Preparation
A big part of me wishs only to pack a few things in my panniers, point the bike in any direction, twist the throttle and be gone in a wash of dust. Unfortunately, right now, it would be a wash of powdery snow, the panniers would have to be packed with extreme cold weather gear, and my choice of direction would be limited to south.
Thurrou said "Every journey carries with it three most enjoyable parts. The preparation, the journey, and the remembrance of the journey." The control freak in my loves the first part, but the romantic in me usually wrestles the control freak to the ground, and I leave hastily unprepared. That is why I start the preperation process in winter when mother nature keeps my romantic firmly in the bondage of fear of dangerous weather. I know, people do it all the time, they ride their motorcycles in the snow. I have done it on occasion, either by choice or by providence but with a little planning, I can exercse my choice to not have to do it, and let providence be hard pressed to force it.
The preperation process begins with the idea, the idea is not yet a dream, as a matter of fact, I don't think I ever remember the dreams of my ideas, until I am acting them out. The concept of the "dream ride" is over used anyway. I will leave that to the people who buy a seat in a guided tour. My ride is more about discovery. I know not what my dreams are nor do I wish to define them as a single moment or event. My journeys are always a collection of dreams I could never possibly know I had.
A list of preperations for me, is simply a way to collect my thoughts in one single place for review. and to accupy my inner child with purpose, instead of romantic whimsicle abberations.
Prudence invariably dictates a certain amount of planning and preparation. I have also discovered that without at least a thumbnail sketch of a plan, I never quite get anywhere. I have read a great deal of practical insight on the subject of planning an adventure motorcycle ride. Everything from how to prepare your bike to how to prepare the paperwork, physical conditioning, budgeting, etc is laid out in excruciating detail in every related publication. As always however, i am choosing a different approach. My planning is not going to be about goals. Instead I will concentrate my predilection on the activities i wish to partake in on the road. The first and foremost of these activities is that I wish to ride a long distance. So the bike must be prepared to provide for that activity.
I am not sure why this part is always portrayed as the absolute most expensive part of the trip. While farkeling a bike for a long distance ride is fun, and I am sure it would be more fun on a kings budget, I do not have one of those, so I will prepare my bike under the priorities of reliability, and comfort. It probably wont be as pretty as it could be but from experience, I know that pretty is only skin deep, and rarely enhances functionality.
One of the best ways to enhance reliability is to learn to ride ones motorcycle with loving respect. I have nursed many an injured beast through many miles simply by riding in a way that does not unduly promote breakage. This essential part of the preparation will continue throughout the trip.
The bike needs the following preparations and modifications
Fresh oil change.
Buy the special wrench so I have it for future changes, and buy a locking oil cap because everybody says this is a good idea to avoid vandalism. Also, this iwll give me an idea of how to design the crash bars so they don't interfere with future oil changes like many after market bars do.
New clutch or clutch adjustment.
I think my bike needs a new clutch, However, I am not entirely sure that it is not just woefully out of adjustment. When I get the bike in the shot this week, I will make the determination. Probably a good time to check and possibly replace the rear seal on the engine as this is a known failure point that will ruin a trip
Crash bars.
I am going to try to fabricate these myself. Not only because I wish to save the 500 dollars or so that it would cost to buy an adiquate set, but also because i have in mind a feature that I have not yet seen on an after market set. More on this later...
Stronger Panniers. While the stock panniers quite hold enough for the journey, and do not provide as much crash protection as I want. I know it sounds a little strange, but i have seen ride stopping damage prevented by a good strong set of panniers and the associated mounting frame. I saw an article on the internet last week about building panniers out of .50 cal ammo boxes. It seems that the 100 or so dollars invested was reasonable considering a good after market set can run well into the thousands. While the ammo boxes wont be as pretty, i am sure they will meet the functionality goals of providing lots of waterproof storage, and protection at the back of the bike.
Cleaning, tightening, and hardening.
On my last day of riding last season, it was snowing hard. We were in for a sizable dmp and it was cold so I rode my bike up the ramp onto my covered porch, secured a tarp over it, and called it a season. Throughout the riding season, i had made various field modifications and repairs that could stand a little more contemplation and diligence. During the preparation process, I will fix all these fixes and perhaps enhance the functionality of the bike with mods that have run around in my head over the winter. Hardening will include putting wires that belong in looms, in looms, Locktighting the bolts I was constantly tightening last year, and generally making sure everything is good to go another 15,000 miles.
Spare Parts list
Alternator belt
Clutch cable
Throttle cable
Choke Cable?
Fuel filter
Oil
Road tires (to be put on after I have completed the off road portion of my trip in Alaska.)