Four months, one motorcycle and a crazy idea: ride to the bottom of the world.
Wow, what a wonderful weekend! A surprise going-away party on Friday with my favorite people, all-night Halloween festivities, followed by a spa night tonight. I couldn’t ask for a better send-off. To all my friends: you rock, and I will miss you dearly. I wish I had time to write more, but I still have to pack up my house and load up the bike. Hugs and kisses!
Renton Motorcycles (RMC) called me yesterday to tell me they’d finished working on my bike and that I could pick it up any time. As they’re only open until 6 PM, and traffic in that area tends to congest badly after 4, I had to get there quickly. In order to kill two (three?) birds with the proverbial stone, I rode my Ducati over to my parent’s home and parked in their garage where it will remain for the duration of my trip. I said goodbye to Mom, and then Dad drove me to the motorcycle shop (thanks!) where I picked up the bike.
I’d like to stop and give some deserved props to RMC. The lady at the service counter was about to ring up my hefty $400 bill, but stopped herself to tell me that they were running a discount. Apparently there is a coupon that RMC sent out to subscribers of their mailing list, but she volunteered the information and gave me the discount which brought the bill down to $350 plus a $30 credit at the parts department! The $30 immediately went towards a new pair of badly needed rear brake pads. The service lady’s attitude lowered my bill by $80 and ensured that I would come back to them for service work in the future. Thanks, RMC!
It felt great to have the bike back. I really haven’t been able to ride it much over the last few months, since it’s either had a flat rear tire or it’s been partially dissasembled. Now it is running perfectly and we’re both excited for the journey ahead.
I’ll get some pictures up of the motorcycle and of my gear before I leave!
The replacement part for my carburetor came yesterday, and after installing it, my bike fired right up. That’s a pretty big relief. Without a running motorcycle, this trip would be rather difficult to accomplish! The bike is running a little rough, though. I’m going to try to drop it off at the shop this weekend for a full service. Valve clearances, fluids, pads, etc. should all be looked at. Some of these things I’ve done already (brake fluid) but others should be done by a professional. My new Moab Shock arrived today! I can’t wait to install it and see the difference… yesterday I sat on the bike with Ola, and the sag with the stock shock was pretty appalling. Granted, I could probably adjust the preload and get a stiffer ride, but the Moab should be much better here.
Well, there are just 10 days left before my chosen departure date. My plan is to leave Seattle on the morning of November 2nd on my trusty ’05 KLR 650 and head southeast until I reach Ushuaia, Argentina. For the un-worldly types, that is the bottom of South America, and it will take me around 4 months to complete.
I’ve spent the last few months prepping the bike. For the geeky list-types, here’s what I’ve done to it:
There are a couple big-ish things left to do. While upgrading the subframe bolts on the bike, I broke a pastic tab that connects the fuel line to the carburetor. The replacement part came in today, so hopefully I’ll be able to install the part tonight and have a working bike again! The suspension also needs work, and I’ll hopefully be able to work on that this weekend. Other items yet to be installed are:
In addition to all this, I need to take the bike in for a full service. I think there should be just enough time to do all of this before the 2nd, but it’s going to be close. The suspension work has recently become more pressing because my lovely girlfriend plans to fly down to Manzanillo, Mexico and join me on the bike for a week! The stock rear shock on the KLR 650 is fine for most riding, but fully loaded with two passengers would be a little too much.
Check back soon for more pre-trip updates!
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