31 July 2006 - On July 18th I departed Williams for Las Vegas. Brad began his journey home that same day. The jaunt from Williams to Las Vegas is only around 250 miles, so it was the shortest day of my journey. I stayed at a friend's house in Vegas. Charlie Smith is the guy that fabricates my clutches, and many other parts for Desmo Times. He showed me around Vegas, including Red Rock Canyon and a section of grreat twisties on the outskirts of Vegas in the mountains. Most people thing of Vegas as a hunk of desert, but there are mountains and canyons around the city. Unfortunately, Vegas is in the midst of crime and lawlessness, so bad in fact that Charlie is moving away from the city he was raised in. I stayed in Vegas an extra day to go to the Shelby factory. Charlie knows most of the folks in town, so he showed me around. I also dropped by to see Greg Centouri, the Arrow distributor. Today I began offering Arrow exhaust systems on the website. Its a pretty big move for me, so we'll see how it works out.

Crossing the Hoover Dam

Shelby Cobras being bult in Las Vegas

On Thursday the 19th, I headed to LA, taking the secnic route of the Ortega highway. I arrived in the midst of California's heat wave. Damn, talk about hot. I come to LA every year to test bikes for MCN, and this year, by far, was the hottest I had ever seen. I helped Dave prep the bikes we would test - a Ducati GT1000, a Triumph Scrambler, a Honda VFR 800, and a Buell Ulysses. I was going to write up a comparision of the GT1000 vs the Scrambler once the test was over. After swapping the contents of my saddlebags into soft luggage mounted on the GT1000, I was ready for the 500 mile trek up to Monterey. The worst part of the trip is the ride out of LA. It takes over an hour of highway riding to get from Irvine (south LA) northwest to secondary roads. We usually take scenic roads up and over to the coast, but the heat was so stifling that we headed to the coast and then took the Pacific Coast Highway up to Monterey.

Our test rigs for the ride to Monterey

Once in Monterey I settled into the Motel and wrote up notes on the experience of riding each bike. I love where we stay in Pacific Grove because it is 1 block from the beach. Every morning I enjoy a 3-4 mile run along the Pacific. Its a good way to unwind. The next day I headed to the track and was greeted by the stifling temperatures. Compounding things was the bizarre traffic flow at the track that doubled the time it took me to get there. Laguna Seca sucks. I've been going there for 10 years, and every year is worse than the last in terms of convenience. At the track on Saturday vendors were charging $4 for a small bottle of water. By Sunday they were giving water out in a vain attempt to keep people from dehydrating. It was so hot that I watched qualifying and the races from a closed circuit television in a tent. Attendance was off and so were vendor sales. Who can think about purchasing anything when you're sweating like that? I wandered over to Ducati island only once, heard the same mindless babble coming over the PA system from the same DJ, and walked away. Like I've said, I love Ducatis, but I don't care for DNA. All their marketing prowess is put into Laguna Seca, and an unwelcome recipient. I don't need to be bombarded with ads telling me I need to spend more on Ducatis.

Ducati Island

After the races I relaxed in the motel room until we headed out for LA the next morning. We didn't make the mistake of heading inland to face the heat, but again hugged the coast all the way back to LA. Once again, I swapped my gear back to the Gran Canyon and rode to the motel I usually stay at in LA. The plan was to head out Tuesday morning back to Pensacola. Unfortunately, the motel was booked up, as were 2 other motels in the area. I was in no mood to screw around. With a little bit of daylight remaining, I decided to head out of LA that night. I hit I-5 to the Ortega Highway and then to I-15 towards San Bernardino, stopping around midnight in a suburb along I-15. The next day would begin my long ride across the country to get home.

30 July 2006 - I departed with Brad on July 10th. We stopped off in Birmingham to visit Greg Calhoun. From there we headed up to Jonesboro Arkansas to spend the night. I always hate the first day of the trip because it involves driving through the summer heat of the south, and dealing with the congestion in an around Memphis TN. I love the countryside of Arkansas though. From Jonesboro we headed Northwest through Arkansas and up into Missouri. We caught a few good roads in Arkansas, but there just wasn't time to spend a full day hitting the twisties. Once into Missouri, we drew a bead on a Westerly direction and went into Kansas, spending the night in Wichita. Unlke last year, the heat this year was much worse. One of the reasons we chose a route along HWY 50 is that last year it was much cooler than taking a more Southerly interstate. Not true this year. It was hot. But Brad and I have been touring together for a few years, and we had a routine. Up at 5:30 and on the road by 6:00. By knocking out 300 miles by lunchtime it is a simple matter to do a 500-600 mile day.

From Wichita Kansas we continued west into Colorado, then split off of HWY 50, heading North into the Rockies. We enjoyed a spectacular road leading to Aspen, and lunch in the touristy town. Then we continued heading North into Wyoming. In Wyoming, we experienced some nasty cross winds on a deserted highway and came across a Gold Wing that was being pulled onto a wrecker. Evidently the owner had a trailer attached to his wing, and the cross winds caused the bike to veer left off the road. Evidenly the owner's wife was on the back and was seriously injured. There were bits of bike and owner possessions strewn all along the highway skirting. We got into Jackson Home Wyoming and secured a motel downtown. Jackson is a tourist trap for people heading to Yellowstone. The town is pretty neat though. I enjoyed a nice run along the water and prepared for Yellowstone.

A view along the road to Aspen Colorado

The Anvil Motel in Jacksone Hole WY

The next day we headed up to Yellowstone. It was damn cold, and I had on all my gear, including my electric vest. We hit the park early to beat the traffic. It was a wise choice. We had the roads to ourselves as we drove through the park. The 45 mph speed limit made sure we were driving slow enough to enjoy the scenery. The park is still scarred from the massive forest fires they had there a few years ago. We stopped off at Old Faithful. If you visit Yellowstone, that is one ticket you'll have to punch. We also stopped several times just to look at the deer and elk grazing alongside the road. We finished up at Yellowstone by visiting there version of a Grand Canyon. While certainly not as spectacular as the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone's canyon is pretty, and has some nice waterfalls. We managed to see most of Yellowstone in a day.

A roadside view from the south entrance to Yellowstone

One of the waterfalls in the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone

We entered the park from the south, did a wide loop, and exited to the West. From Yellowstone we headed west and south, passing through the tip of Montana, and then into Idaho and Utah. The plan was to do the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but Brad had never been there, and I wanted him to see the touristy things, like the I-Max theater and the attractions of the South Rim. I prefer the North Rim myself. In order to get to the South Rim, we did a wide swing and drove completely around the Grand Canyon, first along the North rim and then through Brice Canyon and into Page AZ. Page was hotter than hell, and made us cognizant of the perils of riding through the low desert during the day. It was to be last time I put up with that kind of heat. We stayed the night in Page, and entered the Grand Canyon park from the west on the South Rim. Brad seemed to enjoy the place, but he isn't very expressive. Personally, I can spend all day just sitting on one spot along the rim, staring across the expanse. I love the Grand Canyon.

A spectacular sunrise on the road between Page AZ and the South rim of the Grand Canyon

Serenity at the Desert View on the South Rim

I got Brad through all the typicall sights of the Grand Canyon by early afternoon, so we headed South to our stop for the night, in Williams AZ. As soon as we set out, I spotted some dark clouds ahead. Figuring it was just a small thunderstorm, I decided to just plow through it and didn't stop to put on my wet-weather gear. Within a few minutes I knew this decision was a mistake. The clouds were those of the summer monsoons in Arizona - clouds not to be trifled with. In those clouds was a lot of rain.... and hail. Within minutes I was soaked and pelted by dime-sized hail balls. I yelled in my helmet as each one struck me. We passed a few other riding couples, who had decided on pulling over to don their rain gear -- after they were already soaked. I've found that once you get soaked, it does little to put on rain gear. After about 15 minutes we drove out of the storm and were able to begin the drying process. North AZ is at elevation though, so I shivered until we hit Williams. Just as we reached Williams another storm was heading in, so we grabbed a motel on the outskirts of town and spent the night. Williams is an old Route 66 town, a place that once prospered by the traffic afforded the major highway. When the interstates went in, the town died quickly, only to be reborn later as a destination for those wanting a place to stay that was close to the Grand Canyon and that had the folksy atmosphere of the 1950s and 1960s. I found an internet cafe in town and caught up on some email. While in Williams, Brad decided that he was ready to head home, so the following morning, he headed East, while I headed West towards Las Vegas.

30 July 2006 - My humble apologies for not being able to upload the DD while I was out on the road. I was able to send and receive email, but no FTP. Before I get into discussing my journey, I want to thank my wife Suzi. DT gets approximately 3-4 orders per day. I was gone 19 days, meaning Suzi had to create invoices, shipping labels, and box up items that she has no idea about -- 75 times. While I was out on the road she would update me on inventory levels and I was busy flashing out email orders. In all her efforts, she managed to mess up 3 orders - sending a single cam belt to people that ordered a set.... kind of cute when you think about it... unless you're the one who only got one cam belt. All is well, as the remaining belts were mailed out. Suzi only missed out on telling me about one item that I ran out of - 2V cam belts. Guess cam belts and her didn't get along while I was away. All in all, she did a fantastic job running DT on top of her normal 40+ hours she works at her real job.

Now about the trip. I'm going to break the trip down into 3 parts. Part 1 is the trip from Pensacola to Yellowstone and down to the Grand Canyon and a pit stop in Williams AZ. Part 2 is from Williams to Las Vegas and onto Los Angeles. Part 3 is from Los Angeles up to Monterey to catch the MotoGP, then back to Los Angeles and finally eastbound home. Part 1 will be uploaded tomorrow.

9 July 2006 - The bike is packed and repacked and ready to go. This morning Brad and I took different bikes on a 75 miles spin just to check out the gear and helmets we'll be wearing. I'm heading over to his house later this afternoon with Suzi for a last meal together with our respective spouses. Then we're going to watch "The World's Fastest Indian". That should motivate us for the ride tomorrow. The plan is to put in between 500-600 miles from Pensacola to the Jonesboro Arkansas. By Tuesday afternoon we should hit HWY 50.

8 July 2006 - Well, I was wrong.. I will get a chance to post today. I got a call this morning from my good friend Greg Calhoun. Due to some illness in the family, he won't be joining us on the ride.. and because he isn't going Henry Avello isn't going either. As a result, Brad and I decided to skip going to Greg's house and his father's house in Arkansas and head out Monday morning. The 4-man trip is now down to 2. As they say, flexibility is the key to success. I'm kind of glad anyway. I walked Suzi through how to fill orders, but a rush of last minute orders for my Fan Upgrade kit has left me low in inventory. So now, I can spend today and tomorrow to make up some more kits.

I just rolled out another product I've been trying to source for awhile - a clutch pushrod seal kit. Most clutch oil leaks are caused by oil getting past the pushrod. My new seal kit is good preventative maintenance. Info is up under clutch products.

7 July 2006 - I had a few questions yesterday concerning my route and timetable for my trip. First, let me say that when I tour, the idea is to unwind. My normal life is very organized and time-driven. Hence, when I tour the aim is to relax and not set a time-table. I only have a few guidelines for my tr1p, so here they are:

• Leave from Pensacola with Brad Gaines tomorrow heading to Birmingham AL to pick up Greg Calhoun and Henry Avello. - All of them are on Hondas, so this year reliability shouldn't be a problem. I'll be the only anomoly on my Gran Canyon, but their known as very dependable bikes - this is my 2nd cross-country on her.
• Leave Birmingham Sunday heading to Greg's parent's house in northern Arkansas
• Take US-50 (the lonliest highway) most of the way out and back. US-50 skirts some interstates, but is high enough to escape some heat.
• Leave US-50 in Utah and head north to see Yellowstone.
• Head southwest and stop off at Grand Canyon
• Be in Irvine on July 20th to park my bike and remount on test bikes for MCN
• Ride from Irvine to Monterey on July 21
• Enjoy races at Laguna Seca July 22 & 23
• Monterey to Irvine July 24, Park test bikes and remount my Gran Canyon
• Head home on the 25th.

That's about it. No meeting people on the way, no scheduled pit-stops, no detailed plans. We ride each day until we get tired, which usually happens around the 500 mile mark. Weather and natural disasters sometimes cause us to change our plans (last year a hurricane hit Pensacola while I was in California), but the aim is to enjoy the ride with guys I've been riding with for 10 years, while minimizing Interstate travel. I've found that touring with 2 others is optimal - you create a big enough footprint on the highway for safety, yet don't have so many that you're waiting on people at fuel stops. Only problem with 3 is one person is odd-man-out when it comes to motels -- I don't spoon with guys. This year we have 4 people - two per room. All are seasoned riders, and we know each other's riding habits. Nobody does anything stupid, and all are motivated to ride. Coming back, I may be by myself or with one other. Greg Calhoun already told me that he's doing a blitz run coming back, and I'm not going to make the mistake I did last year by taking the Southern route back (anything south of I-40) = too damn hot. Total trip will be around 7500-8000 miles. My tires are good for 10K. I don't plan any Iron-Butt days (over 700 miles I'd consider an ironbutt day), but you never know. If there's an emergency at home I may push it coming back. No, an emergency doesn't include getting home to rush a part to you.. Suzi's running the biz while I'm gone, and I need to get away from the business side of things for awhile.

Today I secure the shop and showroom. Locks go on everything, booby traps and nasties on the property (Yes, I'm serious). I'd mount Claymore mines, but the blast area would cause too much collateral damage. Anti-personnel mines work better for small area stuff. :-)

Gear as follows: Tools/lubricants/trouble-shooting kit and First Aid kit (plus sunscreen, goody's powder, monkey-butt powder and Boudreaux's Butt Paste), Emergency Strobe, flashlight, sidestand disks, 7-tshirts (wear one for 2 days then rip it up for bike cleaning/maintenance duties), 1 lycra biker tshirt (when regular t-shirts run out), 2-gallon zip-lock bags, 1 pair of jeans, Military Issue Spec Ops cold weather pullover and longjohns (very compact and warm), hiking/running shorts, 2 pairs of biker shorts (no underwear - just wash the lycra biker shorts each night), 6 pairs of running socks - disposable (yes, I have to do Physical training during any trip - run 30 minutes every other day), running shoes, folding push-up bars (needed for deep pushups), flip-flops, spare keys mounted on my dog tag chain, personal hygiene kit, 1 pair of riding socks (wash each night), riding shoes (bates), Joe Rocket phoenix pants with suspenders, Joe Rocket Alter Ego Jacket, Joe-Rocket Sahara Vest, Joe Rocket Phoenix Gloves, thicker full gauntlet gloves, cold weather gloves and wet weather gloves, Nelson-Rigg wet weather pants (also doubles as winter pants during high elevation stuff), electric vest, OGK FF3 helmet - clear visor and tinted tear-offs, Helmet visor defogger, head wraps, boonie hat/Australian outback hat, Camelbak, a few motorcycle magazines, my PDA-phone, I-Paq with folding keyboard, subcompact digital camera, 2 pairs of sunglasses, road atlas, extra earplugs, screen cleaner squirt bottle, leathermans tool, knife, MK19 40mm grenade launcher, smoke grenades, etc. I don't use earphones when I ride. I prefer to hear the wind, my bike, and any traffic/environmental sounds. That's about it... Everything I need to live through temp ranges from 40 degrees to 120 degrees.

6 July 2006 - Well, I'm all set for the trip. I added the GC as bike of the quarter and put up a few pics of her in touring trim. That's how she'll look as I roll out. If the bike looks tall, it is. I've got a 34" inseam, so I prefer tall bikes so that I can hang my legs down to stretch them without hitting the tarmac. I also prefer top-open ammo can style saddlebags so that I can optimize space and don't have to worry about things falling out when I open them up. The radar detector mounted at eye level is functional for me. I don't use ear buds or helmet speakers, so I rely on my vision or the audio from the radar detector itself. The GPS is the Lowrance IWay 500c. Great GPS, and a nice big screen so that I can operate it on the fly. I don't run auxiliary lighting. I have very good night vision, and besides, I rarely ride at night - too many critters.

In other news, I got a strange box in the mail earlier this week. I get a lot of stuff from the UPS guy, but I recognize most of the return labels. This box was from a company called Relicarz.com. In the box was a note and a surprise - a 1:6 scale replica die-cast metal model of Troy Bayliss' Superbike from the 2002 season. Beautiful in every detail, the model is impressive. The enclosed note stated that the customer, Mark Fothergill, liked my service and the model was a token of his appreciation. I was stunned. I've never gotten a present from a customer, so the model was greatly appreciated. I emailed Mark back to express my gratitude. The model now sits in a case in my showroom. As Mark stated in his note, it will be the first Ducati I've ever owned that won't require maintenance.

5 July 2006 - Some of the stuff I sell is what retailers call "loss leaders". Belts fit into this category. I don't really make money on them, but hope that customers purchase other things. Sometimes, the belts are more trouble than their worth. I sold a set of M620/M800 belts to a customer last week, only to find out today that he received the wrong belts. After further checking I found out that I ordered the right belts, but received the wrong ones. I've been having problems of late getting the right parts. The parts person I used to deal with left the dealership. With her left a decade worth of experience in knowing what parts were which. I wish I could get the parts directly from Ducati, but I'm not about to become a dealer in order to do so. That's a headache I'm not about to broach. It would ruin my hobby and my life.

Since popping up on Google, I've had a stream of emails and phone calls for stupid shit. Today I got a call asking if I worked on Maliguti scooters. Where in the hell did somebody get that info from my website? Last week it was a customer wanting to place an order for a Ducati Supermotard. I told him I'd love to have one too, but I'm not a dealer. I'm so glad to see that the Google thing is paying off. Grrrrrrrr.......

More packing yesterday (in between stuffing my face with food for the festivities on the 4th). I'll finish up packing odds and ends tomorrow and take a few pics to show here. I've got 15 years worth of sport-touring experience and have used it in setting up my Gran Canyon. I'll go over the specs tomorrow.

As you can see, I've got the DT all set up for my daily postings while out on the road. I don't know if I'll be able to post every day, but that's the plan.

3 July 2006 - I took a few days away from the DD for family stuff. Suzi's brother and his family are staying with us. Yesterday, there were kids frolicking in the yard and much food was in the kitchen. Same story for today and tomorrow. Yesterday I did manage to wheel the touring mule from the workshop into the main house garage to begin the loadout for my trip. The worst part about touring is the loadout. I hate packing.

I enjoyed another romp through the Blackwater Forest yesterday, this time aboard Suzi's S2R. Great bike, but the feel of the slipper is less than smooth. The slipper works fine, but engaging and disengaging the clutch smoothly is impossible. Very jerky. I need to rememdy the situation, so the task is on the list but not at the top.

I missed the darned MotoGP race yesterday. I forgot to set up the DVR and was riding when they showed it. I wasn't expecting it to be on so early. Another weird finish. MotoGP is a circus this year. As soon as the journalists think they have it figured out, somebody else wins.

I was doing a bit of research on the problems with the MTS last week. It will be my next touring rig. Unfortunately, it has a few problems that my Gran Canyon doesn't - warping front rotors, an awful stock seat, an instrument cluster that is prone to condensation, and lack of fitment for ammo can panniers. Of course, it has some flaws in common with my GC - a pessimistic fuel gauge (and resulting computer fuel economy readings) and a speedo that is off by 10%. The big draw for me is the light weight - 470 pounds wet with an aftermarket exhaust system. That's about 47 pounds less than my GC, with 15 extra ponies, and standard-sized rims. Will I like it more than my Gran Canyon -- I doubt it. I've had the GC a year and one-half, in which time I've done all the mods that I like to truly customize the bike for me, and it really is a great touring bike. So why the change? Why not? It's not like I'm going to sell the GC.

It's the 143rd annnivarsary of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. A moment of silence for the Southern High Water Mark. Those of you that don't follow the Civil War can ignore this last paragraph.

Desmo Times

555 Childers St

Pensacola, FL. 32534

www.desmotimes.com