[ST] Ride and Gear Report Part 3

[Shawn Mouser <srmouser@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Part 3
====================================================================

- -Day 5
The following day from Crested Butte we set out to The Black Canyon of 
the Gunnison. Hwy 50 from Gunnison to Montrose has a few fun areas (if 
you can hit it when there are no RV's). The canyon was spectacular and 
the road down to the bottom of the canyon is a must. We met a biker 
there from WI on a Harley Road King loaded to the gills. He was off 
work for four weeks and was just cruising around the West seeing and 
camping the parks of CO and UT before he headed to TN where he was 
going to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway with some friends. Man, I envied 
him.

- -Day 6
We headed out to ride "The Million Dollar Highway"... highway 550 from 
Ouray, Co to Silverton, CO. Another spectacular road through the San 
Juan mountains. The name comes from the fact that the mountains in the 
area gave up millions in gold and silver. There are old abandoned ghost 
towns and mines all through the area and some are visible from the 
highway. The road is twisty but you want to go slow to see the 
scenery... and avoid the RV's.

Here's where I learned something about the Sprint. I was leading the 
group and decided to pull off the road at an overlook to get a better 
view. The parking area was on an incline. I parked the bike with the 
nose facing downhill. I have a habit of not leaving the bike in gear 
when I park it because I hate to look stupid when I get on it and hit 
the starter button while the side-stand is down and it's in gear. It 
always takes me a couple of confused seconds to figure out why it isn't 
starting. This happened earlier in the trip and with my recent fuel 
pump issue I was scared it had crapped out again and was gonna leave me 
stranded. Anyway, I got off the bike and was removing my gloves when it 
started to roll forward. The side-stand folded up and onto it's side 
went the bike. My left side pannier was knocked off (part of the 
locking mechanism bent but I was able to bend it back) and the side 
fairing has quite a nasty scratch on it now. I have to ask myself - is 
it more stupid to not have your bike start because the side-stand is 
down and it's in gear or to have your bike fall and get scratched 
because you parked it on an incline in neutral? I am now cultivating a 
new habit of using the side-stand as a kill switch and then turning the 
key off. I'll learn to raise the stand or put it in neutral before I 
hit the starter. Anyone in the L.A. area wanna recommend a good 
reasonably priced paint and body shop? Please email me.

A little humbled, I headed back to the hotel in Crested Butte with the 
guys where they watched me cry in my beer.

The bike got unbelievable mileage in the mountains. I guess the slow 
going and lots of downhill added up. I got 57, 58, and 59 mpg on 
consecutive sightseeing (non-slab) days!

- -Day 7
The next day we parted ways. My buddies headed East and I headed West. 
I got back to St George, UT (541 miles), got a hotel (not the Comfort 
Inn with the annoying AC), some food, beer, lubed the chain, and gassed 
up for my final sprint back to L.A. (387 miles).

- -Day 8
I awoke at 3AM PDT and headed out, expecting to beat the desert heat 
and be home for a late breakfast with my wife. Boy, was I in for a 
surprise! Just as I was starting to see the lights of Las Vegas, I 
noticed my tachometer was not registering. Soon after, my speedometer 
and odometer were cutting in and out. I made it to the first exit with 
a gas station in North Las Vegas where my bike breathed it's last 
breath. The symptoms were like a dead battery. No starter reaction at 
all and then after a rest the battery would come back a little and I'd 
get maybe a click. I have AAA motorcycle tow coverage but to my 
surprise AAA is very regionalized in its services. They are not 
affiliated with a motorcycle tow service in Las Vegas. Fortunately, 
they recommended one (they only knew of one). So be warned... a tow may 
not be as much of a sure thing as you think. It cost me $135 which AAA 
will reimburse (I think). In any event, I called the tow company and a 
truck was out in about an hour. It was a long hour near the end of a 
3000 mile trip sitting at a truck stop only about 4 1/2 hours from home 
at 5AM but my day had only begun.

Before I left on the trip I had printed from Triumph's website the 
names of the dealers in all the states I would cross. It listed Findlay 
Motorcycles in Henderson, NV. I had no idea where Henderson was and 
hoped it wasn't on the other side of the state. Turns out it's a suburb 
of Las Vegas. The guys at Findlay were great. I got there before they 
opened, but a couple of guys were in the shop and took me and the bike 
in immediately. If you have to be stranded somewhere at a Triumph 
dealer you don't know... Findlay Motorcycles is a great place. They 
specialize in custom choppers - American Ironhorse, Titan, Bourget and 
they were and Indian dealer and now sell Triumphs. Lots of eye candy 
while I was waiting for the bad news. The store manager "Blues" even 
bought me a breakfast sandwich. Turns out the stator was shot. For 
those who don't know, the stator performs the same function as an 
alternator on a car. Josh, the parts/service manager tells me they only 
recently started to sell Triumphs and they went whole hog and ordered 
all the parts Triumph says a dealer should have on hand. A stator is 
not one of them! I was there on the Saturday before July 4. Triumph 
America is closed on weekends and will observe the 4th on Monday the 
5th. Therefore, the part can't even be ordered until Tuesday July 6.

As I write this, I am at home in Montrose, CA (outskirts of L.A.) and 
my bike is in Henderson, NV (outskirts of Las Vegas). I ended up 
renting a car and driving home.

- -Rental car report.
The guys at Findlay Motorcycles hooked me up with Enterprise car 
rentals because there was one close to the shop and because Enterprise 
will pick you up. I went to Enterprise and the truly nice guy behind 
the desk informed me that a one-way rental came with about a $250 
drop-off fee above and beyond the rental rate. A weekly rate would be 
cheaper. The only problem would be if the part didn't make it on time 
or the shop couldn't get the bike fixed on time I'd have to pay for 
more days or drive back to Las Vegas to drop off the car. The helpful 
Enterprise guy actually gave me a tip that National car rentals (as 
well as others I'm sure) does one-way rentals much cheaper. He even 
gave me the number for National and called a cab for me after I got the 
reservation. Instead of $250+, I paid National $63 for a car to drive 
home. That's info that I hope might help some of you out if you're ever 
unlucky as I was.

Now I'll wait to here from Findlay about my bike.

I've had the bike less than one year. The stock tires were down to the 
chord at 4000 miles. The new Avon Azaro St's will need to be replaced 
soon (currently at 5500+ miles). The fuel pump has been replaced (at 
approx 6600 miles). The stator will be replaced (at approx 9500 miles). 
In my opinion, all of this is a part of motorcycle touring and I'll 
definitely do it again. However, I really don't know how long it'll 
take for me to trust the ST again. I was lucky it didn't leave me 
stranded in the desert. The guys at Findlay told me about a BMW rider 
who was stranded in Death Valley for four hours waiting for a tow. I 
was also lucky it stranded me in a town where there was a dealer. There 
were only two in all of NV.

- -Synopsis-

*Aerostitch Darien jacket, pants, and Kanetsu electric liner kept me 
warm and dry
*RKA tank bag performed great
*Cruiserworks boots kept my feet warm and dry
*Genmar risers helped with ergos (ibuprofen still necessary)
*Throttlemeister was indispensable
*Avon tires were great in all situations but wear fast for touring IMO 
(although not as fast as stock tires)
*Triumph panniers leak but not too bad
*AlpineStars "waterproof" gloves are not
*Joe Rocket Phoenix jacket kept me as cool as possible in the desert
*Sprint ST got between 45 and 59 MPG and performed great except it left 
me stranded twice and needed major parts replaced
*Temple City Powersports (San Gabriel, CA) gave great service
*Findlay Motorcycles (Henderson, NV) gave great service
*Colorado scenery is unbelievable


______________________
Shawn
Los Angeles
'02 BRG ST
'92 HD XL 1200
- ---------------------------------------


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