New Jersey to California:
When my brother Alan told me he was riding a motorcycle across America for his 40th birthday, I thought about what it would be like to join him. Last time I rode a 600cc bike was in 2001.
Within a few days he scored a brand new 2012 Kawasaki Z1000, his dream bike. I knew at this point he was serious, not wanting him to go by himself, I decided I would come along, after all, its his big 40, and I'm always up for an adventure.
It was fun researching bikes and visiting motorcycle
dealers, a week later I finally ended up with a 2009 Yamaha FZ6R from craigslist. Great Sport Touring bike for the novice rider like myself. I love this bike. Upright riding position, forgiving 600cc engine, decent wind protection, and my favorite stealth color, black.
Key items I packed for the 10 day cross-country road trip:
Helmet, Winter gloves, summer gloves, all season winter and
waterproof motorcycle jacket and pants, motorcycle boots, 5 pairs of
(socks-t-shirts-and underwear), sweater, 2 long sleeve shirts, windbreaker
jacket, long johns, whiskey flask, flashlight, macbook pro, ipad mini, jambox
Bluetooth speakers, iphone, Canon G12 digital camera, mini tripod, HD video
cam, sneakers, jogging pants, few hundred dollars in cash, and duct tape. The
electronics were packed into my Mission Works (Sanction) backpack, and the rest
went into my Timbuk2 Pilot bag. I brought along some water proof covers from an
old pair of motorcycle saddle bags.
The key player was my Rock Straps, which held both my bags
and all this stuff.
Weeks leading to the trip, all I thought about were how my
brother or I were going to die on this trip. It boiled to two scenarios. First
was getting run over by an 18 wheeler truck, the thought of getting rolled over
by even half of those wheels played itself out every night. Second way was the
two of us Asian dudes coming across some spin off or hybrid sect of the KKK,
in which case we would be beaten or torched to death just for fun. When I could
no longer deal with these nightmare scenarios, I asked my bro what his daily
thoughts were, and he said it was of dying on the road as well, so that
ironically made me feel better.
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| Scene in Jersey City, NJ a week or before the trip |
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