T-211 Days...My ride.

2007 KTM 990 Adventure S

T-211 Days... Planning

The way our itinerary gets set is by suggestions and ideas, often communicated over a beer or via IM.  Both Jim and I would like to see Machu Picchu.  Jim's wife, Patty, and her sister are considering coordinating a trip to visit it with us.

Once a seed like that is planted it leads to research.  Starting from the vague idea, "I'd like to see Machu Picchu." leads to google fun.  It turns out that for a quick visit to MP we need to take a train to the small town of Hot Water (Aguas Calientes) and catch a bus up the mountain.  Basically it is a minimum 3 day commitment to see Machu Picchu.  I've got to admit I'd love to see Machu Picchu, but I'm not really phsyched about being away from the bikes for 3 days.

Like any plan, things are subject to change. Who knows, maybe we'll see them in Cusco but not go to Machu Picchu with them.

T-213 Days: Some of the bike prep.

Getting the bikes just right has been fun.  The time spent pondering, shopping, waiting, planning leads to days where a bunch of stuff is accomplished all at once.

When Jim's bike went on the lift for mods we did a little time lapse video.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_tlzMYR6FM

T-214 Riding Gear

Just got an email from Aerostich.  My riding gear is on the way.  I bought a used Aerostich Darien jacket and send it back to the factory for refurbishing.  Also on the way are new Darien pants and an electric liner for the jacket.

The last major purchase will be the top luggage.  Currently leading option is a waterproof soft bag for the top.

Renee will be happy that all the big purchases are finally out of the way.  She's the best wife ever!

I will be wearing an Arai VX-Pro3 helmet and will probably chose to wear my Sidi Crossfire boots.

Same clothes for 6 weeks.  Probably will not want to carry them on for the return trip!

T-215 Days How to track us.

While in South America I will be using a SpotII Messenger.  It is a gps tranceiver.  It finds it location using standard GPS methods but then can share its location via a satellite link.  Most check in locations will be posted to my Facebook page.  You can also see locations at the Spot Message pages:  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0Sz9AVYL8qxjdgFFHu6C5Jnh8qlJ1JM1T  A convenient link to this site is on the right side of this blog.

It is my plan to update at least once a day.  If we are somewhere really interesting I'll leave a mark (lol) there too.

In addition to location I can send status information, indicating all is ok, all is not ok but not life threatening or Yikes! Help! which will also notify an international Search and Rescue outfit.

T-215 Days

In celebration of Jim's 1st half-century, he and I will be shipping our KTM 990 Adventures to South America where we will spend a couple weeks chasing the Dakar Rally then spend another few weeks just goofing off and riding.

We have purchased bikes, Jim a 2010 990 Adventure R and I a 2007 990 Adventure S.  We acquired almost all our riding gear and equipment, bags, fuel cells, GPSs.  We have done gobs of bike mods like flapectomies, SASectomies, canisterectormies, BlackDog skid plates, air filter mods, luggage systems, supplemental power outlets...  I'll try to make a blog that lists all the mods at another time (If someone requests it I'll do one sooner.)

Dates are firm.  We have plane reservations that depart the US on 27Dec2011 and return to the US on 10Feb2012.  We are flying in and out of Santiago, Chile.  I have a college classmate who has agreed to help us get the bikes into and out of Chile. It's very nice to have some local help.

Now the devil is in the details.