Up at sunrise to get into Boise and back onto WIFI as early as possible, that part of the plan went well. Blag connectivity from a fast food chain, blog written, check, find JMR racing, they have the tyres, check, get tyres fitted and balanced, ahh…
Randy said he’d other things to do in order to clear a lift to get the wheels off and would need 2 1/2 hours, I offered to get the wheels off to help but he wasn’t keen and, not wishing to rock the boat, I walked into town.
When I returned Randy was starting on the front wheel and he told me that he balanced the wheels on what looked to be a swinging pendulum device, I waited. Nice people, nice tyres but when I eventually hit the freeway she shook like a pig at 40 mph and 80 mph the higher being the speed that everyone, including the massive lorries, wanted to be at in the rain. I got off at some services for gas and considered ripping off some of the balancing weights but that could have made it worse so I pumped up the front forks and reduced the front wheel pressure and went searching for a wheel balancer in Bliss. It was a phantom entry in google maps and having toured the area I pressed on.
The rain intensified and approaching Carey she spluttered and spat and died. Stopped I pulled the plugs and had sparks, I drained the flout chambers under the carburettors in case there was water in the fuel. She started but ran rough, we crawled over the pass and down hill all the way to a gas station, by which time she had cheered up. I bought some magic potion to remove water from fuel and chucked it in the tank along with $10 of gas. I enquired but there was nowhere to stay in town and Arco, 44 remote wet miles away past the ‘craters of the moon’ was the best option.
We managed 5 miles at 50 mph before a passing ‘truck’ soaked me and the bike, she cut out. A fellow in a car stopped and offered help but I opted to wait, pulling the plugs again and spraying all the electrical leads with WD40 to dispel the water. I was cold and wet, she was forgiving and started, perched precariously on her center stand on the camber at the edge of the road.
The Arco Inn motel was expecting me, I’d phoned ahead to book and again to say that I was delayed, just as well because they were fully booked. Jamie checked me in, she empathised having been a biker, I changed into dry clothes and walked to a dive bar to buy rounds of cheap beer.
Le Mans man 