Triumphrat

Aspery · 09-24-2009, 09:22 PM

Firstly let me say that taking the Bonny was not my first choice. I have a KLR for such journeys - but events conspired against me on that front.... so onto the 2006 T100 I got.

The trip was planned around business - an itinerant blacksmith.
I had arranged some work in varies regions of the Eastern USA. The trip was conducted in two halves - pre and post the summer months of mid June to mid August.

I left April 29th for Missouri. Sedelia to be precise.
My mantra was 'no-interstates'

My journey out of California was via Hwy 190 west - a local favorite of mine. Up and over the Sierra and on into Death Valley.

My first 30 days had nothing but inclement weather. It started on the East side of the Sierra with fierce winds. The winds continued across Death Valley but subsided as I got to Zion National park.

Through Zion and I was prevented from taking a circular route through to Rainbow Bridge by flurries of snow. South I went and then up through Monument valley.

I took 160 across lower Colorado with snow chasing me all the way across.

Kansas was crossed on Hwy 50 - which if you have to cross Kansas it is not a bad way to go. I rained all the way across - an inch an hour in some cases.

I was camping and had to wring my sleeping back out daily in some stretches of the trip.

As I reached Sedalia, the rain subsided for three days of sunshine. My work was for three days exactly and the clouds were building as I was packing up the Bonny for another leg of the trip.

I wanted to head south and pick up the Nanches Trace Trail.

At this stage I was growing gills!

I left the trail about half way along out of a move of self preservation and headed to Griffin Ga for work.

My front disc pretzeled and my pads on the rear brake wore out at about the same sort of time.
This made for an interesting ride to the Triumph dealer just West of Atlanta.

I took 22 north out of Alabama which is a very nice road - and on this day pathed in sunlight!.

I got a new disc, pads and tyres and headed on - much relieved.

From Griffin I went to Madison for a couple of days work and then headed North to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The rain flew down as I got onto the parkway with visibility limited to a few yards.

I stayed in a hotel just outside Ashland. The weather picked up the next day and I had a great ride North. Great views and great riding.

I made my way North on back roads to Buffalo for some more work. I had the bike service for 20,000 and balanced the carbs for the second time on the trip.

I rode along the lake to Erie before heading South to Uniontown PA.
Sunny riding and great roads through the Allegenny Mountains.

I was headed North - back to Buffalo when I broke a gear tooth in the transmission.

The bike was parked in Buffalo for the summer and I flew home.

end of the first half....

saphena · 09-25-2009, 02:46 AM

What, no pictures??

Aspery · 09-25-2009, 06:26 PM

My timetable prevented me from dealing with the transmission problem. It was ride to failure and then deal with it in terms of pick it up at some later date.

I flew home for the summer (Ca) and picked the bike up in mid August.

I changed my plans slightly here to accommodate the transmission.
Plan 'A' was to ride to North Caroline and then ride hard to another engagement in Maine and then ride hard back to Virginia.

Plan 'B' was to get to North Carolina - work and then fly to Maine and back.

I picked the bike up and rode to Crewe,Virginia for weeks worth of work and then headed home. I had planned to head up to Minneapolis for some work, but decided that was going to be a flight from home.

I hit interstate all the way home - thinking that this would save me going up and down the gears too much.

I used I64 West until St Louis and then picked up I 70 West. A flat tyre just East of Russell, Kansas put a kink in my plans as I had used my spare tube earlier. I get the bike to Hays KS where the local Yahama dealer had just closed for the weekend. Luckily he would be back on Monday.

By Monday 9am I was back on the road. I parked the bike in Denver and flew to Minneapolis for a few days.

The weather closed in again when I got back to Denver - with snow falling on I 70 through the Mtns.
I turned South on I25 towards I40 West.

1,300 miles in two days (500 + 800) the 800 was my longest day of the trip.

The bike is now stripped down and headed for the dealer.

A few things that I would have done differently would have been to replace all brake pads prior to starting the trip as I had done on the KLR.
I did swap out the fork seals the day before I started and changed the oil to 15wt. This was a nice change in handling characteristics.

I have a summer fairing on the front that I had cut down to stop the buffeting. This was a great help in keeping the pressure off my chest.

I wish that I had put on hwy pegs - but alas...

All in all the bike did well. It is a bit 'fussy' when compared to the KLR.
I wish I had put a 17 tooth counter sprocket on, but I didn't have one in my 'spares' kit.

When the bike comes back that's the first thing on.

I rode using a scrambler single seat and rack. I manufactured a larger rack and bolted on a couple of ammo boxes for panniers. These worked very well.

I kept my tools for adjusting the chain and chain lube at the top of everything. I adjusted the chain nightly.

I ran Shell Rotella oil 15-40 wt.
The dry bag is from a cycle touring trailer (a BOB) this held all the large - fluffy stuff and the tent.

My riding gear was an Olympia Jacket (this kept me dry throughout the whole trip)
West Marine waterproof sailing pants
Fox dirt boots (These were a mistake for this trip. They leaked like a sieve and I couldn't get my waterproofs on over the boots without taking the boots off. They were a new purchase and untried - not a good idea.

All in all, I've been back a few days - the KLR is up and running and I believe I might take it for a ride North.