Lovelock

I stopped by Lovelock, Nevada on my way to Sturgis. Given Nevada’s reputation for the bawdy and tawdry, I always assumed that the town of Lovelock was named for a carnal embrace.  What I found surprised me.  There are hundreds of padlocks, many engraved with names and dates, locked onto chains around the court house.  The legend is that if two people put a lock on the chain, they will be in love for the rest of their lives.

Instead of bawdy and tawdry I found the Lovelock legend to be charming.

   

Then there is Wedlock, which is something entirely different.

The Good Samaritan

     The starter clutch had failed during the Stampede in Louisiana and finding a 1983 Kawasaki starter clutch could have been a problem.  But, I located a one at United Cycle, the Kawasaki shop in Beckley, West Virginia and they were open on Mondays which was also a minor miracle.  I left Pinebluff, North Carolina on Sunday and headed northwest into the mountains of West Virginia.  It is beautiful country, but having to push start the bike every time I turned the engine off put a damper on my enjoyment of the ride.

     It's about 265 miles from Pinebluff to Beckley.  When I arrived it was hot.  I located the Kawasaki dealer and then started searching for someplace to stay.  I was behind a guy on a really nice chopper when my bike quit running.  I pushed the bike into a parking lot and the guy on the chopper made a u-turn and came back.  He said, "I saw you behind me, then you weren't there, is there anything I can do."

     While he stood by I pulled off the seat and found a fuse holder that was loose.  I was able to push start the bike. The sun was blazing hot but the good Samaritan stood by in case I needed help.  I told him about my blog, he knew about the Stampede, and he was a big fan of The Horse magazine.

     So I repaid him for his help by forgetting his name, my bad.  So please, do me another favor, get my email address at the "view my complete profile" and send me your name.

     By the way, your bike is really nice!

Smoke Out XIII

I had no idea what the Smoke Out was, I was so focused on the Stampede that I didn't even think about the Smoke Out. I wasn't even sure if I would stay for the Smoke Out, but I am glad I did. The Smoke Out was so much fun. The Smoke Out had this Southern vibe that I really liked. No one was acting tough, there was no drama, just guys and girls having fun. 

The Legion of the Long Road are a group of riders that do a 1000 mile tour to the Smoke Out. This year they started Bruceton, Tennessee and over 5 days rode to the Smoke Out. The Long Road Lounge welcomed the Stampede riders and was a great place hang out and to have a burger and beer, and it was also a good place to get out of the rain that came every afternoon.

I was surprised to find that you could ride your bike anywhere on the Smoke Out grounds. Try that at any Western motorcycle event, but think about it, isn't that what it's all about. There was no police presence, either at the Smoke Out or on the surrounding roads, there was simply no need, people behaved themselves. What a concept.

Famous Road Signs

It is said that the early settlers called the river "Drowning River" because it is a scary looking "black water" river. Black water refers to the color of the water, which is a dark color because of minerals in the water. 

Now days only the headwaters are known as Drowning Creek. Drowning Creek flows into the Lumber River and then from North Carolina into South Carolina. It then flows into Little Pee Dee River and then into the Big Pee Dee River and finally into Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. 

On my way to The Smoke Out at Rockingham Speedway, I couldn't help but stop to take a photo, however, I decided not to take a swim.

Stampede 2012

Here are some photos from Stampede 7. The first half are taken in Barstow at the start of the Stampede, the rest are taken 3000 miles later in Pinebluff, North Carolina at the Greenleafe Inn.

Enjoy! 

The rest of the photos are in North Carolina.

My Stampede

It was 0600 hours and Stampede 7 was heartbeats away from starting. I was well rested and ready to give it a go. The bike was ready, I was ready, I kept my eye on Charlie the Nomad because when he goes, the race is on.  I have ridden 1500 miles in 24 hours before and my plan was to put two 1500 mile in 24 hour trips back to back. Part of the plan was to stop as little as possible and when necessary make the stops as brief as possible. 

When Charlie pulled out of the parking lot I followed, it was a good start. I didn't want to be in a large pack of riders, and that's the way it turned out. We were headed for Santa Monica. I had to get a gas receipt in Santa Monica so there was no reason to keep the speed down and get good mileage. No reason to trade speed for distance.

I pulled off the freeway in Santa Monica and got gas. When it was time to push the "yes" for receipt button on the pump, I accidentally pushed the "no" button because the buttons were not lined up with the screen and had to go to the cashier for a receipt.

It was quite cool near the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica but it warmed up as I reached Riverside and by the time I hit Indio it was hot, damn hot. I was following the plan, staying in the saddle as long as possible. I made pit stop like refuelings, get gas, drink water and get going.

 I was into Texas and near the Mexican Border. I got stopped at a checkpoint and a female Border Patrol agent asked me something.  I couldn't hear her and said so. She asked again and I still couldn't hear.  After I told her I couldn't hear the third time, she waved me through. I think she may have been asking if I was a US citizen, well you bet you sweet ass I am but I got to go. I wonder how Jim would fare at the checkpoint, "Noo, I'm from Canadia eh."

 It was getting dark and I had gone around 1000 miles when I began to realize that my headlight was not working. I pulled into a gas station and ran a wire from under the seat to the headlight and got going again.  The first mechanical problem overcome at the cost of about an hour.

I didn't see much of Texas, it was a moonless night. I can tell you that I kept the speed fairly high. I was worried about deer and other animals but didn't see any. 0300 to dawn are hard hours for me, I get sleepy and I had a hard time keeping the speed up. I was somewhere around San Antonio or Houston when it started to get light. It was at a gas stop around this time that I checked my rear tire. It made my hair stand on end.  Before I left, I thought, "that tire has four or five thousand miles left on it," but now I realized that I would be lucky if it lasted till the end of the race. I sweated over that tire all through the race.

As I went into Louisiana, I began to see giant thunderstorms. I missed the first two but the third dumped rain like I have rarely seen. Sure enough the bike stopped running, drowned out. I must have looked really pathetic standing on the shoulder of the highway, soaked. My back was to a swamp and the roadway in front. Overhead lightning was flashing and thunder booming at almost the same time, I was really afraid that I might be hit. The bike was hot and dried whatever was wet and the bike started briefly, but when I tried to restart it the starter made a bad noise.

A State Trooper came to my aid. He was a great guy and took me to a parts store for a new battery. The parts store checked the battery and it was good. So it's a starter problem, I thought "I'm out of the race."  On the way back to the bike, the Trooper's boss was involved in an accident, so we had to divert to that location. When we got back I put the battery back in and still the grinding noise and no start. I put my stuff back on the bike and called my wife and told her I was done. I called the AAA to get me off the freeway.  While I was waiting for Triple A, I asked the Trooper if he would help me try to push start the Kawi one more time. Well the thing fired right up and I asked the Trooper to cancel Triple A for me and off I went.  Lost time, about 4 hours.

I hit New Orleans at rush hour. In California lane splitting is legal and so I have some skills in the lane splitting arts. I used those arts to give locals a view of lane splitting, California style. Some drivers expressed their disapproval by honking, in some strange way they must figure that a motorcycle getting by them somehow took a piece of their pie.


I went through Mississippi in late evening and Alabama full on darkness.  Florida was unexpectedly cold, but I kept up my speed on another moonless night. There was very little traffic on the highway. When I got to Jacksonville I got gas and took a photo of my GPS. 

The last leg of the Stampede went from Jacksonville to Pinebluff, North Carolina. I was tired and the road had invisible bumps that kept me awake by slamming my backbone like a mule kick. I had a little trouble finding the finish at the Greenleafe Inn, but I finally found the place and finished Stampede 7, what an adventure! My goals had been to #1 win, #2 get a Hardass Patch, #3 finish, and #4 not get hurt. I didn't win but I did reach all the other goals.    

I finished 4th, I covered the 3000 miles from Barstow, California to Pinebluff, North Carolina via Santa Monica and Jacksonville, in 49 hours and 51 minutes. 

The Stampede Begins

The idea is to arrive in Barstow on Friday, rest on Saturday (most did) and start the Stampede on Sunday.    Quite a few bikes had already arrived by the time I got there. Half the fun is checking out the machinery.

Bob Marshall is from Riverside, California. Bob had the only other Kawasaki KZ1000 Police

 bike in the race.

T.J. Schweers from Harrodsburg, Kentucky said that his 65 birthday was the day he arrived in Barstow to compete in the Stampede. That's quite a way to celebrate your birthday.

Charlie the Nomad, taking notes to keep things straight. He rode the same Kawasaki Z1-900 that he rode last year but he changed the exhaust system.

Nathan Friesz, with his 650 Yamaha "War Pony."

Jim Hunchuk, from Canada, who I met at the start of last years Stampede. Gave up his Kawasaki 750 of last year in favor of a Harley Davidson.  You gotta love that headlight.

Saturday evening everyone met in the parking lot and Charlie announced the route.

The Stampede 7 route was to start in Barstow and follow Highway 15 west into San Bernardino, then hit Highway 10 and go to Santa Monica at the Pacific Ocean.
Then the route turned east and was to follow Highway 10 all the way to the Atlantic Ocean at Jacksonville, Florida. From Jacksonville the route led north to the Greenleafe Inn in Pinebluff, North Carolina. The total distance, about 3000 miles.

At 0600 Hours everyone started their engines and headed out. The adventure had begun.

Thirty nine riders started Stampede, twenty nine finished.

Stampede 7 Results

1.   Adam MacDonell            44:38
2.   El Nomad                        47:38
3.   Cy Henry                        47:55
4.   Ray Watson                    49:51
5.   Buck B                           50:48
      Paul Corey                     50:48
6.   Jim Hunchuk                   55:31
7.   Nathan Friesz                 57:21
8.   Valardi Gonzales            57:50
9.   Chris Schreiber              58:35
10. Syrus DeJong                 60:50
      Frank Dotson                 60:50
11. Sue Brooks                    66:04
      Steff Brooks                   66:04
        (Mr. & Mrs. Mayagi)
12. Pete Cushing                  66:50
13. Tony Ace                       69:49
14. Frankie Doraime            69:55
15. Jared Stoker                  71:45
      Ryan Beniasch               71:45
      Chris DeBow                 71:45
      Chal Berab                    71:45
      Kent Kruger                  71:45
16. Bob Marshall                 81:42
17. Jay Jacobs                     83:45
18. Juan Ortega                   83:46
19. Ted McAllister              93:30
20. Dennis Carley               105:24
21. Richard Gibson             105:37
22. Dean "Fuzzy" Howes     129:57 


The route started in Barstow, Ca., then headed west to Santa Monica. The route then turned around and headed east following Hwy 10 to Jacksonville, Florida. After Jacksonvill the course turned north and finished at the Greenleafe Inn in Pinebluff, North Carolina. 
39 Riders left Barstow, The above 29 riders completed the roughly 3000 mile route and the top 6 riders got "Hard Ass" patches.
I can't post any photos because I am in Beckley, West Virginia. I am having lot of mechanical trouble but should be home in a week or two. While I didn't take any photos during the race (I was a little busy) but I've got tons of photos of the competitors and The Smoke Out and I will share when I can.         

My Stampede Bike Is Almost Ready

I used aluminum bar to build the struts. They are 3" shorter than the shocks that were on the bike, but the 3" springs under the seat keep the bike a tall ride. Lowering the tail end changed the fork angle making the steering more stable.

A friend really helped by machining aluminum slugs and steel end caps to solid mount the engine. It was a beautiful job and done by a master machinist. The bike actually vibrated less, the old rubber mounts were probably worn out. I think I may be on to something here, old worn parts cause vibration, amazing.

I installed a new chain and sprockets and went up one tooth, from 15 to 16, on the counter shaft, which lowed the RPM's from about 5100@70MPH to 4300@70MPH. The new sprockets and chain further reduced vibration. I'm sure that the lower RPM reduced vibration, I'm also sure that the worn out chain didn't help. 

I built a rack to hold the 3 gallon tank. The rack is in the same place as the old radio box but had to be a little higher in order to gravity feed the carburetors. 

I built a box at the front of the rack to hold a backrest from my Harley. The seating position on the bike is quite upright and riding at speed is like doing a continuous pull-up and the backrest will give a little relief.

All the big stuff is done, but I've still got a long list of small stuff that still has to be done.  But with a little luck I should be ready to head for Barstow on June 15 and give The Stampede a go.