What Have You Being Doing With Your Non-triumph Today?

Waiting for MR BMW Roadside assistance to come and fix my puncture

 

Yesterday I went for a little ride in the afternoon and convinced our friend, Russell, to join me. That was a wee bit easier said than done since the temps have been WAY above normal!



I'd have ridden in the morning but Steve and I went for a bicycle ride while it was still "cool" (around 85ºF). Had an errand after that so I didn't get out the door until about 1:00pm. Just in time for this...



Still, a ride in the heat is better than no ride. So with white Shoei helmet and white H-D mesh riding jacket, off I went to meet Russell at the QT near his house. Oh, yeah, I did invite Steve to join me but he had little (read, ZERO) interest in, as he puts it, "riding around in the heat on purpose".

My Street Glide and Russell's Heritage Classic.



At least gas prices aren't as high these days as the ambient temperatures!



We wound up with a bit under 50 miles on the afternoon. We did a nice loop north of Tucson on our way to an air-conditioned Starbucks that we sometimes ride to where spent an hour solving the world's problems. We did manage to find a shady spot to park the bikes while we drank our coffee---thank goodness! Because it certainly didn't get any cooler as the afternoon wore on. Here's the temperature my bike reported when I pulled back into the garage. And at one point during the ride home, the temperature display read 110ºF!






But as I was riding, I thought to myself that our heat, though dangerous if not taken seriously, is merely uncomfortable for the most part. Nothing like the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Helene.

 

Thanks for struggling through that heat, to bring us a nice ride report.. Your bike does look really good, of that there's no doubt.
Chucking it down over here now. .

 

So "Dad's Recovery" takes a trip out last night to get Boy Wonders machine.
A prod of the kickstart early this morning before work said a compression check might be a good call tonight .


Tonight;
Plug out and let's see what we have here.....




Obviously special plugs in these scooters
"Cancel the compression test, engine out!"

 

A bit of Father and Son bonding time and we soon had it in two halves.

 

These scooters are so easy to work on once split, even the centre stand then becomes an engine stand

 

Low compression you say?????

 

Desmo service done on the Multistrada today, luckily the belts had already been changed and the standard service done so only the valves clearances needed. All good

 

An outing for the Z today and a run over to Leek to see some relatives. Did the Tideswell, Millers Dale, Brierlow Bar route but then decided to head over Axe Edge from Buxton. The highest parts of the A53 have been gritted which didn't surprise me as it was showing 4deg C on the way back! Clocked up a whopping 439m on big Z so far this year, the blame for that lying squarely at the Triumph's door!

A quick stop for a "comfort" break on the way over Axe Edge...




......and another on the way back just past the winking man (you can just see him on Ramshaw Rocks in the background).

 

Had a blast on the Fireblade yesterday thinking it might be its last outing of the year. I love that bike

 

So today I was entertained by my two sons
Running alongside the 675 rad repair ( son 1) was the "Ducati" diablo terminal dropped valve repair ( son 2).
Me, well I was employed somewhere between supervising, taking the p155 and drinking Coors



Err young man, that back brake just ain't going to work out



But " fun" was had by all, including the wife with a roast lamb dinner served up in the garage

 

Here's the lamb dinner



And a successful conclusion for both bikes

 

This is certainly about what I've been doing with my non-Triumph since it involved my minivan but bear with me as it does have to do with motorcycles.

In late Sep I was slated to ride to the 7th annual Lace, Grace and Gears motorcycle rally (an all-women rally) in Johnson City, TN. My HH and I were going to ride up together and he'd entertain himself while I attended the rally. Then as the time got closer a little thing called hurricane Helene was on its way. The organizers decided to not cancel the rally in eastern Tennessee since over 400 women had preregistered, the final path of the hurricane was uncertain, and the rally is a fundraiser for a community to help homeless women veterans and their children.


Given the forecast for rain and big wind most of the way (about 220 miles) and during part of the rally, I decided to still go but drive my vehicle instead of riding; and HH would stay home with our 16yo in case home was hit with anything big (she's trustworthy and capable but not up to running the generator if we lost power or dealing with a tree if one fell on the house).

And the reason I didn't cancel altogether was because I was going specifically to help the Christian Motorcyclists Association as they supported the rally and wanted to help as CMA offered personal bike blessings. I didn't want to give up on interacting with fellow women riders and possibly share my faith in an encouraging way, so I drove my minivan...at least it has a motorcycle sticker on it!


The route from north Georgia to eastern Tennessee is gorgeous, mountainous and curvy. The best route is through Asheville, North Carolina and it was wet and breezy so I was glad I was in my vehicle. We checked in over 200 riders on Thursday and Friday; I'm astonished so many still came despite the forecast.

There were ladies drenched through despite wearing rain gear and telling stories of riding through heavy rain and in the dark since the ride took longer than expected from having to go much slower.

One trio of women told me their story of riding in from Florida; they said the first 400 miles were great but the last 133 miles were truly awful with the heavy rain and the dark. They were immensely grateful for the semi driver who'd pulled behind them as they were cautiously making their way slowly down a mountain in heavy rain and darkness and saw them down the mountain, increasing their safety with his lights and "having their 6" by blocking less cautious vehicles from coming up on them. Several of us independently surmised he must have been a rider himself, but that's pure speculation.

On to Friday, it was intermittently wet and mighty windy in the morning, so outdoor rally events were postponed but rally fellowship was going strong in the hotel as riders gathered and hunkered down. Then the power went out and the hotel's generator failed to kick in. Several people were stuck in the elevator (thankfully I'd been using the stairs for the exercise), and we were unable to access our rooms, one of the pitfalls of the electronic card access. It took them about 30 minutes to get the generator online.

Back in my room and I could see why the hotel had lost power...large branches down on the lines. And thankfully the restoration crew was already there with the bucket truck, pole chainsaw and truck chipper making quick work of the mess. Power soon restored!


At one point from the vantage point of my fourth floor hotel room I saw a huge gust of wind back a big Harley out of its parking spot. Apparently the rider had left her bike in neutral when she parked; I wonder if she'll ever do that again. But that puts the wind into perspective...it moved what must have been a 700-800 lb bike. Downstairs I ran into another CMA member who went out to pop the bike in gear while I tried to find the owner so she'd know why her Harley wouldn't be where she left it.

I just kept circulating from the rally check-in desk (run by CMA to help the rally), the lobby where some were hanging out, and my room. Friday afternoon when I looked out my window again and saw big chunks of insulation and other debris spread across the parking lot I was puzzled by the source, certain that hadn't been there before. I scanned for an RV or trailer that had possibly been damaged by the wind and was coming apart. Nope. It was from the hotel itself. A fair-sized piece of the outer wall just down from my room had blown off the hotel.


Meanwhile, intrepid riders kept arriving! These are some hearty riders! Most of the rally-goers were not young, brash women...they were in their 40's, 50's, 60's and even 70's. Thankfully I heard no stories of anyone's bike being damaged in the parking lot and only one story of a rider who'd dropped her bike at a slick spot at a stop light and hurt her arm coming in Friday.

In the meantime, vendors were set up inside and selling jewelry, lots of Harley gear, helmet decorations (bright colored, braided pigtails to suction-cup onto your helmet anyone?), and kilts (yes, there was a bearded man selling kilts at a women's rally). Group rides that had been scheduled for Friday were postponed until Saturday when the storm was forecasted to have moved on.

Kudos to the catering crew who rolled with a quick change to the rally schedule of moving the banquet from Saturday to Friday (even with several hours of power outage). Friday night saw us all gathered to hear two military veterans give heartfelt presentations and underscore the need for more support for women veterans and their children. And the rally organizers announced that although Saturday would bring sunny skies, the roads were too much of a mess to safely lead group rides through the mountains. Kudos to them for making a good call even at the risk of disappointing the rally-goers. Nobody minded; we applauded their good sense.

Saturday did bring sunny skies, a couple of outdoor vendors, and the Parade of Sisters ride in support of women veterans. Over 100 bikes lined up to ride in the parade.



Snapped a pic of this bike with the title "Fat Bottom Girl" and the owner explained she'd named it before she converted it to a trike which, in her words, "really made it a fat bottom girl!"




After sweeping the parking area clear of lots of tree debris, a class on slow riding skills was held. Joanna Needham, the first female Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle cop in 1987 and subsequently a LAPD motorcycle cop trainer, was the instructor. She's amazing and a consummate teacher.
Here's a pic from her LAPD days.


Of course, I didn't have my bike to participate but I listened closely and tried to suck up some of the lessons learned from the handful of women who participated. Huge kudos to Joanna for freely offering to share her expertise and encouragement. She demonstrated the techniques she was teaching on her Honda Goldwing and explained the techniques work on any bike of any size. And to drive the point home, she demonstrated also on a student's Ducati Monster with the owner riding two-up. I felt fortunate to try to learn from such an accomplished rider and standout woman.

Most riders had decided to leave on Saturday instead of Sunday (anticipating that is what precipitated the move of the banquet to Friday night vice Saturday night). The rally hadn't been all that it was planned to be but this group of women made the best of it, supported a great cause, and came together to show the strength of women riders.

Unfortunately, Helene had wreaked terrible havoc on many areas, including Asheville, North Carolina, my direct route home. The storm had washed out huge sections of roads, including segments of the interstate highway, caused destructive flooding, taken out power, and damaged water systems. I had to find another way home that avoided most of western North Carolina.

Coming home on Sunday found me not trusting GPS to know the road conditions and weaving my way through backroads. To avoid Asheville, NC I headed west to swing wide around the area of destruction. As I came out of Maryville, TN toward home I came through miles and miles of the most beautiful, winding, curving roads that reminded me of the tail of the dragon. Once you are in the mountains there's no way out except for through so, in fact, I ended up coming down highway 129 which includes the famed tail of the dragon (318 curves in 11 miles). Despite the storm, the road was strangely clear and there were plenty of motorcyclists enjoying the curves coming up the mountain. Once you get down the tail, there are still plenty more miles of winding switchbacks before getting out of the mountains. I was glad to finally get home.

 

What an amazing story and commitment from the rally attendees. It is great to hear that no major injuries for the bikers, but you have to feel for the community’s devastated by the storm. Pleased you made it home safe.

 

Wow! What an adventure, @Martine! Thanks for sharing the amazing story of this rally. It definitely does demonstrate the fortitude and commitment of this group of women riders…and riders in general. Well, and women in general! Good for you for going and supporting the event even though you (wisely it seems) drove your car. I’m glad everyone stayed safe through the adverse weather conditions, and hopefully the woman who fell and injured herself is OK. It sounds like your drive home was yet another adventure but that you found your self on some beautiful roads. Thanks for the report and photos!

 

I've been patiently (sort of) waiting for someone to make a replacement stock license plate bracket, frame and light for my 2024 Harley Street Glide. Well, Custom Dynamics finally came out with one. Someone on a H-D forum called the stock light an "aardvark nose" which actually is quite descriptive of the ugly thing. But that's a slam on aardvarks! Anyway, the first two photos are of the stock assembly and the last photo is of the new one which I had installed yesterday. The lights are small LED's all around the frame. I'm very please with the change!






The new improved, sleek license plate bracket and frame. You can't tell my the picture but the frame curves to match the curative of the fender. Very tidy!

 

That looks a super clean garage @Sandi T

 

Geez, apologies for the multiple post of the same photo of the new license plate set up. Not sure what happened and I can’t get rid of the duplicates.

 

Thanks, Eldon. That clean garage is mostly thanks to Steve…and also because the garage is small! That said, we’re really glad that we have a garage! Another couple spaces (or one for Speedy anyway) would be most welcome, but there’s no room at the inn

 

I had the same issue previously @Sandi T with wrong photos or multiple copies.

Despite the (non- functional) buttons suggesting otherwise, delete with the excuse of "duplicate post" (even if it isn't) appears the only solution. @Wessa