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[ST] Ride Report, Barber Part Three
- Subject: [ST] Ride Report, Barber Part Three
- From: "STeve Duncan" <xhippy@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 08 May 2005 23:18:28 -0500
OK, where was I? On yeah, we had just crossed into Alabama on Hwy 78 and
into Hamilton. It was late in the day, and it was hot. We stopped for gas
and Dr.Pepper at a local gas stop and noticed a bike shop right across the
street. What better place to cool our heels for a few minutes?
After about a 30 minute respite, we headed east on 278. Nice two lane
blacktop. Just outside of town we encountered a school bus taking all the
urchins back home. We laid back, stopping at all the drop-offs biding our
time. Then, we hit a straight section, a perfect passing zone. Now all the
kids on the bus were looking back at us, giving the 'pop a wheelie" sign,
and all other manner of, get it on signals. Not being one to disappoint the
youngsters, I dropped it a gear and gave it the full tilt boogie input. I
heard the motor rev.......then........nothing. No power. Nada, zilch. My
throttle grip was slack, moved back and forth but no go juice. Well, dang
it! Walker blasts past me like I'm some kinda simpleton, and I motion
frantically that I'm screwed (you can guess what that hand signal looked
like).
I see a gravel driveway to my left and coast over to it. This was a surreal
moment. I knew exactly what the problem was. I just had no idea how I was
gonna deal with it. Broken throttle cable. 4:30 on a Friday, middle of
literally, "nowhere". 700 miles from home. Snit.
Things got very hectic from this point for the next few hours. I won't go
into all the exact details. Let's just say that I was VERY glad to have my
compadre, best bud, and cool head, Steve Walker along with me. At this
point I can't decide if Walker is the best human on earth to have around in
a crisis, or if his presence is actually the cause of said crisis........
<bg> Just kidding. He is always there when I need him. But I always seem
to need him when he is around, you be the judge.
We were exactly 5.1 miles from our last fill-up and the bike shop just
across the street. Walker goes back for help. I sit and wait. Cell phones
don't work where I am stopped. Owner of land is a really cool dude, offers
all kinds of help. Passers by stop to offer help. Chopper bike dude offers
to put my up for the night in his shop, no charge. Nearest Triumph shop
does not have a cable but will overnight one in. Walker gives HIS credit
card info to make it so. All this is happening in a very disjointed manner,
due to lack of cell phone contact. Steve is literally riding back and forth
to town with updates.
Meantime, clouds are looming. Big clouds. Tornado looking clouds.
During all this insanity, I have decided to see if I can fix the problem.
Roadside teardown ensues. I pull the bike up into Steve Woods property (he
was so nice I think I could move in there), and proceed to take off the side
panel and tank. I also take off the bar housing and can't get it back
together. Connection is fine but it won't go back together! Finally it
slips back into place, I don't know what I did right, but it's back
together. After the panel and tank are off, I remove the air box and get
down to the throttle bodies and the other end of the cable. Our worst fears
are confirmed. It's connected just hunky dory. So is the grip end. The
cable is obviously broken somewhere within the cable itself. No roadside
fix is possible.
We (I) am well and truly screwed. Oh, and the clouds? Moving closer, with
thunder and lightening off to our west. Walker decides to take action. He
heads back into town for fried chicken. Hey, we are hungry! And sunset and
rain are looming.
Oh, yeah, somewhere in the midst of all this, Steve has managed to get a
hold of our host John Petrey to inform him of our (my) dilemma. We are
working on getting a cable aired in to Birmingham and have a shop we can
stash the bike until Saturday. Bullocks, says John !!! I have a truck and
ramps, he says, and I am on my way to pick you up!!! Oh, an another thing,
he says, I still have my old wrecked Sprint-ST. We can steal the throttle
cable from it to get you on your way!!
Kismet, once again.
to be continued...................
next; "rain" what rain?
eL Donut
jinete en la tormenta
STeve Duncan
'00-Sprint-ST
'96-DR350S
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