How not to start a trip to DC for Rolling Thunder

Energy One
Roaddawg

Roaddawg

Well-Known Member
Okay, so for a couple of months now I have been planning the ride from Minnesota to DC for Rolling Thunder. Planned the route, have all the gear ready, this past Monday and Tuesday was change all the fluids, replace the headlight (glass) and bulb. clean the bike, organize the tool kit, charge the camera, digital video and the helmet cam.

Tonight, last minute check of all fluids;look good, gear;ready, Ipod;charged, T-bag packed. Planning on heading out at 0300 so I go down to the garage and strap the bag on and lay out my jacket, helmet and gloves.

Hmmmmmm, that rear tire doesn't look right. Wow, it certainly is spongy feeling. Air pressure check - 0. That's odd, the tires don't even have a thousand miles on them...

Roll the bike forward a little and say, WTF!!!! Lo and behold, one of the spike front axle caps must have fallen off when I took the bike out earlier and when I returned, I backed over it as I was manuevering the motorcycle into the garage.

Now I have a flat tire at just after midnight and my plans to leave early are certainly dashed. I tried to patch the tire using a "Second Wind" tire repair kit. What a POS thing that is. Three attempts and no results. Finally, I took a self tapping screw, smeared it rubber cement and screwed it in. It should hold for the 10 mile trip to the dealership tomorrow. Hopefully, they will have a rear tire in stock.

So...that's how not to start a trip. Check out the swap meet section. I will be selling one week old spike axle caps, run over once.
 
CCRainman

CCRainman

Well-Known Member
Sorry to hear, hope all works out in a couple of hours. Then we'll see you sunday at The Exchange. If you need cell numbers pm one of us.
 
erldawg

erldawg

Guru
Damm Roaddawg that's not good sorry to hear about the flat. I may have taken a hammer to that sucker. :rant:

Hope the rest of the trip goes well for ya :2thumbs:
 
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04_RidgeBackBreaker

04_RidgeBackBreaker

Member
Sorry to hear that. Hope it all goes well from here on out for you. Lets see if my planned trip doesn't go bad this weekend. Red River NM memorial rally, here I come!
 
LARS

LARS

sippin & cruzin
Roaddog,man that's like a F'n kick in the crotch.Hope your trip turns out awesome,have a blast.
-:cheers:
 
04_RidgeBackBreaker

04_RidgeBackBreaker

Member
Red River has its years!!! Some good some bad. The weather can vary real quick up there. Could be in the high 70's low 80's one day and the next you can wake up to snow. The area has fire restrictions so far this year so lets see how many people that rally loses due to that along with the nice fuel prices. My EHC is already jacked up and my headlight isn't workin so I gotta plan all my riding for the day time:job:
 
Tattooedirish1

Tattooedirish1

The Wicked Irishman
So...that's how not to start a trip. Check out the swap meet section. I will be selling one week old spike axle caps, run over once.


that's freaking funny!!! sorry bout the luck though
 
Roaddawg

Roaddawg

Well-Known Member
Wow, this was some trip. As I stated earlier, it all began with a flat. Well, I got that fixed, thanks to Fury Motorcycles in South Saint Paul, MN. I gotta hand it to these guys, they didn't have a 250 tire in stock for my chopper but offered to pull one of the bikes on the floor and take that tire. That's the sign of a good dealership.

So, they fixed me up and by 1530 (3:30 pm), twelve hours later than planned, we are on our way.

Day 1: head through MN, WI and into Illinois. Well since DC temps were supposed to be in the 90's, I am definitely not packing winter stuff. Too bad since the Chicago area was 33 degrees and 40 mph winds. The missus and I ended up putting on our rainsuits over the leather jackets in an effort to stay warm. Due to the night, exhaustation and cold, we called it quits just after crossing into Indiana.

Day 2: Indiana, Ohio and PA. Weather like you wouldn't believe. It rained steadily through most of the trip, until we hit the 76, the PA turnpike. If you have never been on that road, here's a little description. A narrow, two laned twisting rollercoaster of a road, running along the tops of the mountain chain. There are no breakdown lanes. There is only about 18" of shoulder on the left and right side, with concrete jersey barrier as the separation between the north and south lanes.

Every couple of miles there is a small gravel pull off. There are no overpasses and exits are few and far between. How few and far? Well from one exit to the next was 56 miles!

So, it wasn't raining in PA. We got on the pike and it was pouring. No, it was raining harder much harder than that. How hard? Well, at one point when there was a flash of lighting that lit the sky, there must have been 15 or 20 autos and pickup trucks, completely stopped in the travel lane. Oh yeah, and a couple of TT units. I figured if the big rig drivers were pulling over, then there was a problem.

I pulled over momentarily, but it was raining so hard I was afraid the bike would shut down and not start. All the lights on the speedo were already on, both turn signal indicators, the high beam, low oil, all lit up nice and bright even though I knew there was plenty of oil, the low beams were on and no signals were being used. Then the tach lights when out completely. I felt like we had no option but to move forward.

We spent the next 50 miles traveling between 15 - 20 mph. It was almost impossible to see the road. I just kept looking for a taillight of a vehicle ahead of me. Finally we found an exit and went to a motel. Even the rain gear had given up so we were soaked. When we pulled into the motel, there were a dozen other drenched bikers seeking shelter also.

Day 3: Finally made it to DC, 1169 wet, cold, drenched miles later.

Rolling Thunder was great and I made a visit to Quantico to visit the Marine Corps Museum. That place is awesome! Ooooohrrraaaaahh and Semper Fi.

On the way home it was still a bizarre weather pattern. Leaving DC was muggy and overcast. Through Ohio the sun came out and topped at 96 degrees. We travelled stripped down to tank tops and ended up with sunburns.

Indiana and Illinois the winds from a turbulent front started to hit us. Chicago, to St. Louis had been hit with tornados, hail and winds up to 90 mph. We were hoping for a hole to pass through.

We made it to WI. where the front caught us. While the rain was intermittent, the winds were constant at 50 mph with gusts up to 70. I was happy to have the cruisemate as I was able to lock in the speed and just have to worry about hanging on. It was so tiring being bounced around. When the gusts hit, the bike would keel over and just about make a lane change on it's own.

Finally though, 2567 miles later, it was nice to be home. the bike ran like a champ and the only issue now is that the tachometer will not read over 3000 rpm. All the lights works, because when it low idles they all illuminate. But when riding, it will not go over 3000 rpm on the gauge.

Anyways, it certainly was an adventure.
 
Slider

Slider

Active Member
Tach might be ok after it dries out

PA turnpike in the rain.

Been there a few time in a car, never on my BD.

Glad you made it safely. Live to ride. :2thumbs:
 
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