Where to begin? Today we headed for West Michigan and followed much of the Lake all the way up to Petosky. The ride started out boring on Interstates. Once on HWY 31 North, we ran into traffic, stop lights, and construction. It was rough. At lunch, we decided to change to route to HWY 22 on the advice of a couple of loc,.al bikers. This turned out to be a very good move. One section of 22 north of Traverse City was one of those fantastic motorcycling roads - so nice it even has a T-shirt.
Unfortunately, we were so far behind that we arrived very late at 7:30 p.m. The crew, taking a direct route, had arrived at noon. I was scheduled to install the V3 clutch but was so tired I could hardly see. Yes, it had arrived due to the heroic interventions of Greg McBride. Ryan, the head support guy tried to do his thing at reception by checking us all in. The management was miserable and that was a nada. He then asked for the V3 clutch to have it ready for me. They refused to acknowledge that it had even arrived, never mind handing it over. This was a sign of more, worse things to come. But, back at the field hospital, work began.
The old standard clutch was extracted and the new V3 dry was installed. Alas, it was missing a few very minor things that were fetched at a local auto parts store. We had no installation instructions but there were enough kibitzers to form a panel of advisors. The trick was trimming a push rod to the exact, perfect length. When all was done, Ryan gave it a riding test and pronounced it very acceptable. We made a few final adjustments and packed up for the night at 11:00 p.m. But, the Rapide will put our Vincent count back up to full complement. Thanks go to Richard for staying up for all of this and to Ian for his hands-on participation and good humour. The whole crew stayed up late too to keep the canopy and bike stand up for us. Thanks also go to V3 (Neal Vindian) for an incredibly good product that is a true bolt-on.
If there was ever a time when I needed the comforts of a great hotel, this was it. Alas, this place was still blaming COVID-19 for appalling facilities and service. This was a place that looked great from the outside. They have a huge bar and restaurant neither of which was open. They had no food or drink service at all. We had to order our own dinner from outside. There is nothing wrong with that by the way. I enjoy our outdoor meals under the canopies. It is just not what people wanted this time.
I am in huge physical pain. The Triumph is a lovely machine. It served me well and I am grateful it was available. But, it really strains the shoulders and neck. The handlebars make you like a sail in the wind at high speed. You have to hold on tight. The clutch has a relatively hard pull. I woke up in the middle of the night in screaming agony. Any attempt to raise my head or change position was agonizing. My cure has been a soak in steaming hot water. So, I got up to do that. The bathtub plug failed to hold water. I covered the drain with a face cloth and a shower mat. It worked. Ahhhh, blessed relief.
I am looking forward to being back on the Vincent. For my money, it offers the most comfortable perch for sport-touring ever devised. That is a strong statement, but absolutely true. The seat is perfect, the handlebars perfect, and the footrests ditto. Plus, it has the lightest clutch pull in the business. Hopefully, the Vincent's comforting charms will nurse me back to health.
Thankfully we have a shorter ride coming up, only 240 miles. I will collect some pictures from others and add them to this post later. Tomorrow I am officially going on strike. No more work! I need to get back to partying, something this group also does so well.
%5B1%5D.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment