PROLOG

                                                                    
This is bound to be a learning experience on so many levels.
I've never blogged before and have been accused of being allergic to technology! I've always maintained that computers were allergic to ME. I have never used an I-pad for anything other than Sudoku. In addition, I've never taken a trip this long before, never travelled alone through a vast unknown territory, never gone more than a couple hundred miles on a motorcycle.
Until last January, I had not been on a motorcycle for over 40 years. My last motorcycle weighed about 200 lbs, had a top speed of about 85 m.p.h., didn't have instrumentation or even lights. Half the time it didn't even have brakes!
The adage is always that "it's like riding a bike, you never forget how". I can tell you from a first person point of view, that adage doesn't ring true when you are tasked with controlling an 800 lb behemoth with a 1600 c.c. engine and six speed transmission, the top 3 or 4 being capable of illegal speeds.
My task for the last year has been to learn the operation and feel of a tank, a 2012 Harley Fatboy, with features not even dreamed of when I last cruised an open road on two wheels. I was unaware you could buy a bike with ABS brakes!
Although it is entirely possible to buy a touring bike with many more features than my Fatboy let me give you an idea what this bike features.
The first item that caught my attention was that it not only had an ignition key but it came with a key fob, used to arm the anti-theft alarm. Instrumentation includes fuel gauge, speedometer, digital tach, odometer, and two independent tripometers. For those of us who can't count past five when wearing mittens the digital readout also indicates what gear I'm in, what time it is and how far you can go before you need to look for a gas station. Separate lights indicate if your turn signal is on (turn signals? My Dad would be so embarrassed), if you are about to run out of fuel and if you are in sixth gear. The aforementioned turn signals are accompanied by a horn, emergency flashers, day-time running lights, high beam indicator, kill switch, cruise control (!), and a programmable PIN number in case you lose the key fob.
I bought the bike with a detachable windscreen and saddle bags and have since added an extra saddle bag that mounts over the rear fender behind me for additional storage space. Soon to come are a handle bar mount for my cell phone which will work through a blue tooth insert in my helmet to give me music and navigation capability.
My new fender mounted bag will give me approximately the same cubic inch capacity as my back pack and should allow me to be pretty much self contained. Nights will be a mix of campgrounds, hotels and possibly back yards of friendly folks along the way. Meals will be mostly restaurants although I will carry my back packing stove for preparation of self sustenance.
If all goes well I hope to hit the road in late April / early May with no time table to dictate pace. I plan to make blog entries when time and the mood coincide, as well as posting lots of pics. I will not be taking a selfie stick but may take a miniature tripod if I can figure out how to operate a timer on my camera.
As the weather begins to warm up, my urge to Give the final command grows -kick stand up!