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Bringing the next generation along...

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Tourmeister said:
Got in a FAST and HOT ride on the 530 this evening so I could make sure the new countershaft seals were good to go. They are. I also mounted up my new Insta360 X3 camera. Now I just have to figure out how to edit it for YouTube.
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Seal good to go?
 
Another vid from last night's ride,


The audio is horrible. It mutes the sound of the bike while trying unsuccessfully to mute the wind noise. Also, there is a scratching sound which I think is the extension pole creaking as the unit bounces around out there on the end of the pole. I am impressed with image stability given that the unit is way out there flopping on the end of a three foot long pole! Some of those roads were VERY bumpy!

I ended up getting the DJI Mic kit. This will let me record audio independent of the camera. Hopefully, strategic placement of the mic will improve the sound.
 
woodsguy said:
No dreams here, documented over 11000 on GS850. Have to go outside to shop actual number. Too hot right now. 30% Dirt maybe, rest hard top. I'm no GP racer but ride fairly hard.
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lower HP and weight bikes are a different story, but I commend those that can do it period. I can't but again, I used to ride my bikes harder than most. I'd get get 2500-3000 out of mid sticky basic GT tires on my CBR1100 Blackbird. I did see one go to 4500 miles once :-)
 
We got out for a quick ride last Saturday to test out some new mods to the KTMs and also to experiment with my Insta360 X3 camera. I am working on getting the kids used to riding in the sand! Daniel loves it. Sarah... not so much, but she is getting it done!

The volume is intentionally low because of the bad wind noise, it is not your speakers :-P

 
Many of you knew Phil "Pkiser" Kiser here on TWT. He was a long time personal friend from the very early days of TWT. For years he has always graciously helped me change tires whenever I needed a set done. It was always a time I looked forward to because we'd bang out the tires pretty quick and then typically spend a few hours hanging out in the garage or sitting on the tailgate of the truck talking about life, family, church, politics, bikes, and pretty much anything else you might think of. The last time I got to see him was early this Spring when Daniel and I went over to do a set of tires for my GS. Unfortunately, this was not one of our typical visits and we pretty much just banged out the tires and we all had to get going because of other plans.

He left us far too soon May 11th, 2023 :zen:

So it was with trepidation that I spoke with his wife recently and she agreed to let us use his shop to mount new tires for all our bikes in preparation for the upcoming big trip. She's doing as well as can be expected, taking things one day at a time. While I had fun teaching the kids how to do the tires, everywhere I looked in his shop just made memories come flooding back. His "Man Cave" was not grand like some, but it is cozy and fully functional. It just really made me miss him something bad...

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Sarah learning how to replace the stem core after getting her new front tire on the rim. The bead snapping back in place made her jump pretty good :lol2:
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Daniel showed up a little while after we got there to help. We were doing his tires as well.
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Ranchel... well... she's a crazy little sister, but she was actually helpful this evening!
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I can't even begin to count how many tires we've done with this old machine over the years.
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Someone has been slipping this boy some growth hormones or I am shrinking... maybe both... :doh:

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It took us about 2-1/2 hours going slow and taking our time. We mounted the Dunlop Trailmax Mission tires on all of our bikes. I had seen comments on Facebook and here on TWT about them being hard to mount. We had no trouble at all. I did use liberal amounts of the Yamaha spray tire lube. It is a bit messy, but that stuff makes tires slide on/off the rim super easy! While we had the tires off my rims, I replaced the TPMS sensors for both wheels. The rear sensor battery was going out and both are six years old, so I just went ahead and replaced both while we were at it. Once done, we cleaned up the place and visited with Bambi (his wife) for a bit and then grabbed a quick dinner before heading home.

All three bikes waiting patiently for their new tires!
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Daniel's 2020 KTM 390 Adventure
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My 2017 BMW R1200 GS Rallye with the new Mosko Moto tank bag. The laptop is hooked up to the bike via the GS-911 so I could make the computer recognize the new tire pressure sensors. The little red thing on the chair is the doohickey that makes the sensors "wake up" so the bike will recognize them. It has one button. Push and hold that for five seconds, job done. So easy even an Aggie could do it... WHOOP!
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Sarah's 2022 KTM 390 Adventure.
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The two 390s are getting new chains and sprockets. The original chains and sprockets are really only good for about 5K miles from everything I have read online. Daniel's bike is right at that and the chain is pretty well used up and the sprocket tips are showing a good bit of wear. I got a nice kit for each bike that slightly lowers the gearing by using a bigger rear sprocket rather than dropping from a 15 to 14 tooth on the front. From what I have read, going to a 14 front is great for the low end, but really cuts off the top end. Going with the bigger rear sprocket and staying with the 15 front puts me halfway between stock and dropping to the 14. So hopefully, it will help a little on the bottom end without killing the top end because we will have some places where we have to cruise the highways on our trips and I don't want to get run off the road if we can't run freeway speeds. So pretty much all that is left now is to do their chains and sprockets, and then an oil change and air filter replacement. All the luggage is setup and we've figured out how to pack everything.

Now we just wait...
 
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Those pictures bring back memories. Harsh reminder. Glad Bambi is doing ok.
 
A couple nights ago I did travel the Crystal Springs road here in Wyoming , crossing the basin east side from hiway 14 to 14A , It is not a haul road for the bentonite trucks as I thought , a few miles at the south end is otherwise typical one lane dirt road through the foot hills , impassable if wet and probably 30 miles from pavement to pavement . Made a couple trips up on the mountain late evening to see if we could get a glimpse of northern lights this week . No luck with northern lights but did watch somebody drive around on the side of another peak for well over an hour a few miles away , head lights then tail lights and they never seemed to get very far , must of given up and decided to sleep in the car after a while . Gobbs of satellites , space station one night and a thunder storm crossing Montana over the horizon put on a nice show . Quite a few elk , moose and deer on the road coming down late at night too . Driving in the out back at night without a gps would mean spending the night in the outback if you were to try it and haul roads are not on the gps .
 
Just adding a link here to the big trip report,

www.twtex.com

There comes a time...

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Psalm 90:12 KJV As a youngster, it was easy to take the days and time for granted. Looking back down the years and getting into my late 50s, not so much anymore... We all know our time is limited, but few of us KNOW in...
www.twtex.com www.twtex.com
 
So as part of getting ready for our big trip this past summer, I sold the 2017 Yamaha XT250 Daniel and Sarah used to learn to ride on the street. This helped pay for Sarah’s 390 Adventure. I should have kept it. Rachel recently decided it is time for her to learn to ride. We got her a helmet and boots a few weekends ago. I have a small sized KLIM Badland Pro jacket used by Daniel and Sarah and a pair of BMW armored riding pants that both fit her perfectly. Just need to get her some good gloves. Anyway, back to the XT250. When I sold ours, the prices seemed low. I started looking for another and the prices seemed high!! I found one on Facebook that looked like a good deal. I contacted the seller and spoke with him. It was a 2023 model with just under 800 miles on it. He had all the desired extras already installed and a TON of extra parts he bought for it: spare brake pads, air and oil filters, spark plugs, second chain and sprockets, and much more! I made him an offer and he said, “Come and get it.” We had to wait a week before I could take off. Daniel and I left around 11:30am and headed East toward New Orleans. He lived North of lake Pontchartrain. We made good time and arrived just before 6:00pm, did the deal and had a nice visit, loaded the bike and beat feet back home, arriving just before 1:00am. 760 mile round trip. Now the fun begins!

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Tourmeister said:
Well, technically all of our bikes are hand me downs! :-P It has been a LONG time since I purchased any bike new from a dealer!
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Thats very sound logic these days from so many angles. 4 of the 6 new bikes i bought in my life were before i was 19. Thats 6 new in a total of 73 owned so far. :-) i learned value shopping early in life.
 
So, it is time to start planning again. Rachel has been really busy with her gymnastics training and competitions. Between that and the short winter days, I've not had a chance to start her motorcycle training with the XT-250. Hopefully, that will change in a month or so. Meanwhile, Daniel will be graduating high school in May. We are heading to Pensacola like we did last year with Sarah so he can walk across the stage and get his diploma in person with all the other home schooled kids that used the Abeka curriculum and decided to attend the graduation. After that, he and I will head on up into the Smoky Mountains to meet Rsquared and his B.I.L. to ride for 8-9 days. So it is time to start prepping bikes and planning routes again!
 
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