Furkot
So, yesterday – or was it the day before yesterday? – I was referred to Furkot, a site to help planning trips, and I discover that what I had done in google maps (at google.com/mymaps) could be done far more easily at Furkot.
Below is an embedded map of the whole trip, using Furkot:
'Round the USAAnyway, I’m still updating things, and the camping/motel planning is far from definitive (in fact, I plan to decide where to stop on the road, based on how fast/far I go each day, and what I want to see/visit).
Travel Insurance
I also visited a Flight Centre office today to buy some insurance for my trip. Not cheap, I ended paying almost CAD450,00 to be covered until the end of December (not knowing exactly when I’d be back to Vancouver). But I assume this is a necessary expense and I’d rather cover my a** than get a huge hospital bill in the states that will screw my finances for a long while… This said, I’d rather have wasted that money than really be glad I paid for that insurance 😉
ROK straps + Pinlock for my helmet
Rode to the usual gear store today, Modern Motorcycling in Vancouver, to get some ROK straps to hold my bags, tents and everything else on the bike; I had bought some bungee cords at MEC previously, but I was not so confident about their resistance to bike travel, and I read great things about the ROK straps. Unfortunately, Modern didn’t carry the ROK straps and I could order some, but they would probably get in too late, so I asked the owner where I could get some and he suggested Daytona Motorsports on East Cordova. I also needed a Pinlock for my helmet to avoid the fog I sometimes get since I installed the bigger windscreen (the air flow doesn’t come any more to my face, which is great, but that also causes the visor to get foggy). Lucky enough, Modern carried the proper pinlock for my helmet – which I mounted as soon as I got home and it works perfectly!
Also finally got two adjustable ones (0.5 to 1.5m) and one non-adjustable (0.9m) from Daytona Motorsports. That store looks much cleaner and as friendly as Modern – although Modern has received a lot of criticism, but I never had issues with them. Might be a good second option when I need stuff for the bike. Also bought two irons to change my tires.
Talking about tires
My TKC-80s just came in today too, so I’ll have to spend some time trying to mount them too… First time I remove the wheels on the bike, and first time I’ll mount a tire on a rim too (did it on bikes but never on cars/motorcycles). I was thinking about keeping my current tires for the trip, since they still have quite some life on them, but then I remembered there might be snow and/or mud at places, and the TKC-80s will do much better in these I’m certain.
Talking about gear…
I also received one of the last shipments I expected from Twisted Throttle, with my new SW-Motech handguards, folding gear lever (peg) and Oxford heated grips.
So tomorrow (and probably Friday) will be two very busy days on the bike (or rather, besides it). Wish me luck!
