Moto-Treks

 After 3 days riding, I arrived in LA. Nothing special about the ride other than finally seeing sun, Mt. Shasta the California Coast, California Coast and getting to LA for a day or two of last minute preparations before heading down to Baja. I did have quite the amazing experience at the BMW Shop, West Valley Cycle Sales, in Winnetka when I stopped to see about getting my Anakee 2's mounted. The lady behind the service counter replied, “We can’t do that.” “What,” I said? I think I must have had a weird expression on my face as the lady just stood there looking at me. She finally said, “I can’t mount them because I didn’t sell them to you.” “I’ll pay,” I told her. Nope, she wouldn’t do it because she didn’t know where they came from or how they had been handled; insurance and all she told me. “You’re serious?” I asked her. As she started to walk back to her desk, she assured me there was nothing she could do. "Ah, do you know of any shop that will help me out?" “Maybe an ...

 Tomorrow, the 15th of October 2009, is my last day at work. This means in a week or less I’ll be leaving on my motorcycle trip to South America. From here on out, I’ll be packing the bike and trying to take care of all the last minute details that I’m sure are going to be overwhelming. Oh, I still need to clear the sprinklers before the water freezes. The adventure is about to continue…..

Just how does one prepare a motorcycle for a long distance trip? I’ve done a fair amount of long distance riding but not a 6 month trip to countries where support and parts may be difficult to find. I’d also never purchased a motorcycle for the sole purpose of taking a trip, so, now I was determined to go about preparing my 2002 R1150GS for a 20+ thousand mile motorcycle trip from Washington State to Terra del Fuego, Argentina. What I decided to do was spend the next 2 riding seasons road testing the bike. Eastern Washington hasriding seasons due to the snow covering the roads during the winter. I’d located my 2002 R1150GS in October of 2007, took it for a short ride and then put it away for the winter. The 2008 riding season would be the first year I would start road testing the GS.

Just added this new blog site to complement moto-treks growing website on motorcycle travel and adventures.