A few more bumps....

It's been a few days since I've last posted anything.... so here is a little bit of a recap.....

The day off never happened..... remember those electrical problems I was having? They reared their ugly head once again..... The good thing is that there were only two more things left to fix and/or replace, the Stator and the Rotor. These two parts work just like an alternator on a car except in the reverse order.

I know this isn't going to mean a lot to most people, but at least Dad & Zack will appreciate it.....
The alternator on a car has stationary wire coils on the outside housing while several magnets rotate and passing very closely to the inside of the coils. This action creates the electricity it generates..... (in real basic terms)..... and the Stator is just like that except the wire coils are mounted stationary on the inside of the rotating magnets.... so it is the same thing except in reverse....

I think it was the 2nd gas stop when my bike started having a bit of a problem.... when I tried to start the bike, it started pretty hard. By the 4th gas stop the battery just didn't have enough juice to turn the starter.... So, it was another day of hurry up gas stops and no breaks... unless it was at a station with a hill....

We made it into town at about 2:00pm, which still wasn't bad time at all.... Charlie The Nomad was already at the hotel along with the other Stampede Riders. (The Stampede Ride is an annual unofficial race that is held from Barstow, CA to the Smoke out. - Charlie mad the ride in 30 hours and 10 minutes!!!!! - That's haulin ass!) We checked in and went to lunch at a local Thai restaurant, my favorite! We borrowed a phone book and found a Harley Davidson Dealership that was only about 10 miles away.... so we called.....

"We are really busy right now, There is nothing that we can do for you until tomorrow afternoon." I hate doing it, but Hammer said that it was okay.... so I told them that I was Traveling and worked for the magazine holding the event in town.... I'll be damned, if that "tomorrow afternoon" didn't turn into "Hey bring it right in and let us see what we can do!" HAHAHAHA!

I brought it in and they ran some tests on the electrical system and confirmed that my new battery was almost completely dead, and that there was a problem with the stator or rotor.... They were to diagnose it, but in all honesty, they were really busy and couldn't work on it at all that day..... SO instead of leaving me hanging with a broken bike and no ride, the Service manager recommended that I take it over to this guy's house and let him work on it for me..... What could go wrong right.... we put a brand new charged battery in the bike, bought a new stator, rotor, voltage regulator, and all the gaskets needed for the worst case scenario and rode it over to Mark's house....

I pulled in the drive way and Mark was waiting in front of his garage..... I was pretty surprised to see that his garage was set up like a very professional shop.... a wall of well organized tools, a professional bike lift, numerous used bike parts hanging on the walls displayed as trophies.... I was impressed... Its pretty hard to work on a bike when the engine is hot from riding, so we talked a bit while it was cooling down on the lift.... I don't it was 90 minutes later and I was riding my bike back to the hotel with only the new stator.... and he only charged me $80... so I flipped him double that for doing it fast, at the last minute and cancelling the date he had with his wife to help out a stranded biker. It would have cost me a lot more if the Dealership was to do the work....The rest of the parts we didn't use were returned for a full refund.... the Dealership was pretty cool about my situation....

The next morning was Friday.... I left for the event to get set up early and ready for the bike show registration.... When I got to the event, I needed to call Hammer and noticed that My phone wasn't in my pocket..... if fell out when I was riding the bike there! UUGH!!!!! NO PHONE!!!! Good thing I had insurance on my phone..... I borrowed the Hotel's house phone and filed my claim for a new phone.... $50 and the next day, I had another phone.... but since I didn't have phone service at the hotel, I had to wait another day to get it programmed and started....

The event went extremely well and it was pretty much the best Smoke Out I've been to in several years.... Only one arrest - only because the guy did a motorcycle burn out against a cop car! hahaha..... the Officer didn't take too kindly to his actions.... other than that I didn't hear of another incident....

Well, I'm tired, and I'll write more about my trip and riding with the infamous George the Painter......

Keep the knees in the breeze!

---STOGIE---
.....o~`o