Hello All,

I’m planning a 6500 mile trip on my 1995 C10 in the next few months.  The bike has about 39k miles on it right now.  I bought the bike last winter at 34k miles from a guy who had ridden it about 400 miles in the two years he owned it so I pulled out the carbs and sent them to SISF for the full treatment.  I adjusted the valves the loose end of spec, installed Steve’s exhaust cam, changed the oil, coolant, thermostat and related o-rings then headed out for an 1800 mile trip and had no problems.  Since then I have replaced both tires. (ST2 Ultra in front and AV46 in rear) I have about 2000 miles on the front tire and maybe 1500 on the rear.

The rear suspension seemed to squeak a little before I put it away for the winter.  I think there are grease zerks I can use to lube them?   Besides other obvious things that jump out at me are there any not so obvious things I should check out before heading off on this trip?   Should I check the valves again?

Thanks,

Rick

  Make it a little easier to lube the zerk fittings. Pull one out and take it to NAPA auto parts and get some 90 degree fittings. Probably will give you a bubble pk of them. Makes it a lot easier to grease the fittings.
   A GPS can help alot unless you just want to explore. Oh, also credit card and cellphone!!!!!

   Almost forgot. Have a great and safe trip. Tom

  Make it a little easier to lube the zerk fittings. Pull one out and take it to NAPA auto parts and get some 90 degree fittings. Probably will give you a bubble pk of them. Makes it a lot easier to grease the fittings.
   A GPS can help alot unless you just want to explore. Oh, also credit card and cellphone!!!!!

   Almost forgot. Have a great and safe trip. Tom

Thanks for the zerk fitting tip.

I'm all set with the GPS and cell phone.  In addition to the Garmin Nuvi 550 for basic navigation I also enable the GPS in my Droid X and use an app called SpeedView to warn me when I'm speeding.  I got a my first ticket in over 20 years durring my first real Connie ride last sping. 

As a precaution I would look @ a place around the 3K mile mark for new tires. Actually I would be sure to check the tires a lot: @ around 5K my rear is gone and the front is shaking hard. It was within 100 miles that I went from "OK" to "oh my". I at the time run your same combo.

 Disclaimer: this is what many of the sport tour guys are getting around here on about any tire, so it must have to do with the road composition. Maybe where you are going is different. Check with the locals, I flipped about this but I started asking around and most were like "yep. Buy a few sets every year." As you can tell, these guys are serious.

Front wheel bearing change? Easy and safe insurance. Have them check the gear in the rear wheel when the tire is off. Brakes look good? Oh, and an extra J box would be in my bag. Or your current one w/ the relays replaced and crossed fingers: I would have the relays replaced in both!

That is a rough one when you hit the button and nothing and you are far from home. I would take off the cover and tap on it until I got home but not an exciting event.

A spare key, or 3. Keys fall in the worst places, and are so cheap to get spares! So do wallets, so keep one in your jacket or something. Hanging around your neck? If you loose your head, you don't need a key!

+1 on the spare key. I didn't need it on last year's trip, but I was glad to have it while 2500 miles from home. Your choice of GPS is a good one. My Nuvi 550 did very well on the trip. I installed a database of all government run campsites and found some very nice Corps of Engineers sites that way. Check the phone coverage along your route. My cheap-ass phone had no coverage in 4 states of the 24 I passed through.

My Elite3 tires lasted the entire 8000 miles, but I paid a pretty high handling penalty for that mileage. The only major trouble I had with the bike was a final drive seal failure about 4000 miles in. Gear oil running down a wooden tire makes you think about those left hand turns!

New fork and rear shock oil would be a good idea.

New brake and clutch fluid  every other year to head off problem$$$ in those departments.

Keeping up on lubing the rear splines, both for the hub and rear of shaft?

I would plan a tire change location and have tires waiting.  Other than that, with 39k and everything you've done, any mechanical problems would have manifested themselves by now.  Maybe do the jbox reflow and call it good.

I'm going to be hanging out with my brother in Annapolis, MD for a few weeks so that is where I would get tires if needed.   Anyone in that area have any shop recomendations?   The only shops I have been to are Bob's BMW and Honda of Crofton.
Thanks for all of the suggestions!

If you have not done it previously, I'd recommend replacing the front wheel bearings. The design is simply not up to the task at hand and they go out sooner or later. It's 2 hours and $10 to do them in the garage. If they die on the road - you're stuck.

Program your cell with Murphy"s Ph. No.  If you break down he can send you the parts you will need, and this site can help you with the installation.  HTH and have fun, take lots of photos.  PS: if things don't go as planed that will be the trip you will remember.