Texas to Vancouver, British Columbia

[LilBeaver]

Well folks. I have failed on providing day by day action as I had intended, but, I have over 300 pictures to sort through, most of which are crap, but several that are quite decent. I just need to figure out a good way to get them up, or select a handful of the better ones to post here as to not hog a bunch of resources.

 

I still intend on giving a daily summary of my driving/riding and I will... Eventually

 

I had a little scare two nights ago. It was about 1am, and I was on my way out to the bike to head to bed for a few hours (had to be back by 4am). Put the key in, get lights but no speedometer. I thought I was seeing things so, I turned the key off and back on, all was fine. Pulled the choke out a little, pushed the starter, heard a reasonably loud 'pop' and all went dead. My thought at this point was 'awesome'. (Those of you that don't know me, I have a rather dry sense of humor, so this was definitely a very sarcastic expression of joy). Turned the key on and off a few times, listening and looking for any sign of life and no luck. I have noticed for the last few weeks that the bike started a little harder than usual and occasionally the radio would cut out when I turned the key from 'on' to the 'acc' position, as well as occasionally when I would use the engine cut-off switch. Once or twice in the last couple of weeks my trip odometers and clock have reset themselves as well. So, of course, my thought was 1) Ignition switch or 2) main fuse. I was leaning towards the main fuse since everything was dead (including the radio). So, got out the flashlight and my tools and started tearing things down. As luck would have it my multimeter was sitting in my hotel room (I had kept it in my saddle bag liner, for ease of transporting stuff) but since I am at a national Physics laboratory I basically have access to just about any type of electrical component, tool, connector, etc (we even have our own machine shop with some very very good machinists), so I wasn't too worried. None the less, I finally got my way to the main fuse to see that it was still good, wiggles a few things around while shoving it back in and heard another pop (I assume an electrical arc), turned the key and powered up. So, I jostled the fuse around quite a bit, cleaned out the holder and other wires nearby quite well, and drove back to the hotel (a little over 1 mile away - so no big deal). As I was rolling into the parking garage, I put it in neutral, drop the side stand and turn the key off. Turn it back on and get absolutely nothing. At this point, I just went to bed and figured that I could troubleshoot later.

So, I left 'ol reliable' in the garage and spent the next day at the lab working and thinking about possibilities. Thanks to dingy for the exceptional work with the wiring diagrams, it made my electrical troubleshooting/diagnostic trip quite easy. Basically pinpoint a few points that could cause the symptoms that I had - that is an intermittent complete loss of ALL electrical power. This whole time I am thinking that I just want to snip the ignition wires, install my switch and be done with it. But being the scientist that I am, I decide to take my time, do it right and make sure that I can identify the ACTUAL problem before hitting the road (in two weeks) for the 2000 mile drive home (most of which will be on back roads/state highways).

After a full day of work, I decided to skip dinner to take some time to try to pinpoint the issue with my bike so back to the garage I went. Pulled the seat and tank and started probing around with my meter. First thing I measured was 7V across the battery terminals. This, of course, was interesting. I tested again touching the battery posts instead of the cables and got 12.8 volts. So, I found one of the problems. Tightened up the loose screw on the battery cable (both positive and negative sides were loose, but it was the negative one that was more loose and arcing when under heavy load - ie pushing the starter button; I confirmed this by trying it a few times and watching it happen). Since I am standing there with extra wire, a heavy duty switch, connectors and a meter, I decided to go ahead and make sure that my switch was okay and install the bypass, just in case. Well, Pulled the wires off the switch and checked for continuity then measured resistance. The simple continuity check was fine and the resistance measured was negligible. So, I have a bypass switch wired up, just in case, but I had that already. Lastly, I went back down to the main fuse and checked the two points where the cables actually connect to either side of the fuse. BOTH of those bolts were loose. I tightened those up, turned the key on pressed the start switch and it fired up in about half a second - just like it used to.

 

Anyways, I have not been able to do any additional riding, as I have been working basically non-stop since I got here (with exception to a 30 minute break for lunch and ~60 minutes for dinner and a few hours to sleep). But things have eased up a little bit as my experiment is under-way and working like it is supposed to, so yippee.

 

I can't believe how lucky I am that this pseudo breakdown happened here instead of somewhere along one of the highways I was on just a few days before, in the middle of the night, in pitch black, on roads with nothing but cliff on one side and a mountain on the other. How awesome would that have been to be going up or down one of those steep grades in the dark and have your electrical system go kaput on you?! NO THANK YOU.

 

Anyways, just thought I'd post an update. By the way, since I had a few hours tonight, I have gone through most of my pictures and have chosen and compressed the ones that I would like to share, but, like I said, I need to come up with a way to post them. I may just pick a few of the ones of my bike and the fancy scenery, and skip the 'action shots' so I can post them in this thread instead of putting up a link to some where else. But I'll figure it out and git-r-done. Just bare with me.

 

Hope all is going fine with everyone else, and when I get out for some riding, I'll take you along (eventually) with pictures and the words to go with them, as it happens (or when I get time).

 

By the way, I have the Radientz 32 LED tail light (not the 39). I think mine came from BikerHiway along with my stebel air horn and something else.

 

Oh, when I decide on a return route, I'll post up my route for anyone who would be interested in meeting up or riding along along the way

 

As for you Vancouver-ites, I'll be messaging you next with my approximate schedule so that we can see about a mini- meet and eat or meet and ride or meet and B.S., whatever it turns into

 

Thanks ya'll. I promise, pictures will come soon enough

 

P.S. Word has it, Larry (Silverdeer) "NEVER" Washes/cleans his bike. I'll hand it to him, whoever he has that does it for him does an absolutely AMAZING job. I cannot believe how clean his bike was!!! Mine got washed a few times in the last couple of days... But rain water doesn't count. Although, I did wash and wax it before I left... which is the first time I washed mine since... um... I waxed it 6 months ago...

[LilBeaver]

Another update... Not the day by day with the pictures that I have been promising (still not sure how I want to post many of the pictures I have) but a summary of yesterday at least.

 

Some of you may have seen it, if you hadn't it really isn't that big of a thing. Bottom line, I needed a replacement windshield and SilvrT managed to find me one. Now we had planned on getting together anyways for a meal, ride or both and well, this helped.

 

I got out of the lab/work yesterday and headed over to Rick's place. Installed my fancy new windshield (Thanks Dave I.), used up some soap and water to get my bike nice and clean again. While I was at it, borrowed the 'ol carb tune (turns out it was quite close to being right on since the last sync ~ 1 year ago - thanks again Brian ) and tightened up a few other things on my bike... Had I thought about it before hand, I would have picked up a few quarts of oil and a filter, but oh well. But, we now have another 'excuse' to get together.

 

The day didn't end there. Rick and Nina cooked up some great steaks, corn on the cob and some salad and we hung out a bit. After dinner we went for a nice little ride out to whiterock, BC, where we had some ice cream :ICgrin: switched bikes for about 3.5 seconds so that rick could try out the pillow-top with the butler mod and the utopia backrest. As a bonus I was able to enjoy a few miles of 'whine free' riding on his great looking midnight.

 

Switched back down the road and concluded the ride by finding out that he doesn't know the roads very well over by where I stay in Vancouver . Who'd of thunk that out of town'er would be the one giving directions. To be fair the road he was looking for was there, it just wasn't called what he was expecting it to be. None the less, we u-turned with three left turns then discussed it and had a chuckle.

 

I got back in enough time to catch a few hours of sleep before having to get back to the lab, but it was good.

 

Rick and Nina are great people and it was great to spend some time with ya'll again.

 

I've attached a few pictures highlighting the day. Note the 'amazing' riding we had in picture # 16 . Nothing says 'great ride' like being stopped in traffic :stickpoke:

 

Anyhoo. More to come

[buddy]

Excellent photo's Rick.....

Your go places other folks will never see in person so the photos your taking are awsome.....Thanks

Oh by the way the package came in today and I have to say WOW their in excellent shape Looks like they never been used.......

Thanks Rick...........

[LilBeaver]

Excellent photo's Rick.....

 

Your go places other folks will never see in person so the photos your taking are awsome.....Thanks

 

Oh by the way the package came in today and I have to say WOW their in excellent shape Looks like they never been used.......

Thanks Rick...........

 

Thanks! I wish I could take a lot more, but, I've got to drive some how...

And I'm glad you got them. I tried to be accurate in my description and I like to take good care of my stuff. Hope you get some great use out of them!!

[SilvrT]

Excellent photo's Rick.....

 

 

What he said!!

[LilBeaver]

This will be a quick update since the only riding involved included dodging >.

 

Had another great evening with Rick (SilvrT) and Nina. Buzzed over there to drop off what I owe for the windshield that SilvrT procured up for me and was invited to stay for supper. We ended up sitting around talking for a few hours (and had some ice cream ).

 

Thanks again for your hospitality and generosity.

 

Although my riding was limited I figured I'd put in an update considering it involved another VR member. I do have a few pictures from the ride out there, but have not retrieved them from my camera yet .

 

By the way Rick, the ride home on marine drive was MUCH nicer considering there was virtually no traffic.

 

...... Until next time

 

[SilvrT]

Thanks again for your hospitality and generosity.

 

 

You're welcome.... to come visit us anytime. We had a great "chit-chat" and quite a few laffs ... lotsa fun!

 

By the way Rick, the ride home on marine drive was MUCH nicer considering there was virtually no traffic.

 

 

 

yep, later in the evening the traffic is much thinner on that route.

[LilBeaver]

Well, beam went down this morning and they had to open the main cyclotron which means that maybe we'll be back online tomorrow. Because of that I took a few extra minutes after dinner to take a cruise down one of the roads by UBC that I've been down a few times in a car, but figured it would be quite nice on a bike. Other than the large number of people around, it was pretty nice.

 

A few photos here

 

Notes on the photos:

 

These were taken while driving down NW Marine drive, near UBC's campus.

 

Photo 7: Downtown Vancouver is in the background

 

I will probably have quite a few pics after this Sunday

Enjoy.

[Guest tx2sturgis]

I see your getting some use out of that tripod....but...whats with the jacket?

 

 

 

 

Nice pics tho.

 

 

[LilBeaver]

I see your getting some use out of that tripod....but...whats with the jacket?

 

 

 

 

Nice pics tho.

 

 

 

Thanks. I'll take having to wear a jacket over riding in dust, wind, and flat-ness. Sadly, I'll be back to that in a week or so

 

And yea, the tripod is getting some use Apparently it was a good idea to dig it out.

[LilBeaver]

Don't know if any of you saw the thread regarding the ride in BC yesterday but I will repost some of that info here as well as a few pictures.

 

SilvrT and his wife Nina, Dr_Bar, StuD and myself met up and went for a ride yesterday. Despite complications with me leaving the lab at the time that I had anticipated (thanks to my boss - although he covered a few hours for me so I guess I shouldn't complain too much I still feel really bad for being so late for the M&R&E - not to mention Dr_Bar may or may not have made it to work on time ) That aside, I met StuD for the first time. He rides a 1st gen that is a really good looking bike. Seems like a great guy, although we didn't get much time to chat as we were all riding...

 

I [finally] left the lab around 145 or so and headed straight for SilvrT's place. I arrived and took enough time to dismount, shake hands, mount up and take off. So we departed Burnaby around 240pm or so. Got on Highway 1 north to Highway 99, continued north for a stop near a mine (Pic. # ). Chatted some waited for someone to finish shopping at the rock store. Mounted up and headed up the road to Shannon Falls. The pictures don't really do Shannon Falls justice - it is quite large, purdy too. Next stop was Squamish for lunch. StuD's time was up and had to head back, so we took a group photo (us in the handicapped spot), StuD hit the road and the rest of us went in for dinner. Finished eating around 6 at which point SilvrT and Nina headed back home while Dr_Bar and I headed north a wee bit more; destination Whistler.

 

Arrived in Whistler around 7ish. Parked and walked around for about an hour or so. Saw lots of 'healthy' people, pretty scenery and a neat little town/resort area. We looked into taking a tram up to the top of the mountain, then one that would go in between the two peaks there and back down, but for 50 bucks and only being able to spend 10 minutes at the top (not to mention we would be out of time on the parking meter) we decided to skip it and continue on. We started a ride back around 815 or so, with a quick top off for fuel, we rode the rest of the way. Lots of great scenery and my batteries died about 1/2 way back. So some of the most beautiful scenery (with the sun going down over the water/mountains/etc) I did not get (but may go back before I leave), but that's okay - it was a great ride anyways. Around 945 or so we parted ways, I took my exit over the Lionsgate bridge and headed back to the lab. I was amazed at how much activity there is down Granville street after 10 on a Sunday. Lots of 'healthy' people there too, by the way.

 

Got to the lab to check in with the boss man and found some stuff that I needed to take care of, yippee. But, after the great day of riding another few hours of work was no sweat.

 

On a lighter note, putting my bike through its paces on some of the steep grades, I did not once feel my clutch slip - so I am guessing I need to drain some fluid out/bleed it. I am quite confident that if it was slipping like I thought it was, it would have gotten worse through my ride - since it didn't I'll drive home and replace it when I get home (thanks for the advice Earl, I'll be in contact regarding the parts sometime within the next week).

 

Here is a link to the route we rode: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Burnaby,+British+Columbia,+Canada&daddr=Shannon+Falls+Provincial+Park,+British+Columbia,+Canada+to:410-1200+Hunter+Place,+Squamish,+BC+V0N+3G0,+Canada+(White+Spot+Restaurants)+to:Whistler,+British+Columbia,+Canada+to:16+Ave+W+W+to:16+Ave+W+W+to:Triumf+Research+Centre,+British+Columbia,+Canada&hl=en&geocode=FWV67wIdnJGr-Clzg5whqHeGVDFpsVKHc3IK3Q%3BFbjV9QId4q-o-CFEkbLI3wBc7w%3BFTtq9gIdh-Wo-CHgO7lTv4USyynDGNuXPviGVDGBwMYzeozsOg%3BFUi2_AIdwcmr-CmHe5UDsjyHVDH2z_V16EG3Sg%3BFYKf7wIdtvmn-A%3BFeef7wIdiOOn-A%3BFfRz7wIdeqOn-CmpvZgLKnOGVDGHDJdU4pAUEQ&mra=ls&via=4&doflg=ptm&sll=49.681585,-123.116545&sspn=1.642085,4.938354&ie=UTF8&z=8

 

I hope that works.

 

So, I have put some pictures here to give ya'll a flavor of what it looks like up here.

 

Pic 1-5: Highway 99 north of Vancouver

Pic 4: DR_Bar

Pic 5: SilvrT, StuD

Pic 6: Off of Highway 99, near the mine(s) L to R: Dr-Bar, Nina (SilvrT's wife), SilvrT, StuD

Front and center: Me

 

Pic 7: Hwy 99

Pic 8: Shannon Falls

Pic 9-10: More Hwy 99 between Shannon Falls and Squamish

Pic 11: In Squamish before dinner L to R: Dr_Bar, StuD, Nina, SilvrT, Lilbeaver, StuD's Bike, My bike

Pic 12-13: Between Squamish and Whistler

Pic 14-16: 'Village' of Whistler -- I really wanted a picture of my bike and me infront of the rings, but we figured the police might frown on it...

Pic 17-21: Riding back

 

Enjoy!

Edited July 27, 2010 by LilBeaver

[LilBeaver]

Well, I did say that I was going to keep everyone posted throughout my trip; that obviously did not happen. Immediately after returning home from this road/work trip I had to repack and head to the airport for a conference. Now that I am home from the conference, things have settled down a little bit and I have some time to go ahead and put together a trip summary. I have a total of several hundred pictures that I have taken on the road, a few have been put up in this thread and I will put up a few more sample shots either in this post or in the next post – but in the interest of bandwidth and server space, I probably won’t post a whole heck of a lot. I’ve got several up on facebook that I think I will go ahead and link here and open up for public viewing, for a week or so, that way ya’ll can see them and I’m not taxing don’s server space.

 

My total trip mileage was only 5,432 miles from 8/July – 2/Aug/2010. My trip was supposed to start 28/June with a stopover for the cruising the koots rally – but due to a tire tread separation, the replaced tire having a sidewall issue, then issues getting that tire replaced in a timely fashion I was forced to miss the rally but was able to hit the road with reliable equipment. So, the morning of 2/Aug, I was out the door.

 

Day 1 (8/July/2010) Total: ~700mi.

Woke up with the expectation of riding through nasty weather all day. After looking at the weather radars and doing some quick math, I delayed my start for a few hours and managed to hit only a total of 30 minutes of rain or so the entire way.

This day I went from Lubbock, Texas to Laramie, Wyoming totaling somewhere around 700 miles. Took US-84 NW out of Lubbock, 4.5 hours later I was in New Mexico. I took I-25 north to Pueblo, CO where I diverted to state roads and whatnot up near Ft Collins where I picked up US-287 and took the last 80 miles to Laramie, WY where I stopped for the night at a Best Western that I would suggest anyone avoid at all costs. The room was okay, but upon arrival I was charged a different rate than what I was guaranteed online (which I had the printed reservation guarantee with me and everything). Had I been in a car and there was another choice in the area I would have been out of there in a heartbeat. Given the circumstances and regardless of the argument with the clerk – I called my CC company; they said they’d take care of it, so I stayed the night anyways. Enough about that.

The good news with the crappy skies and cloud cover is that the temperatures were in the high 70’s or low 80’s for the daytime. Once in Colorado, the skies cleared and the temp dropped. When the sun went down, the temps dipped to the low 50s.

 

Day 2 (9/July/2010) Total: ~550 miles

Up and on the road by 6am, I started out west on I-80 to Rawlins, WY (100 miles on expressway). Fueled up in Rawlins and didn’t see an interstate for the rest of the day. North on US-287 out or Rawlins and headed towards Yellowstone. The sky was blue for most of the day and the temps were in the 70s or maybe low 80s, but it was fantastic all day. My first stop that was picture worthy was at Beaver Rim (I didn’t even plan that but it happened). Not only was the view fantastic but as I was putting my side stand down I saw a bike pulling strong up the road that looked like a royal star. He pulled into the scenic turnout I was in and sure enough, it was a late 90s royal star. He had put on a set of mm venture bags, a real nice crash bar, and he had a sheepskin cover made for the seat from a leather smith a hundred miles up the road. We chatted for about 30 minutes or so, took some pictures and hit the road. I realized just now that I don’t have any pictures of his bike. We took pictures of our bikes and us and whatnot – but apparently I didn’t get any that were of his bike with my camera, I was positive that I did; oh well. We exchanged contact information and I referred him to this site and he said he’d check it out. He is from Sacramento, CA and he was headed up to the Stampede rally.

Anyways, I saddled up and continued through the parks, it clouded up and rained on me all the way through Yellowstone, which was sad but I still got to see the park. While in the park, I saw a man pull his mini-van off the road and then get out to chase a bear into the woods – that was funny but sad at the same time. And I also met a couple that is currently going to Northern Michigan University – where I graduated from May of 2007. Apparently I tutored the gal in Physics, but I don’t remember… Oh well. By the time I was close to exiting the park towards west Yellowstone, it was dark – so unfortunately I missed seeing Big Sky, MT in the daylight but the extra time spent in Yellowstone, taking pictures and enjoying the limited sights that I could see I think was worth it. I probably would not do that ride again that time a year, thanks to all of the traffic and tourism, but that is the first time that I was through Yellowstone so; I figured it was worthwhile for this part of the trip. From West Yellowstone, I went north through Big Sky. Despite some questionable blips with my electrical system, I did make it to Belgrade, MT where I stopped for the night. Other than Yellowstone the traffic was basically nonexistent. Temperatures dipped again into the low 50s at the end of the day riding through Big Sky, but it was still a decent ride. By the way, some of those highways are REALLY REALLY dark all by yourself.

Got into the hotel, which was quite nice considering the 50 bucks I paid for it. Towards the end of this day, I ended up with an absolutely terrible headache (something that I rarely get), runny nose and some other cold/flu like symptoms. So, that night was rough. I managed to get a little sleep and hit the road early the next morning.

 

Day 3 (10/July/2010) ~580 miles

Despite the health woes of the previous night, I hit the road a little later this morning, and decided to take the interstate the whole way – just in case my body decided to relapse into whatever the heck it was that I had manage to come down with the day before. Montana was boring until I hit the western edge. Boy was I surprised. Some beautiful roadway that wound through some mountains, despite it being an expressway, it was a good balance for a day of really easy riding. Northern Idaho was the same way (all 55 miles of it). Washington state, on the other hand, was not quite as boring as the Texas panhandle, but it came in a very close second. Temperatures and weather this day were quite nice as well. Mostly clear skies and lovely temperatures.

I arrived in Ellensburg, WA where I stopped for the night. Despite the pool closing time being 10pm, the lovely gal at the front desk agreed to let me use it later. *snickers* So, I sat in the hot tub (which was actually clean, hot and nice) for a little while – which helped my back and my head a lot. Thanked the gal at the front desk, got some dinner then hit the hay for the night.

 

Day 4 (11/July/2010) ~300 miles

Woke up this morning feeling great. It was a little cool out, but the sky was clear and I was good to go. Made contact with Larry (SilverDeer) and planned on having lunch with him once I got up to his neck of the woods. I departed Ellensburg, WA on US-2 and took that all the way to I-5 where I headed up to Arlington, WA to have brunch with Larry and his lovely gal (I’m sorry, I am absolutely terrible with names ). We spent quite a bit of time chatting, eating, and looking at each other’s bikes as well as taking some pictures (which did get posted somewhere here). Some great people there – you Washington folks that don’t get together very often are missing out on some great people.

Well, back on the road and just a short hop to the border from there. While getting back on, I dropped it into 3rd to accelerate up and get around a few cars (and to verify what I had felt before) I felt the engine rev way up but I wasn’t going any faster – awesome – but with keeping that in mind, I took ‘er easy and made it safely the rest of the way.

My wait at customs was a grand total of 2 cars and 10 minutes chatting with the customs agent. Apparently driving 2k miles to work when I could have flown, put up a flag for Canadian customs. But, we got over that hurdle and I was 30 minutes from the lab. Pulled into the lab around 330 or so and as I was headed in to meet up with my boss and colleagues, I got a whiff of myself and decided that I had better go shower first. So, with an about face I headed back to the bike and actually ran into one of my collaborators while I was mounting back up.

Now for 3 weeks of work… with the occasional break for some riding and meeting up with a few locals

 

 

Mileage: 42,443 -- 44,598

 

 

To be continued… (sometime in the next couple of days)

 

 

Facebook Album Links:

Day 1: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174096

Day 2: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174098

Day 3: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174104

Day 4: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2174106