It lets me use categories, but nothing terribly sophisticated, which is what the name implies. It is simply here to dash something off.

Thing is, I simply cannot find a decent and FREE blog client for the Mac. Frankly, nothing I have used stands up to LiveWriter on any platform.

Think MS will port that?

Instead of a long report about every dirt trail and wildfire we rode through on this great adventure, just check the pictures in the photo gallery if you are interested.

My favorite part was when my 9 year old son and my bulldog puppy rode about 550 miles wit me in 3 days. 200 or so of those miles were on dirt. Very fun! And the dog makes a good pillow.

Technorati tags: Motorad, Stanley Stomp, BMW Motorcycle, r1150gs, motorcycle, advrider

Would you believe that this person is a member in good standing of the Iron
Butt Association? “World’s Toughest Riders” indeed.

Happy Halloween, Gene.

Here is a photo gallery of pics that I took.

Scott is Chief Detective for Yakima police department.  Seriously.
 Great stories of touring Alaska on his GS.

Rex is 74 years old and has been living on his motorcycle for the
last 3 years, after learning to ride.  Here
is his story.  When he dropped his bike leaving the rally, I panicked a little
as I ran over to help, but I was told not to worry.  “He does that a lot.”

Rex gave me a login for his site on Star Traxx and
now I can see where he is at all times in his travels across North America. 
He has a satellite GPS transmitter on his bike.

Ned was on his way to burning man and had great stories to share. 
I am now invited to join the BMW Mottorad theme camp at Burning Man in 2007. 
Awesome.  He introduced me to 72 year old Wade, who was also a burning man participant
and self avowed nudist admirer.  Apparently Wade was an Air Force guard at Area
51 in the 1950s.  I did not bring near enough whiskey and cigars to get
to all of his stories.

Ironically, Ned was riding a KLX 300 and walking all over the bigger bikes while doing
it.

The Canadian, whose real name I cannot remember, hooked me up with
a BMW roundel beanie.  We also discussed the relative merits between Canadian
and U.S. herb.  Apparently the U.S. dollar is stronger when buying marijuana,
too.

Becky and Darren own and run Alpine
Sands Motorcycle Adventures in Grand Junction, Colorado.  Darren makes riding
a R1150GS Adventure look like riding a CRF400X.  Don’t know what that means? 
It means he is really good.

They are both really nice and after running around the hills with them and Ned all
day, they both gave me some dirt riding pointers in the hot springs that night that
turned out to be helpful.

Tim, owner and operator of Happy
Trail in Boise,  lead our dirt road adventures on Friday astride his KTM
950 Adventure.  What an awesome bike.  I coveted it until I saw him oiling
the chain.  Tim and I helped Brad get his Ducati/Cageva Elephant up out of the
drainage and back on the road after he missed a turn.  That one could have been
really bad.

These are just a few of the people I met, and enjoyed.  I can’t wait for the
next event .

The Stanley Stomp is
an old tradition of a motorcycle rally put on by BMW
Riders of Idaho.  The rally is best known for its’ big spreads of food and
the notoriously fun off-road riding for BMW GS owners. 

I
will see parts of Idaho that I have not seen before and that most people never will
see.  The GS has new TKC80 knobbies on it and I am ready for anything.

Tim, down at Happy Trail, will be leading a
ride out into the White Mountains where he promises that I will be blown away by the
scenery in a place called China Basin.  I don’t know where that is, but I intend
to find out.

My iPod is loaded up with podcasts and I will head out in the morning.  See you
next week.

2001 Triumph Tiger

• Black 955i

• New Michelin Anakee Tires

• Tubeless conversion

• Center stand

• Corbin leather saddle

• Acerbis hand guards

• 3 windshields
  • Standard

  • Triumph tall

  • Cee Bailey +4 wider and taller
• Cee Bailey headlight guards

• Complete set of Triumph bags

• Electric push-button Hawke Oiler.

• Heated grips

• Custom accessory wiring block

• Jack Lilley crash bars

• Custom dash shelf with auxiliary power outlets
  • Easily removed if you don’t like it
• Always well maintained and well cared for

• Newer chain

• Almost 20K miles

• Bugs included

$5K

davidstarr@elegantcode.com

I made the run from Calgary to Revelstock, Canada, on Thursday, then from Revelstock
to Lewiston, Idaho, the next day. The last leg home to Boise took all Saturday.

I have tried to condense the entire trip into a photo essay of ten pictures and
here they are:

If that isn’t enough for you, the entire contents of my camera, over 200 pictures,
is available here:
http://www.elegantcode.com/pics/BikeTrip06/

Thank you, Taco del Sol on the corner of Higgins and Pine streets.

Also, I now have my insurance papers, thanks Dawn at Farmers. Turns out, truck stops
let you fax to them.

Today’s ride over Lolo is exactly why God invented motorcycles. More on that later.

After 2 years of no seriously long rides, I am hitting the road tomorrow morning on
my Triumph Tiger for parts unknown. I am considering Banff up in Alberta, Canada,
but I may not truly know where I am going until I get there.

I will post from the road as I can and am taking along a digital camera to record
for posterity. I am setting out from Boise, Idaho with no destination, new tires,
and a very loose time frame.

I have been waiting for BMW to announce this bike since the entry of the R1200GS into
the market 2 years ago and it looks well worth the wait. I read that it will have
about a 350 mile range which makes it perfect as the new Iron
Butt standard ride.

Observations

Anything here is based simply on what I have read so far or can see in pictures here.

• It looks like the seat is two pieces like the standard GS. This could be nice if they
  did it right. The rider should be able to remove the rear seat and replace it with
  a cargo deck.

• The ploy carbon tank shields will be cheaper to replace than a new paint job when
  you drop it on the fire road.

• The stock guards look pretty tough, but I would really like to see an add on that
  protects the cylinder heads. I bet we see that in the aftermarket within the year.

• My gosh, this bike looks great. This is pure biker nerd nirvana.