Hello From The South West

[ToadRide]

Greetings, Merry Christmas and upcoming HNY from Lordsburg New Mexico. I am sure you will all be snarkily pleased to learn that I am no longer in Paradise but, altho there is clear sky and, thank the beJeezez, no snow on the ground, it is a not so pleasant 23 degrees F outside and I have one more 200 mile ride before getting to the warmth of my friend Pete's place in Rio Rico.

Texas needs no explanation I'm sure with its endless expanse of 90 mph cruising.

But, I'm past that now and may have to hole up at Pete's till the weather changes. I hope it's better by mid January cause there is a great antique motorcycle auction and, apparently, race in Vegas which will be within my grasp.
Cheers, Toad.

[bubba zanetti]

I think you need to head to Baja !  Beaches ... cerveza ... beaches ... cerveza ... Si !!

[bubba zanetti]

Hey Doug ... how goes the Arizona layover ??

[ToadRide]

Hey Jim,
Damn cold thru the night here but usually sunny and 50 to 60F thru the day. The house is all mine now as Pete and his relatives all left on the 5th.

It's a big, echoey place.

With a Helluva view.

It was about a day after I got here after having ridden thru a sea of sneezing, coughing, and spitting US citizens that I was laid low with the flu. Matter of fact, I spent two days thru New Years down in Nogaless at a motel quarinteening myself thru the worst of it. A week later I am still hacking.
Got to work in the nice clean new garage cleaning polishing and aligning body parts. A dropped screw into the skid plate had me undoing the damn thing at which I found this.

And this.

And then this.

Checking the other side revealed a broken bracket there too.

I read about this crap on the Stelvio sites a while back, checked back then but sort of spaced it till now.
I've disconnected them now and will be going for a full service in Tuscon around the 23rd. This should also be warranty but we will see what they say.
So, ya. I'm hangin to save a bunch of money till near the end of the month at which time I will set out for the beautiful blue Pacific ala San Diego area. Then it will be a long slow crawl up the Pacific Coast to Home Sweet Home. Oh Canada!!!

Just jumped in to adjust one of the photos and post today's astonishing temp. 11 degrees F. Supposed to be warming up thru the next few days and I sure hope so!  

[ToadRide]

I posted 11 degrees F but it didn't end there. The actual lowest was 7 but happy to say it looks like the worst is over. Reached 78 F on the highway today with overnight lows of only 34. Every day from now on should be uphill. Took a little ride on the backroads down to Nogales and then hit 289 or Ruby Road to the local lake. 9 beautiful miles of twisties ending at Pena Blanca Lake.

Lovely little lake at this time of year.

Even came with it's own lone fly fisherman


Asked him if he'd brought in any Great Northerns but it seemed Bluegills were his big catch today. He said they stock the lake with Rainbows in January but they all die from the heat by summer. Another brilliant government stocking project. Reminds me of when I fished on Lake Mead years ago and some doofus had stocked the lake with Striped Bass. Yep. The ocean going type. Somehow they took and ate all the natural fish in the lake. Trout and all. The Bass were easy to catch. Equivalent to catching a log. And lifting them out of the water by the middle had them sag over your hand like a Pizza dough. I cut one open and found a veiny meat that said. 'Eat me and die!'
Anyhoo, the lake was a great short outing.

Even had a Great Blue perched on a rock. Wonder if they are migratory?
Anzious to get going now. Gotta wait for the service on the 23rd and another few pennies saved. But it will be nice to find the Pacific again.
Cheers,
Toad

[blkhrt81]

Pretty country Doug, nice digs, not a bad place to hang and wait for the weather to warm up.

[Mac]

Even had a Great Blue perched on a rock. Wonder if they are migratory?

More so than coconuts.

[ToadRide]

Finally moved on. Nice 80 degree weather up to Tuscon. Had the 18000 service done and everything is ticketyboo. Steve, the service guy there was great and a nice guy. He put in a warranty request for me on the fog lights but I truely doubt if anything will come of it.
Starting to rain as I struck west on the Ajo highway from Tuscon. Nice ride and I dodged most of it.

Ajo is some huge open pit mining town.
Then up to 8 and Yuma for the night. Big dunes as you enter California this way.
 
These guys were having a blast.
Pulled up short of a day's ride because of the weather. The only thing out there was De Anza Springs Resort. Someone on a ride had mentioned it so I checked it out. Clothing optional but that wasn't happening on this day. The web sight showed it as quite a nice place but the truth was a little different. At close to 90 bucks it was way overpriced.

From there it was old Hwy 80 and 94 into San Diego.

This was a great ride even in the rain. Finally got to round the tires a bit.


And there she is. The Pacific. My south western most point. Now, go away, rain!

[ToadRide]

Quick update.
Been a couple of weeks on the coast now. Initial searches of cheap digs around SD came up short so I headed up the coast a bit.

The sun had come out nicely by Oceanside
and I latched on to a reasonable motel.
After several days of touring the likes of Pendelton's Mechanized Museum

and the incredable surrounding foothill roads

I headed north to my next stop, Malibu.
Saw a sign for an Iowa tour on the way and went for it.

Awesome.

And more aweome.

On to another fair priced stay in Calabasas up in the hills from Malibu where I hooked up with another Guzzi lover
named John who has been just fantastic in showing me all the great rides and places around here. And there are a shitload.


He also showed me the 747 house

Todd Egan, the west coast Guzzi tuning wizard, invited me up to his house, and I do mean up.

Took a couple of shitty pics with the iphone as Todd discovered what had been done to the bike.


Still undecided as to weather I'll talk about it or not. Needless to say Todd threw in an ECU package that has made the Big Gal born again. Halilooya!
Many great rides have happened since.

but now it is time to creep a little closer to home. Camping still out of the question with the recent cold snap bring 31 F at night even way down here.

[Papa Lazarou]

about time you stopped living rough.  

[bubba zanetti]

So what was up with the bike? Sounds interesting.

[mikebr]

So what was up with the bike? Sounds interesting.

+1

[ToadRide]

Got into it somewhat on my ADV RR. Toad On The Road.

[ToadRide]

I'm sure most of u have heard of my little mishap published on ADV RR.  The Big Gal took it up the schmegter (this is a word I invented to keep it clean) and was not pleased.

I got the lighter side of a busted leg (Fibula, I think) and bruised ribs that continue to be still more painful.

Gross, eh?
So, now the bike is on a slow track back to GuzziTech and I am trying (again, painfully) to drive around in a rental looking for a truck to buy and drive home.
If anyone can clarify how one buys down here and comes back to GooD Ol Canada I wouldn't mind knowing. The dealers don't know. Do I get some sort of customs paperwork down here or wait till Seattle area. And, is it cusstoms I deal with?
Any help would be appreciated.
Toad

[KLRchickie]

Oh, yeowch!

Heal up well, Doug.

[ToadRide]

Thanks Mz. Chickie

[bubba zanetti]

Read carefully and be sure of the steps before you buy. You will need a letter indicating that all recall's have been done for example, or they won't let the vehicle in.

http://www.icbc.com/registration-licensing/buy-vehicle/import-vehicle

Given your situation Doug, I think you might be better just buying a vehicle here. There can be a lot of hassle to do this if you do not coordinate the steps. Also, some vehicles are not allowed RIV Registar of Imported Vehicles has a list of permitted vehicles. If it is not on the list, you are out of luck. You MUST get copies of all paperwork to the Canadian Border you are planning to cross 72 hours in advance of showing up at the border. Not all border crossings process vehicle imports.

Don't attempt to wing it.

A little more step by step in layman's terms

http://www.bcbusiness.ca/manufacturing-transport/how-to-import-a-car-from-the-usa-to-canada

[ToadRide]

Thanks again for your help, Jim. But, I hope not unfortunately I have already almost made the plunge. Not buying a vehicle here still means I have to get back up there one way or another. With all my stuff, plane or train is just a big challenge. Renting a vehicle is kinda the same only I lose the rental fees. So, why not buy. Also, with the leg, getting around in a vehicle is the easiest way.
And, yesterday I did everything but pay for this;

2003 F250 monster truck (yeeeehaaaa!) turbo diesel.

Brand new turbo,     214000 miles    $9800 OTD.

I checked the list and it is importable. I am hoping the paperwork is surmountable.

[blkhrt81]

Holy crap Doug, glad you didn't get it any worse! Like Jim was saying, make sure you have all your paperwork in order at the border and it isn't too tough. Some kind of proof of purchase price is a good thing to have, bill of sale from a dealer is ok but if it's a private sale, Canada Custom likes some king of backup documentation.
UCanImport.com has a lot of good information. The really grey area is insurance and a plate, most places won't sell insurance unless you're a resident. There are transit permits available but they are only good for the state of issue.

[ToadRide]

I've been doing pretty well with the documentation. Looks like I can get thru that with flying colours. The problem I am dealing with noww is paying for the damn thing. Originally I thought, Got the Visa Gold, $20000 ceiling, I will just go over to the bank and get a draft and, Voila!
Nope, I'm a foreigner, can't do that. Hmmm..OK, callin my bank....HELP. My great little bank manager at Coast Capital sys she can get me a 24 hour  point of sale window on my debit and I just plug it in at the dealer and...done. Great, I'm allowed to pull out 9800 for a one shot deal. Ask the dealer if they have debit. Oh shure, is the answer. All that arranged and I head in there today with something nagging me at the back of my brain. Everry time using Visa for cash it has a choice of debit or credit. So, I'm thinkin, jeez, hope they don't think debit is just a credit card option.
The Nissan guy says, can I have your card? I say ya but don't I have to be there to punch in my pin? he says, nope, be right back.
And you can figure the rest.... they don't have debit
So, back over to the local bank. Explaining; we ask if I can use my debit that is now open to puke out ten grand, to get a draft. Nope. thousand dollar limit.
Alright how about I open an account and get my bank to wire 10 smakeroos into it. Told because I'm a ferener, I can only do that with a passport.   Mad dask for Morrow Bay Motel and my passport. Decide to connect with my Coast Capital gal to see if that will work.
Wire transfer. Yep it wiil work as long as I come back to Victoria and sign for it.  
She finally hits on a solution (but I aint sayin it's over till the fat lady sings). She says she is able to draft a Bank of America bank draft for said amount and send it off top priority to the Nissan dealer. But, apparently, the quickest is Tuesday. God, I hope this works.
Ok, on the better side of all this. This truck was bought from the original owner by the Nissan Dealer's son who replaced any worn suspension, steering and brakes, reoiled, refiltered and even put in new glowplugs, redid the turbo and brought it right up to snuff before, after four months, decided the short hauling he was doing wasn't cutting it and a BMW was what he wanted. So, besides the drivers seat being kinda wratched and worn, this thing is like new. Far as I can tell it is, God, don't let me be wrong!