Today was another relatively relaxing day. Rode from Breisach am Rhein, Germany to Hôtel Balladins Genève in Saint-Genis-Pouilly, France, by way of Geneva, Switzerland.
Unfortunately, when I stopped for gas and a Swiss highway toll tag just shy of the Switzerland border, I discovered my main credit card was absent; I left it at the hotel. I lost almost 2 hours in that transit to reclaim my card, which ate into my free time. Gave me an excuse for taking an easy day and not "hitting the twisties" as some friends would require of me.
People are starting to complain about the lack of photos. I hear ya. I've got a few, maybe I'll process them!
Premium (95 RON), prices in Switzerland appear to be about CHF 1.84/L, or CAD $1.90/L.
Averaging 5.7 L/100 km today, at roughly 140 km/h
Tuesday 31 July 2012
Posted with Blogsy
Monday 30 July 2012
Day 3, Breisach am Rhien, Germany, Monday July 30st
Well, this is unfortunate. Blogsy lost my day 3 and 4 drafts. Not that my old attempts were works of Shakespeare, but I miss the effort I put into them. :(
Anyway.
I just did a bunch of riding today. Rode from Heidelberg to Switzerland (oops) with a detour into what turned out to be only a small sampling of the Black Forest. Then back up to Breisach am Rhien, Germany to stay at a motorcycle-friendly hotel called the Kapuzinergarten.
The dinner at the Kapuzinergarten was excellent. I had essentially a horse steak with scalloped potatoes, and a chocolate dessert tray.
The horse steak reminded me of a very lean new york beef fillet. The scalloped potatoes were baked with a very mild cheese on top, served in two helpings (so it was always warm) and was possibly one of the best I've had in years.
The room I had was excellent, with a view over the town and into the Black Forest.
The only disappointing part of this stay, besides the untrivial cost, was getting kicked off the patio and having to eat inside because "it was too cold for the staff". Seriously, 18-20c is too cold! They need to visit Canada when patio season starts.
Premium (95 RON), prices in this area of Germany appear to be about EUR 1.69/L, or CAD $2.09/L.
Averaging 5.7 L/100 km today, at roughly 130 km/h
Anyway.
I just did a bunch of riding today. Rode from Heidelberg to Switzerland (oops) with a detour into what turned out to be only a small sampling of the Black Forest. Then back up to Breisach am Rhien, Germany to stay at a motorcycle-friendly hotel called the Kapuzinergarten.
The dinner at the Kapuzinergarten was excellent. I had essentially a horse steak with scalloped potatoes, and a chocolate dessert tray.
The horse steak reminded me of a very lean new york beef fillet. The scalloped potatoes were baked with a very mild cheese on top, served in two helpings (so it was always warm) and was possibly one of the best I've had in years.
The room I had was excellent, with a view over the town and into the Black Forest.
The only disappointing part of this stay, besides the untrivial cost, was getting kicked off the patio and having to eat inside because "it was too cold for the staff". Seriously, 18-20c is too cold! They need to visit Canada when patio season starts.
Premium (95 RON), prices in this area of Germany appear to be about EUR 1.69/L, or CAD $2.09/L.
Averaging 5.7 L/100 km today, at roughly 130 km/h
Sunday 29 July 2012
Day 2, Heidelberg Germany, Sunday July 29
I didn't go riding today. Turned into a bike maintenance and social day.
Another rider, Dennis C., showed up early this morning, to bring an end a 7 week vacation.
The list of countries he's ridden a motorcycle through is astounding. From the sounds of it, about the only countries he hasn't visited is central Africa. Siberia, Australia, South America, Asia, etc.
I believe he's in his mid-60's, knows at least 10 languages, and is a wealth of riding stories and insight.
Born in Munich, he moved to the US early in life. Growing up in Germany shortly after WWII was unpleasant. He lives in Georgia now.
I talked with him through most of the day, hearing stories and talking politics.
I also took the time today to swap out my rear shock with the rebuilt CBR929rr shock, and installed my Touratech GPS mount. I used this post to help do the shock replacement.
Two other riders showed up today, Paul and Brent.
Paul is another American of German descent, and finished a 6 week riding vacation throughout Southern Germany and area. In particular, he mentioned spending a lot of time in the Black Forest.
Brent calls Vancouver Island home. Brent rode up through Norway for 3 weeks. His wife is riding a bicycle down the entire Norwegian coast, so he joined with her for a bit, then did his own motorcycle tour of the coast. He gave me some great ideas for things to see.
The guys all mentioned that there is a shuttle service that is cheaper and way more convenient than taking the train to the Frankfurt airport. 35 Euros or so, door to door. For reference, the 1st class train option was about 41 Euros, and included a transfer in Mannheim from the S-Baun to a regional train.
I haven't really decided on my plans for tomorrow. I've sent a query to CERN about getting into a tour on Wednesday.
Another rider, Dennis C., showed up early this morning, to bring an end a 7 week vacation.
The list of countries he's ridden a motorcycle through is astounding. From the sounds of it, about the only countries he hasn't visited is central Africa. Siberia, Australia, South America, Asia, etc.
I believe he's in his mid-60's, knows at least 10 languages, and is a wealth of riding stories and insight.
Born in Munich, he moved to the US early in life. Growing up in Germany shortly after WWII was unpleasant. He lives in Georgia now.
I talked with him through most of the day, hearing stories and talking politics.
I also took the time today to swap out my rear shock with the rebuilt CBR929rr shock, and installed my Touratech GPS mount. I used this post to help do the shock replacement.
Two other riders showed up today, Paul and Brent.
Paul is another American of German descent, and finished a 6 week riding vacation throughout Southern Germany and area. In particular, he mentioned spending a lot of time in the Black Forest.
Brent calls Vancouver Island home. Brent rode up through Norway for 3 weeks. His wife is riding a bicycle down the entire Norwegian coast, so he joined with her for a bit, then did his own motorcycle tour of the coast. He gave me some great ideas for things to see.
The guys all mentioned that there is a shuttle service that is cheaper and way more convenient than taking the train to the Frankfurt airport. 35 Euros or so, door to door. For reference, the 1st class train option was about 41 Euros, and included a transfer in Mannheim from the S-Baun to a regional train.
I haven't really decided on my plans for tomorrow. I've sent a query to CERN about getting into a tour on Wednesday.
Saturday 28 July 2012
Day 1, Heidelberg Germany, Saturday July 28th
Last night, I flew out of YYZ at about 22:25 or so. After an uneventful flight, the plane landed in Frankfurt (FRA) around 12:00
It was an Airbus A330-300, or in Air Canada parlance, a 333. Decent size, good legroom (at least in the middle, 33" or something), and unexpectedly, lots of carry-on stowage. Really only had one issue; it was freakin' cold. There was a cold breeze coming down on my head, and unlike other planes, I could not adjust the airflow.
After landing, I grabbed the next express S-Baun train down to Mannheim, then transferred to a regional train (S 3) that took me down to the Heidelberg/Rohrbach station. It was about a .5km walk to knopftours.com from there.
Turns out, there's a local shuttle service, https://www.tls-heidelberg.de/en/, with trips for about EUR 35. I will definitely be using them in the future.
This is my first visit to Knopftours. They really are a motorcycle haven; a large garage with lifts and tools for anyone to use, a place to clean the bikes, a small B&B, (the rooms have their own washrooms), communal kitchen, picnic tables, a large yard for groups to hang out and chat, etc. The garage is great; I may attempt to replace my rear shock tomorrow myself.
After I was reacquainted with my bike, I reattached its battery and sighed contentedly as it started without hesitation. I mounted the top box plate and went for a little ride. What wasn't intended to be more than maybe 20km turned into 200km after I ventured out on the Autobaun.
I really just wanted to hit the nearby motorcycle shop and get a few T-Mobile SIMs for my devices. But it seems things close up at 14:00-16:00 on Saturdays around here, and I didn't get out until 16:10. And everything seems to be closed on Sundays. Gah! Started on the way back to Knopftours, but I couldn't stop riding.
At first, I just rolled around the city of Heidelberg. I was itching for some food, but it was only 16:30. I wasn't feeling right for the autobaun, so I just stuck to the regular roads. 15km later, I found myself on the edge of Mannheim. I grabbed "lunch" at a McD's just to get it done. Afterwards, I felt a bit more alive, so the autobaun was in order.
I'd forgotten how buzzy my V-4 is. Now that I ride an I-4 back home, the vibration is quite noticible. I can also really feel how finished my rear shock is. The front is bouncing around and the back is just sagging and mushy.
I was surprised about the lack of good lane discipline on the Autobaun. Several times in 160km, I found myself passing on the right because there was a line up of slower (than me) vehicles camped out in the left lane. I'm sure passing on the right is illegal here, but I was disappointed with the other drivers and confused about what else I could do.
I turned around just short of Basel, got gas, and returned to Knopftours. I didn't have a camera or my Inreach with me; I really wasn't planning on having a "ride", so there is limited evidence from today's ride. That's okay though, I did cross over 5000km to get here today. :)
After getting back, I set about changing my GPS mount to the Touratech Zumo 660 v2 locking mount, checked out the garage some more, sat down next to the kitchen (with the only Internet access point) and got online for a bit. I was itching (again) to get dinner, figuring that 20:00-21:00 is a typical dinner time around here, but then the jetlag hit. Started writing this blog entry, ran out of gas, and passed out.
Premium (95 RON, or roughly 91 Octane (or AKI, Anti-Knock Index) in North America) as prices in Germany appear to be about EUR 1.62/L, or CAD $2.31/L.
Averaged about 7.5 L/100 km today, at roughly 180 km/h.
Saturday 14 July 2012
Lenovo Thinkpad x230/x230t Batteries, Power options
I'm way too lazy to figure out tables in blogger yet. Sorry.
The 44's are listed for the x230's. The 67's are listed for the x230t's. But the online configurator lists both the 44's and 67's as accessory options on both the x230 and x230t builds. Not sure what to say. Hopefully coworkers buy the x230t soon so I can test.
Thinkpad Battery, cells, shape, Watt*Hour, battery tech, IBM part number, notes
44, 4, flush, 29Wh, Lithium Polymer, 0A36305
44+, 6, hangs low, 63Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36306, incompatible with external charger
44++, 9, hangs low, 94Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36307
67, 3, flush?, 29Wh, Lithium Polymer, 0A36316
67+, 6, hangs off back, 66Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36317, incompatible with external charger
The slice battery clamps onto the entire base of the x230 or x230t.
19+, 6, full bottom, 64Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36280, does not require external charger as it has its own 20v power jack, supports 65-135w 20v Lenovo laptop adapters.
Awesome awesome adapter, the AC/DC ultraslim 90w adapter, 41R4493. Mine has the 20v Thinkpad and either the iPhone/iPad charging adapter, or the USB adapter (so I can use a long USB-iDevice cable) for charging the x230 and iPad/iPhone at the same time.
The external charger (40Y7625) can support charging of one battery at a time. Does not come with a charging adapter, but can use a 65w or 90w 20v adapter that would come with many Lenovo laptops. No mention of supporting the 135w or larger adapter.
External charger overview
External charger battery support
The 44's are listed for the x230's. The 67's are listed for the x230t's. But the online configurator lists both the 44's and 67's as accessory options on both the x230 and x230t builds. Not sure what to say. Hopefully coworkers buy the x230t soon so I can test.
Thinkpad Battery, cells, shape, Watt*Hour, battery tech, IBM part number, notes
44, 4, flush, 29Wh, Lithium Polymer, 0A36305
44+, 6, hangs low, 63Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36306, incompatible with external charger
44++, 9, hangs low, 94Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36307
67, 3, flush?, 29Wh, Lithium Polymer, 0A36316
67+, 6, hangs off back, 66Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36317, incompatible with external charger
The slice battery clamps onto the entire base of the x230 or x230t.
19+, 6, full bottom, 64Wh, Lithium Ion, 0A36280, does not require external charger as it has its own 20v power jack, supports 65-135w 20v Lenovo laptop adapters.
Awesome awesome adapter, the AC/DC ultraslim 90w adapter, 41R4493. Mine has the 20v Thinkpad and either the iPhone/iPad charging adapter, or the USB adapter (so I can use a long USB-iDevice cable) for charging the x230 and iPad/iPhone at the same time.
The external charger (40Y7625) can support charging of one battery at a time. Does not come with a charging adapter, but can use a 65w or 90w 20v adapter that would come with many Lenovo laptops. No mention of supporting the 135w or larger adapter.
External charger overview
External charger battery support
Adding Maps to the Zumo 660
It was easier to add maps to the Zumo 660 than I expected.
With the impending trip, I bought the Garmin City Navigator Europe 2012 DVD. I was concerned that with the number of countries I was going to visit, that I'd be running out of internal storage on the Zumo.
The internal flash storage on the Zumo 660 is 3.8GB, but 1.6GB is chewed up by the North American maps and 1.0GB is consumed by everything else (like voice files, etc). I tried to clear space for the new maps, but the best I could do was freeing about 1GB.
Using MapSource, you use the map tool to select what areas you want to add. But when you hit "upload to device", it conveniently allows you to pick your GPS, or your GPS's uSD slot, or even local SD cards. So easy.
For note, the entire Europe 2012 map set is about 2.7GB. I tried trimming it back to just what I may roll the motorcycle through, and well, that was about 2.4GB. My 32GB uSD card had 18GB free, so I didn't care to skimp. Who knows, maybe I'll take a ferry to Iceland! (okay, maybe not.)
I haven't seen any performance issues since adding the European mapset.
With the impending trip, I bought the Garmin City Navigator Europe 2012 DVD. I was concerned that with the number of countries I was going to visit, that I'd be running out of internal storage on the Zumo.
The internal flash storage on the Zumo 660 is 3.8GB, but 1.6GB is chewed up by the North American maps and 1.0GB is consumed by everything else (like voice files, etc). I tried to clear space for the new maps, but the best I could do was freeing about 1GB.
Using MapSource, you use the map tool to select what areas you want to add. But when you hit "upload to device", it conveniently allows you to pick your GPS, or your GPS's uSD slot, or even local SD cards. So easy.
For note, the entire Europe 2012 map set is about 2.7GB. I tried trimming it back to just what I may roll the motorcycle through, and well, that was about 2.4GB. My 32GB uSD card had 18GB free, so I didn't care to skimp. Who knows, maybe I'll take a ferry to Iceland! (okay, maybe not.)
I haven't seen any performance issues since adding the European mapset.
Audible audiobooks vs. MP3 audiobooks
My Garmin Zumo 660 is by far the most important motorcycling device besides the bike itself. Besides just telling me where I am, I use its MP3 player extensively.
I wear a set of Sony in-the-ear earbuds while I ride. They have a modest amount of passive noise damping while also giving me some entertainment for the road.
In particular, I've been listening to audiobooks almost exclusively for the past few years. Generally, I'll listen to books I've already read, so I'm just reliving them as opposed to having to concentrate on them to keep the storyline.
I've only been listening to mp3-based audiobooks, ripped off my audioCDs. But I just tried out Audible audiobooks last night for some new content, and I'm kinda excited, despite the soul-crushing DRM crap.
Listening to long MP3 audiobooks on the Zumo can be a challenge. I have two grievances; sometimes the volume or quality of the rip isn't great, and fast forwarding or rewinding can be a real PITA.
The Zumo has overloaded ff/next track and rw/previous track buttons. A brief tap changes track, a longer press seeks within the track. But if you're listening to an hour-long or 8-hour-long MP3 audiobook file, seeking can be very fast, skipping minutes per second. If you only want to go back 30 seconds, you're usually SOL. And if you try to be quick about it, you end up not holding the rw button long enough and jump to the previous track, losing your position! Grr.
The Audible player included on the Zumo is meant specifically for audiobooks. Seeking is by second, not percentage of the total size. You can place bookmarks. And I've read that it remembers where you left off in that file if you switch to another (a feature I haven't tried yet). All in all, I'm looking forward to trying them out more.
Now if only I could find a tool to convert .mp3's into Audible .aa files, I'd be a seriously happy camper.
I wear a set of Sony in-the-ear earbuds while I ride. They have a modest amount of passive noise damping while also giving me some entertainment for the road.
In particular, I've been listening to audiobooks almost exclusively for the past few years. Generally, I'll listen to books I've already read, so I'm just reliving them as opposed to having to concentrate on them to keep the storyline.
I've only been listening to mp3-based audiobooks, ripped off my audioCDs. But I just tried out Audible audiobooks last night for some new content, and I'm kinda excited, despite the soul-crushing DRM crap.
Listening to long MP3 audiobooks on the Zumo can be a challenge. I have two grievances; sometimes the volume or quality of the rip isn't great, and fast forwarding or rewinding can be a real PITA.
The Zumo has overloaded ff/next track and rw/previous track buttons. A brief tap changes track, a longer press seeks within the track. But if you're listening to an hour-long or 8-hour-long MP3 audiobook file, seeking can be very fast, skipping minutes per second. If you only want to go back 30 seconds, you're usually SOL. And if you try to be quick about it, you end up not holding the rw button long enough and jump to the previous track, losing your position! Grr.
The Audible player included on the Zumo is meant specifically for audiobooks. Seeking is by second, not percentage of the total size. You can place bookmarks. And I've read that it remembers where you left off in that file if you switch to another (a feature I haven't tried yet). All in all, I'm looking forward to trying them out more.
Now if only I could find a tool to convert .mp3's into Audible .aa files, I'd be a seriously happy camper.
Thursday 12 July 2012
Europe 2012 - Equipment
I've taking a lot of equipment and toys for this ride, perhaps excessively so.
My European touring kit:
The bike and hardware:
- 2000 Honda VFR 800
- Rebuilt and upgraded CBR929RR rear shock
- likely end up riding Michelin Pilot Road 2's
- Throttlemeister
- Light-Guard lens cover
- GIVI Wingrack II, GIVI Trekker 42l and 33l boxes, full complement of GIVI internal bags
- Rapid Transit Big City magnetic tank bag
Clothing:
- Tourmaster Flex 3 jacket and pants
- Dainese TRQ-Tour Gore-Tex boots
- an old Shoei RX900 helmet
- Lots of lightweight and microweight smartwool long undergarments for wicking.
Electronics:
- Garmin Zumo 660 GPS, North America and Europe maps
- RAM mounts for GPS and other accessories
- Touratech v2 Zumo 660 locking mount
- Lots and lots of audiobooks
- Sony Fontopia MDR-EX77 earbuds
- Weatherproof 1A and 2.1A USB power ports
- Delorme inReach 2-way satellite communicator (SOS button, SMS-like functionality, Bluetooth connectivity into my iDevices)
- Apple iPhone 4, liquipelled for weatherproofing
- Apple iPad 3, liquipelled for weatherproofing
- Logitech iPad 3 ultrathin bluetooth keyboard cover
- ZAGG Sparq 2.0 6000mAh portable battery
- Canon S100 digital camera
- Lenovo Thinkpad x230 notebook
- Lenovo 90w AC/DC travel power brick, with iPhone and x230 charging tips and duplex adapter
- ReplayHD helmet cam
I'm carrying a lot of electronics. I'm a committed gadget-head, I hate compromise, and I don't have neural implants yet, so this will have to do. Also, I'm solely reliant on myself on this trip, so I need backups for my backups.
I've been using much of the listed equipment for the last few years of touring, but in particular, the inReach and ReplayHD will be new to me.Thursday 5 July 2012
Liquipel
While I was in San Diego for Cisco Live 2012 this year, I rented a car and drove up to Santa Ana to get my iPhone and iPad weatherproofed at Liquipel.
With my trip coming up, I figured I'm assured to get drenched at least a couple times, and I was concerned about keeping my phone alive throughout.
Their service isn't necessarily cheap, and they have limitation with what they can do with non-openable platforms like the iPhone and iPad. They're coming out with a scale to describe devices and the level of waterproofing they can offer. I heard that the iPhone would rank a level 3 on their scale. Not waterproof, but "weatherproof".
Normally, you would ship your device to them, and you can select (and pay) for the level of urgency you want your device processed and returned. However, if you can stop by their location in Santa Ana, California, they have a 1.25 hour (1 hour 15 minute) while-you-wait service. I wasn't willing to lose my phone for a week, so the Cisco conference offered me a good opportunity to get it taken care of in person.
In the end, it wasn't cheap, but I also got extra stuff done; in addition to the weatherproofing on both my devices, I had a new screen protector applied to the phone (seemingly hot-applied and better quality than the usual stick-ons from the electronics stores, still removable though), and a screen protector and a "stylish" backing applied to the iPad 3. It was somewhere around us$212 once I was done.
As part of their "weatherproof" instructions, they say if the device does get wet, you need to let it dry for 24 hours. ahem.
A few weeks ago, I inadvertently tested the water survivability of my iPhone when I accidentally dropped it into a pot of cold water. It spent a good 4 seconds or so at the bottom of the pot, little bubbles coming out of the phone, while I sorted out setting the pot down without dumping it all over my counter.
As I reached in to grab the phone, the screen came on. For note, a lit-up iPhone under water is kinda pretty and sparkling. Ahem. Anyway, I pulled the phone out, put it back into sleep (hitting the sleep button on top), then proceeded to "throw" water out of it for a good 5 minutes. Every arc I made at the wall, I could hear more and more water droplets hitting said wall, coming out of its headphone jack.
Eventually, I held the sleep button long enough to power it off. I think I managed to let it dry for 24 minutes (not the 24 hours they recommend) before I powered it back on and tested it. Worked fine!
Since then, I've seen no issues with the phone. I'm pretty pleased. :)
With my trip coming up, I figured I'm assured to get drenched at least a couple times, and I was concerned about keeping my phone alive throughout.
Their service isn't necessarily cheap, and they have limitation with what they can do with non-openable platforms like the iPhone and iPad. They're coming out with a scale to describe devices and the level of waterproofing they can offer. I heard that the iPhone would rank a level 3 on their scale. Not waterproof, but "weatherproof".
Normally, you would ship your device to them, and you can select (and pay) for the level of urgency you want your device processed and returned. However, if you can stop by their location in Santa Ana, California, they have a 1.25 hour (1 hour 15 minute) while-you-wait service. I wasn't willing to lose my phone for a week, so the Cisco conference offered me a good opportunity to get it taken care of in person.
In the end, it wasn't cheap, but I also got extra stuff done; in addition to the weatherproofing on both my devices, I had a new screen protector applied to the phone (seemingly hot-applied and better quality than the usual stick-ons from the electronics stores, still removable though), and a screen protector and a "stylish" backing applied to the iPad 3. It was somewhere around us$212 once I was done.
As part of their "weatherproof" instructions, they say if the device does get wet, you need to let it dry for 24 hours. ahem.
A few weeks ago, I inadvertently tested the water survivability of my iPhone when I accidentally dropped it into a pot of cold water. It spent a good 4 seconds or so at the bottom of the pot, little bubbles coming out of the phone, while I sorted out setting the pot down without dumping it all over my counter.
As I reached in to grab the phone, the screen came on. For note, a lit-up iPhone under water is kinda pretty and sparkling. Ahem. Anyway, I pulled the phone out, put it back into sleep (hitting the sleep button on top), then proceeded to "throw" water out of it for a good 5 minutes. Every arc I made at the wall, I could hear more and more water droplets hitting said wall, coming out of its headphone jack.
Eventually, I held the sleep button long enough to power it off. I think I managed to let it dry for 24 minutes (not the 24 hours they recommend) before I powered it back on and tested it. Worked fine!
Since then, I've seen no issues with the phone. I'm pretty pleased. :)
Thinkpad caps-lock delay
If you've used a Thinkpad before, and came to enjoy disabling or adding a delay to your caps-lock key (among others), the utility you're looking for is the Lenovo Keyboard Customizer.
Lenovo stopped including the utility seemingly when they started including Win 7 with systems. The last version of the utility is listed as being for Vista, but it seems to work well enough in Win 7 on all the Thinkpads I've tried it on.
A current link for it that I just used to install it on my new x230 is: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-67288
Lenovo stopped including the utility seemingly when they started including Win 7 with systems. The last version of the utility is listed as being for Vista, but it seems to work well enough in Win 7 on all the Thinkpads I've tried it on.
A current link for it that I just used to install it on my new x230 is: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR-67288
Wednesday 4 July 2012
7mm Drive Bay
Interesting tidbit about the Lenovo Thinkpad x230. It takes a 7mm drive.
Oh, and OCZ just started selling a 7mm Vertex 3. Too bad that's not what I bought a month ago.
Ahh well. You can just barely insert a 9.5mm SSD, but it ain't pretty. Case is a bit bowed.
Oh, and OCZ just started selling a 7mm Vertex 3. Too bad that's not what I bought a month ago.
Ahh well. You can just barely insert a 9.5mm SSD, but it ain't pretty. Case is a bit bowed.
Monday 2 July 2012
Europe 2012 - Logistics
I work at a reseller called Scalar Decisions, focusing on data centre products. Turnover is pretty common in the IT field, so one perk management gives to try to keep the talent around is a 4 week "sabbatical" after every 4th year.
My 4th year finished in December 2011. In January 2012, I asked and was approved for a 7 week vacation, reaching from July 27th through September 16th.
In February, in anticipation of this vacation, I had my old 2000 Honda VFR800 shipped to Heidelberg, Germany by knopftours.com.
My VFR had a pretty busy life back here in North America; in roughly 4.5 years, I did 150000km (bringing it to about 165000km). It saw every continental United State and all the provinces. Considering how high its KMs were, I thought it prudent to start looking for a new ride. I found a screamin' deal on a 2003 Honda Blackbird CBR1100xx, in black no less.
Since October, the VFR only saw street time was when the Blackbird was in for servicing. Instead of letting it spend its last days wasting away, I had the opportunity to take advantage of a cheap shipping deal to knopftours.com
Knopftours.com is a full-service motorcycle tourist haven in Heidelberg. Shipping, B&B, storage, basic maintenance, battery charging, arranging insurance, etc. They came well recommended from a couple forums, including advrider.com. I was struggling over the rent/buy/ship question until I found this company. They've been doing this for over 21 years.
Knopftours regularily floats a container between Heidelberg and Orlando Florida. I managed to ride down between weather systems on the Family Day long weekend in February and handed it over to the logistics company Stefan Knopf uses in Orlando. I heard there were 14 other bikes ready to be loaded up too.
The entire process went way smoother than I could have imagined. Stefan sent regular emails reporting the journey and milestones. The bikes started their journey late-March, and arrived at knopftours mid-April.
Knopftours' yearly storage rates are astoundingly reasonable; around US$300/year. With this rate in mind, I won't bother bringing the VFR back. It will always be sitting there in Heidelberg, waiting for me to find time to go visit it.
My 4th year finished in December 2011. In January 2012, I asked and was approved for a 7 week vacation, reaching from July 27th through September 16th.
In February, in anticipation of this vacation, I had my old 2000 Honda VFR800 shipped to Heidelberg, Germany by knopftours.com.
My VFR had a pretty busy life back here in North America; in roughly 4.5 years, I did 150000km (bringing it to about 165000km). It saw every continental United State and all the provinces. Considering how high its KMs were, I thought it prudent to start looking for a new ride. I found a screamin' deal on a 2003 Honda Blackbird CBR1100xx, in black no less.
Since October, the VFR only saw street time was when the Blackbird was in for servicing. Instead of letting it spend its last days wasting away, I had the opportunity to take advantage of a cheap shipping deal to knopftours.com
Knopftours.com is a full-service motorcycle tourist haven in Heidelberg. Shipping, B&B, storage, basic maintenance, battery charging, arranging insurance, etc. They came well recommended from a couple forums, including advrider.com. I was struggling over the rent/buy/ship question until I found this company. They've been doing this for over 21 years.
Knopftours regularily floats a container between Heidelberg and Orlando Florida. I managed to ride down between weather systems on the Family Day long weekend in February and handed it over to the logistics company Stefan Knopf uses in Orlando. I heard there were 14 other bikes ready to be loaded up too.
The entire process went way smoother than I could have imagined. Stefan sent regular emails reporting the journey and milestones. The bikes started their journey late-March, and arrived at knopftours mid-April.
Knopftours' yearly storage rates are astoundingly reasonable; around US$300/year. With this rate in mind, I won't bother bringing the VFR back. It will always be sitting there in Heidelberg, waiting for me to find time to go visit it.
Sunday 1 July 2012
The Beginning
I'm going to try writing a blog about my travels and other stuff that comes up in my life.
With my first epic motorcycle tour of Europe looming, I'm seeing a lot of opportunities to post about lessons learned around hardware, planning, goals and timing.
Hopefully this Blogsy blogging software for the iPad handles offline editing well, as I don't expect to have ubiquitous access. Unfortunately, Blogsy's ability to leverage iOS' spell checker is buggy, so mistakes may crop up. Feh.
With my first epic motorcycle tour of Europe looming, I'm seeing a lot of opportunities to post about lessons learned around hardware, planning, goals and timing.
Hopefully this Blogsy blogging software for the iPad handles offline editing well, as I don't expect to have ubiquitous access. Unfortunately, Blogsy's ability to leverage iOS' spell checker is buggy, so mistakes may crop up. Feh.
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