Key West to Prudhoe Bay and back.

FL_biker · 06-01-2011, 03:33 PM

**UPDATED DECEMBER 3RD, 2011**
I am back in the middle east again so with nothing better to do after work, I am going to start updating my posts, adding more photos, maps and daily mile counts, avg mpg, etc.

Dave

So here's the deal,
I'm a Gov't Contractor that deploys once a year and on a deployment in 2007 I found this web site and stromtrooper.com. That led to an eventual purchase of a brand new 2007 DL1000 in April 2009 and like the first hit of crack-cocaine it was only the beginning down a long slippery slope of farkles, gear, and soon several hundreds of gallons of gasoline at today's inflated prices!!

In two days, on June 4th I will depart the Tampa Bay area and head to Key West, Florida to start my first ever attempt at an "Extreme" IBA ride: The Ultimate Coast to Coast Challenge.

I think I've got the bike pretty well set up, put new tires on it last weekend, changed the fluids before my last deployment, new chain shortly before that. Now it's about time to see what I've forgotten or done wrong by testing it on the trip to D2D then Prudhoe Bay!!

Now since any ride report is worthless without pictures, I'll get the scariest one of all out of the way first - a photo of me with my bike taken on the BMW NEF Winter Rally back in February:

I started my testing with a ride up to Deals Gap and found the bike to be unstable at hwy speeds around semi-trucks so I headed back north on another trip to Traxxion Dynamics to get it "tweaked" with AK20 cartridges, some stiffer springs, and a new rear shock with a stiffer spring.
That led to an overly tall bike so I had the rear shortened a tad and it sits on the sidestand a lot better now AND it has the bonus of my stubby legs actually connecting a single foot to the ground!!

The photo above was with the bike loaded about how it will be June 4th so Traxxion could weigh the bike, bags, and my fat arse to get the springs weights right!

By the way, I've never attempted to blog anything online despite being a computer professional (I'm a Data Storage Admin of almost 6 petabytes of data in case anyone cares) so if you have any tips on what I'm doing wrong feel free to PM me and I'll edit things accordingly.

More to come as soon as I get some more photos, but I wanted to start the ride report today to post the link for friends and give the inmates here my Spotwalla tracking page link as well:

http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?...d4dd5420cac0ea

Gotta run for now - wife said something about time for my "last supper".....not sure if I should be worried when you combine that with her questions about my life insurance....

Dave in Tampa

Dan Diego · 06-01-2011, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FL_biker

In two days, on June 4th I will depart the Tampa Bay area and head to Key West, Florida to start my first ever attempt at an "Extreme" IBA ride: The Ultimate Coast to Coast Challenge. Dave in Tampa

Go, Dave, go. We will be watching and wishing you well. Keep us informed of your progress!

FL_biker · 06-01-2011, 04:40 PM

Thanks Dan,
If all goes well I will be making a stop in San Diego as well - I plan to ride the entire west coast from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington down your way!!

I'm hoping to get an appt with Wayne Boyer at Motoport to see their place (and maybe adjust the fit of my gear) while I'm there...

Dave

CaptH · 06-01-2011, 04:45 PM

Awesome! Good luck!

whatsgnu · 06-01-2011, 04:52 PM

Sounds like a great trip on a great bike ! I'm in

.
Ride safe, report often, but above all, have a fantastic time !!

Clank · 06-01-2011, 05:05 PM

I am in!!!

Kyler · 06-01-2011, 05:51 PM

you didn't mention but have you done any LD riding in the past?

goldenrev · 06-01-2011, 05:57 PM

Hi Dan... I am also leaving on June 4th for Prudhoe Bay... but from Northern California

Maybe I'll see you on the road

Here is a link to my report of you are interested: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...0#post16020310

manshoon · 06-01-2011, 06:12 PM

Nice bike.......Looking forward to the report.....

FL_biker · 06-01-2011, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FWIW

you didn't mention but have you done any LD riding in the past?

FWIW,
I've never attempted a ride of this length - 12-14,000 miles before but I have done some pretty long days.

I did a SS1000 in 2008 when I rode from Tampa area to Marysville, OH in 19 hrs and 17 hrs on the return trip 2 days later - BUT that was on a Gold Wing - a little more comfy bike!

I've only done a 500 mile or so day on the Vstrom, but it WAS after an 8 hr day at work so I'm thinking/hoping I'll do okay. I've got hwy pegs on the strom and can use the passenger pegs like a sport bike so I can move around a bit.

I also have a Zumo 665 for MP3's and XM radio as well as iPhone connected to it too - so if I'm bored I can "phone a friend"

I'm psyched and cannot wait to get started..

The only "glitch" so far is I've started to get a cough and some tightness in my chest -- TALK ABOUT BAD TIMING!!! So I started on some Mucinex and hot-tea and other fluids 'cuz if I cancel this trip it's gonna be YEARS till I have time/money lined up to do it later on!!

Well it's off to bed 'cuz I still have that WORK stuff to contend with for 2 more days...and I'm a day behind now 'cuz I felt like crap and didn't get tools and clothes packed tonite like I was supposed to

Dave

achesley · 06-01-2011, 07:08 PM

Good luck and have fun. Iron butt runs are pretty cool but don't give you much time to smell the roses.

goldenrev · 06-01-2011, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FL_biker

FWIW,
I've never attempted a ride of this length - 12-14,000 miles before but I have done some pretty long days.

I did a SS1000 in 2008 when I rode from Tampa area to Marysville, OH in 19 hrs and 17 hrs on the return trip 2 days later - BUT that was on a Gold Wing - a little more comfy bike!

I've only done a 500 mile or so day on the Vstrom, but it WAS after an 8 hr day at work so I'm thinking/hoping I'll do okay. I've got hwy pegs on the strom and can use the passenger pegs like a sport bike so I can move around a bit.

I also have a Zumo 665 for MP3's and XM radio as well as iPhone connected to it too - so if I'm bored I can "phone a friend"

I'm psyched and cannot wait to get started..

The only "glitch" so far is I've started to get a cough and some tightness in my chest -- TALK ABOUT BAD TIMING!!! So I started on some Mucinex and hot-tea and other fluids 'cuz if I cancel this trip it's gonna be YEARS till I have time/money lined up to do it later on!!

Well it's off to bed 'cuz I still have that WORK stuff to contend with for 2 more days...and I'm a day behind now 'cuz I felt like crap and didn't get tools and clothes packed tonite like I was supposed to

Dave

Sounds like a little pre-trip jitters... you will be better then fine

Dan Diego · 06-01-2011, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FL_biker

Thanks Dan,
If all goes well I will be making a stop in San Diego as well - I plan to ride the entire west coast from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington down your way!!

I'm hoping to get an appt with Wayne Boyer at Motoport to see their place (and maybe adjust the fit of my gear) while I'm there...

Dave

I will PM you with contact info, but we'd love to host you while you're in SD. I lived on Davis Island while in Tampa, and the lil lady is a lifelong Tampa resident. Well, untill I brought her here. Be safe, Dave.

HighRiver · 06-01-2011, 08:49 PM

Giddiup!

atrisk5 · 06-01-2011, 09:06 PM

Hope to see you on the road. I am leaving 6 am tomorrow the 2nd from Houston to AC. I will be the guy on a cruzer with the ADV sticker on the windshield. Daniel....Let's ride

06-01-2011, 03:33 PM	#1
FL_biker ^OP Dakar Withdrawl Joined: Oct 2008 Location: Suffering from bike withdrawl in Afghanistan Oddometer: 476	Key West to Prudhoe Bay and back. UPDATED DECEMBER 3RD, 2011 I am back in the middle east again so with nothing better to do after work, I am going to start updating my posts, adding more photos, maps and daily mile counts, avg mpg, etc. Dave So here's the deal, I'm a Gov't Contractor that deploys once a year and on a deployment in 2007 I found this web site and stromtrooper.com. That led to an eventual purchase of a brand new 2007 DL1000 in April 2009 and like the first hit of crack-cocaine it was only the beginning down a long slippery slope of farkles, gear, and soon several hundreds of gallons of gasoline at today's inflated prices!! In two days, on June 4th I will depart the Tampa Bay area and head to Key West, Florida to start my first ever attempt at an "Extreme" IBA ride: The Ultimate Coast to Coast Challenge. I think I've got the bike pretty well set up, put new tires on it last weekend, changed the fluids before my last deployment, new chain shortly before that. Now it's about time to see what I've forgotten or done wrong by testing it on the trip to D2D then Prudhoe Bay!! Now since any ride report is worthless without pictures, I'll get the scariest one of all out of the way first - a photo of me with my bike taken on the BMW NEF Winter Rally back in February: I started my testing with a ride up to Deals Gap and found the bike to be unstable at hwy speeds around semi-trucks so I headed back north on another trip to Traxxion Dynamics to get it "tweaked" with AK20 cartridges, some stiffer springs, and a new rear shock with a stiffer spring. That led to an overly tall bike so I had the rear shortened a tad and it sits on the sidestand a lot better now AND it has the bonus of my stubby legs actually connecting a single foot to the ground!! The photo above was with the bike loaded about how it will be June 4th so Traxxion could weigh the bike, bags, and my fat arse to get the springs weights right! By the way, I've never attempted to blog anything online despite being a computer professional (I'm a Data Storage Admin of almost 6 petabytes of data in case anyone cares) so if you have any tips on what I'm doing wrong feel free to PM me and I'll edit things accordingly. More to come as soon as I get some more photos, but I wanted to start the ride report today to post the link for friends and give the inmates here my Spotwalla tracking page link as well: http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?...d4dd5420cac0ea Gotta run for now - wife said something about time for my "last supper".....not sure if I should be worried when you combine that with her questions about my life insurance.... Dave in Tampa FL_biker screwed with this post 12-05-2011 at 09:14 AM Reason: corrected a typo

06-01-2011, 04:52 PM	#5
whatsgnu Scheissekopf Joined: Apr 2009 Location: S. VT / W. MA Oddometer: 241	Sounds like a great trip on a great bike ! I'm in . Ride safe, report often, but above all, have a fantastic time !! __________________ '08 Wee-strom ABS '12 Victory Cross Roads Now, if I could just put off procrastinating Tact is for people who aren't witty enough to be sarcastic.

06-01-2011, 05:51 PM	#7
Kyler Confused Hack Nut Joined: Jul 2007 Location: Almost Western MD Oddometer: 2,518	you didn't mention but have you done any LD riding in the past? __________________ Ken => I'm a DAMN Rider (No rules, just ride!) *Happiness is a 3-wheel drift!* Member of the Maryland OHV Alliance

06-01-2011, 05:57 PM	#8
goldenrev New Dream Joined: Jul 2009 Location: N. CA Oddometer: 373	Also leaving on June 4th Hi Dan... I am also leaving on June 4th for Prudhoe Bay... but from Northern California Maybe I'll see you on the road Here is a link to my report of you are interested: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showt...0#post16020310 __________________ 2009 BMW GSA Where Are You Going? (2011 Alaska Trip) goldenrev screwed with this post 06-01-2011 at 06:08 PM

06-01-2011, 06:12 PM	#9
manshoon Mr.Back Roads to you Joined: Mar 2009 Location: There you have it. Oddometer: 308	Nice bike.......Looking forward to the report..... __________________ Everyone dies, but not everyone lives So, Get busy living or get busy dying.

06-01-2011, 04:40 PM	#3
FL_biker ^OP Dakar Withdrawl Joined: Oct 2008 Location: Suffering from bike withdrawl in Afghanistan Oddometer: 476	Thanks Dan, If all goes well I will be making a stop in San Diego as well - I plan to ride the entire west coast from the Olympic Peninsula of Washington down your way!! I'm hoping to get an appt with Wayne Boyer at Motoport to see their place (and maybe adjust the fit of my gear) while I'm there... Dave

06-01-2011, 04:45 PM	#4
CaptH FNG Joined: Jun 2010 Location: Ohio Oddometer: 36	Awesome! Good luck!

06-01-2011, 05:05 PM	#6
Clank ADV desk jockey Joined: Jul 2008 Location: North of hotlanta! Oddometer: 23	I am in!!!

06-01-2011, 07:08 PM	#11
achesley Old Motorcyclist Joined: Mar 2003 Location: Jennings, Louisiana Oddometer: 3,144	Good luck and have fun. Iron butt runs are pretty cool but don't give you much time to smell the roses. __________________ An '00 KLR 650, An '07 1250S, An '03 5.3L Chevy Truck + '43 style dude , Simper Fi ;-)

06-01-2011, 08:49 PM	#14
HighRiver taking the checkered Joined: Oct 2010 Location: Valley of the Sun Oddometer: 63	Giddiup! __________________ Motomarathon, CO. 2010 ASMA #309 IBA#34978~ SS1000~ 10.11.08 B2B Insanity~ BB1500~ 10.17.10 Alaska Blog- http://3umph.tumblr.com/

06-01-2011, 09:06 PM	#15
atrisk5 Gnarly Adventurer Joined: Dec 2008 Location: Great state of Texas Oddometer: 100	Hope to see you on the road. I am leaving 6 am tomorrow the 2nd from Houston to AC. I will be the guy on a cruzer with the ADV sticker on the windshield. Daniel....Let's ride __________________ "the word fear is not in my vocabulary" EK

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: .
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode