Trip Statistics -Yawn!

Prety dull stuff, but I recorded all my mileages throughout the trip whenever I stopped to refuel.
The end result of this is the following statistics:

The trip was 41,137Km in Length.
There were 132 fuel up stops.
The total fuel consumed was 1945 litres
The total cost of fuel was $1738
The average fuel consumption was 21.14 Km/l (ranging between 16Km/l and 26Km/l)
The average cost of fuel per litre was 89c/l (ranging between 67c/l in Mexico to 140c/l in Canada)

About my Machine

Thought I might write a bit about my motorbike since it was a major component of my trip.

It is a 2005 Suzuki DL650 also known as a VStrom. I bought it second hand about a year ago from an ex-work colleague and it had 15000Km on the clock and was in pristine condition.

I have ridden motorbikes for about twenty years, but always in a city environment and Ive never been on an overland trip before, so I really had very little idea of what to expect. I chose the DL650 for a number of reasons:

1) I already owned a Suzuki SV650 which has the same engine and I knew it was reliable and low maintenance.

2) My reading of some "adventure touring" literature and discussions with a few people I met indicated that the DL650 would be a good choice for a mostly highway trip and that it also seemed to be somewhat capable off-road.

3) It just so happened that I had a friend who had one that was already set up for off-road and that was for sale but I found this out after I had done my research, not before :)

I bought the bike before I went away on a mountaineering trip in Pakistan for all of June and July in 2007. I ordered some extra equipment for the bike before I left and it arrived while I was away. So, when I came back in August I didn't have too much work to do before I was ready to head off into the "wild blue yonder".

Bike Performance:
The bike did amazingly well given the difference between what it is designed for and what I did with it. The only "failure" it had was that one of the ignition coils stopped working. Other than that it was just oil changes for the full 40,000Km trip. - Note I did burn out the clutch and went through two drive chains, two front tires, one set of rear brake pads, and three rear tires, but they are all what I consider "running" gear and thus are expected to wear out.
I would prefer not to take this bike on a similar trip again because it needs better off-road performance for what I want to do. It is however an outstanding highway touring bike and can do a very decent job on dirt roads that are not too technical.

The shortcomings of the bike as I see it are:
1) Clearance! - The bike NEEDs 5cm - 15cm more ground clearance. If the exhaust pipe could be routed around rather than under the engine, it would be enough, but it is a serious limitation as is.
2) Lower 1st gear ratio. For off-road on both up and down hill manouvers, the bike needs to be able to go slower with the engine idling. I burned out the clutch (admittedly in a very extreme situation) and it would not have been nearly so bad with a lower, more powerful first gear.
3) Lighter. The bike is too heavy for off-road work. The problem here is that the weight is both unnecessary and high on the bike. This is no problem for highway riding, only an issue when riding gets technical.
4) More comfortable seat. The seat works fine and is better than most dirt bikes and most sport bikes too. However it is designed for a slightly crouched riding position (fast highway riding) and for rides of about an hour or two in length. I found it to be very uncomfortable on regular six hour days and would have spent hundreds of dollars on a different seat had I known how I would feel.
5) Alternate foot rests. The foot pegs on the bike are positioned again for a slightly crouched riding position and they were badly placed for an upright position and long riding times. Next time I would figure out a way to add alternate foot rests further forward for highway riding.

I also had a bunch of extra components fitted to the bike when I set out. If the bike is not equipped with "extras" it makes an excellent road tourer but is not suitable for off-roading (mostly impact protection for the expected low speed falls) and I was sure that I would do at least some off-road so the extras were needed. The added equipment, and their effective results were:

Seal Skins - To protect the front fork seals from sand.
Had no issues with these. They worked well and probably saved the shock seals from wearing out.

HeadLight Protector - To protect the headlight from stone hits.
No issues with this either. I doubt that it saved me from broken headlights but it certainly took some stone hits.

Handle Bar Risers. - To raise the handlebars by about 2-3cm for a more comfortable, upright riding position.
These worked fine, but I would use a different set next time that also shift the bars back toward the rider by 2-3cm as well.

Oil Cooler Protector Screen - To protect the front oil cooler from stone hits.
This worked great and is a must since the placement of the oil cooler is in a bad spot.

Radiator Protector Screen - To protect the radiator from stone hits.
Again, this worked fine and probably took some minor hits but I doubt it saved me from any real damage.

Bash Plate - To protect the base of the engine and exhaust pipe from belly impacts.
This got "the life beaten out of it" both on and off the highway! The bike has quite limited clearance which is fine for Canadian and US highways and streets, but in Mexico and further South there are lots of large aggressive speed bumps on the streets and highways and I was always hitting them (often they are just too big and speed makes no difference. Likewise, off-road work requires clearance that the bike did not have. Consequently the bash plate got a real work out. It did well enough but I would get a unit made from heavier duty aluminium and steel next time.

Engine Side Bars -To protect the engine and side of the bike in falls. These bars really did a good job. They took several very hard hits and saved the tank and engine from any damage at all - great!

Off-Road Foot Pegs - These are so that the rider has good grip on the foot pegs when riding off-road in muddy and wet conditions.
I put on some good stainless steel ones that worked very well in all conditions. They did however, slowly eat into the soles of my boots (especially the gear leaver side) and I would get a more expensive set of foot pegs with rotation bearings so that this did not happen next time.

Side Case Mounts - These provide sturdy attachment for the side cases as well as protecting the rear side area of the bike.
These were great too - took several hard hits and the bike was completely undamaged. Likewise I did many many Km and they showed no signs of fatigue or wearing out.

Side Cases - These are to carry my clothing and equipment. Key lock to attach and to lock the lid closed.
I had a good brand of side cases (Hepco-Becker Gobi) that were made of a tough plastic. They did well given the punishment I gave them but next time I would get metal side cases. The plastic did not take the falls as well as I would like. The lid locks worked great. The attachment lock was too light weight and has become loose and sloppy - I would want something else next time.

Top Case Mount - Provides attachment for the top case.
Again, this did well and has shown no signs of fatigue even after riding for 15000Km with a full top case and a spare tire loading it down.

Top Case - Used to carry clothes and equipment key lock to attach as well as lock the lid closed.
Same brand and model as the side cases - Hepco-Becker Gobi. It worked very well. No impacts for the top case (its up and out of the way) but I would prefer one that was a little larger (wider and lower). I would prefer to get something else next time.

Windshield Extension - To deflect air away from the rider at highway speeds.
It did its job very well, but it is an obstruction to much needed visibility for low speed off-road riding. It is also no good when there is mist or light rain since the wind on your helmet shield is what keeps it free of water droplets and thus, behind the big wind screen, without wind, the water stays put! The wind pressure while riding is not that bad anyway, so I would not get one of these next time I go on a long tour or at least make it more easily adjustable/removable.

Heated Hand Grips. To keep fingers and hands warm in cold and rainy conditions.
These worked great! They were a real added comfort in mountains and bad weather and they worked reliably. Definitely a must for big trips. Id also add power outlets for heating a vest and feet too for the next trip.

Handle Bar Protectors. - To protect the break and clutch leavers when the bike falls.
These were great and were used many times with light and heavy impacts. I got good ones with a metal bar inside the plastic (Asserbis) - plastic only units are basically useless. I would not go on another trip without these.

Front Fender Extender. This deflects stones kicked up by the front tire.
I rode about three quarters of the trip with one of these but it probably made no difference to the bike. If you were a highway tourer only then it would help keep the engine clean and unmarked but as soon as you go off-road, its pointless.

Off-Road Tires. So you can go off-road.
I used off-road tyres (Continental TKC) on the front wheel for the whole trip and was glad I did. I liked the grip in the dirt and noticed no lack of control or unpleasant handling on the highways.
I used street tires (Pirelli, Brigestone) on the rear for half the trip and off-road tyres (Continental TKC) on the rear for the other half.
With the heavily loaded bike, I found that the street tyres had plenty of grip in the dirt if it was a firm and dry surface (which it usually was). However if I hit loose (7-10cm deep sand or gravel) or wet (particularly clay!) off-road conditions then the off-road tire on the rear was far more effective. In future I would likely fit just dual-sport tires but with a dense lug pattern in the centre strip of tire for improved wear with highway miles.

So, that's it. The bike is in quite rough shape aesthetically speaking, but it still runs and rides great. I will keep it for the time being but will sell it in about a year or so. I expect Ill get little more than half the price I paid for it but that's just the cost of taking a trip like this. I'm happy with the result, and I learned a lot for next time.

Types of Bikers

I just rode twelve thousand kilometers through three countries over a period of two and a half weeks.
I saw lots of highway and did myself a bit of an internal survey of what sorts of motorbikes and their riders are on the highways. And the results are that from my perspective there seem to be only about five types of riders out there:

No. 1 The Harley Rider
There are two subgroups here but neither case is the classic hardened biker of our imagination (well mine anyway).
The more common "highway" type is (in general) a midle-aged (40s - 50s - 60s) man with a bit of a pot belly and greying hair. He is wearing designer wrap-around sunglasses and a tinny little skull-Cap helmet and is dressed in shiny black leather chaps (over jeans) and a matching vest. They usually ride in small groups of two to four. Their bikes are almost always black and shiny with two saddle bags and a front fairing. About half of these highway riders are riding 2-up with their wife, similarly attired, on the back of the bike.
The other sub-type is a younger man (late twenties to early thirties) and he virtually always has bare arms and very visible "tribal" type tattoos. He is an urban creature rather than a dweller of the open highway. The bike is still shiny and black and built by Harley Davidson but it does not have the front fairing and the side cases. These guys ride solo.
Both sub-types love to have a very loud exhaust system on their bike and to make the machine as loud as possible while riding at every opportunity - Lots of hard acceleration followed by deceleration :)
These guys are usually doing day or weekend trips in their home state and if they go overnight, they are hopping between motels or hotels (or more often Starbucks to Starbucks :)
I saw hundreds of these riders on the highways of the USA, dozens in Canada, and NONE in Mexico - no doubt due to the ground clearance of the bikes and the speed bumps on all the highways there :)

No. 2 The GoldWing Rider
These people ride the big Honda Goldwing bikes with huge fairings and hard luggage and two way radios and coffee cup holders and cigarette trays and stereo systems, etc... - big bikes! (I think they even have a reverse gear!).
In my mind, the Type N0.1 riders used to ride these bikes but they have nowadays decided to move to the Harleys but the demographic here seems the same (40s - 50s). The ones who are left on the GoldWings have taken the "big rig" concept one step further and almost all of them now ride the big bike with a similarly designed trailer attached behind. Again they tend to ride in a group though the group is usually a bit bigger (3-5) and most of them have the spouse on the back.
These guys are touring long distances in the US and are usually interstate riders.
I'm really not sure what the attraction of this "style" of travel is and why they don't just buy a convertible car instead, but they are not hurting anyone and they seem to be having fun so I say, let them do it :)
I saw probably about a hundred of these riders on the highways of the USA, a few in Canada, and NONE in Mexico - These guys are not interested in "roughing it" either!

No. 3 The Tourer
These guys are usually riding a large four cylinder Japanese sport touring bike.
They have full face helmets and either nice colourful leather riding clothes or slightly less sporty but eminently piratical cordura riding clothes (jacket and pants). The bike is usually equipped with two suitcase style side cases and often a GPS. These guys go long distances and are touring in either the US or Canada - often interstate).
Again, I saw dozens of these in the USA and a few in Canada but none further South.

No. 4 The GS Rider.
These guys almost always ride the same bike - the big BMW R1200GS (or older 1150).
The bike is almost always "fully equipped" with side protector bars and bash plates and pretty much every bolt on accessory that says "adventure tourer" that they can find. This includes GPS, electric heated grips and clothing connections, and of course the BMW recomended and supplied hard cases on the back of the bike. The riders have some "money to spare" and are also virtually always wearing the BMW brand cordura riding gear and boots.
There are a couple of other bikes that they tolerate, including the smaller BMW650GS and the Ducati Multistrada etc - Never a Japanese model and always and expensive European designs.
They have all the gear its true, but the bikes are ALWAYS absolutely immaculate and while some of them may get to see the occasional non-paved surface, they are always cleaned up to pristine condition immediately after (which is to say I have never seen one of these types of riders with a dirty bike!).
These guys can be anywhere from early thirties to 50s in age, and they can ride singly or in groups of up to ten or so. They do tend to gather together in large groups when they park in resort towns though :)
Again, to me it seems a shame that all this wonderful machinery is not doing what it was purportedly designed for, but again, they are not hurting anyone, so let them do it :)
I saw a couple of dozen of these in the USA (mostly in resort towns) and the occasional individual in Mexico and further south (but they were wealthy locals in their own country - from the rego plates)

No.5 The Adventure Tourer
Well, sadly, this one is the rarest of the lot, and includes me. There are a range of different bikes involved here and a range of different equipment. Its hard to define specific items of equipment that tie this group together but they are immediately apparent on the road. The bike is rarely spotless and looks decidedly "used". The clothing and gear is rarely beautifully coordinated like the other groups and is often a mishmash of style and colour. The thing that is identifiable to me is that whatever their rig is, its Practical! - It works and it has clearly been some places- possibly just on the highways and not in the dirt, but long distances and usually international. I have never seen a group of these riders bigger than four and usually just one or two.
On my whole ride North from Guatemala, I saw no more than five in total - very sad since its actually not that much of an adventure to ride the route I came North on - Then again, perhaps that's why I didn't meet more of them!

There are some other types of riders but they are generally urban types and not to be found on the highways outside of cities.

Thats how it seemed to me :))

Last Leg

Last leg of the journey back to BC.

I rode on North along the Californian coast. Then it became Oregon, and then Washington.

Here I decided to deviate inland a bit to go see a couple of the local Volcanoes. I was getting a bit tired of freezing my butt off riding against the cold North wind and in constant light fog (seems that's what the coastal weather is like for the moment!).

So, I rode East along the Columbia river for a bit (its quite large) and then into the forests and North again past two of the big Volcanoes. Mt St Helen's and Mt Rainier. The forest slowly changed as I went North from the Californian Redwoods to a mix of Myrtle and Douglas Fir. And then to Hemlock and Douglas Fir which is the same as the forest around Vancouver - Getting very close now. One more camp in someones field and then back into Canada on a Sunday morning (before the rush of weekend traffic at the boarder on Sunday afternoon).

So, now I'm back in Vancouver and will be sleeping in a friends spare bed/couch for a few days till the tenants leave from my house (rented out for the duration of my trip).

Not sure how I feel about it all at the moment.

Need a day or two to settle in and decide whats happening next.

I'll do a couple more posts to wrap up this "phase" and then I'll probably start a different blog (or change this ones name... or something).

For the moment, its good to stop riding and let the sun warm me as I sit outside under blue skies with the beautiful light greens of the grass and trees here in Spring (Summer seems late here this year)  :))

Back in the Big Trees

Ive been riding along the coast for a couple of days and the scenery has been very pretty and has changed from quite dry and arid in the bay area to clearly quite wet and forested now that I'm in the North coast of California.

I'm very close to home now and only a couple of states away from Canada.
The weather here on the coast has been windy, cold and foggy. Ive had my grip heaters on high for most of the last two days - another good reason for me to stop and warm up at all the little libraries that I see :)

Nearly Home :)

Library Hopping

Ive now made it in to Fremont in the Bay area and seen my friend Mike.
We went out for a dinner (thanks Mike) and chatted about past present and future for the evening. This morning I headed South around the bay and am now on my way North again following the old number one highway up the coast.
Its a beautiful coast and a very nice and windy road with lots of motorbike riders. They all seem to be a bit smarter than me and are going South while I'm going North and fighting a very strong and gusty wind (yep those winds are back in my life again (they were a constant theme on my ride South through the USA about nine months ago!).

On a different note, I'm visiting many of the local town libraries on the way through the small towns of America. The Internet is free in the us public libraries and I seem to have quite a lot to say in my posts for the present so I stop at each little town till Ive done what I need to do. The rules at each library are different and I get anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. Ive got email to check and respond to and blog entries to write and photos to post... I seem to stop at two or three libraries each day. And I'm actually enjoying it very much! I get to talk to some of the locals a bit and I get to see more than just the main street and the gas station.

Even very small towns often have a library and I must say that they have all been very nice facilities and very friendly staff :)

Flag Hunting

I have been adding stickers of national flags to my side cases as decoration as I have come back North from Ecuador. Ive got quite a collection now and when I came into the USA a couple of days ago I assumed it would be no problem to locate a little "National Pride" in one of the gas stations here. It was only a week after the fourth of July which is the national "birthday" so to speak so I figured there would be plenty of stickers and little wavy flags and other patriotic bits and pieces around.

Interestingly , It was very hard to find a flag sticker!
I had to try at least four or five stops in four states (California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona) before I managed to get one.
There were plenty of little wavy flags about , and unfortunately a few rather unpleasant "red white and blue" stickers with the slogan "Terrorist Hunting Permit" (sadly I was not surprised to see these), but; there were no stickers.

Just interesting!

Resorting to Extremes

As mentioned, I did a quick visit to a Ski/Mountain-Bike resort as well as a drive through one of the US's most popular national parks. It was high summer and I am told it is summer break for the schools, so of course, all the families are out on the highways in force taking their summer vacations.

I posted just a few days ago about what I see as the miss-guided nature of "Stuffism" as I called it, and it seems to me that this is another aspect of our societies that "misses the point" and it is glaringly obvious to me in my current frame of mind. It seems to me that people don't really know how to relax...

I think that the US is probably one of the worst afflicted (I hear Japan is bad too) and it shows in the general vacation policies for professional organizations. I know, I work for hightech companies and here in the US you get a starting vacation allowance of only two weeks a year (in Canada its three weeks, in Australia its four weeks and those are the only places Ive worked but I here there can be considerably longer allowances in European nations) and in the US it might get up to four weeks after five to seven years of employment with that company!

This has the rather unfortunate effect of making that vacation time incredibly valuable to people. The result of this is that when people do go on vacation, they tend to have very high commitment to their objectives for that time and this leads to equivalently high stress levels. Having as much fun as possible in the shortest amount of time seems to be the main objective. The national park and resort experiences that I just had exemplified this for me:

As I rode and walked around, the "manic intensity" of the resorts was palpable and made it even clearer about how people are mostly "missing the point" and we mostly don't know how to relax. There was abuse and use of car horns in entry lineups to the park. There were lots of athletic young people wearing all the latest clothes covered in Logos of all the best companies and fully equipped with all the latest gear and bikes that the current magazines had declared were the best value this month etc... Everyone was very busily "doing" their goals and nobody seemed to be content to just be!

I know that the idea that nobody knows how to relax seems to be in direct conflict with the rate of obesity in the developed nations (and in the developing nations too for that matter) but I still stand by my point.

"Doesn't this mean that people seem to be relaxing a little too much?"
Well, I think not-

I agree that people in general are not looking after their bodies and not getting enough exercise along with getting significantly too much food but I don't think this is caused by over "relaxing" as I mean it.

"And when people are watching their TVs in the evenings, again are they not relaxing a little too much?"
Again, I think not, and this helps clarify what I mean by relax!


What I think is happening is that we have become very good at lazing about with both our bodies and our intellects but its not what I'd call "quality time" and I don't think it relaxes the "person".
What I mean by that is that I don't think that it actually rejuvenates us or releases our stresses in a productive fashion. I think we are just switching off our intellects in the evenings and leaving our minds running - and then we go and feed our mind with the TV - the intellectual equivalent of "junk food" in its worst sense! We then switch our intellect back on next morning with the same stress levels. Likewise, I think we very often add to rather than reduce our stress levels with our intense vacation plans for maximum "fun".
For myself, in the past, Ive mostly been just as much a part of this behavior as the next person. My tastes have been less in line with the "resort" type behavior, and more in line with outdoor and wilderness activities. However, the "maximize fun" was very definitely part of my credo. Its just all part of the go fast, get it done, be efficient mentality!
And its caused by the same thing - "everyone else is doing it, I should too" (with whatever flavour I like best).

Again, for myself I can say that I've had lots of fun, and lots of experiences (many of them valuable, unique, and irreplaceable), but I think on the whole my stress levels have rarely been reduced in any real or productive way by this behavior. And, therefore my overall happiness and well being (for want of a better description) has not really been improved either!

Again, it seems that we've collectively, "lost the plot" on this front!

... And I don't know that it will easily be found either... until things really break down!...

Yosemite

After Death Valley, I rode on to the West and there are several other valleys out there that look like really bad places to get stuck. They are just barren wastelands, covered in sharp black volcanic rocks with barely a withered plant to be seen for literally miles.
This type of climate lasts for quite a way but it gradually gets more vegetated and then even green as you ride toward the Sierras and out of their East side rain shadow.

It was late afternoon by then and there were several big black patches of cloud and I had to ride through the edges of a couple of thunder showers. I also had to detour a couple of times since there had been thunderstorm induced flooding and mud slides on the highway (strong weather they have out here :)
The smell of summer rain was strong in the air along with fresh sage (the sage brush is green and fresh at this time of year).

Then it was up into the Sierras to find a place to camp for the night.
I turned off at one of the local ski resorts (Mammoth Lakes) and drove through the resort before heading back out of town a little to find a camp.
The ski resort is very like those in Canada that Ive seen and as I imagine European resorts are as well - That is to say that in the summer months it becomes a Mountain Biking resort - so its maximum tourist activity all year round!
It was very interesting to be exposed to this sort of place just after having spent four months meditating and nearly two months in silence in a tiny little town in Guatemala -

Guess I'll have more to say about that in a while...

Anyway, a camp was found and I slept well though a little cold.
The next morning I went for a scenic drive around the area and there is no question that the Sierras are certainly beautiful country :)
I then headed up over Tioga pass and down into the Yosemite valley.
Yosemite is the second most popular national park in the US after Yellowstone but it is in a far smaller area and again the "manic intensity" of the tourist hoards was something to experience. The park its self though is really worth the visit and you can easily see why it is so popular.

The grey granite domes in amongst the lush alpine meadows and pine forests with beautiful little lakes of Tuollome Meadows are stunning.
I really liked the gnarled (Krumholtzed) Juniper trees and took quite a few pictures. This led to me having a very "modern problem" of running out of memory space in my camera.
I was not going to buy another memory card this close to home so I started deleting pictures, but was saved by a Swiss family on holiday who had a disk burner handy. It was slow but after an hour and a half of friendly conversation, I was back on my way and headed down into the valley.

There, the massive granite walls of the Yosemite Valley are truly awe inspiring with the valley being so narrow, and when you look up and manage to discern the tiny specs of rock climbers ascending these walls it is definitely something that makes the average tourist stop and "gawk".
I only did a quick drive through visit of the valley, but it brought back fond memories of the month I spent there about fourteen years ago when I did my last year long hiatus from work. I was rock climbing and I climbed several of the prominent peaks and walls in the area including four and a half days to climb the 1200m high "El Capitain" - good memories :)

Then the day was over again and I headed out West to find a camp site.
Tomorrow its into the city to meet up with Mike...