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The Trip! This article is in the process of being
rewritten. This is the intro and
the photos. Come back soon for the
full story! Craig Most of what you see will be published in upcoming issues of Streetbike Magazine. For those of you who don't pick up the magazine you can check it out at http:\\www.streetbike.com. The photos herein may or may not be in the published article(s). I may swap some around at a later date since I have over 200 shots from this trip. So how did this come about? Well, I decided to do something different for a vacation this year. Last year I took a nice ride through the Southwest with my girlfriend. We had a great time exploring the various parks in Southern Utah, Northern Arizona and all of Colorado. This year I thought about going back to Baja but chose instead to go elsewhere. I have been to most of Northern Baja and really wanted to see some old familiar spots along with some new places. Also, I wanted this to be my adventure. No one else along for the ride, no one else to worry about, no one else to ride with. Just me and the Tiger. Thus you have The Trip. As with any motorcycle journey packing is a difficult thing. First and foremost you need spares. No telling what sort of hazards you'll encounter along the road nor what misfortunes may befall you. I typically pack a spare set of tubes, tire irons and puncture repair kit. The Tiger now sports a center stand making tire repairs relatively easy. Next I pack a set of levers, brake and clutch, along with the usual JB Weld, zip ties, safety wire and tools. Enough to take care of most minor matters of the crashing variety. So far I have not had need to use these spares on any previous trip but I still pack them just in case. Better safe than sorry. Clothes are a necessary evil. You need enough of them such that you don't stink so bad from lack of laundering but not so many that you're swamped with luggage. I usually bring 5 days change of clothes along with a swim suit and non riding apparel. Speaking of riding apparel, I also bring cold weather gear and rain wear. No telling what you will encounter along the road so it's best to be prepared. An electric vest is must any time of the year! Also, I don't go anywhere on a bike without my Aerostich suit. Best damn riding gear I've ever owned. Don't think I'll ever trust my skin to anything else while on the pavement. Last but not least I bring my camera gear and navigational tools. In this case I had my Minolta X700 with a couple of lenses and a compact tripod. I brought 12 rolls of film and a handful of Seattle Filmworks mailers. It makes it easy to shoot a roll and then mail it so when I get home my pictures are ready and waiting! Navigation is typically accomplished with AAA maps. I get the Western States for an overview and then the individual states maps. In some cases I get even more detailed with specialized area maps like the Indian Country Four Corners map. Makes it nice and easy to pick out those good twisty roads! So on October 8th the adventure began…… Craig |