Well here it is April and nothing to share. I have been off the bike for all of March but I'm hoping to get back on in April. My son's little league is starting up and about the only thing I have been doing in March has been prepping for the NM LOE 2010 rally. I'm helping organize it this year and have been busy getting hotel, banquet facilitates and getting the web site set up. I have been working with the previous organizer so I don't screw things up.
I replaced the tires and finally had to replace the front fork seals on the FJR, I think the incident with the antelope caused the leak. I put the Road Smarts on the bike, that I used to get out to Spartanburg last year. They are still in pretty good shape I'm planning to use them on the ride in May.
WOW I cannot believe it but I finally made it back out on the road. Ended up going out with a few friends and doing any easy 280 mile ride. We hooked up for breakfast then the seven of us took off. Before we left we talked about stopping locations and speed, was expecting a quick pace but nothing out of control. The group decided that I needed to lead since I just installed my new radar detector and they thought this would be a great time to check it out. Two of the guys, I'd never ridden with and wasn't sure about the speed they would be comfortable with. So as we started out, I never really cranked it up I was running 75-80 on the highway. Once we hit the back roads I did pick up the pace, which really broke the group apart. There was three of us running together than two others about 1/4 mile behind us and I'm not sure how far back were the last two. Five of us stopped at the overlook for the Abiquiu Dam, waiting on the others. As we were kicking back they blew right by, they never saw us waving at them.
We decided to take off about 15 minutes later, we figured we would meet up with them at the designated lunch stop Los Ojo in Jemez Springs (my favorite lunch stop). Well after getting back on the road again we had an unexpected delay when the ST1100 in the group decided to do a electrical melt down. As we made a wide sweeper he all of a sudden disappeared in my mirrors, the only one behind me was the Gold Wing. We pulled off the road and sat for about 2-3 minutes and decided to head back. We went back and found him a 1/4 mile back, he was on the shoulder with the other two riders. It was funny watching the Harley guys all grabbing cameras to take pictures. It only took us about 30 minutes to jumper around the burnt wiring. Lucky we had extra wire, fuses and tools to get the Honda back on the road. Once back on the road, we were flying on the back roads again running a pretty technical section. Then about 200 miles into the ride, starving and I think everyone focused on lunch. One of the riders slips off the road onto the shoulder that is nothing but gravel and ciders. After the wake up call, the rider kept the bike running forward and slowly brought it back up on the road. He really did an excellent job getting it back under control. Only bad thing was I was directly behind him and when he went off he pelted me with cider and gravel. (Small price to pay for his safe return to the road).
Well with all the excitement done we finally made it to the Los Ojo for an excellent lunch. While we were sitting there, one of the lost riders showed up. They decided to stop for lunch is Los Alamos and were on their way home when they saw our bikes. One kept going while the other stopped. After about an hour of ribbing the owner of the ST1100, we decided it was time to head for home.
It was a great ride the weather was excellent and the company was great. Met a couple of new riders that was good. I'm usually very picky with whom I ride, I have been on too many rides with people that exceed their ability and that never works out well.
Once I made it home, I was pleasantly surprised that my Digital Starcom1 arrived. I wasn't expecting it for another week, so now I have next weeks project all set up to go. I'm planning to wire the FJR for MP3, cell phone, GPS, rider to pillion communication and radar detector. I'm planning to cut a couple of holes in my plastic for jacks for the helmet plugs. I'm setting this up for our trip to Denver, CO. to the IBA national meet in August.
Well another week goes by and not much to report, I have installed the Starcom1 and the headsets. I have not had an opportunity to try out the new system yet, I'm still reading up on all the options. I still need to run wires under the tank for my GPS and phone. Once done my wife will be able to make a phone call if she wants while we are riding and the GPS will be plumbed into my headset.
My son's little league team is doing well they are 5-1 and I'm spending all extra time umpiring games, so little time to get any riding in right now. I did get a call from the guy I'm going on the ride with in May and it looks like we have firmed up most of the ride. Looks like we are taking off May 24th and I'll return home on the 29th. Four days before my daughters due date. Fingers crossed for an on schedule delivery.
Only a few days left in April and still haven't gotten out for another ride. I completed the wiring for the Starcom1, now my cell phone, GPS and MP3 all are connected to my helmet headset. I'm hoping to take it for a ride and check it out. I also disconnected the auto-retract on my windshield, man is that a pain to get to the connector but I finally took care of that.
Well until next month Ride safe.
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