Fork Seal Change For Mistress

So I took some vacation to do some maintenance on Mistress to deal with the leaking fork seals.

Couldn't get the full angle so I dropped the rear tire and angled her up so I could pull it off the way I needed to. Found a horrible amount of grunge in the bottom and made myself a big Q-tip with a broom handle and cotton t-shirt when out came these other inner sleeves (pics).






Four segmented plastic tubes to be exact plus you can see a bottom bushing to boot. Wonder what keeps it from sliding down? Pretty interesting... plus my circa clips had rust on them to show water contamination and I just went ahead and replaced all inner parts with new ones.

So from start to finish it took me 5 hours by dropping the rear tire for fork angle, removing all the items necessary, replacing everything new and putting it back together.



Things I noticed doing this:

1. OD on sockets vary by brand, 36mm of the make didn't fit but the 35mm in 3/4 drive did. This was my seal insert tool.

2. I couldn't get the burping' air dental floss trick to work no matter how many times I tried so I just bolted it up. When I loosened the other side, I checked the pressure before pulling off and it was exactly like the side I was trying to put on after rebuild... had the same resistance factor so I'm not going to worry.

3. Don't tighten the bolts on the fork bridge until after you get the front tire on or the line-up of the axle bolt is tough. Once I loosened them I could get it lined up and in, then tightened.

4. Don't expect to accomplish the time standard set by the experts... go slow and save the beer for when you are done.

Ghost Town Adventure Tour III

So I call up my friend John today and ask what his plans are: "whatever direction you are going, I'm just along for the ride" he says... poor man. "I'm going to look at some ghost towns, how much time do you have?" I reply...  John looks concerned now "I don't have my engine shield yet and my insurance agent has your picture on his wall... you add 10 points to any policy that rides with you, I get to stay on the road, ok?".  "Let's ride" I say with a grin.

So we decide to take the long way around Quincy (I have to buy asparagus to appease the agent provocateur "Mrs. RedTigre"  at the White Trail Cutoff), Ephrata and Soap Lake (yes... just taste the water) to the outskirts of Coulee City and a jaunt on Hwy 2 West to Hwy 17 North.  First stop,  Mold.

Mold General Store and Post Office a real DIY project

Mold, WA actually has (had) a post office, general store and a ZIP code (99115) although what is left of it all is little more than 2 homes and a pile of rubble of the aforementioned businesses. Another town bypassed by the railroad and left to whither, I left John on the hardpan as I went the 1.8 miles down  County Road 9 and stopped at the intersection trying to determine the town's center.  Going north about 1/10th of a mile I passed a woman and her daughter tending a little flowerbed at the entrance of the driveway chased by their 30 dogs (well, 3 really, but they had the bark of 30) when I ran of of road and hit field.  Turning around, I stopped and shut off the engine and inquired about the whereabouts of "Mold".  "You're here" she said, "Why are you looking for Mold? I figured you were lost heading into the field". "I'm doing a ghost town tour thing of Douglas County and look at the history of the area" I reply. The daughter is flicking rocks out of the dirt obviously none too happy with her task and with a strange look as to why ANYONE would want to venture looking at this stuff.  The Mold cemetery is another mile East and I'll venture there next time as I left John fending off the Semi's on 17.

These are the only buildings left in Mold, WA



I had intended to dirt road it across the prairie to St Andrews and Touhey, but that will wait for another time.  We travelled North to Hwy 172 West to Mansfield, cut around, and followed it to the town of Withrow, WA.

Withrow.. wow. Once much more than many of the ghost towns I've encountered, Withrow is still surviving there as... well, I'm not sure.  Why Mansfield made it and Withrow didn't is probably just shear luck. with what looks as 70% of the town vacant and the homes that are lived in are suspect as to their livability, Withrow exists, but just. If it wasn't for the large grain elevators that are still in use, it would not be. I wonder what one does for a living to live here.

Last stop was Farmer, WA on Hwy 2. Another grain silo base along a major state highway, Farmer still didn't survive.

The Farmer Cemetery is like many out here, kept up well and the stones so clear... one from 1898 I saw looked like it was placed there yesterday.

The rest of Farmer didn't look as kept up...

Heading back West on Hwy 2 was our 4th hour of wind... glad I had all the experience of growing up in Moses Lake on an enduro, the wind was brutal for the unrepentant. Even so, we were passed by a couple on their Beemers, a guy K1200GT and his female partner on an R1200RT... I love it.

Down Pine Canyon and into Wenatchee where I split off of John (I swear I heard a PEMCO agent sigh in relief around Horse Lake Road) and a great afternoon of adventure, thanks for suffering the wind and riding with me John!

Bonaparte Run

I took a couple days off to ride with friends and do some ghost town scouting at the same time since the rides went by several areas I wanted to see in Okanogan County.  We started off the morning meeting at the Wenatchee launch point of many rides… MacDonalds, and then headed up Hwy 97a to Chelan, Apple Acres Road, 97 to Brewster, Old 97 to connect to Hwy 20 and then into Okanogan for breakfast where Terry about gave himself, John, and the waitress a coffee cream shower as he knocked the cream pot out of her hands and all over the table while telling one of his wonderfully animated stories (you didn't mention that in your writeup, Terry!).

Don has a new ST1300 he is still getting used to, Jack a BIG Honda cruiser, Terry an FJR, John has a new V-Strom 650 that is fitting him well, and I elected to bring Mystique (my F650GS) along to test her 2 day touring prowess and play around with her dual-sport electability.

From breakfast we headed North up the 97/20 to State Route 7, around Tonasket, and up to areas I hadn't been through in years on the Loomis-Oroville Highway. Whitestone, Spectacle, and Palmer Lakes were very pleasant to cruise around and the sun was shining well enough to keep it warm while skirting them. Not much left of Nighthawk as we passed through, these old mining towns were over quickly as soon as production hinted at less than was was meant to be profitable.  Around to Oroville where at times you are less than a kilometer from intersecting the Canadian Border where we picked up a new friend from Whidbey Island who was around with his significant other visiting her relatives and teamed up with us as we gassed up in Oroville and headed for Old Molsen off the Chesaw Road.

Old Molsen (Co Hwy 4777) was a kick, I'll post a couple through the blog but the majority are all posted HERE. Such interesting history as the town boundary went into dispute and the townspeople got so frustrated with it they moved the town a half-mile North just to end it.

Pflug Manion

Following the Chesaw Rd East I ran across the Hee-Hee Rock and touched it's "memory" for good luck leaving a trinket as required (it was blown up by drunk miners), and met up with the guys at Cheesaw where they were taking a break. 


From Chesaw we took the Chesaw/Oroville-Torado Creek Rd SE passing the small lakes that sit between the Bonaparte Lake Road and the areas the family used to camp when the kids were, well kids!  We hit the Torado Creek Road South and stopped to see what was left of Bodi, another long-gone mining town. Continuing South to Hwy 20, we came through (New) Waconda, then on the 20 West to Bonapart Lake saw the Pflug Mansion, an old homestead by a German immigrant who tried to build his wife and family a home in the style of German elegance but ran out of time and money.

John and V-Strom

Terry explaining to Don that even if Don's bike was at 

the bottom of the lake that everything in his new 

top-case should be dry. *(not really, but that's the first
thought I had when I saw this photo).

Heading up the Bonaparte Lake Road we hit our evening's destination, the Bonaparte Lake Resort. 1 cabin, 4 beds, 5 guys, I paid my $10 to sleep out under the stars that night. Terry pulled out a mattress off one of the bunks and slept on the porch to a) keep me company or b) let the others sleep without occasional harmonious snoring.  We had a nice dinner that night at the resort restaurant, a nice campfire, good stories, and a night under the stars… it was grand. Got up the next morning to 45 degrees wasn't too bad, glad I brought my winter gloves though!  














Back out to Hwy 20 and east toward Republic over Waconda Pass was 36 degrees but I had the right gear so I was fine. I stopped at the site of Old Waconda (another mining town done and relocated to the other side of the pass) before heading on into Republic. The guys were ahead of me many times as I stopped to snap photos and catch up at the next rally point.

Breakfast in Republic and it was East over Sherman Pass toward Kettle Falls and then dropping down  Hwy 3, the Inchelium Hwy.

This is where the dual-purpose function of the GS kicked in.  Rough roads are nothing to this bike and it makes quick work out of ridges, potholes, construction, and most any other roughness that gets thrown in the way. Lake Roosevelt was incredibly low and I can only guess they were prepping for the snowmelt to refill it back.  Into Inchelium and then West on Bridge Creek Road (Co Hwy 2) was a great run with new paving completed over 80% of the way and lots of twists and interesting hairpins to keep one's attention on the beauty and slowed down enough to enjoy it.

Hit Hwy 21 South for a few miles and then to Cache Creek Road where we again had fun in the corners but I felt I was holding Terry back so I waved him around.  I wasn't pushing the corners too hard as I was worried about deer, but we dropped down out of the mountain and into Nespelem where I had to stop for gas and then caught up with the others at Coulee Dam.  Coming out of Coulee Dam was a blast furnace of constant winds and 88 degrees… not fun.  We stopped in Ephrata for cool snacks and then it was every man for himself for home.  This is where things got a little wonky for me.

My battery on the GS blew a cell between Ephrata and home dumping acid all over the tray and valve cover area... did you know BMW uses high strength composite (plastic) for the battery tray and valve cover?  Neither did I until it started melting from the acid and dripping down the side of the engine... what a mess. I have new parts on order and will replace out several parts but sheesh! I have a good bit dissolved from the valve cover but may wait until the valve adjustment to swap it out if it stays structurally intact, but the tray is one-quarter dissolved and must be replaced. Looking at the parts schematic, the battery tray is ALSO part of the air filter assembly, go figure.  I spent the better part of the hour after I got home with baking soda and a toothbrush neutralizing and preventing more damage.

I also ordered a sealed gel-cell Odessey battery so I never go through this again.  Sad thing is I thought about swapping it out 2 months ago but decided to wait until the battery started failing, never thought it would go like this.

So, I'm messing with the GS and I see a tiny puddle under the right front fork of the LT and it looks like a seal is leaking on the same side fork... gotta replace in pairs so I ordered parts for that too. It's still ridable as all the fork does is lubricate the tube and the seal keeps it that way (the shock is part of the bridge set... ingenious really).  So I order those parts at the same time and I'll do the work on Mistress too.

All in all a great run, good friends, and a notch in the adventure belt as I look forward to more Ghost Town adventures and touring with the bike that fits the path best.

Canyon Runs and Wildlife

With Mrs. RedTigre working this evening I thought I'd take a canyon run. The day was good relaxing in the morning, getting some chores out of the way,picking up some new tools and then went to see a friends new 2009 V-Strom 650 (John hit a deer two weeks ago and did significant damage to his NT700, but you can't keep a good man down and a replacement was found whilst figuring out what to do with the other).

Nahahum to Swakane Canyon was the destination...

The  overlook near the top of the canyon was so cool.  I forgot to look at the altitude but you can see quite a ways on a clear day.  A couple miles further up I ran into three Wild Turkeys along the road.

 There is still a fair quantity of snow up here at the summit of the canyon exchange and as I crested I was surprised by a red VW Jetta that had decided to adventure up here as well.

 The road  were mostly clear with sections of runoff creeks and ice/snow/mud

The way down dropped significantly in altitude enough that I could shut off the engine and coast down the Swakane side quietly, this is where I hit the deer... literally. I must have been coasting 3 miles when I rounded a corner and there on the side of the road stood a deer with it's back to me. It must have heard the tires of the bike on the dirt because it started into a slow trot where I caught up to it doing about about 20 mph.with it's hindquarters running just about even with my handlebars.  We ran this way for about five seconds when I realized this guy really wasn't aware I was his wingman.


Thinking " if this guy cuts me off we are both going down" and since I was only coasting with the engine off and didn't need any throttle, leaned forward off my seat and with my right hand smacked that poor guy right on the ass and eased on the rear brake in case he darted to the left in front of me. I came to a full stop and not 3 feet in front of me so did the deer! I now know why deer are where they are on the food chain... because he turned and looked at me, gave it about two seconds and literally jumped  sideways when he realized where I was and trotted across the road where it stopped again to look at me while I was trying to navigate my phone out to get a picture. The sound of the velcro spooked it more as it worked it's way up the hill while I got what picture I could.

Coasting the rest of the way down, I fired Mystique up about a mile off the highway and was home in 20 minutes... now I can tell my friend John I also hit a deer, but this one didn't hit back.  ;)

Ghost Town Debut

One of the reasons I got my F650GS was for the pure adventure of riding off the beaten path when the beaten path presented itself. I started thinking about all the abandoned places I would see in the distance and wondered why time left them in it's wake. The first town on my list was Alstown, Southeast of Waterville. I decided to ride through Douglas on Hwy 2 and cut South on Rd. K, then to Rd. 3, connected to Rd. 4 and swung around from behind.

There are lots of abandoned equipment littering the edges of fields or in the strangest places, sometime I speculate that it is simply left where it broke down or was dragged after giving up the last spark. This couldn't have been cheap equipment, and looking at the number of chain drives throughout the machinery and all the sprockets and augers that had to turn I was surprised it was powered by a flat-top six-cylinder gasoline engine.






This was a set of 4 cultivators, each having an individual control set, all chained together and dragged with what could only be something big

Finding all this stuff in the middle of an old lava flow made it feel like an equipment graveyard.


Here we are looking South just before we hit Alstown.

As I rounded the corner and before dropping down I could see a big grain elevator and a small creek cutting across the road. it was only about 18" deep but the rocks were softball-sized and pretty squirrelly underneath.

I intersected blacktop for a short stretch as I came round and then the blacktop ended as the remnants of the town developed.  As the railroad passed these towns up there was nothing to do but dry up.

This house looked like it had been occupied up to the last few years but now stands empty.

This one not so recent...

The stables here must have been for sheep or goats and the flagstone foundation is just like the foundation under the oldest part of my house, which was build in 1903.

I always keep my bike on the road when I go scouting around by myself in case I run into trouble, one never knows where an old cistern, well, or other hidden obstacle may render you unable to get out and back to the road and someone will at least know a BWM out of place in this area.

If a town is to survive, water is a must. This stream comes down from Badger Mountain and the snowmelt.

One of the few signs to let you know Alstown even existed.

Badger Mountain View Cemetery

Lots of 1919 end of life dates here...

Supplee was my next destination, and after cutting back to Douglas and winding my way on N. Douglas Rd to Road 2 East, I began my way through what were roads once upon a time and now look long forgotten. Many of these roads are designated by letter or number, and are far from any real road in a travel sense. Washouts, hidden rocks in the grass, trenches eroded from past equipment and even an occasional deer make moving through this area quite deliberate at times.

All that's left of Supplee is a grain elevator and a row of trees where houses and other buildings may have stood. You can see the tree-line in the upper picture.

What a grand adventure weekend, testing out Mystique's capabilities and learning once again how to handle a big thumper off-pavement. I think I'm going to have a grand Summer when Mrs. RedTigre and I aren't out on the LT or she has to work evenings.