Shifting Gears Episode 6 Long Distance Toolkit

Ken, this week on Winging It you want to talk about long distance touring, we’re talking about those trips that take two-weeks, three weeks at a go. You said to me you bring more than the average tool kit and I’m shocked to see what you just pulled out of your wing. You take all of this with you?

Ken

I do and you know what, I probably paid for it in gas mileage over the years but I’ve very rarely not been able to keep us going or myself with some of the toys that I brought. Like I said, if I’m not on a flat bed, it’s still a good trip.

Dave

Right, so when you say us, you’re talking about yourself and everybody else in your riding party right, you travel a lot with a lot of other wing riders.

Ken

Yeah, it’s a camaraderie that I always enjoy, everybody needs to get out on their own, but we can also do individual rides as a group. It sounds a little ironic, but this is where we’re going to be tonight, take your own route and get some alone time.

Dave

Right. So if something goes wrong in the electrical department it looks to me like you’re ready for anything.

Ken

Well, I’d like to think I’m ready for anything but, so far, the source would be, if your battery fails on you. It’s the heartbeat of everything else electrical on your bike. And the electrical load on bikes today is getting far much better with LED and HID lighting way more than it used to be, but if your battery’s in trouble, sometimes getting it jump started by someone else might get you to the next town where you can rectify the problem better. SO you’ve got to have some way of sourcing off of somebody else. It could be a car, it could be a bike, but small cables like this are easier to pack than the big ones for the car.

Dave

Okay, so little jumper cables and test light and volt meter. What are you doing with that?

Ken

If we suspect something, and I’m not an expert in electronics but I know where to stop before I’m dangerous, I want to validate whether or not I’m getting proper output from an electrical system. I know my alternator should be putting out thirteen/fourteen volts at 200 rpm or better. If not, this will tell me so I know where part of the culprit could be. If I just need to know there’s continuity between this light socket and that light socket. It’s just a point and click and when the little light comes on you don’t need numbers, you just need to know that the circuit is intact. So, just a little tool that really doesn’t take much room.

Dave

Okay. Do you carry anything on your Gold Wing specifically that allows you to monitor your electrical system.

Ken

Yeah. I guess one of the biggest things with the electrical node is I installed an analog voltage gauge because I’d like to watch my problem develop if I’m going to have one as opposed to an idiot light that comes on and it’s game over. It’s probably the last amount of power it had to illuminate on your dashboard and now you’re at the side of the road. I can see that on the go with an analog gauge.

Dave

Wow. And then finally, I guess everything is firing electrically but you may have forgotten about your fuel for some reason and you’ve run out of fuel. I see you’ve got the handy dandy gas card.

Ken

It’s a newer style of a syphon hose but any hose will do. Anybody that’s done it knows it doesn’t matter whether you’re middle grade, low grade or premium, it tastes bad when you have to syphon up gas from your buddy’s tank. So this has a mechanism of a ball-bearing inside, I don’t know if you can hear that, but as you start that that will suction feed down to the source. Now you might have to find a bottle in the ditch or something to put it into and then transport that to the other bike. But your source gas tank must be higher than the empty point of the other end of the hose. Very, very handy, again, takes up very little space. We’ve all come close to running out of fuel or and then you’re waiting for what’s next best.

Dave

Clearly you have been thinking about how to avoid breaking down when you’re out on the open road and you’ve got yourself covered both with the electronics and the fuel. Nice job!

Ken

Thank you.