The
Squamidian Report – July 6 / 13
Issue #580
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Ok, its safe to read this weeks issue. Bike is all fixed up and back. It was a rather staggering repair bill but that’s normal with anything ‘Harley’, or with anything at all these days. So, here’s what happened.
As you know, I took the bike in to a Harley dealer way out in Chilliwack because the two closer dealers are incompetent and very untrustworthy. That was a week ago Thursday, just before the long weekend. The bike needed more work and parts etc than expected and when I had to leave the bike there and find my way back to Squamish, I didn’t really expect to see it again for a week even though they said they’d do everything possible to get it fixed, and fixed right. They would let me know on the Friday afternoon if the parts had come and if the machining had been done so the bike could be ready for Saturday. Well, I didn’t hear from them on Friday, and so on Saturday morning we went about our day, figuring we wouldn’t be heading for Chilliwack to pick the bike up. ‘The Wife’ was getting ready to head to Maple Ridge, and I was getting ready to pass my old dirt bike on to a friend of mine. My shoulders are so bad that I can’t really ride it anymore without going head first over the bars and that stops being fun after a while.
Then both my cell phone and the house phone rang, at the same time. One was the friend who was coming up from the city for the dirt bike, saying he was just about to head out, and the other was the Harley dealer in Chilliwack saying the bike was ready to go although there were a couple of other things they wanted to talk to me about. The parts had come in late Friday afternoon, and the machine shop guy had come around to get the primary case so it could be machined properly. They had the bike back together and test ridden. However, now that it was not making a whole lot of unnecessary noise, they could hear the front wheel bearings, and the front brake pads were down to 30%. They wanted to know if I’d like that dealt with, but because they were very busy the bike would not be ready till about 3 pm. That wasn’t a problem because I would have to find a way to get there from Squamish. So, I called my dirt bike friend back and told him we’d have to do that stuff later. I called Ryan and asked if he could run me out to Chilliwack from Maple Ridge once ‘The Wife’ got there because I’d come in with her. That’s what we did.
I had a short wait once I was at the dealer and then it was ready to go. I could retire on what the bill came to if I wasn’t already retired and I wasn’t the one paying the money out, but there was a lot of parts and labour involved and not really any other choice. When I jumped on the bike to head home, it sounded all wrong! I was so used to the clashing and banging and grinding and spinning noises that were no longer there that it threw me for a bit until I got used to it not making all sorts of bad noises. It also felt smoother, the way a Harley should feel. Wow, what a difference. Unlike the down-pour I rode through on the Thursday to get there, our weather had turned hot and dry (hot by west coast standards) Instead of rain gear and leather, I rode home with fingerless gloves and mesh jacket. Felt great. Knock on wood, the bike has started properly and run properly ever since. Unfortunately, now I can’t afford to ride anywhere. The bikes no longer broke but I am.
Now, about the old duel sport street legal dirt bike, I haven’t ridden it for a couple of years now except for up and down the street a few times last fall. Sitting un-used under the deck has not been very good for it, machinery tends to deteriorate when not used regularly. One of my riding friends was in need of a bike, any bike. His own bike needs a new engine and he hasn’t any money to purchase one. The little 1986 Honda is certainly not a highway bike by anyone’s standards or imagination but with some TLC it could work well for tooting around the city streets. So, he hitched a ride with another friend and they came up for the bike. The gas in it was several years old and no longer looked or smelled like gas. It looked more like green tea with blobs of snot in it. We had to drain the tank and the carb bowl and flush with new gas before the bike would start. Keep in mind it’s an old fashion kick-start system and it took a lot of kicking to get her going after sitting for so long. Once we knew it still could run, we did the paper work and then he on the little old Honda, and the other friend and I on our bike cruiser style bikes headed out for a ride up the Upper Squamish Valley to give the Honda a good run and to make sure it wouldn’t up and quit on us. It ran great although it stank for a few miles from the old gas residue and would stall once in a while. I think a good carb cleaner treatment will take care of that.
This was last Tuesday, when the insurance and licensing place was open after the long weekend. Once satisfied, we headed for the city, right down highway 99, as there is no other route to get there. Actually, we were heading for Horseshoe Bay. From there he could take the back streets if he wanted. Much to everyone’s amazement, the little Honda ran great all the way. The highway is posted at 80, and we tooted along about 85. The bike snorted pretty good going up some of the long hills and lost a bit of speed, but it surprised us all and did great. All three of us were using our communication headsets and could converse the whole way so we knew how the bike was doing and could deal with any traffic issues. We let the Honda take the lead and set the pace and the two big bikes took rear guard positions. Worked great. Once we got to Horseshoe Bay, we parked where we always park the bikes. Normally, people will walk up to our bikes to look at them. This time, people were looking at the old, dirty duel sport Honda in amazement. The poor bike still has mud caked on it from the years we had so much fun with it up in the local mountains.
Its heart breaking for me to know that I can’t ride that bike anymore, or any bike like it. Its just too hard on my damaged shoulder joints. We had so much fun on those bikes, no one could put a price on the amount of fun we had exploring the mountains. Nothing can ever take away, or replace the riding I did with both Warren and Ryan on their dirt bikes. But those days are long gone. Seeing the Honda go to someone who is going to have his own fun on it, offsets seeing it go. And no, I won’t be putting knobby tires on the Harley.
doug
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Things have been ok
weather wise around KW and even though they have been forecasting rain for the
past week and every day to some extent in the near future, it’s been relatively
dry but hot and humid. I don’t
mind the heat or even the humidity but it’s kind of a let down when you put
your trust in the weather predictions when making plans to do anything around
the home or away. You either do or don’t plan things according to what you
expect the weather is going to be like and invariably it seems to let you down
every time! Oh well, I guess one should just go ahead and plan whatever and
hope for the best. If the weather spoils your plans for the day, have a backup
plan!
Carole and I were
thinking of taking a drive up to the Chi Cheemaun in
Tobermory next week and enjoying a cruise on the ship across to the north shore
of Georgian Bay. We figured we’d just take our sweet time and enjoy the drive
back around the top of the bay and back to Kitchener over the following couple
of days, stopping whenever we felt like touring a little or staying over night
in some interesting spot. When I checked out the requirements for the Ferry
crossing I was surprised to see that they were slightly “anti pet” in their
accommodations. Their policy toward pets on board the ship states that you may
take your dog on board but the pet must either be left alone in your vehicle
with no access for the owner to check on it during the entire two hours of the
cruise or you can take the dog up to the promenade deck which is out doors and
the pet must be leashed at all times. I have no problem with having our dog
leashed but they will not allow any pets to be taken inside should the weather
be wet and unfriendly! What kind of an archaic attitude is this for a supposed modern
transport operation? I’d like to think that if the weather turned shitty one
could at least take their pet into a sheltered part of the inner deck. With the
cost of the crossing set at $56.00 for the vehicle and another $18.99 per
person including the driver the total comes to over $100.00 with taxes! I’ll be
damned if I’m going to sit out on an open deck with my beloved dog in a rain
storm for two hours should the weather happen to take a turn for the worse! We
figured they can keep their Ferry trip and we’ll just stick to the land and the
comfort of our air-conditioned vehicle for whatever trip we plan to take. I’m
sure we would be able to find enough motels that will accept our little pet
along the way. If not, we’d just have to find motels that we could enter from
the parking lot directly to our room and sneak the little fellow in with us for
the night. He’s pretty quiet and manageable so I don’t anticipate any
complaints from the folks next door. We’ve decided to rethink this whole trip
so there’s no rush. We’ve got the whole summer to get away for a few days at a
time and with Bailey being diabetic, we are the only ones who we can trust to
give him his shot every evening so he’ll have to be part of our travel plans!
The only other alternative we’d have would be to rent a motor home and then we
wouldn’t have to worry about motels at all. We could park in any Wal Mart parking lot over night and that might just be more
fun after all!
Like I said, we’ll
have to give this some more thought!
That’s it for this
week folks!
Thanks for tuning in
and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To
Think About>
Two hydrogen atoms
meet and one says, “I’ve lost my electron!” The other says, “Are you sure?” The
first replies, “Yes, I’m positive!”
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.