P
p_s
Guest
I still had fun. I was less than an hour away from Sturgis two days after the official end of the 2008 Sturgis rally, so the road was especially thick with riders that could barely negotiate a Starbucks drive-through on some of the best roads in the west. But the only thing to do here was to slow down to a crawl and lug first gear on the straights. In May I'd ridden the exact same roads with no other traffic, but the road was wet and covered with slippery plant matter everywhere but in two tire tracks from cars, and this was far better.
There were 4 places where you make a tight turn, then go through a single-lane tunnel, then make another tight turn and go over a bridge over the tunnel. It was like a video game.
I crossed paths with a well-traveled 2-up BMW in this loop, bridge, and tunnel:
Then I set off for my boring ride back east. I was trying to reach Sioux City. About halfway across Nebraska I finally felt all the top-end horsepower come back--I figured I must have rejoined sea level. About a half hour west of Valentine, I stopped to adjust my no longer functioning velcro kidney belt. I pulled back onto US-20 and really gave the bike some stick. I felt a couple clunks in the pegs. I could then reproduce these clunks, but only if I was going above 80 or uphill. I figured I was still using mountain gas at sea level and I just needed to get some 87 octane in the bike. I put in two-thirds of a tank of 89 octane in Valentine to balance out the 85 octane, and I started the bike, with the starter this time. But the problem didn't go away. In fact, the knocking in the pegs would occur at lower and lower speeds. I pulled over and drained the bowls, which did nothing.
I stopped for lunch at a restaurant that looked closed in tiny Wood Lake, Nebraska. I ate a delicious cold-chicken plate with pasta salad and cole-slaw, listening to three old ladies talk about their knitting and their grandchildren. While I was waiting, I called DanTheMan, who told me my problem had nothing to do with gas, and everything to do with either a loose clutch nut or a loose countershaft nut. (The countershaft nut is the nut that holds on the front sprocket for the chain, for my less mechanically-enabled readers.)
So I started the bike (with the starter) and rode to the next town, Ainsworth, and meandered through the tiny city center until I found the NAPA. I pulled the countershaft cover, and just like Dan said, the nut was loose. I bought a big 32 mm socket, carb cleaner, and red loctite and got to work. But the nut wouldn't tighten. It was stripped.
One of the clerks at NAPA knew someone that might help. He drove me to a shop just outside of town which had dirtbikes and ATVs strewn everywhere. One of the mechanics said he had a GS rusting in his backyard. Saved! We went to his house, and then he said there was just one problem. I thought it was that the bike was covered with weeds and he didn't want to get filthy. Then pointed out that it was a shaft-driven bike. Damn!
He took the countershaft nut off his dirtbike and we tried it on my countershaft and it didn't fit. Then we went back to the shop and he found a nut that had the right threads but didn't have recessed threads like the stripped nut I had in my pocket. This meant that the sprocket would still wiggle a tiny amount on the countershaft. I'd thought earlier that maybe I should pick up some fender washers in case this is how it ended up, but by now NAPA and everywhere else was closed for the night. We put on the nut with a generous amount of red loctite and off I went (and the starter worked again this time). This mechanic pointed out that the threads on the countershaft were a bit rounded off. This was something I'd have to deal with when I got home.
The sun was now coming down, so I rode to Oneill and looked for a room. The first few motels had no vacancies, as they were full of construction workers. The last one had a few rooms, because one team of workers was on a weeklong break.
I didn't sleep well, because I was worried about how I'd make it home the next day with that nasty countershaft and the wiggly sprocket. At least the starter problem had sorted itself out, for now.
There were 4 places where you make a tight turn, then go through a single-lane tunnel, then make another tight turn and go over a bridge over the tunnel. It was like a video game.
I crossed paths with a well-traveled 2-up BMW in this loop, bridge, and tunnel:
Then I set off for my boring ride back east. I was trying to reach Sioux City. About halfway across Nebraska I finally felt all the top-end horsepower come back--I figured I must have rejoined sea level. About a half hour west of Valentine, I stopped to adjust my no longer functioning velcro kidney belt. I pulled back onto US-20 and really gave the bike some stick. I felt a couple clunks in the pegs. I could then reproduce these clunks, but only if I was going above 80 or uphill. I figured I was still using mountain gas at sea level and I just needed to get some 87 octane in the bike. I put in two-thirds of a tank of 89 octane in Valentine to balance out the 85 octane, and I started the bike, with the starter this time. But the problem didn't go away. In fact, the knocking in the pegs would occur at lower and lower speeds. I pulled over and drained the bowls, which did nothing.
I stopped for lunch at a restaurant that looked closed in tiny Wood Lake, Nebraska. I ate a delicious cold-chicken plate with pasta salad and cole-slaw, listening to three old ladies talk about their knitting and their grandchildren. While I was waiting, I called DanTheMan, who told me my problem had nothing to do with gas, and everything to do with either a loose clutch nut or a loose countershaft nut. (The countershaft nut is the nut that holds on the front sprocket for the chain, for my less mechanically-enabled readers.)
So I started the bike (with the starter) and rode to the next town, Ainsworth, and meandered through the tiny city center until I found the NAPA. I pulled the countershaft cover, and just like Dan said, the nut was loose. I bought a big 32 mm socket, carb cleaner, and red loctite and got to work. But the nut wouldn't tighten. It was stripped.
One of the clerks at NAPA knew someone that might help. He drove me to a shop just outside of town which had dirtbikes and ATVs strewn everywhere. One of the mechanics said he had a GS rusting in his backyard. Saved! We went to his house, and then he said there was just one problem. I thought it was that the bike was covered with weeds and he didn't want to get filthy. Then pointed out that it was a shaft-driven bike. Damn!
He took the countershaft nut off his dirtbike and we tried it on my countershaft and it didn't fit. Then we went back to the shop and he found a nut that had the right threads but didn't have recessed threads like the stripped nut I had in my pocket. This meant that the sprocket would still wiggle a tiny amount on the countershaft. I'd thought earlier that maybe I should pick up some fender washers in case this is how it ended up, but by now NAPA and everywhere else was closed for the night. We put on the nut with a generous amount of red loctite and off I went (and the starter worked again this time). This mechanic pointed out that the threads on the countershaft were a bit rounded off. This was something I'd have to deal with when I got home.
The sun was now coming down, so I rode to Oneill and looked for a room. The first few motels had no vacancies, as they were full of construction workers. The last one had a few rooms, because one team of workers was on a weeklong break.
I didn't sleep well, because I was worried about how I'd make it home the next day with that nasty countershaft and the wiggly sprocket. At least the starter problem had sorted itself out, for now.
:lol::lol:
