Another Helmet Cam Test

 Actually every time I use the helmet cam its gonna be a test because I never know what I'm gonna get. I could know if I mounted my spare phone on the handlebar but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. The bike has been pretty neglected with all the DIY going on around here and if I ever get caught up there are a few things I'd like to do to the big Ultra. We'll get into those in a future post. 

 I decided the best way to test the audio was to tell a short story. I'm hoping it turned out because I'm typing this while the footage is still downloading to my puter and I still don't know if its usable yet. If the video turns out to be about a toolbox or garage project then you know the bike footage was crap.

 

Later.

Green Lake Bike Show

 This morning I'm planning to ride to the bike show in Green Lake during their Harvestfest celebration. I'll be taking the back roads because right now the Rat Turd doesn't have enough gumption to handle sustained speed on the hiway. I'll figure that problem out someday but because the bike sees such limited duty lately it doesn't seem to be a big concern. Yesterday I had the idea of building my own carb for the bike. It already runs like crap, so there is nothing to lose. I'll let the idea fester for a while.

 I pulled the windshield off of the bike. It was on there for the trip to the Smokies many years ago and I just forgot how ugly it was and it certainly isn't needed for the few local rides that the bike gets. Yes, of all the crap on this bike, that was the ugly piece. Deal with it.

 This year on vacation I picked up a few stickers and decided this bike was as good a spot to adhere them as any.

 There used to be a few signs on the Blue Ridge Parkway that looked like this decal but I don't remember seeing one this year. I wonder if they were stolen much like the US129 signs that no longer appear along that road. We used to wave our hands in the air when we saw this sign and can't recall doing that this year. The truth is, there are no reducing radius curves on the lower end of the parkway except maybe the one or two that had these signs and I'm not sure if they tighten up or maybe they are just long arcs. 

 I gotta wrap this up and get rolling. To my wife, welcome home from your vacation, Honey. You were missed, I survived and the house is in one piece, there isn't a sink full of dishes, and the cats aren't dead. To the rest of you, see you at the show.

Later.

Chillin on the BRP

 Sit back, crack open a brewski and chill.

Your lesson for today...

Things aren't always what they seem to be. Take a good look around and don't be fooled.

 When I was on vacation my idea of chillin was just easing the big Ultra along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The beer didn't come till the end of the day when the bike was parked.
 This particular section is woodier than it is scenic but that doesn't change the fact that for me it's very relaxing. Nothing to do but enjoy the ride and play with the camera. No schedule and no pressure.
 I learned a lot about what not to do with the GoPro camera including expecting good audio with the sealed back plate on the camera box. The video is kinda boring with no unexpected surprises...just like a relaxing vacation ride should be.

Workshop Wednesday-Back To Reality

I saw this sign while on vacation.

 No mowing or spraying? Now that really is a vacation for a guy that's been involved in landscape maintenance most of his life. What I need now is a sign that says "Don't bring me your broken shit till I get caught up from being gone for a week". The pic would be a customer standing there with a chainsaw in his hand, the starter cord hanging all the way out, with a red circle and slash through the pic.
 Everyone at the shop has their own backlog of stuff to fix so I knew it was gonna be like this. And its not just at the shop. When I arrived home on Sunday and rolled into the garage, I only had one narrow strip of clean concrete to park the bike. I had left quite a mess from all the projects I was in a hurry to complete before departing on vacation. I guess what they say is true. Be careful what you wish for.

Later

Vacation Wrap Up

 I had some issues trying to post pics on Blogger while using my phone this past week so today I'll just catch up on those pics.

Day one and I got wet. Little did I know but this was just the beginning.

A pic I manage to capture every time I visit. This is the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Chillin at Mt Pisgah while waiting on friends for lunch.

The Tree of Shame at Deals Gap Motorcycle Resort.

Dan and I stopping to "defog" on a wet ride.

The gentleman in the center is the owner of the bike with the gas powered pusher seen in the background. From post-Time Machine

A short hike led me to this wonderful waterfall.

I just had to stop due to limited visibility.

 So thats it. I have some stills and footage from the GoPro that I haven't looked at yet. Maybe there will be something worth posting in that mess.


Later

Favorite Posts of 2015

 I've been posting twice a week for a couple years now. I'm not much of a writer but I secretly wish I could do better in this area. The following is a collection of posts from this year that kinda are some of my favorites...all for different reasons. Some are techy. Some were from a fun day and others are just random thoughts. I didn't include the post from when my Mom passed away because although it was important, I didn't enjoy having to write it.

Where do they get this stuff?  This is a post about the day I discovered M. Schettl sales. They have quite a collection of oddball things for sale and on display.

Homemade Headers  I spent a lot of time trying to come up with an unusual exhaust for the Rat Turd. This was the beginning of that adventure.

Whutcha Gonna Blog About?  This is a post about nothing. Kinda like an episode of Seinfeld.

PBR Me ASAP  Just an old pic I found from my childhood.

Wet Ride  Wet Ride is a post about a day when my wife and I enjoyed a ride in the rain.

Dragon Loop    This post was about a day spent with friends in the Smoky Mountains.


Is Summer Coming To An End?  This is a story about a young lad that sparked some memories from my childhood.

 Thanks for following the blog. For 2016 you can expect to see more ride reports and more pics/videos from the bike. My daughter got me some GoPro camera gear that I'm looking forward to trying out. I guess I have a few months to learn how to use it.

Pisgah for Lunch

Today we decided to ride the Blue Ridge parkway to the Pisgah Inn. The sun was shining when we left Maggie Valley but we quickly climbed into a cloud. I was leading and decided to pull over and get the gear on. The rain gear was really more about keeping warm. I don't think we got much more than a brief sprinkle the entire time we were up there but we did have to negotiate a lot of fog. Lunch was good as always and the view was spectacular.
On the ride back Dan and I decided to stop at Waterrock Knob. What we found there was a couple from Michigan on a Kawasaki Vulcan towing a trailer. They were having problems getting the bike running and sadly they were still broke down when we left despite our efforts to help. I regret not bringing more tools than what Harley provided with my bike. When we left they were on the phone with their insurance company arranging a tow and in a place where they weren't  stranded alone. I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about what might have been wrong with their bike.
As I write this from the motel it is starting to rain. These little bursts of rain have been going on for a few days and we have been lucky enough not to be on the bikes when they hit.
Gotta run. It's time to decide where we'll ride to for dinner.

Maggie Valley

All I had to do today was ride from Murphy to Maggie Valley.  I don't have a map in front of me but I'd guess it's about 50 or 60 miles. Of course I didn't take that route. What I did today was cover some of the popular touristy roads while I had good weather. I headed north and hopped on the Cherohala Skyway. Seriously, except for a black bear that crossed my path I was the only one up there. I then made my way to deals gap resort and had lunch. The next road was "the dragon". If you're not familiar it's 318 curves in 11 miles. Nobody was in my way and I used this opportunity to familiarize myself with the handling of the big Ultra Limited in the twisties. I was having problems making the bike do what I wanted.
With my other bikes I approach a corner hot while analyzing the turn. Then I scrub off excess speed and negotiate the turn. Roll on some throttle at the apex and hustle down to the next turn. Lather, rinse, repeat.
This bike is different. Not because of the weight. I've slayed the dragon on full size touring rigs before. It's different because of the linked brakes. Feeding in a little rear brake and getting some front brake was totally fouling me up. I finally gave up on my old method and tried something more like "the pace". Brakes? Forgetaboutem. I dropped into a lower gear, turned up some angry rock on the radio and ran the hog a little closer to red line the rest of the way. I wasn't breaking any speed records but I was able to better enjoy the ride. Engine braking was all I used and the throttle by wire wasn't glitchy at all.
I exited US129 onto the Foothills parkway.  Again it was very quiet and relaxing up there. A quick stop for fuel and then I made the 30 mile run through the Smoky mountain national park. Things did move a little slower here and that's fine. Just before hitting Cherokee nc I hung a left and took the blue ridge parkway to Maggie Valley where I'm sitting in a wooden rocking chair writing this.
It was another good day on the bike. At one popular rest stop I found a place for a GSR sticker!

Return Home

 I'm back home. I had an uneventful day of riding. Turns out the most accidents, congestion, stopped traffic and cops were all here in Wisconsin. Whodathunkit. Here are a few random pics from the week.

End.

Deals Gap

Today we decided to go for a ride. Imagine that. We started out on the blue ridge parkway and then rode through the smokey mountain national park.   The sun was shining, the weather was perfect. We followed the Foothills parkway until we hit US129. If you're familiar with the area then you know we are about to slay the dragon. "Deals Gap" has 318 turns in 11 miles. It's a fun section of road if you don't get stuck behind someone going under the speed limit. The sportster handled it well although there really wasn't much "slaying" going on.
We stopped for lunch and watched the bikes come and go. It was nice to chill and talk about bikes. The ride back was uneventful except for the last five miles of rain.

Blue Ridge Parkway

Today was another one of those days when I dressed for rain but got lucky and never saw any. I rode the blue ridge parkway with some friends. We stopped at the Pisgah Inn for a delicious lunch. I had a turkey, apple, brie wrap with cranberry mayo. My wife would have loved it.
We also stopped at the highest elevation of the parkway for a photo opp. A park ranger rolled up and set up a table. We watched as he placed skulls, stuffed animals, snakes and bugs on it. His mission was just to educate park visitors. We picked his brain and listened to what he had to say. It was interesting.

Packing Ultra Light

 If you follow this blog then you know there have been a few posts about packing. The following is an article my daughter Squag* wrote about how she packs for hiking. As a parent I'm glad to see she has put so much thought into this particular journey and she's not just diving in without some preparation. Some applies to motorcycles and some doesn't. Enjoy.

 *squag is a nic name one of her sisters assigned her many years ago based on a pre-historic squigward that played the saxaphone. SpongeBob fans know what I'm talking about.

 There’s been a lot of talk around our house about how we pack for voyages and why we lug things around the way we do. Dad has mentioned that he’s always packed pretty heavily on his moo-sucker, and according to his blog he’s got a friend teaching him the ways of packing light on the bike. Lightweight and ultralight packing aren’t specific to motorcycle trips, though. Dad brought me into the conversation because I’ll be going on a mega trip starting in late March that will require some creative thinking about the way I carry around the necessities. I’ll be thru-hiking the 2,180 mile Appalachian Trail and will be in the woods for about five months. I’ll be relying on what I haul on my back, what I can pick up from trail towns and whatever I beg people to mail me along the way. For the most part, I’ll need to stuff my pack so I can survive the wilds and be somewhat comfortable while doing it.

  Dad’s buddy JT mentioned that if you ask ten different people how to pack for a motorcycle trip, you’ll get ten different answers. The same goes for long distance hiking. Everyone has their favorite gear, everyone has their favorite shortcuts, and no two packs are quite the same. As a new long distance hiker, I’ve had to seek advice from a lot of experienced outdoorsmen to get a grip on which brands might best suit my needs and what style of packing would work for me. If you’ve never done this, you should know that it sort of feels like hanging a sign on your door that says, “Yes, please, solicit!” and having everyone and their brother come knocking with their handy solution. I mention this so that y’all understand that my style of packing doesn’t work for everyone and that there are thousands of other ways to lose your mind and hike around the woods for a while with all your survival supplies strapped to you like a mule.

  A lot of folks say that thru-hikers can pack to hike or pack to camp. That is to say that we can either be really comfortable hiking or really comfortable at night; if we pack a bunch of trinkets and luxury items to be cozy in our tents, hiking might be hell because of a heavy haul. If we pack lightly, we may not have the toys necessary to have a ball while we relax at night. This isn’t always true, but it offers an explanation for the kind of balancing act thru-hikers have to pull on our journeys. I’d say I have a healthy combination of packing lightly and comfortably. With the luxury of buying most of my gear fresh, I could specifically choose the most lightweight options that don’t break the bank. And, like most travelers, I try to find gear or supplies that will pull double duty. I think JT talks about this with motorcycles as well: find the smallest thing you can that does more than one job. Whether you’re motorcycling or hiking, having a soap that washes everything is like carrying unicorn tears in a bottle—you’re invincible. On the other side of the coin, carrying the Lord of the Rings trilogy to stay entertained at night is out of the question.

  Here’s most of what’s in my pack, minus a couple of lady things that no motorcycle dude wants to hear about (although my solutions for that are seriously awesome, trust me). I’m listing most of my gear, because it’s important to think about details when scheming for strategic packing. The details are what make packing complicated and what can be the difference between a hike to Katahdin or an emergency flight off the mountain range:

-A comfortable internal frame pack (not too big: the more ya fill it, the heavier it gets. I tested mine out on my trip to India last February. Things to look for: weight distribution between hips, chest and shoulders; ways to strap stuff on; preference amongst frame type; ease of gear access)

-Appropriate footwear (lightweight, snug ankle and heel support, waterproof, durable, one size too big for swollen clob hoppers, no sentimental attachment because they will assuredly get chewed up by the Appalachian Gods of dirt, rubble and mud.)

-Map and compass (taking an AT guide and ripping out pages as I pass through areas to cut down on weight in pack; I’ll carry a compass because I’m not an idiot.)

-Water and a way to clean it (Two water bottles, MSR Aquatabs/Iodine or Chlorine Dioxide tablets to clear bacteria and viruses from streams—no one wants to get a digestion problem without a loo around—and a quarter of a bandana to filter sediment from water. This is way lighter than a pump filter and less finicky than a UV light to clean water.)

-Clothes and rain gear (Avoid cotton. Two polypro shirts that dry quickly: one for camp and one for hiking; one mid-layer fleece; one rain coat with pit vents; one ultralight down jacket for colder regions; running pants for base layer; adjustable water resistant pant-shorts; survival undies; hat; waterproof gloves; two pairs of wool socks with silk liners to prevent chafing. Trust me, I’m fabulously stylish in my swishy pit-vented rain coat. It took me over two years to decide on specific articles of clothing, but the wait was worth it because I feel confident that they’ll get me through comfortably and safely.)

-Food and a way to cook it (Imagine a feast of Ramen noodles, bulk couscous, trail mix, beef jerky, peanut butter, dried fruit, repeat, repeat, repeat in freezer bags and a sealed dry bag. I made a camp stove out of an aluminum can that runs on alcohol (that can also be used in my med kit). I have one pot that I will eat out of and one other cup so I can also drink coffee or tea while eating on cold days. A spork for eating. The stove and cup fit inside the pot and the weight for cooking contraptions altogether without fuel is about 10 oz. This isn’t as light as all titanium, but my meager budget couldn’t afford that.)

-Shelter and sleeping bag (ultralight single person tent with footprint, lightweight mummy-style sleeping bag in a small stuff sack, four foot sleeping mat to protect torso from cold ground. Tent and pad are packed on outside of pack, not inside, as are water bottles. I chose a short sleeping pad because mats get bulky and it’s not as important for my feet to be protected from the ground as it is for my back. The mat is aluminized for extra warmth.)

-First aid kit (snake bite kit, band aids, gauze, blister treatment, ibuprofen, antihistamine, tweezers, antiseptic ointment, ace wrap, survival cord, needle and thread, glucose and electrolyte tablets, tiger balm, emergency blanket and/or garbage bag, safety pins, sun screen, etc)

-Dad’s old Buck knife (for all the reasons)

-Other crap (identification and moolah, safety whistle, headlamp, fire starters, duct tape, baking soda, transition glasses, junky phone for emergencies or while in towns, camp suds, small Rite in the Rain notebook and pencil, ultralight camp towel, watch, camp sandals (maybe), rain cover for pack, trekking poles, trowel, chapstick, toothbrush, a few sanitizing wipes, TP for #2, extra bandana cut in half for a pot holder and going #1--it’s genius, really.)

Now, this all may seem like a laundry list of obvious gear that needs to accompany a human on any journey through the woods. In reality, this is a carefully crafted inventory that’s still under revision, with every piece of gear thought out and all foreseeable needs accounted for. Two bandanas offer me a way to stay clean, filter water, and cook without burning myself. Baking soda can be used as an antacid, toothpaste, face wash, de-stinkifier for shoes and pits, insect bite treatment, clean the bottom of my cook pot, fire extinguisher, and whatever else I come up with along the way. (Camp suds are really just an additional luxury so I can smell like something other than baking soda. The suds also have citronella as a bug repellent.) My trekking poles help save my knees and back from all the walking, but can also be used as a clothes line for drying gear or back-up tent poles if one of mine breaks. Duct tape is another World Wonder and goes without explaining.

  There are some things I’m not taking that some folks might. I’m not taking gaiters, because as my hiking buddy James Claiborne would say, “If you’re gonna get wet, you’re gonna get wet.” This is the same logic for rain pants. They are overkill. And with a steady supply of rain waiting for me, I’m also not taking a fancy phone or camera. There aren’t any pictures that I could take that thousands of other hikers haven’t already taken on the trail, unless a bear is after me, in which case I shouldn’t be messing around with a point-and-shoot. I’m also not taking hand sanitizer—I’ll have some wipes if I feel like I really need it. I’m not taking separate shorts. I’ll use my convertible pants until I crack and buy myself shorts along the way. Some people take camp chairs, but that seems downright excessive to me. I’m also not taking a bear bell, because I tend to be goofy and sing obnoxiously while I hike anyway. Other hikers have that to look forward to during what they thought would be quiet, introspective journeys.

 There are a few differences between how I pack for a hike and how a motorcycle trip might unfold. I can certainly rely on money to get me through when I stop in trail towns to reload, and I’ll probably have my sister sending me my pre-sorted food, batteries and back-up gear to post offices along the way. For the most part I can’t “rely on plastic” if I’m hiking in the woods and run out of food. I need to eat (and therefore pack) enough to account for hiking between 8 and 23 miles in a day while rationing so that I don’t run out of gorp before the next stock up of food every 3-7 days or so.

 And as for Leave No Trace, I also can’t just throw things away if I decide I don’t want or need them. Any garbage that I produce on trail (like granola bar wrappers, empty Nutella jars, etc) will be stored in a Ziploc bag until I can pack it into town. This means that I have to pick supplies that have the least amount of waste. For example, as a coffee drinker, I can’t take a bunch of teabag style coffee pods with me; instead, I’ll drink sacrilegious instant coffee that dissolves in hot water.

  Another difference is actually quite similar to motorcycle packing: hikers and bikers get rained on. Where we part is whether or not we have a chance to dry off and clean up. Hikers certainly don’t have a chance to take their wet clothes to a hotel or home to dry out unless they have the luxury of being in town and have the money to hide away in a motel regularly. Camping bikers might understand this. To combat this, all hiking clothes need to be breathable (panting hiker gets sticky) and quick drying (hiker gets rained on and sweaty) while being warm (hypothermia sucks) and stuffed in a sack while not being used (because preventing wet gear is the best way to fight wet gear depression).

  General gear deterioration is another nemesis of thru-hiking. I’ve taken a few precautions to help me out when my gear starts to crumble. My shoes came from REI and can be replaced if/when they totally die from so much daily trekking—to pack lightly, I’m not carrying spare boots with me. My camp stove is easily made from any found aluminum can and my knife, so if the tiny stove gets accidentally crushed I can make a new one the next time I’m around a beer or soda drinker. I’m hiking with a buddy, so we can back each other up in emergency situations. Again, magical duct tape can help keep things in one piece until I can get new gear.

  I think my propensity for closely scrutinizing gear choices comes from my dad, but I’ve gotta say . . . I’m excited to just get started with this thing already. Whether or not I made the right gear choices, I’m ready to get on the trail and limp my way from Georgia to Maine. Like a mule. Or a crazy twenty-something looking for adventure.

Grooved asphalt

 For the past dozen years or so I have been vacationing in the Smokey mountains. The truth is that it started as a group gathering with some strangers that have become close friends. We've scraped pegs and dragged hard parts on all the regular touristy roads in the area but some of the best times have been exploring the lesser known roads .  On one such adventure we rode up on the scene of a crash. It's not unusual to see a single bike crash. Someone pushes it too hard, a corner comes up too fast, crap in the road, whatever. This crash was just a bit different.

 There was a rider laying in the road being attended to by another rider. The victim never spoke a word but he sure was making a lot of noise. Help was on the way so we decided to split up and pull road guard duties. It didn't take long for a state trooper to arrive. He wasn't able to do anything for the crash victim and he wasn't able to get any info from him either. It looked like he locked up a brake and lost control. He was ejected and the bike flipped. You could follow the skid marks just about to the point he was laying and then follow the scratches in the road to his bike. The poor guy crashed on the first turn and never got to the good stuff.
 I could hear the ambulance coming up the mountain. It took forever. There was a reason we were on this road. Its steep and winding. I felt guilty because I just wanted the medics to give this guy some relief and get him to stop that screaming and moaning.
 As I'm standing there along side the road waiting I had noticed a lot of gouges in the asphalt. I was trying to imagine how they got there. This was probably the steepest, sharpest corner I have ever experienced so I just assumed some vehicles without much ground clearance must be scraping here. As the ambulance arrived I watched as the front and rear bumpers were scraping the ground at the same time! We have some fun roads in Wisconsin but nothing this steep.
 The emt's were having a tough time with this guy. His bike was upside down and wadded up against a tree but you could still tell it was a specially set up rig for someone disabled. They didn't know what was previously screwed up and what may have occurred in the crash. They thought he was paralyzed from the waist down but weren't sure. They carefully strapped him to a board, loaded him in the meat wagon and headed down the mountain.
 I have no idea how this story ended for our victim. If I hope he made a full recovery then the best he can be is still disabled. Anybody willing to invest in a specialty lay down rig operated solely by hand controls must be passionate about riding. If he didn't make it we at least know he went out doing something he enjoyed.
 That seems like a morbid way to end this story so I'll add this thought. I've seen some riders with only one arm or leg on bikes set up for them. These guys always seem to be some of the best riders I've met. I know if I were in that situation I would want to figure out a way to keep riding. Some times I wonder If I'll be too old and weak to hold a bike up and end up on a trike or scooter. No matter. I'm not hung up on brands or certain types of bikes. Its all good as long as you can get out there and enjoy the open road or maybe even ride away from a few scrapes left in the asphalt.

Maggie Valley trip 2013: The bike

 As the summer of 2013 rolled along excitement was building for the start of a nine day bike vacation. I was trying desperately to make road worthy the sportster my wife bought me for our anniversary.  I had four weeks to tear it down, paint it, replace the engine and work out the bugs. Just when I thought I had it ready I encountered a setback. It was the plugged crankcase issue described in an earlier post.
 So it was decided. I would take the rat bike. I had enough mileage on this bike to trust it for what would be a 3000 mile week. It had enough room to haul plenty of stuff. The only down side was the small displacement. This little motor was gonna be screaming on the interstate.
 In the early years of making this trek to Maggie Valley, NC I would eat up the whole 950 mile ride in one day. In later years I would make plans to meet friends halfway down and do it in two days. This year was different because I had no plan. No advance hotel reservations and no route plan.
 It was early saturday morning when I fired up the little kawasaki and started motoring south. I figured I'd get on the interstate and get as far south as I could on day one.  The first half of the day the weather was ok. The only thing bothering me was looking at the tach. Its a little digital gizmo with small numbers. The difference between 6,000 rpm and 8,000 rpm is less than a quarter inch. Its hard to read but it was obvious the reading was high. On local rides this didn't matter much but I've been running it this way for hours.

 I'd stop for gas and someone would make a comment about the tractor seat. It is a real conversation starter.
 When you ride a motorcycle on a mind numbing interstate like the ones in Illinois, you better have something to think about.  Sometimes when in deer avoidance mode I have to be careful. If I think about "deer" I may accidentally start singing that stupid kids song. "Doe, a deer, a female deer." I have to stop there or I'll hate myself the rest of the day.  You have fun with it though. Why not listen to music while riding? Well I've done that. Its relaxing but I feel it takes something away from the connection between me, the bike and the environment. The other issue with me listening to music on the bike is that I found my pace was controlled by the beat. If the music was mellow, I'd slow down.  If it was angry metal then I'd be hauling ass.  So, a good portion of time was spent trying to figure out why this bike ran different depending on where my feet were placed. With my feet on the hiway bars the bike ran great. On the stock pegs it ran just a bit noticeably worse. I was sure it had to do with air flow around the carb pods but I just couldn't quite nail down why it was happening.
 As the afternoon wore on the weather turned wet. I don't mind riding in the rain as long as I can stay warm enough. I was happily scooting along in the rain when the motor started feeling weak. I was loosing power on the interstate and was pretty sure I'd have to pull over.
 A lot of things go through your mind in these situations. Why? I had plenty of fuel in the tank. Is the traffic behind me heavy or light? I should have made more of a front fender to keep the water off the motor. I wonder if my pods are too wet? Where is the next exit? Good thing I don't have to be back to work for another 8 days.
 I rode the shoulder for a mile or so and got off at the first exit. I made it to a parking lot and started troubleshooting. I figured the easiest thing to check was the air filter pods. I dug out a screwdriver from my saddlebag and removed the pods. When I fired the bike up it seemed to run ok.
 Some dude in a pickup truck gave me a thumbs up and said "I like the seat!"
 The rain was letting up so I hopped back on the interstate and continued eating up miles. Just about the time I was drying out, it started raining again. I watched as the water ran across my tank and dripped down in front of the carbs. The bike was drinking some rain water but running fine...until all of the sudden it started loosing power again. Huh, I guess the pods weren't the problem. I immediately exited and found a gas station. This time the plan was to find a can of wd40. I took my time spraying down every part of the ignition wiring and coil.
 While I did this some lady told me about her great grandpa the farmer who sat on an old seat just like that.

I know nobodys great grampa sat on a seat just like this. I used a cut-off wheel to modify the front outer sections. Before I did that I couldn't reach the ground with my feet.

  The bike fired right up and I continued south. Things were going fine until it started raining again. Once again I nursed the bike to somewhere safe I could work on it. Once again I hosed it down with wd40 and once again someone commented on the seat. "Did you ride that thing all the way from Wisconsin?"
 Back on the road the bike was buzzing along. I don't know how happy the motor was about being wound out all day but I know it was driving me crazy.  The motor felt fine but I couldn't stand looking at that tach. I tried not to look but the more I tried to forget about it, the more I thought about it. Ya know how sometimes you know you're in top gear but make that attempt to upshift anyway? I was getting sick of looking for seventh gear.  Luckily it started raining again and I forgot about the tach. I found myself anticipating the power loss I was sure would come. Man it was raining hard. It was getting dark and I was approaching Paducah, Kentucky so I decided this would be a good time to call it a day. Besides, I knew Raffertys served up some delicious cheeseburgers.
 I pulled under the motel marquee and was greeted by some fellow bikers seeking refuge from the weather. We exchanged stories of the road for a few minutes as I started peeling off a few wet layers of gear. One of them commented on how nice it was that the rain doesn't puddle up on my tractor seat full of holes. I agreed.
 The cheeseburger was good but not "the best cheeseburger ever" as I remembered them. I think the quality of the meal is directly related to the company you keep while dining. The company I'm referring to is the group I rode with a few years ago on this same run.
 Day two offered much dryer weather. I had to eat up a little bit more interstate before getting into hill country and it didn't take long for my mind to slip back into obsessing over the tach. Its really not much of a vacation if you are slowly driving yourself nuts. I decided I like the speed I was traveling so the only way to change the reading on the tach was to make it read zero. I pulled into a wayside, removed the fuel tank and snipped the wire. Ahh, relief.
 An old timer asked "Did that seat come off a hay rake?"
 The rest of the day included some enjoyable riding through the Smokey mountain national park followed by dinner with friends in Maggie Valley, NC.
 Monday I decided I wanted to investigate the "loss of power in the rain" issue a little closer. I purchased a tube of dielectric grease, pulled the fuel tank and began insulating all the connections under there. I also attached a temporary fender to help control water spray off the front tire. I did a bunch of riding that day and tuesday without any problems but then it didn't rain much either.

Scene from behind the motel on monday.

 On Wednesday I rode with a small group up on the Blue Ridge Parkway when it began to rain. To my dismay the little Kaw started running like crap again. So much so that it died and wouldn't restart. I was headed downhill so I coasted into a scenic overlook where I began tearing the bike apart looking for a problem. The battery was old. It was in the bike when I bought it a few years ago. Testing and cranking and...oh, oh it might start...but no. This went on for a long time. We all figured it was only a matter of minutes before a dead battery was gonna be the end of this ride. This looked like it may be a repeat of last year when the new battery in my Aprilia went south, but thats another story. A couple guys in the group decided to head back to the motel and get a trailer. A couple others stayed back with me. I decided as long as I had the bike ripped apart this far and the battery wasn't dead yet, I would keep troubleshooting. I started tracing wires and then it caught my eye. Just for a second but I saw it. It was a color I shouldn't have seen. It was the shiny metal prong on the end of a wire that should have been hidden inside a plastic connector. I examined the connector, snapped the wire back in place and attempted to start the bike. It fired right up!
 Enough time had passed that we figured our rescuers would be back to the motel and we wanted to stop them. It was funny watching everyone including myself do the "lost signal shuffle". You know the scene where everyone is holding their phone up and moving about reporting how many, if any, bars they had and who their cellular carrier is. We couldn't make a call but we all sent a text message and I guess one of them got through. The rescuers were just about to hook up the trailer so the timing was perfect.

Back at the motel and ready to settle into an evening with friends.

 The bike hasn't missed a beat since that day.  I had long ago decided the problem with my foot placement was an air flow problem around the pods. I was close. Moving my legs changed the air flow around the electrical connector located a few inches behind them. I guess at highway speeds the force of air was pushing on that wiring harness just enough to affect that loose connection. So many changes were made to the bike at once that it was difficult to narrow down the problem. After I ruled out the pods it seemed obvious that water was creating a short. I think this may have been one of the first long rides without a front fender so I was looking at wiring under the tank, not all the way back under the seat. I think if I would have made the connection between the two problems I could have figured this out the first time the bike gave me grief. A lesson I should have known because multiple symptoms can often be traced to a single issue. I've also decided its possible the bike fired back up after engine heat dried out the wet wiring during my repair efforts. I had never sprayed the bad connector with wd40.

The bike developed a drip on the return trip. It turned into a major leak a few days after getting home. You can see my temporary fender made from a license plate I bought from "Crazy Bobs Biker Stuff" store.

 Heres the thing. I love this shit. When there is a problem on the road that can be fixed without a trailer, then it becomes an adventure. This was a good vacation.