The
Squamidian Report – Oct. 8 / 11
Issue #489
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well, like I said last week when the Squid came out late, I was away on a motorcycle road trip. I’m back now. Probably the last one of the season, what a sad thought that is! Anyway, Ryan and I hooked up with my friend who lives in the Kootenay’s for a run down through Washington State. But I guess I should start at the beginning, which was actually the day before we headed out.
Due to Ryan’s work schedule, we couldn’t get away until last Tuesday, but Tuesday dawned dark and wet. Very wet. The BC coast was being hammered by the remnants of those Pacific Typhoons that have been battering Asia. So, we waited until Tuesday evening and rode in to Horseshoe Bay to attend our CMC chapter meet & greet. That was a wet ride, the bikes were throwing up rooster tails of water from the back wheels, and sending out bow waves from the front wheels. After the M&G we rode to Ryan’s place in Coquitlam, through more rain, just not quite as heavy as earlier. Next morning was cold but mostly clear, so we loaded up the bikes and geared up and saddled up. Ryan hit the starter on his Sportster, but it wouldn’t turn over. Battery was almost dead. It had been turning over slower and slower all season, and now that it was wet and cold, it would not start. I phoned my friend from the Kootenay’s who was going to meet us in Osoyoos and told him we would be delayed a while.
We then pulled the battery and climbed aboard my bike and dashed out to Langley to the Harley dealer where we picked up a new battery. As Ryan was paying for it, I noticed they had given him the wrong one, the terminals were reversed. We’d have been really ticked if we’d gotten all the way back to his place through all the frustrating Port Mann construction traffic only to find we had to go back again. Anyway, got the right battery and went back and installed it. Bike started up in the blink of an eye. By now it was almost 11am and we were 3 hours behind. I phoned my friend (I’ll call him ‘Brian’ for convenience) and let him know we were on our way. We’d be in Osoyoos by about 4 or so.
We had a nice ride out the Fraser Valley and up over the Allison Pass through Manning Park. It was cold but not wet and that’s about as good as it get through there. The ride from Princeton to Osoyoos is always a treat, the deep river valley, the rolling high dry hills. Hooked up with Brian, had a coffee and then headed south to the border crossing at Oroville. Got the usual hard time from the US border guard who figured we should look just like our passport pictures. No one looks like their passport pictures. Once we cleared customs we were on our way. We rode south to Omak and then south east to Grand Coulee. That put on along the Columbia River just down stream from the Grand Coulee dam. Very interesting country with it’s columnar basalt lava deposits that are hundreds of feet deep. The geological history of this area is fascinating. It had been very volcanically active, with numerous eruptions laying down layer after layer of lava. Then at the end of the last ice age, ice dams had formed that held back glacial lakes that flooded central BC, and much of Montana and Idaho. Then the ice dams broke, the massive torrent of water ripped the land, tearing hundreds of feet deep into the basalt layers. The result is the incredible scenery we were now riding though.
We followed the river into the town of Grand Coulee and found a nice motel. That was our first day on the road. Off to a slow start but it turned out pretty nice. Next morning was very cold but dry, and the bikes fired right up, just the way they should. Just south of the town the highway follows along Bank’s Lake for about 25 miles. We pulled over and mounted our helmet cams in order to shoot some nice scenery video. The ride took us along the lake, hemmed in between vertical cliffs. This is part of the ice age flood damage. Incredible scenery. We stopped at Dry Falls, where the flood cut even deeper into the earth’s crust, and then headed on down to Ephrata. By then it was late morning and the temperature had warmed all the way up to hot. Its summer there. As we worked our way south and east we rode through flat corn country that slowly changed into high rolling wheat fields. Very high and rolling, and dry. The farm equipment harvesting the grain, and working the land was stirring up so much dust it looked like an overcast. The wheat stubble fields were so bright and golden you needed sun glasses to look at them, even under the dust overcast. We rode into Moscow, Idaho, and then back into Washington where we pulled in to Pullman for the night. Another great day of riding.
Next morning was again cold and clear, but by noon it was hot again. Perfect riding conditions. We rode north up to Spokane through wonderful, rolling dry ranchland, then east toward the Idaho border where we dropped in on a huge Harley dealer, just for the heck of it. At this point we departed ways, Brian headed north east and we headed north west. Ryan and I pulled in to Colville at noon and had lunch. After lunch we rode north through Kettle Falls, along the scenic Kettle River and up to Laurier and the border crossing back into Canada. The Canadian border guard was friendly and we enjoyed telling her about our ride. A few minutes later we were riding in BC. Funny how the brain tries to translate metric highway speeds into metric, after spending a few days translating US speeds into metric.
We now had a dilemma, how far should we push on before calling it a day? We rode through the dry rocky mountains and hills of southern BC countryside to Osoyoos where we stopped for a break. Decided to push on to Princeton where we would have to either stop, or keep going all the way. It was now past 6pm and would be dark in an hour, but the Allison Pass section of highway 3 would take us almost 2 hours to cross. It would be very dark long before we reached Hope. But, the weather forecast for the next day was bad, very wet and windy. We asked a couple of locals what they thought and all agreed that it would be better to run out of daylight on the pass than to ride the whole way in heavy rain. This time of year, the rain could be very cold and perhaps even slippery. There is a reason vehicles are supposed to carry tire chains after the end of September, and we were on two wheels, not four. So, we pushed on. One danger of late day and night riding is the possibility of wildlife running out onto the road, and local wildlife can be very big. So, with our nice loud exhaust systems announcing our approach, we stayed as far from the shoulder of the highway as possible and kept our eyes open. We made it without incident and dropped down onto Highway 1 just west of Hope. Rode on to Abbotsford where we stopped for a late dinner and to relax a bit. Then, we took the back way to Ryan’s in Coquitlam in order to avoid the Port Mann construction traffic, again. That stuff is getting tiring, and will go on for another couple of years.
However, the ride was great. Always good to hook up with Brian, always fantastic to do a ride with Ryan. It is our last multi-day road trip of the season, although we did manage to ride in the Vancouver Toy Ride the next day, along with five thousand other motorcycles. Cool.
Didn’t take many pictures, but did take two hours of video that I’ve edited down to nine minutes. I’ve uploaded it to our YouTube site and here’s the link.
I’ve also uploaded this story to my web site, so if you prefer to read it there, here is that link: http://www.thedougsite.net/11-Rides/BK-Rides/WashingtonState.html
Oh, we had one nice day this week so I did a ride up the Upper Squamish, as far as the end of pavement and took my GoPro helmet cam along. The ride took and hour, I turned that into a 7 minute video and then added some background music. You can view it at this link if you want.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
What incredibly beautiful weather we’re having for our fall here in Ontario!!!!! Just thought I ‘d give those who don’t live here in our fine sunny province a cheap shot! How’s the weather on the west coast this week Doug? Seriously, I hope your weather is as fine as ours is and you’re enjoying it!
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With the sun shining the other day as it did today and is supposed to for the next week, I decided to put some effort into getting ready for the coming winter and tune up the snow blower. I managed to dig it out of the shed and push it into the garage. With the garage door open and the sun beaming in I set the blower up on a block of wood to tilt it so the oil would drain out completely. I usually just change the oil and make sure the tires are properly inflated. This year I figured I’d actually take a read through the TORO manual and see exactly what I should be doing to get it set for the coming cold season. To my surprise there was a lot more to a winter tune up than I thought! The book recommended that if the spark plug was two years old, it should be changed. I hopped into the Jeep and headed to Canadian Tire and purchased a litre of 5W/30 Pennzoil motor oil and a new Champion spark plug. I’ve had the blower for 4 years now and had never even looked at the spark plug until this year and it was to my surprise a black little crispy critter when I extracted it from the engine head. Good thing I actually put some effort into a tune up this year or I might have been freezing my little fingers off mid winter trying to do it right!
Once I got home and found the well worn plug I figured I’d best read the rest of the book and follow it’s instructions for winter service properly. I let the oil drain for a good half hour and then poured an additional ¼ litre through the engine to flush out any remaining sludge. When it ran out clean and clear like honey it was time to pour in the good stuff! The book called for 26 oz and I managed to pour in exactly that amount. Thanks to Pennzoil for putting a gage on the side of the bottle! With the new oil in the block, I then installed the new spark plug. The new plug comes from the factory with the “Gap” already at the proper setting so that was a snap. The next step was to check the gear oil in the front auger differential. Of course I hadn’t had the plug out of that part of the blower since it was new so it was seized in the drain hole pretty tightly! I managed with the help of good ol’ WD-40 to finally dislodge the plug. The level of the gear oil is supposed to be high enough that it’s just about to drip out of the hole if the machine is sitting level. Luckily, the oil was at the proper level and didn’t need to be topped up. I’ll make an effort to actually drain the differential next year as part of the tune up. For this year, I’ll just leave it alone! Next was the suggestion that I stand the blower on its nose and take the rear panel off of the body. This allows access to the axle and the other moving gears and drive-parts. With this access I had to take a finger dipped in motor oil and smear it on “The Hex Shaft” that was clearly visible in the housing. I did that without dripping any of the oil on the friction and drive wheels that move the auger as well as drive the wheels of the blower. Had I gotten oil on either of these parts I’d have one heck of a time getting them to move. The oil would make them slip instead of grip when they make contact, as they should. After completing a visual inspection of the inside workings of the body, I replaced the cover and tipped the blower back onto it’s wheels.
The final step on the winter check up is to check the cables and linkage on the unit that change gears and allow the various parts of the blower to move when I want to change the direction or speed of the blower and the snow chute! They moved quite freely and seemed to be in good condition. I did however spray good ol’ WD/40 down each cable sheath and into the gear assembly that controls the snow chute, just to give a little added lubrication to be safe! The last of the required steps for a complete winter preparation was to lubricate the wheels and the shaft of the snow auger. I managed to remove the wheels that are held on with a pin through the wheel hub and axel. These are usually seized on from not greasing them every year. They were a bit tight but I got them free and removed them with a little persuasion from a block of wood and my small sledge hammer. Once they were off, I greased them up well and replaced the wheels and pins. I found that my auger shaft does not have grease fittings on it so all I could do was spray the open ends of the auger where they meet the shaft with white graphite grease after spraying good ol’ WD/40 down the shaft. The shaft doesn’t turn inside the auger body but I wanted the WD to keep the two from rusting together in case I ever have to remove the auger from the housing! After spending what turned out to be a two-hour job instead of a half hour job on the tune up etc, I was finished and TORO is ready to go! Now I’m actually looking forward to the first good snow fall!
So now, if you can’t be bothered reading your snow blower manual at least you’ve read this Ontarion and you’re all ready to tune up your own snow blower for winter!
Boring as this may have been, at least it serves a practical purpose! You’re welcome!
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>
There is an advantage to NOT OWNING a snow blower, at least you don’t have to tune up your shovel!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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