Sunday 11 November 2018

2018 Fall Streaming Dongle Choices

Of late, I've gotten into streaming devices.  At this point, I think I own one of everything.  Figured I might as well collect my thoughts.

I'm on the road a lot.  After a while, I'm tired of watching random push entertainment, and long to do some on-demand video.  In other words, I want to get caught up on Doctor Who, or I want to watch The Martian.  However, these two random examples illustrate the challenges I have.  Is there one streaming option that lets me do both, while remaining trivially portable?

My travel tends to circle around flying or motorcycling, or both together.  Portability is critically important to me.  I want it small enough that even if I don't bother to use it, I never compromised on space from carrying something else.

I have streaming subscriptions and purchased content across several services.

Streaming Services

  1. Netflix
    • Useful around the world
  2. Crave (nee. Crave TV) 
    • Home to TV series including The Expanse and past seasons of Doctor Who
    • Only useful in Canada 
    • They're talking about creating a premium service, and are only doubling the monthly subscription price.  Only.  I don't know if some current content will become premium-only content.
  3. Amazon Prime
    • Home to TV series including The Grand Tour 
    • Useful in Canada and the US (apparently off my Amazon Canada account), at least.
    • Awesome, because it also includes free shipping.  Nice add-on that!
  4. The Roku Channel
    • A late entry.  So far, unless you're an old western buff, not a lot of content.  Except they have ReGenesis!  
    • Roku only.
  5. Tubi TV
    • Another late entry.  Long Way Round and Long Way Down, free!
    • Roku, Sony TV, Apple TV.

Purchased Content providers (with a couple examples each) 

  1. Apple iTunes
    • National Geographic content including Mars (currently in seasonal broadcast) and Genius (Einstein season)
    • Babylon 5 series
    • lots of movies including The Martian and The Big Short
  2. Google Play Video
    • Doctor Who season 11 (the female doctor, currently in seasonal broadcast) 
    • Chosen to test Google Play Video in my life.

 Other Content

  1. Plex app
  2. sideloading Android apps 
    • I used to run a streaming TV app on a cheap Android STB, briefly on my Sony TV, and very briefly on my Amazon stick.  Then that service went away.  Not important to me now, but the sideloading option does speak to its flexibility.

Why not just plug my laptop into my hotel TV?

While this would be a great option, I've tried and I find it cumbersome.

On the motorcycle, carrying around long thick HDMI cables is a pain.  I've tried the Redmere thin HDMI cables, but compatibility is too often a showstopper, as is cable quality; I've gone through several.

Devices in Play

I've included all the streaming options I have, including my TV (for illustrative purposes).  As you can see, nothing is 100%, but the Apple TV comes the closest in functionality, but doesn't meet my portability desires.

Sorry, this table will be infantile; I'm not a web developer, and I have no interest to figure out if I can stuff pretty CCS into this, whatever CSS is.

Device Form
Factor
Vol iTunes Netflix Amazon
Prime
Crave Plex Google
Play
Video
Tubi TV Chrome
Cast
Sideload
Android
Apps
Roku 4k Stick
- Canada
Stick Y n Y Y n Y Y Y n n
Amazon Fire TV
stick - Canada
Stick n n Y Y Y Y n Y n Y
Apple TV 4k STB Y Y Y Y Y Y n Y n n
ChromeCast Dongle n n n n n n n n Y n
Sony X900F TV,
Android TV
TV Y n Y Y n Y Y Y Y Y

Roku 4k Stick

Everyone loves the Roku stick.  Easy to use, lots of options.  I'd use it more, except Crave has yet to come out with an app for it.

There might be a way to get Crave onto the Roku, using VMedia.  However, it seems it needs you to sign up with Crave from your VMedia account, and pay Crave's fee through VMedia.  Not sure I entirely understand how that works, and it isn't something I can just *try* with my current Crave account.

Does 4k, not that I need that often.  I also have the older not-4k stick, but its lack of volume control makes it uninteresting to me.

Usually worked when powered from a TV's USB port, though it does urge you to feed it 1A over USB.

Amazon Fire TV stick

My current go-to travel stick.  Lacks volume controls, not 4k, no Alexa.  As a travel stick, it is okay.  I'm tempted to upgrade to the new Fire TV 4k stick, if it goes on sale.

It really needs more than 500mA, and I've never had it properly function running off a TV's USB port; usually starts to boot, then restarts its boot, ad infinitum.

It is likely the new 4k Stick would end up becoming my best travel streamer, if I picked it up.

Apple TV 4k

This is my secondary streamer at home, usually reserved for all Apple content at home and Crave.  (My X900F TV is my primary streamer.)

Its remote is pretty full function, and can even control the TV's volume.

Nifty-neat comment; I can control this through my TV's remote.  I can even seem to power it on by switching my TV to the Apple TV HDMI input.

But this does not meet my portability requirement.  Apple, please, for the love of all that's holy, release an Apple TV Stick!

ChromeCast

Then there's ChromeCast.  It doesn't have any local content itself; it relies on some computing device like a laptop or a handheld device to feed it content.  And it favours not-Apple platforms.

As a Mac user, ChromeCast is a bit of a problem as many apps and streaming sites didn't seem to support it through a Mac, and the Mac OS itself doesn't have direct support for ChromeCast. 

There is another personal problem with ChromeCast, Airplay, and other wireless screen-mirroring options; my laptop is almost always on my corporate VPN, and as such, it cannot connect to local network devices like the ChromeCast.  So wired HDMI or bust.

It is possible that Mac support is better now and if I can find my ChromeCast, I will try to reevaluate it.

Sony X900F TV

I recently got this TV, and it is awesome.  Of course, it isn't portable, but I added it for colour, as my streaming woes don't stop when I get home.

The Sony does lots of things well, but of course it doesn't handle my iTunes media, and it doesn't have a Crave app.  The Apple TV rounds out all my needs giving me 100% coverage, when I'm at home.

Wrap-up

I'm not really going into detail about audio and video support, beyond 4k, as these are typically not a big deal when you're on the road and subject to whatever random TV is in your room.



Monday 8 October 2018

Vancouver to Toronto, aka First long tour on the R1200RS

For September 2018, I managed to squeak in a cross-Canada (or mostly so) ride, from Vancouver to Toronto.

It was broken into two chapters:  4 days Vancouver to Calgary (could be done in 1 day), and 4 days Calgary to Toronto (suppose it could be done in 2-3 days).

I was somewhat nervous about this ride, because this was the first long ride I'd done with my R1200RS, specifically because of my grief with its seat and seating position.

13 years ago or so, I was rear-ended on my 1992 Katana 750, which had the effect of damaging my tailbone.  Within the year, I went down in a heavy snow storm, landing on that damaged tailbone.  And I never had it looked at.  Heck, I never even told my doctor until this past May, 13 years later.  He laughed at how stupid I am.  Seriously, he laughed.  Then he told me to find a convenient physiotherapist.

Physio has been helping, but I've built up enough scar tissue over the years that I am by no means fixed.  And here I was doing what became a 7000km September ride, on the bike that was excruciating to ride over 2 hours mere weeks beforehand when I finally started physio.

Chapter 1, Vancouver to Calgary, Thursday Sept 28 - Tuesday Sept 4

I committed an extended long weekend to get from Vancouver to Calgary.  A direct ride is as little as 1000km across the TransCanada, so I knew I could have lots of time to go off the usual route, if the BC wildfires let me.

I started off on Thursday after work, heading north to Whistler.  From there, I aimed for 100 Mile House, but ran out of sunshine as I hit Lillooet, so I stopped at the first hotel I found, the Reynolds Hotel.  In retrospect, I'm really glad I did.  But first..

I'd only ever been between Vancouver and Whistler, never beyond on BC-99 up to 100 Mile House.  Beautiful road, beautiful scenery, no traffic.  Incredible.  I had no idea!

Anyway, Lillooet.  The Reynolds was a fine hotel.  Not plush like the Hiltons I usually stay in, but more than acceptable.  Variety store by the lobby, restaurant next door (with stupid early close at night, but food across the road) but handy for breakfast.  Nice.

But it was the morning where I realized where I was.  Lillooet is in the middle of the mountains, mountains on all sides.  Breathtaking.  Hit the link to read about the history of this town.  Highest recorded temperature in BC, lowest rainfall, couple hours from Vancouver.  Awesome.  I want a cottage on a lake up there, where I can land a float plane.  Mmmm.

On Friday, from Lillooet, I continued up BC-99 and BC-97 to 100 Mile House, then BC-24 and BC-5 to Valemount BC for the night.  Stayed at a pretty disappointing Super 8.  Expensive, miserable breakfast.  Nice dinner at the Caribou Grill though.

Saturday had me cruising through Jasper towards Banff by BC-16, AB-16, AB-93 (the Icefields Parkway) to the TransCanada.  I think the fee to ride through the parks was around $10.  Amazing ride, though chilly; temps down around 4c along this stretch.

Once I got down to the TransCanada, I turned west, hoping to sleep in Revelstoke for the night.  My favourite part of the TransCanada has always been the stretch between Revelstoke and, let's say, Canmore, basically the east end of the Rockies before you hit Calgary.

The entire time I was in Alberta this day, the skies were clear, mountains perfect, but the temps were down around 5c.

Stayed at the Revelstoke Lodge.  It was okay.  Good sleep.  No breakfast, but I had leftover pizza from dinner at Emo's. 

Sunday was my day to get into Calgary, backtracking a bit on the TransCanada and through Banff.  Nice day, but the sky was largely obscured by smoke.  :(

Came to rest at my Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport.  This had the huge benefit of both being near the airport, has free parking and a free shuttle to the airport, and is a 3 minute walk from Sentinel Calgary North, the storage facility I was storing my motorcycle at for the next 1.5 weeks.

I had Monday "off", in that I got to Calgary a day earlier than I needed to, in order to avoid a lot of spirit-dampening rain.  Dabbled with the bike, sorted my clothes, did laundry (I was leaving a bunch of closed behind for my eventual return), and relaxed.  Flew home Tuesday, went back to work.

Chapter 2, Calgary and around.  Friday Sept 14 to Thursday Sept 27

I flew back to Calgary from Toronto after work on Friday, Sept 14.  Bee-lined to the Hilton Garden Inn Calgary Airport again, and despite the rain, I retrieved my motorcycle from storage and left the locker unlocked.

Spent Saturday and Sunday riding around the area.  Went to Lethbridge, to sleep in Medicine Hat, then Sunday slept in Lethbridge.  Monday, went to work and stayed at the Homewood Suites Calgary Downtown for the rest of the week.

My opinion of the Homewood Suites is mixed.  No free parking, only valet, and $36/day at that.  Remarkable.  I talked them down to $25/day (their weekend valet rate), but having to go inside every time I wanted to park to beg a valet to open the garage was a PITA.  The valets only met me outside once without me having to go inside.  Meh.

The room was okay, functional.  Fully fitted kitchen though, which was nice; real stove, microwave, full fridge, full set of dishes and silverware, etc.

For the second weekend, the weather around Calgary was turning miserable, wet and cold, so I went down to Lethbridge again, if only to get a nice ride.  It was, like 10c warmer and dry in Lethbridge for the weekend.

Spent the next week to Thursday at the Homewood Suites again.  Nicer room (top floor has big windows). 

Curiously, my door cards never could open the coin laundry facility; had to beg a steward to open the laundry for me.  Some random occupant verified that their cards could indeed open the laundry, just mine couldn't.  It was annoying. 

On Wednesday, I boxed up one collection of things I wouldn't need for the ride home (old tank bag, clothes) and shipped them home using Canada Post, for about $36 with a bit of insurance.

Chapter 3, Calgary to Toronto.  Thursday night Sept 27 through Monday Oct 1

After the class finally let out around 17:30 on Thursday, I got into my riding suit, boxed up the rest of my clothes that I wouldn't need for the ride, shipped it all using CP again (about $42 I think), then got on the road.

Throughout the previous two weeks, I'd been watching the weather reports pretty closely, trying to figure out my route options.  I really wanted to ride through Canada, but that really depended on the weather.  Though the Fall had just started, Calgary's weather was decidedly approaching Winter conditions, and by the end of the week, I knew the rest of central Canada was not going to be great.  In particular, mornings starting at -4c, which would necessitate late starts and early ends each day, which my schedule could not support.  Through the US!

It was raining and as low as 2c as I left Calgary.  I bee-lined for Great Falls, Montana, through Lethbridge and down I-15.  Rolled into there nearly 23:00 or something.  Stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn. 

Rained the whole ride.  It wasn't a wonderful ride, but I was generally comfortable.  Curiously, I was unconvinced that my gloves were heating properly, but my heated grips on full kept my hands content.

Of note; I stopped just north of Great Falls on the side of the road, to book the hotel room.  In the 30 seconds I was stopped, someone stopped on the highway (like, didn't even try to pull over), to see if I was okay.  I didn't stick around, waved, said I was fine, rode around him and hit the hotel.

While I was in the hotel room, I discovered that my right glove lead from my heated jacket liner was broken and shorting out.  That would explain why my gloves weren't heating, as they share the one controller lead, and I have to assume the controller shut the entire circuit down to save itself.

On Friday, just after I left the hotel, I decided I wanted to find somewhere to buy bits to fix my glove lead.  Pulled over to search my phone for auto parts or a Radio Shack or something.  Within 30 seconds, a guy pulled over to check if I was okay!  Twice in one stop in Great Falls.  Very nice town, very motorcycle-conscious.

Anyway, I aimed for Gillette, Wyoming for the night.  However, as I neared Gillette, I discovered I still had lots of life in my day, and pushed to Rapid City, South Dakota.  Turned into a 1000km day!  First long day on the R1200RS!  I was very happy to be doing long days on this bike, and my tailbone really wasn't giving me grief, at least while I was on the bike.  Stayed at the Hampton Inn.

As for scenery, yeah, no.  There's really no scenery along this entire route.  Yeah.

Saturday, I started the morning by fixing my heated glove lead, then did Rapid City to Waterloo, Iowa.  An 1100km day!  I wanted to stay at the Hilton Garden Inn, but the rate jumped while I rode, so I cheaped out and stayed at the Hampton Inn.

Sunday was a shorter day, taking me to the Hilton Garden Inn, Detroit Metro Airport, for about 900km.  For note, it was almost non-stop tire shrapnell on the highway, with several trucks and cars on the shoulder with destroyed tires.  It was weird!

Monday had me rolling into Canada, visiting mom near Chatham, then getting home, a day early!  Cancelled my extra vacation day, saving it for some better-weather ride.

Reflections

This was my first long ride on the R1200RS, and it was a huge success.

I LOVE its cruise control.  It was comfortable enough.  It doesn't leave me in a passionate heat like my K1300S, but it performed its role flawlessly.

The segment from Vancouver to Calgary was incredible, even despite the overcast-like smoke.  I'd love to do that a dozen more times.

Calgary to Toronto was a long uninteresting push, but it went by fine.  Listened to several audiobooks through the ride, some new books I'd never heard before. 

Tuesday 18 September 2018

The Bike Thread

Over the years, I've done a lot of motorcycle touring.  Figured I should get some thoughts down.

Those that know me know that I'm a fan of the sportier side of touring.  I ride sport-touring bikes, and find them comfortable for 12+ hour days if my schedule demands it.

So far, these are the bikes I've ridden over decent distances:

1992 Suzuki Katana 750 (deceased)

The '92 Katana 750 was my first bike.  I think I got it around July 2004 I think, had it for about 2 years.

It is a pretty heavy beast, but it was cheap, and widely available in the used market.  I got mine for a steal, and it was the perfect bike to learn on.  Maybe a little fast, but it was stable, fit me perfectly, and it could take a beating.

I commuted with this bike constantly from Oakville.  I would often get up at 05:30 to check the weather, to decide if I wanted to get on the road before 06:45 and beat the traffic.  I could just barely stuff the work laptop into my Joe Rocket Blaster tank bag, but this gave me the freedom of not having to wear a backpack.

Besides provincial rides, my first big ride was to Winnipeg for a week.  Soft tail bags, tank bag.  Perhaps about 4500km or so, no rain.  The ride went excellently and in the end, I was hooked.  

The Katana used a maintenance-required battery, and I had never experienced one of those before.  When I got on the bike on the second morning in Bruce Mines, the bike refused to start.  Nothing.  Not even a rrrr-sound or a clicky from the starter.  Oh crap.

It didn't take long to decide the battery was dead.  Then it hit me, the battery had little screwtops over each cell, meaning it needed to be occasionally topped up with distilled water.  I figured I had cooked the battery, but I happened to have a bit of distilled water in my tank bag.  Poured a bit into the battery and it started!  It worked fine for the rest of the ride.

One negative experience; I had a little electronic clock stuck to the bike's dash, and someone took it while I slept in Ignace (I believe).  Left me a bit miffed.

Unfortunately, that bike didn't last long; I put about 40000km on it before I finally blew its engine.  Not bad for my first 1.5 years though.  Katanae are known to have soft cams.  Also, it is air/oil cooled, and doesn't have an engine temperature meter.  After a couple of oil boilovers that left the engine starved for oil, the cams were shot, the pistons were hitting the valves and one day, *bang*, a valve broke off, jammed the piston head, causing the connecting rod to explode out the side of the engine block.  I still have the valve head on my keyboard at home, after pulling it from where it got embedded in my fairings after the explosion.  :)

I also drained its battery a handful of times.  I understand that motorcycles often don't generate enough amperage at idle to charge the battery, Toronto's rush-hour traffic causes a lot of idling, and my GPS is always playing something.  I became quite intimate with bump-starting bikes.

GPS:  Garmin Vista (useless), Garmin Quest (destroyed 3 through vibrations), Garmin Zumo 550.
Soft saddle bags:  First Gear
Tank bag:  Joe Rocket Blaster

Tires: 
  • Bridgestone BT020

1998 Suzuki Katana 750 (deceased)

I went without a bike for most of a season, then got a beater Katana from a friend of mine around July 2006.  It really was a beater; he had previously ridden it into a guardrail and had reassembled it.

I put maybe 8000km on the bike in the year I had it, and no really noteworthy trips.

The bike was never very reliable.  I always had a fluctuating power delivery problem that drove me nuts.  I kept pouring more and more money into it, but finally had to give up on it when I realized I couldn't trust it for long trips.  I saw an opportunity for a ride to Winnipeg (and with vacation time, perhaps more) and had to sort that out.  And thus:

2000 Honda VFR800FI (putt-putt) (deceased)

This bike changed everything.  Fuel injected, water cooled, modern, good aftermarket support (including hard luggage options), excellent power (for me, at the time), etc.  I picked it up in June 2007.  It had about 14000km on it, and was about twice the price of my Katanae, but so worth it.

Within weeks of buying the bike, I did my first road trip.  It was utterly random; I had little idea where I was going or what I was doing.  I was still sporting soft bags, I didn't bring any rain gear, I was just "going east".

I ran into a couple friends at a couple service stations around Cornwall, and ended up following them on a "Chowdah Ride" to Bangor, Maine.  Twice a day, Chiller, the lead rider, would ask "Are you going to stay with us or go off on your own?", to which I would smile and shrug.  Stuck with them through the whole ride, though I admit part of that was because their route happened to miss a lot of rain through Eastern Canada.

The passion I felt for this bike was beyond anything I was prepared for.  I HAD to ride. Every waking minute, I felt like I was letting myself down by not riding.  

The big ride came in August; I lit out of home on August 24th, bound for Winnipeg.  I had hard luggage by now.  I was feeling a financial pinch, so I camped out roughly 50% of the time.

After a week of work in Winnipeg, I took a couple west-coast friends up on their offers for places to stay.  Rode across Canada along the Yellowhead highway, up through Grand Prairie AB, over to Mackenzie BC, then down through Hope BC and onto Vancouver.  

After a couple days at one friend's place, I took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Victoria, then rode west to the Pacific Rim National Park and Tofino.  Camped out in the park for a night, then headed back to Vancouver.

After staying at another friend's place in Vancouver, I took the Trans-Canada highway back home.  Met with some cold weather through the Prairies and then some drizzling rain, and had to don the rain gear just to cut the wind.

I had a lot of things on my mind for that ride; though I had 4 weeks vacation available, I only took 3 weeks.  I suspected I was going to quit my job soon after getting back, and knew with pro-rated vacation days and only 3/4rs through the year, I didn't really have the full 4 weeks to consume.  

I got to think a lot about leaving my job during the ride, and the entire ride was an expression of selfishness; if I found myself thinking about my book while I rode, I pulled over and read my book (always handy in my tank bag).  Then when I found my thoughts wandering to the open road while reading, I'd put the book away and got back to the ride.  

By time I arrived home, I felt like I had achieved something significant.  I had a spectacular ride, I saw things I had never dreamed of (Vancouver, Vancouver Island, the Prairies, etc etc etc) and I didn't feel like I NEEDED to ride again for a week.  I felt completely calm and centered.  

This trip was just the beginning.  
  1. August 2007 - Winnipeg and west coast (as mentioned above)
  2. June 2008 - Orlando for my first Cisco Networkers
  3. August 2008 - James Bay Hydro Electric Project in Quebec
  4. September 2008 - PEI and Halifax
  5. June 2009
    1. San Francisco for Cisco Networkers Live, 
    2. up to Fort Bragg and then down to Santa Maria, 
    3. over to Arkansas, then home
  6. August 2009 - PEI and St. Johns Newfoundland
  7. June 2010 - Cisco Live ride
    1. Las Vegas for Cisco Live
    2. down to San Diego
    3. every inch that I could of coastal highways (1, 101, etc) up to Vancouver
    4. Vancouver Island, then the Sunshine Coast
    5. back across Canada
  8. September 2010 - Chowdah and then random ride
    1. Bar Harbor Maine, 
    2. down along coast, then the Blue Ridge Parkway, Deals Gap,
    3. Atlanta, then home.
  9. July 2011 - Cisco Live ride
    1. Las Vegas for Cisco Live
    2. beeline up to Hyder Alaska,
    3. back down into the US, finish off my 49 States
    4. visited Aerostich in Duluth Minnesota
    5. home through Michigan
At this point, I knew the VFR was getting a big old; it now had over 160000km on it, and I expected its maintenance was going to start hurting.

It should also be mentioned that I had countless drained batteries with the VFR as well.  

I had always felt an attraction to the Honda CBR1100xx Blackbird, and I found one for a good price out in Cobourg Ontario.  Once I brought that home though, the VFR was just collecting dust, so at the end of 5.5 years, I parked the VFR at a logistics joint in Orlando in February 2012 to get it ready for my European love affair.

Now things start to get complicated, as I have two bikes on two continents.

GPS:  Zumo 550, quickly replaced with the Zumo 660.
Luggage:
  • Givi Wingrack II,
  • 2 x Givi 21l cruiser side boxes,
  • Givi 33l Trekker side boxes, (final)
  • Givi 45l E45 top box,
  • Givi 46l Trekker top box, (final)
  • Joe Rocket Blaster tank bag (worn out)
  • Rapid Transit Big City magnetic tank bag (final)
Tires:
  • Bridgestone BT020 I think, didn't like them.
  • Metzeler Z6 for touring
  • Metzeler M3 for sporting it up

2003 Honda CBR1100xx Blackbird (deprecated)

In late 2011, I bought a used Blackbird.  I lusted over this bike for years, and my driving record was finally clean enough that I could afford insurance on one.

One of my first trips was probably a Deals Gap run for the May 24 weekend 2012.  The ride back was brutal; my seat broke my butt.  I promptly bought a noname "touring seat" online, and it made a world of difference.

Then the problems started with the bike.  There is an electrical fault somewhere on the bike that was causing the engine to cut out and the battery to drain all the time.  I never really figured it out.

I was faced with dead batteries so often on the Blackbird that I resorted to carrying a spare fully-charged battery in my top box.

On one ride down to Deals Gap, the bike completely died in the middle of nowhere in Virginia.  Whatever electrical fault I'd been having, it was now completely killing the bike to the point that it couldn't even start.  My GPS searched for nearby shops with "Honda" in the name and their phone numbers, and the first one I called dispatched a pickup to come and rescue me.

The lead technician at the shop checked things out, and discovered a bad wiring job by the previous owner; when he cut the old rear signal leads to put on the Givi Wingrack, he did a pretty bad re-splicing job.  Whenever the brake and/or signal lights were used a lot, it would warm up the wires, cause a break, corrupt the ground, and that caused the engine's tilt sensor to believe the bike was upside down, thus shutting down the engine.  He resoldered the connections and ran a clean ground back to the lights, and I was on the road again.

Throughout, the Blackbird has enjoyed lighting up its FI (fuel injection) fault light.  That has not gone away.  It might take 4 hours before it comes on, or it might take as little as 2 minutes.  Restarting the engine might make it go away for 4 hours or 2 minutes.  Every minute that light is on, I expect the bike to die miserably.

This was no way to live.

Then one fateful December 2012 day, I rode the Blackbird to the manufacturer motorcycle show once hosted at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.  Of course, I had to swap batteries before that ride.  Then, in the last 2km or so to the show, the bike died.  Once on the Spadina off-ramp, once along Lakeshore, and once just as I was turning left into the ringed driveway in front of MTCC South, with hundreds of motorcycle enthusiasts taking note of the Winter rider with the dying bike.  I was angry.

Walking into the show, just a little to the right of the entrance, was a new 2013 black BMW K1300S.  I threw a leg over it, and the bike felt just like my Blackbird.  It was wonderful.  It was a sign.  It was hurting my wallet.

I wandered in a somewhat zombie state for about 30 minutes until it hit me; I didn't remember hooking the custom ground wire for my rear signals when I put the battery back in.  That was very likely the reason the Blackbird was so miserable.  Whew, I was saved from a spontaneous purchase!  For a while, anyway; bought that K1300S 8 months later in July 2013, because I never forgot how good it felt to sit on that BMW with a warranty.

In November 2013, I rode the Blackbird down to Orlando as the next European bike. 

But I'm getting ahead of myself, because the VFR story was far from over.

GPS:  Zumo 660
Luggage:
  • Givi Wingrack II
  • 2 x 46l E460N boxes (rarely use, came with the bike)
  • often used the 21l cruiser boxes
  • 1 x 52l E52 Tech top box
Tires:
  • Metzeler Z6, didn't feel right
  • Michelin Pilot Road 3
  • Michelin Pilot Road 4 (current)
  • Continental TKC80 (winter)

2000 Honda VFR800FI, the continuing saga (deceased)

The place I worked has a cool policy; after every 4th year with the company, you get an extra 4 week "sabbatical" to use.  I banked all the regular vacation I could, and planned a 7 week vacation of riding around Europe.  Then I had to sort out my ride.  Do I rent, buy, or ship a bike over?

For note, buying a bike in Europe is very difficult.  In general, you need insurance to buy a bike, and insurance requires a permanent address.  Wheatwhacker from Ireland can help buy a bike for you, if you like.  

However, I found a company called Knopftours in Germany.  Many people on online forums had raved about Stefan Knopf.  They take care of shipping, storage, maintenance, shuttle bus service from Frankfurt airport, insurance, roadside assistance, bed&breakfast, and everything else motorrad.  My VFR was collecting dust, and this seemed utterly perfect.

Over the 2012 family day long weekend, I rode the VFR down to Orlando Florida to have it floated to Europe in April by Stefan.  Flew back to Toronto, and waited for my vacation to start.

Stefan has a shipping container in Orlando that he fills with bikes every spring and floats over to Heidelberg around April, then floats it back in October.  His rates are excellent, about USD1300, as long as you understand you aren't getting your bike back any time soon.  In my case, I was going to leave the VFR over there until it finally died.  He then charges a piddling USD300/year for storing your bike.

(edit. as of 2018, his rates are USD350/y for bikes under .. 1200cc I think, and USD400/y for larger bikes)

(kit, fitment summarized in putt-putt description above)

So in July 2012, I flew to Germany to give my VFR some more love.  And much love was given.  

In approximate order:
  • Germany
  • Switzerland
  • Germany
  • Switzerland
  • France
  • Switzerland (to visit CERN, got into an above-ground tour)
  • France
  • UK (went for a group ride with Charley Boorman, visited Misha and Basia)
  • France
  • Belgium
  • Luxembourg
  • Germany
  • Austria (visited Michael)
  • Italy (little ride through the Alps)
  • Austria
  • Germany
  • flew back to Ontario for a family reunion weekend, 2 days
  • Germany
  • Denmark
  • Sweden (visited Jorgen)
  • Norway
  • Denmark
  • Germany
  • Czech Republic
  • Austria
  • Slovakia
  • Austria (visited Michael again)
  • Hungary (visited Barna)
  • Croatia
  • Slovenia
  • Austria
  • France
  • Spain
  • Andorra
  • France
  • Germany
  • and after about 16000 km, flew back home in September 2012.
In the following year, I managed to accrue another 7 weeks of time off.  Off to Europe I went again!
  • July 2013 - 
    • Germany, 
    • France, 
    • England, 
    • Scotland, 
    • Wales, 
    • England, 
    • France, 
    • Belgium, 
    • Germany, 
    • 2 weeks
  • Sept 2013 - 
    • France, Spain, Portugal, 2 weeks
    • Germany, Oktoberfest
    • Germany.  VFR died, put to rest.  Rented a 2008 BMW R1200GS
    • Switzerland, France, CERN OpenDays 
    • Germany.  GS died.  Rented a 2013 BMW 318D Diesel.
    • 4 weeks total
  • December 2013 - rented a 2013 F800GT from IMTbike.com
    • Spain
    • Portugal
    • Gibraltar
    • Spain
    • 1 week.

2013 BMW K1300S (Raven) (now in Europe)

In July 2013, I took delivery of a new black 2013 BMW K1300S from Budd's Motorrad in Oakville.  It only took about 6 weeks to come in, and that was because it was already booked to land at a Canada dealership.

Due to my self-inflicted unemployment, I hadn't had the time or the finances to do many big trips in Canada.  The only epic trip I did was San Francisco in May 2014 for Cisco Live, though I did a couple runs of the Blue Ridge Parkway, once through Deals Gap, and once to RTP, on which the return ride earned me a charge of a Class 1 Misdemeanor (on par with a DUI) for doing 82mph in a 70 zone.  (I sent a lawyer to successfully fight that charge).

The K1300S is a wonderful bike.  Powerful, stable, smooth.  

The stock front wheel is really soft, and quickly developed a couple flat spots.  And when I had new rubber put on the bike at 10000km, Rider's Choice forgot to balance the rear (being so distracted by the flat spotted front), causing my 10000km San Francisco ride to be 7500km of ridiculous vibrations,  I had Woody's Wheelworks in Denver tend first to the front wheel, then to the rear when they discovered the misbalancing.

I can't say my experiences with the typical BMW service agency in Canada has been spectacular either; Budd's Motorrad was seriously under-staffed and under-spaced; when I called in for my 20000km mandatory maintenance in May 2014, they told me they were taking bookings for end of July at that point.  Since I was already over 20000km, they were basically telling me not to ride the bike for 2 months through the summer.  Fortunately, Wolfs BMW in London Ontario only had a 1 month wait on bookings, so I had the bike taken care of there.

Otherwise, I've been using the bike for commuting, and lots of runs around Ontario.  It loves getting tickets.

GPS:  Garmin Zumo 660, replaced by Zumo 590LM, replaced by Zumo 595LM

Power Distribution Module:  PDM60
Luggage:
  • SW-Motech top box mount and Givi adapter aluminum plate
  • Givi removable tubular sidebox mounting kit
  • Givi 52l E52 Tech top box
  • 2 x Givi 21l cruiser boxes
  • Givi E22 22l side boxes, would suit the bike better.
  • BMW large fitted tank bag (not what I wanted, Budds screwed me.)
  • Bags-Connection Electric Quick-Lock EVO Daypack tankbag, excellent (final)
    • electrical mount for tank bag, not so excellent.
Tires:
  • Michelin Pilot Road 4's (nice)
  • Metzeler RoadTec 01's (current, best)
In 2016, I flew the K1300S to Dublin, and it started its European indoctrination.
  • Chapter 1
    • Ireland (started in Dublin)
    • Northern Ireland
    • UK (Wales, England)
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Germany
    • Poland
    • France
    • Italy (stored in Milan)
    • 1.5 weeks I think
    • went home for family reunion
  • Chapter 2
    • Italy (all over the boot)
    • Austria
    • Germany (stored in Heidelberg)
    • 1.5 weeks I think
In 2017, I reintroduced it to Germany, Belgium, France, UK, and Ireland.  Glorious.  2.5 weeks, last week of June, first week of July.


2007 Suzuki DL650 (Snowball) (winter beater GTA)

I used my K1300S for the 2013winter2014 season, much to the dismay of my BMW Motorrad service department.  I also noted how rubbish the K1300S is on snow, which in my mind is due to the non-linear rotation of the universal joint in the shaft drive.  So I needed a winter solution.

I briefly looked at KLR650's, but they're all carburated (or were, anyway), and I swore off carburated engines for winter.  Too bad, really, because I found the balance on a KLR650 to be astoundingly perfect.

The DL650 seemed like a decent next option.  Found a high mileage 2007 on Kijiji that came with a good number of options already.  It was pretty "experienced" and had plenty of character-building dents and scratches, perfect as my couple-of-winter-seasons winter beater (not that I told the seller that before the sale).

Bought in November 2014.

The bike survived its first winter, but it didn't survive its first heavy spring rain; huuuge short that allowed the bike to stay running even without the key in the ignition.  I kinda left the bike at Rider's Choice for the summer while I made love to my K1300S.

Rider's Choice offered to do me a deal; I supplied a used wiring harness, and they offered to swap the harness for a decent flat rate.  But after that, the problem is still there, though not terribly (yet).  (I now think the problem is really in the left bar control wiring harness, due to the raised bars stretching the stock cables too far.)

No epic rides, but plenty of runs around Ontario and a bit around NY state.

As of fall 2018, the DL650 is still running, though it seems like the short is starting to rear its head again.  One more winter, maybe two please!

GPS:  Zumo 595LM (shared with K1300S)
Power Distribution Module:  Eastern Beaver 3CS
Luggage:
  • SW-Motech top box Givi aluminum plate
  • Givi tubular sidebox mounting kit
  • Givi 52l E52 Tech top box (shared with R1200RS)
  • Givi 33l black Trekker side boxes 
 Tires:
  • Heidenau K60 Sport M+S
    • They weren't bad, long lived, but not aggressively snow-digging.
  • Anlas Winter Grip Plus, the only winter-certified (mountain with snowflake) tires
    • Meh.  80% road tread, not confidence-setting on snow, front felt loose in snow
  • Continental TKC80 (current)
    • Fantastic even on black ice, bites into snow too.  Never let me down.  They might not live that long, but best for winter unless you REQUIRE winter certification (like Quebec or BC Interior)

2001 Honda VFR800FI (Angel) (west coast North America)

Once I got a taste for having multiple bikes, I came to appreciate "spare" bikes.  And I found that though I was LOVING my K1300S, I thought there was room in my life for my beloved gen5 VFR.  In early May 2015, I started looking.  2000-2001 VFR800 (the best years), and I had my price I was looking for.

I had just started at Cisco in Feb 2015.  In May 2015, I went to our internal product update conference in San Jose, and ran into a Cisco friend from Ottawa.  Started talking bikes, and found out he was selling his old bike, now that he spends all his discretionary funds on flying.  VFR800.  2001.  Blue.  Wingrack II (which was impossible to buy at that point).  Two weeks later, I hopped on the train to Ottawa, bought it, and rode it home.

The VFR800 geometry is pretty close to the K1300S, close enough that if I'm not paying attention, I forget which bike I'm on until I twist the throttle.

GPS:  Zumo 595LM, shared with DL650 and K1300S.
Luggage:
Angel has seen some great trips.
  • Flew with Air Canada Cargo to Calgary,
  • rode up to Whitehorse, Yukon,
  • down to Vancouver,
  • stored with a lifetime friend of my mother's.

  • rode from Vancouver to Las Vegas for Cisco Live
  • Vegas to Toronto 
    • battery died during the ride, a lot of bumpstarting, sigh.
  • Flew with ACC to Vancouver, 
  • rode down to San Jose for work stuff
  • stored in Belmont, California
  • still seeing several San Jose and Las Vegas trips
  • Still stored in Belmont, CA
Tires:
  • Michelin Pilot Road 4 
  • (next: Metzeler RoadTec 01)

2017 BMW R1200RS (Bessie) (main North America ride)

Having rented a couple R1200RT's from Barcelona IMTbike over a couple NYE breaks, I realized how awesome a true cruise control is; lock in a legal speed and relax, maybe look around a bit now that your shoulder muscles aren't tense with speedlimit-fright.

In mid-2017, I bought a new RS.  Where the K1300S' electronics are dated, the RS was leading-edge, including the all important cruise control.  I have a lengthy discussion at http://planet-dosadi.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-new-bike.html.  Suffice it to say, it is a great bike, but it isn't a K1300S.

I haven't done anything really epic with the RS yet, though I did fly it to Vancouver for an extended Labour Day weekend, 2018, ending in Calgary.  Now I'm doing two weeks of work in Calgary, and I expect to be riding to Toronto over an extended Sept 28 weekend, leveraging my birthday for some extra time.

GPS:  BMW Navigator VI
Power Distribution Module:  Neutrino Black Box Aurora
Luggage:
  • SW-Motech top box Givi aluminum plate
  • BMW integrated side boxes
  • Givi 52l E52 Tech top box (shared with DL650)
  • Bags-Connection Yukon 9l Fluo Yellow waterproof tank bag, shared with Angel
Tires:
  • Michelin Pilot Road 4 (OEM) 
  • (next: Metzeler RoadTec 01)

Traveling things I love, Sept 2018 (updated)

Purely my opinions here.

2013 BMW K1300S

Besides its lack of cruise control, this is an incredible bike.  I have an R1200RS now too, but it is not the KS.

The bike's fit, function, power, stability, geometry, curves, and edges, were near perfection.  Upgraded to a Sargent seat, and it went from being great to being insanely great.

However.

While the electronics on the K1200S were basically 5 years ahead of their time when they debuted in 2004, and minimally updated when they updated to the K1300S in 2009, the world moved on.  BMW has been building their current bikes with modern electronic functions like cruise control and GPS integration with the bike's computer systems, and they discontinued the K1300S instead of updating it.  Sigh.

Cruise control is particularly important to me; the K1300S wants to be ridden fast, and has gotten me into trouble once or twice.  So I'm storing it in Heidelberg, Germany for this year and the next, perhaps to bring it back later next year so I can install an MCCruise kit.  Oh, what a bike it will be then!

Part of me knows I will want to buy another K1300S in a few years, to ensure I always have one.

2001 Honda VFR800

The updated release of the 5th gen Honda VFR800, representing years 2000-2001, was incredible.  I had a 2000, more or less wore it out after 187,000km, and though I replaced it with a 2003 CBR1100XX and the 2013 K1300S (above), I found I missed the VFR and managed to find another one, a 2001 this time.

I currently store it in California as my West Coast bike.  I'm toying with the idea of riding it back to Ontario next year once I'm sure I'm done with head office visits for the riding season.  Got a list of things I'd like to update and install on it.

Schuberth C3 Pro

I've owned several Shoei full-faced helmets, and they're nice.  I jumped to Schuberth when I wanted to try out modular helmets (meaning I haven't tried the Shoei Neotec or whatever modulars).

I've had two C3's, just had a C3 Pro stolen, and just got the newly-released C4.  I was disappointed enough with the C4 that I ran out and bought another C3 Pro.  Incredible helmet, assuming it fits your skull.

In particular, I LOVE my fluro yellow Europe graphics C3 Pro.  It is only available from Europe (if at all now), so it is only ECE R 22.05 certified, not US DOT, so while it is legal throughout Canada (or most of it), this specific graphics model is technically not legal in the US.

Sena 10C helmet camera/communicator

One reason I'm underwhelmed by the C4 is its built-in speakers and microphone cannot easily be integrated with the Sena 10C, as far as I know anyway.  The optional SC1 comm system for the C4 is swell, but integrating a camera into that kit had no good solutions that didn't require serious compromises to the way I operate.

My requirements require multi-ride battery life with camera on.  No camera can do this, so you're looking at some kind of off-board battery.  I have a decent system with an Anker battery pack in my jacket pocket, and a cable that runs up and into the camera to keep it charged.  Basically lets me record all my riding for the archives, and doubles as a "dashcam".  

Also, the camera can be manually twisted to be level.  My OCD permits nothing less.

The communicator in the 10C is basically a Sena 10U.

The 10C Pro is announced but continuously delayed.  I'd like to dream that they'd include the 20S Evo communicator in it, but its numbering suggests otherwise.  (The 20S Evo does bluetooth source mixing, so you can listen to multiple sources at once, instead of having one input muting out other inputs.)  My Pro is on order, but it has been again delayed from "late October" to "late December".

That said, there can be some issues with the camera, but I'm not convinced that they weren't the fault of overheating microSD cards.  The jury is still out on that.

Dainese Latitour motorcycle boots

Discontinued.  Bought a second set out of desperation!

Goretex mid-height touring/commuting boots.  Modest amount of ankle protection, suitable for all-day wear.  46's fit my feet perfectly.  Zippers have survived over a year now.

My fallback is the Dainese TRQ-Tour; Goretex, etc.  I've gone through 3 pairs of these, with the rear zippers failing at a fold point, fortunately not until after they've had considerable use.  Otherwise an excellent boot.

Note, Dainese warranty coverage sucks in Canada.  I just keep buying new, because they're the best boots I've owned, and I tend to wear them all day long while at work.

Rev'It Fly motorcycle gloves

Extinct.  I'm freaking out.  No other glove makes me as happy or has fit my hand as well, and I've tried a LOT of gloves.  Of course, you have to try on 5 pairs to find one that fits.  They seem to have changed their fit for the Fly 2 and they're a bit longer which conflicts with my watch and coat sleeves.

I think I'm down to my last pair, and I'm screaming inside.

The Fly 2 gloves aren't terrible.  Slightly different fit, and I had to go up a size (from L to XL), but close enough to stop me freaking out.  The primary fingers are touch-screen enabled, but not perfect for triggering a failed touchID auth on my iPhone 8 so I can bring up the login keypad.

Anyglove for Leather

I use this on all my leather gloves, to touch-screen enable them.  I even use it on my Fly 2's (with touch-screen enabled fingers already) so the finger can be sensed by the touchID sensor.

I love this stuff.  I have to re-apply it often enough, but it really solves a huge usability problem with my phone mounted on my bars.

Anker USB products

I threw a lot of money away on cheap cables, cheap battery packs, and cheap USB chargers.  Then Benson Leung from Google started doing USB-C cable and charger tests looking for good manufacturers that follow standards.  This lead me to Anker, and through experience, I have never bought something from Anker that wasn't top quality.

I have a stupid collection of USB batteries, but in summary, the PowerCore+ series is heavy and excellent quality, the PowerLine+ cables can double as automotive tiedowns, and the PowerPort+ 5 USB-C is my standard carry charger for all my toys, MacBooks, etc.

Garmin Zumo 595 motorcycle GPS

Excellent GPS, relatively.  One of my bigger likes about it is actually on its motorcycle mount; the wired headphone jack, and the USB charging port is nice too.  Once you come to terms with having wired headphones, it is trivial to plug in.  

I listen to audiobooks while I ride (when things aren't blowing up around me, like traffic).  Audio is important to me.

This is not to say the Zumo 595 is flawless.  Garmin failed to bring their Audible audiobook player forward from the Zumo 660, I'm often having a problem where the Zumo takes over 30 minutes to make a route (sometimes longer than it actually takes to ride that route), is unable to draw the map on the screen, crashes and reboots if there's a loss of bike power (despite its internal battery), Bluetooth, etc etc etc.  However, I've largely found acceptable workarounds and I understand its routing personality; I usually know when it is leading me astray!  

Bluetooth pisses me off; every single motorcycle ride starts with me pulling over within a block to fight with bluetooth issues.  Every single ride.  Hell, last night, middle of a ride, my GPS and phone forgot who each other was at a gas stop; had to delete the pairings and re-pair, then do the usual wrestling to get things working how I like.  And this morning, my phone's BT decided that while I had a bluetooth headset paired and on, it felt I would much rather use the handset for a phone call, so people were listening to traffic instead of listening to me talk.  I hate bluetooth.

Merino Wool longjohn/longtop layers

I almost always wear Merino Wool underwear when I'm riding.  Microweight (or T1 from MEC) in summer, T2 on cold days or in the fall, and T3 in the winter.  Excellent for temperature regulation, wicking away sweat, etc.  Fragile though, especially the microweight stuff.  Find I'm buying several sets a season to replace the broken stuff, and they ain't cheap.

The cheaper underwear is usually some form of polyester, and after wearing the material for hours a day, days at a time (yes, clean stuff every day), my skin starts getting VERY itchy.  Perhaps an allergic reaction?  My body does not react that way to the wool or the spandex in the wool, so wool is where I'm at.

And you don't wear cotton; it just collects moisture and glues itself to your flesh between the seat and your bones.  *shudder*

Anyway, there'll be more, but that's top of mind!  Two people asked my opinion on things this morning, and this got the synapsis firing.

Quad Lock phone case and mounts

This is a very clean phone case solution when you want to be able to mount your phone securely to a motorcycle, a bicycle, your car windshield, etc.  The motorcycle and bicycle mounts even lock, so they won't accidently detach.

I use the scooter mounts on my DL650 and my R1200RS motorcycles, as it supports like a 12mm bar (like the handlebar crossbar on my DL650), though I leveraged the arm from the motorcycle mount on my R1200RS to raise its profile.

Quad Lock also recently released a RAM ball to locking mount unit.  This might be a gamechanger.  I expect I'll be changing my R1200RS to it, and this opens up my mount options for my K1300S.  I also just picked up another one of these as an emergency answer for my VFR800; flew out without my Zumo, so this lets me use my phone conveniently as my primary GPS.

Neutrino Black Box

The Black Box is a power distribution module, similar to the PDM60, but so much more.  In particular, it is managed from an app on your phone over bluetooth, unlike the PDM60.

The PDM60 requires physical access with a custom serial cable to change its config, and it does not have a low-battery shutdown, both of which are issues for me. 

I use the Neutrino Black Box on two of my bikes so far (R1200RS and VFR800).  I have a PDM60 on my K1300S still, but as that bike's config is largely static now, I'm not sure I'll be bothering to upgrade it.

An issue with the Black Box is its price.  Gosh.  However, they've since tweaked their product line to have two Black Boxes; the Element, and the Aurora.  The Element is really just a PDM, while the Aurora adds automation functions (like speed and temperature triggers).  The original BB is now the Aurura.  The Element is about USD100 less than the USD380 Aurora, at least using today's Neutrino site's pricing.

GL.iNet GL-AR720S-Ext WISP portable router

I'm a geek.  When I inhabit a hotel room, I tend to unpack enough electronics to run a small country.  phone, tablet, one or two laptops, some kind of media streaming stick (think Amazon Fire Stick or Roku), possibly a smart speaker, possibly some Arduinos, possibly some Raspberry Pies.

Many hotels tap out at 2 or 3 devices on wifi.  Many devices (like smart speakers) don't work on wifi with authentication portals.  Sometimes, I want to experiment, especially when it comes to micro-devices.  And sometimes, I think it would just be easier if my home wifi SSID followed me around.

A WISP is a Wireless Internet Service Provider device; it joins an existing network (be it wired or as a wifi client), then creates a new wifi network behind it that you connect all your devices to.

The AR720S has a decent CPU, lots of internal and speedy flash, and runs OpenWRT (offering a great package ecosystem).  The -Ext model adds two external antennae, for better range.


Knowroaming roaming SIM 

When I started traveling through Europe, I was stopping in each country to buy a SIM.  In many countries, the SIMs had a price (usually around €5), plus the pay-as-you-go plan.  It also involved checking several carriers to find a decent deal.  It worked, but it was a pain.  I used to carry around well over a dozen SIMs.

Then I heard about Knowroaming.  They have a slick "SIM sticker" that sticks to the contact-side of your existing SIM, nearly making your phone into a dual-SIM phone.  Through a SIM app, I can switch from my home SIM to my roaming SIM, without ever pulling out the SIM tray.

Their rates are good.  Worst pricing is about USD8/day unlimited data, but they started offering some bundles, like multiple unlimited data days for a discount, or a 5GB plan over 14 days for a great discount, etc.

One really nice aspect is when you buy a European plan (like USD8/day), that isn't country-specific; you can roll between lots of European countries on that one deal. This contrasts well, to, say, the Apple SIM that offers roaming agreements but those are country-specific; you buy your plan in Germany, it won't help you if you cross into France.

Calgary Motorcycle Parking

Just a quick post.
There are a number of motorcycle-only streetside (or sometimes sidewalk) parking spots scattered around downtown Calgary.  It is not free.

However, while all-day streetside parking for cars can be exorbitant, motorcycles appear to be $2.50/hour, to a max of $8.00 a day.  Not terrible.

I'll likely be parking at 3 Ave SW and 3 St SW (lot 6002), to the east of the Devon Tower (where Cisco has an office on the 3rd floor), next to the Spaghetti Factory.

You can find occupancy and rate information from the map at https://www.calgaryparking.com/findparking/onstreet.  

I'm staying at the Homewood Suites Calgary Downtown (also attached to a Hilton Garden Inn) at 7 Ave SE and 4 St SE.  They have ONLY valet parking, at something like $36/day.  Since they can't valet motorcycles, I managed to talk them down to $25/day, which is still absurd.  However, judging by some of the people I've seen walking the street around the hotel, I'm glad to have my motorcycle in secured underground parking.  And my company is paying for the parking, so I care a little less.

Friday 28 July 2017

Green Card insurance

I'm always fielding questions around the green card insurance.

There are several colours, but Green Card is for Europe.  Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Motor_Insurance_Card_System for the various colour options.

I've also heard that the countries that your green card insurance covers may vary based on where you bought it from.  Mine came, I believe, ultimately from ADAC.

A handy interactive map is at http://cobx.org/content/default.asp?PageID=7

It would seem just about everyone is participating, even Russia, Morocco, and Tunisia, except for Kosovo.



2017 Summer Epic part 1, arrival

In my last post, I discussed the process and some stresses around booking the bike's flight to Ireland.

Again, worst case was that I'd forget some piece of documentation that could only be retrieved by me from back in Canada.  I had my passport, my booking numbers, hotel address in Dublin (required for the motorcycle shipment documentation), travel insurance, stacks of foreign currency.

The flight over was reasonably uneventful.  I only had my laptop bag and my nearly-empty small waterproof duffel (with one change of clothing in it), so I kept them as carry-on.  Spent some quality time in the Air Canada Lounge as usual.  The flight was delayed almost an hour, but I was in no rush.  The flight was originally due to land in Dublin around 11:30 or so, and I couldn't check into my hotel until 15:00, so any delay was welcome!

The flight was a bit bumpy though.  I kept imagining how my K1300S, Raven, was handling the turbulence.  😟

When we landed, I started trying to get my iPad and iPhone online.  Switched out SIMs, etc, and noticed that knowroaming's relationship with 3 seems to SUCK over here.  No packets were flowing!

DUB doesn't have much of a border clearance area.  The entire airport felt small, after the time I've spent in YYZ, SFO, LAS, MUC, FRA, LHR, BCN, etc.  But immigration was anything but small-time.  Most airports barely glance at your face while they distractedly ask one or two questions and stamp your passport.  At DUB, every flier got an in-depth conversation.

"Where are you from?"  "Why did you come to Ireland?"  "What are your plans?"  "When do you leave?"  "Leaving so soon?" (rain predicted!)

In answer to my motorcycle plans:  "You flew with a motorcycle?  What are you plans for that?" and "When do you leave with the motorcycle?"

All in all, it was fine, just way more questions than I usually have to answer, but I had answers!  I don't normally have more than "fly in on this day, fly out on that day." planned, but knowing I might have problems with the cargo customs office, I did a little more this time.

Walked out, and had to get directions to the cargo terminals since I couldn't pull up gmaps (no packets flowing!).  Customs was in Cargo Terminal 1, and Swissport and my motorcycle would (eventually) be in Cargo terminal 2.

It was about a 15 minute walk to Cargo Terminal 1.  I wasn't sure if I'd need anything from the motorcycle to provide to customs, but since I was passing by Customs on the way to the bike, might as well ask.

Hey, the outlets I'm seeing are UK sockets, not EU sockets.  I'm in the Republic of Ireland, aren't I, a member of the EU?  I'm confused.

This is when I realized that the only documentation I might have for the bike was the receipt I had been handed back at ACC and had so casually handled during my prep.  Uhh, oh good, laptop bag.  Holy crap, holy crap, probably one of the more important documents I had to have!  Whew!

Anyway, the conversation went well.  The customs agent asked similar questions to the immigration people, and was pleased that I already had my ferry booked as evidence that the bike would be leaving Ireland.  He did ask if I had proof of my bike's flight back to Canada.  I did not; can't book it until 28 days before, and I'm not flying back from part 2 until about 6 weeks later.  He said "Okay, that's fine, I don't need that."

Handed over my Ontario driver's license (still wasn't sure where my IDP was.  hrm, brb.  nope, can't find it again!), Green Card insurance paper, ownership papers, shipping receipt, and waited about 5 minutes while he made copies.  Then he handed me my customs clearance paper and I left.

Walked next door to Cargo Terminal 2.  Talked to one of the crew, and they told me the bike wasn't there yet, but would likely show up in 30 minutes or so.  Went over to the office at the side, paid the dock handling charge (based on mass, was about EUR140 for the 290KG bike), and continued to beat on my knowroaming SIM to see if I could make something happen.  25 minutes later, I was directed to return to the terminal, where I saw two workers pushing the bike out the gate for me!

That was it!  No drama, no impossible questions (prove you're flying home with the bike), had all my paperwork, done done done!

Of course, it started to rain.  One of the forklift drivers yelled over as it started to shower "Enjoy your rain, welcome to Ireland!  *hahaha!*"  I didn't care much about the rain though; it wasn't cold, it wasn't a crushing downpour, and I had been drenched with sweat about 6 times since I put these clothes on before flying over anyway.

Loaded the laptop and duffel on the bike, got my helmet and jacket out, fed the hotel address into the GPS, and got on the road.

Oh, the Republic of Ireland drives on the left side, like the UK?  I am in the Republic of Ireland, yes?  Isn't this the EU?  I'm confused.   Rain stopped for a couple minutes.  Oh goody, showers are back!  Jumpin' into the deep end of the pool here, with all the airport traffic, jetlag, other-side driving, roundabouts, motorway between me and the hotel.  Certainly a brisk start to things.

The ride was short and uneventful.  I had enough gas to not worry about filling up, so I just focused on driving where the locals drive (other side, ramps, roundabouts) on the way to the hotel.  The room was ready, so I parked, occupied, and got ready to start my 8 hour remote work day (9-5 in Toronto is 14-22 local).

Work went okay.  Internet in the hotel sucks, but I finally got my knowroaming SIM sorted out; it often defaults to using 3, but 3 seems to be very broken.  I forced it to use Meteor, and that's been pretty good.

I use KnowRoaming a lot.  It is a SIM sticker, thin enough to piggyback on your regular SIM, and you can switch back and forth using a "SIM Application", then running their app to change your APN back and forth between knowroaming and your regular SIM's settings.

I'm on a 7 day unlimited data package right now in the iPad, and knowroaming allows for tethering.  Whew!

I switched my iPhone's SIM to a 3 SIM.  They have an interesting 12GB roam-like-home option when you sign up for their All-In-One 20 plan, allowing me to roam across Europe within that 12G so I'm trying it out.  Too bad 3 is SUCKING here.  Sigh.