A few Updates:
I did notice when I rode it to work this past week that I had a headlight bulb out.............It's the same spare bulb that I had been carrying with me for awhile, that I installed earlier this summer in Steamboat-Springs. That bulb was the last remaining OEM bulb that came in the bike from the factory. I had removed it a few years ago when I replaced both bulbs in Kanab Utah when the first one burned out, and kept it as a spare.
It must have burned out some time during the last day, or the afternoon before................It was still working the previous morning.
I bought a twin-pack and will replace them both. I'll hang onto the other Kanab bulb and carry it as a spare.
I also received a pack of aluminum ends to fix my tent-poles (do not know where I put the spares that Kelty sent me some years ago)
The bulbs were $17.75 for the pair.
Tent-pole ends were $9.66 for a pack of 10.
Also, wear rate on the rear Kenda Big-Block tire:
When it was mounted new it had 11mm of tread depth in the center.
It has travelled 1,922 miles, including over 1,500 fully-loaded touring miles for the Utah Trip.
It now has 6mm of tread depth in the center, so right around half of its life is used up........
Front Dunlop Trailmax-Raid is completely done!
Some parts of the tread measure 1mm depth..........
This tire has travelled 10,218 miles, including two week-long tours in the Desert-Southwest while fully loaded with gear!
I struggled with this tire in the loose stuff during this Utah Trip.........It's time to come off!
I'm putting a front Kenda Big-Block tire on to match the rear one.
I'll run them through next season. and most likely swap them out before my New-England trip next fall.
While I was in Utah, I was cursing myself for not putting this tire on BEFORE the trip..........Would have helped me a lot! (kick myself)
The bike also got a much needed bath!
She was a filthy Girl.........
She still cleans up OK.
During the Trip, Paul and I had discussed on a number of occasions how versatile these bikes are.............
You can load them up with 200-lbs of gear, and live off them for thousands and thousands of miles at a time, while also riding them like dirt-bikes in the rocks and sand of the canyon-trails, and take them places where most riders wouldn't!
This bike still amazes me! Effortlessly transporting me to whatever destination I have chosen down the Highways, while grinding and tractoring up any obstacle I pointed it at!
It has been Faultless for me, and the way I like to ride..............Amazing Machine!
One final update:
I had missed-out on being able to capture an image or some time-lapse footage of the Comet while we were in Utah. (the dark skies would have been ideal, but timing was wrong)
I did manage to go out one night after I returned home, and get some images of it.
Was really difficult to see with the naked-eye due to our extremely light-polluted sky in the Denver area, but a 10-second exposure with the iphone could pick it up easily.
