So fighter fest is now officially only seven days away. I am leaving Florida on Wednesday - that's only four days away! It's going to be interesting to say the least. I figured i'd write a bit about all the prep work I've been doing both to myself and to the bike to get ready for fighter fest and the long ride up and back.

Day one is a 555 mile trip from Cape Coral, FL up to Charleston, SC. I'll be solo on this part of the trip. Once I get up to Charleston, I'll be meeting with the first group that will be going up to PA for fighter fest.
We have a pretty easy 270 mile ride on day two, where we'll be riding as a group (with a chase vehicle) from Charleston, SC up to Raleigh, NC. In Raleigh, we'll be crashing at a friend's house. He was going to be heading up with us, but unfortunately things changed and he can't go now. But, he was still cool enough to let us crash at his house.
The last leg of the run is on the long-ish side at 480 miles. that takes us from Raleigh, NC up to Staunton, VA to meet with the second part of our group. Then from Staunton up to Carlisle, PA. All told it will be about 22 hours in the saddle. I've never put that much time in on a streetfighter. It's not exactly like my bike is a cushy cruiser or bagger. it doesn't even have a windshield. hahaha

So what have I been up to? I obviously haven't been posting here...

First, and most importantly I've been working on the bike to make sure it is in tip-top shape for the ride up. To date, I have replaced the clutch plates & cable. I have changed the oil and filter. I have cleaned-up and sealed-off all the wiring. I have replaced the brake rotors, and brake pads. I have replaced the rear tire. I have installed some new parts I'd been meaning to swap-out. And finally, since it was all apart anyway, I painted all the bodywork (what little there is left).

Besides getting the bike ready for the ride, I've been getting myself ready for the ride as well. Every weekend that i wasn't wrenching on the bike, I've been trying to spend all day in the saddle with as few rests as possible. this has been primarily to condition myself to riding the fighter for more than 4-hours without a rest-stop longer than 10 minutes in between. there have been a couple days where I was glad to park the bike back in the garage, but overall, it's been a blast!

So with almost a month of solid wrenching and long-haul riding under my belt it's finally approaching the time where I put all my training and prep work to the test. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I'll be posting pics, stories, and hopefully a video or two of all the fun and hooliganism up at fighter fest. So the long dry-spell here on the blog is about to become a thing of the past. Look for pics and stories starting on next Saturday/Sunday. The videos will have to wait until I get back home to post to the site.

Here we go - let's roll out!