I am now in the final preparation stage of the journey. We have some vistors for dinner tomorrow so I plan to get the bike all packed and ready by about 4:00 PM tomorrow.
Wednesday, I trailered the bike over to BCM Motorsports in Laconia, NH -- a three + hour drive, but they are one of the best Ducati specialists in the East and possibly the country (and they are my dealer). Their mission has several pieces: first, to install panniers, a top case, hand guards and a center stand. Well three out of four, is OK, but not great. Seems Ducati NA got blitzed for centerstands, so mine is back ordered despite a 6 week order lead time. It's no big deal except it makes it a bit more inconvenient to lube the chain while en route. The situation is difficult only because all the guys at BCM are so great and so amazingly competent that you can't find anyone to vent your frustration on.
Second, I want Eric to optimize the suspension, something he talked about in a maintenance seminar I attended during the winter. Eric finds (as I suspected) that with my weight (246lbs in full gear) the progressive rear spring is a bit overwhelmed. He substitutes a beefier non-progressive Ohlins spring, tweaks front and back settings, and pronounces it "better", suggesting that I probably don't want the $500+ "gold valve" which might make it a little bit better still. Eric says that the result of his tweaks will be less "squat" on acceleration and make the many small bumps one encounters more comfortable. He shows me the pre-load adjustment for a fully loaded bike.
The third mission is to check out the bike pre 2000+ mile trip and see if he can reduce some vibrations I have been experiencing. Bike checks out but he "leans" the fuel-air mix a bit to optimize with the Staintune exhaust. At 5:30 PM, armed with a new t-shirt and receipts for parts and labor, I hit the road -- after a nice day hanging around the shop with Eric and Kyle, demo-ing a new Multistrada (a bit more torque - as if the bike needed it), ogling all the bikes in the showroom, watching the Bike Week hordes streaming into town and schmoozing with various Ducatisti -- all in all a pleasant day.
Yesterday, I went for a final shakedown ride with Brad and Kim. Brad rode a new silver R1200RT, trading in his R1150RS to make room in his 20+ bike stable. Kim rides a new orange-white Bonneville, the perfect complement to his early 70's, pristine (but still balky) Norton Commando. After a pleasant lunch at "Almost Home" in Bristol, VT we head over Lincoln Gap, the gnarliest of the Green Mountain Gaps- very steep, narrow pavement where paved, and closed in winter; then a romp down Route 100 through Granville Glen to Rochester; then a right on Route 73 over Brandon Gap. The good news is they just repaved this road. So it's a great run. The bad news is they are still mounting guard rails and stuff, and soon we are creeping behind a construction truck. Now, one of the great things about riding with Brad is he is a highly experienced rider, and doesn't mind sharing some of his tricks. He showed me one on this part of the run, when he pulled off and let the truck get a few miles ahead so we would have a clear road to run on, then he proceeded to head for the construction crew's porta potty to "drop a deuce" (as my stepdaughter says). My options were to wait for him like a dummy or take off. I took off over this beautiful freshly paved mountain road. After another refreshment stop in Brandon, the rest of the ride consisted of blasting over back roads in the Champlain Valley with one beautiful vista after another. It was a glorious day! But, enough of that - this was supposed to be a shakedown run before the big trip. Let me just say the bike performed flawlessly and the suspension tuning Eric performed really made a difference vs. an OK setup before. The vibrations are reduced somewhat. The bike is ready - and I will be ready to go Sunday.
Today I performed some essential pre trip activities - cutting the grass, making a playlist for the trip (to be released on CD in a special GIFT BOX), finalizing the packing list, laying out the stuff I am bringing on the trip and figuring out how I want it in the bags, etc. I will pack it tomorrow.
Also, contacted Reg and Ron (those fabulous Boucher twins), to see if they want to be my wing men Sunday morning for the first few hours of the trip. They do - so that will be fun. We will blast northeastward through Northern VT (Routes 15 to 100 to 58 - hooking up with I 91 in Orleans. Just another great VT motorcycle route.
I'll post a picture of the loaded bike tomorrow PM.
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