Rain

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

Rain rain rain.
Riding in the rain beats a sunny day at work. Not a sunny day riding but we cant have everything can we?

Mark and Robby in Stevenson AL

Mark and Robby in Stevenson AL, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

I pulled over for a break. Ridding a thumper all day is hard on your posterior. Mark and Robby were hanging out prepping
marks bike for a weekend in the Alabama hills. We chatted for a bit and I gotta say Mark has the right idea. He has been around like me but chose to call this little town home. He even bought an old store front and turned it into a super sweet loft. Its a killer pad and has a cool loft / mountain home vibe that I dug very much. Think wood stove. exposed brick and recycled timber. You know the kinda stuff they pay 750k for in Denver. Mike rides an XR 400 and Robby has a bike in his future. I don't know what it is but he has that same look in his eye when talking about motorcycles that I did. Cool cats and a cool little town.

State line

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

This is the second one today. I didnt bother to stop at the GA/AL border. I guess I just needed to relax a bit more. Well I am relaxed now and in my groove. No worries, just enjoying the journey.

Northern AL has some fantastic roads. Central AL has one of the best bits I have ever ridden. Its little creek canyon and it rocks. Its like a roller coaster with G-outs wicked rises and hidden turns. A most exciting and beautiful creation. I would compare it to Beartooth pass which is one of the best roads in the country. I have a video to process...please stand by.

Overloaded

Overloaded, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

The verdict is that the Karoo rear sucks. It just dont hold up very well. I have 1k on mine and it will not do 2k more so I am haling one with me. Partner in crime has 1k on his and its worse than mine. He is always ecercising his right hand in one fashion or another.

Well One day with two tires wont be the end of the world. I might try and do a couple days before I change mine. It depends on how much carrying a spare bothers me and how much longer the old one last.

So the bags look the same but they are lighter!
26 Panniers
16 Duffle
12 Camelback

You do the math I am going to pretend its about 30lbs. 30 on a 308lb bike isn't too bad. It sure beats 100 lbs on a 600lb bike which is something like 1000 (I said I wasn't doing the math).

My route is to take me into AL and by Cedar Bluff and through Desoto State Park which looks cool on a topo map. Its a canyon, twisty road and a creek. Great combination. Total miles is under 300 which is less than half of what Biggins has in store for him. That will give me time to find a hotel and look at all the pretty pictures I took with some cold beer.

Enough already. I need to hydrate and pay attention to number one before I go....

Poor mans XD?

Biggins quality custom work, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

When it comes down to the wire and you realize you have overlooked a detail or two (say, like how riding 700 miles of freeway in one day sucks with a dirt helmet and goggles) you have to improvize. Not enough time to order a fancy new Arai XD. They are on version 3 by the way and it is indeed sweet.

This is my riding partners idea of improvization. Lets call it the poor mans XD. I think it is supposed to rain and this will fog like crazy. I also expect that he will get a late start and be riding at night with a dark visor which is also sucky (more so when it is also raining).
Would you ride with this charactor?

Le weights! Le weights!

Welcome to Fantasy Island! I loved when my parents went out because I got to eat Tostinos frozen pizza and watch Fantasy Island. They should totally bring that show back! I think I will start a group on Facebook. 
Okay care to guess? Thought not.The small North Face duffle is 20lbsThe Rangers weigh in at 31lbs.
Sheet mang 51 lbs is nothing. When we did Baja I had 70lbs in one mermite pannier. Hmm no wonder I broke subframe bolts on that trip.

I did not weigh my Camelback. I will have 100oz of water in it which is 6.5 lbs. That is consumable weight though. I will carry the Dell mini 9 which is about 2 lbs and some misc stuff like bike pump and Ultrapod so lets agree that all in all its somewhere between 10 and 15lbs. I will probably have that much in gear on me once you add boots, helmet, jacket and pants.

In case you cared my scale says 178 and 16% body fat. Sounds good eh? Don't know why I don't look better naked. Trust me no pics needed.

Sweet rear

Sweet rear, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

I like big butts and I can not lie......
Okay if you have seen my wife you know thats not true because she has a fine small round rump. I digress....

I think the Rangers look fine but that duffle (size small) looks big. While this isn't overloaded like some fool with a KLR (www.advrider,com and check out the ride reports for some of that) it looks like a lot of gear. The duffle has some clothes and really light stuff but it takes up room so there you go.

Not shown is the Camelback Havoc which will hold my Dell mini 9 and some other electronica and as a bonus water too!.

Full frontal

Full frontal, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

Okay okay so the light is killer right? I love the thing that much I look at it and smile. See I am smiling right now.

So a spare 21" tube and some misc stuff in the top bag like camera and headlamp. Both of which I wanted easy quick access to.

Cockpit

Cockpit, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

This is pretty much what I will be staring at all day when I am not looking out for Sasquatch, toothless hookers or free beer.

Profile of her ready to go

Profile, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

I did a test pack today and took her for a spin. It feels cramped probably because the duffle is too far forward. I can scoot back and it moves because I used Rok Straps which have some elastic in them. I gotta say I didn't know how I would use those straps but I like them a lot so far.

It looks like too much kit and maybe it is but there is not much there. If I wasn't camping I could probably ditch the top bag. It has clothes, sleeping bag, bivy, tarp, thermarest and rain gear. Plus my coffee cup and filter. I might have brought those anyway so I can have a decent cup of coffee in the morning.

I am off to weigh it, results to follow along with a few more pics

More from Spot

Got an email today from Spot. I think they are trying to cash in on blogging so I sighed up. Id probably rather just use this blog but we will see. Spot seems to have too many pages and logins. Currently I have three which is kinda dumb.

Here it is in all its empty glory:
http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile/?user_id=42505

Spot

Okay so I have a SPOT share page:

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0U9IbjaVqZPTft5scN8siTIT3B8QIcdXk

Why do you care? Well you are sitting at home and I am out in the world riding a motorcycle like you wish you were. You sold your soul and how does it feel? You forgot you worked so you could ride and now you work and you cant ride. How does that feel?

Like shit I bet. Last year I rode not nearly enough. Well I AM taking a trip this year and you can track me with that link.... If that wont make you feel like shit for sitting at home or at work.

UPS man came...

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by surlyphoto.

He brought me some goodies from UpTite Racing and some back country gear. Here is a sneak peak of the exhaust. I will write more about what I got from George later along with some proper pics.

Plans before I go are to complete my packing list, test pack, test ride and valve adjustment. Maybe throw in an oil change for good measure too.

New date is the 23rd of May!