My Motorcycle Larry ST1300 Riser Plate arrived today and I just finished installing it.  It should make my seating position much more comfortable. 

I also modified the top plate so that I could use my previously installed Powerlet outlet between the bars.  All you need is a custom kit from PowerletProducts.com; order the “ST1300 Panel Kit” but make sure you specify that you need the harness to be 80 inches long. Along with a drill and some courage, you’ll be all set.  Remove the steering stem cover, drill out for the Powerlet outlet, run the wiring down through the steering stem, up over the frame and around the side of the airbox, under the front seat bracket, and to the battery.

Here’s the riser plate before mounting, when I was test-fitting the powerlet. 

And here’s the finished product.

UPDATE 05/23/2007:  You can also add a RAM base along with the powerlet if you want.  I did some experimenting today and this is what I came up with. I used the RAM-BAR u-bolt RAM base.  Just remove the u-bolt and obtain bolts long enough to reach through the base and deep into the pre-existing threaded holes in the top plate to provide a solid mount. 

In the past I have expressed my opposition to mounting a GPS in this location, but I’m going to give it a try to see how it goes.

Some friends of mine were in the Deals Gap area for the whole week of April 28th - May 5th, so I headed down there for a couple of days to meet up with them.

 Day 1 (Thursday May 3rd)

I finally got the ST1300 loaded and headed out around 9:30am.

I ran into a little mist along the way, but never hit any heavy rain.  I arrived at the Crossroads of Time (where Hwy 129 and Hwy 28 meet) at around 4pm.  This is where the Deals Gap “Resort”, restaurant, and store are located.  Across the street, TailOfTheDragon.com also has a storefront; I picked up a t-shirt for my wife and a keychain for my luggage and helmet lock keys. I couldn’t get a cell phone connection, and I didn’t see anyone around I knew, so after resting for a while and checking out the store, I decided to head into Robbinsville to check into the hotel.  

If you’re on a bike, and are staying in Robbinsville, THE place to stay is the Two Wheel Inn.  Every room has it’s own private garage.  I got a room with two twin beds, but they also have Kings available.

I still couldn’t reach anyone on the phone, so after unpacking I went by Subway to grab a sandwich, went back to the room and wolfed it down, and rested up for the following day’s ride.

Day 2 (Friday May 4th)

I woke up early for some reason, so I watched some TV and caught up on some on-line stuff (the Two Wheel Inn also has free Wi-Fi), then got a quick shower and packed everything up.  I finally got in touch with my friends at around 9:30am and we planned to meet at the Crossroads Of Time at 10:30am.  I got there early, so I had some French Toast with Bacon at their restaurant.  It wasn’t bad, but the French Toast was a bit undercooked.

Everyone showed up soon thereafter, so we discussed the plan for the day.  The Mini Cooper event had just started, and The Dragon was crawling with 400-500 Mini Coopers, so we decided to ride the Cherohala Skyway instead. 

We went all the way across into Tellico Plains, TN and grabbed some Beach Burgers at the Tellico Plains Drive-In restaurant.   After gassing up, we headed back across the Skyway and ran into some rain near the top.  We stopped and put our rain gear on, but the rain was pretty much over by the time we got back on the road, so when we got back to the NC end of the Skyway we pulled everything off and headed back to the Crossroads of Time.  On the way there we hit a HEAVY DOWNPOUR and got soaked.  Figures.

By then it was near 5pm so I had to get back on the road home. 

 The ride home was cold, but uneventful for the most part, other than some heavy fog on Hwy 19 and I-40 going through the mountains. I pulled into the garage at around 11pm with exactly 888.8 miles on the trip meter.  Freaky.