Weeks ahead of schedule but still not as soon as the England team.
MOT
Somehow, we passed first time. wheels are a bit out of line (rear is pointing north-west), back tyre isn’t great and there’s play in the suspension linkage. Apart from that, ta-daaaa, no problems. Not even the usual to-do with headlight alignment.
28,500 miles in 10 months and 1 week. The bike is now with the shipping company and we’re preparing for our preliminary visit to Hong Kong.
Steering still notchy despite slapping in the spare (easy) top bearing I’ve been carrying the whole trip. Great people in Jackson, Mississippi, got me a close enough fit from a Toyota transfer box so I can change the lower bearing. Peanut butter is shown for scale. I’ve bought another hammer.
Later:
Tiger now rides well; notchy steering and a slack chain made it a bit depressing to ride. It’s also been surging but I’m hoping I’ve sorted that by doing a 30s reset.
To celebrate 25000 miles in 9 months Silver has started losing oil past the dipstick o ring. Since returning to the USA I haven’t been able to get Mexican Mobil 1 (5w50) and so I took the bold decision to mix oils and top up with USA Mobil 1 (15w50). Scaremongers and alchemists will say I should do an oil change, and I guess they’re right, but I just haven’t had the opportunity. I’ll try to get a new o ring.
Other problems? The GPS has been blowing 10A fuses every now and then since Guatemala and chose this morning to start immediately blowing replacements. I put a 15A in and stood well back.
Steering head bearings have gone again. I say again, I just rotated the top one last time, in Berlin. I have a spare.
Hugger needs fixing.
Cheap Bridgestones do not look like they’re going to go the distance.
Well, you live and learn. In the USA, the distilled water used to top up batteries and cooling systems is the same as the water sold for humans to drink. I tried a few auto spares shops before being told to just get it off the shelf in Walmart, along with all the other drinks. I’m pretty sure distilled water is bad for humans and I don’t think my radiator needs a dash of citrus, for taste.
HP Stream 11 lasted 6 months till some idiot lightly knelt on it in the tent. $200 laptops really aren’t very robust so this time I’ve spent $300 and got one that is actually kidproof.
Lenovo 11e Chromebook was ordered but Windows 10 Pro version was delivered (to the campsite!). I think that puts me about $100 up but I was looking forward to exploring Chrome OS. Currently downloading Ubuntu and refusing to trust Windows with any of my passwords in the meantime.
Sunday beers in Moab, Utah
Monument Valley, Utah, where John Ford shot loads of cowboy films.
It’s been great to get back to camping; the fresh air, the wildlife.
We’ve had such a good run of going to see good movies, lately: The Martian, The Revenant, Deadpool, The Force Awakens… then, unfortunately, this rubbish. At least we got to use a tiny, small town cinema. It was a bit embarrassing when the owner (pictured, changing the sign) asked us how we liked the movie, though.
sawthingsclearer 