bike is just about ready for my Alaska trip...

Lots more pictures here.....

http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/v-strom/

BMW content here....

http://public.fotki.com/Rbertalotto/bmw_k1200rs/

Travel Safe

Awesome, Roy! You're taking the Wee-Strom? When are you going?

"Ain't Stoppin Bob" and I are going to the MOA Rally and then heading west and north from there. We'll be gone just over 4 weeks.........

RoyB said:

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Reminds me of when you Americans come up to fish. Fancy fishing boats, electronic gadgetry and all. And I end up walking away with more fish using my $15 rod and reel.

"when you Americans "..................

No comment required..........

Is there a motorcycle under all that gadgetry?

roy, please file me under "J" for jealous.

please have a safe trip and give us a good ride report with lots of photos.

Hey Roy,

I'm going to be down in the Skagway/Haines area during the week following the 4th of July. If you are going all the way to Anchorage, you are welcome to join up with me and a couple of my buddies for that portion of your trip.

If you do make all the the to Anchorage and need some wrenching space and a table lift...I have the lift and lots of room.

PM me if you have questions.

We will definatly stop in and say hello.......We'll by the coffee! thanks for the invite.

Hope your battery is up to it.

They don't sell roadmaps where you live?

Have a safe and enjoyable trip.

Where did you get that headphone amp? I've been looking for something like that.

There are lots of options for amplifiers. I use a Mix It unit and am real happy with it. You might want to check out CycleGadgets or Aerostich.

The headphone amp is from a fellow up in Canada (who likes Americans!). He just introduced a version specifically for motorcycles with a remote volume control and powered by 12V instead of batteries. He is an amazing guy to do business with.
Check him out at www.electric-avenues.com

RoyB said:

The headphone amp is from a fellow up in Canada (who likes Americans!).

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So do I Roy...you just went off on a tangent. I was only poking fun at all the gadgetry....same goes for them fishing rigs that I see so often. As Veg said, "is there a motorcycle under all that gadgetry?" How did we ever get by in the past?

Good luck Roy!!! As my "outlaws" in Newfoundland say, "long may your big jib draw".

Just wondering (since I am contemplating a similar Yukon trip this summer), did you consider carrying a sat phone?

Global Rider said:

So do I Roy...you just went off on a tangent. I was only poking fun at all the gadgetry....same goes for them fishing rigs that I see so often. As Veg said, "is there a motorcycle under all that gadgetry?" How did we ever get by in the past?

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I gotta agree here. I had a fishing boat with all the stuff here in the US but my two best fishing trips were in bare utility boats up in Quebec. I never missed the gadgets. I guess that's why I still travel with maps even though I plot trips on the computer and have GPS envy. To each their own. Enjoy the ride!

MarkF said:

I still travel with maps even though I plot trips on the computer and have GPS envy.

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Same here...no choice in the matter, even though I have an eMap. I don't think I'll ever be mapless. How else can you get the big picture for planning purposes?

RoyB said:

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The man is TOTALLY unprepared to go to Alaska! He has no DVD player! There are no cappucino or gelato dispensers! What about the remote pressure-sensors and automatic tire-inflators? He has no RIPISH (rectal-insertion personal interior space-heater)!

I give him about a one in three chance of actually seeing a critter BEFORE he runs into it during his trip. (He'll probably be on the phone at the time, anyway.)

That stuff all looks great in the photo, obviously taken in your garage. One rest stop in the wrong neighborhood and the bling-bling is GONE. I wonder how well it will all work anyway, after a week of solid downpour, rattled by a thousand miles of road construction and covered with an inch and a half of mud. The stop watch will come in R-E-A-L handy up there. Whatcher gonna use it for, timing laps around the Arctic Circle? You DO know the circle has been paved, don't you?

What you NEED to go to Alaska is a beaded seatcover, a good set of tire irons, a patch kit and a big water jug. Oh yeah, and some bug spray. You might want to get a compass out of a box of Cracker Jacks and take that, too, along with a map. It will continue to work when your GPS gets shaken to death or stolen.

Viewing the photo, two proverbs spring to mind:
"You don't own stuff. Stuff owns you." - Anon
and
"Simplify. Simplify. Simplify." - ?

All that said, I wish you luck and hope you have exactly the Alaska adventure you want to have. No matter what happens, you'll get a lifetime of memories and a few good Tales out of it.

RoyB said:

The headphone amp is from a fellow up in Canada (who likes Americans!). He just introduced a version specifically for motorcycles with a remote volume control and powered by 12V instead of batteries. He is an amazing guy to do business with.
Check him out at www.electric-avenues.com

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could not agree more about Gary, the amp guy.

He is profoundly interested in making his customers happy.

I put one on my ST1100, there is a write up here

http://www.carbchronicles.com/new_page_9.htm

I have tunes and an intercom on that bike, if you like the gadgetry who gives two thirds of a **** what the other guys say.

It is your ride, your bike and you did a damn good job putting all that gear on the bike.

I imagine gearing up and daydreeaming about the trip is a big part of the fun. More power to you, and to your stuff.

You should check Canadian law on radar detectors where you are going though.