After waffling over the departure date, I finally made up my mind. It was a hectic week, so I decided to put off final packing up until Saturday, then leave around 10:00am Sunday morning to avoid the traffic. Yes, it's true, there is traffic in the Bay Area on Saturdays and Sundays. The freeways here on the weekend are equal to most states rush hour traffic.  

The bike , a black 95 Nighthawk 750 named Vader, received a thorough going over. Lubed/adjusted the chain. Set the shocks to position 3. Added air to the tires to max values. Gave him an early Oil/Filter change (went with Mobil 1 15W50). Vader looked ready for action (the name is appropriate, he brings out my "dark side").

 Eager to start packing, I grabbed the instructions and began installing my new RKA bags. Uh-Oh! Problem!! The straps looked like they were way too short to fit across the seat. No one has ever accused me of being a mechanical genius, but even I could see there was no way in hell of making those straps work!! Fine thing to find out the day before a trip starts. There's nothing like doing things at the last minute to liven up a trip!! Out of options, I called RKA, praying that they were open on Saturday. "Well, not always", they said, but they were this week. I explained my dilemna, and after pulling up the order, it turns out they mistakingly put me down for an older model Hawk, not a Nighthawk 750. Big difference!! They promised to remain open awaiting my arrival (just what I needed, a 3 to 4 hour pre trip ride to break my butt in!).

 LESSON: Order everything way ahead of time then check it all out long before you go. Most people probably do it this way. A few, like myself, do things the hard way. It makes for a more exciting trip!

Somehow, I avoided getting lost on the way, and even enjoyed the ride out to RKA, located in Santa Rosa. A quick check of my bike revealed that even had they sent me the Nighthawk 750 straps, it still would have been too short. Seems I neglected to inform them that my bike had the Honda Luggage rack/backrest (then again, no one asked me). This necessitates even longer straps. Well, when you're at the factory, custom fitting is not a problem. I had the pleasure of watching a professional install the straps and bags correctly. That's the best way to learn something. Watch someone who knows what the hell they are doing! They offered me a beer while I was waiting. Being a new rider, my "under the influence" riding skills are undeveloped, so water seemed a better choice. With the exception of a few raindrops and a slightly sore butt, it was an uneventful ride home. The remainder of the day was spent packing up the majority of the gear, with the exception of the clothes. I was still unsure which type of soft suitcase to pack them in. The decision boiled down to a black canvas military style soft bag, and an "el cheapo" Korean soft suitcase, which was slimmer and appeared to be waterproof. When the clothes were all laid out, the smaller, slimmer bag looked like the best choice.

All of my cooking gear was stowed in the right side RKA saddle bag. My little Coleman multifuel backpacker's stove is a great stove, but it has one problem. It's a little too big to fit into any of the common backpacking pot & pan sets. For protection, it was tucked in a 2 pound coffee can. Next to it was my little stainless cookset. It would have been nice to have been able to "nest" the stove into the cookpot, saving valuable space, but the stove is just too tall. Someday the right cookpot will turn up. I don't want to buy a different stove. Since I was riding solo and planning on cooking only one meal a day maximum, my rations consisted of about 2 lbs of dry white rice, a dozen assorted MRE main entrees, numerous packs of MRE bread, crackers, cheese spread, jam, and peanut butter. Added to this was a little jar of coffee, cream, and sugar, for a complete pantry!! The plan was to augment this with a little fruit purchased on the way, an occasional restaraunt meal, and whatever roadkill was available (just kidding). Well, I finally got it all packed up, then hit the showers and the pillow.