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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

June 24th

I woke up quite late today since i knew i wouldn't be getting a call in the early am for my rad. I expected the call after 2pm, to get the bke fixed on the 25th, etc. I rolled out of bed at about 11:45. hah.

a few minutes after being up my cell phone beeped. it didn't ring, but i had a beep saying i had voicemail. odd. Turns out the rad is in!! woot. I took a quick shower and out the door to drop the bike off.

I remember overhearing Mike at holeshot trying to get a rush on the rad
since i was trying to get back home across country. saying that seemed to have helped. I told danny at the fairbanks shop northern power sports that i was on a cross country tour, and that seemed to speed things up. I guess shops do understand the difference between someone who is wants something done on a bike which is to ride back and forth to the coffee shop, and someone on a trek.

BTW, holeshot seems to be a really good shop. I'm not saying any others around are bad since i didn't try any of them.
My reasoning for picking holeshot.
They do japanese bikes.
two different people on the roadside said it was the shop to go to.
They just got a brand new huge building.
they are next to a Harley shop and another powersports shop.
it was a short walk away from a good cheap hotel that had internet access
there's a Tim Hortons between the shop and hotel.

done and done.

I walked back to the hotel, but was starving at that time. I didn't want denny's so i thought i'd go get something at Tim Hortons. Changed my mind midstep. I saw a sign for Taco Del Mar and stopped in for a bite. even thought i had mexican yesterday, i wanted more. I'd never been to this chain before so i wanted to check it out anyhow. It's a fast food place that reminds me of subway. got 3 beef tacos with chips and gaucamole. good lunch. got a coffee on my way back to the hotel and surfed for a bit.
no real other update. now i have to hurry up and wait for my bike to be fixed. The oil change should do it some good.

on the walk back from the shop i noticed a lot of snails on the sidewalk. i mean a lot. one or two every few yards. i took a pic of a big one.

then a few yards later...
very odd. not something i'd seen back in ottawa. heh.


I was having a coffee a few days ago and was having a coffee later in the night and i was talking to a few people. one was a cute chick, and the other a biker(they didn't know each other). he was a custom painter and had a really radical chopper. no fenders, hard tail, great ape hangers, no speedo, etc. wicked ride.
he is orignally from the toronto area, she from here. the conversation turned to bugs. as he was from toronto originally, he knows bugs.

There aren't any bugs in Langley. none. this was at about 11pm at night and they told me to look at the lights. i didn't see one bug swarming them. no mosquitoes. nothing. ODD. thinking back, i don't think i even got hit ONCE in the helmet or on my windshield by a bug the whole time i've been riding around langley. really odd. anyhow, back to our regularly scheduled broadcast.

I got a call at 4:30 saying that the bike was ready!! yay!
That means i can get back on the road early in the morning tormorrow.

I walked back to the shop and picked up my bike. I spoke to the mechanic and he said that a small rock caused the problem... but not in front of the rad, but BEHIND it. what the hell.
Looks like a small rock was jammed between the radiator and the fan. He suspects that it got jammed there during the crash, and over time it bore a hole to the rad.

he showed me the rad. he thinks it came from the right (the side i crashed) and over time the fan pushed it out of the way of the hole and it started leaking. hah.

btw. rads for the M50 are expensive as hell. don't break one.

he gave me the rock as a souvenir. i'm keeping it.

I paid up and Mike from the shop pulled the bike around and gave me the key. this i won't forget. he said "the road warrior is ready" hah. awesome. i'm not a road warrior. the bike is!

i'm just along for the ride on this journey. it's not my journey. it's the bike's journey. Beast. it's all about Beast.

Anyhow, i pulled into a Tim's for a coffee and took a picture with my cell of the rock beside a medium coffee. not a very large rock, but large enough to give me a lot of problems. that's almost a $2000 rock right there.


The bike is fixed and ready to roll.
i thought about checking out of the room early, but what the hell, it's better to just get a good nights rest, have a good meal and get to bed early. hopefully i can leave REAL early in the morning and make up some very needed miles.

i have 7 riding days to get back home. I'm cuting it close. I don't want to blast across canada and the states and kill myself, so i'll be going at a fair pace without pushing myself or the bike too hard. sure i can do 1000 miles in a day, but i'd be a wreck the next day or two.

i'll be heading southwest and hitting a few points along the way that i'd like to see and hopefully i can blast through much of it and make it on time.


some of the places i'd like to visit on my way home:
Mount St Helens
Bonneville Salt Flats
Mount Rushmore

but i'll see how each day goes. no plan, no real destination except home.
just point the bike 'that way' and go.

1 comment:

  1. Your bike is getting some cool names along the way and well deserved.

    - Beast
    - Mothership
    - Road Warrior

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