Riding the country on our little old Honda will surely be exhausting, so we're investing in a good summer's sleep! We've already got the tent and sleeping bags, and just last week I got two Themarest Prolite sleeping pads!
These things are awesome. They roll up to 4"x11" and weigh one pound each. They're only about 1" thick when inflated, but they'll provide a cushion from the ground as well as an insulating value. These were a big expense, one of the largest single purchases for camping stuff, but there was a sale at EMS so I figured we'd take advantage.
There is still tons of other stuff we need to get (see our earlier posting) but it feels good to check off two of the biggies.
Sunday, November 8 was a glorious fall day here in New Hampshire. I was home for the weekend and took what may be my last motorcycle ride of the year. Originally I thought I'd ride to one of the local ridges but the weather kept getting better so I continued through the country to the seacoast. The bike was running great but I discovered a couple of issues that will need to be addressed over the winter. First of all, it's vibrating too much for a Honda four cylinder. So much, in fact, that one of the tiny screws that hold the tachometer gauge face vibrated loose and fell off, leaving me with a wobbly tach face! It's not easy to get inside the tach to fix this, but luckily my favorite magazine, Motorcycle Classics, did a feature on how to take apart the old honda gauges. I think the vibration is simply due to the need for a tuneup. I need to sync the carbs again and check valve clearances, all routine stuff that hasn't been done in a while.
The back tire is about spent. I don't know how much further I dare go on it. I plan to replace it myself, so if you're bored and in the need of some humor at another's expense, you can come over and watch me try to change the tire!
Also, the front end is squeaky. I need to take apart the caliper and clean it, and I probably need to replace the wheel bearings as well. Despite the relatively low miles shown on our bike, I think the age alone of some components (like bearing grease) can merit replacement.
Speaking of mileage, Sunday's ride almost put my bike's mileage over 18,000! I was about 30 miles shy of crossing the big 18k. Oddly, my Subaru is currently about 30 miles shy of crossing over the 180,000 mile mark! Hmm.
Another thing! Apparently clicking the "follow" thing on my page really does nothing other than tell me you're interested in the blog. You won't get an email or anything telling you when I've updated the blog, so please bookmark the blog and check back every few days to see what's new!
Next couple of blogs will discuss route ideas, as mentioned before, and a list of what I still need to do to the bike to prepare for the trip.
Cheerios!
Jeremy B
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