K.I.S.S. Adventure

teamboxer · 06-20-2008, 03:01 PM

Ohno's story:

The plan was simple, as in K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid)

Find a new bike located somewhere far, far away. Fly, buy, and ride through some great country. Point A to B via the scenic route.

The short list of destinations was northwest, southwest and northeast.

Spring rolled around in Michigan and I got the bike itch, bad. I've put 45k on my current mount in the last three years. The BMW 1150GS has taken me to places I used to only dream about.

As a long touring mount, I don't think she can be beat.

But a year ago I rode a KTM 950 and it was really hard to get that bike out of my head. Plus, I had spent some quality time on Buell's Uly. So I started doing the flea market search. Back and forth I went Uly, KTM, Uly, KTM.

The more I read about the KTM in Orange Crush the more I wanted the 950. So when K7's 950 came up for sale I didn't hesitate.

It had all the right parts and pieces. One phone call later the deal was done. Phoenix here I come, or so I thought.

I couldn't get down there for a month and a half (the longest friggin month and a half of my life.)

Not a problem, K7 would store the bike for me till I got down there.

I started looking for tickets. Ride and fly baby! A simple plan.

The plan starts getting complicated right about now ....

I called some friends who live in Phoenix and told them the whole tale. Lo and behold they had a problem. They needed to get a bike from Minneapolis down to Phoenix. And since it's kind of on the way ...

You can see where this is going. Of course I said yes. Did I ask what kind of bike it was, nope. Did I realize how far Minneapolis was from Phoenix, nope.

The bike turned out to be a 1982 Honda Gold Wing standard. No fairing, no bags. It had been in a wreck, it was being rebuilt. This K.I.S.S. plan was turning into an "adventure."

And then there is the Sas factor ...

teamboxer · 06-20-2008, 03:03 PM

The plan was simple.

Ohno was itching for a new bike. Find one somewhere we could fly out to and ride it home. Point 'somwhere else' to Point 'home.' I knew it'd probably be two-up, but it'd be riding, so the farther away the better in my book.

A Florida Buell came into question. Florida? Wellll... all right. The deal fell through. Whew. The 950 KTM came up. Where? Arizona. Well now, that's more like it. Go West, young motorcyclists! Yee-ha!! The K.I.S.S. plan ... fly out and ride home two-up.

This is where it gets a little complicated...

Me: Hon, what if we rode out two-up and come home solo?
He: Humph. (The google maps come out and the obsession begins.)

He: We need better gear that's a long trip. (The internet shopping begins.)

He: Guess what? There's a '82 Goldwing that needs to be delivered to Phoenix.
Me: That'd be fun. Quite an adventure.
He: We need better tools, you never know about older bikes. (Killer tool roll in the making begins.)

Me: So, if we're riding the 1100R two-up to Minneapolis can't I ride it from there?
He: Well there is this little issue of cliff phobia that you have.
Me: There is that.
He: How about riding it home from Minneapolis.
Me: Ok! How far is that?

Later ...

Me: I really want to ride. (Running fingers through his hair.)
He: How about riding from Minneapolis to a friend's in Souix Falls on the way out and then riding home from there on the way back?
Me: That's a little better.

Later ...

Me: Could I rent a bike in Arizona from AZride.com and do a couple days in New Mexico?
He: Give them a call and plan New Mexico, I'll give you New Mexico.
Me: OK!

Later ...

Me: I wonder if I could handle those cliffs.
He: How about riding out to Sturgis then home again from there? You can still rent in AZ if you want.
Me: OK!

To be continued I'm sure ...

teamboxer · 06-20-2008, 03:08 PM

So I did get a little, tiny, wee bit obsessive about the tool roll. Damn adventure rider thread got me started.

So here is the short list from upper right:

• Metric allens
• Sawzall metal blade
• Crescent wrench
• Tin with electrical and bailing wire, foam pad sand paper and gloves
•*Tin with spare bolts and nuts and clamps
• Wipes
• Tow strap
• Bicycle pump
• Motion Pro tire irons (wrapped with electrical and duck tape)
• Motion Pro Chain Tool kit with spare links
• Radio Shack battery tester
• Flash light
• Shock adjuster
• Quick Steel and Quick Aluminum Epoxy
• Tie wraps
• Various sockets
• Various bits
• Leatherman Juice
• Versa Tool
• Microdriver
• Open end wrenches
• MSR 6 in 1 Tool
• Needle nose vice grips
• Lighter
• Stick loctite
• Tool roll from Aubuchon Hardware

The whole package is about 9 lbs

Also on board the bike is:

• Tire repair kit (Tube and tubeless)
• Battery jumper cables
• Dupont Teflon lubricant
• Tire downs

teamboxer · 06-20-2008, 03:14 PM

So an email to Minneapolis to find out more info about the Wing.

Here is the story ...

Kevin who loves motorcycles had found the Wing for his brother-in-law, who lives in Phoenix. It had been in a crash so all of the fairing and bags had been removed. It was an 1982 GL. It has 81,000 miles on it. But it purrs like a kitten he said.

By the time we pick up the bike on June 22nd he promises to have new tires, battery, fluids and most importantly a windshield on the bike.

The plan materializes ...

Leave from Bay City on June 22nd and ride straight through to Minneapolis. We would do this two up aboard Sas's BMW 1100R. (More on this bike later.)

From Minnesota I would pilot the Wing and Sas would ride her 1100R to Sturgis. This would give Sas some quality riding time in the Badlands and the Black Hills. In Sturgis we would drop off the Beemer at the BMW dealer and continue onward aboard the Wing.

From Sturgis we would head two-up to Yellowstone. Then turn south and head for Phoenix. In between we plan on hitting Arches National Park, the Grand Canyon to name a few.

teamboxer · 06-20-2008, 03:29 PM

There was one tiny problem with this whole adventure. Not much luggage space. Matter of fact we might not be taking underwear on this trip. You see the 1100R just has the standard factory bags. Who ever designed those should be shot. The Gold Wing had no hard bags. I found an some old Eclipse Sport saddle bags in the basement. That might work. And I had a Marsee tail bag that would fit on rack on the Wing. No rack on the 1100R. Hmmm ...

Sas thought it'd be fun to camp. So I ordered new Big Agnes sleeping bags and pads. The laptop would have to stay home for lack of space. That's ok, I have a little thingy called an iPhone.

The following weekend up at Sleeping Bear Dunes we tested out the sleeping bags on a 40° night. Sas wasn't very happy the next morning. She couldn't imagine pulling the miles that we needed to after the night's sleep she got. Hmmm!

When I told RNR (the other half of Teamboxer) that I wasn't taking a laptop I thought he would cry. This was one of the few times he was speechless.

After he recovered from the shock and awe he let forth with a torrent of disbelief.

How are you going to post pictures? You are taking a camera? This is the ride of your life and I won't be able to follow along? After several minutes of this I started to realize he really wanted me to post along the way. Friggin web partners.

Well since we decided to ditch the camping idea. That did leave a little bit more room. Maybe the laptop could tag along.

Kokopelli · 06-20-2008, 03:35 PM

cool, subscribed and ready!

teamboxer · 06-20-2008, 04:30 PM

About a week and a half ago we starting figuring out exactly how much gear we could take along. The problem was that everything had to fit on the Wing. Yeah the bike with no hard luggage.

So I spread everything out: Old Eclipse sport touring bags, 44 liter Marsee luggage rack bag and a 20 liter tank bag.

Everything had to fit inside all of this. Dang we are in trouble.

Thankfully Sas is a size 4. Her pile of cloths was half the size of mine and we were taking the same amount of clothing.

Plus we have the laptop and the camera gear (D300, 18-200mm, 11-16mm). Dang we are in trouble.

Sas mentioned that we could leave the tool roll home.

Right.

That night I got up and search high and low on the World Wide Web. I had been thinking about getting some tank panniers. But I didn't want to put out the bucks for the Aerostich ones. Yeah, I'm a cheap bastard.

So a post pointed me to the ones sold by whitehorsegear. They looked to be the same thing. Sold.

Three days later they were on my doorstep. Nicely made and they hold a ton of stuff.

Time to test them out. Houston we have a problem.

My dang knees bump right into them. Not good.

I don't think this will be a problem on the Wing but the haul out to Minneapolis would be a pain.

A couple of minutes later and ...

They are secure. Sas can get into them while riding. Yee ha!

Gadget Boy · 06-20-2008, 04:53 PM

rnr · 06-20-2008, 07:06 PM

your knees bump them?

wa-wa-wa!

No laptop? Me? Disbelief?

The other half of TeamBoxer (Ohno) doesn't take a DUMP without his iPhone in one hand and four carefully folded sheets (torn from a perforated Moleskin) in another!

Ohno · 06-20-2008, 07:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rnr

your knees bump them?

wa-wa-wa!

No laptop? Me? Disbelief?

The other half of TeamBoxer (Ohno) doesn't take a DUMP without his iPhone in one hand and four carefully folded sheets in another!

(Cone of silence on) Psst ... The other half of Teamboxer (RNR) might be just a little wee bit jealous that he has to turn back at the Big Mac Bridge. (Cone of silence off)

PS Quit looking while I dump.

Sevoman · 06-20-2008, 07:54 PM

Sevoman

k7 · 06-20-2008, 09:17 PM

You know what's waiting for you here beside the bike right?

Yep - it's gonna be a warm one.

Safe travels - see you in a few days!

rnr · 06-21-2008, 03:39 AM

Yes, it's going to be interesting, K7. Weather, number of states, high temp, low temp, at least four mini "test" rides on different motorcycles ...

Riding in extended high heat could be a sidebar all to itself.

I can see a lot of data points — and maybe even some driving performance awards — developing!

See you at 0600 tomorrow for the Early Bird Mackinac Mini Moto-vate, Ohno and Sas!

Speaking of waypoints: Norske Nook in Rice Lake, Wisc. Try the pie!

sas · 06-21-2008, 04:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k7

You know what's waiting for you here beside the bike right?

Yep - it's gonna be a warm one.

Safe travels - see you in a few days!

I heard it's like Michigan weather, wait ten minutes and it'll be snowing, right?

I'd say we'd hang out in the north country until it breaks, but Ohno is driving me nuts obsessing about that bike.

See you soon!

SloNEZ · 06-21-2008, 01:24 PM

That ride will be epic!
Michigan to Phoenix (and back!) - yee haw

06-20-2008, 03:01 PM	#1
teamboxer One Airhead, One Oilhead Joined: Jul 2007 Oddometer: 123	K.I.S.S. Adventure Ohno's story: The plan was simple, as in K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) Find a new bike located somewhere far, far away. Fly, buy, and ride through some great country. Point A to B via the scenic route. The short list of destinations was northwest, southwest and northeast. Spring rolled around in Michigan and I got the bike itch, bad. I've put 45k on my current mount in the last three years. The BMW 1150GS has taken me to places I used to only dream about. As a long touring mount, I don't think she can be beat. But a year ago I rode a KTM 950 and it was really hard to get that bike out of my head. Plus, I had spent some quality time on Buell's Uly. So I started doing the flea market search. Back and forth I went Uly, KTM, Uly, KTM. The more I read about the KTM in Orange Crush the more I wanted the 950. So when K7's 950 came up for sale I didn't hesitate. It had all the right parts and pieces. One phone call later the deal was done. Phoenix here I come, or so I thought. I couldn't get down there for a month and a half (the longest friggin month and a half of my life.) Not a problem, K7 would store the bike for me till I got down there. I started looking for tickets. Ride and fly baby! A simple plan. The plan starts getting complicated right about now .... I called some friends who live in Phoenix and told them the whole tale. Lo and behold they had a problem. They needed to get a bike from Minneapolis down to Phoenix. And since it's kind of on the way ... You can see where this is going. Of course I said yes. Did I ask what kind of bike it was, nope. Did I realize how far Minneapolis was from Phoenix, nope. The bike turned out to be a 1982 Honda Gold Wing standard. No fairing, no bags. It had been in a wreck, it was being rebuilt. This K.I.S.S. plan was turning into an "adventure." And then there is the Sas factor ... __________________ On the road. Again. www.teamboxer.com teamboxer screwed with this post 06-20-2008 at 04:31 PM.

06-20-2008, 03:03 PM	#2
teamboxer One Airhead, One Oilhead Joined: Jul 2007 Oddometer: 123	Sas's Story The plan was simple. Ohno was itching for a new bike. Find one somewhere we could fly out to and ride it home. Point 'somwhere else' to Point 'home.' I knew it'd probably be two-up, but it'd be riding, so the farther away the better in my book. A Florida Buell came into question. Florida? Wellll... all right. The deal fell through. Whew. The 950 KTM came up. Where? Arizona. Well now, that's more like it. Go West, young motorcyclists! Yee-ha!! The K.I.S.S. plan ... fly out and ride home two-up. This is where it gets a little complicated... Me: Hon, what if we rode out two-up and come home solo? He: Humph. (The google maps come out and the obsession begins.) He: We need better gear that's a long trip. (The internet shopping begins.) He: Guess what? There's a '82 Goldwing that needs to be delivered to Phoenix. Me: That'd be fun. Quite an adventure. He: We need better tools, you never know about older bikes. (Killer tool roll in the making begins.) Me: So, if we're riding the 1100R two-up to Minneapolis can't I ride it from there? He: Well there is this little issue of cliff phobia that you have. Me: There is that. He: How about riding it home from Minneapolis. Me: Ok! How far is that? Later ... Me: I really want to ride. (Running fingers through his hair.) He: How about riding from Minneapolis to a friend's in Souix Falls on the way out and then riding home from there on the way back? Me: That's a little better. Later ... Me: Could I rent a bike in Arizona from AZride.com and do a couple days in New Mexico? He: Give them a call and plan New Mexico, I'll give you New Mexico. Me: OK! Later ... Me: I wonder if I could handle those cliffs. He: How about riding out to Sturgis then home again from there? You can still rent in AZ if you want. Me: OK! To be continued I'm sure ... __________________ On the road. Again. www.teamboxer.com

06-20-2008, 03:08 PM	#3
teamboxer One Airhead, One Oilhead Joined: Jul 2007 Oddometer: 123	Rolling in the tools ... So I did get a little, tiny, wee bit obsessive about the tool roll. Damn adventure rider thread got me started. So here is the short list from upper right: • Metric allens • Sawzall metal blade • Crescent wrench • Tin with electrical and bailing wire, foam pad sand paper and gloves •*Tin with spare bolts and nuts and clamps • Wipes • Tow strap • Bicycle pump • Motion Pro tire irons (wrapped with electrical and duck tape) • Motion Pro Chain Tool kit with spare links • Radio Shack battery tester • Flash light • Shock adjuster • Quick Steel and Quick Aluminum Epoxy • Tie wraps • Various sockets • Various bits • Leatherman Juice • Versa Tool • Microdriver • Open end wrenches • MSR 6 in 1 Tool • Needle nose vice grips • Lighter • Stick loctite • Tool roll from Aubuchon Hardware The whole package is about 9 lbs Also on board the bike is: • Tire repair kit (Tube and tubeless) • Battery jumper cables • Dupont Teflon lubricant • Tire downs __________________ On the road. Again. www.teamboxer.com

06-20-2008, 03:14 PM	#4
teamboxer One Airhead, One Oilhead Joined: Jul 2007 Oddometer: 123	The plan takes form ... So an email to Minneapolis to find out more info about the Wing. Here is the story ... Kevin who loves motorcycles had found the Wing for his brother-in-law, who lives in Phoenix. It had been in a crash so all of the fairing and bags had been removed. It was an 1982 GL. It has 81,000 miles on it. But it purrs like a kitten he said. By the time we pick up the bike on June 22nd he promises to have new tires, battery, fluids and most importantly a windshield on the bike. The plan materializes ... Leave from Bay City on June 22nd and ride straight through to Minneapolis. We would do this two up aboard Sas's BMW 1100R. (More on this bike later.) From Minnesota I would pilot the Wing and Sas would ride her 1100R to Sturgis. This would give Sas some quality riding time in the Badlands and the Black Hills. In Sturgis we would drop off the Beemer at the BMW dealer and continue onward aboard the Wing. From Sturgis we would head two-up to Yellowstone. Then turn south and head for Phoenix. In between we plan on hitting Arches National Park, the Grand Canyon to name a few. __________________ On the road. Again. www.teamboxer.com

06-20-2008, 03:29 PM	#5
teamboxer One Airhead, One Oilhead Joined: Jul 2007 Oddometer: 123	Complications There was one tiny problem with this whole adventure. Not much luggage space. Matter of fact we might not be taking underwear on this trip. You see the 1100R just has the standard factory bags. Who ever designed those should be shot. The Gold Wing had no hard bags. I found an some old Eclipse Sport saddle bags in the basement. That might work. And I had a Marsee tail bag that would fit on rack on the Wing. No rack on the 1100R. Hmmm ... Sas thought it'd be fun to camp. So I ordered new Big Agnes sleeping bags and pads. The laptop would have to stay home for lack of space. That's ok, I have a little thingy called an iPhone. The following weekend up at Sleeping Bear Dunes we tested out the sleeping bags on a 40° night. Sas wasn't very happy the next morning. She couldn't imagine pulling the miles that we needed to after the night's sleep she got. Hmmm! When I told RNR (the other half of Teamboxer) that I wasn't taking a laptop I thought he would cry. This was one of the few times he was speechless. After he recovered from the shock and awe he let forth with a torrent of disbelief. How are you going to post pictures? You are taking a camera? This is the ride of your life and I won't be able to follow along? After several minutes of this I started to realize he really wanted me to post along the way. Friggin web partners. Well since we decided to ditch the camping idea. That did leave a little bit more room. Maybe the laptop could tag along. __________________ On the road. Again. www.teamboxer.com

06-20-2008, 03:35 PM	#6
Kokopelli Yeah, right! Joined: May 2003 Location: Tamaki Makau Rau Oddometer: 2,965	cool, subscribed and ready! __________________ R1150GS R80GS Basic __________________ Show me the gravel!

06-20-2008, 04:30 PM	#7
teamboxer One Airhead, One Oilhead Joined: Jul 2007 Oddometer: 123	The pain of packing About a week and a half ago we starting figuring out exactly how much gear we could take along. The problem was that everything had to fit on the Wing. Yeah the bike with no hard luggage. So I spread everything out: Old Eclipse sport touring bags, 44 liter Marsee luggage rack bag and a 20 liter tank bag. Everything had to fit inside all of this. Dang we are in trouble. Thankfully Sas is a size 4. Her pile of cloths was half the size of mine and we were taking the same amount of clothing. Plus we have the laptop and the camera gear (D300, 18-200mm, 11-16mm). Dang we are in trouble. Sas mentioned that we could leave the tool roll home. Right. That night I got up and search high and low on the World Wide Web. I had been thinking about getting some tank panniers. But I didn't want to put out the bucks for the Aerostich ones. Yeah, I'm a cheap bastard. So a post pointed me to the ones sold by whitehorsegear. They looked to be the same thing. Sold. Three days later they were on my doorstep. Nicely made and they hold a ton of stuff. Time to test them out. Houston we have a problem. My dang knees bump right into them. Not good. I don't think this will be a problem on the Wing but the haul out to Minneapolis would be a pain. A couple of minutes later and ... They are secure. Sas can get into them while riding. Yee ha! __________________ On the road. Again. www.teamboxer.com

06-20-2008, 04:53 PM	#8
Gadget Boy ADV Plenipotentiary Joined: Aug 2002 Location: Toronto, ON Oddometer: 44,887	__________________ ADV flag, decals & patches? Here

06-20-2008, 07:06 PM	#9
rnr Simple. Fast. Paid for. Joined: Jul 2005 Location: Mid-Michigan Oddometer: 976	oh please your knees bump them? wa-wa-wa! No laptop? Me? Disbelief? The other half of TeamBoxer (Ohno) doesn't take a DUMP without his iPhone in one hand and four carefully folded sheets (torn from a perforated Moleskin) in another! __________________ The boots stay on. '08 Buell Ulysses '97 BMW R1100RT '93 Kawasaki KLR250 www.teammoto.us rnr screwed with this post 06-21-2008 at 03:18 AM.

06-20-2008, 07:54 PM	#11
Sevoman Ever Vigilant Joined: Jan 2006 Location: Tampa Oddometer: 868	This ought to be good Sevoman __________________ Sometimes it takes a whole tankful of fuel before you can think straight The twisties - not the superslabs -separate the riders from the squids NEVER argue with a woman holding a torque wrench 2003 BMW 1150 GSA 2005 Suzuki DR 650

06-20-2008, 09:17 PM	#12
k7 Loyal opposition Joined: Jul 2002 Oddometer: 13,818	uh.... well.... You know what's waiting for you here beside the bike right? Yep - it's gonna be a warm one. Safe travels - see you in a few days! __________________ Cheers, Gerry PHX AZ

06-21-2008, 03:39 AM	#13
rnr Simple. Fast. Paid for. Joined: Jul 2005 Location: Mid-Michigan Oddometer: 976	K7 weather report Yes, it's going to be interesting, K7. Weather, number of states, high temp, low temp, at least four mini "test" rides on different motorcycles ... Riding in extended high heat could be a sidebar all to itself. I can see a lot of data points — and maybe even some driving performance awards — developing! See you at 0600 tomorrow for the Early Bird Mackinac Mini Moto-vate, Ohno and Sas! Speaking of waypoints: Norske Nook in Rice Lake, Wisc. Try the pie! __________________ The boots stay on. '08 Buell Ulysses '97 BMW R1100RT '93 Kawasaki KLR250 www.teammoto.us

06-21-2008, 01:24 PM	#15
SloNEZ Montana Saturday Night Joined: May 2006 Location: Grand Rapids MI Oddometer: 600	That ride will be epic! Michigan to Phoenix (and back!) - yee haw __________________ http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=373937http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=354971http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=353002http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=345710http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344844http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5124007#post5124007http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=247728http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234385

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