Saturday April 23rd,2016 - 8 days to go!!!

   Today we're having our pre-trip logistics meeting. Our whole party is gathering at the Ball (younger) House for a BBQ to discuss things about the upcoming cruise. This party includes David & Barbara Ball, Heather & David Ball, Chris & Alicia Ball, Steve & Janet Eisner and David & Annette Lissy. We have to discuss pre-trip issues, getting to the cruiseport and ride points.
   Pre-trip issues deal with getting the bikes to the Lissy house in South Plainfield before departure day and storing them there. We want to get them there before departure day just to have them there, knowing they are ready to go. Also, to get them there, making the ride up on a day we choose so as to avoid any weather issues. Who wants to ride the Parkway in the rain? My idea is to load Steve's bike in the trailer and for me and Chris to ride our bikes to the Lissy's, with Steve following with the trailer. Then we can all ride back, leaving the bikes and trailer in South Plainfield.
   The bikes cannot have more than 1/4 tank of fuel in them when we board the ship so we also have to consider that. It's approximately 100 miles from the Ball House to the Lissy House to the Cruise Port. For me, that will leave about 1/3 tank so if I use a little fuel from a full tank before leaving for the port I'll be fine. Gee, sounds like a reason to go for a ride.
   On departure day we have to be at the cruise port with the bikes around 9am. If history tells us anything it's that we should leave early. It's a Sunday so at least we won't have to deal with commuter traffic.

Results of the meeting...

   We still don't have a solid plan for getting the bikes up to David's house. It looks like Steve and I will ride up during the week and then we'll take Chris's bike up in the trailer on Saturday. Also, it doesn't look like anyone wants to join us in the photo package. They may regret that later.

Friday April 22nd, 2016 - One Step Closer

   I picked the bike up from my mechanic George last night. George rebuilt the front shocks and looked the bike over. He didn't find too much to worry about. The tires were a little low on air. They also need to be replaced. I looked it up....they have about 15K miles on them. I think I'll replace them with the same types, Michelin Commander II's. That kind of mileage for bike tires is pretty good. I'll order them as soon as I get back from our cruise.

  He also diagnosed a check engine code pointing to the front fuel injector. Hopefully the Sea Foam treatment he suggested will do the trick. I poured in half a bottle today and after awhile the check engine light stopped flashing. Time will tell. 

   As far as other work...I still need to change all of the fluids and complete the cleaning. Time is running out. I also have to mount the new wheel chock in the trailer and I'd like to experiment a little with the GeekPro camera.

   Tick Tock!

Wednesday April 20th, 2016 - 11 days to go...slow down,slow down!

   There are only 11 days to go until we leave on the cruise and I have so much yet to do. It's amazing how fast something like this comes up on you. It seems the more you have to do, the faster it comes up. I guess the fact that new things keep popping up doesn't help.
   On top of the 'to-do' list are getting the bike ready and getting clothes together. The bike is at the mechanic having the front shocks rebuilt. They have been bottoming out for awhile, making for an uncomfortable, and sometimes uncontrollable, ride. Once I get the bike back I have to finish the deep cleaning and change all of the fluids. It's not like washing a car. There are soooooo many nooks and crannies to get at.

Friday April 8th, 2016...23 Days To Go

Time is passing quickly...23 days to go. That's just a little over three weeks. I've made all sorts of check-lists to make sure no detail is missed. Just when I think a list is complete I find something else to add.

I finally had the remaining patches sewn on my motorcycle vest. I'm not quite sure if I'll wear it to ride but I definitely want it for our 'biker pics'. 

Completed Vest

David & Barbara
in biker clothes

Our Usual Group

For the past two cruises it was Barbara and myself and David and Annette Lissy. This trip my son Christopher and his wife Alicia are coming as well as Alicia's parents, Steve and Janet Eisner. In addition, my daughter Heather and grandson David will also be joining us in our stateroom. It's gonna be tight.

The bike is no further along. I have a ride this upcoming Sunday. After that I hope to get it to my wrench. The real challenge is going to be cleaning. I'm going to have to dismantle some things to really get in deep. As the bike gets older some parts are beginning to show their age. Some bolts are a little rusty, some parts won't come as clean as they used to and the chrome is giving out in a few places. But the pony still runs great!

Tuesday April 5th, 2016 - 26 days to the cruise...time to warm up the blog

We're 26 days out from the cruise so I thought it was time to startup the blog. Boy did it come up fast! I've been making plans, tweaking the budget, getting things ready and now it seems like there's not enough time. The to-do list is growing faster that I can check things off.

I already finished on-line check in, submitted all of the necessary bike documentation and made the custom luggage tags (like always) and I'm working on the cruise 'contact cards'. These are business cards I make up to pass along to anyone that might want too stay in touch after the cruise.

Custom Luggage Tag

This year's trip is another motorcycle cruise...eight days, seven nights with three days in Bermuda...two of them ride days. This is shorter than previous cruises but it's a small island. We've also booked a two tank dive trip for myself, Chris, Alicia and Heather. I truly wish Barb was diving too.  

This is also a 'family' cruise. Barb and I are going with our bike, Chris and Alicia are going with their bike, Alicia's parents are going with their bike and of course Cousins Dave and Annette are going with their bike. In addition, Heather and little are also coming along.

We're cruising on Celebrity Cruise Line's Summit. 

Celebrity Summit

Our two previous motorcycle cruises were on Royal Caribbean's  Explorer. The Summit is just a bit smaller but preliminary research tells me the experience is going to be pretty much the same as on the Explorer. One thing that will make it interesting will be having four people (one an energetic 2 1/2 year old) in the tiny cabin. We will have to keep the sofa bed put away as much as possible if we want to walk around in the cabin at all.

There's lots to do to the bike. I need to get the front shocks rebuilt, change the fluids and install new ignition components. All that on top of a deep cleaning. The winter riding has really left the bike dirty.  While I clean I check the tightness of all of the fasteners.

I have a new toy for this year's trip. I have an action camera mounted on my 1/2 helmet. It's not a GoPro...it's a GeekPro. Pretty nifty! It even connects to my phone via wi-fi allowing me to control the camera and view the action. 

Bell 1/2 Helmet with GeekPro Camera

I had the camera mounted on the bike's handlebars but the video was really shaky. I'm hoping that it will be steadier on the helmet, plus I can 'pan' the camera by looking around. We usually purchase the Travel Agency video but I'm going to skip it now that I have this gadget. Also, Chris and Dave will also be doing video.  

The camera is also waterproof so it should be nice to have on the dive.

I plan on purchasing a minimal internet package so that I can post to this blog daily. Good luck with that! I've never really been able to keep up with this blog on these trips.

Back from the cruise

I'm going to make an attempt to complete the entries for our trip as best I can. The slow internet on the ship was making it very difficult to keep up.

Day 3 -Thursday March 13, 2014

Today was an early wake up…05:00. I feel better when I get a little less sleep. I use the time early in the morning to take pictures around the ship, while most people are still asleep. The only people around are a few other ‘old’ guys, around my age, sitting around having coffee too.

Being another ‘sea day’ there really isn’t much to write about. We spent most of our time trying to find thing to do. Barbara went to the health spa and put in some time on the bike and treadmill. Then she topped it off with a nice long soak in the hot tub. I went down to the bike storage and completed a more permanent repair to the shift linkage. I feel confident that it will last for the rest of the trip.

After lunch we went to the ice show ‘Spirit of the Seasons’. It was pretty good. It’s amazing how fast the skaters can go on that little ice rink. After that, we took a walk over to the photo studio to take a look at the photos we had taken on the formal night. That was a bust since the pictures did not exist. We’ll try again on the next formal night at the end of the trip.

Dinner was pretty sedate and afterwards we went to the 50’s – 60’s dance party. We were pretty tired, since it was late, so we called it a night and went back to the cabin.