The Shed reborn... and some miles added

I hope you, loyal blog reader, have seen the videos on this site of “the shed” being fired up for the first time and its first round the block run, Well it was a bit longer than round the block but I had picked the worst 15 minuets of what was a really a “not bad” sort of day. I think the bike went OK but I was concentrating more on keeping me and the bike upright in very very gusty conditions. It rained and then got cold. Never mind I thought I have heated grips, so on there went. Now heated grips are designed to have a set of nice thick leather gloves between your hands and the glowing red embers of each bar end (I went without gloves). So I was freezing and the grips got hotter and hotter till I could not hold onto them any more. So I admitted defeat and went home completely wet though cold (except for my hands) and I had learnt nothing about the bike.

Anyway this weekend was different. I went to work on the bike on Friday (140 miles round trip) and everything thing went very well. Then on the Saturday and Sunday it was to Preston and back (We live near Southampton), two up and a fair amount in the panniers. Again all went without any fuss. So we have clocked up nearly 700 miles this weekend with nothing to major to report.

Some minor problems tick over needs to be increased, some intercom issues and the new seat is still not comfy for me although Sandra loves it….. So I guess it stays

The weekend gave us a great opportunity to pop-in and see a bunch of our family and friends just to say “hi”.

Mind you I have noticed fuel economy is now down a bit. “the Shed” now kitted out with big spotlights and two aircraft hangers thinly disguised as panniers on each side, has the aerodynamic properties of the Tate Modern and this is reflected in the MPG figures. Saying that the big tank helps but I will have to ride a little better than I did this weekend to make the target of 300 miles to a tank of fuel.

Being back on a bike again was fantastic, I had forgotten just how good it all was. Sandra being the perfect pillion makes life easy. We had not been on a road bike for nearly six months (time spent getting the shed ready and messing around on dirt bikes) but we both got into the swing of things soon enough.

I do have to slow down a bit, this was a busy weekend and I found myself getting to the usual 80-90 MPH on motorways (sorry officer) just because I can. There should be absolutely no need to hurry on the trip and something I really need to work hard on. I want to be able to enjoy the surroundings take things in, something I am not very good at here in the UK, old habits dying hard.

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The countdown is well and truly on (see the fancy countdown clock on our home page) and there are not many free weekends to get “stuff” done. Having now been on the bike for some distance I am now chomping at the bit to just get going.

Its going to be very odd saying goodbye to “the man” who I have worked for all my life, don’t get me wrong working for “the man” has brought its rewards, but we have to fend for ourselves until we reach our goal or the money runs out.

It’s even going to be odder and much much harder saying goodbye to family and friends for a while. I know Sandra and I feel this is the hardest part of it all. To help we are having a bit of a leaving do before making our way to the airport and then off. Hopefully the bike would have been delivered to Vancouver via airfreight some two or three days before.

So our time now is spent wishing we had more time to get more stuff done and at the same time, wanting to just start our adventure on the next week end. Psychotic, or what?

On other matters, E bay has been good to us as we start the great "sell off" of all our possessions to help fund the trip, mainly used bike gear and the like. Next is selling the cars and our beloved Aprilia Falco. This is another toughie, having done most of our travelling on this bike we are somewhat attached to it, This bike is fast -really fast, has time warping acceleration, its agile and handles beautifully, all the things the shed isn’t or doesn’t, However you cant do a trans continental trip on the Aprilia, its just not built for it. So if you know someone who wants a well loved 04 Aprilia Falco please let us know, however all enquires must come with a 30 page CV and references so we know its going to a good home.

I can't believe it.. I have had criticism. me!

Our friend Dovey (the one with the busted leg with clearly too much time on his good hand) was on the phone saying I have not given enough information about “The Shed” and its specification in my Blog. I thought I had bored you all to death with it. So for people who are not that interested in all the technical details of “The Shed” please don’t read on ……….

Right that just leaves Dovey then…….

Ok “The Shed” was bought as a bog standard 1996 BMW R1100GS in red. It was purchased from the north east of England it had three previous owners 34,000 miles on the clock (not accurate, me thinks) and a bunch of bills and history with it. I got it cheep ish stuck it on a trailer and drove it back home some 300miles to the south of England.

It was ok I guess, but things started to wrong, before, during and after our ride to Morocco a 2800 mile round trip. Don’t get me wrong the bike kept going but it was in need of some serious TLC.

Symptoms

Clutch slipping like a very slippy thing

Front brake spongy and what can only be described as the Grand Canyon carved into its front disc

Rear brake non existent (disc in a similar condition to the front)

Throttle bodies worn to such an extent that there made metal on metal clicking noises all the time.

Final drive ….. Well dead

Leaking oil from front forks

Rear swing arm wobbly

What I have done to date to make it work

Clutch change

Throttle bodies overhaul

Final drive replaced

New brake pads and disc front and back

New alternator belt

New front forks seal

New rear swing arm bearings

New throttle cables fitted

Additional stuff to make it work better

Braided brake hoses all round

Strengthen rear sub frame

Strengthen gearbox to sub frame mounting points

Modified handlebars to take additional equipment such as sat nav etc

Replaced 20lt standard fuel tank with 31lt tank

Removed old plastic panniers and fitted alloy box panniers

Duel seat (very uncomfortable) removed and replaced with new single seat

Intercom fitted

Sat nav fitted (Garmin Zumo)

Two spot lights

I have also ran extra throttle and clutch cables next to the existing ones should any cable fail.

Right that’s enough of all that….

Next week I will be explaining how arable farming in the late 18^th century was under threat through ill conceived government legislation…….. Riveting

Get well soon mate

Time marches on.... and just about there

Well the lack of progress on “the shed” has been bothering me lately. I have either been very slow at doing “stuff” or have been frustrated by the lack of parts. I can only work on her at weekends so if a bit is missing then it’s a weeks wait. Well, this weekend was different, got loads done and “the Shed” is looking damn fine just now. Got all the tank work completed, new hopefully comfier seat and the Panniers fitted. It looks like it is fit for purpose now.

However Saturday morning was a different story. It was the first time I had connected the battery and powered her up. To my complete surprise only half the electrical stuff worked. It took me two hours to sort this out. Oh how I would love to tell you it was a complex problem of missing earths and complex diode issues, but I have to admit I had missed connecting one wire near the starter motor……. Bugger.

Anyway she looks good now and lights, horns etc work.

So what’s next? Well only 12 weeks or so to departure, I need to complete the build on “The Shed”, cosmetics and intercom then get at least 2,000 miles on her in the way of a shake down before we go.

March will see (hopefully) some of the documentation needed for the adventure to make us legal. Road insurance for the bike for Canada and the US for instance. If you think we have it bad in the UK some of the quotations I have had for 120days in North America are mind blowing and wallet emptying.

I can see Sandra is getting more and more excited as the time gets closer. We are both like a couple of kids working each other up by randomly stating the number of days left and this oddly has us jiggling about with excitement.

We have been in contact with fellow motorcycle travellers in Canada via the Horizons Unlimited web sit. This site brings all motorcycle travellers from around the world together to share stories, information and advice. I could not believe people’s generosity offering routes and recommending things to see, even offers of nights stays in their homes.

So time marches on things need to be done lets just hope we get it all complete in time.