Ready . . .

August 7, 2005

Forty-eight hours and counting for our planned departure for Sturgis. Things are really in motion now. We went down to Waco yesterday to pick up the trailer for the bikes. The endeavor was not without incident.

We were using a Porsche Cayenne S to pick up the trailer. For some reason, when you purchase a tow package from Porsche, you don't actually have the ability to tow something until you go back to the dealer and buy an electrical connection. Or, in our case, go to the VW dealer because the Porsche dealer is moving and buy a three hundred dollar kit for the twelve dollar part you actually need. This really doesn't make sense - unless, of course, you are selling Porsches.

We ended up getting down to Waco by about noon. I have to say that the guys at the trailer place were great. It's a 20 foot trailer originally set up as a car hauler that they modified for us, adding bike chocks and e-track for tying down the bikes. They were very friendly, helpful and efficient. Plus, they're the only folks we could find within a hundred or so miles who rent enclosed trailers longer than 16 feet.

The ride back was good - although much slower than the ride there. We stopped and had some barbecue at Rudy's. Good stuff. We made it back to Dallas in the later afternoon and, after some manuevering, managed to get the trailer backed all the way down my driveway, behind the gate.

We did load one of the bikes. The trailer, when empty, looks quite large. However, it fills up quickly when you start loading stuff into it. We are pulling four bikes - so there is a front and a back row, slightly offset. Each bike will be secured with a wheel chock and five tie down straps (each strap has an individual working load in excess of the bike's weight). Given the set of chocks behind them, the front bikes are the hardest to get manuevered into proper alignment - it took a while, but with the help of some furniture moving sliders, we were able to get the bike in a good position for the ride up. I expect that the straps will stretch some as we go down the road, so we'll stop to retighten after the first hundred miles or so.

Now we just need the r.v. and we will be set.