Ready to go!

Well, it looks like we are pretty well ready to go. A few little things are left to do here and there, but we are close. The best part of this is we are done with the bikes. The last few parts arrived and we have installed it all. Some things went on easily, and some things...not so much.

As I suspected, my engine guards and new horn arrived while Josh was gone. The guards were simple enough to install, but after I got the bike pulled apart and ready, I realized there was no way, in this lifetime, that I was ever going to be able to break the engine bolts. Ok. Put the bike back together. I went for a ride to Palmer lake for breakfast instead and waited for Josh to get home a couple days later. We installed them together, using his muscles and my superior instruction reading skills.

Wednesday was a special day. (sadly, a sarcasm font does not exist, otherwise I would have used it here)

We purchased new tires for the bikes, figuring we should start with new tires since they last 8000-10,000 miles. No sense having to find them while we are on the road. Josh and Ian found out what a pain that is last summer when they had to do it. So we bought them and thought, "Hey, we will install them ourselves and get a little practice before we get on the road." This makes perfect sense, seeing as how neither of us had ever changed a motorcycle tire before, and there is a good chance that while on rough roads we will encounter a flat tire or two.

We started with the front tire on Josh's bike. No problem--less than 30 minutes later and we we done. New tire, proper inflation--AWESOME! Next was my rear tire. An hour and a half later, we still haven't even broken the bead and I get on Google to find out what we're doing wrong. Apparently nothing. As it turns out, my rear tire is the hardest tire to change. Ever. In the whole world. It took another hour and special equipment to change it. We really, really hope to not encounter problems with my rear tire on the road!

 

That's a c-clamp in my hand. We needed two to break the bead on my tire! We got it pulled apart, put the new tire on, put the tube back in and felt pretty good...until we tried to re-inflate it. It wouldn't hold air. Struggling to get the tire off (or on, who the hell knows) we put a hole in the tube. Great! So, we swapped out the tube for the spare I bought to carry on the trip. And back to the store to buy another spare to carry. I got a good tip from Dave at Let It Ride on how to install and avoid holes in the tubes, so we'll try to do better next time. And thanks to the guys at Supertune for balancing all the tires!

We were a little worried that Josh's rear tire would be as bad as mine or worse, but no. Half an hour after we started we were done. I love my motorcycle, but seriously what a pain in the ass. BMW doesn't make anything easy....

So, the countdown is on. Four days and we get on the road. The weather is supposed to be good for our first day out, and we'll take the rest as it comes! We are super excited and can't wait to get going! I'll keep you posted as we go!