Summer has arrived.....I think!

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Hi Folks,

Wel it's been a few weeks (or months?) since i last posted up here. Basically i've been waiting for the good weather to break. That happened a couple of weeks ago and since then I've been out trying to wear down the old back tire ready to replace it for the new one.
I've also built a new oil cooler guard for the bike. I used 1mm thick stainless steel hole drilled as material (photo attached hopefully) and fastened it very much in the same way that one does when attaching a Touratech version. Mine only cost me $15 as opposed to the $75 Touratech want though.....ok i had to spend a couple of hours building the thing and working out how the front mudguard comes off the bike.
The bike got tested last weekend on the Powderface road in Kananaskis country. This was opening day for the season and i wanted to try out the oil cooler to see if it was impeding airflow. The results were good and after putting the bike through a range of speeds and engine conditions, it still cools correctly with only 3 LCD blocks on the oil temperature gauge (there are 7 in total). Good result really.....the dempster can now throw rocks at me and i won't care that much!
Friday May 21st, i picked up my new tracking GPS from Blackline GPS in Calgary. Huge thanks there to Cody Slater and Clark Swanson, they're nice guys and a good company as well. Hopefully there's a photo attached of theis Gizmo as well. Basically it allows people to track me by using the GPS network. I am still working on getting a URL so that people can "tune in" to track me as i head north.......more details later on that.
The new pelican case top box performed well under a long road trip to Clearwater BC and also on the bumpy Powderface road (dirt & gravel). so i think the Happy trail puck mounts are a winner in this respect.
I am also getting busy soon as far as fundraising is concerned with 3 weekends in June devoted to making appearances with the bike and coercing people to donate to the Heart & Stroke foundation.
Also, a huge thanks to Tom Lowdermilk from www.sidestandup.com for allowing me on his radio show and also to Gerry Forbes for giving me CJAY92 airtime too!
Well July the 16th is not too far away so I'd better start making more regular Blog entries I suppose! I will try to get a "gear shot" of all the equipment i'll be taking for the next blog. Maybe I'll even find the time to caption it too!
One final word. This goes out to my friend Ian Coates who is into his 12th year riding around the world on a Honda Africa twin. It was wonderful having you here for the winter. The photos you sent from Russia are great and it looks like you're now having a wonderful trip over there. Stay safe and just do what you do best. You're one of the greatest ambassadors for the 2 wheeled community!

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Photos

The Butterfly catcher
The standard front end of a GS1200ADV. One unlucky rock strike could take out the headlamp or the oil cooler on a dirt road.

Stainless Steel.
A Touratech Headlamp guard and a home made stainless oil cooler cover should help fend off those damaging rocks

Blackline GPS
This little thing is awesome. It will hold a charge for 6-7 days and will transmit your location, speed and direction too. I will be programming it to transmit every half hour.

Comments

[sarah jasper]

Wishing you a safe and happy journey
Hi Nevil. Glad to hear it's all coming together. Hope you can get the URL set up. Happy Riding Jasp and Sarah x