Celebrating quietly here, just like we do every year. The traditional home-made pizza, a movie or possibly three, one of which is always Masterpiece Theatre's My Family And Other Animals rounds out the evening as we make the transition from one year to another. A warm and very lovely Corfu always looks so inviting from Minnesota at the end of December, deep snow or no.
More of the family has been home and now as the holidays wind down, it's back out to the garage for more mechanic work. It's just all pretty good.
All the very best in the New Year to my family and friends!
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
Analysis Is In
One more (final) look at the failed bearing in my Honda Helix transmission and then from now on, we'll just ride the darn thing.
Of course I shared my aborted ride story with as many of my friends as possible, hoping that someone might shed more light on what happened or why. Jenny took a special interest since she's spent many years learning about and understanding metallurgy though she was quick to admit that she's no real specific experience with the study of bearings. What she did know, explored and came to learn will be more than sufficient for my needs.
I sent my broken down pieces along with her a few weeks ago; she very curious to learn more about what might show up upon taking a closer look at the evidence. Today the package arrived and with it, an explanation of what she found.
"There's good news and bad news" she shared. "The good news is that there wasn't a lack of lubrication, something you already knew."
That part I was very confident of.
"Bad news is that it looks like overloading may have been the main culprit......though maybe..."
This was something I was more than willing to accept since my yellow scooter has seen a fair number of miles with a pillion passenger or loaded with camping gear and even when it wasn't carrying an additional passenger, it hasn't been babied. While it's possible that the hard jolt that daughter Lauren and I felt that ill-fated day had something to do with this major failure, the widespread and relatively deep spalling would lead me to believe that something was going wrong long before that day back in July.
Jenny first sectioned the inner race and then potted the 2 samples, facing the top surface with a fine grinding process to make the exposed metal surface uniform and very consistently flat.
A closeup of the spalling......any resulting chunks flying off of this surface would need far more than good lubrication to prevent damage.
Where the thermoset plastic potting meets the bearing material in the curved part of the inner bearing race. Fragments flaking and ready to flake off.
Higher magnification.....
Jenny attempted to find out more about the actual material composition of the bearing material but found it difficult to learn very much since the various bearing manufacturers appear to keep that information proprietary.
Something that really surprised her and me as well with my very limited experience of looking at samples much like these is that the granular material of the steel itself has more voids and what appear to be foreign materials than what we've seen before. A very uniform granular structure is what we'd have expected. You can see clearly see the 'other' specs above and in the higher mag images below.
So, my scooter's problem may have resulted from both a batch of bearing steel that was less than ideal as well as too many miles with too big of load. I'm betting that the next 25K miles with more or less equivalent use will not have the same result on the new round part.
Many thanks to Jenny for pursuing this, her time and effort it in explaining this to me so that I could understand what she discovered.
Of course I shared my aborted ride story with as many of my friends as possible, hoping that someone might shed more light on what happened or why. Jenny took a special interest since she's spent many years learning about and understanding metallurgy though she was quick to admit that she's no real specific experience with the study of bearings. What she did know, explored and came to learn will be more than sufficient for my needs.
I sent my broken down pieces along with her a few weeks ago; she very curious to learn more about what might show up upon taking a closer look at the evidence. Today the package arrived and with it, an explanation of what she found.
"There's good news and bad news" she shared. "The good news is that there wasn't a lack of lubrication, something you already knew."
That part I was very confident of.
"Bad news is that it looks like overloading may have been the main culprit......though maybe..."
This was something I was more than willing to accept since my yellow scooter has seen a fair number of miles with a pillion passenger or loaded with camping gear and even when it wasn't carrying an additional passenger, it hasn't been babied. While it's possible that the hard jolt that daughter Lauren and I felt that ill-fated day had something to do with this major failure, the widespread and relatively deep spalling would lead me to believe that something was going wrong long before that day back in July.
Jenny first sectioned the inner race and then potted the 2 samples, facing the top surface with a fine grinding process to make the exposed metal surface uniform and very consistently flat.
A closeup of the spalling......any resulting chunks flying off of this surface would need far more than good lubrication to prevent damage.
Where the thermoset plastic potting meets the bearing material in the curved part of the inner bearing race. Fragments flaking and ready to flake off.
Higher magnification.....
Jenny attempted to find out more about the actual material composition of the bearing material but found it difficult to learn very much since the various bearing manufacturers appear to keep that information proprietary.
Something that really surprised her and me as well with my very limited experience of looking at samples much like these is that the granular material of the steel itself has more voids and what appear to be foreign materials than what we've seen before. A very uniform granular structure is what we'd have expected. You can see clearly see the 'other' specs above and in the higher mag images below.
So, my scooter's problem may have resulted from both a batch of bearing steel that was less than ideal as well as too many miles with too big of load. I'm betting that the next 25K miles with more or less equivalent use will not have the same result on the new round part.
Many thanks to Jenny for pursuing this, her time and effort it in explaining this to me so that I could understand what she discovered.
Sunday, December 21, 2014
It'll Go
To be more accurate and a great deal more specific, it will actually stay in my stable, certainly for the time being and won't be shuffled off to yet again another home anytime soon. It already appears to have managed a somewhat difficult life and as you know, I have a big heart for little lost lambs that find themselves homeless.
Yesterday I got it started, so I know it will run. It has passed its first important threshold and in so doing, thrown the More Time and More Money switch. Mark can finally cash his check (so now we all win).
Whether or not the 1978 Yamaha XS650E Special will actually "Go" remains optimistically to be seen. My definition of "Go" means that we'll spend the day together exploring a couple of hundred miles on some back roads over the course of a lovely Wisconsin day and as of today's solstice, that will be our next goal.
What it looked like in mid-April when it followed me home......
What it looks like today.....
So, on that approaching lovely Wisconsin day when we first do our exploring, the old twin most likely won't Look all that much different ...... but it will Be different. There will be a follow-up report with gracious "thank you's" to both Mike and Mark for their gifts, advice and assistance.
Yesterday I got it started, so I know it will run. It has passed its first important threshold and in so doing, thrown the More Time and More Money switch. Mark can finally cash his check (so now we all win).
Whether or not the 1978 Yamaha XS650E Special will actually "Go" remains optimistically to be seen. My definition of "Go" means that we'll spend the day together exploring a couple of hundred miles on some back roads over the course of a lovely Wisconsin day and as of today's solstice, that will be our next goal.
What it looked like in mid-April when it followed me home......
What it looks like today.....
So, on that approaching lovely Wisconsin day when we first do our exploring, the old twin most likely won't Look all that much different ...... but it will Be different. There will be a follow-up report with gracious "thank you's" to both Mike and Mark for their gifts, advice and assistance.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Christmas Tree Hunt
Today was the day.
In years past we've often gone the day after Thanksgiving and decorated our tree during that same weekend. Since our college students have typically not arrived home until a couple of weeks before December 25th, these last few holiday seasons have found us tree hunting in December rather than November.
The Marine and The Fat Man were given the household duty to hunt down and bring home a proper Christmas Tree and we took our mission seriously. Conditions (sometimes have been) horrendous, we managed to work through (a lack of) freezing temperatures, temperate (non-existent) winds and gloves (for protection from sap) were necessary. We've been going to the same Cut-Your-Own place for a number of years now and last year admired this one but back then it was just wasn't quite adequate for our use so the plan was to nab it this year.
Note the ear flaps and my excitement......"That's it right there!"
The Marine was out doing recon for next year.....
We bagged this one........another successful hunt!
We weren't the only ones out today bringing things home. Mike and Bob had been out doing their own hunting; they for scooters and managed to nail this one. We agreed to meet them to show off and share stories of some that didn't get away over lunch.
It's a vintage '53......just look at that rack!
The bike was not a runner as shown, constrained in the truck although the PO stated that it had been. That was then (noon), this is now (as of 6:12 PM).
This direct quote from Mike's email this evening......"bad spark plug.....no fire.....switch the other way......no fire......different plug......SPARK!", followed a few sentences later by "Saturday morning after the usual Diamond's story telling.....we hope to take a ride :)".
Very few things are as good as bringing the harvests home. Today, two parties, both very proud and greatly satisfied with the days' spoils.
In years past we've often gone the day after Thanksgiving and decorated our tree during that same weekend. Since our college students have typically not arrived home until a couple of weeks before December 25th, these last few holiday seasons have found us tree hunting in December rather than November.
The Marine and The Fat Man were given the household duty to hunt down and bring home a proper Christmas Tree and we took our mission seriously. Conditions (sometimes have been) horrendous, we managed to work through (a lack of) freezing temperatures, temperate (non-existent) winds and gloves (for protection from sap) were necessary. We've been going to the same Cut-Your-Own place for a number of years now and last year admired this one but back then it was just wasn't quite adequate for our use so the plan was to nab it this year.
Note the ear flaps and my excitement......"That's it right there!"
The Marine was out doing recon for next year.....
We bagged this one........another successful hunt!
We weren't the only ones out today bringing things home. Mike and Bob had been out doing their own hunting; they for scooters and managed to nail this one. We agreed to meet them to show off and share stories of some that didn't get away over lunch.
It's a vintage '53......just look at that rack!
The bike was not a runner as shown, constrained in the truck although the PO stated that it had been. That was then (noon), this is now (as of 6:12 PM).
This direct quote from Mike's email this evening......"bad spark plug.....no fire.....switch the other way......no fire......different plug......SPARK!", followed a few sentences later by "Saturday morning after the usual Diamond's story telling.....we hope to take a ride :)".
Very few things are as good as bringing the harvests home. Today, two parties, both very proud and greatly satisfied with the days' spoils.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Summer of '79 - Part 3
I'll mention it one last time, without the ability to review the Journal my memories of proceeding around this SE Quebec peninsula are a bit thin though there are a few things I remember very clearly. This photo of my GS850 Suzuki on the shoulder along Hwy 132 brings back not only images but fragrances as well. It wasn't the smell of flowers that I remember most, a fact reinforced when I view this image. What comes to mind were the many roadside stands/tables that had baked goods (Fresh Bread) and early season produce for sale. Many such stands were scattered all along that south shore of the St. Lawrence.
My poor man's diet had been consisting of peanut butter, soup, tuna, oatmeal, tea, some fruit off and on with Enriched Hamburger Buns (more tolerant of saddlebag packing) often the common denominator tying everything together. For whatever reason, there was one particular small stand where I actually pulled over and stopped, a young woman the in-charge proprietor. The very first thing I noticed, honest, were the light dish towels that covered those loaves (Fresh Bread) protecting that unbelievable freshness. The loaves were not only warm, they SMELLED warm and it was intoxicating though the breads weren't the only intoxicating thing at that stand.
Her English was fine and I could have spent a lot more time there shopping than I did. 2 loaves (Fresh Bread), some jam and I remember her laughing at my struggling to find carrying space for my goods. If I'd have had room for more, I'd have bought more.
One of my camping stops must have been near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts and based on these two photos, I'm guessing that I took Hwy 299 away from the coast in to Parc national de la Gaspesie for an afternoon/evening ride. Seems that I now remember considering riding all of the way across out to the coast but it was too far and I was feeling too lazy. I climbed up into the park and then turned back north.
Possibly Hwy 197 from my stop that night at Riviere-au-Renard?? If anyone knows, please correct me!
Along the way.....
Something I recall very well (a story I've told many times without one single detail embellished) was the sign language 'event' I used to communicate with a camp-mate Quebecois couple. There appeared to be, quite by accident though logically, various campers making our way slowly around the Gaspe peninsula. The same vehicles for the most part with Quebec license plates that seemed to show up in camp each evening, all of us making the same stops on our clockwise migration around the point. No matter our various stops, traveling speeds, etc. the same familiar faces and vehicles were showing up each evening in the campsites. I deduced and later had it for the most part confirmed that these folks from the more central part of the Province were using a week to casually work their way up and around the south shore of Fleuve Saint Laurent.
In whatever camp it was that I stayed at that evening near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, the following morning had me casually but with purpose packing up to make a fresh morning start for my next stop, Forillon National Park out on the eastern tip of the Gaspe. The evening before I had said a friendly "hello" to my neighbors, probably a 30-something couple from Quebec City. My French was non-existent and his English was quite broken but easy enough to understand for our brief conversation. This was the 2nd evening that we just happened to be in adjacent campsites and at least the 3rd evening in the same campground. In other words, we were at least a little familiar with each other even if we weren't holding conversations deep into the night.
That morning, I made my tea, 'cooked' my oatmeal, enjoyed my raisins or possibly even a luxurious banana. Experience had me making very few false, wasted moves, not so much because there was a reason to hurry but rather simply efficiency by repetition. Breakfast took only minutes, cleanup a fraction of that. Sleeping bag stuffed into a sack and then stuffed again into the Suzuki's saddlebag. Tent down, packed, placed in the once-bright orange duffel bag. Before donning my Belstaff jacket and helmet, I took an easy couple of minutes to sit on the picnic table to enjoy one of my granola bar treats before getting back out on the road.
I looked next door and saw that my neighbor was looking over at me, an exaggerated frown on his face, almost pantomime-like. With outstretched hands and two index fingers pointing directly at me, he pointed at where my tent had been, put his hands together and tipped his head into them (Doug sleeping??..). His head went up, he pointed at my picnic table, used more sign language to hint at my drinking tea, then eating my oatmeal. He turned sideways to me, made motions with his hands almost as if making a snowman's head (packing my sleeping bag??) and then turned facing the other way, sideways to me and made a bigger snowman's trunk (folding the tent??). Both of these snowman creatings took seconds and didn't convey anything frantic, rather efficient use of effort.
My smile was growing but he wasn't done yet. At that point he donned an imaginary helmet and then an imaginary jacket. Anyone, anywhere would have recognized his hand motion of twisting that right hand grip, his head even moving back to simulate real live motion as (he) I accelerated away.
An index finger went to where his make believe watch would have been and even from 50 yards away, I counted about 22 small minutes on his wrist watch.
Suddenly he took a big step back, his arms flew out to the extent of his wingspan and he faced their campsite. He made a huge sweep of his arms, lock to lock and looked over at me to make sure I was getting the full effect. Honestly, their campsite had stuff everywhere, quite possibly the number of nights in their history of camping could have been counted almost twice on one hand, certainly on two based on what I'd witnessed. He 'signed' his partner's blow drying her hair; we naturally both looked over at whatever it was that she was doing (I'd already had practice at that). Pointing at their campstove, he went on to cook what may very well have been a 7 course breakfast....in the air.
By this time I was laughing hard enough to struggle looking through my tears so as not to miss any details of the show and that's when the climax came. Pointing once again at the missing watch on his wrist, he made 4 or 5 huge sweeps of the hands. Both hands flew up above his head, the arms came down and his head was shaking slowly back and forth, his chin firmly on his chest.
He looked over at me with a big smile and then a shrug of his shoulders, the "whadda ya gonna do" international symbol of love. I stood up, clapped and gave him a salute. He turned back to his tasks and then after I made my way around the loop on my way out, I looked over, he waved with a big smile.
With a few stops mixed in, my next campsite would be at Forillon National Park.
One of those orange tents, in the tenting area is mine far, far below......this was a hike worth making.
In the next campsite to mine, 4 members of the Quebec City Police Force arrived late that afternoon. Laurier in the white T-shirt was the most senior and was this small group's unofficial leader. His English was the very best, the result of his years in the Merchant Marine and world travel. Pierre is helping get the bungees in place, his English the poorest of the group......"more beer, better English" he said with a big smile and that part I completely understood. I just don't remember the 3rd member of the group but I remember Ivan very well. He was young, much younger than I and his English was actually quite good, watching Bonanza was given credit for that, something I heard more than once while traveling in Quebec. I listened and learned a great deal about life in a bilingual police department from those guys as we covered numerous topics together.
The next evening the guys kindly invited me to join them for dinner. Ivan's parents were on Holiday, staying in the town of Gaspe and it was their extremely kind offer to host dinner for Ivan and his friends. Feeling very much like a free-loader, I used every excuse I could think of, finally only agreeing to join them if they'd let me pay my way. I knew this meal was going to cost more than I'd normally spend on a week or more of food. Of course that didn't happen; my offer of paying for the wine, the tip, the ____ was absolutely refused. Laurier had told me and had great fun doing so, "you Americans eat to live. We French, live to eat." I hadn't previously nor have I since then spent 3 hours, eating and drinking my way through an 8 course meal. Ivan's parents were incredible and gracious beyond belief, they especially good to the long haired, bearded American.
We riders had a ~40km ride back to camp at Forillon after our extensive dinner, which I'm confidently guessing must have been after midnight. I don't remember where I was in the lineup on the ride back but I do know Ivan was behind me. The road hugged the coastline and there were numerous corners, promoting an overly aggressive (do not do this) ride back to camp. Ivan was very excited when we shut the machines down back in our campsites. He scurried over and went around behind my Suzuki and pointed down at the rear lights on my saddlebags. Making an arched triangle with his index fingers and thumbs, he tipped right and left, then right and left again, putting his whole body into it. "Beautiful, just beautiful" he was saying, referring to our rather sporting ride in the dark and his following the triad of lights that my 850 made as we hugged those hard rights and lefts along the coast. Thinking back, the lean of my 3 lights in back no doubt gave him some warning of what was coming up next.
The above photo was taken when we were all ready to break camp the next morning. Ivan and the other guy's photo was taken but it was so overexposed (end of the roll) as to make it worthless. The guys were headed back to work in the city and I would be continuing my way around the coast but not for another day or so. Ivan and I kept up correspondence for a few years, into the early 80's. His last letter to me mentioned a special girl, a fiance......and after that the letters stopped. :)
Out at the point....
A famous place that was familiar even before my Maritime trip planning had begun, here at higher tide. Perce.....le Rocher.
Here at lower tide......
Another view, this from Le Roche looking back......
Time on the docks, watching nets being mended.
End of a summer day in Perce.......
Soon I'd be leaving Quebec though not for the last time. New Brunswick was next and before long, what almost seemed like a summer filled with ferry rides.
My poor man's diet had been consisting of peanut butter, soup, tuna, oatmeal, tea, some fruit off and on with Enriched Hamburger Buns (more tolerant of saddlebag packing) often the common denominator tying everything together. For whatever reason, there was one particular small stand where I actually pulled over and stopped, a young woman the in-charge proprietor. The very first thing I noticed, honest, were the light dish towels that covered those loaves (Fresh Bread) protecting that unbelievable freshness. The loaves were not only warm, they SMELLED warm and it was intoxicating though the breads weren't the only intoxicating thing at that stand.
Her English was fine and I could have spent a lot more time there shopping than I did. 2 loaves (Fresh Bread), some jam and I remember her laughing at my struggling to find carrying space for my goods. If I'd have had room for more, I'd have bought more.
One of my camping stops must have been near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts and based on these two photos, I'm guessing that I took Hwy 299 away from the coast in to Parc national de la Gaspesie for an afternoon/evening ride. Seems that I now remember considering riding all of the way across out to the coast but it was too far and I was feeling too lazy. I climbed up into the park and then turned back north.
Possibly Hwy 197 from my stop that night at Riviere-au-Renard?? If anyone knows, please correct me!
Along the way.....
Something I recall very well (a story I've told many times without one single detail embellished) was the sign language 'event' I used to communicate with a camp-mate Quebecois couple. There appeared to be, quite by accident though logically, various campers making our way slowly around the Gaspe peninsula. The same vehicles for the most part with Quebec license plates that seemed to show up in camp each evening, all of us making the same stops on our clockwise migration around the point. No matter our various stops, traveling speeds, etc. the same familiar faces and vehicles were showing up each evening in the campsites. I deduced and later had it for the most part confirmed that these folks from the more central part of the Province were using a week to casually work their way up and around the south shore of Fleuve Saint Laurent.
In whatever camp it was that I stayed at that evening near Sainte-Anne-des-Monts, the following morning had me casually but with purpose packing up to make a fresh morning start for my next stop, Forillon National Park out on the eastern tip of the Gaspe. The evening before I had said a friendly "hello" to my neighbors, probably a 30-something couple from Quebec City. My French was non-existent and his English was quite broken but easy enough to understand for our brief conversation. This was the 2nd evening that we just happened to be in adjacent campsites and at least the 3rd evening in the same campground. In other words, we were at least a little familiar with each other even if we weren't holding conversations deep into the night.
That morning, I made my tea, 'cooked' my oatmeal, enjoyed my raisins or possibly even a luxurious banana. Experience had me making very few false, wasted moves, not so much because there was a reason to hurry but rather simply efficiency by repetition. Breakfast took only minutes, cleanup a fraction of that. Sleeping bag stuffed into a sack and then stuffed again into the Suzuki's saddlebag. Tent down, packed, placed in the once-bright orange duffel bag. Before donning my Belstaff jacket and helmet, I took an easy couple of minutes to sit on the picnic table to enjoy one of my granola bar treats before getting back out on the road.
I looked next door and saw that my neighbor was looking over at me, an exaggerated frown on his face, almost pantomime-like. With outstretched hands and two index fingers pointing directly at me, he pointed at where my tent had been, put his hands together and tipped his head into them (Doug sleeping??..). His head went up, he pointed at my picnic table, used more sign language to hint at my drinking tea, then eating my oatmeal. He turned sideways to me, made motions with his hands almost as if making a snowman's head (packing my sleeping bag??) and then turned facing the other way, sideways to me and made a bigger snowman's trunk (folding the tent??). Both of these snowman creatings took seconds and didn't convey anything frantic, rather efficient use of effort.
My smile was growing but he wasn't done yet. At that point he donned an imaginary helmet and then an imaginary jacket. Anyone, anywhere would have recognized his hand motion of twisting that right hand grip, his head even moving back to simulate real live motion as (he) I accelerated away.
An index finger went to where his make believe watch would have been and even from 50 yards away, I counted about 22 small minutes on his wrist watch.
Suddenly he took a big step back, his arms flew out to the extent of his wingspan and he faced their campsite. He made a huge sweep of his arms, lock to lock and looked over at me to make sure I was getting the full effect. Honestly, their campsite had stuff everywhere, quite possibly the number of nights in their history of camping could have been counted almost twice on one hand, certainly on two based on what I'd witnessed. He 'signed' his partner's blow drying her hair; we naturally both looked over at whatever it was that she was doing (I'd already had practice at that). Pointing at their campstove, he went on to cook what may very well have been a 7 course breakfast....in the air.
By this time I was laughing hard enough to struggle looking through my tears so as not to miss any details of the show and that's when the climax came. Pointing once again at the missing watch on his wrist, he made 4 or 5 huge sweeps of the hands. Both hands flew up above his head, the arms came down and his head was shaking slowly back and forth, his chin firmly on his chest.
He looked over at me with a big smile and then a shrug of his shoulders, the "whadda ya gonna do" international symbol of love. I stood up, clapped and gave him a salute. He turned back to his tasks and then after I made my way around the loop on my way out, I looked over, he waved with a big smile.
With a few stops mixed in, my next campsite would be at Forillon National Park.
One of those orange tents, in the tenting area is mine far, far below......this was a hike worth making.
In the next campsite to mine, 4 members of the Quebec City Police Force arrived late that afternoon. Laurier in the white T-shirt was the most senior and was this small group's unofficial leader. His English was the very best, the result of his years in the Merchant Marine and world travel. Pierre is helping get the bungees in place, his English the poorest of the group......"more beer, better English" he said with a big smile and that part I completely understood. I just don't remember the 3rd member of the group but I remember Ivan very well. He was young, much younger than I and his English was actually quite good, watching Bonanza was given credit for that, something I heard more than once while traveling in Quebec. I listened and learned a great deal about life in a bilingual police department from those guys as we covered numerous topics together.
The next evening the guys kindly invited me to join them for dinner. Ivan's parents were on Holiday, staying in the town of Gaspe and it was their extremely kind offer to host dinner for Ivan and his friends. Feeling very much like a free-loader, I used every excuse I could think of, finally only agreeing to join them if they'd let me pay my way. I knew this meal was going to cost more than I'd normally spend on a week or more of food. Of course that didn't happen; my offer of paying for the wine, the tip, the ____ was absolutely refused. Laurier had told me and had great fun doing so, "you Americans eat to live. We French, live to eat." I hadn't previously nor have I since then spent 3 hours, eating and drinking my way through an 8 course meal. Ivan's parents were incredible and gracious beyond belief, they especially good to the long haired, bearded American.
We riders had a ~40km ride back to camp at Forillon after our extensive dinner, which I'm confidently guessing must have been after midnight. I don't remember where I was in the lineup on the ride back but I do know Ivan was behind me. The road hugged the coastline and there were numerous corners, promoting an overly aggressive (do not do this) ride back to camp. Ivan was very excited when we shut the machines down back in our campsites. He scurried over and went around behind my Suzuki and pointed down at the rear lights on my saddlebags. Making an arched triangle with his index fingers and thumbs, he tipped right and left, then right and left again, putting his whole body into it. "Beautiful, just beautiful" he was saying, referring to our rather sporting ride in the dark and his following the triad of lights that my 850 made as we hugged those hard rights and lefts along the coast. Thinking back, the lean of my 3 lights in back no doubt gave him some warning of what was coming up next.
The above photo was taken when we were all ready to break camp the next morning. Ivan and the other guy's photo was taken but it was so overexposed (end of the roll) as to make it worthless. The guys were headed back to work in the city and I would be continuing my way around the coast but not for another day or so. Ivan and I kept up correspondence for a few years, into the early 80's. His last letter to me mentioned a special girl, a fiance......and after that the letters stopped. :)
Out at the point....
A famous place that was familiar even before my Maritime trip planning had begun, here at higher tide. Perce.....le Rocher.
Here at lower tide......
Another view, this from Le Roche looking back......
Time on the docks, watching nets being mended.
End of a summer day in Perce.......
Soon I'd be leaving Quebec though not for the last time. New Brunswick was next and before long, what almost seemed like a summer filled with ferry rides.
Friday, November 28, 2014
Favorite Things - Update
Favorite things, or with only a slight bit of twist on this Thanksgiving Day, things to be thankful for.....
Updated 11/29
These buttery delights may not top my list but they're right up there; Peg and the kids have been working on these (and many like them) all week and I'm truly the benefactor. Today is our Thanksgiving family time.....these will never see tomorrow.
Last summer while we were sitting around at the Hiawatha BMW Rally, my riding and dear friend David made a declaration, stating that he'd started a list of his favorite things. In past conversations (there have been many) David has made many interesting and thought provoking observations, a couple of which I highlighted at the Iowa Guzzi Rally last year. His very own list had been started and it was obvious to me that David wanted to share them.
It was the follow up that brought me pause.
"So what would be on your list?" he asked.
Feeling sudden (uncomfortable) pressure to prioritize, I had to stop myself, focusing on David's expression to see if he was teasing or genuinely expecting a response. Concerned that I would speak without thinking, I commented that I'd want to think about the difference between Likes and Favorites and that I'd send him mine. The distinction seemed important to me at the time and actually still does as I've thought about it off and on ever since our discussion back there in early June. A few that quickly came to David while sitting there were shared and only a few days later, an email arrived that contained 30-some items that brought great pleasure, joy, contentment.....or some combination of all.
There are a couple items on his list that are quite personal, not to be shared publicly and bring me a boy's smile. Most of his listed items would or could be on most anyone's list, at least in one order or another.
I as of yet haven't formally written mine down since I'm still establishing some highlights; a work in progress I suppose meaning the work won't stop. I have been rearranging some of them over time, lifting some higher which only manages to force others down. Absolutely, definitely not in any meaningful order of prominence, the list will hopefully never be complete but it has been started......
Turkeys
Yesterday they were on our plates, today they are doing some feasting of their own (Thankful for their lush surroundings??).
Updated 11/29
These buttery delights may not top my list but they're right up there; Peg and the kids have been working on these (and many like them) all week and I'm truly the benefactor. Today is our Thanksgiving family time.....these will never see tomorrow.
Last summer while we were sitting around at the Hiawatha BMW Rally, my riding and dear friend David made a declaration, stating that he'd started a list of his favorite things. In past conversations (there have been many) David has made many interesting and thought provoking observations, a couple of which I highlighted at the Iowa Guzzi Rally last year. His very own list had been started and it was obvious to me that David wanted to share them.
It was the follow up that brought me pause.
"So what would be on your list?" he asked.
Feeling sudden (uncomfortable) pressure to prioritize, I had to stop myself, focusing on David's expression to see if he was teasing or genuinely expecting a response. Concerned that I would speak without thinking, I commented that I'd want to think about the difference between Likes and Favorites and that I'd send him mine. The distinction seemed important to me at the time and actually still does as I've thought about it off and on ever since our discussion back there in early June. A few that quickly came to David while sitting there were shared and only a few days later, an email arrived that contained 30-some items that brought great pleasure, joy, contentment.....or some combination of all.
There are a couple items on his list that are quite personal, not to be shared publicly and bring me a boy's smile. Most of his listed items would or could be on most anyone's list, at least in one order or another.
I as of yet haven't formally written mine down since I'm still establishing some highlights; a work in progress I suppose meaning the work won't stop. I have been rearranging some of them over time, lifting some higher which only manages to force others down. Absolutely, definitely not in any meaningful order of prominence, the list will hopefully never be complete but it has been started......
- the sight AND aroma of freshly baked bread
- the first and last hour of a long motorcycle ride (David's)
- early morning walks on the hill with our dogs
- looking up to the clouds, no matter when or where.....the flood of endorphines happens everytime
- aromas; chocolate, newly mowed hay, fresh coffee, an old hardware store, passing farms while on a ride and detecting their main enterprises, your first love....
Turkeys
Yesterday they were on our plates, today they are doing some feasting of their own (Thankful for their lush surroundings??).
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Running Again
We woke to 52F degrees this morning and it has stayed that mild all day long. The deer hunters were here early and it's a good thing. By mid-day, they never would have been able to drive in the harvested bean fields to gather their harvest. Our snow is gone except for the piles I created with the Plow Truck. Everywhere else we have either deep mud or ice and in many places, both conditions seem to exist.
That meant it made my test ride today rather challenging. I still have to install the side covers and front radiator cover on the other side. Today's most difficult task was purging the air from the coolant system and that really wasn't a very big problem.
Saturday morning I finished replacing the clutch cover, taking care with the gasket this time to make sure it stayed in place. New oil, new anti-freeze were added and all related was buttoned up. The lift was lowered so that the carb was at eye level while on my shop stool and that was wiggled out. Getting access to the carb was almost more work than removing the lower engine covers.
After stripping the carb parts down, it was into the ultrasonic cleaner for an extensive, hot water bath. New pilot and main jet (thanks HandKPhil!) were installed this morning after more bathing again today. Carb put back together and installed on the bike and once the hunters were done outside, the Baby KLR was rolled outside for the big start.
Ben has really been the only other person that has witnessed the impossibly tough starting of this bike when cold. I was confident enough today to have him around to verify the improved starting but he was far too busy doing something else so you'll have to take my word for it.
Fired on the 4th kick after having a dry float bowl and ran on the 5th kick...... and KEPT running. Only Ben and I know how nicely different that is; for more than one of our rides he got sweaty watching me work at keeping the KLR alive after rolling it out of the garage. The biggest news is that it didn't take 20 false starts (40 kicks) to finally keep it running. The choke/enrichener worked like they are supposed to....a minute of fast idle, back the lever off a bit to slow the idle down and a minute or so later, lever back to "Run" position.
With the radiator cap off, it took a bit for the air bubbles to stop and after adding small amounts of sweet green the level finally settled down. I had the chance for the first time to see that the electric fan does indeed kick in, I'm going to assume that it did so at the proper time. Finally the radiator cap was replaced and some more riding. No more than 5 miles today and up to 60mph once on the pavement but we'll have to make sure next spring that the jetting is where it needs to be under load.
No leaks and an absolutely necessary improvement in cold starting.....a very nice way to ease out of winter next spring. I'm not sure which one is next in line for some warm time in the shop but there's no time to waste, spring will here before I'm ready for it.
That meant it made my test ride today rather challenging. I still have to install the side covers and front radiator cover on the other side. Today's most difficult task was purging the air from the coolant system and that really wasn't a very big problem.
Saturday morning I finished replacing the clutch cover, taking care with the gasket this time to make sure it stayed in place. New oil, new anti-freeze were added and all related was buttoned up. The lift was lowered so that the carb was at eye level while on my shop stool and that was wiggled out. Getting access to the carb was almost more work than removing the lower engine covers.
After stripping the carb parts down, it was into the ultrasonic cleaner for an extensive, hot water bath. New pilot and main jet (thanks HandKPhil!) were installed this morning after more bathing again today. Carb put back together and installed on the bike and once the hunters were done outside, the Baby KLR was rolled outside for the big start.
Ben has really been the only other person that has witnessed the impossibly tough starting of this bike when cold. I was confident enough today to have him around to verify the improved starting but he was far too busy doing something else so you'll have to take my word for it.
Fired on the 4th kick after having a dry float bowl and ran on the 5th kick...... and KEPT running. Only Ben and I know how nicely different that is; for more than one of our rides he got sweaty watching me work at keeping the KLR alive after rolling it out of the garage. The biggest news is that it didn't take 20 false starts (40 kicks) to finally keep it running. The choke/enrichener worked like they are supposed to....a minute of fast idle, back the lever off a bit to slow the idle down and a minute or so later, lever back to "Run" position.
With the radiator cap off, it took a bit for the air bubbles to stop and after adding small amounts of sweet green the level finally settled down. I had the chance for the first time to see that the electric fan does indeed kick in, I'm going to assume that it did so at the proper time. Finally the radiator cap was replaced and some more riding. No more than 5 miles today and up to 60mph once on the pavement but we'll have to make sure next spring that the jetting is where it needs to be under load.
No leaks and an absolutely necessary improvement in cold starting.....a very nice way to ease out of winter next spring. I'm not sure which one is next in line for some warm time in the shop but there's no time to waste, spring will here before I'm ready for it.
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Summer of '79 - Part 2
Reminiscing over my best ride ever started in Part 1, posted back in early '13. Only now looking back at that post's Comments remind of the poignant words from our friend Bob who is now traveling these days via ScooterBob.
While looking through a bunch of old documents here at home for something very particular (which so far still eludes) an old torn, overly-stuffed envelope appeared with some goodies from my 1979 trip. I know that somewhere, still hidden, is the Journal that I kept that summer of each day's observances. With the archived photo images from those days and the tidbits of paper that were kept, my old trip almost comes back to life even without the many benefits of my original words.
Before we leave Michigan and the US of A to cross into Canada, some very good times were had at this place in Sault Ste. Marie......this quite clean place mat still exists, something I'm seldom able to pull off.
I left the Soo and the US with all sorts of new knowledge, sense of direction and attitudes that were discussed in the previous trip report. One of those and probably the most important, was my new appreciation of available time. That morning's ride across the bridge and through Canadian Customs was a dreary wet one and even with the entire expanse of eastern Canada ahead of me, I managed the discipline to jump off of King's Highway 17 and loop completely around St. Joseph Island. That might not sound like a big deal from where you're sitting but believe you me, it was.
Back onto #17, I remember riding east through Sudbury, quite sure that I stopped at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park and from the looks of things, spent two nights there.
I would not have remembered that I stayed there a couple of days without full documentation ....but wait, I HAVE full documentation.
While looking through a bunch of old documents here at home for something very particular (which so far still eludes) an old torn, overly-stuffed envelope appeared with some goodies from my 1979 trip. I know that somewhere, still hidden, is the Journal that I kept that summer of each day's observances. With the archived photo images from those days and the tidbits of paper that were kept, my old trip almost comes back to life even without the many benefits of my original words.
Before we leave Michigan and the US of A to cross into Canada, some very good times were had at this place in Sault Ste. Marie......this quite clean place mat still exists, something I'm seldom able to pull off.
I left the Soo and the US with all sorts of new knowledge, sense of direction and attitudes that were discussed in the previous trip report. One of those and probably the most important, was my new appreciation of available time. That morning's ride across the bridge and through Canadian Customs was a dreary wet one and even with the entire expanse of eastern Canada ahead of me, I managed the discipline to jump off of King's Highway 17 and loop completely around St. Joseph Island. That might not sound like a big deal from where you're sitting but believe you me, it was.
Back onto #17, I remember riding east through Sudbury, quite sure that I stopped at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park and from the looks of things, spent two nights there.
I would not have remembered that I stayed there a couple of days without full documentation ....but wait, I HAVE full documentation.
I don't remember taking many photographs and that's correct; I did not take many photographs. As mentioned before, I was poor. Ektachrome was expensive and processing Ektachrome even more so. If I was making that trip today, you'd have to endure a bazillion images. I might not even be home yet from all of the stopping.....
Since I knew and was very familiar with the west end of our Great Lakes, taking at the very least a quick look at the eastern end and seeing where they entered their final flow to the Atlantic was a given. I'd not ever seen Lake Ontario before so that was part of it as well. Hwy 41 is familiar, Prince Edward was a stop, then Perth and back up to Fitzroy Provincial Park.
Once more......time for leshure :)
I stayed here a couple of days as well, business reasons this time. Buckets and shims, some oil......and look at these outlandish Labor Rates!!
Government buildings were toured but just about the only thing I really remember was the beauty of the grounds and using a parking ramp that said "No Motorcycles" but with the attendant's permission, parking in anyway.
After getting the Suzuki's maintenance completed, I only recall skirting Montreal and though tempted to cross the St. Lawrence, stayed on the northern shore, anxious to make Quebec City. Being close in and still wanting to camp, the local KOA seemed the logical place to stay.
I had a fantastic time, arrived in hard rain, a wet tent but awoke to brilliant sunshine and a lovely day. There were all sorts of memorable things about my stay there. Two things in particular jump out at me though. This was my first exposure to women using the men's restroom as matter of fact and my very early visit that first morning was .......I can comfortably say eye-opening.
Shuttle bus tours of the old city were available and signing up was an obvious choice for a non-native. A city that I didn't know and signs everywhere in a language I'm still not good at made it easy to partake of some initial hand-holding. The bus tour was great fun and enjoyable. I spent Day 2 using the bike to get around and made a mistake here......
Only a few short minutes after the above snap was taken, I was pulled over by a very understanding Quebec City motorcycle cop. I had missed the "No Motorcycles In Park" sign and once my Minnesota License plate was acknowledged, kindly shown the way out. I spent a lot of time those Saint-Jean-Baptiste Days walking and came back here to enjoy the park legally.
After having a very good few days in Quebec, I crossed the river and headed northeast up the south side of the St. Lawrence River to loop around the Gaspe Peninsula, documented in Part 3.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)