45 days to go...

Too many days IMHO ... slowly getting the bikes ready.

I'm visualizing tossing the R1100S through the dragon.

What are you doing about your brakes?

Me too. I'm still waffling about what to do about the suspension on the bike. I'm about to go out to the garage and replace the valve cover that's scraped and install some sliders.

As for the K100RS, I shipped the rotors back to spiegler. We'll see what they say.

Good on you. I'm sitting on my ass smoking a cigar and enjoying a Krombacher Dark biere. Gotta figure out what to do about the s brakes. Have the new pads to install so we'll see if that fixes the problem (doubtful).

Yea, I doubt that's going to fix it either, but when I rode it it didn't seem very bad. Not when compared to the brakes on my K100.

Next time I ride it, hopefully there is a next time, I'll pay more attention to the brakes. I think that last time I was paying more attention to the accelerator.

Ah yes the accelerator. Have you ordered the new upper throttle cable and revised cable deflector?

No and that's probably not a job I'm going to get into before the trip. It works as is so I'm not going to mess with it.

Yermo originally wrote:

"Apartment Room Reserved: Sun May 20th to Thursday May 24th.
Standard Room Reserved: Thursday May 24th to Saturday May 26th."

We have had our first cancellation on this trip so we are now down to 5 possibilities. As such I will cancel my reservation for the nights of May 20, 21, 22, 23 and just keep the small room for May 24th and 25th. This way we will have accommodations for up to 6 for the entire time to include:

Large room for May 20, 21, 22, 23 and two small rooms for May 24 and 25.

I'll wait a couple of days for comment before taking action in case I got something wrong here.

Based upon the deafening silence, I have completed this transaction. In total we will have accommodations for up to 6 for the week. Since we have 5 people going, my superior math skills tell me we should be just fine.

Oh and we will have to find a place to watch the MotoGP race on Sunday May 20th.

We are now inside the 10 day window for departure and thus we can start to get weather forecasts.

Robbinsville, NC (28771) close to Deals Gap is showing sweet 85 and sunny with only 10% chance of rain for the 19th. Let's hope that holds for the week!

New bags are on the bike, ready to pack. Am really looking forward to this trip. Truth be told, I may be more looking forward to the ride there and back than the Dragon itself (leaving superslab stuff out of that). The Moonshiner28 also looks pretty cool.

There will be rain. Actually, the times I enjoy the most are when there's enough of a threat of rain to keep all the fair weather riders away.

Hellbender 28 is a great road, at times magical.

I'm really looking forward to applying some of what I've learned in the last year on the Dragon. My K100RS is quite a challenge to run there and it punishes lack of smoothness severely.

So far I've:

. dropped off the K100RS oil/water pump at Bob's for rebuilding.

. gotten the front and rear Ohlins shocks for the 'S.

. gotten the Michelin Power 2CT's in for the 'S.

. ordered the Pilot Road 3's for the K100RS but they have not yet arrived.

. changed the oil and filter on the 'S.

Remaining on my list:

. reinstall the K100RS oil/water pump.

. change tires on both bikes.

. install the Ohlins on the 'S and go to Bob's to have them help me set it up. (included with the purchase)

. valve adjustment and throttle body sync on the 'S.

. swap the city lids for the touring lids on the 'S cases.

. bolt on the replacement Spiegler rotors on the K100RS. Hopefully these won't warp on me.

I also hope to run down to Josh's to borrow his spare R1100S Corbin seat.

Packing takes me no time at all. My gear is all pretty much ready to go.

My list of things to do on the bike:

1. Get gas.

I think this is a first, ever, for me in that there is nothing I need to do mechanically before heading out. I started pulling out my "distance" stuff and there may be one or two things that I might upgrade, like my tank bag. A friend of mine recently asked if it's where I store coal for the engine...I guess it's getting a little old LoL.

I'm thinking I may want to do this on that Monday, I've never been on this loop and it looks pretty cool:

Yermo, I'm with you on the rain. I just assume that there is always a chance for rain, and that it will come when it is least desired...like in 110 degree heat when the whole road is stopped because a truck carrying about a million dead chickens has flipped over. There is nothing quite like it. (happend to me two years ago...the smell was....memorable)

Yea, the Cherohala loop is a good ride. I could have sworn it was a lot longer than 120 miles. I thought it was over 200 but I think when Ian and I did it we explored some additional roads on the way.

I could have saved myself some work. With 75K on the bike, the pump really needed to be done. I had procrastinated too long.

The suspension for the 'S is completely optional but after riding Yun and Josh's bikes I became increasingly unhappy with the feel of the guest bike. Once Bruce gets here the bike should be set up and ready to go.

I'll be sure to give both bikes a good run before next week to shake out any last minute issues. I'm really hoping I don't have to run with warped rotors again ...

Once experiencing a well set up Ohlins it is really tough to go back

The brake rotor issues are kind of nuts, I would much rather deal with motor issues than brake issues and especially on these kinds of roads. As you know so well, they are tough on the brakes.

This will be the first trip for the Ninja so I'm interested to see what ends up being good and what I'll probably want to mess with after. I already know that when this rear tire is done that I'm going to change sizes. I just don't like the feel of the 190/50 at all and will switch to a 180/55. The 50 is lazy turning in and then has this little moment of "squishyness" at a transition point leaning over that I really don't like. The only other thing that already comes to mind are the brake pads, I think I'd like something with a little more intial bite.

I've got the brake issue to deal with. Finally got the right size rotors (hopefully) on order and they should be in any day.

I'd like to also get the transmission oil changed and the final drive oil changed. With Yermo's help maybe I can do the valve check too? Most important are the brakes though. I'm taking the bike either way but it will be a lot more fun with smooth brakes!

yea, I hear ya. Brake issues have been plaguing me since I roached the stock set on the big trip.

Hopefully I can get the pump back tomorrow so I can start bolting everything back together and start test riding it. If they warp again I'll just have to live with it ... not really sure why I've been having these problems.

Oh that's easy...it's because you are evil.

Three days and a wake-up to go, I'm definitly ready for this trip. We did some schedule gymnastics and it looks like I'll be able to stay until Weds which may work out really well because the long term weather forecast shows it nice through mid-day weds.

Eh, could be better longer, you never know...

And if it rains it'll still be awesome.

The K100RS is still in pieces. Tomorrow will be crunch time ...

Days to go before trip. Bike in pieces. This is becoming a tradition!

Good luck!

Yeah, um, I can beat that. My BMW is headed to the shop tonight. After installing my new rotors last night, I put everything back together and went to try the brakes, and I kept squeezing and no pressure. Fearing a leak, I stopped and took a look and, hello, there is a balloon on the right side rubber brake line.

Off to the shop we go for some braided lines. If that doesn't succeed we'll be taking the Yamaha.

This is a tradition I would really like to have avoided. I even ordered tires way in advance, they arrived yesterday. I had dropped off the water pump way early to get it rebuilt but they forgot to call me to let me know it had been done the same day.

A few more hours and I should have everything put back together. Fingers crossed that I haven't broken anything.

The situation with Josh's bike is worse. Hopefully he can get the lines replaced and the system properly bled in time so he can take his 'S.

I'll post photos at some point, but the guest bike is now extremely sweet. New Ohlins are on and sticky tires mounted. Everything is set up for my weight which should be close enough for guests. The thing is /SICK/.