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?id=2ced4dd5420cac0ea

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....:huh

Dave in Tampa

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

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

Awesome! Good luck!

Sounds like a great trip on a great bike ! I'm in .
Ride safe, report often, but above all, have a fantastic time !!

:dllama

I am in!!!

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

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: <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <wunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <wontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=16020310#post16020310

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

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

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

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

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.

Giddiup!

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

I'm in. My trip to Prudhoe scheduled to leave on 6/9 has been cancelled by a heart complication so I'll be riding along here. Good luck and be safe.

this will help significantly



The bourbon liqueur that is...

Im in...!

I'll be living this trip vicariously through you. Will be a few years before I can pull off such a epic journey.
Good Luck, be safe, and enjoy the ride!

Chuck