Phil's Blog

Phil's Blog

2021-09-30 Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail

2021-09-30 Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail

2021-09-30 Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail

2020-07 Colorado (Buena Vista, Crested Butte, Ridgway)

2020-07 Colorado (Buena Vista, Crested Butte, Ridgway)

2020-07 Colorado (Buena Vista, Crested Butte, Ridgway)

2019 Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route

2019 Colorado Backcountry Discovery Route

2019-07 Colorado Back Country Discovery Route (COBDR)

Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail

Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail

Since taking up motorcycling and now recently bought Triumph Tiger 800 XRx I have been itching to go on a short off road trip. The Trans Wisconsin Adventure Trail seems like the perfect fit. You can checkout pictures of my adventure in this album.

ADVrider GPX Tracks Collection

motorcycle Featured

ADVrider GPX Tracks Collection

I also keep a directory updated with direct links to GPX files. Michigan Eastern Upper Penninsula: GPX Canada Lake Superior Circle Tour: GPX Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana Lake Michigan Circle Tour: GPX Illinois Northeast Illinois Gravel Ride: GPX North Illinois DS Track: GPX WI Rustic Roads Patch Kentucky Kentucky Adventure

I wish I had known that before going in...

I wish I had known that before going in...

Assuming anyone reads this... you can learn from this... or not. 1. Triumph panniers. If you lose one, the replacement cost $750. Almost the cost of an entirely new system.

LSI 9211-8i Firmware upgrade IR to IT

LSI 9211-8i Firmware upgrade IR to IT

About 6 months ago I got a new HBA for one of my servers and went through a somewhat ridiculous process of flashing the firmware so that it only acts as an HBA... meaning no hardware RAID. The research culminated in finding a thread with some very good instructions. LSI/

Suzuzki SV650 | New Fuel Tank

Suzuzki SV650 | New Fuel Tank

Don't get ahead on this one. You already did? Ok. Yeah I had an off at the track. Flipped right over the handle bars cause I grabbed the front brake in wet grass. You could say I like the adventure more than going fast on the track. You'd be right.

Triumph Tiger 800 XRx | Heed Crash bars

Triumph Tiger 800 XRx | Heed Crash bars

The problem with farkle is that it is expensive! Unfortunately for my wallet it is also super fun to trick out your bike. This is where the Heed crash bars come in. On a search for some crash bars I found that many manufacturers like SW-MOTECH, Altrider, Adventure Spec, Happy

Triumph Tiger 800 XRx | 650 miles | Oil Change

Triumph Tiger 800 XRx | 650 miles | Oil Change

Not wanting to take the bike to the dealer for a service shortly having dropped a ton of cash on the bike I changed the oil and the filter myself. Requirements: * 4quarts of Castrol Power 1, 10w40 * Oil filter: KN-204 This job was very simple but it was harder to

Day 25. Homeward Bound.

Day 25. Homeward Bound.

Not much to say here. Woke up, showered, got the traditional 7-11 breakfast of yogurt and orange juice, checked out, and took the train to the airport. Security was a breeze and I finally found my comb. Rather the security agent did, when she went through my toiletries to find

Day 24. Motorcycle back to Tokyo. The last day.

Day 24. Motorcycle back to Tokyo. The last day.

I woke up early to make sure I got the motorcycle back on time and was treated to an unobstructed view of Fuji! For about 1 hour was able to get pictures of Fuji while I rode back towards Tokyo. There were only a couple twisty roads that day. I

Day 23. Motorcycle Day 2

Day 23. Motorcycle Day 2

Day 2 of motorbiking started of great with roads so well maintained and every hundred feet there was a new corner. Cars would slow down and flash their emergency lights to let you pass. I thought it was going to rain all day as well, per the weather app on

Day 22. Motorcycle Day 1

Day 22. Motorcycle Day 1

Motorbikes!!! I had been looking forward to this since I started this trip back in July. I had packed my day pack with only the necessary things the night before and left at 8am to get to the motorbike rental place at 9am. After a short briefing on the roads

Tokyo Day 21

Our last tourist day in Tokyo. There were only a couple of things I wanted to go see: Akihabara, and a World War II museum. We went to the museum first since it closed at 4pm. It was interesting seeing the history told from the Japenese perspective. The Akihabara, a

Kyoto to Tokyo Day 20

Kyoto to Tokyo Day 20

Travel day. Woke up and did some laundry before checkout at 11am. We went to the train station to get breakfast/lunch. We were able to relax in the train and watch watch the world go by. We had to change trains once we got to Tokyo station. The signs

Kyoto Day 19

Not a whole lot going on today. Another hike up a mountain, but whatever, we are experts now. The Shrine at Kurama is nothing special but the forest and mountain that it is on, is fantastic. Honestly there isn't much to say here. I'll post some pictures when I get

Kyoto Day 18

Biggest walking day yet. Over 31,000 steps according to Zach's pedometer. We went to see Fushimi Inari Tashi, Bamboo Grove, and Monkey mountain. Each one of those places required hiking up a mountain to get to the destination. I hope to add some more photos to this entry when

Osaka, Nara Day 17

Osaka, Nara Day 17

We arrived in Osaka pretty late and made our way to the Japan Rail (JR) 'help desk' to exchange the vouchers I had bought online for actual tickets. After standing in line for what seemed like hours we got up to the front where a nice girl, with very limited

Hong Kong Day 16

Hong Kong Day 16

Woke up early. Had to do laundry. $48HKD ($6.19 USD) and 2 hours later we had our laundry done for us at a laundry place just around the corner. We had breakfast at a coffee place again and made our way to the airport. Remembering how crowded the airports

Hong Kong Day 15

Hong Kong Day 15

Having slept in until 1130, I was the last one up. Zach had gone to get coffee and sent me and Joel the address. I arrived before Joel. Somehow it had taken him an hour and a half to find the place. :P We poked fun, had some breakfast and

Hong Kong Day 14

Hong Kong Day 14

Arrived at the Hostel after a very efficient train ride that provided a gorgeous view of the harbor and part of the city. The efficiency of HK made an impression, because was a different way of life than that in mainland China. It was evident that Hong Kong has more

Shanghai Day 13 Shanghai Tower

Shanghai Day 13 Shanghai Tower

I slept in today. Though, I think I got a bit sick. So I was in and out all night. The A/C turned off in the middle of the night, causing the room to become super hot. We walked around Pudong and went up Shanghai Tower, the second tallest

Shanghai Day 12 Out and about

Shanghai Day 12 Out and about

As you may have already imagined the sleep we got on the overnight train was less than great. Needing to use the restroom and grab a coffee we went to find the first coffee place we could find. My experience so far had been that you would find more random

Xi'an Day 11 Overnight train to Shanghai

Xi'an Day 11 Overnight train to Shanghai

We were able to wake up a bit later than usual since our train didn't leave until 8:35pm. I woke up in time for breakfast and then went back upstairs to pack my bag and take a short nap. We checked out and left our bags at the hostel