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[ST] Ride Report, Barber Part Three




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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