I'm back

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 14:13

Made it home yesterday with the escort of fellow ADVRider "Coots"

FIrst Weeks in the USA

Saturday, 08 May 2010 20:11

For the last week and a half, I’ve been readjusting to life in the USA. For example, when I was waiting for my bike to be released from customs, some guy walked by and said "Hi," I instantly responded with "Hola."  When finishing up in the bathroom, I start to deposit the used toilet paper in the trash. If I flush it, I somehow feel that I need to leave without anyone knowing, like I’m doing something I shouldn’t. I keep getting annoyed by all the traffic on the roads. And what's up with the flagger for a simple 50 feet of road construction? Why does the waitress keep coming over and asking if everything is OK? All right, I can understand that one, if you saw me eating, you might ask that too. But seriously, I can call her over if I need something. Why does all the traffic stop when you step into a street to cross? What’s up with all the cop cars? I’ve seen more of them in the past 6 days than I’ve seen in the past six months; and they always seem to be giving someone a ticket. Oh yeah, the other day I had a car pull out in front of me for the first time in years. The driver just looked at me with this, "I didn’t see you", expression. Most people look surprised when you say "Good Morning" (at least I’ve stopped saying "Buenos Dias!")

After getting my tires mounted, I was off to Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum

This museum is huge

There are something like 5 floors filled with motorcycles, with more lining the walls and resting on multi layer display stands. The bikes range from current year to 1902. I didn’t count them, but there are around 1200 bikes on display.

A line of old Indians

1929 Harley Davidson Peashooter

1925 Henderson De-Luse

1926 Royal Enfield

I had one of these – BSA 650 Lightning

1910 Sears Auto Cycle

An early relative of the Beast

Then it was off to the BMW Georgia Mountain Rally for a weekend of more bikes and riding in the hills of northern Georgia.

And some of the first twisties I’ve seen in weeks

After the rally, I spent four days visiting my brother and sister-in-law in Beaufort, South Carolina, before heading north.

Back in the US, Back in the US, Back is the USA

Friday, 30 April 2010 07:43

I’m not going to get too far ahead in the RR as I still need to finish South America, but the Beast and I made it to Atlanta Georgia.

Got some fresh oil and a set of tires fitted at BMW Atlanta

At the start of this trip, I stopped at what had to be one of the worst motorcycle dealers I’ve ever visited, West Valley BMW, CA. Well, now I've visited one of the best, BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta. When I was sitting in the waiting area while my bike was being worked on, the owner walked over and handed me a set of keys and said, “If you're hungry, here are the keys to my truck, go get lunch”. He then told me of a tavern down the road and said, “See ya later”. How cool is that! Of course, I waited until after returning before I told him I hadn’t driven a car or truck in 6 months as I’d been blasting around South America – I don’t think he would have cared – great people!

BMW Ducati Husqvarna Motorcycles of Atlanta
1750 Cobb Parkway SE
Marietta, GA 30060
www.bmwmcoa.com

...and now I’m off to the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum. Then it will be back east to northern Georgia for the 20th Anniversary GA Mt Rally.

Bikeless in Buenos Aires

Sunday, 25 April 2010 00:00

Last week, in preparation for shipping to the USA, I took the Beast in for a bath. It had 3 months of South American dirt and mud on it which the US customs doesn’t really like.

The carwash down the street from DakarMotos does a great job. For $7 you get a guy who spends about 45 minutes on the bike and it comes out spotless.

I got the bike back just in time because later that night it dumped hardball sized hail for about 10 minutes. The next day there was a line around the block of the local car windshield shop with cars like this
.
During the week, I did a mini-maintenance on the Beast, replacing the fuel filter (the spare I carried), cleaning the air filter, checking nuts and bolts, etc. in preparation for the ride across the USA. This Thursday, I took the Beast out for one last spirited ride through downtown Buenos Aires as I rode to the airport cargo terminal. The whole shipping process was arranged by DakarMotos and was extremely easy.
The Beast was put on a crate after the battery was disconnected and the air removed from the tires.

After strapping it down and added the luggage the whole bike is wrapped in plastic.



Jeremy, who is staying at the DakarMotos Hotel too, brought his F800GS down with me. It goes to Canada.

After a little paper work with customs, the Beast is left at the airport and I head to downtown Buenos Aires – bikeless. The next day we will go and pay for the air cargo and then the bike is off to Atlanta while I wait for my Monday flight.