996Pilot

HP is highly over-rated. Besides, manufacturers routinely lie about HP in their specs so take them with a grain of salt. Torque - now that's another story. Give me gobs of low end torque that stays constant up through the RPM band - now THAT'S what I call power. My 4 ton Dodge RAM only has 325 HP at 2900 RPM --- but it makes 610 Ft/Lb torque at 1600 RPM. It won't win any top speed races but it will tow the rest of the field up the hill -- all hitched together. My 2 cents

I wouldn't want to see an air cooled cylinder head (measured at the plug base) get to more than 345-355. 300 degrees F would be OK routinely. YMMV Dan

Don't try to do any jumps on it.

Not to mention, those belts are (very) biased. Reverse pressure (as in hard compression braking) causes them to snap in a heartbeat. I found this out the hard way trying to bump start my Road King (also can't bump start an FI bike with a dead battery). Ask me how I know

Gonna be a tad bit loud

Good luck in California with that. I say this as I sit here looking at my registration renewal that just came in the mail for my Dodge MegaCab 4x4 Cummins Turbo Diesel. First, it says I need to have it SMOGGED this year Then there is the little matter of an additional $257 on top of the $500 license and registration fee for WEIGHT FEES. $764 for a seven year old truck Yeah the toys are fun but this state is pissing me off (after living here 55 years).

Surely raining now at 3:45. Just went through on the Coaster and it's wet. Coyote wet

Great pictures. Nice work, nice family!

Congrats on the new (to you) toy hauler. Have you ever owned something like this before? If so, you know the ropes - if not, go out with some RV vets and learn the easy way. Don't make expensive mistakes. Take it slow, spend some time with patient others and you'll love every minute of it. For me, it was a toss up between a toy hauler and a cab-over camper. I went with the pop-up cab-over. I love the comfort and you will love the comfort of the toy hauler. Don't know where you're at but if you need any help, let me know. I have lots of free advice, a fair amount of experience, some fixing ability and almost no money :-) Congrats again - see you out and about camping. P.S. - You wouldn't want another F650GS to go with that - would you Dan

Don't know if you're camping or hotel(ing) and these places will NOT have surf as they are on the Sea of Cortez side but most on the way. After crossing over to the Cortez side (from Guerrero Negro) you'll hit Sea of Cortez in the town of Santa Rosalia. An old mining town created by the El Boleo Mining Company (out of France), it has some great history and (self made) tours. Check out the "clear span" steel constructed CHURCH designed by Gustave Eiffel in the center of old Santa Rosalia. The old part of town is populated with wooden, french provencial architecture. A Baja oddity but with a good historical explanation. Visit the large Paneria in town for a photographic history of tall ships in the harbor. Just south of there (and south of Mulege) you come to (what I think) is the most beautiful bay anywhere. Conception Bay (Bahia de Concepcion) - it's a must see and stay for a day or two. Camp HERE As you have already figured, surf is good over near Todos Santos - specifically at Cerritos or San Pedrito (bring booties, rocks can be sharp). After passing through La Paz, just south of La Paz, the road splits with the new four-lane headed for Todos Santos and the old road (stay left) headed toward Los Barilles and San Jose del Cabo. Take the old road and after Los Barriles (about 15 miles) you'll go over a huge arroyo - just after the arroyo take a left towards Los Frailes. The pavement ends about a mile or two from Bahia Los Frailes but the road is good and well travelled. Bahia Los Frailes is a great bay with a huge coral reef that you can dive or snorkel (rental gear there if you don't have it). Nice place to hang for a day. So much more - but you'll find it. Dan

Listening to Gary talk about his Motoventures class and his talk about balance and counter-balancing Reminded me of a video I came across http://screen.yahoo.com/motorcycle-ridge-riding-084000429.html

So sorry to hear that. What exactly is bent/broken? How bad? The older I get (am I'm gettin pretty damned old) the more I keep realizing how (much more) easily breakable I am. Lot's of my younger days injuries are also coming back to plague me as arthritis, stiffness and chronic pain. I'm finding that I still like to get out there but that there is a balance to the thrill/enjoyment and the consequences both short term and long term. Take care of yourself and live to ride another day. Ride smarter and longer!

We used to get steel bolts frozen into aluminum whatever on aircraft all the time. On aircraft, it's get it out intact or scrap the host part - no helicoils, inserts or anything like that allowed. After using PB Blaster, we would carefully tap on the part (doesn't need to hard, just a gentle tap) for a looong time. Tapping with a brass hammer (or similar) while spraying PB Blaster, the ultra-thin penetrating oil would slowly work its way into the gaps between the threaded parts. It takes alot of time and patience but it works (sometimes a bit of heat helps). As others have recommended, when reinstalling -- USE ANTI-SEIZE.

Call a tow truck if you drop that thing. Even more - don't get too fast in the twisties - if you don't high center after hitting that 4" PVC hanging off the front frame, you certainly will after the oversized bags hit. WoW

That loaded bike reminds me of an EX of mine. Didn't know how to "pack light" for a trip on the bike. Finally got to a point where a Harley bagger wasn't enough. Maybe that's one of the reasons she's an EX

Oh crap, I've been on the wrong website all of this time

+1

After years of Backpack camping in the Sierra wilderness for (sometimes) weeks at a time, these days I like my Outfitter Apex 8 cabover camper with hot/cold running water, forced air furnace, shower & flush toilet. The "roughing it" part is having to put the truck into 4WD to get to the camp spot Nice story though!

Sweet -- the picture under the hood makes putting 10 pounds of s%#t into a 5 pound bag look easy. Was there a mm of space left?

Helped build a "Super" Cub with 180HP Lycoming, full (40 deg.) flaps and 22" Tundra tires (among lots of other mods). T.O. distance roughly 200', landing could be less with lots of practice. Fun to fly, fun to land on Mexican beaches, slow as snot. I always considered this "real" flying, you can keep your private jets and turbo props. Dan

Hi -- I'm from the government ---- and I'm here to HELP!!

You're nuts -- (in a good way) for pressing on and doing that ride. Reminds me of a ride to the Grand Canyon I took once in late March. Snow sucks! Thanks for the link to Nate Harrison, a good, historical read. Sounds like a guy who could just get along with anyone - we need more of those people in the world. Dan

I decided the F650GS was just too heavy and after multiple drops in Mexico the --- well, shall we say, newness wore off. Or I wore all of the newness off of it. Decided I'd go back to Plan 'A' and get what I originally set out to get. Found this 2005 with 2400 miles on it (still original front tire). Just the right mods - Dave's Carb Mod & IMS Tank. Cheap - really cheap - right in Mission Beach. Now, I need to clean up the F650GS and get it sold.

Perfect for riding to the train station - then to work after getting off the train. I'm in !!

Merry Christmas - ride safe