I saddled up my 2009 Yamaha FJR1300A and headed down to Georgia last Thursday. I needed to take a break and was anxious to meet up with some of my favorite people. I was also ready to put Apollo up to his first mid-distance road trip.

I have a rule: never install anything new or change anything a week before a motorcycle trip. I followed that rule (mostly), but did do a few upgrades before I left. The most suspicious was adding a set of auxiliary lights low on the forks. I did this well before my trip, but had finally gotten them positioned where I wanted them and secured with blue Loctite. Would the mounts hold up to over 1000 miles of highway travel? Would my ass hold up to over 1000 miles of highway travel?
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I’m several days behind on making updates on my trip to Georgia and back. I have a few things to discuss from a motorcycling perspective, some gear to review, and everything else … so instead of lagging even more on my posts, I want to show you some snapshots of my trip, and try to let the pictures do some of the talking.
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Quick trip report, so far :)

Leaving Richmond Saturday morning — it had rained earlier in the morning but my trip was dry.

Stopped in North Carolina to shake my legs and drink some water and coffee.

The weather heated up pretty quickly and the wind was brutal from North Carolina until I hit Savannah.

Fast forward several windy hours — on the approach to Tybee!

Locals doing the speed limit, but a single lane road and double yellow lines kept me in check. I had waited months to get here, I could wait a few minutes longer.

It’s been been non-stop laughs and goofing off since I got here. I will try to post some more later, but I had a problem with the wireless card on my laptop and it’s hard to post from the “public” machine.

I’m headed to Savannah, Georgia to spend some time with some friends. Taking Cylon, my 2005 Yamaha FZ6. I ordered a set of Givi E360 hard cases as the last minute because I couldn’t trust the JC Whitney knock-offs as side cases. I managed to pack all of my things into the side and top cases, but that left me zero wiggle room in case I acquired trophies while I was away. Out came the dry bag I took the last time to Georgia, and now I have some extra space.

It is SUPER humid out today, but the rain seemed to have passed this morning.

I’ll post more when I arrive.

The first half of my ride home from Georgia was great. I was moving along at a good clip, and the sun was bright and shining.

That is, until I got to Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Fayetteville seems to be the tipping point for bad motorcycle weather. On my trip down, my route south of Fayetteville was completely covered by rain. I guess the northern part of my return trip got jealous and wanted to get in on the “fun.”

It rained non-stop, and hard, all the way home. It wasn’t as bad as my trip down, but it was a soaking rain. Paranoid (and hopefully wiser) from my gear problems on the way down, I adjusted my waterproofing strategy slightly.
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As mentioned earlier, I spent four days on a motorcycle trip to see two of my friends outside of Savannah, Georgia. It’s almost five hundred highway miles, which winds up being between eight to nine hours depending on traffic, weather conditions, and the bike I’m on. My best time was on my first trip on my FZ6 because I had great weather and a very comfortable saddle.

This time I took Raider, my BMW R1150R. In theory, it should have been the best of both of my trips: the comfort of my old K1200LTE touring bike, and the mobility of Cylon. Thanks to the weather and an extremely hard seat, it was really the worst of both worlds.

But I still had a kick ass time. ;)
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The first half of my trip down to Georgia was fantastic. It was cool enough that I wasn’t hot in my Rev’It Cayenne Pro jacket, but not so cold my hands were freezing. It was overcast enough that I didn’t have to squint behind my Native sunglasses, but not so overcast that I had to worry about rain.

That is, until I got to Fayetteville, North Carolina. Then the sky opened up. It didn’t stop until I reached Savannah, some 280 miles later.

What followed was a near total failure of every piece of waterproof motorcycling gear that I owned. Am I being too harsh?
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Yesterday I rode Raider, my BMW R1150R down to Savannah, Georgia to hang out with some friends of mine. I took I-95 for most of the way. Eventually I will take a less-traveled route and enjoy myself, but I like making this trip all in one day.

I have been pleasantly surprised at how courteous cars are on the highway. I think it’s because the majority of drivers this time of year are elderly snowbirds, driving south for the winter. They tend to stick to the right hand lane, and I pass them with ease. Every once in awhile, though, you get an asshole behind the wheel.
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I was supposed to go visit my family up in Syracuse, NY this weekend. I was going to ride Raider up there and then putter around with my stepfather. I quickly encountered two monkey wrenches.

1) The bike my dad owned does not have a state inspection. Neither does Raider, but he won’t ride without a 100% legal bike. So a paired ride is out of the picture.

2) It is supposed to rain the entire time I am there. The thing about Syracuse is that the temperature could drop at any time. I’d go from rain to snow in a hurry. Who wants to be caught in that?

So, tell me what you’d choose:
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Around. On my trip, that is. After waffling on whether or not to take my motorcycle, and if I should wear my textile or leather gear, I wound up jumping on my bike in the rain and heading down to Savannah, Georgia for the weekend.

I’ve said this before: good gear, and the right gear, will make or break a motorcycle trip.

I had such a bad mismatch between gear and weather it’s made me rethink my cross-country trip in June of this year.
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