The Final Countdown

Well, much like the rest of our adventure motorcycle trips, the last two weeks has been a whirlwind of wrapping up some final tasks and spontaneous anxiety that we missed something. Somehow it always seems to work out, but that doesn't stop the worrying. We wanted to do some final normal maintenance to the bikes, so we changed the oil and looked over the bikes to make sure everything was tightened down (these Thumpers have a way of shaking bolts loose!). Fortunately the Dempter Highway Calcium Chloride
 from 2 years ago had "bonded" all the exposed nuts and bolts together, so everything looked good. We then turned our attention to things we could do to prevent any unforeseen problems. I had heard some horror stories of adv riders getting gas at some remote area in Mexico that was poured from  5 gallon gerry cans. Unfortunately although they now had gas, the petrol contained rust and debris, but that wasn't the worst of it. They often had large amounts of water mixed in, which can not only stopped the bike, but did considerable damage. So I spent the last couple of weeks trying to find a clear gas filter that would fit in the required location under the petcock. I finally found the one pictured below that actually had replaceable filters, and with the addition of some new fuel lines we are in business. Hopefully if we get some bad gas, these will help us discover it before it causes any damage.

New Gas Filter

I had also recently begun spending some sleepless nights worrying about the mileage on our chain, drive and final sprockets, so I ordered a complete replacement set in the standard tooth configuration. So this weekend out dear friends Neal and Sandy Michal came up to our lake house to help us finish up some last minute stuff. So Neal and I spent Saturday replacing the sprockets and chains and while we were in there we performed the Michal stator wire fix to prevent a recent failure that our friend Russ Martin had experienced by a wayward stone that disabled his bike in Tennessee a few weeks ago. The soon to be patented Michal modification (Named after the legendary Neal Michal, a visionary in mechanical engineering) was to apply generous amounts of granulated-vitreous sodium silicate or SILICON GEL for you mere mortals :), to cover the wires in case some adventurous stone makes its way under the cover.


The Legenday Neal Michal in Action



The Patent Pending Michal Mod

 So while Neal and I worked on the bikes, his lovely wife Sandy was preparing some scrumptious meals (Santa Fe Chicken Soup mmmmmmmmmm), and Jenn worked on her trip bracelets and finalized her planning. The final step for our bikes has become somewhat a tradition. So after we have done all the things we think we need to do to our bikes, we add the trip logo as the final seal of approval. As Jenn said during the ceremony, "There is no turning back now Neal, once the decal is applied we have to go!" So today, Jenn rode the 90 miles from the lake house to our home in Duluth on her bike, and I am going to ride my bike to work the next 2 days (about 100 miles), as the final shakedown test of our bikes before we begin to depend on our trusty KLR's in the wilds of Mexico. It almost seems surreal, we are only days away from a trip we have been planning for and talking about for over 2 years.  So with 2 days to go, we have done everything we can thing of, and it is just time to get this show on the road!


No turning back now!