Don't know where I will be staying at sturgis yet. My boss has an apartment reserved and has offered a space to me. However since he is my boss, camping out sounds very enticing. As for tire heat with the stock tire it has me concerned a little. I drive the rig in the 70 to 80 mph range which I am sure the Russians and Czechs never intended it reach. I think I will investigate some new rubber and see if I can get the spokes adjusted/trued. My time is running out fast on this trip. I plan on attending the Lava Lamp Love Run in Soap Lake WA. July 20 and 21 then leaving for Colorado on the 22nd or 23rd. So I better get busy with things.
Originally written by FAADave on 7/3/2007 8:20 PM
No concerns with the tube. The jack is a great idea and I have an extra, so thanks, (I never even thought of it). I also have progressive insurance on both bikes, with roadside assistance, which according to my policy pays pretty good, tows, first hour of labor etc. I have two VTX's. One was the wifes then she left me, and the bike. I wish I could remember what she looked like.
Gee, I've got a daughter looking for a husband with an extra bike. She says send a picture of the bike. ;0)
Unless I missed it somewhere in all of the fine replies so far, SUNSCREEN!!! As someone who has sacrificed a lower lip (yup, the whole thang) plus a few other spots (like the tops of both ears) to a couple of forms of skin cancer brought on by over thirty years in the saddle I am the "Sunscreen Crusader!" If you're going to do a long tour protect your skin especially if you're not used to long exposure to sun and wind.
As far as spoked vs. cast I've repaired and replaced many a tube on the roadside over the years using what I could carry in a handlebar mounted tool bag and a hand pump. I've run cast for several years now and just last month got stuck with a monster towing bill when I road debris'd a tire to death. A roll of the dice either way. But, that being said, I don't know that I'd trust those Russian (or possibly Chinese) tires for a long, high speed trip. At a minimum I would (JMHO) upgrade the tires and tubes and carry a repair kit.
Hope you have a good trip, sounds like fun. Look for me at the 'chip when you get to Sturgis. I'll be the long haired guy with the beard and tattoos.
Thanks. I carry sunscreen in my tank bag at all times and use it. Yesterday I purchased a new tire (Avon) and will have it and a new tube installed next week. I also plan on carrying a spare tube. It shouldn't be a problem finding you at the chip, I saw a picture of a guy matching your description on their website and have printed it out to carry along 😉
Hi Dave,
If you were thinking of heading from here up through Springdale to Loon Lake, be aware there is chip seal on SR 231 for about 9 miles. Just a heads up...
For small bikes as the Jawa the tcheck tires are much better then any chineese stuff (back wheel original > tCheck 8000-9500km good stability > chineese 2000km woobling like hell > never again!) On long drives there are lots of things you might take with you, but you put load on the bike!We Germans take everything imaginable with usTools, spares, fishing rod, first aid, rain coat, tent,....,The Tommies some tooling,The French one sleeping bag and a girlfriend.The Germans you find tinkering every evening,The Tommies will only tinker if they drive a vintage bike from their own island, otherwise you find them with a pint.The French drive through deserts or whereever, you find them with a nice bottle of wine and enjoying life! I remember a group of four 750ies 4 cilinders comeing back from north cape to Lyon in Copenhagen. One engine sounded strange.What is wrong? - Ahh. the 3rd piston got stuck in Finland on the way north. With a hack saw we cut of the conecting rod and pluged the carburator. Everything OK, My girl likes the vibrations!As you see all is a cuestion of philosophie and temperament.Its your own choice. Knowing how to improvise helps a lot - Haveing fun is the most important.And don't take life so seriously it's only temporary!Best wishesSven Peter Pan
In recent years I have found that a hydration system can make one feel a whole lot better than can be believed during long hopurs on the road. It was one of those things where I never thought I felt bad until finding out how much better I could feel. Camelback makes good units but there are some great clones out there at decent prices at Walmart etc. Give it a try and you won't be sorry.
Originally written by FAADave on 7/6/2007 It shouldn't be a problem finding you at the chip, I saw a picture of a guy matching your description on their website and have printed it out to carry along 😉
Ahhhh! I see you've already got the most important thing... A SENSE OF HUMOR! That'll get you through more than all the tools at Sears.
I rather like that pic of me!
Peter Pan on 7/6/2007
On long drives there are lots of things you might take with you, but you put load on the bike!We Germans take everything imaginable with usTools, spares, fishing rod, first aid, rain coat, tent
That did remind me of several things the most important of which is the first aid kit. I have carried one on all of my bikes for as far back as I care to remember and they have been useful many times. On my rig I carry the big kit that was required in my car when I lived in Germany back in the 80's. Came in a water resistant case, kinda nice! For my other bikes I have smaller military aircraft type kits. Mostly band-aids and iodine kinda stuff but also some big gauze rolls, tape, and a tourniquet.
Fishing rod! On longer rides and trips I carry my trusty Ron Popiel Pocketfisherman that I bought at a yard sale for a buck back in the 70's!!! More than once during a mid day ride break I've caught my lunch in a roadside stream or pond with it. (Ok, I hear yawl laughing at my Pocketfisherman...)
But there is a serious point to the fishing rod, that is that by taking a mental break from the ride even if it's to sit by a pond drowning worms for an hour will help you remain awake and alert for more miles a day than to try to just ride it out. Stop at the World's Biggest Ball of String, take pictures of the Coffee Pot Diner, etc... Enjoy the ride.
Hallo Sven! Was nehmen Amerikaner ihr Motorrad an?
FAADave on 7/3/2007 I have a Honda VTX 1800 with a Dnepr sidecar.
HOU BOUT' POSTING SOME PICS OF YOUR RIG! WE TEND TO FIND EACH OTHER EASIER AT RALLIES AND EVENTS BY OUR RIDES RATHER THAN OUR FACES! 🙂
Hallo Bob,die Amis treffe ich zu selten, die lachen aber meistens weil sie an der Nadel hängen oder gerade Gras paffen. Die Ticos sind begeistert, und wie immer, die Kinder am meisten.Hello Friends,In former times in a cold climate like in Germany on long trips (like for ocasional messenger jobs (Lübeck - Frankfurt 560km (sometimes back same day)) I used to take chewing tobaco. => No dry mouth on the hole distance. => no need to pee. / With a small CB650 (single) at reasonable speeds 140-150km and a lended MV Augusta tank my record was 3 hours 50 minutes. The sidecarist who gave me the tip used to say:At first it doesnt taste good: like plum jelly - after half an hour it devellops the good taste - like crude oil!That was 25 years ago when he was some 60 years old, may God have him riding with his mother and R90 all year long still.Good day.Sven Peter Pan
Pictures coming soon. Maybe I'll take the rig to the local church and take the pictures there for good luck.
Smokeless Tabacco is not safe, and won't help with dehydration.
Sorry Peter, but I have to disagree on that one. Please don't
be offended, but I do want to make sure that at least if he does
start to chew it will not be without knowing of the dangers...
http://www.kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smokeless.html
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chewing-tobacco/CA00019
Hello Mark,
Any tabaco is dangerous and in hot climate it wouldn't help at all.It is more a kind of illusion. For an single ocasion in a cold climate once a year I don't think it would be too bad and adictive.
My father switched after a bad time with water in the lungs from cigarets to sniff tobaco and after 2 years the back of his thumb got badly damaged. Chewing tobaco makes the same with throat and mouth. The nicotine goes even faster into the blood. Why expose yourself to adiction and cancer.
Now he doesn't smoke or sniff or chew any nicotine, but that is 50 years too late the damage is done.
Myself I only smoke some 2-3 churchills together with a good rum a year for to remember or "honour" my stepfathers grandfather. In the same manner as I visit a friends grave together with 2 bottles of Heinicken. It is a kind of ceremony. no more.
My post about the chewing tobaco was intended as entertaining, Because the tip from Hr. Kröger: "It tastes first like plum jelly and later it devellops its real taste - like crude oil"
was allways causing a lot of laughter to us who know him.
And in deed the few times in cold Germany I used it for ocasional long trips it helped to cut down time.
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Stable moderate little elevated speed but without stops and slow down make you "EAT" KM (miles).
Driveing at max speed these modern monster bikes can do with good eaverage milage only brain amputaded guy's. Like one collegue who used to visit his father for a long weekend in Madrid.
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Here in the sweat pooring costarican Climate I only got head ake...
And deep dark urine that is a bad sign for dehydration...
Regards Sven Peter
Smokeless tobacco in Germany? When I was there it was a cold pilsner, a braut and the duck dance to keep you warm. Or 100 MPH not KPH on the Autobahn in the fog would always warm the soul and pucker the butt. Ahhh the memories, Oktober Fest, Muchen, Schweinfurt and of course the BEER. As for the tobacco, I gave it up many many years ago when my then five year old daughter said "Daddy I don't want you to die, would you stop smoking for me?" Broke my heart and I haven't touched the stuff since.
