Turkey Trot

Thanksgiving weekend, 4 days off, half the time in the kitchen, need to ride.

Friday was rainy, Saturday was major errands, so before the weekend finished I needed to take Mistress out for a run that would free the soul prior to what the full workweek would bring.  Seems most are enthralled in watching "football" (what is this horrid expenditure of time?) so yesterday when I was out helping my friend John with some home network stuff I said I would be going out and would he be interested?  "Gotta be back in time to watch Gonzaga!" replies John... what, Hamlet's play within a play in Act 3, Scene 2?  No... more football.  "You can record it on your DVR now, Dad!" came a shout from down the hallway from his visiting daughter... the look on his face was "like that's going to happen".  I leave him with "we'll talk tomorrow" and off I go.

Sunday comes and the day is bright and cool (40°f) and John calls in the morning and I get a text from another friend thinking she will ride as well, opportunities abound!  As it is, either football or winterized bikes rule, or tires are too low in pressure, so John and I head out on a Beebe Bridge loop on a beautiful Sunday afternoon ride.








The orchard grasses are a brilliant green as somebody forgot to tell them that this is late November and the time for brilliance is over. Sun is strong, roads clear of the winter grit and sprays that are sure to come in near future and we ride along the Chelan Co. side up river, into Chelan, down to Chelan Falls, and then cross the bridge into Douglas Co. for the run back down-river on the other side.


Enjoyed the way the sun warmed things to a crisp 45°f at best, praise to the tech-gods as heated farkle rules as we wind our way back into Wenatchee and prep for a week of routine between the fewer rides brought by seasonal changes.

Oktober RideFest

There are times when crossing the vast expanses of adventure by oneself are warranted, and then there are the times when you are collected into a group of riders that leave you smiling from the night before when you are packing until the minute you back into the garage and think "this was worthy".

I don't keep many people close to me, maybe it's just my nature, or maybe the first 14 years of my adult life in the military saw too many come and go to hold on to any friendship too close, but when I ride with a group, these are the men that make a normal three-day experience become totally alive with camaraderie, true friendship over years that holds no limits that amazes me with every encounter, and still they let me ride with them.. a sign of their great generosity!

Bridge to nowhere...

We met in the Costco gas bay ready for whatever was going to come. I am usually the last to show up, and usually at the very last minute (T-1) as they are starting engines and getting ready to depart. I dropped by John B.'s house the day before we left (Thursday) and he said " 7:45 AM sharp is what Terry said, who usually comes late"? "Er, that would be me" I replied where John said, "Oh yeh, it is you".  "I'm there at the minute you leave, never late" was my final retort with a wink (my wife's habits are wearing off on me I fear).  So I surprised them all by being there 15 minutes early, yet I was still the last to have all his gear back on and be ready on the bike before they left even though I never took anything off. I brought Mystique to do a final push of adventure touring concept that a 650 would be big enough/do well enough with the setup I rigged together, and that John B. said "I'm not going to try to keep up with those speed guys and George is bringing his DR so we'll ride together".  Right... John and his newer Wee-Strom have bonded and he keeps up with the squirrelly old guys like nobody's business and George's DR is a canyon carver in disguise.  Still, I'm pleased to have taken the GS for this run.

Palouse Falls

First destination on as many back roads and old state highways as possible to breakfast was Washtucna, a surviving town in Adams County that history attributes to an Iowan settler in the late 1800's to raise horses but with the failure of large scale irrigation left the town where it is today.  Ridden through here a dozen + times and have heard lot's of stories about the bar there... best left unwritten here for Jack's sake.  We went through Lind, a town I had skirted many times and saw the bridge to nowhere... magnificent architecture that has me wondering why so much effort to let it exist as it is today.

Pataha Flour Mill

Once done with breakfast, Terry H. wanted to take Nunamaker road (sorry Terry, unpaved) so we went with the tried and true route of Hwy 260/261/12 where I stopped to see Palouse Falls and the Pataha Flour Mill on the way to Mac's Cycles in Clarkston where I found that making a hard right turn revved the engine without any input.  Come to find out that I had routed the throttle cable to the OUTSIDE of the left fork instead on the inside causing the cable to pull and thus became an  inconvenient throttle response.  There at Mac's, with the help of Terry, Bruce, John, Gary, and the rest of the crew (plus some tools borrowed from the great staff at Mac's), we pulled the left fork, rerouted the cable and had it torqued down faster than it took them to change George's rear tire. If I had been on the open road, John had the magic tool needed to have pulled the ABS sensor off as part of his required tool kit. I realized we all travel a tool too light and I aim to clean that up before my next ride.

Mystique all back together

"The" 12mm wrench John carries

All bikes together, we headed out South on the 129 past Asotin on some of the most fantastic twisty roads encountered in the state. Winding down the Enterprise-Lewiston Highway is always a kick on the LT, but taking those corners on the GS was a whole new experience. Different balance, tires, and handling made it a joy in some areas, and brutally short in others.  I have to remember it an adventure bike, not the sport tourer the LT is.

Highway 129

Caught up with the crew at Boggin's Oasis and then followed the group again into Enterprise (I like to stop and read the Historic "Points of interest" and take pictures, so I am always pulling the rear guard on these rides). Seems that the rain is always a step behind these guys, which means I tend to hit it all too readily. Donned the gear and took more photos and wound my way to the motel and a night of a great local beer, Louisiana Ribs, dessert to rave about, and more laughs for a great night.

Joseph Canyon Overlook in the rain

Ponderosa Motel

Enterprise Courthouse

Packed up and ready

Got up Saturday morning with overnight rain that left things cool so putting together Mystique with the bags and covers and leaving with the wwg (wet weather gear) we headed to La Grande, OR for breakfast.  George decided he wanted some "wwg" too and went off to WallyWorld for a set and then off out of La Grande on the 203/207 to North Powder, OR where we got to divert onto USFS 73 heading up into the Anthony Lakes area.

Highway 82 to La Grande

WOW... winding up through this area the group left me to wander up one of the most fantastic Oregon Scenic Byways around (Elkhorn).  Peaking out at 7392 (Don SWEARS it was higher, but I think he was measuring in Honda feet), this is one kickin' ride. Winding down was pretty hairy as loose chip seal littered many areas of the road and I have no idea how the others ripped down it so fast.  Beautiful country even if it was socked in with clouds and drizzle.

TerryH. and John

USFS 24 Intersection

Team Bruce Repair Crew

Ran into USFS 24 and the group as they were getting ready to head toward Ukiah.  Off they go again and I play catch up to find them all pulled over 20 miles further looking at Bruce's bike.  No deer laying around (although they were thick the whole ride), to find out Bruce ran over something to give his K1200GT a rear flat.


Watched the plugs be installed and broke out the recently purchased Slime air compressor (now BMW powered) to inflate his tire in hopes of getting home on Sunday.  No luck as he was flat again entering Ukiah... but there is Gary to the rescue with this plug kit that beats them all and after 4 guys figuring out how to shove a rubber mushroom plug into a performance ST tire we have it in place, aired up again, and off to Heppner! 

Ukiah

Some diverted on an side excursion that met us not 5 minutes after we got into town, yet they went 30 more miles?  You do the math, these guys were cooking!

Got rooms for the night and one of the crew mentioned there was an Elks steak fundraiser that night for $12.00 that was one of the best steak dinners out I have had.  The friendliness toward a group of strangers was something else, only found in small communities like this. After an incredible dinner, we moseyed back to the corral for an early night of watching the weather and wondering if we were to be slammed on Sunday of if we would miss the bulk of wet weather. Only morning would tell.

Steak dinner Eagles Lodge

Woke up Sunday to a fantastic morning. Coffee and fresh warm muffing to start the day, pack up the gear and head on out. Of course, the plan changes 5 times and since I left at change 2 to stay behind to get some pictures and lose the group.  Wander down a road to a dead end, chased by dogs, then find John who came back to look for me and make sure I wasn't left too far behind.  They say they waited for us a long time in places where they turn off onto roads other's may not be aware of (so let's count together... one banana, two banana, three bana.... oh heck they are more than 60 seconds behind and know the rally point so they are on their own!).

Vinson, OR

John and I had a great ride out of Heppner passing some road beginning with "Butter" and ending with "who knows if they really turned there or not" so continuing on Hwy 74 we hit County road 1400 at Vinson (or what is left of it) and head NW on Butter Creek Road and their 43,512 cattle guards.

Along Co. Road 1400

John and I had the right  bikes for this road and we zipped though them like nobody's business running into  Hwy 207 and into Hermiston where the rest of the guys were just getting served breakfast as we pulled in. They though we would be 30 minutes behind, but I know John and I lost 20 minutes just stopping and trying to figure out "do you think they went this way or not?" We went 20 extra miles and still would have met them on time if not for that.

Terry H.'s Catch of the Day Fishing Story

After breakfast and a fishing tale of Terry H. proportions, it was "every man for himself" to one degree or another.

Leaving Hermiston

Bruce, Terry H, George, and the Edwards boys (every time Mrs. RedTigre asks whom I ride with and I say "the Edwards boys" she asks "are they from Arkansas?" went the shortest path because of Bruce's tire (later to find out Terry H. had the same encounter with a mystery puncture heading out of Hermiston and the mushroom tire plug saved his day too!) while John, Mots, Terry G, and I headed out and around on the 12 to hand off Mots on a side road he was going to skirt home while we trek some new paths.

The beautiful Mystique

John had us head into Pasco and take a new route for me, the 68th Road exit to Taylor Flats/Ringold/Sagehill into Othello, where we picked up the McManamon Road to Road H, down into Mardon Resort, Hwy 262, Frenchman Hills (brutal winds), Adams Road, White Trail and home on the 28.

Potholes Reservoir

A good run for Mystique, a test of concept going to a 650cc thumper adventure run for 3 days not sure how well the ride would be in the saddle with such a bike but she has shown her true colors and I look forward to what next summer brings, lots of great roads with great men.

Mystique gets a Fork Seal Change

My adventure girl Mystique started leaking copious quantities of fork oil out her right side fork seal about 4 weeks ago so the order parts routine kicked in. Since we were out in Canada 2 weeks ago On Mistress (K1200LT), this was not a rush but since the smoke has filled the valley and has finally let up it seemed a good time to work up some courage and tackle this.








I relied a tonne on the "Chain Gang" FAQ, the BMW shop manual, and the A&S BMW for their exploded parts diagram to make sure all the parts were accounted for and assembled in the right order. I'm an exploded diagram kind of guy when trying new repairs.













First things first was to prop her up with a jack on the protection guard to lift the front wheel up enough to get clearance for un-mounting.  Once up, it's time to remove the brake caliper and ABS sensor, clear the cable guides, and tuck them around to rest on the engine guard.









Then off comes the lower fender/fork stabilizer brace assembly and the only thing left is to loosen up the forks from the triple tree. You need to remove the cap (lifts off easily) and slide each fork up about 6mm up in order to leverage a dowel under the handlebar and press down in order to free up a c-clip spring (leverage out with a very small flat-tip screwdriver). Once the c-clip is free, slowly release up the spring retainer and then you can loosen up the three bolts that clamp the fork and slide out the fork.





I didn't dump the oil until this point and inverted the fork to release most of the oil, then removed the drain bolt from the bottom and let the oil drain from there as well, then remove the spacer tube, ring, and spring.






















With the oil removed, I thought this a good time to remove the fillister screw that holds the upper and lower assembly together but it just turned in itself as the screw had jammed in the pipe for some reason. Looking on the net to see if others had this problem (yes) and if they had a solution besides drilling, cutting, or torching/heat, air-wrenching (this seemed to be the answer from most) and one rather resourceful reply suggested tapering a wooden broom handle, inserting it into the fork up to the pipe, turning it upside down and rapping the fork and handle combo down on the ground and then under pressure using the hex-head socket remove the screw.

It worked on both!

With the ability now to separate the two, I removed the dust cap and the inner seal clip. To remove the inner seal it is said to pry it out but I found that if you put the lower fork in a vise where the brace mount is you can use the inner fork as a slide hammer and with a couple outward pulls knock out the inner seal, washer, and bushing thus separating the forks for cleaning.








While apart, I cleaned out the threads on the pipe that had some kind of thread-locker on them (this is why they bound like they did) in the pipe and worked the bolt to makes sure it would install easily, then I reversed the assembly up to installing the bushing and inner seal.  I used a flat-bottomed punch and a hammer, and lightly worked in the bushing using the flat washer as a tap plate and seated it, then gently did the same with the inner seal with a plastic dowel so I would't scratch the stanchion.




Assembling the rest of the springs and washers, I then slid the fork up into the triple-tree to it's 6mm mark, added the 600ml of Bel-Ray 15w fork oil, and pressed in the spring retainer and c-clip, slide the forks down and align, put the fork stabilizer,  wheel, caliper and ABS sensor back together and tested with flying colors!












First time though a fork set like this, feeling pretty good about it all.

September begins

Waiting for the Inchilium Ferry

I usually don't venture far for Labor Day, but not having enough time off during the summer had me thinking of trying to squeeze in some last moment runs before Fall really sets in.  I was going to do an overnight to Canada with my friends but  with a slight change in plans as my Brother was coming in from Oregon I decided to do a "wunder-run" with a small group of friends and hand them off somewhere before the border.

John and his 650 "Wee-Strom"

An all-day affair that began at 0630 hrs and ended 580 miles later at 2110 hrs for a run that I had to mirror, at least in part, as I was less that 16km from the happiness that is BC.






Less than a week later, Joan and I were heading on the same route into BC for a 4 day break to celebrate our birthdays and unplug from all the craziness technical management brings.

Keller Ferry hop!

Inchilium Ferry hop!

Mussels in Nelson, BC!

 Leaving the New Grand Hotel in Nelson.

 

A light lunch in Nakusp, BC

 Shelter Bay-Galena Bay Ferry, BC

Lots of riding to end up in Lillioot, BC

Princeton, BC

Keremous, BC and 1180 miles 3 days later!