Hyder Seek-ing, Redux

I'm mostly ready for the Hyder Seek run May 28-30, Seattle to Hyder
Alaska. With a little finagling, I actually landed a place to sleep
indoors (the event's sold out). A bed will be nice; I wasn't looking
forward to crashing in a bathtub or whatever. Ged knows what these
people will do to poor Hyder, Alaska that Saturday night, but rest
assured I'll be part of the trouble if possible.

In preparation I bought a Gerbing heated vest yesterday, and
controller. Many speak well of these things. I sold my Aerostich
Darien and Unobtanium liner the other day to a pal, only because they
were hugely too large these days (try losing 87 lbs and fitting into
your old clothes). I'll miss the Darien, but refuse to pay the big
bux for a new one at the moment.

My pal Clif, Tiger rider and partner in crime on this adventure, sold
me a brand new pair of FirstGear lined pants, size L, that were laying
about his garage (it's good to have biker-scum pals with more gear
than sense). Once the Darien sold, I bought a FirstGear Kilimanjaro,
a jacket I respect right behind the Darien (and worn by our local
biker LEOs, so it must have something going for it).

That stuff, the Gerbing, and Clif's loaning me a pair of Gerbing
heated gloves for the trip, too. If those work well, I'll buy some
for next winter. No heated grips for me, looks like.

Of course, who knows if it'll actually be cold in British Columbia
that time of year: it could be anything from butt-ass cold to fairly
warm, at the whim of weather gods. Best to be prepared, though: heat
I can deal with, but not freezing hands and that's a fact.

Others suggested polypropylene undergarments, for warmth retention and
water resistance. I have several, but will try them out this month
before the trip. Thinking I'll head to REI for a few more pair prior
to departure.

I have excellent, albeit unconventional riding boots I've now worn
every rain-ride since 1998: Thinsulate-lined Matterhorn Ranger boots
with armored soles, the same thing the troops wear in cold weather.
Damned if they aren't waterproof, warm, and protect well, though.
They look rather militaristic, however, as you'd guess.

The Blackbird's tip-top, now at 37K miles. I'm doing a preemptive
strike on the cam-chain tensioner, a universal eventual POF on these
bikes (along with the stator, which I'm expecting to croak by 50-60K).
Fortunately, replacement's a half-hour job with a 20 minute beer
break: remove fairing panel, pop bolts, replace gasket, torque on new
tensioner, replace fairing.

Thinking I'll also dump the coolant and possibly the plugs, though the
latter is a heinous job on the Blackbird (no joke) due to weird
fuel-injection placement, radiator, blah blah. Every 18K miles or so,
not a bad idea however.

Hondas are good for a few things, notably running forever with little
fuss. 'Nuff said about that. 27K miles by me so far, almost no
trouble. That works.

The Avons are solid, and prefer higher pressures apparently (42 psi
R/40 psi F). They're wearing quite acceptably. They wear faster as
the pressure lowers. The front isn't cupping, a first for a tire on
the Blackbird. Looks like we have a win-nah.

Good old Scottoiler keeps oiling, bless it. The chain's like new,
still, not like one with 21K hard miles. The oiler's still spewing;
an oiled chain is a happy chain, make no mistake. Interpret that as
you will.

Anyway: though we're in the sportbike forum, any additional
suggestions for Iron Butt amateurs would be helpful. I have hard
bags, this is only a three-day trip and "only" 2K miles. Not
anticipating any trouble, though I'll be a bit stiff by the last day.
Guessing I'll bulk up on Tylenol en route. Clif's taking it all in a
rather laid-back manner, since the roads are paved and he's pretty
much a year-round rider anyway. I'm not particularly worried, more
mildly curious than anything.

'-----------------------------------------------------
' Daniel Bannon
' NW WA State, U.S.A.
' 2003 ZX636B Hercusaki, 1999 CBR1100XX
'-----------------------------------------------------

"Daniel Bannon" <daniel_r_bannon.DeleteThis@hahtmail.dott.c0mm> wrote in message
 > Anyway: though we're in the sportbike forum, any additional
 > suggestions for Iron Butt amateurs would be helpful. I have hard
 > bags, this is only a three-day trip and "only" 2K miles. Not
 > anticipating any trouble, though I'll be a bit stiff by the last day.
 > Guessing I'll bulk up on Tylenol en route. Clif's taking it all in a
 > rather laid-back manner, since the roads are paved and he's pretty
 > much a year-round rider anyway. I'm not particularly worried, more
 > mildly curious than anything.


Gum. Pack lots of gum. You don't want to piss off waitresses and gas
stration attendants with your breath. You never know when you might meet the
future Mrs. Bannon or need to borrow some tools.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->