Prepping (for real now)
So, I’m deep in the prep now. I’ve been trying to get my mind and body into shape –difficult with the holidaze and all. Tonight I picked up my bike from shop. Everything is mechanically A-OK for the ride. My bike only has about 21K miles on it (that’s about 11K miles since I bought it in March if anyone is counting) and had had all of its regular shots so it was ready to go.
I started the actual packing prep tonight. I figured it would be best to start with the basics –tools. Here’s what I’ve come up with:
1. Sockets (metric and imperial)
2. Tire repair kit (slime + compressor + tire gauge)
3. Rain•X wipes
4. AA Batteries (AAA not pictured)
5. HRCA booklet and route (including info on all Honda dealerships along the way)
6. Multimeter
7. Fuses (10A, 15A, 20A)
8. Duct tape
9. Screwdriver with multiple heads
10. Electrical tape
11. Petzl headlamps (instead of flashlights)
12. Dessicant packs for each bag (thanks to my wife’s piano movers)
13. Metric allen wrenches and breaker bar
14. shop towels
15. TP (for me bunghole)
16. 18 gauge wire
17. small first aid kit (to be included with a much larger FA kit)
18. Gerber multitool (pliers, knife, easel, paints)
19. unsterile gauze
20. Handwarmer packs
21. Matches
22. Zip ties
23. Mini wrenches
So, those are the items I started with and it continued to grow. It’s not much bigger than that and it’s now split up (logically for me) into different saddlebags to distribute the weight.
Next came expanding the first aid kit with aspirin, hand sanitizer, moleskin bits, sanitized gauze, etc, etc. Then, I got the passenger pillion strap area setup for additional baggage (it also doubles as my backrest). Because I’ve got the Honda topbox and it has straps that keep the top section from flopping over I’ve been using a hanging bag system to keep extra gloves, balaclavas and other knick-knacks. Last but not least, I’ve got a disc lock that I’ll be using when staying at hotels and other potentially seedy areas.
By the time I was done I was exhausted and I hadn’t even left yet. There’s still the waterproof camera, tankbag to fill and the Garmin Zumo 550 to mount.
Somertime on 26 Dec 2007 at 10:01 pm #
Be sure to post your route map with the start and stopping points for each day/date so there’s a quick reference as to where the devils frozen bawls you are on what day. Even if it may change. Thankfully Evil Knievil has already flown across the Grand Canyon (the night we saw the Hip at the riverfront back in ‘ol 99 in fact) although this would be pretty noteworthy if you could squeeze it in the itinerary. Maybe next year.