Shakedown Street

On Sunday, April 11, I finally finished getting the bike back together!  It had gone through a lot of repairs the last few weeks, and a lot of Grateful Dead music, jazz and blues as well.  I took a short shakedown ride yesterday afternoon, and it didn't seem like too much has shaking on Shakedown Street!  I wanted to check the handling and the alignment of the forks and wheels after making all of my repairs, and while our road was rather bumpy, the bike seemed to handle just fine.  I'll know more when I open her up a little and ride at 60mph.  That, by the way, is probably going to be a common cruising speed on the trip.
So because of all this mechanical work, I haven't done much mapping recently.  For those of you who weren't tuned in, we have a route planned from here to the western end of Oklahoma.  From there on I have no maps made up, but I do have lots of ideas and suggestions to look at.  I don't want to overdo it, though, so I am trying to leave plenty of room for interpretation.

Anyway, here's a list of what I got done on the bike over the last few weeks:
-Cleaned and re-adjusted carburetors
-repainted exhaust headers
-New Chain and Sprockets
-New rear wheel bearings
-New rear tire and tube
-New steering head bearings
-New fork seals and oil
-New front wheel bearings
-New front tire and tube
-New front brake pads
-New front brake lines (braided stainless steel)
-Speedbleeder installed on caliper
-New coils, plug wire and caps
-New points plate assembly (although I re-used my old points)
-New Horn
-Cleaned and repainted speedometer, tachometer, indicator panel, triple tree, and caliper

I think that's everything.  I also did a 3,000 mile tune-up as per the Honda manual.  The stuff on the rear of the bike wasn't too bad, but the front bearings, fork seals and other parts required pretty serious disassembling the of the bike.  It got the the point where I looked down at a garage floor littered with countless fasteners and major pieces of the bike, and questioned my faith in myself as a mechanic!  It's pretty unsettling to see your bike in that condition.  Remember that part of Star Wars where C3PO got taken apart in the cloud city?  You see him on a conveyor belt with all his parts strewn about and he looks down and says "oh my!"  It was a bit like that.  See the picture.

Well thankfully I employed good workshop skills, carefully separating and labeling parts and taking plenty of pictures.  The old Honda is back together now and running better than ever!

Setbacks:  I went through two rear tire tubes before finally getting the third one in without puncturing it.  I ruined one of the rear wheel bearings during that process.  Thankfully our local Honda dealer had keeps this stuff on hand.  They were sympathetic to my tube-ruining problem and gave me a slightly larger size that wouldn't need to stretch over the rim as much
Also, the upper triple tree broke on me.  I think it was missing a spacer and was already cracked, so that when I took it off it fell apart.  Ebay came to the rescue and I got another one from some salvage yard in Maine.

The gauges look nice with their new paint.  It is truly surprising how good those green gauge faces look.  Every 70s Honda had them, and they all fade and peel to the point of looking ridiculous.  For some reason, mine are immaculate.  The tachometer had to come apart to replace a screw, and I still need to redo the rubber cushioning around it and the speedometer.  I had made some cushioning material out of one of my many scrap tire tubes, which worked fine.  I just need more of it.

So the bike (mostly) ready to go in terms of mechanical condition, but there are a couple of things to button up.   I will register it this week hopefully ride it often for the next two months.  I want to dial it back in before the trip.

In an effort to not turn this into a technical blog, the next posting will be on route ideas for the West!  We need to figure out a good way to see everything in the Southern Rockies, which is kind of a huge task.  But I'll tackle it again this week.

In addition to school, gigs, work, and all the mechanical work on the CB500, I've had another distraction to contend with: my birthday present to myself.  It's a 1970 something Honda CB350.  Actually it's a CB350 frame with a  CL350 engine.  And a wheel and some forks.  So it's a frame, engine, wheel, and forks.  It's kind of like a fetus of a motorcycle, which will grow and develop the rest of its body next year when we get back from the trip.  I already have lots of  dreams for this "bike" and am very excited for a project that I can do from the ground up!  But until we get back from the trip, maybe even longer, it will reside in my incubator, the black van.

I found a website called "Youtube" recently and uploaded a short snippet of a video of a 1971 Honda CB500 idling happily in the driveway.  See it here:


So long 'til next time!

Good Old Days of Motorcycling

Readers be forewarned: This posting will consist of me rambling on about motorcycles.  This morning I was reading a thread on a motorcycle forum about whether you should believe in the "good old days" of motorcycling. The premise was that when an old timer tells you stories about their early days of motorcycling, you shouldn't believe a word they say.  You know the type of story I mean.  Fishing tales.  "When I was 18 I had a (insert bike model) and did 108mph up the driveway with my girlfriend on the back...."  But, said the forum members, old bikes were slow, had bad handling, terrible brakes, and broke down frequently. Today's most basic, affordable motorcycles would run circles around the average 1970 BSA, Honda, or Harley anything.  

And I believe it.  Today's average 4-cylinder, 600cc street bike, the successor to bikes like mine, are lighter, twice as powerful, and have fancy triple-disc brakes and sophisticated suspension.  One of these bikes would leave my old Honda so far behind in any kind of race that its rider would have time to completely master the ukulele while waiting for me to catch up. 

Well, I don't disagree that motorcycles have come a long way since the 70s, but do today's digitized, computerized motorcycles really offer that much improvement over the old bikes like mine in terms of real world usability?  To me, not really.  

Reason numero uno, maintainability.  I can run through the entire Periodic Maintenance chapter of my official Honda CB500/550 shop manual in a half hour.  Timing, cam chain, valve adjustment, chain adjustment, all of it.  On some modern bikes, it can take a half hour to remove all of the body work necessary to begin the maintenance cycle.  Its simplicity is the source of its reliability.  Allow me to elaborate (cue collect sigh and eye roll).

The CB500, though released in 1971, is firmly planted in 1960s technology, mostly technology developed by Honda.  Overhead camshafts, for example, were common in racing during the 1960s (see pic of a 60s Honda RC166 DOHC 6-cylinder racer), but rarely found on production road bikes, Honda being the exception.  Their glorious little twins, the Dream, Superhawk, and the Black Bomber all employed overhead camshafts.  These bikes were screamers.  The CB450 Black Bomber gave a serious challenge to the British 650 twins, then the kings of the road.  The 305 Superhawk was capable of 105 mph and 9,000 rpms!      

Working turn signals, electric start, and disc brakes were all major innovations for Honda, but were really 1960s innovations.  This, for me, is why the CB500 is the perfect blend of old time mechanical simplicity and modern reliability and convenience.

The handlebar controls, for example, were relatively amazing in 1971.  The electrics on Hondas worked every time because the name "Lucas" was nowhere to be found.  But the controls were made of cast aluminum, not plastic like today's bikes.  These metal controls  have already survived one or two tippings of the bike while under my ownership.  Likewise, the hydraulic disk brake, another innovation, is operated by a cast aluminum master cylinder with an aluminum reservoir, not a plastic urine container you will find on today's bikes. 

The Honda also has carburetors, four of them.  Old technology, yes, but the linkage connecting them is a minor engineering marvel.  Precise ball and socket joints with springs and rubber parts for insulation ensure smooth, even movement of all four slides.  Today's bikes (mostly) have fuel injection,  which is honestly superior to carbs in every single way except simplicity.  But carbs can be tinkered with, and don't require the extra sensors and wiring necessary for fuel injection.  These carbs are slide-operated, meaning there is no need for vacuum diaphragms, meaning less hoses and simpler carb maintenance. 

The Honda has a single overhead camshaft with rocker-operated valves, not a shim and bucket setup.  I can adjust valves with a feeler gauge, 10mm wrench, and a screw driver.  No need to carry an array of shims.  Also, I can get to the valve rockers by simply removing screw in caps, and there are only 8 of them!  This is a very easy job that can be done on the roadside.  You don't need an enclosed lab environment with special tools for this.  Just look at this picture.  Have you ever seen such a symmetrical, simple, elegant engine design?

The Honda has an electric start, which is flakey on our bike, but it also has a kick start!  And, as you can see, it's right on top of the engine, easy to remove.  The 83 Yamaha Virago Juli and I rode for a whole summer had an electric starter, but no kick start!  One day we took it to the Sandwich Notch and went for a hike.  When we came back the battery was dead ( I think some kids had done a little meddling).  How the hell do you start a bike with no kick starter if the battery dies?  Well, you bump start it, which took several tries resulting in repeatedly pushing that stupid bike up a steep hill.  No such need on the Honda.

The Honda has a cable operated clutch, throttle, speedometer and tachometer.  I'll never understand why some motorcycles now have hydraulic clutches.  With a cable, there is no master cylinder, no fluid, no hydraulic lines, and no slave cylinder to worry about.  These would all require maintenance and eventually rebuilding.  With a cable there is a cable!  You adjust the tension once in a while and lubricate it.  Thats it.  As for the other cables, most bikes still have cable throttles, but many bikes now have electronic speedometers and tachometers, meaning more wiring and sensors to worry about.  Not to mention the electronic devices themselves, which must have a shelf life.

The fuel supply to the carburetors is gravity fed.  No fuel pump or vacuum petcock.  Just two hoses running from the bottom of the tank to the carbs.

The Honda has a battery and coil ignition fired by points.  Now the decision to keep the stock points system was not taken lightly.  I was considering a Dyna S electronic ignition, but in the end decided to save some money and deal with points, which means periodically setting the gap and timing.  I don't mind this maintenance, and if Robert Pirsig is to be believed, the task will actually enhance my life and the trip.
Now, points are a dated and obsolete technology, but they're another one of those things that can be fixed easily on the side of the road.  There is currently a 2005 Triumph at our house with a burned out ignition control module, rendering it immobile.  That could not happen on the Honda.
Also, that poor Triumph, after 18,000 miles, has a warped front brake disc.  The front brake disc on the Honda, operated by a single-piston caliper, is nearly 1/4" thick and made of stainless steel.  These are not particularly desirable features, but my Honda also has around 18,000 miles and is 34 years older, and that thick disc is still fine.  It will, however, be getting new pads.

And, by the way, the battery, all of the electrical components like starter relay, fuse, voltage regulator, etc, are easily accessible.  If there is a problem, it can be found in minutes.  The air filter, as well, is right beneath the flip-up seat.  Nothing is hidden on the Honda, and this is not by mistake.  Soichiro Honda was a genius, and he wanted his products to be reliable and simple to work on.  The SOHC Hondas are certainly designed with ease of maintenance in mind.  Honda also made sure that a solid parts supply was available to owners, which partially exists today.  I can go to the Honda dealer and order most parts.   Only big items like seats, gas tanks, side covers, etc, are no longer available.

So besides those details, there's the obvious stuff like air-cooling as opposed to water-cooling.  Water-cooling was found on the big Suzuki triples of the early 70s, and later on Honda Goldwings, but really was not commonplace on motorcycles until the 80s.  Air-cooling has its advantages, the obvious being the lack of a bulky radiator, extra hoses, a water pump, and rubber parts, all of which would be questionable after 40 years.

One time on Top Gear, the lads took a trip through Botswana in three separate, self-chosen cars.  If one's car was to break down, they would be forced to drive an air-cooled VW Beetle for the remainder of the trip.   Hmm, old school, air-cooled, dead simple car, as a backup to more modern cars.

All of these simplistic features add up to a reliable machine.  There is simply less stuff that can break on a 1971 Honda.  Yet, the bike is equipped with modern enough features to make it fast enough and reliable enough for practical use today.  The perfect blend of modern features and old school simplicity, making the Honda easy to keep running.

Of course, the valid counter-argument is that a new bike, while more complicated and expensive to maintain, doesn't need to be maintained as much.  While that is true, I am interested in long-term longevity as well as ease of maintenance.  I often wonder what the "vintage" bike market will be like in 40 years.  Will people be riding and enjoying their 2010 bikes?  With the number of computers, wires, hoses, hydraulics, etc, I really don't think so.  I think we will deem bikes like that as not worth fixing and maintaining.  More trouble than they're worth.  But maybe people were saying that about my Honda in the 70s.  "Who's gonna deal with four carburetors and electric start?"  Well, it turns out they have held up just fine.  Regardless, I am fairly certain that nobody will uncover a 2010 Honda CBR600 that's been sitting for years and be able to revive it the way we can these old bikes.  And I'm pretty sure nobody will revive one in hopes of touring on it, or using it daily.

 I am reminded of a short ride I took last summer with my dad and his girlfriend.  We were on a country road somewhere near home, dad was in the lead on his 2004 Royal Enfield Bullet.  Trish was behind him on her 90s Harley Sportster, and I was in the rear on the Honda.  It dawned on me that the order of new bike to old bike was exactly reversed.  The Enfield, though made in 2004, was nothing but a continuation of a 1950s motorcycle with modern controls and lights.  The Sportster, well, those were designed in the late 50s and despite having disc brakes and electric start, have used the same engine design since.  The Honda, made in 1971, with it's inline, SOHC engine, was the most technologically advanced bike of the bunch!  That's not to say that the Honda is more reliable than these other two, but I'd say it's as reliable, and even more fixable.

So, while you may not believe the wild stories about how fast and amazing old motorcycles are, you should at least consider how usable and enjoyable some of them still are.  We're enjoying ours, and wouldn't trade it for anything!

Here's to Spring!
Jeremy B

Southern Hospitality-Not Just a Catch Phrase!

The past couple of weeks have been pretty map-intense.  I have a few more days planned, but am a little stuck when looking further West than Oklahoma.  

In the last posting, I described our route down through Appalachia on the Blue Ride Parkway, into the Smokey Mountains.  Recently I've found some possible routes from there to Birmingham, Alabama, through Mississippi and up to Memphis, where we'll cross that big river.  

Here's what a route from the Smokies to Birmingham may look like:

View Blue Ridge to Birmingham in a larger map
View Larger Map

In Birmingham, I plan to visit the Barber Motorsports Museum, which has a huge collection of vintage motorcycles. This stop seems appropriate since I am a vintage motorcycle lover and will be on a vintage motorcycle while in the neighborhood. We'll then visit the town of Birmingham, rich in history. 

From there, we'll cross West across Mississippi, through the delta, home of the blues. This is another sort of mecca for me, as I am a blues loving guitar player. Most of the great blues men from the 1920s to the 1960s hailed from this relatively small region. We'll be passing through BB King's hometown of Itta Bena, for example. 

We may even stay in this eccentric inn, which is no more than a collection of delta-style shacks, like the ones our blues heroes might have lived in before they gained hero status.  

Many of the towns in the delta claim have a blues history museum of some sort.  Many claim to be the birthplace or home of some great blues man.  Consequently, we'll have to limit our sight seeing in the delta, since I could accidently spend the whole trip here, seeking out these places.

Here is what a route across Mississippi to Memphis may look like:

View Birmingham through the Blues Country to Memphis in a larger map

Once again, I got many of these ideas from asking around on the adventure rider forums.  I simply put up a rough idea of where I want to go, and people responded with great first-hand knowledge of scenic routes and places to catch. I want to emphasize how friendly and hospitable the people from the south have been in helping with my trip planning.  I had nearly twenty replies to my last inquiry, asking about getting from Birmingham to Memphis.  Nearly all of these replies included an invitation to stay over for dinner or crash at their house, or to use their garage for maintenance/repairs, or to assist with mechanical troubles!  And all replies included great tips on good roads and interesting sites.  These people seemed genuinely friendly and eager to help us along.  Don't believe me?  Read my thread yourself! 

Now, getting across Arkansas is going to be tricky.  No, not because there are "dry" counties, but rather because the state contains the Ozarks, and judging by maps and pictures, it looks impossible to pick a route and stick to it.  Here is a route that was suggested to me.

Part 1:

View Arkansas Day 1 in a larger map

Part 2

View Arkansas Day 2 in a larger map

As you can see, there are many great looking roads going through the Ozark Mountains.  We will most likely make a route through here as we go, using the above maps as a guide only.  I know it will be too tempting to take scenic bypasses when coming through here, so I'm going to leave room for options.

After Arkansas, it's West through Oklahoma.  At the west-most point of Oklahoma is where I run into a brain cramp.  I just haven't figured out how to navigate New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.   I do know that our next stop after these states will be the Sierra Nevada region.  Julianne and I also have a long list of towns and national parks we want to see here.  We may cross into the Rockies around Pueblo, CO, and make sort of a circle down into Arizona and back up through Utah, and west from there.  It's too soon to say.  I think we'll definitely try to pick a general direction through these areas, since it's such a big chunk of the country.  More on this later as I figure it out.

In other news, I got lots of parts recently for the bike and have been plugging away at it, replacing old crusty stuff that I don't trust.  Last weekend I put in brand new ignition coils, a points plate, spark plug wire and caps, and a new horn and fuse holder.  I also replaced various rubber seals and o-rings on the bike that were old and cracked.

This past weekend I began installing new bearings on the rear wheel, new chain and sprockets, and a new tire.  Of course, I screwed up one of the bearings, and put a puncture in the tube while installing the new tire.  So now I need another new tube and one wheel bearing for the rear wheel.  I'll also get a new front tire, as the one we currently have won't last another 1,000 miles.

And, a reminder to other motorcyclists, check the condition of your rear tire frequently, especially if you frequently ride double.  This thing was just plain dangerous:

Hopefully by the next posting I'll have these repairs completed so I can tackle the front of the bike, which is getting new brake lines, pads, fork seals, and a tire.  I also have to make the rack to hold our side cases.  I hope to get this stuff out of the way as soon as possible.  The weather in New Hampshire this weekend was amazing, and the roads were clear.  Having the Honda in so many pieces, un-ridable, on such a nice day, felt like getting caught with my pants down!  

So long 'til next time.  And remember, the weather's warming, so watch out for motorcycles!  

Jeremy B

Easing Through the East-the first few days

It's been a lot of work planning this trip! The past few weeks I've been spending my idle hours at my school library, where I can take advantage of US road atlases and an internet speed that can handle google maps (my apartment internet is a little flakey). I bring along our National Geographic Guide to National Parks and a notebook. I edit Word files listing campsites, route ideas, and other growing bodies of information. I email park rangers about camping permits. I also save PDF maps and state and national park brochures. Our United States make up a very large and overwhelming landscape, and it takes a lot of information sorting and decision making to plan a route that will be enjoyable and possible.

And now, after all of this hard work, of which there will be much much more to come, I have the first.........four or five days planned!!! Yes it's going to be a long winter yet. All of this planning makes me both anxious and tired. Sometimes the route planning gets overwhelming, and I feel like grabbing a big road atlas, packing the bike and leaving tomorrow. At the same time, I want to plan carefully enough so that we don't find ourselves in Strip Mall Land every 30 miles, sitting in traffic behind a filthy minivan full of suburban rats drinking plastic milk-shakes out of styrofoam cups. So I think all this map-looking, finding the roads with green dots next to them, will pay off.
So here is the first leg of our trip, which will take four or five days depending on how much sight-seeing we do.  The first portion of our trip will bring us to Rhinebeck, NY. The plan so far is to attend the Rhinebeck Grand National Supermeet the weekend of June 11-13. Last year this was lots of fun, and we thought it would be a good jumping off point/event.


Here is my idea for the leisurely route to Rhinebeck, which is in the Hudson Valley:

View NH to Rhinbeck in a larger map

We'll probably leave the Meet late Sunday afternoon. From Rhinebeck, we'll take NY209 to the Delaware Water Gap, spending our first night in the Delaware State Forest. The next day will be a busy one. We're going to stop in Nazareth, PA, to see the Martin Guitar Factory. They have free guided tours, which sounds very fun! From Nazareth we'll make our way down to Micheax State Forest for our second night of camping. This is near Gettysburg, which we'll visit either that evening or the next morning.
View Pa Nazareth to Gettysburg in a larger map

Our next night will be somewhere along the Blue Ridge Parkway, depending on how many stops we make in the Appalachian mountains. We're going to take the Skyline Drive, then the Blue Ridge Parkway all the way to the end, in North Carolina.
View Gettysburg to the Blue Ridge Mountains in a larger map
Somewhere near the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we'll spend another night camping. I have a list of possible campgrounds, but I don't want to choose one now. Again, this will depend on how many stops we make, or if we do any of the short hikes along the parkway.

So far I am looking at 250-300 mile days. This figure will change as we enter different parts of the country. Oklahoma may be a 500 mile per day state, while the Sierra Nevada in California may
be a 100 mile per day region. A quick, superficial google maps search indicates that from NH to
California to Portland and back, avoiding highways, would be a 7,300 mile trip. So perhaps we should throw on a couple thousand miles worth of scenic byways and excursions. If we traveled 10,000 miles, averaging 250 miles per day, we would need 40 days to complete the whole trip. I think we're in good shape considering our eight available weeks!

A tool I didn't mention here but have in the past is the adventure rider's forum. I put up a few posts
asking for route suggestions, particularly in Eastern PA. The route in the google map above, going from Nazareth to Gettysburg, is one that was suggested to me by some folks on the forum. Some of the roads in that map were ones I had already considered, but it's great to get first-hand advice from motorcyclists
who are always seeking out good roads. And, one part of the route that I hadn't discovered is the
ferry crossing at Millersburg, PA. You cross the Sesquahana River on an old ferry boat. Looks like fun!It's stuff like this that will make this a great trip.

Watch for more posts about route ideas, and if you have any, feel free to comment!

Out of Hibernation

Happy New Year!

Our last post was on the heels of a chilly but wonderful motorcycle ride in late November.  Oddly, despite tonight’s snowstorm, this post is on the heels of another chilly but wonderful ride!  

Yesterday that nasty old man winter, who usually occupies this corner of the world sometime between September and June, took a much needed holiday, leaving us with a bright, sunny, 45° Saturday. Naturally I got antsy and took the Honda out of hibernation.  After a quick wipe down the bike was ready, and I was off for a twenty-mile back road ride.  It was beautiful and rekindled my sense of adventure, making me itch for the real spring, when our trip will only be weeks away.

This Christmas our family was rather generous, giving us lots of stuff that we can use for our trip.  Also, we bought those green dry boxes mentioned in the previous posting.  For a mere $24.99 each, we got two reasonably rugged and large cases that can hold lots of our gear.  Here it is held up to to the bike:

It will be mounted a couple inches further back, to give more leg room to the passenger (this will be Julianne and me alternately.  I am not too proud to ride pillion!)

Here's a shot of our new gear:

The two square things are towels of the microfiber variety.  These are quick-drying, light weight, and compact.  The lantern is the Apollo mentioned in a previous post.  It's folded up in this picture.  The big spoon folds up like the spatula next to it, and the utensils still in the packaging are of a similar material.  These things are cool.  They weigh nothing and are very compact.  There's also a headlamp, which will be handy if we have to setup camp at night.  

Not pictured are our cookset, which we bought earlier this fall, our sleeping pads (we bought the Thermarest Prolite pads), GSI JavaPress, and the sleeping bags and tent.  

We still require a stove, and after speaking to a guy at EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports for you non-yanks), we're convinced we need an MSR Whisperlite International.  This stove runs on white gas, or gasoline or kerosene if you're in a pinch.  Originally we thought we'd want a canister stove, like the Coleman F1 we mentioned before.  They're extremely lightweight and small, but we were worried about the cost and availability of the isobutane/propane canisters they require.  The EMS guy said he liked his Whisperlite and had just used it on a hike of the Appalachian Trail.  He gave us the impression that the Whisperlite is efficient, as a 20 ounce bottle lasted him around five days using the stove for two meals a day.   

Also, I like this stove for its durability.  A quick online search will show that these stoves have been around a while, and are regularly used in the roughest, coldest, hottest, and highest conditions.  I like that it comes apart easily for cleaning and that you can buy all the parts and tools you need for it.  That is a mark of quality.  While it's slightly bigger and heavier (it weighs about 1 pound) than the canister-type stoves, the Whisperlite seems like a good choice for us.  Our Christmas gift certificates to EMS will likely go towards this stove.  We still have a few things to get, including a water carrier, one of those foldable buckets, a couple more stuff-sacks for clothes, and some other things, but we've got a great start. 

A Route to the Pacific

Trying to find a good route across the whole country and back using only the scenic roads is kind of a daunting task.  We've done a lot of reading and research on the great roads and regions across the country.  The Adventure Rider forums are a great source for stuff like this.  One major component of the trip will be the National Parks and National Forests.  These will be like dots that we need to connect.

So the big picture looks like this: From New Hampshire we're going southwest toward the Hudson Valley, down through Pennsylvania (Delaware Water Gap), and into northern Virginia, where we'll get on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  That will take us all the way down to the Chattanooga region.  From there it's going to be west toward Memphis.  For this leg of the trip, we have a detailed route figured out.  From this point west, it's less specific until we figure out more details about roads and routes.  

We'll go west across Arkansas or southern Missouri, eventually crossing into Colorado.  We want to see lots of parks in the four-corners region, and we haven't figured out an exact route through this region that allows us to see everything there.  So there will probably be a lot of hop-scotching around that area. 

After this it's west toward the Sierra Nevada in California.  We'll see the Yosemite region before going further west until we finally reach the Pacific Coast highway.  North from there to the Cascades region and the Portland area.  We'll explore that region for a while, hopefully. 

Then it's back East toward Yellowstone.  After Yellowstone it's further East to the Black Hills of South Dakota, across to Chicago, and pretty much straight home from there, as there isn't much between Chicago and New Hampshire that we especially want to see. 

So, the major focus areas where we'll spend the most time will be the Appalachian region, the four corners (Utah/Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona), the Sierra Nevada, coastal California and the Redwoods, the Cascades and Columbia River regions of the Northwest, Yellowstone, and the Black Hills of South Dakota. The places between these places will certainly be fun to see, but these are the areas where we're hoping to spend some time doing day hikes and sight-seeing.  

And, of course, we're open to suggestions for more places to see along the way!  We would love to hear about interesting places and routes, so feel free!

We'll definitely keep posting about new developments on the routes.  So stay tuned!

Jeremy B

Let Us Give Thanks for Vintage Hondas

What a great Thanksgiving weekend!  Today Juli and I decided to go on a short hike up Blue Job Mountain, not far from us in NH.  It's a little mountain, and the trail isn't long, but its unique position means great views in all directions.  You can see into the White Mountains, East to Maine, bits of the seacoast, and West toward Vermont.
Anyway, despite today's late November date, the weather was nice, mid 40s and sunny.  So we took the Honda!  The picture above is Juli and the Honda at the trail head.  We wore many layers!  On the way there, a couple of the roads we wanted to take turned out to be dead-ends.  The Honda has seen some mild off road duty, and handles it well, but I didn't think we'd make these ones, especially with two on the bike.
What a great ride, though!  We found some great roads we've never been on.  It's interesting to ride when all the leaves are gone because you see things you wouldn't notice in the summer.  For example, the view of Bow Lake from Province Road was beautiful!  Somewhere in Strafford we were behind an old, gray Jeep CJ7.  The sounds and smells from that jeep filled me with great memories.  We always had cj's growing up, and sound of the 258ci straight six engine of the AMC era jeeps is one of the more enduring memories I have kept from childhood.
It was a great day, and probably our last ride of the season.  When we got home I added Stabil to the gas tank and parked the bike in the tent behind the garage.  Sad, but the reality is that we may not see many more days above 40 degrees, and that's cold enough for me.  From now until Spring the focus will be the repairs and maintenance items listed in the older post.

On another note, we made some great discoveries in the luggage realm.  First off, on our way back from Thanksgiving dinner Juli and I stopped at a bike dealer in Maine.  I have been wanting to see the new Moto Guzzi V7 in person since it came out, so we made a special stop.  That bike, by the way, is absolutely beautiful.  The perfect size, stance, style.  I was thoroughly impressed!  Anyway, at the dealer we saw a nice little top trunk from EMGO that looks to be the perfect size for our rear rack.


Best of all it's relatively cheap!  I looked at some nice cases from name brands and they're great, but many of them cost over $200!  It was great to see this trunk in person and witness just how sturdy it was.

Speaking of cheap, we had a new idea for side cases as well, and it came from the redneck world of Cabelas!  Don't get me wrong, I like Cabelas; in fact our tent came from them and it is excellent!

There is lots of talk on the adventure rider's forum about using ammo cans for side cases.  It's cheap and easy, but those things are very heavy, and our little bike can't carry a ton of extra weight.  And as much as I like the Pelican style boxes I mentioned before, they are pretty heavy too.  That's why I like these plastic boxes from Cabela's:

They're called Magnum Field Boxes, made by a company called Plano.  They appear to be rather tough, light, and are bigger than the Pelican's I was looking at.  They're also top-loading, which could be handy.  These are also cheap, around $25!!  Next time we're in Maine, we'll stop at the Cabela's store and see them in person.  That way we can judge whether they'd be tough enough for what we want to do.

Also, this weekend we looked at some travel books and I found one that I really like from National Geographic.  It's their guide to scenic highways and biways.  As a gauge for the quality of routes described, I looked at the New Hampshire section.  They mentioned Route 302 and the Kancamangus Highway, as they should.  But they also mention Route 153, which snakes up the east side of the state.  My dad discovered this road on his Royal Enfield and raved about it.  It is off the beaten path, but a great ride, so it seems that National Geographic is good at judging great routes!  It will be a great tool for finding those small, twisty, hilly, narrow roads we hope to stick to on our trip.

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was great.  With all this planning and fun we had this weekend, Juli and I both feel thankful.
Seeya
Jeremy B

Preparation H (for Honda): Getting the bike ready

Earlier I mentioned what repairs, replacements, rebuilds, I have done to the bike to get it ready.  After spending countless hours reading on the SOHC4.net forums, I have a good idea of what goes wrong on these bikes and what items should be looked at before a long trip.  So this is my to-do list for the winter.  Like last winter, these jobs will be spread out over time as I have time and money to complete the projects.
Here's what I'll do:


Front End:
Rebuild front fork with new seals and oil
wheel bearings
   -There is a squeak coming from the front end sometimes that I fear may be dried out bearings.  A seizure would be somewhat catastrophic.
clean and adjust brake caliper, add new brake pads
  -brakes are also squeaky, not sure why but this should fix it.
Stainless steel brake hoses
   -This is one of the best upgrades on these old bikes.  It quickens the response of the front brake and    resists fading as you squeeze the lever.  Those old rubber hoses are probably unsafe anyway, so whey not replace them with the best?
Tapered Roller Steering head bearings
  -Not sure the bike needs this repair right now.  It's more of an upgrade that improves handling.  I will do it if funds allow.

Electrics
Fix electric start
  This may involve replacing the solenoid, or the switch. I am not sure why the starter doesn't always spin.  One issue is that the normal starter button is missing and the previous owner hacked into the wires by the left side cover and added his own push button switch.  That'll also be fixed.
Clean and lubricate all electrical connections
 This can make a big difference on these old bikes.  The SOHC Honda charging system doesn't offer much extra juice, so corroded or dirty connections can really affect brightness of lights, switches, and even how good the thing runs.  I'll unplug each connector and polish it, then put it back together with dielectric grease.
Replace/fix Horn
 Not sure why the horn doesn't work because I haven't looked into it.  It's the switch, a connection, or possibly the horn itself.  Fortunately a horn can be had for like $10

Tune Up/Maintenance
New points/condensers
I have no idea how old these parts are, so since they're cheap I'll go the safe route and get new ones.  I also intend to keep an extra set on the bike.  I have contemplated getting the electronic ignition for this bike, but we'll see if funds allow.  Points are nice because they're so simple you can fix on the side of the road.  Electronic ignition is maintenance free and will probably never fail, but if it did I would have no way to fix it while on the road.
Clean and synchronize carburetors again
 I think the bike is running rich, so I want to take the carbs off, clean them, recheck float levels, and re-sync them.  Over the summer I invested in a fancy carb sync tool, so that job isn't so bad.  What is bad is taking the carbs off and putting them on again.  That has been the least pleasant job on this bike.  I should be damn good at it after doing it so many times trying to get the carbs right, but alas, it still sucks.
New Chain and Sprockets
I have no idea how old the ones on the bike are.  The chain is definitely done for, and they recommend doing the sprockets at the same time.  Unfortunately the CB500 cannot use an o-ring chain, they're too wide and rub against the engine case, possible wearing a hole through it (ouch!).  A standard chain is cheaper though!  Sprockets are pretty cheap for this old girl too.
Maintenance Schedule
Routine stuff all in the first section of the manual.  Check and adjust cam chain, valve clearance, timing, etc.  This is easy and won't cost any money (provided I don't break anything).


Chassis
Swing Arm Bushings
These were a weak point on the old Hondas, one of the few things that didn't last long.  There are aftermarket bronze bushings that work better.  Mine may not be bad, but I want to replace them anyway as the bike will be at or above load capacity with the girl and me plus luggage.  Plus, I think it would be good to take apart, clean, and re-lubricate the swing arm pivot shaft.  That grease is 38 years old.

New Rear Tire, tube, rim strip

Ahh, spoked wheels.  Standard size for this bike is 3.50-18.  The old inch-sizes are not hard to find, but you don't get much of a selection.  I think I'll go with a Dunlop 4.00-18, which seems to work on these rims.  Dad's Royal Enfield runs these and I really like them for dirt roads.  I am going to try this job on my own, we'll see how that goes.   I guess I should check the spokes for tension and the wheel for balance while I have it off.

Rear wheel bearings

Probably past their prime as well.  Not something I want to deal with on the trip, so I'll do them as a precaution.

Aesthetics

Repaint exhaust headers

Last winter I painted the exhaust headers because the chrome was really crappy and a couple of them were a little rusty.  Brilliantly I chose engine enamel in a spray can, not realizing that engine enamel is not heat-resistant enough for exhaust pipes!  So my nice black headers have been slowly reverting back to crappy gray.

Here's what that project looked like.  I came up with an ingenious method of painting the individual pipes!  Here's before and after, then shown reinstalled on the bike.  This was before I had done the seat and gas tank, among other things.

I may also repaint the tank and side covers with a fresh coat of green.  I never took the time to sand and polish my original green paint job, so if I have time I'll redo it.

So there's my to do list!  Some of these repairs have been covered in Motorcycle Classics magazine's series on their project CB500, so for some things I have a nice, full color set of instructions in the vernacular language.  I also have the amazing resource of sohc4.net, which has helped me immensely so far.
Please note, parents and others, that most of the repair items I have lined up here are mainly to improve the safety of the bike.  I could probably ride it to Alaska tomorrow, but I want the bike to be as safe and reliable as I can make it!

Please stay tuned for more exciting posts!
Jeremy B