Did a 4 day loop with my buddy, Jerod.
Got home last night with only a little drama...
We were only about 50 miles from home and stopped for a stretch break when I noticed Jerod's rear tire. We debated about how to proceed and decided to take the safe way out. He hung out in a shady little park and I blasted home to get a trailer. That got him to my house but didn't get him the 200 miles to his house. Being a Sunday and no available parts, we figured the easiest thing would be to swap for my worn out rear tire/wheel so he could get home.
His wheel and tire will get dropped off in Pendleton on Tuesday. My bike will stay up on blocks for a couple weeks while he gets his squared away and until I get mine back.
Keep in mind that his 2001 is approaching 20 years old and spent a lot of time garaged and neglected before he bought it about a year ago with only about 3000 miles on it. Mine was kind of a mystery mongrel build. Anything was a possibility on this trip.
This was the first long-ish trip for either of us on these Chiefs so we were expecting a little carnage, and we weren't disappointed. The rubber
Indian script treads on both Jerod's floorboards and one of mine came loose. None got lost though. Easy fix.
Jerod had a few oil leaks develope. Both of us has leaky fork seals when we left that only got worse. I bottomed out getting back onto the pavement and knocked some JB Weld loose that a previous owner had smeared over the case seam. Now it marks it's spot. Should be a simple fix. Due for an oil change anyway.
I didn't realize it until I was breaking mine down to rob the tire but my RR turn signal and horn both vibrated loose.
Jerod had a seeping rear brake fitting so his pedal got soft and eventually went away at the end of the trip.
My speedometer started reading really fast, like 120-125 while passing trucks, the last 2 days. Odometer stayed consistent. Then my speedo drive started growling and finally died the last day. I was kind of expecting it to fail since I'd band aided it together right before the trip.
I was planning on tires and an oil change after the trip anyway so those were scheduled maintenance items. A nut and wrench will cure the loose items. Speedo and drive are pretty readily available and not very expensive. Fork seals will probably be a PITA and I want to do front wheel bearings while I have it apart.
Overall it was a great trip. We covered 1700 miles through Yellowstone and Glacier, as well as plenty of outstanding 2 lane roads in between. Probably no more than 100 miles total on freeway. We got rained on a lot but didn't seem to affect anything. They both ran great -- even at altitude. Did good on fuel too.
We have our winter lists now. Time to chip away. Both are absolutely filthy.