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**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:11 AM

The Kennedy Space Center's Web Site recommends 2 days for a visit, one for exhibits and one for the multi-media stuff. So, if the shuttle launches on time, I'll have 20 days before I have to be back at work. Lucky for me, there are some other stuff I would like to see.

On that list is Colonial Williamsburg, which had been on my parent's to do list when I was younger and we all did Revolutionary War re-enacting.

When my mom heard about my travel plan (or lack there of), it was the next thing she said. I don't think she can make that sort of a trip anymore, so I'll go and take a lot of pictures.

Since that is very near to both Washington DC (and all the stuff in the National Mall)

And the other Space Museum in VA

I had a good idea for the next leg of the trip. The mileage from the Cape to Colonial Williamsburg was a bit farther than I felt like riding in one day on this trip, so I decided I would stop and camp along the way. About 7 days all told for travel and sight seeing and a google map that looked like this -

http://tinyurl.com/dc7s47

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:16 AM

Since if everything happens on time (unlikely, I know), I still have 13 more days (or so) to use up. Since I was still on the east coast I would have to turn back to the heartland, and the short route had me passing through Cleveland. I've never been to the rock and roll hall of fame, its not on my list of things to do, but might be interesting.

Their website offered a package deal to go and see the Pro Football hall of fame, which is also nearby. Again, not something I would make a trip to go and se, but since I was there anyway,

Funny looking building.

This would be about 3 more days. Looking at the calender I was reminded the Soup Run was the 30th of this year, so I decided I would go to that, and collect Deb on the way, so this would be the last of the sightseeing on this trip. And 2 google maps for you -

From DC to Cleveland and environs -
http://tinyurl.com/c69pyz

From Cleveland to my favorite place in Fond Du Lac (passing through Wi Rapids on the way)-
http://tinyurl.com/dygmyz

Of course, this gets me home early, perhaps around the 1st, but I'll need to do an oil change And just taking a day off might be nice too.

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:17 AM

While I was working all this out, my vacation request was still pending. This isn't unusual here, for vacation requests not to be approved until the week or even a few days before. Then I was called into my (dispatch) boss's office.

Technically, I have 3 bosses. They are all under the Vice presidents who is under the president. The President of the company happens to be the father of my dispatch boss. She is the only person with an EMT license at her level on the organization chart that doesn't wear a uniform to work, and arrives after 9am. Or 10. Sometimes 11. But I have been assured that has nothing to do with her relations.

Anyway, it seems the first week of my requested time off was the same week she was going to Colorado. This was technically a work trip for the computer programs our crews are using to document their responses. I am unclear why she would be going, since she has nothing to do with that software, but whatever. It seems her assistant, who would normally cover my shifts while I was gone, was also going to Colorado (though that was just vacation for her. Of course, they hang out a lot). The result was the first week I was planning to be gone there was no one who could cover my shifts.

Also, the vacation policy states you cannot take vacation on holidays, and Memorial day was in there, somewhere. Lucky for me one of the VP's stepped in and approved my vacation anyway. This trip was a gift from the company, after all.

End result - all vacation approved unless the launch date was rescheduled after the 17th before I left.

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:18 AM

The official launch date for any schuttle launch is annouced 14 days before the tenative date that everyone sees listed. This launch was no exception, and NASA help a press conferance to annouce...they were moving the date.

UP one full day, to the 11th. This isn't much of a problem, but it does cause a small one. I had planned on two full days to get from Barber to the Cape, and now would only have 1. I wasn't (still am not) sure I could still fit the World of Coke a cola in. Since I am optimistic, I did some route rearranging, and made a new map-

http://tinyurl.com/d8ex7t

This was more Interstate, which made me sad. Also, since the Coke museum stops selling tickets at 5pm, and closes at 630. This means I would have to leave the Barber around 2pm, only 4 hours after they open. I decided to keep the current route and hope for the best. I would rather enjoy the Barber than rush to see the coke museum, but will still do both if I have time.

I did consider taking an extra day of vacation, but decided against it. I know I could, but didn't think it would be worth the stress. I do have to come back and work here after the trip.

Another problem I ran into was with camping at the cape. I was planning to stay at Manatee Hammock, which is a prime shuttle watching location in its own right, and had made reservations there for the October launch, rescheduling to May when the October lauch was pushed back. They are very friendly and I would recommend them (so far, since I haven't actually been there yet). I had to call again to move my arrival date up, and the lady on the phone (who had good shuttle launch stories on previous calls) told me she had been getting all kinds of calls to reschedule. It seems that the campground had been book for Mother's day, and she was worried about getting people out for the new arrivals. I laughed, thinking that no one would really be showing up until the afternoon anyway, but she said there would be people lined up at 9am. I asked if I would be able to get a site, and she said I definitly would, no problem. Good.

And now I'll have an extra day for somewhere else...if the shuttle launches in May anyway.

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:23 AM

I have 3 bikes that are running. The Ural, of course, just got back from FL, and needs tires. Also, the route I mapped out is about 3.5k miles, too much of it interstate, and that means I would have to figure out how to do 2 or 3 oil changes on the road (The Ural needs an oil change every 2,500km). My touring bike and I haven't been getting along well lately, so that left my Special (names Misery).

When I had only one bike, a long time ago, Misery was that one bike. When I got it the odo read 25,500, and if I hadn't changed it (I wanted one from an earlier model that went up to 165mph, instead of 85) the number would be in the high 80s or low 90s now. Sadly, the new odo reads much lower, which means I will have to ride it a lot more to get it to roll over. Fills me with sadness (not). Misery also isn't on as tight a maintenance schedule as the Ural, so there will be no need for on the road oil changes. It would need a new tire, but that was easily taken care off.

Misery also has a lot of luggage, and lots of room on the back for camping gear. Still, there is never enough space, and since I would be riding from up north to down south I would need to be ready for a lot of different temps. My usual packing system has one saddlebag for clothes and personal items, and the other for camping/cooking gear. I wanted something like a top case I could head out with empty.

I have a Samsonite case I used to carry on the back of Misery, and tried it out again, It actually worked pretty well, held on with ratchet straps. It wasn't perfect, but the case has been on a few long road trips before, and I was confident about it. Until, a few days later, on the way to fencing practise. I carry my fencing bag on the back, with the same ratchet straps. While I am usually pretty careful about tieing up the extra, one of the ends managed to wrap itself around the rear Axel. Lucky for me the strap was not strong, and snapped with no more than a slight buck of the bike. But it made me think something else might work better on the back.

I decided something like a tool box might work pretty well, with some bolts and washers to hold it onto the rear luggage rack. I've not actually done it yet, since there was a choice of two different boxes and I am still undecided. One is larger, one is sturdier. I like the larger one, Deb likes the stronger one. I want to be able to stuff my riding boots in there when I want to walk around, so I'll end up getting whichever one meets that requirement better, install it, and post up some picks. None of your silly Givis for me, thanks :lol:

One thing I decided not to bring is my laptop. I would have room for it, but decided it just wasn't worth bringing, when I was camping just about all of the time. The soft cases means it would be at a greater risk of damage, which would also make me sad, so for Internet I would be restricted to my phone. This led to my next problem -

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:24 AM

I have a 2g iPhone. Most people just call it a 1st gen iPhone (With the new 3g version the 2nd gen)

It really is a great peice of tech, ground breaking in a lot of ways....but the lastest update have been more for the 3g iPhone, and have made my older phone unstable and unreliable. Calls to Apple and At&t have really only resulted in discounted offers for a new iPhone (with a new contract, of course).

Before I had the iPhone, I used a Sidekick 3.

I really liked that phone, and miss it. As fate would have it, the newest Sidekick (also 3g),

comes out in May, though I don't want to deal with setting up a new phone while travelling. I called t-mobile (The only place to get sidekicks), and spent some time talking to them, explaining what was going on. I planned to just sign up for a new contract, then add a line with my old number when I got back and could get the new phone. In the mean time just use my old sidekick. I would have to carry the second line, which would cost me more down the line, but wanted to have another phone for the trip.

The t-mobile rep (who could've just signed me up), instead told me about a flex-pay service, where you can pre-pay for a month of service (no contract). He suggested I just pre-pay for May, use my Sidekick, and set up a contract when I get back. No need for a second line. T-mobile gets high marks for customer service from people other than me...but I gotta give them props. The difference between talking to them and talking to AT&T made me wonder what the f%*$ I was thinking leaving.

Okay, so now everyone is all caught up. There is some side drama with Deb's boots, but if she wants to share I'll let her post up. I plan to update this thread as best I can from the road, as well as my facebook page. Major picture uploading will have to wait until I get back (Since I won't have a laptop), but it should all be fun.

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:26 AM

I get VIP seating for the launch, which is (unfortunately) going to be a day launch. It was at night in October, and I was excited about it, but I guess I shouldn't be picky. And I will be as close as you can be and not be a NASA employee. Someone from my fencing club was there, in those seats, and all he could say was "Yup, that's going to be loud."

Fun link for today - since I was looking for camping and wondered about federal and state sites (That might be cheaper), I stumbled across www.recreation.gov. Google powered (like just about everything else, it seems), you can use the "search by map" feature and pan to see stuff in any area, or search near where you want to be.

It only covers Federal and State camping, so google will find more if you know where you want to camp and can wade through all the results, but still a cool website for looking along a route or seeing more than the first 10 results (looking for camping near Barber I think I had to get to page 3 before finding an actual camp ground. But I know where to buy a tent).

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:30 AM

And then things get worse...

Decided to ride Misery up to the lake front for a walk, just to enjoy the day. Before I even got to the Hoan Bridge, I could smell something burning, and my tach stopped working.

I had blown a couple of fuses riding in the rain a week ago. I carry spares and the problem went away with the rain. I didn't go looking for the cause, perhaps that was optimistic. Stopping produced a cloud of smoke from under the tank, but the bike was still running, so I rode it home.

When I stopped the smoke had gone, and the smell faint but lingering. I pulled the seat and tank, but didn't really see any damage. I know the tach is on the same fuse as the turn signals and instrument light, but those were still working and the fuse was good. There was no charge going to the battery.

still not sure what broke, the wires show some wear and damage, but I still can't find what burned.

The closest thing to damage I could find, but this is not going to the regulator/rectifier

The suspect wires, looking pretty good.

Both my xs1100s use the same regulator/rectifier, but I am hesitating just to replace it if there is a problem in the wiring. I hate wiring problems.

Since I was going to the lake, I am now going to hop on the other bike, and head to the lake before dark is all the way here. It is still a nice day, despite the bad feeling in my stomach.

**Pain** · 05-02-2009, 07:32 AM

I've been poking around the forums looking at ways to test the charging system. Time is my biggest problem, since I really only have one day off before I leave. And 3 nights after work, though one of those I have to pack.

I wonder how fast Geezer ships?

**Wildkat** · 05-02-2009, 09:24 AM

Originally posted by Pain View Post

I wonder how fast Geezer ships?

Really fast...

Sounds like an awesome trip and after seeing the pic of the Barber... gave me something to shoot for some day...

Best of luck getting this all together and I can't wait to hear how it all turns out...

**Pain** · 09-13-2009, 09:17 PM

Okay....So I forgot to add this to the list of email forums being updated. Totally my fault, so now a much belated update to the Ride Report.

A warning, I have a lot of pics. I will try to limit myself here, but it won't be dial up friendly. And I don't think I'll finish tonight, either.

The day before I took a short ride around, just because I could, and saw a rainbow out over the lake. I wasn't near the lake at the time, but was near the Harley Davidson Museum, which has a cool sculpture out front.

When I pulled up on my beat up xs I can only imagine what the people inside were thinking, but when I pulled out my camera they all saw the rainbow and by the time I was done with my pics there were a half dozen people outside with cameras.

As an aside, if you can go to the museum than do so. It is pretty cool, if perhaps a bit over priced.

The next day I was headed for Birmingham, AL. The weather was nice for the whole ride, except for a bit of rain I ran into in Kentucky.

I have a pic somewhere of a tree blow down at the rest area I took shelter in, but can't find it now. Sad.

Reaching Alabama there were rockets everywhere, I guess they build them around here, somewhere.

I reached Birmingham without incident, though realized late I didn't have my hot weather gloves. A stop at a K-Mart got me a pair of bicycle gloves that, by the end of the trip, I really liked. Not sure how they would do in a crash, but comfy for riding.

Day Two was my first non-travel day. I was going to the Barber, and was excited. I hope you are too, since I'm going to post about it later.

**Wildkat** · 09-14-2009, 04:52 AM

Cool rainbow and looks like you had a good trip...

and a harley museum being overpriced?
lol
I won't say it...

Originally posted by Pain View Post

since I'm going to post about it later.

Terrific... does this mean we have to wait another 4 months for an update?

Looking forward to more of your report!

**trbig** · 09-14-2009, 12:20 PM

The classes:

How to keep idiots in suspense. 101

How to stretch a ride report out over an entire year. 201.

Classes taught by Dr. Pain.

**Larrym** · 09-14-2009, 07:00 PM

Please, Suh. May we 'ave s'more?

I really appreciated the map links which showed the route you took. It saved a lot of secondary "Tabs" open looking for the places you went to.

I'll prob'ly copy your technique for my next ride report: Flattery through imitation of the original.

Congrats on 40+ years OTJ!

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