Days 4 and 5

Starting the Cross-Country Leg but having problems

Wednesday, August 7th, 2019

Today was supposed to be a long haul from Spokane Washington to Gillette Wyoming. However, on Tuesday evening I started to notice a strange clicking noise coming from the engine mostly when it idled. I check the oil level every day or two and have not noticed any appreciable loss but having been stuck in traffic several times the past two weeks, I was concerned that the engine had overheated and I was having a mechanical problem with the valves on the rear cylinder. The rear cylinder does not get any airflow when the motorcycle is idling in traffic. I can feel the heat as it rises around the gas tank and into my face. It is transmitted through the seat as well.

Lone Wolf Harley-Davidson, Spokane Washington

I was so pleased that I had avoided the dreaded traffic jams while passing through Seattle (twice) and hit the open highway across the State of Washington. I had originally planned to have the bike serviced in Gillette Wyoming on Thursday. Instead, I looked up the Spokane Harley-Davidson which was 7-miles from my hotel. I headed there so that I could be there when they opened at 10:00 AM. The service technician was able to determine that an "exhaust flange nut" had come off that holds the exhaust pipe to the engine cylinder. This was a $2.15 part. Since I had it in the shop, I decided to have the oil changed a couple of days early. I try to change the oil and have the bike serviced every 5,000 miles and it was due for its 80K service. The rear tire had worn so I had it replaced as well. I was in and out in 4-hours which was good since I didn't have an appointment and they had to fit me in.

While I was waiting, I met two very interesting bikers in the lounge area. Most H-D dealers have leather couches and chairs in the retail area of the store or a side room. We visited while we all waited for our bikes to be serviced. We were all passing through town and were getting oil changes. The first individual was from Northern Wisconsin. His travelling partner had an Indian motorcycle and decided to change the oil himself at one of the nearby auto parts store. The second gentleman was from Alaska. He had his bike shipped by Alaskan Airlines to Seattle. The price was about $1 per pound. He has also driven several times between Alaska and the Continental US. He had some very interesting stories. This made the time pass quickly.

I left the Spokane area around 2:30 PM and decided to head east to Missoula Montana for the evening. There was a Cracker Barrel near the hotel, so I had dinner prior to checking into the hotel. I looked at the rear of the bike to see if another item I had fixed was still intact. I have a set of additional lights on the bottom of the 'touring box' that improve visibility. One of the fixtures had broken off and was hanging by the wire. The dealer had fastened it to the bike for no charge. However, I noticed that my rear running lights were no longer working.

Because of the late start, I only traveled 221 miles today. The temperatures were in the upper 90's during the late afternoon.

Thursday, August 8th, 2019

I noticed that I had passed the Grizzly Harley-Davidson dealer two miles back the evening before. I headed to the dealer early so that I could be the first motorcycle that they saw that morning. I was able to pull into the shop 15-minutes before opening and they determined what I had suspected was that it was a $4 blown fuse. They put it up on the rack to see if there was an underlying problem and didn't see any shorts.

Grizzly H-D, Missoula, Montana

While I was waiting, I sat in the waiting area and there was what I call a "coffee table" book that was put together by one of their local customers. It was Volume 2 of his journal visiting the 48 State Capitol Buildings on a 96-day journey. I was impressed so much that I read through the scrap book presentation. He was a widower that made the journey as part of a bucket list wish that he had come up with. In addition to stopping at each Capitol, he also stopped at the local H-D dealer and bought a set of three poker chips that are specific to each dealership. At the end he framed the three sets and presented them to some of his friends who had supported him while he was on his epic journey. I was just reading through the final recap (appendix) when the Service Tech informed me that my bike was ready. I quickly finished reading the book before heading back to the service department.

There were several other bikers how stopped at the dealership. Some of them were to get their bikes fixed like me. Most of them were on their way home from the Sturgis Bike Rally. I will be passing by there on Friday and may stop if there is no traffic backup.

I arrived in Gillette Wyoming around 8:00 PM and had pizza delivered to the room. I encountered a bit of rain during the late afternoon. I had to struggle with gasoline since it is a long distance between stations. On one occasion, I was comparing the estimated miles on the tank creep nearer to the distance to the station on my GPS. I noticed that about a mile ahead there was heavy rain, so I stopped. I used one of the spare gallons to make sure I had enough fuel to reach the next station and put on my rain jacket. I may have had enough to get there, but I didn't want to run out of gas in the rain. After being in the rain for about 2-miles, it stopped. I reached to gas station with no further issues and stashed the rain gear as the temperatures had returned into the upper 80's and I was sweating in the jacket.

About 30 miles prior to my destination, I noticed additional rain ahead. I put on my leather jacket since the temperatures had dropped around 20 degrees. The jacket has zippers that open/close vents to allow airflow and I can adjust my comfort level. While I was doing that, I noticed that my running lights were out again. I pressed onto the hotel and did some paperwork before calling it a night.

I was careful when I put the bag over the bike to make sure that it was secure since there were thunderstorms in the area. I covered 580 miles today in around 9 hours.

Technically, I am back on schedule since I was going to leave Gillette on Friday morning. I have decided to call ahead to some of the dealerships to see if I can get an appointment to find the electrical problem. In the meantime, I will not leave about an hour later so that I limit travel to daytime hours. The plan for Friday is to reach Albert Lea Minnesota around 7:00 PM.