Prepping for Spring

It is that time of year where the motorcycle is sitting in the garage, buried beneath a cover, protecting it from all that dust and other gunk that wants to wreak havoc on your motorcycle.

Last year my moto went to storage.   In my opinion , this is probably the equivalent of a nice hotel, where my own garage is more along the lines of a cheap hostel.  The hostels that I have been to are marginally heated, usually damp and dirty,  and the rest of the guests leave more mystery than answers to be pondered.    Storage was nice and safe, but it sure left a big hole in my human psyche.

Looking over to where my moto SHOULD be in my garage can be disheartening and down right sad.  Doing that day after day  through the winter season, and it begins to wear on you a bit.   Conversely, my wife has the opposite reaction to this phenomenon.  She does not find joy and happiness seeing my moto, but is agitated and reminded of how much she hates my motorcycle.

So this year, I saved the storage fee, and my soul, and decided to put that money to a few farkles that I have been holding out for.

• Proper hand guards that not only protect your hands from weather and wind, but add some strength with a metal backbone.   Bye, Bye Suzuki hand guards, hello Barkbusters.
• Cruising with Kaoko Cruise Control throttle lock.   The DL1000 gets slammed over and over again for not having proper cruise control.   I am sure it is a balance of cost and features, where something will need to give.  Keep adding features and the cost is going to go up.  Add too much additional cost and now your product is not competitive. I have done about 25,000 miles since owning my DL1000.  Many of those miles have been on a road where cruise control would certainly be a nice addition.  I had picked up a clamping style throttle lock before I left for my Alaska trip, and it worked pretty well.  It was relatively easy to engage and did a fair job in my opinion.     It was tearing up my grips, and was starting to slip, so I am hopping the Kaoko will do a better job.
• Boing, boing.   Time to properly adjust my suspension for my svelte (ha) shape and size.  After setting my sag for my rider weight this fall, it became quickly apparent that my heft was affecting my suspension; negatively (ughh).  Knowing that I need a stiffer spring front and rear, it was time to call in the pro’s.    A call to Adventure Power Sports, LLC in Idaho was in order.  They are going to do their “magic” on the rear suspension, and then send me springs to install in the front.  Anybody want to help with that job? I could use the guidance for sure.  As they just received the rear shock yet, it is time for me to watch lots of YouTube videos on how to do this.
• Tank bag by Viking Bags:   I did pick up a new tank bag by Viking Bags.  It was more of an enduro bag, so the fit was not ideal, but I was at least able to get it installed.    I like the size and the features so far, but haven’t actually go to to use it yet.

So now I am just waiting.

The Barkbusters, the Kaoko throttle lock and the Viking Bag have already been installed and the suspension upgrades should be coming in a week or two.   I am hoping that the install for the suspension will be easy enough for me to do and won’t cause too much of a headache.

In the meantime though, I will keep looking out the window at this crappy weather, I will then walk out to my garage, take a look to the left, spot my bike sitting under the window, and know that it is there and I will be able to ride it soon.

And that will put a smile on my face.