Episode 022 - Early Planning for a big ride - Best Motorcycle Roads Podcast - YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzPsEQ6KhF0

Transcript:

(00:00) in the spirit of Clark Griswald Turk and I are going to press on and we're going to have the half happiest motorcycle ride since Lloyd and Harry rode the mopit across Colorado [Music] Todd hello and welcome to best motorcycle roads I'm Tom and I'm Todd we have over 65 years of combined motorcycling experience and 30 years of planning and riding motorcycle trips we're here to share with you everything we've learned over those years our goal at best motorcycle roads is simple make your next motorcycle trip the best it

(00:41) can be we'll dive into technology planning packing the roots and other tips and everything in between from essential prep to Unforgettable Roots we've got you covered before we Kickstart today's Journey we ask you to sign up for our BMR Rider alerts it's our way of keeping you in the loop with the latest rides tips and stories we promise no spam only the essentials to enhance your motorcycle Adventures join the BMR crew today we'll put a link in the show notes this segment about motorcycle gear

(01:11) reviews and tips we call the toolkit this segment is all about motorcycle gear review and tips and we call it the toolkit so planning kind of doing some little it's you know I was thinking about it's not really early planning even though I said it was early planing and we're like T minus 60 days you know so less than about 62 days so um one of the things that with getting the newer bike that I've had I don't have a great spot to store the luggage um that I'm going to need and so uh I've been

(01:44) looking at some seat bags is kind of what they call them or um yeah seat bags so I'm looking at a saddleman 4100 4100 cubic Ines of uh luggage storing fun um it's kind of a U-shaped fits really nicely on the passenger seat and then can buckle down um on there so um I was doing some math and I'm pretty sure I'm wrong because it was telling me 4,100 cubic inches I thought each can was 18 cubic Ines does that seem right like a can of pop a can of soda yeah 18 cubic inches sounds right that sounds 41 when

(02:21) you do the math it says it's 200 cans of soda I'm pretty sure but that is not correct so take eight cases of pop with you pretty sure what um I mean it's tall I would say it's two feet tall you know it's got a radius that full back seat so it's big wow but I don't think 200 cans big so that's I did the math twice still got it wrong so I'm not sure we'll have to look into that um but yeah CAD GPT could figure out well that's a good point yeah um so essentially though it's

(02:51) like a U-shaped large luggage and as we've talked about on other um other episodes we kind of like to just have the thing and take the whole whole thing in with you now or hopefully even better a liner that you can just pull out leave the bag on but because if you get too caught up with some of it it just seems like you're forever I mean on the last trip when we went down the eclipse I was it took me hours it felt like hours like I was there the last guy taking crap off the bike and I feel like I was just took

(03:21) so much stuff cuz I was trying to pack things in Here There and Everywhere so hopefully this solution will be how I can um really kind of manage that all inone you and I both like get off grab the bag let's go and relax a little bit Yeah Wing stuff I think is where I bought my bag so you know with the Gold Wing two hard side bags and then a trunk bag and Wing stuff actually has their own brand that's a a bag that's like a liner that actually fits pretty nicely into those three spots so you just click

(03:51) the thing open it falls open you grab the two handles you just walk in yeah you've got it all so look into that it's kind of like the generic I think you know and this um also comes with of course well it doesn't come with it little extra rain cover but you always you need a rain cover but I was also thinking I have my um I'm a big Wolfman luggage fan and he has those I bring those two bags one of them I put all my clothes in to start with and one of them's empty and then as you get dirty clothes you move them over to the

(04:21) other bag so you never take up any more but it always isolates your dirty clothes from your clean clothes yeah I like that idea super great idea for that and I think it'll fit well man brand Wolfman does I'm not sure if he sells those separately or they just came with his bigger luggage but I see maybe if you begged and pleaded yeah wolfman's the brand gotcha okay um and then a cooler of some sort you know I know when we've went on trips before we just try to cut down on some of the expend the

(04:46) day expenses so we're going to bring a cooler pack some food pack some um um drinks water that kind of thing um I was just what did we bring last time I was kind of thinking about that and I need to kind of respark that yeah I think uh what I remember is that you had vacuum sealed a lot of like uh meat and cheese and uh make like a trail mix or a nut mixture um yes and you would you and that vacuum sealer just works so good cuz it makes it small keeps it fresh feels fresh anyway it feels fresh and and then I had a small cooler with that

(05:21) uh I think I put a bunch of lunch meat some crackers yeah and that kind of stuff you know Chris brought some dried fruit before too and that was good you know it's not like it's a super diet friendly meal I mean but at the same time it is kind of nice to have something a little sweet get your protein and get yeah that's a good idea so that's the plan got to get that seat bag I think I have a couple coolers just trying to figure out um how to keep it cool I mean that's the hardest might be

(05:50) the hardest part um but yeah so hopefully everything will go well it'll be fun yeah ridewise is the section we focus on planning and safety tips ridewise is the section we focus on on planning and safety tips and one of the things I was just thinking Tom you know you've got this long trip you're going to go probably close to 1900 or 2,000 miles one way um you know one of the fun things and we talk about this on every trip and it just happened this this past weekend we uh did a memorial day you know kind of ride and uh we we checked

(06:21) in with some people some friends that were along the way along the Route and it's fun to meet up with them so uh I'm just going to remind you that you know take a look at your route going out which way you guys are going and you know you might want to think about some people that are along those ways and you know check in with them and well there's four guys and it will meet they'll know they'll know places to see too not Rushmore those four guys no but uh not too far from Seattle it's like a

(06:48) three-hour Drive is Portland and I know Jason the guy we used to work with at The Gazette has a place in Portland so maybe he'll be there then and so that was one of the thoughts I had that's a good idea um yep no that it's it's one of the things I just didn't realize is the fun part it really is yeah and then uh you know just remind you to hydrate hydrate hydrate cuz you're going to be going in July oh man Late July Late July or August yeah yeah technically everything will be in August but yeah um

(07:16) you know just make sure you've got plenty of water with you and then uh you know stretch it's easy to get those hip cramps I know I I got one this this weekend halfway through not even halfway through a ride a quarter of the way through the ride and I hip cramp but um yeah just think about those good point yeah well in the you know I think we'll be putting about 4,000 miles total on the bikes so uh you know that's I don't think I'll have to worry about like oil change but um yeah we'll have to make

(07:47) sure we pre-trip some things that's a good one and then um this this was just something that I did U this this past weekend the end of last season one of my headlights went uh you know burned out and so excuse me I went and you know picked up a couple headlights but uh my bike has two so I I was okay to finish the you know the ride or whatever I uh but I wanted to replace them uh replace it this year I just replaced both because I can't remember what's what was in there what you know like the color

(08:17) temperature was or how many lumens I knew it was an H7 but you know I didn't remember so I just replaced both so they're exactly the same and then I just take the one remaining good one put that back in my package and that's my spare then IDE yeah so that's just one of those things that if you've got two headlights you know or head lamps I should say just replace them both and they're exactly the same right well and I know you're mentioned offline too to check the tire it's going to be questionable at that

(08:47) time yeah you know so we'll have to see yeah cuz you're at about 3,500 miles right now your bike on that tire and then it's going to be hot you're going to have it loaded down um and I would say that you're probably going to want to even well you'll make it out there but then check it when you're there because sure well I want to do a little research on how many miles people have gotten it now this has the aftermarket suspension and supposedly that is a really big difference so we'll have to

(09:15) see It'll be it'll be a good test because that bike has pretty much had the aftermarket suspension in the first couple hundred miles so that'll be a good test I've always maintained the right tire pressures so it'll be it'll be good to check it'll be something to to to kind of figure out and take a take a good look at at it you know now and then when you get out there just see that's a good point 1900 2,000 miles how much did it change put Abe put AB up there yeah do that good point the next

(09:40) segment is what we call the mile marker it's our story segment this is a section we call the mile marker so yeah we're heading to Seattle Turk and I at the end of July just so I have 2,000 miles as Todd mentioned that's kind of just the Google Map so not you know if we take any alternate routes I know um the first night we're staying in rap City so we're going to want to drive through I think it's the Needles Highway out in stur it's the it's the main one now we're going to be there two days wor stures so

(10:09) luckily second day is not we I think it's four four 500 miles total so hopefully we can get through there without too much cuz I've heard just bike to bike to bike I mean you've mentioned being out there in a car during that time and it was crazy I mean there's so many a week a week ahead and there were still bikes just flowing in sure it'll be fine well you're going the opposite way well once you pass it once you pass it yeah um Iowa South Dakota Wyoming Idaho Montana and Washington so

(10:38) we're going to hit some states G be great um we'll probably you know Mark and I are we hit it pretty hard so uh the first day I think is 800 miles 400 miles by the second day but we know we want to do some of that Needles Highway and I think the last day is still 700 miles so is that that equal about 2,000 is uh yeah I wasn't paying attention plus four carry the one divide by six I don't sounds pretty good uh yeah so on the way back I know Mark wants to we might tack on a little more he's never

(11:09) uh driven or rode or been in North Dakota so we're going to do that so that's kind of exciting but uh yeah I mean um the hope is to get there and then we're going to kind of do some Day writing um so kind of mixing business with pleasure for me I'm going to work a little but the great news kind of is you know it's it's West Coast so if I get up early on the west coast it's kind of a little later already um so yeah so it's going to be exciting I know that we're actually riding out there during um

(11:39) Seattle's dry season which is like four days I think maybe huh right but uh no for I mean so that's kind of a bonus we've been looking on the forums the motorcycle trips and advice a lot of people from out there giving us some great suggestions I know um Olympic Island I think is a place we can ride out there is all those beautiful pictures of these wild looking rock formations that are sticking up out of the water so I think we'll find enough to ride hopefully um yeah we won't end up in Canada by accident but if we do we

(12:11) do make sure you have your passport hope I have a that that's a good point but yeah so I think um minimalist ride a little bit but other than that what any thoughts or ideas that you have that we want to be careful of or not not forget we'll try to take the picks yeah take a lot of pictures um should have the cameras on board that'll be good especially riding through some of those I mean there's a million videos already on YouTube of course of that so right maybe I'll try to find something

(12:42) different I can do right um maybe it's just the gold wins run a by 400 Harley-Davidson's might be enough might be um yeah I don't know just keep your eyes open for for cool things to see along the way and you know I would say when you find some great roads and things that are real memorable that you know the rest of us you know should come out and join you with we you know version two yeah we'll take another ride out there that's a good point yeah I'd make sure You' really pay attention to

(13:11) the ones that you love out there that's not my forte slowing down paying attention I know I know and remembering to take pictures get excited about seeing how far we can go I know you you get really tunnel focused here we go oh my gosh so yeah so it's been fun I think Turks got to stay in Rapid City the first night I think we're staying in Big Timber Montana the second night and that should get us there I don't think we we haven't really plan the way home we can either do that when we're out there see

(13:40) how how it was we just knew it was stur just being so close we were going to have to get something so I hope we really do have a place to stay yeah I'm surprised you got a place to stay it's so close to Sturgis and maybe because we're it'll be Sunday night and so maybe people are just leaving on Monday I don't I don't know I can't believe it 29th no you know what it's 29th and 30th is Monday the first is Tuesday the and the second is Wednesday that's the first day oh so maybe just maybe I still think

(14:12) you got lucky yeah probably yeah it was a we'll see two that are the the longdistance writers call them the um what do they call it the Pinewood hotel and that's where you sleep on a picnic table oh oh I see there might not be picnic tables left actually at this point so no it should be enjoyable I think um for the most part um yeah I think you're going to have a great time it'll be good if it gets real bad I'll just call you can come out and pick us up all right we'll bring the trailer out Brad's truck and

(14:44) trailer yeah for sure the podcast can be found on best motorcycleroads.com podcast all the information you need will be there uh but you can subscribe on Spotify Amazon music apple pocketcast and YouTube this is the interactive segment we will be looking for input from you uh we want you to send us your questions and suggestions for roads topics and anything else you have on your mind today's roadside Q&A comes from Sam and Sam would like to know if we have any recommendations for cameras that work well on the motorcycle and uh

(15:19) on a most recent trip to um down to see the eclipse uh Tom you picked up a GoPro 12 um I was just shocked at how clear how good those videos were yeah um and and smooth you know it wasn't jiggly it wasn't blurry it was just Crystal Clear it's not your father's o mobile it was super impressive and then you know one of the things you showed me about that is no matter how you mounted that GoPro on the bike it has a horizon lock feature so you could tip tip it any different way you want roll it all the

(15:57) way upside down and the Horizon never Chang you can literally sit there and spin it like this and it doesn't look like you've moved the camera it's unbelievable yeah and like I said the GoPro 12 the reason why we picked that one up is because of the Bluetooth capabilities that it connects to the center red so that the goal here is try to get it hooked into our headsets which I have not successfully yeah yeah but that's why we picked that up but I know the insta 360 both attaches the Bluetooth like that and I'm assuming

(16:23) probably has that lock like that MH um so both of those cameras are really the kind of like topof the- line motorcycle recording cameras right now yeah um but you're right that Horizon lock is unbelievable I had that thing sitting at a 45 degree angle weirdly placed and it looked like you know it was just if you hit it with the with the laser level level and then weirdly like I said I have one thing and I got to talk to GoPro about this I think because I had it mounted upside down and diagonal towards the battery door because my

(16:57) thought process was I bought a GoPro accessory door so I could plug in the camera the whole time Y and my thought was well if it rains if I angle it that way then it could be rare that the rain would drive up yeah under there well once in a while and I don't know if it's cuz of vibration motorcycle or what but I would get a warning that says you know not enough power well what I think I decided was that was the battery maybe just microsc disconnecting from the camera you know and giving it a weird signal so I need to check into that but

(17:31) because I it was a GoPro door that I put on there but I'm just wondering if it was just a couple thousands off of maybe holding that battery exactly where it needed to be so I was going to mention to that to them and see if it was but man you're not a kidding that thing shooting 5.

(17:48) 2k video which like you and I have talked about I'm not sure how we're even going to edit these files down my computer can't handle it because I think each segment of file is 11 gig wow one file so yeah uh TBD yeah TBD for sure might have to buy some pretty big computers to deal with that a super computer there you go so Sam to answer your question insta 360 uh the GoPro 12 I guess if you want to try and connect to the that's and I'm pretty sure the 11 and 12 are similar of that Bluetooth feature I think it's close it's probably the same

(18:25) nearly the same camera other than that so and I have a seven and an eight too they're really good uh they're both great still and um you've also got some more generic Asian cameras I guess mounted yeah there's no real good brand name but there's a ton of great cameras now that can be mounted on the bike and man that's cool cuz they're just always recording you know and they're kind of they're um two I think they're 1K or HD cameras so they're not not like Cinema quality but Manda they do a heck of a

(18:54) job of good pictures and the one thing you just have to remember every time you stop clean the lens oh yeah CU it's inevitable that a bug has gotten in there within the first two seconds of you stepping onto the motorcycle no other bugs hit the bike anywhere but that lens at little but no that is important because um yeah those things were great and I mean they they get a great and they're always running so you can kind of go back and watch it all and I don't know I love it if anything happens hit the button it takes an

(19:21) instant 10-c video and then a picture of that moment in time so I'll try to hit some pictures as I go and from that one button does it take a picture cuz youve got a forward camera and it does both ites both yeah it just takes a snip forward snip back yeah it's cool highly recommend I mean you're talking less than 200 bucks for uh for what they have right now and I don't know works pretty good A lot of times people will Mount those they can see forward and back um the the the um if you're going to do

(19:49) that put a cover over it or something the the sun is not treat the uh screens well on those so they kind of burn out and then they they kind of I wouldn't say they're worthless at that point but they're they're tough I've seen them go out and then oh wow they still work but they don't you can't see anything on them I see and then one more tip I guess I was GNA I'm trying on mine is I kind of got mine mounted all up in my trunk I actually found a an SD card reader for one that's extension so I'm going to try

(20:18) to like kind of put everything hidden away and the only thing left to open is just that cuz you got to change the cards about once a day on those yeah that's a great idea yeah now it's time for the last mile it's our way to close the episode with our Reflections so Todd what do you got from today well I'm just happy for you that you're getting to take this trip I'm I'm you know actually pretty jealous um I'd love to go out out that way um I mean that first day is going to be a tough ride 800 miles I

(20:45) mean I think I've done close to that like I think we did that one you know just a few years ago or Co year Well we did because remember cuz we uh I went a ways broke the bike came back got a different bike so yeah it was about that much that was about that far but um you're going to see some just amazing scenery out there don't forget to take pictures and uh yeah I kind of wish I was uh taking that trip with you because I think it's been great well I'm excited too just to kind of see how the ride out

(21:15) kind of find a destination see what that looks like during the day and I'm I'm kind of excited just to see the West Coast stuff yeah I've never been in the Pacific Northwest ever so um I I don't even know what to expect there so in the times I've been on the rest of the West Coast it was pretty much isolated and didn't have my own wheels so yeah so yeah it'll be fun that sounds good if this episode revved up your day don't keep it to yourself like subscribe and share it with your crew we're all about

(21:42) the thrill of the ride and the bond it creates keep the spirit of Adventure alive and remember bikes friends and endless roads the stories ride forever take care [Music] a [Music]