Didn't Make It To Rendezvous

 So I throw my biggest tent and coolers and lawn chairs, etc. in my
trailer and hook it up to my bike. The sun is shining and it's 80
degrees. Off to Rendezvous.

Then Vermont happened.

Just after crossing the border from New Hampshire to Brattleboro,
VT, light rain begins. I threw on the rain suit. No problem. As soon
as I get past all civilization and head up Hog Back mountain, things
change. It rains so hard that it is washing dirt across the road. I
can't see anything. Cars are pulling off the road. There's lightning
everywhere. Given no safe place to pull over, I continue on at about
25 MPH. It couldn't get worse.

It did.

Hail begins to fall. Big hail. I pulled into a driveway and sat
there in the hail and lightning until it let up slightly. I
continued about 10 miles to Wilmington and stop at Dot's Restaurant
for a burger and a cup of coffee. It continues to rain.

I ate my burger and got back out on the road. The weather isn't
getting any better and the thought of sitting in the mud at Harley
Rendezvous weighs heavily on my mind. As I approached the highest
point above Bennington, the hail begins again.

Fuck this. I turned around and headed home. I made it as far as
Hillsboro, NH where I noticed my voltmeter was reading 11.2 volts.
I'm 30 miles from Concord, the next decent sized town. I made it to
Concord with a reading of 9.9 volts. Heritage Harley Davidson is in
town so I figure I just might make it.

Wouldn't you know it... NASCAR weekend and a traffic cluster fuck on
route 93. It takes me another 20 minutes to go the 1/2 mile to the
exit. By now I'm down to about 9 volts. The CDI won't fire under 8.5
volts so I expect the bike to die any minute. Two stop lights and an
18 mile per hour car up the hill and I actually made it to the
dealer.

I finally turn off the bike and can smell burned insulation. The
stator is melted.

I bummed the 32 mile ride home from a friend in Manchester.

So... no HD Rendezvous this year. I was probably lucky to have
turned around. I would have turned my bike on Sunday morning and the
starter would have clicked. I would have been stuck 260 miles from
home in a crappy farm town with no HD repair shop.



___
Cogito Ergo Spam - I think therefore I ham

 "SteveT" wrote...

Bummer. Glad you made it back home in one piece.
--
Arie- Jax, FL - BS#70 - SENS
'83 FXWG - '05 FLHT-I
"Nec Spe, Nec Metu"

 
:"SteveT" wrote...
:>
:> So... no HD Rendezvous this year. I was probably lucky to have
:> turned around. I would have turned my bike on Sunday morning and the
:> starter would have clicked. I would have been stuck 260 miles from
:> home in a crappy farm town with no HD repair shop.
:
:Bummer. Glad you made it back home in one piece.

Thanks. Judging from the radar weather maps, they are having a
miserable mudfest in Mariaville tonight.
___
Cogito Ergo Spam - I think therefore I ham

 

Tell me that wasn't the original stator. I went through 2 in 18 months on
the Y2K barge.

112

 
:
:> I finally turn off the bike and can smell burned insulation. The
:> stator is melted.
:
:Tell me that wasn't the original stator. I went through 2 in 18 months on
:the Y2K barge.
:
:112
:
Yup. Original. It lasted 9 years.
--