Adventures with my TE310 - the beginning

[WbCherry]

Wife pregnant; ride over

O ye of little faith....you make Dinosaur Jesus cry.

Pile 'o stuff

4-cell Lithium battery and Aerostich "Fuse" Panel (without actual fuses)
Smaller and lighter than original battery. 6 circuits, internal horn relay

SAE quick connector w/ water cap

Garmin 60CSX wired and mounted

Loaded with US Topo and US City (all states)

35 Micron SS mesh oil filter with this stuff
You should try it...starts are quicker. Bike seems to like it a lot. Runs quieter.

CV4 hoses and better horn

My favorite sprocket size: 40t! Cruising 60 mph in 5th gear...forgot I had a 6th gear.

trail sprockets mounted under rack with SS zipties

1/4" thick SS machete/ax..poop shovel...hammer...hobo slicer

Mounts here:

Sleeping pad (must be getting soft)

Random pocket

My favorite chain lube

Mini hacksaw. Blades in shrinktube

 

[WbCherry]

My dog

Water bottle pocket

More water bottles (collapsable)

3 liter Platypus for tankbag

Slime airpump (downsized and wired for SAE)

Patch kit inside Slime case

 

[WbCherry]

MSR stove

HUGE burner, works great at elevation

Integrated windscreen/heat exchanger

Bamboo utensils and chopsticks for Ramen (light and bacteria resistant)

Random hygiene junk

My dog again

Crap ton of zipties

First aid and sewing kit (works fine for sutures)

towel

New tent

 

[WbCherry]

Tubing with tape and junk. Shrinktube packed inside.

Wire. File for sharpening machete.

Various tools

Trail stand

$7 toolbag. Heat-resistant curling iron bag from walmart. Padded.

Mounts here:

 

[WbCherry]

SAE connector integrated to backpack for charging phone, etc

DIY thumbscrew for Garmin

Still gotta figure out how to mount this to my helmet

Bigger than I was expecting.

Clothes and food are in the bag. Took up a lot of room, like usual.

Getting some of those vacuum bags to squeeze them down.

Down fart-sack is in the mail.

One day, I'll only need this:

 

[WbCherry]

Wife pregnant; ride over

So, you were saying?


Clothes:
socks, boxers, t-shirts...I'll throw away as needed.
swim trunks
silk underlayer
fleece and jogging pants (taking up so much room)
Zip-lock bags for shower shoes

--7602 Racing Oil filter cover (not pictured). So I don't have to fool with the stupid spring and lose it.
--Giant Loop tankbag about to be ordered.
--Hi-power LED flood and center spot AUX lights arriving any day now
--Map Roller expected tomorrow

Mrs.WBCherry got new furniture and some baby gear. Still gotta swing by and get more.



I'm doing my part to help the economy.

 

[glangston]

Got any Celox?

 

[WbCherry]

Got any Celox?

I've been on the fence about it for a few years. Has its drawbacks.
I prefer sutures. My one-hands are still slow, though....so, maybe.

 

[benwiggin2]

Jeeeeeeeeeeeeesus! I'm "watching" this tthread, originally because you made me laugh. Now I have to start over again to see where you are riding to. Still loving it though. Trailtech headlight me likey. I didn't see any Husky application on their site though. it is a trailtech, right?

 

[WbCherry]

Yes.

 

[jtemple]

That curling iron bag really completes the ensemble.

 

[WbCherry]

Truly.

And I'll wear a tutu the entire trip (with pics) if someone helps me get Wolfman softbags.



In other news: I punctured completely through my hand with an Xacto knife yesterday. The muscle on the pinky side. Gorilla tape doesn't hold to blood like regular duck tape.

My sleeping bag went on sale. $50 off, on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Kelty-Cosmic-...door-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1327855665&sr=1-1
REI is charging $189 for the same bag. Albeit, with their better return policy (lifetime, without reciepts, in any store in the country).


I will fall multiple, multiple times.
There will be blood. Perhaps broken bones. Hopefully just a collarbone or more ribs. Who needs those anyway...
Snakes will be eaten. Large lizards, if I can find them.
Prostitutes and hobos will serve for mobile pitching practice.
My social skills will degrade further, in my loneliness.

 

[jtemple]

This should be an awesome ride report!

 

[benwiggin2]

Yes.

uh, part number please, and pic of the finger also. Thanks!

 

[WbCherry]

Nothing much to see. Clean thru and thru. With other assorted jabs and slices.
Muscle heals quickly.
Being redhead, I clot easier and higher pain tolerance. Unattractiveness has its virtues.


http://trailtech.net/husqvarna-x2-hid-kits.html
You'll have to rig some L-brackets to screw it to the lower triple. Still need to tweak mine.
Can show you photos, if you want.
The high-beam is basically unnecessary. Low beam turns night into day. And it's crisp light...not all yellowy and blah.


If you poke around the site, you'll notice their kickstands. MotorSportz seems to have ripped off their product, compeletly. (Sorry, dood, pictures don't lie.)
The one product I wish I hand't bought.
Pain in the @ss to install...still weak aluminum...bolt holes don't line up...4 pieces mounted through the few threads, etc. etc.

 

[benwiggin2]

Thanks! Ok, so with the trailtech headlight, no more rubber bands around the forks?

 

[Tessier]

Holly crap batman you gonna pack the kitchen sink in there too? I have done a few cross country trips and one thing I noticed is there are lots of bike shops out there who love adventurous rides and take great care of them! I'd leave the sprockets, machete, file, trail stand and a hole lot more at home. If you find you really need it you can always buy it along the way. We typically also stayed at road side hotels or couch surfered all the way across the country. You plan it right and you won't be needing the tent sleeping pad and lots of other crazy stuff unless your heading to the amazon, but good luck!

 

[WbCherry]

Hold on, I'm sexing my wife. Be back in half hour to berate you.

 

[rocky4by]

I have been watching this thread from day one... It's been a great trip already for me, and you haven't even left yet. My wife, kids and I have traveled all over the US since we meet 20 years ago, mostly in a Toyota back in the early days, and our last rig that got us here, to Oregon was a Chevy CUCV Blazer. Either way Bike or truck you can pack too much stuff and drive yourself crazy getting all ready. We still take quite a few trips and I try my best to just get in the darn truck with the least amount of things possible. I knew an old guy that owned a Yamaha shop, and one day he left Indiana on a Honda CT110 with just what he could strap to the back rack. Went all the way to the west coast and back. Anyway, whatever makes YOU comfortable, I do like all the mods you are doing to your bike, should be a great trip and you will meet so many people (Friends ) along the way. If you need a place to crash or send some of your stuff to, we are in SW, OR close to Grants Pass. Oh ya it does seem like one of the Gaint Loop saddle bags would work well for you, have you looked at them?
Steve.

 

[WbCherry]

Prepare for emotionalism.




This trip, for me, is a tangible transition into peaceful human life. Instead of the Time's Square parades, shiny medals, and thankfulness we were promised. I was sitting in a college classroom three months after getting on the plane from Iraq. My backpack still had sand in the creases....going through things 18 yr old kids don't understand....and like to enflame.
I want to feel like I'm all alone, again. On my tank. Surrounded by dirt, the smell of grease and hot metal. Dependant on the people I trust...though they're no longer with me. Rest their souls, where they lie. Letting go of their voices I keep thinking I'll hear at anytime.
High rpms screaming through a high altitude desert where the sky is huge, again. Where everything is quiet exceptthe pounding in your head...but you WANT it to pound. Like a big bass drum. A big, angry, beautiful cannon that knocks the gravel from the ground, undeniably HERE. Calling through the miles, for whatever challengers that come. For a chance for Valhalla with your brothers.

There's a theory in physics that time is solid and continuous. What happened a second ago is still back there, happening. If you've been in been in combat, and felt the raw, warm glee of its brutality...part of you stays back there in it. Doesnt want to leave, no matter how hard you try to drag it back.
I need that part of me back.
The only time I've gotten close is when my sternum broke in half last summer.

Later, maybe, I can trust some dude's couch. Or an American corner store.
The machete stays, until then.

That's all really none of your business, but writing it gets it off my chest.

The trailstand is because I don't know how to change tubed tires.