Skeefoo and I went for a short ride on a dirt road above Boquete. We checked out a small lodge that does canopy tours. It looked like a lot of fun and we stayed to watch a few people flying over head then headed back down the road. It had been very windy while we were up there and we didn’t ride for long on the road before we came to a large tree that had fallen over blocking our path. There was no way the 2 of us were going to move it alone, so I headed back up to the lodge for help.

After a few minutes they sent a crew of guys down with machetes, and chainsaws to clear the tree. I couldn’t resist trying to pull the tree with the bike, it didn’t budge but I had to try.

On the way back from Volcan I busted out the Drift helmet cam for a little vlog. Narrow mountain roads like this can be dangerous, mostly because of epically stupid people trying to pass. I prefer to take them slow and stay behind something much larger than myself. That way if some dummy does try to make a pass on a curve they run into a dump truck instead of me.

Some of you have been asking for longer videos, well you have received. I always have a lot of fun at places like this, but mostly because I like to goof off as much as I can. Luckily my tour guide didn’t seem to mind my smart ass comments. 

She showed me many different artifacts that had been found on the property. Jars and small stone tables, and even though I like to joke around I did learn a lot. The thing that amazed me the most is they have determined the people who settled and lived in this area so long ago were of Asian and African decent. Most places like this are from the indigenous population of Panama. Which made me wonder just how those 2 groups ended up in Panama living together.

I have a really hard time wondering around museums they are just so boring, but going to a place like this where I can actually experience the things that happened really makes me want to learn.

Why are your videos so short?

I’ve been asked a few times why my videos are so short.  I always kept them short because I feel people on YouTube are there for quick doses of entertainment, not feature length films.  But because so many of you had requested longer episodes I created one that is 25 minutes long.  It wasn’t that big of a deal, and really didn’t take that much longer to edit than my normal 3-5 minute videos.  It was nice not having to cut anything out.

The problem came when I tried to upload it.  The status bar appeared and estimated the upload would be finished in 1000 minutes.  Okay so I just chill for 16 hours while YouTube hogs 100% of my upload bandwidth.  I started the upload at night, went for a ride the next morning and when I returned my computer was off. There had been a power outage, and the battery in my HP Envy went bad long ago.  When I rebooted I found that the file had made it to 96% complete before the power went off.

Thankfully YouTube has resumable uploads for problems like mine.  I tired to start the upload again, but nothing was happening.  When the last 4% of the file hadn’t finished after 4 hours of hoping I gave up and deleted the video from my list.

Once again starting the upload before I went to bed.  Fast forward 1000 minutes later the upload completes.  I click on the URL to make sure everything worked and I’m greeted with the message, “The user has deleted this video.”

Which means I get to start all over again.  It took 4 tires at 1000 minutes each before I actually got the video successfully upload.  I’m still waiting for it to finish processing before I make it public, but this will likely be the last time I post a HD video that’s longer than 10 minutes.  Until Panama runs a fiber optic line to my house, and holding my breath for that would be suicide.

http://www.progressivesuspension.com/
Skeefoo recently bought a KLR650, and when he came for a visit we decided to install one of the extra sets of forks springs I received from Progressive Suspension. They are super easy to install, just take off the cap, pull the old spring and spacer out. Cut the spacer in half, and drop everything back down the hole. Do one side at a time and you won’t even need to put the bike up on blocks.

After testing out the difference between stock and the aftermarket springs we came to the conclusion that they feel very similar. Because a large portion of the aftermarket spring is exactly like the stock spring. The aftermarket spring begins to work it’s magic when you are really hitting some heavy bumps, and compress the spring to that final bit which saves you from bottoming out.

Upgrading the KLR’s suspension is one of the first things people do to their bike. If your gonna spend a few months living out of your bike you should probably do everything you can to make it as comfortable as possible.

Skeefoo is one of my biggest fans. So much so he turned his helmet into a halfthrottle advertisement. www.halfthrottle.com isn’t actually my website. It was already taken when I was picking a name and they sell decals and stickers. Mine is www.half-throttle.com, but hopefully people will figure that out and find the right one.

Riding in the rain isn’t something I normally do on purpose, but once in a while you get stuck out in it. This video has a few tips on how to ride in the rain safely. Keep your brakes warm, give yourself plenty of distance, and don’t talk when riding. The visor fogs up like crazy.

I enlisted the help of my wife to announce the winner of our little contest from the guys at Empire Covers. I thought this was a great idea as many of you need to store your bikes for the winter. Congratulations to Bill Reese who’s name was pulled out of the helmet at random. If tragedy struck and you didn’t win scrap together some coin and head to http://www.empirecovers.com/ any buy something to protect your baby while she sleeps in the garage.

Be on the look out for future give a ways from my sponsors. I’ve already got 2 more lined up, and it’s some pretty awesome stuff.

http://amzn.to/xRpOTt I really like the small size and ease of use with this tire plugger kit. Having a tool that can quickly plug a hole in a tubeless tire and get you back on the road is a very good idea. And it’s so small and lightweight that if you have tubeless tires on your bike there’s really no excuse to not carry one of these. I have tubed tires and I carry mine anyway. Never know when you might come across another stranded biker in need of a hand.

I have used it to repair a nail puncture in the tire of my 1200GS, and rode with the plug in for much longer than I should have. Even at freeway speeds and it held up just fine. I’ve also plugged the tire of a Yamaha Rhino. A friend and I were playing around in the mountains when a rock punctured the side wall of the tire. We hiked down for the plugger kit, and pump. Neither of us could believe that the plug held inside the large hole in the side wall. And the pump I review in this video: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlIFNQffjYg) did a good job of popping the tire back on the rim.

While I was searching around I found 2 other versions of this plugging tool. One that looks to be the exact same as what I use in this video, plus a few CO2 cartridges: http://amzn.to/zGJKzk

And the other uses a sort of gun looking device to squeeze the plug into the tire.
http://amzn.to/ziix8w

Both those other kits will take up a bit more space in your luggage system than the version I have, but I guess if you are replacing a 12V air compressor with CO2 cartridges then it’s worth it.

I’ve been having fun going through some old photos.  Here is a collection of my GS in awkward positions.  I only got hurt in one of these.  The pic with the pannier messed up. Didn’t need to go to the hospital, but I was in a lot of pain and limping for weeks… Hmm maybe I should have gone to the hospital.