2 weeks

I can’t believe that it’s only 2 weeks until I’m leaving on this crazy trip.  I’m both excited and anxious to tell you the truth.  My last long motorcycle ride (to New Orleans and back) ended up being cut short (distance not time) due to some bike trouble.  Seems some idiot (me) didn’t put enough oil in when doing the oil change (I forgot that the oil filter was full of oil too, and neglected that amount).  So the lack of oil led to overheating which lead to the stator and rectifier burning out, my dad and I were able to make it work though for a while by swapping batteries ever gas stop until we finally found a good motorcycle shop in Alabama (yay ICON power sports) and then we were good to go, but the timing of breakdowns relative to shop hours was terrible and led to us losing 3-4 days of travel.

Given the experiences of the first trip - bad oil change on my part, flat tires, a busted radiator (dad’s bike, not mine) and generally piss poor weather - except in Tennessee when riding the Tail of the Dragon (I’m going back on this trip) - I’ve learned from my mistakes and have acquired provisions for these and other issues.