This morning we got an earlier start than normal leaving the hotel by 7am, but it must have been luck because for the first time since we left, Lori over slept. She decided that she was so ready to get home that being a princess and going through all her normal process was not needed today. What that process is, is something only women understand and men always wait for. So goes the song, “Wait’n on a woman?” We left the hotel behind and jumped on the Interstate to be welcomed by a flurry of traffic all racing toward Louisville Kentucky. Who knew? After navigating through the morning rush hour our ride was pretty smooth sailing for the first 125 miles.
The second leg of the day had me processing information that had been rattling through my brain since the tire change yesterday. I was smelling something burning and could not put my finger on it. At first I thought it was my riding pants touching the exhaust pipes, but no. When I stopped the bike I looked all around and underneath to find nothing at first. But then I also noticed that I only smelled something when I turned or leaned left. So I looked at the tire that was just put on really close on the right side and there was a warm, sticky, newly burnt strip all the way around the tire. It was rubbing on my trailing arm when I leaned left and the tire flexed under pressure to the right of center frame. When the guy at the Honda shop in Kansas City came to me to tell he was done, he also told me the bushings in the trailing arm might need to be replaced. He also told me he tightened it up and torqued it down. Not sure what he did, but the tire is not centered in the trailing arm and I will have to fix that.
So with this knowledge, I made sure the tire had the correct pressure, and then just took it easy when turning left. I only smelled the burning rubber a couple of times once I figured what was going on. The rest of our trip home today was filled with heat and a reintroduction to I-81 north and all the Tractor trailer traffic. We arrived back in our driveway safely at 4:45pm.
Over the next few days, I will write a summation of our trip with the Good, the bad, and the ugly. I will attempt to get some input by Lori, but sometimes she just doesn’t want to play. The one thing that I learned from this trip is that I can make Alaska and back and I can deal with diversity in small doses. Anyone want to go?
Todays run was 572 miles, and our total is now 10,415.
The Picture below shows what we have completed and what we have left. The Red is complete and the Green is what is left. We have nothing left!!!
"The one thing that I learned from this trip is that I can make Alaska and back...... Anyone want to go?"
ReplyDeleteNo thank ya. Too much barren wasteland and boring farmland between here and there. I'll fly in, rent a bike.. and meet you there for the fun stuff. :)
Glad you guys are home safe. I really enjoyed following your trip.
You sound like Lori and where is the adventure in that?
ReplyDeleteglad ya'll made it home safely. that was quite a trip. Alaska will be one of those 'in between jobs' trips after i have to retire. and in an RV!
ReplyDeleteI'll go in a couple of years and I bet I can get John to go along. However, we cannot stick to that timeline that you just did. At least, not everyday, we will have days that are short, but we can do 630 in a day if need be. His Dad is doing it this year and may have already headed that way or getting ready to.
ReplyDeleteThe pace I set for this trip was tough at times, but over all it wasn't as hard as I thought. Alaska is a dream and it is something I will do. This last trip was a logistic nightmare timing oil changes, cloths washing, and tire changes. Add in the unexpected and it was a challenge, but I over came every one of them. 400 mile days are good, and 550 max to make transitions is also a good number. Over 550 gets hard on passengers and relationships.
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