820 Mile Road Trip - What to pack and how to prepare?

[fury8793]

Hey guys, fury here with some questions and pricing plans!

I plan on moving down to Kentucky here in the spring with nothing but my bike, what I can cram into my saddlebags and the stuff I can send down there after I decide what is truly important to me. I do need to make some modifications to my bike prior to my trip to make it a more comfortable/bearable trip.

Alright so this winter I'm tearing the bike down and redoing it completely to insure the highest amount of reliability. Some things that I'm doing:
A) Cleaning and installing a stage 1 jet kit (best brands?)
B) Installing new tires (best sport touring tires for the money?)
C) Purchasing a new sport touring windscreen to get the wind off of my body
D) Replacing the spark plugs and installing a new starter (the other s#!t the bed)
E) New brake pads
F) breakaway clutch and brake lever
G) All fresh fluids (Clear brake fluid and fresh oil and filter)
H) Hardbags or expandable softbags and tank bag (brands?)
I) Corbin Seat or other brand
J) Raise the bars to take my weight off of them (ideas?)

These are some of the modifications that are coming to my mind as of right now off the top of my head. They are simple but I know that they will benefit me for the long haul that lies ahead. I will also be motovlogging on my journey with my GoPro and mic setup and I'll make sure to post highlights for you guys to watch.

I appreciate any tips or modifications that you guys can possibly can think about that will make the ride easier. I figured roughly 4 fill ups or so but I'm going to set aside $150 for strictly gas and about $2000 for my expenses for on my way and when I get down there.

Happy riding guys, be safe!

[Wild-Bill]

A) Cleaning and installing a stage 1 jet kit (best brands?) Factory Pro, Factory Pro, Factory Pro.
B) Installing new tires (best sport touring tires for the money?) There's some disagreement but I'm a big fan of the Pirelli Roadsport dual-compound tires. PR4 is the latest iteration, IIRC
C) Purchasing a new sport touring windscreen to get the wind off of my body Nice but don't toss the original. You may want to put it back on after the trip
D) Replacing the spark plugs and installing a new starter (the other s#!t the bed)
E) New brake pads
F) breakaway clutch and brake lever
G) All fresh fluids (Clear brake fluid and fresh oil and filter)
H) Hardbags or expandable softbags and tank bag (brands?) Go with soft bags. MUCH cheaper, they stretch and distort to handle odd-sized stuff and they're easy to store when you're not using them.
I) Corbin Seat or other brand Look for a used Corbin on ebay. Corbins are wonderful but they've raised the prices to something ridiculous.
J) Raise the bars to take my weight off of them (ideas?) You haven't said what model bike you've got but if it's a 600 you can replace the top tripple tree and install a 750 yoke with the bar risers. Alternatively, you could get/build some adapters to hold generic tubular bars. Plan on filling the bars with some lead shot to soak up vibration and no matter how you reposition the bars, you'll probably end up needing longer cables and a brake line.

[rschlegel]

I found my Corbin on ebay shipped for $56. A little beat up near the bottom but works great and was in better condition than stock.
Zero Gravity touring screen. I love mine but after raising my bars I ended up needing an added air deflector. Wunderlich adjustable air deflector. Both $130 each. Adding the Wunderlich put the main wind blast from lower chest to mid face visor.
If you have the 600 you can remove your clipons and drill out the holes for the clipons to accept standard 5/8" bar clamps. I then used Rox pivoting risers with Bikemaster Daytona bend handlebars. You will need extended brake lines and clutch cable. I do not have vibration issues. I did use overgrips over my regular grips. Rox also makes the pivoting risers in an anti vibration model. The Rox risers can be found from 2 to 5" rise if I remember correctly. I find that I would like to raise mine another inch but will need extended throttle cables to do it. I have the 2" Rox risers. The standard bar clamps I got for $10 at a salvage yard. The bolts that hold them are long enough that I shimmed under the triple clamp with stainless washers. I can fine tune the height by moving washers from the bottom to the top of the triple. I started to do this and that is when I noticed that my throttle cables will not allow any more rise. Another tip is that if you only raise the bars enough to still use existing cables, you will need to move the cable routing to the outside of you fork tubes instead of through them. You will also need go remove a cable tie that holds your wiring from the ignition switch to allow more movement without it pulling on the harness.
This is a good time to install steel braided brake lines. A cheaper way to do this is to remove your brake lines and take them all (3) still together to a hydraulic hose company. They can usually make them while you wait. You just tell them how much longer and that can match the bends to the stock ones. I did a two line setup and it cost $69.

[shpielers]

+1. They nailed it.

[Wild-Bill]

We're just that good!