Bob Higdon:
Before dawn tomorrow I leave Daytona for Mississippi to spend Thanksgiving with Shane and Karen Smith. The following Monday I take off for McAllen, Texas to hook up with Dean Tanji, Lisa Landry, and Mike Kneebone for a ride even farther south. The trip was originally Lisa’s and Dean’s idea. They wanted to ride to the bottom of the hemisphere to a town in Patagonia called Ushuaia. The road stops there. Dean warmed up for this ride by riding to Prudhoe Bay in Alaska last summer. The road stops there too.
At some point Mike was invited to come along. He has already been to Ushuaia at least once. He invited me. I’ve never been farther south than Guatemala. They’re all on relatively new, highly tricked out Suzuki V-Stroms. I’ll be on an ’03 CB750 Honda Nighthawk, the bike that Mike rode from the Pacific Ocean across Siberia to the Atlantic in 2004. There’s hardly anything new on that bike at all, except maybe the windshield. But if you absolutely, positively have to get someplace on a motorcycle without worrying about mechanical breakdowns, the mundane ‘Hawk would have to be on everyone’s short list.
The route is a well-traveled one by motorcyclists. Friends of ours, Canadians Ross and Jean Copas, are working their way south to Santiago, Chile at this very moment. Our trip should take about eight weeks, with an additional week’s break at Christmas. We hope to be able to make occasional internet contact while on the road. I’ll post to this bcc: list as conditions permit. Drop me a note if you’ve heard enough already.
I’ll be carrying a SPOT tracker that will begin recording when I leave tomorrow morning: http://spotwalla.com/tripViewer.php?id=22aa4cd2ad59583c9.
Until then, adios y nos vemos.
Dean:
Six days! Where did the time go???
Our plan is to meet somewhere near Brownsville TX and cross the border to get our Mexico vehicle paperwork done before riding south
Bob will be coming west from Daytona FL via Shane Smith’s in Mississippi.
Mike will be riding south from Chicago.
Lisa and I will ride east from SoCal.
Here’s what we’re riding.
Bob – 2003 Honda CB750 Nighthawk, 463 lbs dry, 4.8 gal stock tank (Corrected-Thanks Maura)
Lisa – 2008 VStrom DL650, 418 lbs dry + Jesse saddlebags, 5.8 stock tank w/5.7 gal Flatbed fuel cell = total 11.5 gal
Mike – 2009 VStrom DL1000, 465 lbs dry
Dean – 2004 VStrom DL1000, 465 lbs dry + Jesse saddlebags, 5.8 stock tank w/5.7 gal Flatbed fuel cell = total 11.5 gal.
Lisa and I will have CBs to talk between us, a Sat Phone for emergencies and plan to use SKYPE for personal phone calls. Mike and Bob will not have any communications except yelling and/or throwing stuff at each other to get attention. I guess it works for them. I plan on always having a pocket full of rocks for communications with them.
The fuel capacity for Bob’s Nighthawk is 4.8 gallons and the dry weight is 463 pounds, your stats are probably from the 250 Nighthawk. Not that is will make much difference, range is quite a bit less than the stock vee, but what’s not to love still about a talking boat anchor!
Que tengan un buen viaje!!!!!!
Roger’s productivity at the office is really suffering, because he keeps taking breaks to go check the computer in his back office! The staff probably thinks he is suffering from an intestinal problem, but he is just checking on you guys! I just hope he doesn’t forget to get the patients numb before doing their dental work.
We are making our annual Kransekake dessert to send to Alan and the kids. They might save you a little bite, but maybe not!