Triumph Bonneville black is eady to roll.

Loaded up the bike, she's ready to roll.

HHMC 2010. Motorcycle PRE-Trip maintenance.

The bike is shipping up great. Put on new tires last night. Changing the oil tomorrow. New plugs. Chain is lubed.
Laying out all of the crap I'm packing in the saddle bags.

The bags pictured below are my around town or short weekend choice. They are old Swiss Bread bags. You can find them online for $4 a piece or less. They are made to last a lifetime too. They just don't carry all that much so for the big trip I'll be using traditional motorcycle bags.

These new Avon Roadriders completely transformed the bike. It feels like it's glued to the ground.

2010 5th gen 4runner Trail Edition Icon Install and Chiva Falls break in.

When my buddy Steve went with us on our now yearly Death Valley trip he really liked our truck. I explained to him my logic and why I liked the 4runner after owning Jeeps, Ford pickups and a Toyota Tacoma.
This year there were a couple of trails he couldn't make in his current Chevy 2wd pickup, although he made it places that shocked me, so he said that was it! He started peppering me with questions about model years and options. Then I get a call that he threw in the chips and got a brand new 2010 5th Generation Toyota 4runner Trail Edition 4x4. Heck of a long description/name.
Having worked for a company called Donahoe Racing, now Icon Vehicle Dynamics, in the past I explained to him the differences in suspension systems. Of course I explained how Icon was far and above the best. :-) And it is.

I put in a call to Mike at Icon and Steve called around for the best tire deal. Next thing you know he was headed to AZ from Orange County with BFG AT's and a full Icon kit in the back of his truck.

We headed down to Tucson to install the kit at my buddies home shop. The sunset was amazing.


We were lucky that his shop had a 4runner sized slot in it because the Monsoon was in full bloom and it was flooding outside. We wedged it inside and started to work.


The install is very straight forward. The only additional factor over my truck is the sway bars, which I've removed on my truck and the need to remove the tie rod end to install the coilover on the front end.

The new and old springs:


Pulling out the front coilovers.


New and old. I love Toyota's, but I think the Ferguson will do more miles.


Bling bling. They'll never look this good again.


Steve pretending to work. HAHA! Just kidding buddy.


It was REALLY late by the time we finished. I think he fell asleep here.


The finished product. I think this is how the Trail Edition should have looked from the factory.


On Sunday we decided to take the truck out and test it out a bit.
Toyota commercial.


Heading down the waterfall or chutes along the Chiva Falls trail. I've heard it called both.




Tucson is so much more green than Phoenix. They always seem to get more of the monsoons. Beautiful area.




Fair amount of muddy spots on the trail. Fore Arizona anywho.


3rd Gen and 5th Gen.






Vulture just waiting for us to break down.


It looked solid, but... well yah. Not so much.



The Power Wagon is an amazing truck. If I had a fullsize I'd have it over any other.
Front and rear differential lockers, a sway bar disconnect, a 12,000 lb winch, and a giant V8 all with a warranty isn't that bad!






The 4runners didn't get stuck. Of course. ;-)




Water crossing's work well to clean the mud off while it was still wet.








The falls were really flowing well!!










Crossing on the way out.










We used the Wagon to pull out a couple of guys that got stuck at another crossing.




All around. A good weekend.