Back from the Blue Ridge Parkway trip and tried out a few new things. Replaced the racetech emulator yellow springs with softer blue springs, the front is much more compliant.
The additional memory foam seat padding increased distance before having to stop to 1.5 hours instead of my usual 1.0. Tried the rearset footpegs/brakelever/gearshift, nicer on the twisty parts, not as comfy on the straighter sections.
Tried a rear Michelin Commander 150/80-16 bias, seems fine with radial front. At 4200 km there was 2mm wear so it should last for 3 trips.
The only equipment failure I had on the trip was the Garmin GPS cradle, the bottom quarter cracked off. Managed to come up with a rubber band fix (see pic). For much of the trip, I turn off navigation and stick it in trip/statistic mode. I found that my moving average was 42 mph on the curvy parts, 45 mph on the straighter parts. Also the Concours speedometer is within 2% of the GPS speed reading.
Travelling alone I go out of my way to chat with other bikers and campers. A small number are memorable.
1) There was the fellow from Kanata ON (near Ottawa where I live) who now lives in Phoenix AZ. At 1 PM, he and I were at the north end of the Parkway, him arriving via interstates, me having come down the Skyline Drive. I was planning to get as far as Roanoke VA to camp and I asked how far he was planning to go. He said he was going to speed down the Parkway and get to Deal's Gap to camp that night. Now that's more than 500 miles and the last few hours would be in the dark with the deer. I said that was rather ambitious and wished him a good ride. He also claimed he had enough tools to rebuild the whole bike. Canada hereby apologizes for sending you this blowhard as an immigrant.
2) A solo bicyclist, who had done 60 miles per day for a couple of days. I bicycle but I don't think I could keep up that pace for many days with the elevation changes.
3) An older gentleman I followed for a while, felt no need to pass, he was going 50 in the 45 mph turns. Met him later at Peaks of Otter where he was going to stay. He's had numerous Yamahas, turns out he was no longer flexible enough for his FJR1300. He bought a more relaxed 950 Yamaha laid-back V-Star.
Had my Avon Azaro front tire replaced at MR Motorcycle in Asheville. It was cupped so badly down to the tread base level, I was afraid to continue on it, even though it wasn't worn to the wear bars. They had a Michelin Pilot Road 2 120/70ZR18 in stock and were willing to mount it right away. So far, it holds air, nothing fell off, balance weights are there, so I'm now a Michelin man front and back.
As to the riding, there was hardly any rain, it got cooler at the end of the trip, leathers, gauntlets and long underwear for riding, sleeping bag up over head in the tent at night. All the kiddies are back at school and the motorhomes have gone into hibernation. No oppressive enforcement, I did have one park ranger blink his high beams at me though.
Tried the Cox campground near Berkeley Springs WV for the first time, friendly and civilized. And a few new restaurants, Maxie's Supper Club, Ithaca NY, Bedford Social Club, Bedford VA, Nawab Indian, Roanoke VA.
60.8 US gal., 2607 miles, 42.88 mpg. Great fun, ready to go again.