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[ST] Bike in the trailer (long)



Memorial Day weekend Blake came up to Ferndale to do some exploring on 
our KLR's. One road we stumbled on, Van Duzen Road, was a perfect 
layout of pristine pavement, curvacious corners, and sumptious scenery. 
I knew that it demanded a return visit with the Sprint to really enjoy 
possible lean angles.

So yesterday after the household chores were finished, I pulled the 
Sprint out of the barn and headed out 36. What is usually a fun ride 
was somewhat disappointing as there was a lot of traffic to contend 
with. Mind you, this isn't LA or Bay Area traffic I'm talking about, 
but for Hwy 36 it ranked as congested. I wouldn't get more than a few 
miles of fun before I would get stuck behind another slow moving 
vehicle. Usually the few drivers that I encounter on 36 are courteious 
and they pull over quickly. These must have been out of town drivers, 
as some of the plates and luggage piled on the top indicated. Ah, the 
summer tourist season.

Fortunately as soon as I turned off onto Van Duzen Road, I had the road 
to myself, and the pace picked up. The Conti Road Attacks continue to 
feel good with very predictible steering and traction. I was making my 
way to Zenia, not really knowing what to expect since I had never been 
there before. Up to the Ruth Lake turn off the road was the pristine 
pavement that Blake and I encountered earlier. Once past the turn off I 
was into virgin territory. The road became a bit rougher but still very 
enjoyable, although the speed and lean angles were lessened due to the 
amount of broken pavement and gravel. 90 miles into the trip I came 
into the town of Zenia, and I use the term town loosely. There was a 
post office that was just closing and in the same building a general 
store that had been closed for the last year. The postmaster was 
outside lowering the stars and stripes for the day so I stopped and 
chatted with her a bit. I find it's always good to talk with the 
locals.

I asked her what my options were from here since I was getting thirsty 
and had expected to find some kind of liquid refreshment in Zenia, not 
knowing that it had become a dry town by default. I had a map, but my 
goal for the day was to not use it and just explore. She pointed out 
that I could either continue on in the direction I was going and end up 
in Garberville, or I could split off and head back out to 36, or I 
could backtrack a bit to the next town. I decided on the Garberville 
route, because then I could ride Avenue of the Giants on the way back, 
which is always fun. On hearing my decision, she looked at my bike and 
said it would be a shame getting it dirty. I replied, that's what it's 
for, not picking up on her subtle warning.

Past Zenia I quickly began wishing my Sprint could transform into my 
KLR on demand, as the road was much better suited for something light 
and nimble and shod with knobbies. It was one of those county roads 
that are always under repair, and where the gravel sections are 
actually smoother than the paved sections that remain. There was some 
beautiful scenery though and I spotted quite a few ranches where I 
wouldn't mind retiring. I just took it slow picking my way through the 
larger potholes and navigated the gravel sections with care.

Arriving in Alderpoint through the back door, it took me awhile to find 
where the front door was and so I ended up making a loop through the 
little town to the amazement of several locals, who probably aren't 
used to seeing leather clad sport riders, much less on shiny red 
Triumphs. I eventually found the way out of town and continued on 
Alderpoint Rd. which winds its way down to Garberville. Here the 
pavement is still bumpy, but the gravel wasn't as predominate as 
before. This road I had been on before, in the uphill direction and it 
is a real hoot on a bike like the KLR.

I got down to Garberville and then continued on to Redway where I 
stopped for a bottle of OJ. After quenching my thirst, I hopped back on 
salivating about riding the smooth undulating pavement of the Avenue. 
But just as I was hitting the onramp for the short jump up Hwy101 I 
noticed a old Gold Wing pulled over with a rider looking perplexed. So 
I shot across to see what was up. I met Calum, who was from Alberta, 
Canada doing his first long distance tour on a positively ancient  
looking GL1000 that saw the Honda factory over three decades ago. He 
felt like he was dragging something like an anchor going down the 
freeway so he was crouched down looking underneath the bike when I 
pulled up.

The bike wouldn't idle, and it would also stall when he put it in gear 
and tried to move. It was going to need a trailer. Fortunately, Redway, 
even though it is a small town, has a motorcycle dealer. So I gave him 
a ride to the dealer where we found they had closed a half hour 
earlier. Also fortunately, he broke down about a hundred yards from a 
campground, so I suggested he take his stuff there and get set up and 
I'd ride back up to Ferndale and get my truck and trailer and we'd at 
least get his bike to the dealer so they could have a look at it.

45 minutes later I was back in Ferndale and I loaded up the truck and 
trailer and Lori joined me since I had a suspicion we might have to 
manhandle the Gold Wing into the trailer. The return trip took 75 
minutes, due to the law that you can only travel 55mph when towing. 
Since I recently got a ticket for breaking that law on that same 
stretch of Highway, I was reluctant to tempt fate on that issue.

When we got back to Redway we found Calum waiting for us, and as I 
expected, the bike didn't roll very well. I suspected a seized drive 
shaft, which I guess is one argument in favor of chain drive. With some 
struggle we managed to get the bike loaded. It had the full Pacifico 
fairing, saddlebags and trunk package, but nothing on the bike seemed 
very solidly mounted. It was hard to find something to grab hold of 
that didn't feel like it would break with just minimal pressure 
applied. In fact the more I looked at and felt the bike, the less 
comfortable I felt about him actually riding it. The proper thing to do 
would have been to shoot it and put it out of it's misery.

The dealer was only about a half mile away, and as I was backing the 
trailer up to their back gate I noticed that at least this time gravity 
would be in our favor for unloading the bike as the ground was sloped 
downwards in the direction we were unloading. We got the big black 
beast halfway down the gate of the trailer when all movement stopped. I 
thought at first that it had grounded out on the engine but that wasn't 
the problem. While I was underneath looking for the obstruction I saw 
that the rear tire was just barely off the gate, so I had Calum apply 
the rear brake and I simply drove the trailer out from under the bike. 
Worked perfectly and we left the bike there, as it wasn't going to roll 
anywhere.

We then returned Calum back to his campground and I left him with my 
card so he could email the results of the rest of his adventure. He was 
taking the day's events well, as he had no real travel plans, he was 
just going where ever the roads led him. Sort of what I was doing that 
day too, only on a smaller scale. It was fortunate for both of us that 
our paths crossed as they did. He got the help he needed, and I got to 
pay back some of the kindness I've received from other bikers during my 
tours when things didn't go as planned.

And that's what makes motorcycling so special, we're a community, 
always looking out for each other.

Matt Knowles - Ferndale, CA - 
http://www.knowlesville.com/matt/motorcycles
  '99 Sprint ST - for going fast and far (2CZUSA)
  '01 KLR650 (A15) - for exploring the North Coast backroads
  '97 KLX300 & '01 Lakota - for playing in the dirt
  '79 KZ400 - just because it was the first vehicle I ever owned

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