Category: Preparation

Nez Perce Trail in One Ride from Reno – Crazy?

I have always wanted to travel the Nez Perce Trail by motorcycle. I have set aside ten (10) days to do this trip in September 2016. When I plotted it, I gulped hard. 3,140 miles with plenty of gravel and dirt roads thrown in for good measure.

Averaging 314 miles a day. Is this crazy?

The map above is a rough example of the ride minus the trip from Reno to Joseph, OR and the return from Chinook, MT.

Photo Credit: By Lencer [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Chain Knowledge

Here is a good primer on chain wear for those of us with chain driven bikes. I’ve not always been good at this, but have vowed to be better at all forms of PMCS in my older age.
I had a Scott Oiler on my old KTM and that always served me well.

Image credit – https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/machineguarding/animations/chain.html

Helmet Replacement After 5 years?

This is possibly the most pragmatic and logical of any discussion about when to replace your helmet I have ever read.
Time to make up your own mind with an article that treats you like an adult. Don’t want no dain bramage.

What Not To Do On a Motorcycle

The Butler Maps blog has this nice article on “3 Things You Shouldn’t Attempt on Motorcycle Roads.”
1. Don’t ride tipsy
2. Don’t get crazy on wet, slick roads
3. Don’t ride alone until you have a little experience under your belt

I would add a couple more,
4. Don’t go out into uncharted routes without a good map, but I think Butler Motorcycle Maps would approve of this too.
5. Don’t ride without performing regular PMCS on your bike.

I just bought Butler’s Idaho G1 map in preparation for a long ride in Idaho following the Nez Perce War of 1877 trail.

Preparing for a Long Motorcycle Tour

Good advice from the good folks at ADV Pulse on how to prepare your bike for a long distance ride. Read on to page 2 as they have included a pretty good checklist at the end of the article.

I’ve always prided myself on riding out on the spur of the moment, but I have also been pretty regular at what the Army calls PMCS (Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services). Nothing like throwing track under fire to make you consider maintenance.

Get to know your maintenance manual too. That will help you know which tools to pack.

AAA is a pretty good idea for North America too.

Above is an image of me fixing a radio switch in a northern Norwegian parking lot with some of my favorite tools; Swiss Army knife, a Bic lighter, and duct tape… always bring plenty of duct tape.

As Walt Kowalski would say,

Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone.

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