The Wanderings of a 36 year old Electraglide

[BC Brian]

Originally Posted by WayFar

Still really enjoying this RR. You're adding places to my list to hit on the way to AK next year!

Glad you are liking it, WayFar.

and.... on yoiur way to AK, stop in. we are on the way there.

We have a post on the tent space thing....

http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12217414

[BC Brian]

Originally Posted by MadScotsman

Hey Brian,

We passed through Sandpoint on the morning of September 21st on our way from Libby, Montana to Winthrop, Wa. Too bad we didn't cross paths... Looks you're in for another gooder.

Some great roads in Western Montana and Eastern Washington. I noticed you really liked 31, New Denver/Kaslo, one of my faves as well. Found a little backroad off Wa 20 at Usk to Chewelah (Flowery Trail Road I think) it was a real treat! You'll have to try it sometime.

Enjoy your trip buddy and stay safe! I'm subscribed!

Derek

Crap!

Would have been nice to see you again. I left Sandpoint on the morning of the 21st. Good chance we waved at eacch other in passing......

[BC Brian]

Day 9 Sept 25 611 kms Moab UT to Bernalillo NM

The plan last night was to ride up to Silverton Colorado this morning and ride the Million Dollar Highway (See link HERE )

I had checked the weather last night, and, though not looking warm, it was doable with a chance of rain showers. I was going to ride from there to Durango, and follow some roads inmate holkster had suggested.

Well, so much for planning. The weather in Moab this morning was cool with chances of dampness, so I checked the weather report for Silverton again, and it was 1c with mixed rain and snow, and calling for highs of 3c by afternoon (for you Fahrenheit people that’s cold and then almost as cold)




Well, hell! I could still follow holksters route, and headed south on 191.

I stopped at a rest area here.



Is that a jeep up there?



Took a walk around.



Rode a bit further and saw this



After a while it was looking like there would be rain in my future, so I stopped and dug out my rain gear ( way down in the bottom of my bag, like, really, I won’t be needing this) and got it on just in time as the heavens opened up. With my raingear and that bigassed windshield, I was warm and dry.


I turned at Monticedo, in the rain, and rode along hwy 491…… in the rain. And even though I was relatively warm and dry, by the time I got to Cortez I was getting pretty tired of the rain. I saw the turnoff to Durango, with dark looking clouds.



Or I could go south towards 4 Corners.



Whats that waaay down there? Lighter looking sky? Well, I really had no real reason to go to Durango, and I had never been to 4 Corners before, so away I went, hoping for sun.

It cleared up along the way, and got almost warm.

I didn’t know what there was at the monument, and I was kind of hoping I could ride my bike up to the corner post, and have my bike in, like, Utah and Colorado while I took the picture standing in New Mexico and Arizona, but it looked like that wasn’t going to happen



I took a couple of pictures






Ate an overpriced Navajo version of a taco and carried on my way.

The sky had cleared, so I took off my raingear and headed East. I stopped at Shiprock NM at Micky D’s for free wifi, and as I am sitting on a curb checking my mail, Irving, a local native fellow comes over, sits down and starts asking me about where I am going, where am I from, about the bike etc. I am expecting him to ask me for something, but nope. We chat for a while, talking about the area, he gives me good, detailed directions to where I think I might be going. We talk about the relationship between the Navajo and the Dene people in Sakatchewan (Navajo are actually Dene people) I shake his hand and tell him I should get on the road, he tells me good bye….. …… and he asks me if I have any spare change.

Well of course I do, I tell him, and give him whatever change I had on me.

I head off towards Albuquerque, hitting the occasional rain shower, and get a room in Bernalillo for the night.

Sun going down in Bernalillo

[WayFar]

Originally Posted by BC Brian

Glad you are liking it, WayFar.

and.... on yoiur way to AK, stop in. we are on the way there.

We have a post on the tent space thing....

http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=12217414

Thanks! We will take you up on this for sure.

[zilla]

Great stuff!

I've got a 76 Super Glide, and i'm not too sure i'd attempt the trip you took with yours.

[twisted-hog]

Guess I'm following this one now too....... I enjoyed your other RR so much

[Ginger Beard]

Read you entire BC Buell thread...Looks like I will be reading this one too.

[BC Brian]

Originally Posted by zilla

Great stuff!

I've got a 76 Super Glide, and i'm not too sure i'd attempt the trip you took with yours.

thanbks zilla

Its not bad travelling on an old shovel as long as you KNOW you are going to break down .Then you won't be dissapointed

(read on for todays post. LOL)

[BC Brian]

Originally Posted by twisted-hog

Guess I'm following this one now too....... I enjoyed your other RR so much

Sounds good twisted hog.

I am glad you enjoyed my last RR.

[BC Brian]

Originally Posted by Ginger Beard

Read you entire BC Buell thread...Looks like I will be reading this one too.

Glad to have you along again Ginger Beard.

[BC Brian]

I wanted to try to make it as far as Amarillo today, but was thinking I might try to stay off the freeway. I looked at some maps, saw some twisty looking roads that connected Bernalillo and hwy 40 over some mountains, googled Sandia Crest Hwy, looked good, twisty and paved and headed out. It was early, so I wore lots of clothes, thinking I could take off some layers as it warmed up later in the day. I headed up hwy 165, got into a the little town of Placitas, and saw this sign.




Hmmmmm……

I am not sure about here, but signs like this at home don’t usually mean nice twisty paved highways. Nice and twisty maybe……. Paved…. Not as a rule. I carry on for a few miles and come to a rough looking gravel road. I check my map, yep, this is supposed to be it. On my Buell I probably would have tackled it. On this old shovelhead…….not so much. So I jammed out and headed back down the mountain.

I head down Highway 25 for Albuquerque, about 20 miles down the road, just into town, the traffic is getting heavy, and just as I am thinking I am getting into the last stages of rush hour I hear a loud backfire, and my engine quits.

Crap.

I am in the middle lane, with traffic all doing 70 miles an hour, and I have no engine. I signal, pull over, dodging traffic. I can’t make the off ramp, so I pull over just past the off ramp, near an open area.



I am thinking that it sounded like ignition, so I pull off the timing cover, and it doesn’t look good. The bolt holding the Ignition in place is broken, and there are metal filings everywhere.





The backside of the electronic ignition plate is pretty chewed up, but no wires are hurt, and the sensor looks OK.



Now all I need to do is find a 2” #10 by 32 bolt and put it back together. I see a hotel nearby, so I put everything away, and plan on heading there to use their phone. I checked my iphone just before heading there, and I had wifi…. From the hotel. Sweet. I google autoparts, find a place only a mile away, lock my helmet to the bike, grab my jacket ( I don’t really have space to strap the jacket) and start walking. As I head over there, it is getting warmer, but its only a mile, right? I get there, and can you believe a huge auto parts distribution warehouse doesn’t have the bolt?

So I head out, checking for free wifi (there’s lot’s in that area) and google motorcycle places. There is a Harley dealer 2 ½ miles away, but a place called Renegade Classic motorcycles, or something like that only couple miles away. I start walking, watching for a cab I can flag down. I walk there, without seeing a single cab, and they are a T-shirt and bandana and jacket store. No parts.

Crap.

So away I go. I see a body shop, and go in, hoping I can buy a bolt out of their bolt bins. Nope. They don’t have a bolt bin, but he directs me to a hardware store that is closer than the Harley shop. I walk over there, and now its getting pretty hot out, and I am still wearing my “cooler weather” clothes, packing my jacket. I get to the store, buy some bolts and some washers, use their free wifi, and its 1.6 miles back to my bike. Should I call for a cab? Nah…. By the time it shows up I will already be there, so I buy a bottle of water and away I go. I get about half way and decide that it might have been better to sit in the air-conditioned store while I waited for the cab J

I get to my bike, put it all together, start cranking it over…..nothing.

Hmmmm

I check the timing mark I had made, yep that’s good, I pull it apart again, check that its together right, reassemble the ignition, crank it over….. nothing. I change the timing, and when I have it retarted all the way, it will run on one cylinder.

hmmmm

I call my buddy who owns Sonic Cycle in Williams Lake for advice. He says “did you check this?”

“Yep”

“Did you check that?”

“Yep”

“Does this pin line up with this?”

“Yep”

“Does that pin line up line up with that?”

“Yep”

“How does it look in there?”

“Pretty ugly”

“Throw out the ignition and put points in.”

“Points?”

“Yep, they are cheap and it will work.”

OK then

So during all this performance, people are stopping by to see if I need help, and one guy, who calls himself Dr Dave ( a retired doctor) had told me that if I needed help to call him and he would drive me for parts. I was just getting ready to call him when a guy pulls up in a big diesel pickup and asks if I need help.

“Yep”

And that’s when I met Henry, a general contractor who had been riding Harleys for years, and still has the first bike he ever bought, a 1979 low rider, as well as a modern touring Harley. He says he knows what it’s like to have problems on the road and wants to help.

I tell him what’s going on and that I need to get to the Harley shop to buy a points set up. He says we can load my bike on his trailer and he will take me to a place where they specialise in old Harleys. Sweet.

Away we go to the bike shop, talking bikes and rides the whole way. Henry has ridden about as many miles as anyone I have ever met, and has ridden almost every state except Alaska.




I buy the points and install them with the bike on the trailer (just in case), fire it up, it runs great, unload it, and I take him out for a burger and a beer.

Henry



Henry’s rescue truck





We exchange info, I invite him to stop by for a day or a week when he rides to Alaska. I stop in the parking lot to call Dr. Dave and tell him I am on the road. He asks me if things went well, and if I have eaten. I tell him it is all good, thank him, he god blesses me, I god bless him, and I hit the road. I was beat, so I just rode as far as Moriarty and got a room.

[BCB's Better 1/2]

Hi Honey,
Henry seems like a pretty nice fellow. Reminds me of you, and our many stops to help stranded motorists. I am so glad you are meeting people like him on your trip.

[SparkyL]

Hi Brian;

Great RR and pics. I am riding along with you in spirit. I am really enjoying your ride on an elderly shovel. I ride one of the new-fangled Road Kings, so it's nothing like your experience. It is so cool that you are meeting helpful people like Henry along the way. Enjoy your trip and keep it coming. Thanks!

Dave

[SoSlow]

Hey Brian!

As always, a great RR and pictures!

Sorry I'm late to the party - looks like you're having an interesting trip so far and meeting some good people!

Glad to hear you've been able to work out the kinks in the bike. I guess that's all part of the fun, eh?

Ride safe and enjoy your adventure - keep those stories and pictures coming!

[bucknbc]

You know I have to rub this in. My saddle
-bag fits aplate,cam ,and bolt.