T minus 7 Days - Bike preparation

For those not in the know, I'm going on a trip next week for 11 days on my motorcycle. I'm going to use this blog to post about the planning for my upcoming trip, as well as my experiences during the trip itself.

Destination? Rockies!

T Minus 7 Days - Bike Preparation


The bike I'm taking on the trip is a 2008 GS500. Touring bike it is not, but I read up on a guy who does touring on a CBR125R, so I'm not about to be beat by a machine with 13HP. The GS has good power, is stupid easy to maintain, and a a whopping 20 litre tank. I once had a gas station attendant wondering if I was pouring gas on the ground because the meter kept on going up.

I usually keep pretty up to date on my maintenance, but since I'm going to be covering over 4000km in 11 days I figure it would be best to do a complete service to the bike and make sure it's running top notch. Since I've owned this bike I've learned to do every piece of maintenance myself. I am no mechanic by any means, but I pick it up as I go. My moto is that it isn't a day wrenching with me until something goes wrong.

On the list for the full once over is an oil change, chain cleaning and oiling, air filter change, suspension adjustment, throttle and clutch adjustment, and a few miscellaneous items. I would have liked to do a valve job but that's one feat I haven't quite attempted yet, and I don't really have time to wait around for shims. Unfortunately I have no garage, so I do all my maintenance in the driveway at my parents' place.

As luck would have it, it was raining all day today, but hell if rain is going to stop me now then I'm not going to make it very far on the trip. Realizing I have lost my windbreaker though, I borrowed the easiest jacket I could find in the house. Donning a snazzy pink jacket which promptly removed all manliness in wrenching on a motorcycle, I went to work. Over the past two years I've added a bunch of mods to the bike to make it better suited for touring. The windscreen I only keep on when I know I'll be going on the highway. It may be ugly as hell, but it's a comfortable kind of ugly.

I managed to get almost all my maintenance done today. I also now reek of kerosene, but holy crap that stuff makes quick work of all the gunk that builds up on a chain. Stay tuned tomorrow when I practice my clown car skills by trying to pack a week and a half worth of supplies into the smallest luggage ever.

Rock on.