Monday AM - off to Nova Scotia

[deilenberger]

Don,

Your trip sounds great. Thanks for sharing the pix so far.

I'm sorry we didn't hook up at the RA Rally. I spent part of Friday afternoon looking for you and your pan stripped roadster, but to no avail. Are you by any chance coming back up next weekend for the Damn Yankees Rally: almost no paved parking, real grass camping, church lady pies. If not some other time at some other venue.

Bruce

Bruce,

Thanks!

Can't make Damn Yankee's this year - have a wedding and then future in-laws this weekend (it's complicated.. last Saturday was also a wedding - why I left VT at 6AM..) I do highly recommend it to anyone who likes riding the Berkshires (which have some wonderful roads) or Rt 100 in VT. Friendly club, good grub, church-lady pies, the only thing is the shower (last time I was there it had progressed to some hot water - a big improvement..) is a tad exposed. I need a shower in the AM just to wake me up.. I actually don't care if I smell at a rally - it's just part of the flavor.

[dav]

Great pics , thanks for sharing.

Love the shot of the road running along the coast line, awesome.

[AncientMariner]

Can't make Damn Yankee's this year - have a wedding and then future in-laws this weekend (it's complicated.. last Saturday was also a wedding - why I left VT at 6AM..) I do highly recommend it to anyone who likes riding the Berkshires (which have some wonderful roads) or Rt 100 in VT. Friendly club, good grub, church-lady pies, the only thing is the shower (last time I was there it had progressed to some hot water - a big improvement..) is a tad exposed. I need a shower in the AM just to wake me up.. I actually don't care if I smell at a rally - it's just part of the flavor.

Before he passed away, YB and Heath Chief of Police Lorin Gowdy built some actual showers in outdoor stalls behind the kitchen. Hot water and fresh air. You couldn't ask for more. Maybe next year.

Bruce

[AncientMariner]

Can't make Damn Yankee's this year - have a wedding and then future in-laws this weekend (it's complicated.. last Saturday was also a wedding - why I left VT at 6AM..) I do highly recommend it to anyone who likes riding the Berkshires (which have some wonderful roads) or Rt 100 in VT. Friendly club, good grub, church-lady pies, the only thing is the shower (last time I was there it had progressed to some hot water - a big improvement..) is a tad exposed. I need a shower in the AM just to wake me up.. I actually don't care if I smell at a rally - it's just part of the flavor.

Before he passed away, YB and Heath Chief of Police Lorin Gowdy built some actual showers in outdoor stalls behind the kitchen. Hot water and fresh air. You couldn't ask for more. Maybe next year.

Bruce

[redwing]

Congratulations on the wedding and best wishes to you and your bride.

[ShinySideUp]

Great reports and pics, Don. I had a taste of single malt myself this evening in honor of your trip!

In addition to adding more force vectors to counter the wind, I've always wondered if increased speed added to the gyroscopic effect in the wheels and that increases stability.

I've got one stretch of highway on my commute where it's almost always windy and I can't wait to try that windward knee out... never heard that one before. The R12R is SO unaffected by cross winds, though, so I'm not sure I'll tell the difference.

[blueviewlaguna]

Don - a trivia question here, I bought the Lumalinks and the FF50's and was going to duplicate your setup. I ended up having them machine a conical shape into the Lumalink ID's to match the fork (which is actually tapered front to back, but not side to side) but it commits me to having a dedicated left and right side when using the FF50's above the Lumalinks.

Having said all that - I noticed that you ended up switching your FF50's to below the Lumalinks in your recent photos - I was wondering what your logic was before I mount mine up.

[deilenberger]

Don - a trivia question here, I bought the Lumalinks and the FF50's and was going to duplicate your setup. I ended up having them machine a conical shape into the Lumalink ID's to match the fork (which is actually tapered front to back, but not side to side) but it commits me to having a dedicated left and right side when using the FF50's above the Lumalinks.

Actually - they all should be machined that way - I sent them a bunch of detailed measurements when I was working with them on making them fit the R1200R..

Having said all that - I noticed that you ended up switching your FF50's to below the Lumalinks in your recent photos - I was wondering what your logic was before I mount mine up.

Clearance to the tank if the forks are fully compressed and fully turned to one side.

I originally had them mounted on top of the LumaLinks (the early photos were of my bike with them mounted that way..) When I was working with Klaus at HyperPro to design shocks that maintained full suspension travel, we were checking clearances using a shock with no spring on it (making it easy to raise/lower the front end).. and found under full compression, at full lock, the FF50 would hit the tank when mounted above the Lumalink. It had never been a problem, since if I was at full lock and full compression I would have already been in a world of trouble.. but being me, I decided to mount it under the Lumalinks.

The positioning up/down of the Lumalink on the fork tube is also semi-critical to avoid it hitting the telelever arm at full lock.. and avoid it catching above or below the arm.

HTH, if you need measurements, let me know..

[websterize]

What a great trip report, Don. Thanks for sharing. Reminded me of another trip report of some New Jersey ADV riders who made it to the Trans Lab via Nova Scotia. There's some extraordinary photo journalism in the piece.

[blueviewlaguna]

When I spoke with Gordy tool, they were not machining the ID's conical, so I provided them a conical set of measurements. When I received them they were close to my specs, but a bit tight on one side. I am about to send them back for a rework, so if you could provide your dimensions, that would be great. BTW, how did you flip your links if they are conical? - or do your FF50 mounting holes just go straight through? (mine are blind).

Thanks.

Don - a trivia question here, I bought the Lumalinks and the FF50's and was going to duplicate your setup. I ended up having them machine a conical shape into the Lumalink ID's to match the fork (which is actually tapered front to back, but not side to side) but it commits me to having a dedicated left and right side when using the FF50's above the Lumalinks.

Actually - they all should be machined that way - I sent them a bunch of detailed measurements when I was working with them on making them fit the R1200R..

Having said all that - I noticed that you ended up switching your FF50's to below the Lumalinks in your recent photos - I was wondering what your logic was before I mount mine up.

Clearance to the tank if the forks are fully compressed and fully turned to one side.

I originally had them mounted on top of the LumaLinks (the early photos were of my bike with them mounted that way..) When I was working with Klaus at HyperPro to design shocks that maintained full suspension travel, we were checking clearances using a shock with no spring on it (making it easy to raise/lower the front end).. and found under full compression, at full lock, the FF50 would hit the tank when mounted above the Lumalink. It had never been a problem, since if I was at full lock and full compression I would have already been in a world of trouble.. but being me, I decided to mount it under the Lumalinks.

The positioning up/down of the Lumalink on the fork tube is also semi-critical to avoid it hitting the telelever arm at full lock.. and avoid it catching above or below the arm.

HTH, if you need measurements, let me know..

[deilenberger]

When I spoke with Gordy tool, they were not machining the ID's conical, so I provided them a conical set of measurements. When I received them they were close to my specs, but a bit tight on one side. I am about to send them back for a rework, so if you could provide your dimensions, that would be great. BTW, how did you flip your links if they are conical? - or do your FF50 mounting holes just go straight through? (mine are blind).

Thanks.

Mine were conical, and I had long discussions and passing on of measurements to the current owner's dad (who came up with the design, but unfortunately passed away about a year ago.) Just give him the major and minor dimensions of the tubes above and below the bracket - a caliper should be fine for that.

I didn't flip mine - the holes go all the way through on mine.

[mogu83]

Just got back. Almost 3k miles in 10 days most on back and some dirt roads. Also went to Canada but stayed in New Brunswick as my primary mission was to see the tide change in Fundy Bay. Unlike Don I sleep in a tent and most nights cook my evening meal on a single burner camp stove. Old habits die hard. Didn't see any license plates from the states after I left the main road, but most of the places I go aren't major tourist attractions.

RA rally was just an RA rally - no surprises. Heath rally was just the Heath rally except that it's also shared with the Guzzi people and they added a little extra flair to the weekend. The piper was back at the Heath rally, I was attached to the Seventh Cav in the service and woke to the sound of three pipers almost every morning, some of the campers didn't enjoy the wondrous sound at 05:30 but I was awake and enjoyed it. On a good note not a shot was fired at the piper, but only because the Guzzi people were still too drunk to find the doors out of their tents.
Started the ride with a fifth of CC then rode with Mike Collins (single malt Irish) for a while then ended up with Bushmills, I slept just fine every night.

Don, you should have followed my route North that I gave to the guys in the local club. It specifically avoided that Northern section of route 22 and used route 43 to get to Mass. Rt 2 and then a nice twisty over the mountain to Rt 9. Couldn't understand why you didn't enjoy the Kanc until I looked at your SPOT page. It took you over an hour to cross the Kanc, it's only 37 miles long and it should be ridden in a sporting manner, that naturally involves passing some cars on the double. Next time try to do it in less than 30 minutes, then it's fun. We ride to have fun - right?

[deilenberger]

Don, you should have followed my route North that I gave to the guys in the local club. It specifically avoided that Northern section of route 22 and used route 43 to get to Mass. Rt 2 and then a nice twisty over the mountain to Rt 9. Couldn't understand why you didn't enjoy the Kanc until I looked at your SPOT page. It took you over an hour to cross the Kanc, it's only 37 miles long and it should be ridden in a sporting manner, that naturally involves passing some cars on the double. Next time try to do it in less than 30 minutes, then it's fun. We ride to have fun - right?

Harry - I wasn't riding solo.. John was leading the Kank ride, and given the condition of the pavement and number of trucks using the road, sporting manner would have been suicidal. The route you gave the guys in the local club was given AFTER I rode up 22 on the way up to Nova Scotia (and warned them about the upper 25) - two weeks before the rally. It's claimed I sometimes am clairvoyant, but in this case my foresight seems to have failed.

I did take 9 down through MA until it picked up 22 where it wasn't so awful, and that turned into 43.. but that was on the way home.

BTW - it was very manly of you to camp.. I go on vacation for fun, not to re-live some awful early life experiences (and I camped for about 10 summers straight.. every night. Don't ever need to do that again.. I have the arthritis to prove it.)

[mogu83]

I camp because it's cheap. Just offered another option to make a long trip. If I had to pay for motels I wouldn't have been able to but on 1/3 the miles I've put on. Same for camping at Rallys if I was in a motel I wouldn't know half the people I know.
Did you really camp all summer long for 10 years - that's impressive. Usually after two weeks I'm looking to sleep in a bed.

[deilenberger]

Did you really camp all summer long for 10 years - that's impressive. Usually after two weeks I'm looking to sleep in a bed.

Yup. And that was before nice things like a Thermorest. It was me, a ground cloth and the ground.