Finally .... looks like the weather is going to co-operate. Or, go the other way.  Wed. now have a forecast of over 80 F (26 C.) and sunshine - this could be a little warm as we head south. I should have been a farmer - I'm never seeming to be satisfied with the weather.
   Just to give you a thought as to what's going on behind the calm and serene impression of our preparations. Here is an email I received yesterday from Charles.  He had just pulled off the valve covers to give the valve clearance a final check (important on motorcycles - especially old ones) and a head bolt is vital to the well being of an engine and should not be flapping around loose near the valves but should be snuggled down tight doing it's duty holding the head to the rest of the engine.

charlesfider to bobmunden show details May 27 (1 day ago)
Hope your day went well. Mine was action packed....right after I pulled the valve covers off to check clearances and lo and behold, there is a cylinder head bolt laying there....Panic!!!!! (have pictures to prove this....) Qick measurements, off to Walker Rd. auto, 93 bucks later, some nose grinding amd "Baby" is making sweet music again......Tomorrow,a test run and then the adventure begins....And how was your day?

My answer was somewhat strident in asking for the cause of this calamity but only elicited that all was fine with the Old Girl now. Not to worry. Subsequent test of about 100 km and all is still well.

Off tomorrow at 6:00 am to Stratford to pick up parts.  Today is final day for packing and just checking and "What Ifs" .

Bob
Spot: http://tinyurl.com/bobmunden-spot

Spot Walla: http://tinyurl.com/bobmunden
Blog: http://bobmunden.blogspot.com
Photos: http://rides.webshots.com/album/580255468rvtIXJ

Good news and bad. The good news is that I found out about a problem before it caused trouble. The bad news is that there is a problem. I got a call from my local motorcycle dealer this afternoon to advise that he'd gotten a call from a friend inside Honda Canada who had been following my preparations. Turns out that the CBR 125s have been having significant problems with rear swing arm failures at about 10,000 miles. Hmmm... I have about 16,000 km!  Since the swing arm is what holds the rear wheel in place this is not a good thing. Perhaps that is why I found the handling to be less than stellar last weekend on the test ride. More good news is that the new parts are in stock and hopefully will arrive in time to be changed before Tuesday night. I'm not even going to bother looking at the old one. Simply not worth the risk not to change it before the ride. Other than this little glitch things are still going smoothly. Charles emailed me that he attended a "Bike Nite" at a local restaurant last night and got $200.00 in sponsorship. Damn - I knew I should have gone in spite of the thunderstorm.
   Long range weather forecast looks promising for the Wednesday start.

Here she is - ready to rock if not roll.  Got a new "throaty" voice too. :)

Frankinstitching with Zip Ties to hold the fairing together.  Nicely covered up by Gorilla Tape in the first photo. Decided to not install the new panels as I think the Zip Ties are stronger and repairable on the road easily.  I'll make her look pretty after the ride.

Bob

   Well, we finally had some nice weather on the long weekend. Test rode over to London then down to Pt. Stanley. Primarily to test how it handles on the freeway fully loaded. In addition to the highway I managed to test out handling on dirt and muddy roads as well as metal grate bridges. About as expected. The additional weight negates some of the bikes innate good handling. As usual it will be slow and steady on the rough sections in the far north.

   The electric aux. odometer/speedometer etc device decided to succumb to vibration during the ride so spent today sourcing and installing a new one. Of course nothing fit so all new mounting and bracketry had to be made. I think everything is done now. Finally found my rain overgloves so they were the last thing to go onboard. She waddles like a pig but I think it will just take some time to get used to riding it loaded.
   See the test ride on Google at: http://tinyurl.com/bobmunden-spot
Bob

Finally sent off the details to friends and family today.  Here is the little bike almost ready to go.

Doesn't look like a Honda CBR 125 any more. Sure feels like it going up a hill however.  Also here is a map of the route up.

Most of the test packing is done.  All of the bags, covers, tent etc has been waterproofed (doubtful) and only all the little stuff left to go on.  Finally got all of the electric clothing working.  Hope it won't overpower the little bike's feeble generating capacity.