My tentative First Route…

Here is a first look at my tentative route through Europe this summer. Click on the image to go to the actual map in Bing Maps.

Helge Pedersen @ RideWest BMW

From RideWest BMW’s events calendar:

An Adventure Debriefing by Helge Pedersen


After 3 months on the road covering 14,500 miles, on a Ride that started in Seattle and ended at the Southern most tip of South America, GlobeRiders founder Helge Pedersen returned to Seattle a couple of months ago while his BMW R1200GS Adventure 2009 model came the slow way, on a cargo ship from Tierra del Fuego.

This Saturday, June 12th at 10am, Helge and his traveling mate, Vincent Cummings, will do a debrief of their adventure at Ride West BMW. No pictures, no video, but a pure hands on run through of what worked and what did not work. With his fully packed bike, Helge will go through all issues from mechanical to logistical issues

If you want to learn something about packing and outfitting for your own touring bike, come and be part of the teardown of this GlobeRiders Expedition to Tierra del Fuego. Bring a notepad and 2 hours to participate in this hands on Free Seminar. You do need a reservation! Please call (206) 527-5511 to get your name on the list.

Battery crapping out?

The SV died again in between the time I got to work and decided to leave. This indicates something seriously wrong with the battery. Either something is draining it or it is unable to hold a charge. I haven’t changed very much on it outside of fitting a new cable for my Gerbing heated vest. I’m loathe to shell out $100 for a new battery before I know for sure what’s causing it though.

Riding as a family…

A friend linked me to this ride report of a couple riding through Namibia with their young daughter who looks to be less than 10 years old. While the pictures of Namibia looked fantastic, I cannot get over the fact that they took a young kid with them, in an age where people overwhelmingly go out of their way to protect their children. Maybe it comes from having had a smotheringly sheltered childhood myself, but I have nothing but admiration for people who expose their children to a rugged, difficult life on the road.  On the one hand, you see people moaning about how their lives had to be put on hold after they had kids. And then you have others who bring their kids right along for the ride! Some might call it irresponsible no doubt (she *is* kitted out in full protective gear and helmet), but the things that child will see and learn!

Quick update…

1. I just got a huge box of parts from Bike Bandit, so I guess I will be busy installing/upgrading stuff on the bike soon. My Yoshimura exhaust isn’t here yet, so I might hold off until I get it and dedicate one day to be Bike Fixerupper day.

2. I placed wanted ads on Craigslist, ADVRider and the F650 forums for a used seat for a 2005 F650CS, the bike that I will ride in Europe this summer. No responses yet, which isn’t entirely surprising.

3. I have a dream route in place for the Europe ride. As with all motorcycle routes, it’s pretty optimistic for a 30 day ride.

4. The SV’s battery died last night and I needed a jump this morning to get her on the road. This is getting to be irksome.

5. I give up on the Corbin seat I got for the SV a couple of weeks ago. It is lower and harder than the stock seat and makes the bike extremely uncomfortable to ride. It’s harder to touch the ground and to reach the handlebars. So I’m back with my stock seat. It’s starting to rip, but I reckon I can probably get it recovered and call it good.

6. I am plagued with Zumo charging issues and am trying to figure out if it’s the unit or the mount. Most likely both, with my luck.