I’ve been going through some of my old videos lately so I can move them over to Vimeo, a much better video hosting service than YouTube in my opinion. The quality is tons better. I just uploaded a video I shot down in Oregon in 2006.

On a previous trip to Oregon, heading back to Washington with a riding friend from Canada, we went through this beautiful canyon on our way to The Dalles. Dave was limping along on a patched tire and we were enroute to a bike shop to get a new tire installed so he could get home. It was cold and raining and because of our situation we really couldn’t enjoy this wonderful stretch of road the way it deserved.

I went back down solo on a later trip to the area and retraced our route to locate that canyon. Turns out it was Fulton Canyon just east of The Dalles. This video was a quick run I did up and back through the canyon. This was shot on my old video rig. I really need to get back down there this summer and shoot it with my new gear! Sounds like a good excuse for a trip to me!

The projects have been stacking up on the bike lately! I can tell that touring season is nearly here. During the winter, I squeeze in a day ride here and there, but any long distance multi-day stuff waits for better weather. In the mean time, upgrades to the bike pass the time…

The next project is installing a wiring harness to power the Garmin StreetPilot 2610 GPS I just picked up for the bike (and the car). The factory refurbed units were a deal I couldn’t pass up. I ordered a Garmin factory motorcycle kit with the GPS, which includes a mount for the GPS (which connects to a RAM base) and a fused wiring harness. The bike end of the factory wiring harness ends in bare wires, so my first decision was whether to direct wire it in somewhere or make it modular. I prefer modular connections where possible, so I decided to fabricate a coupling that would allow me to tie in to my bike’s power using a 2-conductor SAE style connector. My ZZR-1200 has a set of unswitched auxiliary power leads under the seat that are terminated with spade style connectors from the factory. Phase one of the project then, was putting together a small adapter that would plug into the bike with spade connectors and provide an SAE plug to connect the GPS wiring harness (or anything else) into.

Phase two was terminating the Garmin wiring harness with a matching SAE connector. I kept the factory inline fuse as insurance.

It was dark by the time I got done this evening, but I plugged everything into the bike just to see if the GPS would power up, and wonder of wonders it actually worked the first time!

The next step will be routing the harness from underneath the seat up to the dashboard where the GPS will mount on a stem stand, but that will have to wait until tomorrow when there is more light to work by!

The latest project, installing a new (to me) Ventura Luggage system on the old Zed (ZZR-1200). I pulled the tail off while I was test fitting the bracketry. Someone with small hands could probably fit it without but it was easier for me to just take it completely apart and have unrestrained access. It was cold and gray today, soon as the sun comes back I’ll move the bike out into the yard and take a shot with the luggage installed on the racks. This will give me better capacity on trips and still leave my passenger seat open (or allow me to carry my old bags in addition to the Ventura bags).

Impressive commercial for the Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle produced in India.

I’m ready for more sunshine, this weekend was a nice taste of Spring to come. But, I’m ready now dang it!

First big ride of 2008 is in planning stages.  I’ll be heading down to Fortuna, California the end of May for the ST.N West Coast Regional Meet. It’s a great gathering.  I missed the trip last year due to medical issues but have been before and really enjoyed both the trip and the company. Right now, the plan is to hook up with a Canadian friend and his wife and ride down together. It will be around a five day trip all together.  I can’t wait!

Other than that, I’m whiling away the cold weather shopping for new gear. I don’t really need new gear, but it’s part of the hobby.  There’s always something new that is compelling. I’m looking at maybe switching over to a one piece armored “coverall” to replace the jacket and overpants I wear now when I ride. Hmm, for no good reason really except it sound interesting.  I’m also shopping for a new helmet.  Again, nothing wrong with the Scorpion helmet I current wear but I want to try a modular helmet (the chin piece flips up out of the way) and I’d like one with an internal flip-down sun visor so I don’t have to carry multiple face shields when I’m traveling.

And I’m still thinking about tearing the bike apart for a quick paint job, but I don’t know if I have the energy for that. I’m not really hung up on my bike’s appearance and frankly, I kind like it looking a little scruffy.

I did get out for a day ride over the holidays and hope to get a quick ride or two in real soon, but it will still be a few months before any overnight trips are on the radar. The cold doesn’t really bother me, I have gear for that but icy conditions just don’t trill me when I’m on two wheels.

And that’s about it for now…

Sometimes good karma pays off… this Thanksgiving was a great example!  Not only did I manage to fend off all of the invitations I received to spend the day cooped up inside stuffing myself, but the weather turned out be to absolutely gorgeous!

I took advantage of this confluence of luck to wipe the dust off my bike and get a few hours in the saddle. After considering various destinations, I decided to return to a stretch of road I first hit earlier in April this year on my first day ride of the season… Chuckanut Drive on the shores of the Bellingham and Samish Bays.

The bike has been sitting for a while since the weather hasn’t been that great and I’ve been way to busy to think about riding lately.  Still, it fired right up as it always has. Overnight temps dipped down to freezing and the forecast was calling for morning fog so I didn’t rush to get an early start.

I hop-scotched my way north ducking on and off of I-5 to avoid traffic and hit a few side roads on my way, then pealed off towards the coast on State Route 11 which becomes Chuckanut Drive.

The early stages of SR11 are relatively straight and flat, but I still enjoy riding through here because it’s mostly farm country. I really love all of the smells associated with farm land.  The earth, crops, even the cows. It’s nice to have *space* around you after being cooped up in a city so much.

Soon, you cross a small bridge and road heads north towards Bellingham and things get twisty and scenic really quickly.  The road through here is bordered by rocky cliffs riding above you on the inland side and more cliffs dropping off on the other side down to the bay waters below.

I rode through non-stop heading north, just enjoying a fairly relaxed pace and the lack of traffic.  Then I turned around and headed back south, stopping at a few places I noticed on the way up as potential spots for photos. At one pull-out I ran into Rick, another rider from Bellingham enjoying the great weather on his Kawasaki KLR-650. We picked out a nice warm spot in the sun along a rock wall and spent a while chatting about our bikes, riding and the general state of things.

Pretty soon we parted ways and I motored on home with the sun rapidly dipping towards the horizon and the temperatures starting to drop. Hard to imagine a much better way to spend a Thanksgiving in my opinion! 

Nothing much going on motorcycle-wise at the moment. I’m debating tearing the bike down to get it ready for paint this winter but am hesitating because I’d like to get a few more rides in!  I didn’t make it up to the Mount Baker area this summer and would still like to squeeze it in if I can.  Guess we’ll see on that.

I wasn’t going to link to the new blog from this one, but because a few people didn’t get the info I’ll post a link here, at least temporarily.  You can keep up with the new, non-motorcycling blog at http://www.privacyofthemind.com