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Haven't logged in here for a while. But got the ol' Connie out for rip today. After 12year and 80k miles still love this old girl.

I sold the Goldwing and brought this sexy thing home. Always loved the looks of these street brawlers. I binned the stem mirrors and am expecting my CRG Blindsight to arrive tomorrow. Ordered new tires and an oil change kit. Suspension refresh happens before I can ride it. The trailer ride home cashed the fork seals. Both sides are pretty wet. Might as well have the shocks worked over while its down. I'm not even going to pretend this bike won't end up with Ohlins everywhere, but if it can wait until the car is paid for... that'd be swell. 😆 Handlebar is probably being replaced with a Renthal Street Bar sometime before the season ends.

It's official.

I made it to Tuktoyaktuk NWT today. It was by far the most difficult road I’ve ridden to date. Now I’ve been as far north and south as you can ride in the Americas!

Nine days on the road (so far). Touring Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum tomorrow then heading to GA. Next up, cherahola skyway, deals gap, BRP, the snake and back of the dragon

I was in Alberta and BC particularly around the Banff/Golden area in July of this year. I could not explain how beautiful it is up there. I also could not imagine what riding a motorcycle like you're about to do would be like. Unimaginably epic.

After looking at many motorcycles that would be appropriate for retirement age...I made the mature decision and bought myself a new MT-09. It's light and the steering is really quick

Spent all day Saturday going over all three bikes. Servicing, going over bolts and fluids and a deep detail of them. So all three are as clean and ready for the season as they could ever be. Time to log the miles. Even though I've already had a Gap trip under my belt a few weeks ago and ready to make trip #2.

It's official. I have informed the company I am retiring the end of April.

Well, I can't say I did it today, but after years lovingly wrenching on my older bikes, chucking money aside for the better part of a decade, I bit the bullet on a machine I can trust to not leave me stranded, hammer my spine on bumps or be hopeless when gravel appears. I just completed installing the major farkles I wanted on this bike and so far, I love it to death. Claims it's boring are vastly wrong. Also, hey, I haven't been on this board in a long time. The last few years have been kind of...weird.

I’ll be heading back to Dawson and then taking the ferry over to Alaska. I’ll do the Dalton then, so I’ll be through Tok. Too bad you didn’t have time. It would have been a trip to run into you Nevin. And thanks. This has been a crazy road. Still not sure I want to do this last stretch to Tuk tomorrow. My leg still makes it hard to even walk. One fuck up and it could be bad. It’s probably stupid for me to be doing this shit still. It’s all I know now, and one of the few things that make me truly happy.

Picked up a new retirement project bike to ride the backwoods this fall.

Amanda and I had our maiden voyage on the RT. We took OH-212/93 to Roscoe Village for BBQ and then came home via 60/62/83 into Smithville/OH-21. Good weather. Good roads. Good food. Good day.

Weather for the start of the Arctic Circle journey was looking iffy so I did two things: I delayed the start a few days so I wouldn’t be riding through rain to start the trip, and I also booked a small cabin at Cannabis Creek Cabins in Luther Michigan. They are as affordable as a motel and includes a nice gift bag with some tasty treats! Should be a great end of the first full day’s riding on the 15th after an overnight stay at my Father’s. Sunny 2.0 is completely loaded and champing at the bit to get going. You’ll be able to track my progress through the Yukon and Alaska with this link to my Garmin Inreach Mini satellite tracker! https://share.garmin.com/HWJA4

Just back to Ohio where I’ll begin prep for YT and AK departure on the 12th. I attended the Horizons Unlimited travelers meeting near Appomattox and had a great time hanging out with like minded people that don’t think you’re crazy for cashing in and leaving “normalcy” behind to create your own normal. On the way home I was hosted by Lauren and Paul Brenner at Rainbow Farm near the New River Gorge in WV. Aside from running an organic chicken farm and riding the world in their spare time (check out their YT channel “the other end of the Rainbow) they run the Appalachian Motorcycle Adventure tour company. Lauren took me for an awesome 250 mile loop through some crazy WV dirt roads. They cater to all skill levels up to hard enduro (they have one day ride with over 100 water crossings!). If you’re interested in using their services (highly recommended), their web page is here: https://www.appalachianmotoadvtours.com/ Some pictures from my last week Mystery hole! friend and we’ll-known motorcycle travel author Sam Manicom publisher Michael Fitterling

I completed the new bike today. First startup went well. Time for break in miles Alaska here I come

I have a bag that I am finished with that you can use for fresh water.

Mounted and balanced the new tires. Then took the rear rotor off the stock wheel and mounted it to the new rear wheel from Woodys. Then mounted the 320mm front rotor and mounted the wheels for the first time on the new bike. After that I installed the Safari tank (all new hardware, new petcocks, new fuel line and fittings) and plumbed the fuel lines. Then installed the fairing and re-aimed the headlight and light bar. The last item is the new shock being built for the bike by Cogent Dynamics. For the 82,000 miles on the original Sunny I ran a Cogent Mojave shock. This bike is getting a new Cogent Mojave Pro model (large remote reservoir with adjustable compression damping as well) as well as their hydraulic preload adjuster. It’ll be awesome to be able to soften the preload bit when riding the bike without all the luggage. Once the shock is in, fuel is going in and startup!! It’ll be great to see how it runs. I only rode it 10 miles or so before tearing the bike down. Some minor changes have been made from stock. Better air filter. Carb rejetted and modified with ethanol-proof o-rings and gaskets as well as a remote choke knob and manual air/fuel mixture screw (only needed one tweak on old carb in all those miles. Had to open up the air in Peru when over 16,000 ft). I’m also running a different exhaust can. The bike ripped stock. I’m sure it’ll be sweet. Alaska Ho!

Amanda and I took the Goldwing to breakfast and a quickie around Atwood Lake. Stopped in Bolivar for ice cream and then down 212 to 21/224 back home. About 150 miles and the Wing doesn't even know she's back there. This was her first time back in the saddle since the crash more than two years ago. Everything went smoothly and she's glad she decided to give it another whirl. Twenty bucks says there's a new Goldie in the garage by next spring. 😎

Spent most of the week at the gap for the unofficial OR summer trip. Now I need a new front tire

I was supposed to stay off the bike for a month after a pair of surgeries I had. Couldn’t stand it and cut that a bit short and took a spin in the Valley yesterday. It was great to get out and the bike appreciated the attention and use. Stopped for a sandwich and beer, and then later at a great spot off Riverview to stretch and walk a bit. Then back to my Father’s.

Bike trip has officially started…

Took the wheels off the Versys. Went to IP for a pair of Roadsmarts 3 to replace the knobbies. Bought new helmet. Expensive trip over $600 for everything.

Congratulations! I plan to inform my company next Friday. Tomorrow I'm going to look at a potential retirement gift for myself.

Home. 2468 miles, 5 states one province, two countries and 5 casinos.

On our third day of five days to the Ozark. Mrs. Durk is killing it averaging close to 500 miles a day. No complaints about speed or cornering too hard. She gets a little green feeling at times so does request at times to back it down a bit. MO 125, AR 125, AR 123, AR 7 are some good roads. Peel ferry is a cool deal, can’t believe it’s free. Did take a route around Lake of the Ozarks that was a nice cruise and had a fun little loop from Camdenton down towards Devil’s Elbow and back up to Bridal falls this morning.

Got it fixed! First I planned to pull the oil pan which meant draining the oil that had less than 50 minutes on it. Then I had to remove the exhaust and the lines to the oil cooler before the pan came off. The only useful thing I could see up there was that the part I needed to access was in the clutch compartment. So now on to removing the clutch cover and clutch basket. I probably could have realigned the shift shaft gear without removing the clutch but, WTH, I'm already this far... After removing everything, it was a simple job to align the shifter end and spring. Shifting seemed like Iike it was good, so I put it all back together. New oil and a ride around the neighborhood confirmed that it's fixed!

I’ve been off grid for a while, riding the Denali Highway and camping. This is something you folks should make a bucket list item. It’s doable on a road bike if careful. Stunning scenery everywhere you look. Camp sites as far as the eye can see. I have lots of pics and video to download. Here is a cell phone photo from my tent last night Before hotels and motels Alaska had “Roadhouses”. There are some still around. Tonight I’ve got a room at Meier’s Lake Roadhouse near Paxon Alaska at the end of Rt. 8, the Denali Highway its raining hard. Relaxing and wondering what’s to come. Tomorrow it’s into Palmer Alaska and reuniting with a girlfriend I haven’t seen since 1989 !!!

Been on the road since May 5. Should be home tomorrow. Twisted sisters in Texas, cherahola skyway, dragon, moonshiner, blue ridge parkway, snake, back of the dragon. Whew. Who knew there were so many roads with funny names 🤣

Valve inspection, wheels installed, plates renewed. Quick little shakedown run up to triple digits and all is good. Once again no balancing. I just left the weights that were on the wheels prior to my tire change 🤷‍♂️.

Assembled the Goldwing and took a short ride to shake down the suspension upgrade. 100% worth the money. Low speed maneuvers and highway handling is most noticeable. It doesn't wallow and 75mph is solid as 45mph. Bumps are smoothed out, too.

Another short rip today

Took Sunny 2.0 for her first real ride. An easy 100mi wander through Amish farmlands. It felt so good to be on a bike again.

Added turn signals, horn, and brake lights to the TE300, to make it street legal. Sent the new Goldwing seat to Russell Cycle products for the Day Long modification. Hopefully, it will be back in time for a trip to Smokies at the end of March.

Zoo was near Bristol. Took back roads up through VA, KY and WV. Made it to the casino in Charleston just before the rain rolled in.

Made it Back home pa & ny are great 2lane high speed low traffic roads like 83 and 78 in Ohio except 4times bigger area you could probably drive 300 miles of woods and not hit a city can’t say there’s a Pacific route to take, but the better roads are the ones by putting a point somewhere in the middle of nowhere judging by aerial views, and how twisty they are, the further north, you go, the bigger the mountains are i rode 1480miles of two lanes 40miles of four-lane s only reason to get on four-lane is because of a gravel roads otherwise you actually make better time on the 2lanes Overall northern roads are not as twisty as oh,wv,nc,tn,ky. But road conditions are much better not a lot of cops or patrol perfect to ride 2 up or for cruising or get away from traffic and commercialized motorcycle roads New York food sucks pa food is great

Shitty pic but here she is. now who wants a clean well sorted Vstrom 1000?

Picked up yesterday. Rode 464 miles today. Dipped her wheels in WV twisties, so now she needs a bath and a tetanus shot.

So lots of progress made. Removed the leaking oil mix tank, stripped the body work and cleaned 20 years of grime and goo off, and dipped the carb in pine sol. Put it back together and she fired right up. Cranked the throttle stop in and started teaching the grandson the basics. All we have done so far is work on stopping but he loves it. Little sister is all about it too. Might have to start looking for another one.

Went ahead and ordered a new converter because I was convinced that was the issue.... Hard launch might have worked the inside somehow. And what a difference between the stock 12" and the new 10" But as soon as I pulled the pan I was unpleasantly surprised with this mess. A whole lot of bushing material in the fluid....like.... A WHOLE LOT so I went ahead and with no previous experience I ripped the transmission apart. Initial inspection hard parks all looked good except the rear planetary, clutches are toast and every bushing is trashed. Ordered an overhaul kit, all three painless accumulators and a rear planetary rebuild kit. I really have no idea how the transmission was functioning properly outside of just noise and vibration. With the way the clutches look I would have expected this thing to be slip city. But then again I've only ever worked on dirtbike clutches before this 🤣

Got New rubbers at wheelers

There are friends I don’t hear from much anymore that still frequent this site, and their signatures on my bike are a steady reminder of fun times in the past. So I’ll keep updating here as well So I decided to stay an extra night here in Pettibone ND at Chris’ cabin in order to do a maintenance day on Sunny. There were a few things to address, namely getting the horn working and a few other things. Well, things never are as simple as that are they? During cleaning and inspection I see multiple cracks all over both front fork boots. These boots are criticize keeping dirt and grime away from the fork seals. I contacted Procycle and they are shipping no cost a new set a day ahead of me where I can do the install (which requires both fork legs to be removed). So guess where I’m heading tomorrow? A long day SW to Custer South Dakota where I’ll be visiting and staying with friend and Moto-author (and fellow contributing author with me in the Moment Collectors book) Michelle Lamphere !! I last saw Michelle when leaving Denver heading back to Ohio right after getting out of the wheelchair! Also will be visiting friends Shana Sanderson and her husband Eugene where I can do the work changing out the fork boots. So all in all a productive day. Horn repaired Chain cleaned and lubed Carb breather filter cleaned Small section of fuel line replaced with one the correct length Two pounds of bug guts removed. Yuck lol. Highway peg pivots cleaned and lubed so much blood disassembly begins horn now works again

Rode 350+ miles of back roads today again Staying the night in kane pa nobody’s here I called the number they left the keys for me not one single soul on site its it’s actually a nice motel. Just strange nobody’s here nice tiled bathrooms & looks remodeled within the last seven year s. Had the best food of the trip at the the barrel House.next door

Wow, that is fucking terrible. Imagine if that was a group of motorcycles coming the other way. I've had both cars and motorcycles come into my lane on the dragon. That road is super fun, but I won't ride it on weekends, and preferably 1st thing in the morning. As much as I like the roads by Deals Gap, I actually prefer riding in WV. The roads are 95% as good, with 99% less shenanigans...not to mention less cops, less traffic, and fewer towns to ride through...and it's sooo much closer. I ride more miles of curvy roads on a WV trip then I do on a Gap Trip.