Back in the saddle





Ok, I'm back in the saddle, well not just yet!! I've been over in Oklahoma now for a few weeks, reunited with the trusty DR650 which has been in the good hands of throttlemeister aka Oklahoma John. I have to say straight up that John has just been incredibly helpful. Firstly giving me a place to leave my bike and now giving me free reign in his impressive workshop, a bed for the last few weeks, and also hooking me up on some great local rides. John is a true adventure rider himself with many heroic tales from his own travels in North , Central and South America. It's great to spend some time with someone you can really relate to about long bike trips. I like John a lot, he has a easy going nature and a fun outlook on life and is always enjoyable to be around. He's just a super great guy and I'm going to give him one hell of a good time when he makes in down to New Zealand during his own motorcycle adventures!!

 

With the Dr up and running we were off to a local Adv Rider rally (slap) in the bordering state of Arkansas. Adv Rider John Downs was back from his travels in Colombia and joined us for the trip over to the rally. Was great to take in some trails and just talk bikes and drink a beer or two with the 100 or so riders.

 

The fairly small list of things I wanted to do on the bike has turned into quite a major. The forks seals started leaking at the rally so that was another thing to add to the list. Although there was no signs of wear I decided it was a good idea to replace the steering head bearings and also the rear suspension linkage bearings while I had access to a workshop. Rear wheel bearings where replaced again, new heated grips installed and a new led headlight to replace the stock light which is pretty useless. I try to avoid riding at night but every now and then you get caught out and I wanted some decent lighting. The Led would also reduce the electrical loading on the stator.

 

Last year I managed to smash up my Eagle screens windshield which was a bugger. I decided I could try and reuse the top half mounted to the new light faring. The new light was mounted on a custom made frame which allowed me to mount a small dash and also mount the GPS up high  that would hopefully enable me to keep one eye on the road while viewing the GPS. The frame turned into a bigger project than anticipated. I did a shit load of cutting and drilling and fitting the frame was a big job. While at it my shabby accessory wiring was replaced with the help of John's excellent skills and a nice relay kit from Eastern Beaver.

 

So with all the work complete it was time for one last ride with John just to shake out any issues. Everything went well and the new Baja Designs headlight puts out a ton of light. Even managed to crash test the new faring on a slippery creek crossing and it fared well. Unfortunately my ankle and knee didn't! It wasn't a big crash but I guess I managed to get my foot twisted up under the bike as it went down badly spraining it in the process.

 

So I'm off to a later that hoped start with all the extra work on the bike, broken computers, faulty bearing parts, credit card problems and Tornado's and as of today twisted up and painful body parts aswell all thrown in, but I'm having a great time and looking forward to some more riding.



 

 

 

Last days before leaving NZ, a beautiful tranquil winters day

12 hours on this and I was transformed to this....

The concrete jungle of LA

Meeting up with John at Tulsa airport in Oklahoma

Arrived in Tulsa just in time for the Adv riders weekly pub craw. John and Tomski like a drop or two

nice name tags for the Adv Rider rally

John downs attempts of CPR are unsuccessful for this Armadillo

Lunch break at the funky Oark Cafe where there buttermilk pies are legendary but unfortunately lethal to diabetics!

Riders at the slap adv rider rally

Enjoying the great scenery with Throttlemeister

My home for the last few weeks

Operation Dr overhaul at the Thottlemeisters workshop

New Baja Designs Squadron Led headlight mounted with the remains of my broken Eagle Screens windshield works well and the light is very impressive. Draws 42 watts which is LESS than the crappy stock headlamp. Had to use a dimmer unit so not to blind oncoming traffic.

New cockpit layout has the GPS and Vapour mounted up higher, new voltmeter, and new heated grips switch and 12 volt socket for charging up on the fly, all held together along with the headlight by a very expensive piece of framing, well it took bloody hours to construct anyway.



A nice day off the bikes enjoying a leisurely float down the river



Checking out the Arkansas forests from an old fire lookout



Nice big feed of ribs after a days ride

I just dragged myself out from under the bike. Very innocent looking crossing but the fist size stones were slippery. Not a big crash at all but I got my foot in the wrong place and twisted it up bad under the weight of the bike. This is by far the most damage I've done to myself in all of my overseas riding  (well not including mountain biking) as of yet and I've barley been on the bike this year, but I guess I had a good run last year!