zip up and my hiking boot sticks out the bottom. I have comfy shoes, never get too hot on nice days.
The last wet items are my Aeorstich lobster claw over gloves. I use them on cold mornings and wet days. I have a light pair of gloves for hot weather and my old lined leather BMW gauntlets for cooler days. These three give me all the combinations I need. And a note about heated grips. I had them on my BMW for 20 years, and am not a fan. They can cook the inside of your hands but the outside are still popsicles.
The other item is a fleece neck warmer that goes with the down jacket on really cold days, which I did not need this trip.
The cargo net goes over the top to hold it on and doubles as my clothes line. The pressure release thingie in the dry pod keeps it from sliding back and forth under the cargo net. Perfect.
So there you go, all the wet/cold stuff in the dry pod.

LL Bean bag:
This bag is not waterproof, but everything in it is. I love ziplock bags because they keep stuff dry, compartmentalize stuff (toilet stuff, electronic stuff, etc) and they are clear so you can see what's inside without opening them. So the LL Bean bag is just the shell, which gets wet, but who cares.
The water tight black bag inside has all my clothes and my laptop inside. The green bag is my coffee bag (stove and coffee) so I can watch sunrises while sipping a nice hot cuppa. I have a ziplock bag full of receipts that otherwise clog my wallet and pockets, a ziplock with all the bathroom stuff, a ziplock with all the chargers (laptop & phone, earbuds), a headlamp (never used it), and a couple extra dry pods in case I find a smoking yard sale deal (never used them).

Clothes bag:
The laptop gets rolled up in the jeans and I brought an extra pair of jeans but will only take one pair next time. I used to ride all day in jeans with the nagging thought that all my AC/DC tattoos might get ground off if I ever went down, but I realized that motorcycle pants can be worn all the time (dooh..) and if it's hot, wear shorts under them. If it gets cold I wear jeans under and wrap the laptop in t-shirts.
I take 2 extra pair of socks (lost a pair this trip, probably crawled off and died from stinkiness), 2 underwear, 1 boxers and t-shirt for sleeping, and a couple extra t-shirts. I usually wash out what I wore each night and then hang them on the mesh net to dry the next day. Doesn't work on rainy days, hence the other extra pair. I do smell manly at times..

Coffee bag:
I love coffee so I bring my own. Now I did not say I was a coffee snob. I have come up with a mix of Folgers instant coffee, vanilla coffee creamer, and cocoa that is to die for, in my opinion. So my little tin cup (wrapped with duct tape just in case I need a piece), my coffee mix (in a cool container with built in spoon I found at Bed Bath & Beyond), and my Jet Boil stove, I can have a steaming delicious cup in just a few minutes to enjoy while watching the antelope graze across the open prairie..

Tank bag:
  This is all the stuff I have to pull out during the day. Passport, motorcycle manual, small notebook, pressure gauge, small tire pump (40 pumps with this little sucker is about 3 psi), Dewalt safety glasses (clear pair and shaded pair) with 2.0 reading glasses built in so I can read my phone, battery pack and cables (charges battery or phone or earbuds while I am moving), extra reading glasses, water bottle (double walled to keep water cold), my other set of gloves cold or warm, and a ziplock with foreign money (Canadian or USA).
In the right side pocket is a small spray bottle I keep soapy water in and a micro fiber rag to clean the "entomology sampling plate" (windshield), my mirrors, my helmet face shield, safety glasses and the instrument face(speedo, etc). Soapy water is also good for finding leaks in tires (used it on the way out on Jeff's BMW).
In the left side pocket I keep sunscreen (stick form) and two Master Lock retractable cable locks. I use these if I want to take a hike or go into a store in a sketchy neighborhood. I run one through my helmet, tank bag zippers and handlebars. The other I use to secure the LL Bean bag (zippers to frame rack). Not high security but it might keep that kid who sees something just sitting there from getting in trouble. Dry Pod might walk..

Giant Loop Great Basin:
This bag is like a massive cave on the back of your bike. It has two side tubes going down either side where you put all the heavy stuff. I have my tent/poles/flysheet/groundsheet/stakes, Sleeping bag and pad, a sleeping bag liner (cotton) a camp towel, my tool bag, the chain bag (grunge brush, chain lube), and a supply bag with all kinds of extra stuff in it. The Giant Loop gets opened every night when I lube the chain and completely unloaded if you camp (I only camped once).

It attaches to the bike with a simple carabiner on one side and a combo lock carabiner on the other. Kawasaki very nicely left a couple attachment points just for this purpose.

A single bungee cord pulls the Giant Loop back toward the rack on the back using the hooks back there. (shown here on top of the LL Bean rack I made from a piece of plastic board I had laying around.
The zipper is not so great and I stopped at their factory in Bend Oregon and they already got rid of the zipper and replaced it with a roll top design, which would make this a perfect bag. I put stuff in it that I do not need during the day. Anything heavy goes down in the two legs to keep the center of gravity low. They do collect water inside which I talked to them about and they said they may change the design to add a small drain/vent hole for that reason, but I could do it myself as well with a hot soldering iron. Pops on your shoulder (like the saddles and cowboys in those old western) so easy to carry (and cool ass looking) when you strut into the motel.

Tool bag:
I have all the Kawasaki tools that came with it plus a few more. Tire irons so I can fix a flat (never happened), tools to do an oil change, adjust the chain tension, and enough variety that I might be able to cob something together if required. Truth is, this bike is so boringly reliable I didn't have to tighten anything. You will also see some tape, zip ties, some wire, couple hose clamps, a sort of mini junk drawer.

Supply cabinet:
  This is just a gallon zip lock bag full of stuff. Extra fuel canisters for the stove, extra lighters, crush washer for the oil change, oil filter (got used so it's not in the picture), extra master link for the chain, extra batteries for the headlamp, E-6000 glue for gluing anything to anything (great stuff!), seam sealer for the giant loop or tent, zip ties, toothbrush for cleaning stuff (not my teeth), rope, extra microfiber cloths, first aid stuff, tire patch kit, and extra business cards (to share my blog with interested folks).

Chain bag:
I have not owned a chain drive road bike for a long long time and the shaft drive guys all cringe at the thought, but I gotta tell you, I am some impressed with what I have here. I put a new chain (DID X-ring chain) on 13K miles ago and researched chain lube. The DuPont stuff got crappy reviews until I discovered the one guy who figured out you need to leave it for 30 minutes after application so the volatile stuff goes away and leave a wax coating with some Teflon to boot. So I started with the new chain and did nothing other than spray it at the end of each day when I stopped riding (warm chain).

All I can say is I check the slack (1" to 1.4") and when it gets more than 1.4 I adjust it back to 1", and I have had to do that exactly once in 13K miles. I just checked and it is at about 1.4" right now. And it is always pretty clean compared to my TW200 chain and regular sticky chain oil. I brought the grunge brush and use each night before I spray the chain. Some little bits come off, but nothing much. And they sell this stuff in a lot of Walmarts. I am just about at the end of the first can so one can in 13K ain't bad.

Toilet bag:
Toothbrush, couple tubes of toothpaste, floss, electric shaver, band aids (also got some in the supply cabinet), bug spray (never used), antiseptic, nail clippers, deodorant (this stuff melts when it gets hot so next time it gets it's own ziplock or I smell bad (worse?)).
Castille soap (peppermint) I use for everything, hair, dishes, clothes, and soapy water mix for the windshield.

Electronics bag:
The stuff on the left is for my netbook so I can write this blog each night. The middle is the charger for my phone. All my cables are micro-USB so I can use the cables for everything. They are all the same.
The white thingie on the right is an Arduino computer I write programs for to relax. Nerd..

Back tire (Kenda K761)

Tires:
My son put the first 16K on this bike last fall and consumed one IRC stock tire on the front and two IRC stock tires on the back. I put two new Kenda K761 tires on front and back and replaced the front one, not because it did not have much rubber, but because it was a 70/30 tire and all the road miles made it start cupping.

The only tire they had when I stopped for my 1 hour drive by tire replacement in Michigan was a Dunlop D404F which I know nothing about except that it had enough grooves in it that I would make it home safely, especially if it rained.

Seat:
  OK, we gotta talk about the seat, everybody talks about seats. It is a stock seat, no modifications, no extra stuffing, no Corbin, pure stock. But, my son circumnavigated the US and Canada last fall and I gave him one of those Amazon $20 ATV seat pads I had on the TW200 and he did the whole trip with that, no complaints, no medical procedure required. I was about to get an AirHawk, but saw a review of Sit&Fly on YouTube by a Canadian guy that liked it better than the AirHawk. So I bought two of them, cut one up to form a first layer right under by behind and then pulled the other one over that one, giving me two layers of Sit&Fly. All I can say is I have been on that seat, 300 miles a day for 39 days and it seems ok, no medical procedures, sex life is still ok, it's fine. The other nice thing is rain goes right through it so you never have a wet seat. And air always goes through it so you get a nice cool rear end all day. Nice solution for 20-30 bucks.

My nephew is a big bicycle nut and I remember researching bike seats, leather vs padded, thin, thick, etc. And I called for his experienced advice and he said "It's not so much the seat Uncle John, it's your ass. Stop researching and start riding". So I guess breaking in your butt is a big part of it.
The fact that this bike is so easy to stand up on also might be helping. I actually lost weight on this trip (could have had more beer and BBQ, damn) and I was doing squats on the bike to get a little exercise, so maybe that is part of the equation.


OK, that's all I can think of. I'll update this if I think of more.














Stats:
  0  - flat tires
  11,942=  total miles traveled on this trip (19219 km)
  30,231 = miles on the odometer (48652 km)
  60.5 mpg = worse fuel mileage on a tank (calculated from miles traveled and gallons used
  72.5 mpg = best fuel mileage (hot day, tail wind)
  4-5 mpg = how many mpg high the Kawasaki mpg display reads.
  1 = how many gallons you have left when the reserve light starts blinking (best guess)
  4.3 = most gallons I put in the 4.5 gallon tank (that was close!!)
  0 = least # of miles I put on (July 4th, time to relax)
  180 = fewest miles on a travel day (spent wonderful afternoon with my daughter)
  477 = most miles on a travel day (Google girl dumped me in a cow pasture in the woods!!)
  39 = days spent on the trip total
  306.2 = average miles per day
  0 = near misses (near accidents)
  13,000 = miles before the front tire cupped so bad I had to replace it
  13,631 = miles on the back Kenda K761 tire (doesn't look worn out but maybe?)
  13,631 = miles on this chain with only one adjustment (might need a second one now)
  Kenda K761 = tires I started the trip with
  Dunlop D404F = front tire I replaced the Kenda with (Only one the dealer had on the shelf)
  0 = number of times the bike fell over (I'm either good or lucky)
  1 = number of times a Harley guy dropped his bike on mine waiting for customs(I did not fall down)
  16,000 = how many miles my son put on it on his North America trip before I bought this bike
  0 = how many front tires he put on it (IRC Trail Winner GP210 - stock)
  1 = how many back tires he put on it (IRC Trail Winner GP210 - stock)
  1 = how many chains he replaced
Equipment:
  2017 Kawasaki Versys X motorcycle purchased June 22, 2017 by my son
  Kawasaki center stand
  Kawasaki power outlet
  MadStad 18" windshield (I am 5' 9")
  Kawasaki relay kit (gotta have it or the power outlet doesn't work)
  Giant Loop Great Basin saddlebag ( they make a better one now!)
  Givi 15 liter Tanklock tank bag
  Dry pods (I only used the double end one)
  Aerostitch Lobster Claw rain overgloves (awesome!)
  LL Bean Adventure bag (had it lying around)
  DuPont Chain Saver (some Walmarts have it)
  DID 520VX2 - NATURAL X'ring (750cc rated) chain
  DID Chain 520 VX2 Master Link ( I opted for a master link instead of rivet)
  Compass ball
  Thermometer
  2-1/2" fender washer used for kickstand pad
  BMW leather lined gloves (had them for 20 years)
  Home Depot work gloves (lightweight)
  First gear Mesh high visibly jacket
  First gear riding pants
  Ink'd Bluetooth ear buds
  E-6000 glue
  Throttle Rocker
  Frogg Toggs
  OxGord Boot covers
  Master Lock Retractable Cable Lock

July 15 - Sunday - Oswego NY to Starksboro VT - 292 miles

I was exhausted last night and after catching up with Herb, Sandy and Tracy, I wobbled off to bed. The fan in the window was perfect for some white noise and also cooled things down a bit. I have been noticing how dry everything is back east here. Brown lawns, brown golf courses, and it sounds like they have had really hot weather, more record breaking stuff.
Good nights sleep and leisurely coffee, then around 9:00 I headed out, my last day of the trip. The Weather report was clouds north of me and south of me so looks like I'll take the tried and true way back home I have been driving for 30 some odd years. Deb was working today until 4 so I had plenty of time to get home, so somewhere after Mexico NY I decided to take a different route and told Google girl to get me to Lake Placid NY, way upstate.
I gotta say, I have not been this way before. She took me over hill and dale, through little towns I had never seen, some run down, but most their own little oasis's. The roads are in pretty nice shape way up here and the "note to self" is, this might be a good area for some day trips later this summer.
I stopped for gas (my last fill up) somewhere near Star Lake (never been there) and the guys inside were all locals having a good conversation about the new "Hangover Medicine" they were selling. We all decided to stop speculating on it's effectiveness and go get hammered and try it tomorrow morning. Fun guys..

As I came into the "Olympics" area of Tupper lake, Lake Placid, etc, the crowds got bigger, but not too bad. It was a beautiful day (fire the weather guy) and everyone was enjoying the Sunday afternoon (by then). Google girl shot me off into some side roads again (been to Lake Placid but never this way) and I ended up in Keene NY and then over the hill to the Champlain Bridge. It's always awesome to cross that bridge back into the arms of the mother state. Especially on a beautiful day like today. This calls for a Goodies Snack Bar stop to get the official "Creemee" (soft ice cream for you foreigners, and the only flavor that SHOULD be sold in the state is Maple. Usually you opt for a small and get plenty, but the woman in front of me had a baby sized that was the size of you fist, so I officially sealed the return home with a baby maple creemee at Goodies.
Autopilot from here, awesome ride in the dappled sunlight the last few miles up our dirt road. Deb was there with a couple cold ones in the fridge, and my old Dog Zorro was still with us (he is a 16 year old lab).
Life is good up here on the hill tonight!!

Odometer = 30231 - 29939 = 292 miles today
30231 - 18289 = 11,942 miles total trip

July 14 - Saturday - Buffalo NY to Oswego NY - 180 miles

Good sleep last night and and had a long chat with three students from Toronto returning from Virginia. Sunny and clear sky this morning, but I am supposed to get rain in the afternoon. I punch up Baldwinsville NY on the maps app and she talked me through the outskirts of Buffalo and back into farmland. A lot of nice quiet side roads.
Somehow Google girl sent me all ove, not complaining 'case they were nice roads, but instead of the 3 hrs she said it would be, it took 5 hours to get to Baldwinsville, but it turned out ok, because I get there just when Hannah started her break. She took me to the B'ville Diner which is awesome. Open 24 hours, this place is an institution. I bought a shirt since all mine were on strike and it's a cool shirt.

After some lunch I went back to catch the Corning show which is to real professional glass blowers making this intricate pitcher. Big ovens (electric diesel generators) at 2100 degF on a hot day must wear these folks out.
I met lots of great folks working and volunteering on the Lois McClure, Hannah's boat, where she cooks, and runs the 60hp zodiac, pushing the McClure around, and I met the awesome folks working for Corning on the glass barge. They all seem to get along real well and it sounds like they have fun in these little canal towns. A summer to remember for many.

Headed to Sandy and Herb's for the night, ducking rain clouds and pulled in about 5:30. Tracy and Sandy and Herb were there so got caught up and then felt pretty exhausted, off to bed. Tomorrow I go home!!
Odometer = 29939 - 29759 - 180 miles
29939 - 18289 = 11650 this trip

July 13 - Friday - Saginaw MI to Buffalo NY - 373 miles

It was raining when I woke up around 5:30. I have a brandy new front tire and awesome rain gear so no biggie. I am exhausted and it's time to get home.
I forgot to spray the chain last night so I'll stop somewhere today when the chain is warm, spray it and take a break. The chain lube I am using is great. I have about 13K on this X-ring (DID) chain and had have only adjusted it once (half turn on the adjuster screw). It is made by DuPont and is a waxy teflon mix with a volatile. You spray it on, wait half an hour and then ride. I always do it last thing so it has time to penetrate the rollers. No dirty on the chain either.

My ATT Canada cell plan has expired so I downloaded the map for Ontario ironically through my cell connection because the motel wifi was not playing nice with my phone. I realized I do not have any maps (you remember those paper things) so have trusted my phone the whole trip.

Coffee, yogurt and toast, pack the bike, and off.
I picked up a new rattle sound yesterday which i hear on bumpy roads. I thight it was the caribeners I use to secure the Giant Loop bag to the bike with but it turns out, my front disc brake pads are rattling. Good chance I am almost out of brake pad (gee you think, after 30K miles), but they work fine and there is no metal scraping (yet). It will last 3 more days. I checked them pretty close tonight and they look ok, just rattling.

I told Google girl the route and away we go. Google maps has given me some interesting routes and today's was great. She immediately got me onto nn-crowded back streets, little tour of Saginaw, then out into the countryside where I picked up crops again (wheat, hay, corn, and something else). Yesterday I say signs for rhubarb all over so that may be a big crop. Ontario is covered with huge greenhouses, wind turbines and solar trackers. They are making good investments for the long term.
 Stopped for coffee in Algonac, and realized I was right on the Canadian border. Forgot to buy cheap US gas so ended up buying half a tank mid-Ontario. I was pleasantly surprised when Google girl dropped in the parking lot of a tiny ferry dock. These small ferries I think are run by one of the native American tribes. It could fit 9 cars on it and we had 3 cars, me and a truck pulling a small camper. Nice ride and by the way, the rain stopped before I headed out this morning, so no rain gear. One random angry little cloud dumped on me at a road construction site, but only for 2 minutes. I dried out over the next hour or so. The flag guy and I looked at each other and laughed. Temps were in the 70's to mid 80's so no big deal.

Google girl did a great job sending me down lots of sleepy roads today so I got the real deal tour of Ontario. Lots of big flat fields and crops, not many big towns which surprised me. And I started seeing motorcycles, more and more as the day wore on. Turns out every Friday the 13th, in the summer, there is ahuge bike gathering in ths part of Ontario. All kinds. It's a big deal. Not just Harleys, but every kind of motorcycle you can imagine. I chatted up a Harley bad ass looking guy and his girlfriend and they said it was 10K or more bikes every time they do this. Something nice about a bad-ass Harley guy and his tabooed girlfriend wishing me a safe trip.
And the Google girl got  moody on me. She does this thing where she just doesn't say anything and next thing you know, you are in the middle of a corn field, you look at the map and she says, "Oh yea, you are in the middle of a corn field". Not sure if she just takes a powder, or is angry or what, but she did it 2 or 3 times today. The second time I was riding along on this nice road, all by myself and I look over to my left and there is the lake, and I thought, nice, I though Lake Erie would have been on my right, and then I look at the compass ball and it says I am going west, and I stop and look at the map and I'm going the wrong way. Where did she go??
On that occasion a nice couple stopped to see if I needed help and I explained and they laughed and asked if I wanted some cold water. This is what I mean about random acts of kindness.
The closer I got to Buffalo, the busier the roads got and the more and more bikes I shared the road with. The border crossing is always confusing road wise because they seem to always weave you around town before they put you on the bridge, bu Google girl suddenly got cheery and guided me right through the back streets and onto the bridge and even gave me a perky "Welcome to the United States of America".

I decended the bridge into a small sea of waiting cars at immigration. I turned the bike off and it felt good to just push it along. There was a continuous din of Harley engines running and one of the Harley guys dropped his bike and almost knocked me over. Not a scratch on the Kawasaki, but it scratched his pretty red bike up quite a bit. Boy was he embarrassed.
The customs guy was real friendly and quick. He asked me about my motorcycle clothes, if I got hot, etc). I think he was enjoying the break us bikers give these guys and the toll booth guys.
So Google girl twisted me through some seedy parts of Buffalo where a couple kids ran up to me at a stop light saying "wheely, wheely", yea right. Another guy offered to buy my bike. Then Rt 5 out of town, and right to the door of the motel.
Turned out to be a great Brew Pub next door so a couple pints and a burger, the bed. Up at 3am and writing this before it leaks out.
This is my last nigh in motels and my last dinner out. Tomorrow I'll stay with Debs dad and the next night I'll be sleeping in my own bed, if those brake pads stay put..



Odometer = 29759 - 29386 = 373
29759 - 18289 = 11470 total trip

July 12 - Thursday - Sault Ste Marie ON to Saginaw MI - 282 miles

 I slept exactly -1/2 hrs last night. So up at 3am and checked the weather map, and, crap, again, a storm coming in over Lake Superior. Payback for 203 weeks of prefect weather. The beauty, usually, of being on a motorcycle, and I guess the thrill is beating storms. The I huffed the saddlebag (Giant loop) down at 3:30 and the front desk guy seemed surprised, but I told him I wasn't checking out until the sun came up at 6am. So made some coffee  (still have a little "camp coffee" left, much better than whatever sheep droppings they put in those motel coffee machine packets (yeck- magic word for the day). A couple leisurely hours of drinking coffee, checking maps and checking radar, oh yea, washing out socks. I have to cross the Mackinaw Bridge today which I have heard is a bitch on a motorcycle because it is steel grate for 5 miles over water (don't look down, trust me). A couple YouTube videos show it paved in one lane so maybe my almost bald front tire (13K on a Kenda K761) will be ok. Gotta find a bike shop to get a new tire or tires. I actually found a shop in Bay City that also is a Kawasaki dealer so they may be able to put one on.
I finally rolled at about 5:45, just before the sun came up. Google girl ran me around in circles at the boarder crossing, same thing happened when Jeff and i came through a few weeks back. Bad signage. the Canadians want you to stay!

Over the bridge and customs guy mumbled the usual stuff in his early morning only one cup way and I said no to everything he asked, whatever it was, and on my way.
Paid money to someone for a bridge and then a long stretch of kidney punching road (yes our crumbling infrastructure) with no traffic but a minimum 55mph speed limit (weird) until I got to the Mackinaw Bridge. It was sprinkling just enough to not put my rain stuff on, but just enough to make me nervous about a wet steel grate 5 mile bridge with a bald front tire. And no breakdown lane on the bridge to put rain stuff on, thus getting soaked, getting moldy and hypothermia and dying (see how us worries plan). So at the toll lineup (short), I decide to duck into the police barracks next door and put all the rain stuff on. I was waiting for the Michigan Mounties to see my tire and complain, but they just waved. So it did rin a bit on the bridge as I left the toll booth and YouTube was right about the paved lane, but YoutTube did not include the construction going on (in the paved lane) a mile in, nor did it show the "Merge Left" sign forcing me into the dreaded steel grate. Wet steel grate with bald front tire turned out to be ok, The 1" crack between the grate sections was a bit trickier, key is do not panic. So a mile of relief followed by 3 miles of death grip on the handlebars, followed by a mile of cool down.

Just after the bridge you turn left (so I can follow the shore on the eastern side) but Google girl wanted me to go back over the bridge, so ignore Google girl and just follow Rt 23. Sheboygan (I love that name, makes me want to bowl or throw curling stones) is first up and i stopped for gas, just to say I filled up in Sheboygan. Not a lot of happy people there getting gas or waiting to pay for coffee, weird.
Found a McDonald's for a nice cup of senior coffee, and back down Rt 23. At 9:30 I called the Kawasaki shop and the woman in service said she had 4 machine torn apart and the tire guy was on vacation so "Go Fish". She sounded a little miffed that I was trying to get a drive by tire change and had no suggestions about where else to go. So I found what turned out to be the Honda shop a 1/4 mile from her shop that said hey had a front tire that size but no back one and just stop by and they would fix me up (wow). I said I'd be there in a few hours.
This eastern side of Michigan is ok, not great. A lot of private lots so the public can't really see the Lake (Huron), but every now and again a public spot where you can use the lake. At one point there was a nice bike path all along the lake shore for probably 10-20 miles or so. But not too exciting lake shore.

I turned inland to pick up some time and again, nothing spectacular. I got to bay City and drove write by the Kawasaki shop with the tire guy on vacation and 1/4 mile later the Honda shop appear. The guy behind the parts counter was not the friendliest, but he was efficient. He checked the tires they had, checked my bike to make sure i wasn't fibbing about the tire size, rode my bike out back and an hour later it was out front with a shiny new Dunlop D404F in stead of the Picasso looking cup-city Kenda tire with 13K miles on it (it served admirably these last weeks). The rear Kenda still has plenty of rubber so it will make it home. $80 for the tire and $80 to put it on. So now it can rain all it wants and I'll be able to stop in an emergency.
After the shop I got a coffee and then decided to crash at the motel another 1/2 hour down the road in Saganaw. Google girl go weird again so I turned her off and back on again and she got me there. She gets icked off if i don't do things her way and then just doen't talk to me ("fine, go figure it out yourself you jerk").
Budget but friendly and clean motel. Took a two hour nap (more than i slept last night) then walk down th road for a beer and a Caesar salad ( with anchovies, yumm), then back to the ranch. Nice feeling having a new tire.
Odometer = 29386 - 29,104 = 282 miles today
29,386 - 18,289 = 11,097 so far this trip.

July 11 - Weds - Thunder Bay ON to Sault Ste Marie - 437 miles

Slept all night so felling caught up. The hotel was crappy looking on the outside, but the inside rooms (mine anyway) was actually clean, well maintained, fresh towels. So I can appear to be roughing it, but so soft inside..
Today's job was to get to Sault St. Marie, which is a ways, but if I just stick to it and plod along at 55mph (90kph), then it actually goes isn't bad.

I was inside my head most of the day but Rt 17 over Lake Superior is really pretty with lots of pin trees (or Spruce or Fir or ??) and a lot of lakes with little rock islands in the middle, kinda like Maine. Deceiving few towns and I almost ran out of gas near the end because i was off in a daydream and missed a couple gas stops, and my odometer is kilometers so who knows how far I'v been. But he reserve light was blinking away..
The motel office was closed this morning and the room did not have a key, but rather a combo lock (Rm 15, combo = 7805 if you are ever in Thunder Bay and need a room..), so I just left. Complementary coffee was not an option. So up the street to a coffe shop with lots of work truck out front (those are the best). The place was packed and the old farts club meeting was in full swing with about 8 guys solving the mornings problems in soft chairs in front of a fake roaring fire. I didn't bother them (like I usually do), but I did spend an hour talking to a 72 year old guy driving a diesel (1992 or 7) Smart Car. He grew up on the Gaspe' and "worked in the bush" all his life, first with horses and then driving truck. He and his sons now work in Thunder Bay in the only remaining pulp mill. Good stories but I had to cut him off politely when he told me it was 8 hours to SSM. Another guy was waiting to talk to me who had a nice old 1000 Honda 4 cylinder, but I cut him short as well when we got into all the gear on my bike. I like Canadians, good people.

Rt 11 took me a good ways until Rt 17 took over and then I realized I was up against another long stretch of Indian Reservation, but very scenic and good road with lots of passing lanes (good for us slow pokes).
So ride, ride, ride, then ride more, then gass, then ride ride ride, then, "crap reserve tank" then slight panic, then plan to get the orange duct tape out and write "Gas" on my motorcycle jacket and look sad, but then a sign for gas in 15 km.
This gas stop was a place that, yes sold gas, but it sold everything under the sun that could pass as Indian some how. And I think the hired half the college kids in the province to work there for the summer and thos kids were having a blast.
I pulled up to the pump and there were three university (don't say colleg, it means something else), and the the kid explained he was supposed to fill the tank for you, but bikers could fill their own. He was a chemical engineering student with a minor in Computer Science. I wanted to tell him to savor this summer because when he gets my age, these will be the good memories. Fun stop with all the "college" kids in the grocery store, gift shop, gas station.

So Google girl dumped me after the first construction detour (typical) so I drove around and then started her up again and got to the motel, which is sort of seedy and it is attached to a Greyhound bus station. But a great, busy restaurant next door with coconut cream pie and beer on tap.
odometer = 29,104 - 18,289 = 10,815 so far this trip.

July 10 - Tuesday - Grand Forks ND to Thunder Bay ON - 463 miles

No sleep last night so I got up at 4:30 and checked the radar. Holy mackerel, where did that storm come from! I usually stay on top of the weather forecast but this was right on top of me to the west and south. I was planning to go south east today to Duluth MN, nit it was going to be a wet mess. The only way out was to go north east toward Thunder Bay ON and over the lake.
I had already started to rain as I packed the bike and so I did the full suit thing, grabbed a cu of coffee just as they opened at 6:00 (yuck), and promised myself a better cup later on.
First stop was Thief River Falls to see a company called Digikey who Dave and I have been buying parts from for probably 40 years. They used to have these little ads in magazines for electronics part and now they are huge. I was expecting something flashy, but was pleased at how they spent their money on customers, not buildings. Thief River Falls is actually a pretty small town and I saw a billboard for Digikey Careers coming into town. I asked a guy going in if they gave tours and he said he thought they used to and might still by special appointment so I'll skip that, and I have a long way to go today.
I did not appreciate how much nothing there was going to be today. This corner of Minnesota, and Ontario are vast swampy affairs. But there are also some pretty spectacular lakes up here. I bumbled along all day at about 55 mph (90kph) and as soon as I got to Thief River Falls the rain had stopped and I had beat the storm. And the temps were perfect with 70-85 all day, probably because it was still a bit cloudy for the first 2/3 of the day.

You need to plan your gas up here and I bought my first tank (1/2 tank, no chances) on a reservation. It had no octane marked on the pump so I asked an old indian man filling his truck up what octane this was. He said he didn't know but his truck runs fine, and so did my Kawasaki. It looked the right color.
The reservation got lonelier and lonelier as the morning went on with no cars to speak of. Kinda creepy being out here by yourself. I got a tent and sleeping bag and water so not to worry.
International Falls came up and what a nice, pretty big, modern, tidy town this is kinda all by itself up here. This is the town you hear about reporting the coldest temp in the US. A guy told me the Smokey Bear in the park was adorned with a fur hat in the winter.

The Canadian border crossing was easy and since nobody was there, the border guy wanted to know all about my trip, so we chatted until another car came. There is a job for me! He said there was only one gas stop between International Falls and Thunder Bay and it was 160km away so I stopped there. The bike has and easy changeover to metric, but metric takes a bit to get used to.

Long haul to Thunder Bay with beautiful sunny skies (good call Miller). I hit another time zone change and realized I did not have a place to stay in Thunder Bay. Not enough internet to get a webpage to load so I texted Deb and she got me a room (thanks sweetie). Good thing she did because all the motels were full. When I got to the Nites Inn, the guy behind the counter said he was full and was trying to find me a room in another motel (sweet!). He did and it was only a block away. He gave me $20 for the screwup. Wow, these Canadians!!
A couple phone calls and bed.

Odometer = 28,667

July 9 - Monday - Williston ND to Grand Forks ND - 361 miles

I panicked a bit this morning when I check the weather radar but the rain was south of here and the 100+ temps were down in South Dakota, just what my weather forecasting app said a few days back. Another beautiful day today. Started at 68 degrees and ended at 84 degrees and maybe got into the upper 80's somewhere along the way.
I pretty much covered the whole state today (I think) and it is not as flat and lonely as many have implied. Granted there is a lot of oil & gas activity, mostly near Williston, but there is also a lot more crops being grown than I expected. Lots of untouched grasslands, but wheat and corn and no sign of irrigation equipment helping them out. Maybe it varies from year to year.
I followed Rt 2 all the way today, sort of 2 lane 4 lane, in that there are 4 lanes but it is not limited access and not many chain places because most of the towns are small historic towns, probably from when the trains came through. I did see a lot of trains and I spent an hour next to one this afternoon going the same speed until it finally wandered off to the north. Not coal, although I did see some coal cars today, but some kind of other stuff with a closed top car and hoppers underneath.

Outside of Williston I saw a couple small private planes landing in a small field, but then I saw a helicopter, but not a spray rig or anything, but what looked like a Huey from the Vietnam era. ThThere is an air base nearby so probably something pretty darn important. Weekly rations of coconut cream pie?, annual clean underwear supply?, ??
Good rubbernecking today with lots of lakes and ponds with what looked like ducks, flew like ducks, but smaller than ducks all over. Some crops mixed with open grass land and towns every 50 miles or so with a gas station.
I got to Minot mid-day and stopped for the usual coffee. The motel coffee was pretty bad this morning so I was looking for old reliable McDonald's coffee.

A couple guys motioned me over to join them and one of them had a helmet so I joined them hoping to get some background on the area. Turns out, these two are old friends in their 70's (looked younger than that, motorcycles have that effect on us old guys), and they owned and worked together for decades in a local motorcycle shop and were now retired. I was the young one, but I tried to keep up with all the old motorcycles that I remembered either having or my older brothers having, or hoping to have way back when. Don had a Triumph 1200 twin (new one), but it looked a lot like my old Triumph Bonneville. They invited me to stop by Don's shop at home so I followed him and Bob came along a little after. Don gave me the nickel tour of Minot with public spaces (Teddy Roosevelt Park, walking paths, water park for the kids (of all ages)). Nice tidy community tucked back here away from Rt 2.
He has an awesome motorcycle shop at his home with a lift, all the supplies you need, a boring bar (for boring out cylinders), sand blaster, and somewhere out back he mentioned a paint oven for powder coat painting. I'm ready to retire and build a shop!! Don't forget the mini-fridge (did not see a coffee pot, but I'll have one of those). He has a thing for Hodaka's and there seems to be a lot of Hodaka folks out there who keep in touch and still restore the old bikes. And these guys are both still married!! Sign me up.
Nothing sweeter than two old friends who obviously still enjoy each others company and can still get together and ride their bikes. I think Bob is looking at the X300 in his future. And Bob pointed out that their nicknames from their youth was "Teen Angel"(Don) and "Old Poop" (Bob).
Thanks you two for a very enjoyable afternoon and your wonderful hospitailty!

Back on the road and the plan was to cut down on Rt 52 and then back up through a small lake region, but i added up the time and decided to stick to Rt 2 to get to Grand Forks at a reasonable hour.
I did stop at the geographical center of North America (who knew), and then on into Grand Forks (200 miles from Minot). Grand Forks is also a tidy good sized town. You have to get down into these towns off the road to discover how nice they are.
So all in all a very pleasant day with good weather, some new friends, and a couple more weeks left to get home. Let's hope the sunny weather keeps up..

Odometer = 28,204