So as most everyone knows by now, I had a month between the end of my summer gig and the start of my final year of school.
I was going to go back to Cambridge and write an article or something, but after working 10 60-80hr weeks over the summer, I thought better of it.
So what to do? Well, I'd never ridden baja before, I'd never seen my sisters new digs in SoCal, I'd never ridden a street bike significantly west of the continental divide, I had a CR250R calling my name in Denver, I wanted to show Pilette around CO and I wanted to see the EAA Airventure show in Oshkosh.
Well those seemed like enough items to keep me entertained for a bit - on to the logistics.
I didn't have much cash to spend, but did have some saved-up tuition money that wouldn't be needed till Sept. I didn't have a street bike really suitable for the trip (TL is in need of repairs that I didn't have the time or garage space to do and I'm getting a bit old and arthritic for several-thousand mile sport bike tours).
So a plan was hatched. I'd buy a bike somewhere within a day's ride of Oshkosh, fly out and ride to Osh. Then on to Denver, then west, then south and finally I'd sell the bike wherever I ended up when I ran out of time and if needed, fly back to DC or Cambridge.
After much angst and a few bikes that fell though, I ended up with a 2007 Bandit 1250S in Kansas City.
I'd also need camping gear and such. In keeping with the low-budget plan, a $30 tent was procured at Target and Nicki found an old sleeping bag from her days as a Brownie or Girlscout or something like that. Good enough. I lacked bags to carry the stuff in. Some scrounging yielded a dry bag and an old hanging bag. The hanging bag had d-rings and such on it and seemed well suited to strapping to a bike. The dry bag ($5 at the thrift store) should keep the sleeping bag dry.
I'd need more luggage though - somewhere to carry clothes, laptop, camera, shoes, hydration pack etc, so I ordered up a top case and tank bag and had them shipped directly to the seller.
On July 27th I flew to KC, forked over the cash, hit up the DMV (3hrs wait:banghead) and installed my luggage and bunge-corded my gear to the pillion seat. Finally I was on my way north-east toward Oshkosh by evening.
I looked something like this as I left the seller's place.
A teaser of what's in store (never mind the missing bit in CA - gps got wonky, I had to re-set it and seem to have lost a few tracks - just fill in the coastal bit and Ortega hwy in you head).
I was going to go back to Cambridge and write an article or something, but after working 10 60-80hr weeks over the summer, I thought better of it.
So what to do? Well, I'd never ridden baja before, I'd never seen my sisters new digs in SoCal, I'd never ridden a street bike significantly west of the continental divide, I had a CR250R calling my name in Denver, I wanted to show Pilette around CO and I wanted to see the EAA Airventure show in Oshkosh.
Well those seemed like enough items to keep me entertained for a bit - on to the logistics.
I didn't have much cash to spend, but did have some saved-up tuition money that wouldn't be needed till Sept. I didn't have a street bike really suitable for the trip (TL is in need of repairs that I didn't have the time or garage space to do and I'm getting a bit old and arthritic for several-thousand mile sport bike tours).
So a plan was hatched. I'd buy a bike somewhere within a day's ride of Oshkosh, fly out and ride to Osh. Then on to Denver, then west, then south and finally I'd sell the bike wherever I ended up when I ran out of time and if needed, fly back to DC or Cambridge.
After much angst and a few bikes that fell though, I ended up with a 2007 Bandit 1250S in Kansas City.
I'd also need camping gear and such. In keeping with the low-budget plan, a $30 tent was procured at Target and Nicki found an old sleeping bag from her days as a Brownie or Girlscout or something like that. Good enough. I lacked bags to carry the stuff in. Some scrounging yielded a dry bag and an old hanging bag. The hanging bag had d-rings and such on it and seemed well suited to strapping to a bike. The dry bag ($5 at the thrift store) should keep the sleeping bag dry.
I'd need more luggage though - somewhere to carry clothes, laptop, camera, shoes, hydration pack etc, so I ordered up a top case and tank bag and had them shipped directly to the seller.
On July 27th I flew to KC, forked over the cash, hit up the DMV (3hrs wait:banghead) and installed my luggage and bunge-corded my gear to the pillion seat. Finally I was on my way north-east toward Oshkosh by evening.
I looked something like this as I left the seller's place.
A teaser of what's in store (never mind the missing bit in CA - gps got wonky, I had to re-set it and seem to have lost a few tracks - just fill in the coastal bit and Ortega hwy in you head).