I’ve spent the last week lazily getting everything ready for the upcoming trip. I cleaned the foam air filters on both ATVs, which was an ordeal. The filter on Traci’s machine cleaned easily in mineral spirits, but the one on mine had Honda’s biodegradable foam filter oil on it, which supposedly won’t come clean without some special solvent from Honda. I used hot water and dish soap to eventually get it clean. After spending a lot of time cleaning both filters, I’ve decided to just buy new filters next time–at $10 a pop, it’s easily worth the time savings. I oiled both filters up and let the oil cure overnight, then installed the filters the next day and tried firing both machines up. Neither would start! After removing the air box covers and giving it some throttle while hitting the starter button, I got them both to start. I’m not sure why they were so difficult to start after cleaning and oiling the filters, but for a few minutes I was really worried.
I changed the oil on both machines this weekend. Mine is up to 2,000 miles (and on its fourth oil change), while Traci’s is only at 1,100 miles, and hers is almost a year older! Her air cleaner was dirtier than mine too, though that wasn’t a surprise since I’m almost always riding solo or out in front when riding with a group. Today I loaded almost all of my camping gear, water, and food onto my 4-wheeler. I’ve got a few semi-perishable items to load on Wednesday, but other than that I’m just about ready to go. I think the plan is to set out as early as reasonably possible on Thursday morning (before 8:00 AM would be good), and ride until we are ready to set up camp for the night. I think we can make it to Grassy Lake, above Joe’s Valley, which would make a very nice camp spot. Although I think the ride can be done in two days, I would like to stretch it out to three just to make it more enjoyable. We may camp near Scofield Friday night, then get back to Price relatively early on Saturday. I’m stoked for my first ATV/camping trip, and though it feels like I should be nervous, I’m not. I’ve thought everything through and it seems like I’ve got all my bases covered, so there’s nothing left but to do it!