Tuesday, August 5
Home by about 2:00. Here's my odometer:
8950 miles
30 days, including 3 non-travel days
330 miles average per traveling day
20 states
Combined age of rider and bike = 96 years
Motorcycle repairs total: $100 parts and labour for rear wheel bearings, replace broken tachometer drive cable with free used spare one
Two oil changes during the trip
Detailed credit card statement analysis coming up, but here's a rough idea of expenses:
10 nights with generous friends = $0
20 motel stays @ $50 = $1000
9000 miles @ 40mpg @ $4/gal = $900
30 days food and drink @ $20/day = $600
Total = $2500, possibly as much as $3000
My pre-trip estimate was $100/day
The map above is an iOS 6 feature of my ipad, showing the locations where my pictures were taken.
(The pin in Florida was from a March Break trip.)
I'd like to add here the one scary moment during my trip. It was the day I spent travelling from Memphis TN to Denton TX. I was on the highway near Texarkana AR and wanted to check the map for a
parallel secondary route. It was a hot sunny day so I pulled onto the right shoulder under an overpass in the shade. I found what I was looking for on the map and was ready to get back on the
highway. Turn indicator on, I waited for a break in traffic in the right lane. The middle and left lanes were busy too. Eventually there was a gap and I began to pull into the right lane. A couple of
feet in and suddenly a car zoomed by, missing my left leg by inches. It must have done a quick lane change from the middle to the right hand lane just as I was entering it. Sometimes life is a game
of inches.
Here is also a good place to end my story with the Honda (and begin a new one.) My brother in law was the previous owner of the Honda and was too busy with his career to concern himself with it.
I fixed up the Honda and went on this unforgettable trip with it at the beginning of my retirement. My brother in law is now retiring himself and so the Honda is going back to him. I've switched
over my insurance to my first BMW that was last ridden 14 years ago and stored in my garage. My story with it begins a new chapter: BMW R100.
