Trip out west

At some point here, im gonna buy myself a new bike. Not brand new mind you, but something that was made post 95, say. As much as i love everything i have learned about engines and my character flaws while dealing with motorcycles, i would also find it lovely to not be giving myself an ulcer along the trip from all the obsessing over my vehicle's needs.

again, i think its a good experience, but one i will hopefully not need to repeat for my whole life.

I made the trip out to seattle, and didnt even have to take a greyhound. all the weather was pretty lovely, except for one really, really impressive thunderstorm near calgary that I did an inferior job of capturing.

Also amazing was Banff national park, which i recommend to everyone. as you can see from my messy and automatically assembled panorama, it is still extremely beautiful even when some kids have made a fort out of their campsite and put a keg in the lake. (bottom right corner)

so some of these pictures are obviously out of order, judging by geography, but the one with the firetruck shows you the spot where i first ran out of charge. i asked the owner of the best western there if i could plug in anywhere, and he told me to just unplug the firetruck outside. hard to miss. thats my battery sitting in the the little platform at the bottom.

so heres the list:

-garbage front brake that got much, much worse. ( got it worked on in b.c. )
-engine rattles too much even for a 78 XS, but i checked this one and the valves seem on...what could go wrong?
-electrical! bike stopped charging, and because i couldnt track it down i just had to run with the headlight off and charge the
battery at night... my trickle charger runs something like 750 milliAmps, and i think its a 20 Amphour battery, so it
never really saw a full charge for the rest of the trip. ran real funny.
-clutch pushrod seal started bleeding oil, which sprayed onto the chain, which sprayed onto the rear wheel. i think its in one
of these pictures that you can see the band on the left side of the tire that was coated in oil. i just took it real easy like
on them left handers. a few days ago i was headed to a job interview on the bike and i touched that section of tire,
probably for the first time. the back end kicked out pretty good, and i was glad nothing like that happened with all the
weight of my bags on the back end, would have been unpleasant.
-also had a problem with a tappet cover that got loose. i noticed this because my pants, gear and the entire engine were
covered in oil. it was the smell of the smoking oil that really got my attention...

So this is where i ended up finally. The last night the battery had gotten a full night's trickle charge, and although i kept the headlight circut connected, i ran with the headlight off, didnt use turn signals, and even tried to avoid using the brakes as much as possible to not run the brake light.

The bike started dying on I-5 in some nasty traffic in northern seattle. The first time it died, i had accidently used my signal, and after that point it just got worse. I figured out that if i kept it reving above 4500, it would run, so i made a run for central seattle in the breakdown lane and managed to get across the bridge before...uh... 'parking' the bike where you see it here.

luckily, the bike stopped running in this iconic and picturesque location. space needle, bunch of clouds....yup. seattle.

Evan came and picked me up, and that was that. Burger and Guinness time.

Im alive in Seattle, without a computer monitor at the moment. ack!

sunday

I may actually be leaving on sunday. The plan is to take the Trans-Canadian highway all the way west. Because my motorcycle is older than I am, I am trying to maintain some flexibility of mind to ready myself for potential bussing, hitchhiking, or walking. You all tucked in? Well heeeeere we go.

back of the pickup

my brother was visiting and although he just got knee surgery done, we just had to go for a ride.