Dad's bike (Part two)

  The trip to Hell's Canyon is coming up quickly. I've been out on a few rides getting familiar with the bike, they have been fun.

  My girlfriend, we will call her "Blue Eyes", went with me for a ride up Mt Spokane last weekend. It was an adventure! Isn't that what riding is all about!

  The ride started at my Step mom's house. I checked the bikes fluids and concluded that a bit more gas might be nice. I added about a gallon from a gas can, we put our gear on, and we headed out.

  I'm not used to having a passenger on a bike, so the first couple miles were awkward but ok. However, the bike wasn't performing well. It lacked acceleration and it sputtered when given more than half throttle. Thinking that perhaps the fuel I added was bad, we proceeded on to Alan's house to meet up with him. He might have some fresh fuel there and that could dilute the bad. Or so I hoped.

  Alan's house wasn't more than 15 minutes away. The bike occasionally ran really bad, but sometimes seemed to run fine. Motorcycle maintenance. I like the book, despise the practice!

  Somewhere around 10 minutes into the trip to Alan's the rear brake started sticking. I pulled over, looked at it, and concluded that it was fine. Perhaps the foot lever got caught on a burr or something. I figured if it acted up again I would flick the pedal with my foot to dislodge it.

  We get to Alan's without anymore problems. The bike seemed to sputter some but surely the fresh fuel will help.

  Alan had the fuel. We added it and took off for the mountain. It's only a 30 min drive. The bike still is sputtering. I'm beginning to be concerned. Are the carburetors getting plugged up? How will I know?

  About 20 minutes into the ride the rear brake grabs hard. I only have time to pull over. We pull into the drive of someone's house.

  The rear disc is glowing and the brake fluid is spurting out and igniting on the disc. Blue Eyes looks concerned. The fire worries her.  Somehow sitting on top of something that just caught fire doesn't appeal to her. Women...go figure. I blew on the flame and it went out immediately.

  While we let the brakes cool down I went for some water. I had stashed a bottle under the seat earlier, so I opened up the seat. There, just as I grabbed the bottle, I saw the problem. The water bottle was able to move around and get sucked into the air cleaner opening. My cleaver idea on where to put my water was the reason why the bike was running funny!

  I started the bike up just to see. Oh man, it was alive again! The power, the speed....oh baby!

  I figured out how to remove the brake pads from the rear caliper. Without them the brake would no longer seize up, and the front brake would still provide plenty of stopping power.

  Let's ride!

  Blue Eyes expressed her concern about entering the highway from where we were at. We were on a blind corner and it was a bit scary. But she didn't know the bikes secret weapon, more power!

  I gave it the beans. The old bike roared out onto the highway with the vim and vigor of a teenager. I was smiling from ear to ear. My back was getting sore from Blue Eyes hitting it, but it was still fun!

  We got to the top and rested in the shade. I chirped on about how much of an adventure we were having, Blue Eyes just smiled. I think she likes it when I get excitable, she just tries to be coy about it.

  We came off the mountain and I had Alan lead the way.

  Alan's Harley makes alot of noise when he gets on it and I can feel Blue Eyes arms tense up when she knows I'm gonna go for it. It was fun having her get nervous. It's a man thing. I can't help it. Grunt grunt....scratch scratch.

  We made it back to Alan's without any further complications. I mean, other than Blue Eyes occasionally slapping me  :o)

  I remembered that the suspension on the bike was adjustable so I turned it up to the top setting. That seemed to take care of the bottoming out we had experienced a couple of times. My bum was sore, so was Blue Eyes.

  When we arrived back to my Step Mom's place we told her about the ride. She admonished me for accelerating fast, something about how my dad was the same way and she scolded him til he accelerated more sanely. I'm not sure what she was saying. Accelerate slower? As if!!

  Riding that bike is pure joy. Even the mishaps and sore butt are a part of the journey. It is a "Be in the present" experience. It's therapy for a busy brain.

  I want Blue Eyes to ride with me more. I suppose that means taking her feelings into account and being easier on the throttle. This maturity stuff is annoying but good.