Agony of Defeat

Late afternoon on October 14th continued to bring me bad news from Route 66. At about 4:00PM, after getting Wheezy put back together, the service tech at Route 66 HD was getting ready to test it out. As he moved the bike, he heard a horrible clunk with every revolution of the rear wheel (even before the engine was started). Starting Wheezy is fine as long as the clutch is engaged. As soon as an attempt is made at putting the bike in gear and releasing the clutch it begins to emit horrible chattering, clicking, and grinding sounds. It has been deduced that the transmission is shot, most likely due to the drive shaft being bent. So as far as I can tell, here is the chain reaction of events that has ultimately disabled Wheezy:

1. October 5 - Vibrations start, most likely due to the engine motor mounts breaking off.
2. Engine settles against frame, offset 2-4 inches from where it should be
3. Secondary drive belt now cockeyed and pulling on the rear wheel at an angle rather than in a straight line
4. Uneven torque on rear wheel causes rear wheel bearings to fail
5. Uneven torque on the secondary's drive pulley bends the gradually bends drive shaft resulting in the destruction of transmission

So the long and the short of it is that Route 66 Harley Davidson in Tulsa now wants an additional$750-$1000 to replace the transmission. The general manager, Eric did offer to help me finish my ride back to Ohio by "allowing" me to trade in Wheezy on a new bike. He was willing to give me credit towards the purchase price based on what I'd already put in to it. At this point I explained to him my "situation" and what my ride to Oklahoma was about and that I wasn't going to put my family on the hook for a motorcycle payment that I wouldn't even be able to use into next spring.

At this point, with everything that has gone wrong with the motorcycle, I have lost confidence in it's ability to get me safely home. Even if they were able to fix it free of charge, I'd be dubious about riding it back to Ohio. It looked like I was down to my last option, which was rent a truck, load it up, and drive it home. My motorcycle journey was officially over. So I got online, reserved a 10 foot budget rent-a-truck one way from Tulsa to Columbus for Friday morning, and went on about my business.

Friday morning, Stephen took me to the Budget truck rental location and we picked up my truck. It was only a couple of miles from Route 66 HD. We arrived at the shop and they showed me everything they'd done to it and let me roll it myself so that I could feel the clunk that occurs during the revolution of the rear wheel. Here is a picture of the clip they replaced on the clutch (on the right), the middle pieces are what was left of the right rear wheel bearing, and the bolts on the right are the engine mounting bolts that had to be tapped out of the head.

They have a motorcycle lift available, so we rolled it onto the lift and then put it in the truck. Matt was kind enough to load it in the truck and secure it with the ratchet straps which I had brought on the trip with me. Now that I was loaded up, Stephen and I said our goodbyes because he had to get to the studio for work. I then hopped up into the cab, rolled over to the gas station for some coffee and provisions, and prepared myself for the fourteen hour drive home.

The drive home was long, but it seemed to pass quickly. I made two fuel/food stops and three bio breaks. Aside from that, the truck didn't stop moving from 10:30am central time on Friday until 2:45am eastern time Saturday morning. It was a gorgeous day and even though I was looking out from the window of a truck, the scenery was beautiful. The Ozark Mountains were especially picturesque. My only regret was that I didn't get to take back roads through the Ozarks on Wheezy. Interesting things to note about the drive home: my middle finger got sore from pressing the scan button on the radio so often, I was able to listen to the Yankees/Rangers game on WCBS 880 AM out of New York as long as I wasn't in a metropolitan area, there was a bad ass country music program on NPR around midnight which was all 1930's-1960's country artists, and Ohio is the most boring state to drive through.

The drive Columbus was on pure adrenaline. I just wanted to get home and get on with things. I was so happy to finally be in my driveway once I got there. It had been a really long day. Miranda and Indy were still awake and ready to greet me. It was really nice to see them.

On the sixth day....he rested

So, yesterday was day six of the tour. I didn't have anything planned so I just took the day to relax. My aunt and uncle had prior commitments, so I took the opportunity to spend the day lounging about the house and walking around the neighborhood. Even the views from the neighborhood are stunning and I snapped a few photographs for posterity.

Uncle Dick made arrangements for the "Super Shuttle" to pick me up at 3:45 and deliver me to Denver International Airport. I had plenty of time to kill so I took a leisurely stroll around the airport and had some lunch. I eventually found a secluded seat somewhat near my gate so I thought I'd sit down and get caught up with some thing on my laptop. It was not meant to be due to the fact that the Denver airport's Wi-Fi sucks. So I decided to bury my head in my book. I was blissfully reading away when my seclusion was invaded by a family of five (three of which were really loud and not down with their Happy Meals). I couldn't decide whether to be annoyed that they picked the one secluded spot or feel bad for them because their children weren't travelling well. There was probably a little bit of both.

Anyway, my flight finally boarded at at 6:45 and we were out of the gate on time at 7:10. They really cram you into the plane on Frontier Airlines but it wasn't bad for me because A) I had a window seat and B) I was able to continue reading. I"d say the most annoying thing about the flight was the LCD screens on the back of the chairs. I kept turning mine off and the flight attendants kept turning it back on about every 1/2 hour.

We landed at Dayton International Airport at 11:40 and I was reunited with Laela and Miranda a few minutes later. We drove home in about an hour and 20 minutes, almost got T-Boned by a drunk at Bethel Rd (he was literally 2 inches away from plowing into us), and was in bed by 1:30. It is so nice to be home in the middle of the trip to see the girls.

The Reds and Phillies play in Cincinnati on 10/10/10 at 8:07 (wtf kind of start time is that?) and we'll be there to cheer them on. Until then, I'll have a nice visit with my girls.

Invigorating

Monday started out normally. I woke up, made some coffee, got Miranda and Laela out the door for school and then things were a little different.

I started by laminating a few maps and then finished up packing "Wheezy." My good friend Fred Gablick came by on his BMW R1150 and we got things together and got on the road at 11:00am. It was about three hours after I wanted to start but given the things that I needed to get accomplished, it all worked out for the best.

It was cloudy and overcast when we started, but that was a good omen because it allowed me to wear my glasses for the majority of the day rather than having to wear my sunglasses. It was a little chilly, but my gear kept me plenty warm. We hopped on 161 and headed west. We spent the next couple of hours winding through Ohio and eventually made our way into Indiana and made our first fuel stop at 110 miles. Wheezy isn't a big fan of going much over 100 miles before he needs to dip into his reserve. Fuel stops are also a great chance for a cup of coffee and to stretch your legs for a bit. We got moving again and made our way towards Indianapolis. Our route was to take us up over the Indianapolis outer belt but I missed our turn and we ended up going towards downtown. It took me about 15 minutes to realize that we were going the wrong way and by the time I figured it out it was getting to be about 4:00. Fred had to join a conference call for work at 4:00 so after another quick fuel stop, we parted ways.

I headed back the way I came and corrected my mistake. All told it was about a 35 mile detour. It also briefly had me on the Interstate and made me REALLY glad that I chose non-interstates to travel on. It's so much more peaceful on the "Blue Highways." Western Indiana and eastern Illinois are paved with beautiful rolling highways and were often lined with trees. That was especially nice in the late afternoon as the sun started to set. I only had to wear my sunglasses for about an hour today. I made it across the Indiana/Illinois border and decided that it was time to look for a hotel. The problem with taking "the roads less traveled" is that it is longer between areas that are populated enough to need hotels. I had to ride about an hour after dark fell which I didn't want to do, but my late start today kind of necessitated it. I finally rode in to a Best Western in Rantoul, IL and parked for the night. I unloaded all of my gear, rode over to the gas station on the corner and prepped for tomorrow.

The bike held up great and was really comfortable. Special thanks to Fred for all of the gear that he loaned me for the trip and for coming with me as far as Indianapolis. Also thanks to Nick Garcia at Iron Pony for reminding me about some items that I hadn't thought of checking before I left (most importantly my tires).

I titled this entry as "Invigorating" because that's exactly how I feel. My energy level jumped as soon as I set off and hasn't let up yet. I'm actually too wound up to sleep right now; hence, my late blogging. I'm looking forward to putting more miles behind me tomorrow and can only hope that it goes as well as today did.

Link to the photo album on Facebook: http://bit.ly/9ngPAV

Journey

October 3, 2010 - I should be setting off on the journey of a lifetime tomorrow. I'm taking my motorcycle for a solo two week trip around the central United States. It's been a couple of weeks of preparation, but I think that I'm ready. I've had a bunch of people lend me gear and mechanically, I've gone over my bike and I believe everything is in order. I just got finished with an outer belt tour of Columbus an hour ago in the rain and dark with all of my gear packed on to make sure things are ready to go. I'm glad I did it because it showed me some weaknesses in my waterproofing.

My first destination is to visit my uncle in Lafayette, CO. It's about 1200 miles from my house. My plan is to ride 400 miles a day, so I'm hoping to make it on Wednesday but that's not set in stone. That's the beauty of the trip, I can do what I want when I want to.

A friend of mine said to me last week that a motorcycle trip isn't about how much you bring with you, but about how much you leave behind. I have really taken that to heart and it has really become my mantra.

I'm really looking forward to having some time to myself to reflect and just not have a plan.

Here's a couple of links to checklists at the American Motorcycle Association's website that I used to help me prepare:

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/riderresc/TouringList.asp

http://www.amadirectlink.com/roadride/Riderresc/33secrets.asp

See you on the open road. Ride on.