| Ted's
House - Motorcycle Trip Reports Canada, 1996 | ||
|
Well, it started out much like any other day except I was getting up 4 hours earlier and didn't need any coffee to get me going. After an aborted departure yesterday after lightening storms and a 35 mile backup on the New Jersey Tpk I was finally ready to go! The states passed quickly, up 95 through Maryland and Delaware to the New Jersey turnpike (blissfully empty), exit 11 to the Garden State parkway to 287 East across New York and the Tapan Zee, to Connecticut and 684/84. I had just finished lunch and gassing up when across the median I saw a parade of BMWs, first an R100RT, then a K75S, then an R1100RT, and finally a Ninja ZX-9R. A Ninja?!? That must be Don and the 4-Corners Crowd!!! Don had decided to run the Iron Butt Association's "4-Corners" run to celebrate his 40th birthday and talked Dave and Bob into coming along. Anyone who can hit all four corners of the United States in less than two weeks certainly has my respect! Well I whipped down the next exit got back on 84 going south and flogged the K75 until I caught up with them a few miles down the road.
After a few intense minutes of laughing and story telling (and a photograph by one of Connecticut's Finest...) we split up and Don headed south to finish his trip and I north to begin mine. Well, things were pretty boring until I got to Portsmouth NH and had a big, big
scare... I let a kid pump the gas into my K75 because I was very low and because the
station was all full serve and meant it. Halfway up the onramp I looked down and suddenly
felt an intense heat on my leg and looked down to notice flames shooting out from below
the gas tank. hmmmm. I pulled over immediately, threw down the stand, and jumped off the
bike. Thank heavens I had just bought a big bottle of Poland Spring water...I had the top
off and the flames out in all of about three seconds. I was still standing there with the
empty water bottle in my hand when Barry (last name?) on his Harley pulled I finally made it across the Maine state line and on to Route 1 and LL beans around 11:30pm. I emerged from Beans about $150 poorer but with new shoes, a sweater and some camping trinkets. Every time I go to Freeport I think that they simply cannot fit anymore outlets there. Well they have, and believe it or not it was done in a pretty attractive way. On to Coastal route 1, through Bath and Wiscasset, where I started running into a little fog. As I approached Camden, this little fog turned into that thick cotton ball Yankee fog that you wear and that gets you just as wet as a pouring rain. Well, I had missed the last ferry boat over to Islesboro so I started to look for an open motel, there are tons of them along Rt.1. The motel industry has a neat little way for getting even with all those people that steal towels & park their bikes indoors...when there are no rooms left, they change the welcoming glowing green Vacancy sign to a blaring red one that simply says "NO" I was riding up Rt1 through the thick fog and all I could see was the dashed yellow stripes in the middle of the road, and one after another glowing red "NO" signs on the sides of the road. I finally got to Lincolnville and planned on sleeping next to the bike at the ferry dock when I heard a boat...the Quicksilver!!! Earl runs the quicksilver between Islesboro and the mainland and was dropping off a crowd of people that had been to a party. In no time I was on the boat, then on the island, then finally in bed in a deep restful sleep. 9 States, 790 miles & one fire. Next
Day... | ||
|
All Photos and Text Copyright©1996-9, Ted
Verrill |
up and asked if I needed help. Well
we pulled the tank right there and aside from a thoroughly shot accessory plug wire it
seemed OK. It was at that exact time that I realized the bike had no shed cup "air
accumulator". People, make sure you have one as it appears what happened is it vented
the excess gasoline that Junior put in right over the air box, and it quickly caught fire.
The cup collects excess gasoline and vents it down a hose and out under the swingarm. I'll
have one as soon as possible (will be checking the Canadian BMW dealers when I get there!)
BMWNA, any comment on this one??? A little aloe on the legs and I was good on my way :) 