Author Topic: Our Spring ride  (Read 8192 times)

sailor_chic

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Our Spring ride
« on: April 02, 2015, 09:04:45 AM »
Hello everyone, here’s my latest ride update…
Last Thursday morning my ride buddy showed up at 0700. With having both bikes loaded up to the hilt, we were ready to hit the road. We headed North on the Florida turnpike towards Ocala. The big roads are not really my favorite choice, though we decided that it was a great way to get some distance on the house and in an area of better backroads that we haven’t worn out yet. Once in Ocala, the skies opened up. The heavy stuff was short lived and it was light rain for an hour. Heading NW towards Perry FL, and then North to Quitman GA. We stopped for lunch at the Golden Arches after being waved through on a road block / check point on arrival to Quitman GA. We still have no idea what this was for, but being on bikes didn’t fit their search criteria. Heading West on Hwy 84 and then on Hwy 2 in Donaldsville GA. While wondering our way westward, we were on some nice curvy roads, which is a big change for us Floridians. We were really enjoying the ride until the planned route brought us to a road where the pavement ended. I instantly figured out why the mapping program kept trying to divert from this area, but I forced the issue in the planning. An alternate route was found and our trek west continued. In Brewton Alabama the rain commenced once again, and this was also getting to the twilight hours. Once in Bay Minette, we were under the cover of darkness and the rain continued. I know that my partner was eager to get off the saddle in this town. However, I had my sights set on staying at a nicer establishment in Spanish Fort AL. We arrived around 2100 and checked into the Best Western. The clerk was a great guy and was generous on the discounts, which whittled away at the $105 quoted rate. He initially gave us a “Harley” discount bring the price to $95 and then tweaked the price once again to be a total with taxes of $85, with premium parking. So we parked our bikes under the big front entrance awing on each side of the front door, out of the rain.
The next morning was clear and cool. This was perfect weather for riding. Temps were in the low 50’s and worked their way up to the mid 60’s. Winds were quite strong as we crossed the I-10 bridge over Mobile Bay. We arrived at the Dauphin Island Ferry dock, only to find out that the Miss Nicole wasn’t sailing that day due to high winds. I was so close to scratching an item off my “to do” list, but a bike on a ferry wasn’t going to be today. (Insert sad puppy eyes) At the same time, I found that my brand new, Firstgear jacket had broken the top snap on the zipper flap. I caught the quick one, two punch, but didn’t let these two things spoil the day. We made the return trip back around to FL and worked our way to meet with the group that was camping for the Spring COG event, at Big Lagoon State Park. There were about 35 people in attendance for this gathering. This was a nice park but not what I had envisioned for a group camping. There were 4-8 tents crammed into the small campsites that were scattered around the park. The temps dropped into the low 40’s at night and we were all huddling around the huge fire. I think that there was a bottle or two being passed around the fire which contained some liquid antifreeze. Or was it joke serum? The two day event included beautiful sunny days. On Saturday most of us could be found at the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. There were some amazing planes and displays, and admission was free! Sunday morning was departure day, and most went back to where they were from. However for Kurt and me, we were starting our second segment of our trip. We once again crossed Mobile bay after another stop at Bass Pro shops to make more changes to some of the camping gear. Perhaps I need my head examined since I purchased an $80 sleeping pad. Our travels brought us to Natchez MS, where we checked into the Natchez State Park for some more camping. This park is beautiful and quiet. We were the only tent campers and the only ones with a fire going at night. It seems that most enjoy being in their campers, watching TV. Go figure! Monday morning we started North on the Natchez Trace Parkway. Although it is a slow ride, the scenery way beautiful and we had the road to ourselves. 250 miles later, we entered the Trace State park and staked our claim to campsite #1. Once again, same scenario… only tent campers, and only fire! Tuesday AM, we went into Tupelo MS and stopped at the Elvis Birthplace and museum. Down the road, we had an incredible lunch at Eli’s BBQ. Once again on the Parkway, we continued north towards Nashville. The scenery and terrain were greatly improved and we were fighting to keep the bikes close to the posted 50 MPH limit. During this slow journey, my Rostra quit working. I actually have to hold the throttle now, bummer! Our original plans once we reached the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace Parkway were to camp one last time. However we decided that a hotel would be nice after four night of sleeping on the ground. So we pointed the C14’s to Chattanooga TN and we hit the big roads at a perfect time, rush hour! Home for the evening was in Calhoun GA and thankfully Tom Bodett left the light on for us. We had an early departure and once again the timing was perfect. Morning rush hour in Atlanta gave us plenty of opportunity to refine our slow riding skills. Once we got into the big city, the HOV lanes expedited our travel time. After a couple of gas stops, and another stop at Mickey D’s, we were once again on the Florida Turnpike heading south. Traveling through Orlando we quickly figured out that when the overhead signs say that the left lane is blocked in 10 miles was not a joke. In fact, both lanes were shut down in both directions for a serious accident. Two heavy wreckers, two medical helicopters and numerous troopers were our entertainment for 90 minutes as we sat on the guardrail. As bad as it was, and it delayed our post ride libations, it still wasn’t as terrible of a day as it was for those that went for the helo rides. Once back in Port St Lucie, the trip odometer showed that we added 2600 miles onto our incredible machines in 7 days. Sleeping in my own bed was wonderful, as I dreamt of my next ride.



















Offline Deziner

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #1 on: April 02, 2015, 09:32:29 AM »
All in all, it sounds like a pretty good trip. When you're on a trip and the worst that happens is a broken snap and the C/C quits, life is pretty good!
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sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #2 on: April 02, 2015, 09:59:00 AM »
I agree, those things were trivial. Although I did forget to mention that I broke two fingernails also, lol. It was a great ride and an excellent way to spend a week.

Offline just gone

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #3 on: April 02, 2015, 10:05:39 AM »
Dang Girl, your ride buddy sure has some large aux. lights! Those have got to be causing some air turbulence.

Let us know what you find went wrong with the Rostra CC. I'd check the tail/brake fuse first and then the brake relay
but to be honest it's been so long since my install that I've forgotten more of the install than I remember.  :-\

Thanks for the report.

Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2015, 10:15:38 AM »
Fine, your guy riding partner broke two fingernails- so what? The question is did YOU break any fingernails?     :rotflmao:

I am with Marty and want to know what happened to the Rostra, especially since yours is the world's neatest installation. Given the rain you were riding in, I would immediately suspect the switch. If you have the Klixon type switch, they tend to corrode easily and I have never been successful in sealing one regardless of how much silicone sealant I have used.

This is what my first Klixon switch looked like after a couple of months!



As the corrosion is under the Klixon buttons and all over the circuit board, it cannot be fixed or cleaned. The fix for me was the other type switch that uses silicone membrane switches and to grease the circuit board rather than try to seal it at all.



Brian

I agree, those things were trivial. Although I did forget to mention that I broke two fingernails also, lol. It was a great ride and an excellent way to spend a week.
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sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2015, 01:15:38 PM »
Yeah, those lights that Kurt has are huge! Their so bright that he cant use them much. He needs to be in the middle of nowhere and no oncoming traffic or he sears retinas. He also had his bike loaded to the limit.

It was me that broke the nails, and of course washing my bike today, I kept stubbing those fingers. Let me tell you about pain!

As far as the CC goes, I havent had a chance to get into it yet. I was wondering about the switch as well. When I did the install, I was very thorough with sealing it up. I removes the silicone key pad from the cover and used silicone to seal it to the cover. Then once all was back together I sealed up the backside. Question.... I am getting a power light on the keypad as well as the engage light. So would this eliminate switch problems and also eliminate fuse problems?

Heres a map of our ride up to P-Cola




Offline Rhino

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2015, 01:27:33 PM »
It looks like you took the ferry across Mobile bay. How was that? Was going to do that a few years back but left Gulf Shores too early and wound up going back past the battleship.

sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2015, 03:41:10 PM »
That was our plans, but the Miss Nicole wasnt running that day due to high winds :( So we had to go back uop and around Mobile Bay to get to Pensacola. It was 840 miles from home to Big Lagoon State park

Offline B.D.F.

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2015, 04:23:55 PM »
Yeah, I know it was you who broke the nails, that was just a swing and a miss of my rapier sharp witt..... again. :-)

Your Rostra question: if the engage light does come on and stays on, no doubt about it at all that you have a mechanical problem (linkage or the actuator itself, which is unlikely). The entire electrical side is covered by that engaged light and this is why it is such a great diagnostic tool: this one thing alone has eliminated all possibilities of an electrical problem of any sort.

We should start a thread called 'Rostra troubleshooting'. Hey, maybe I will start a thread called Rostra Troubleshooting.  ;D  If it proves useful, maybe Jim can make it a sticky? Lots and lots of questions about those units over the years and they are all over the place such as in this thread (not criticizing you Nicole, it just works out that way a lot of the time).

Brian

Yeah, those lights that Kurt has are huge! Their so bright that he cant use them much. He needs to be in the middle of nowhere and no oncoming traffic or he sears retinas. He also had his bike loaded to the limit.

It was me that broke the nails, and of course washing my bike today, I kept stubbing those fingers. Let me tell you about pain!

As far as the CC goes, I havent had a chance to get into it yet. I was wondering about the switch as well. When I did the install, I was very thorough with sealing it up. I removes the silicone key pad from the cover and used silicone to seal it to the cover. Then once all was back together I sealed up the backside. Question.... I am getting a power light on the keypad as well as the engage light. So would this eliminate switch problems and also eliminate fuse problems?

Heres a map of our ride up to P-Cola




Homo Sapiens Sapiens and just a tad of Neanderthal but it usually does not show....  My Private mail is blocked; it is not you, it is me, just like that dating partner said all those years ago. Please send an e-mail if you want to contact me privately.

KiPass keeping you up at night? Fuel gauge warning burning your retinas? Get unlimited peace and harmony here: www.incontrolne.com

sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2015, 07:44:28 PM »
I was thinking that it was a mechanical issue myself. When I made the cable connection to the linkage, I drilled and tapped a hole, then ran a small screw in there with Loctite on it. Perhaps this connection let loose, chain broke, or the place where I fastened the outer cable is loose and the housing is sliding instead of pulling. I really didnt want to pull the fairing apart again. CC cages, broken nails... blah, blah, blah!

Offline tomp

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2015, 08:50:02 PM »
CC failure aside, sounds like you had a great time.  35 folks at the rally? Had more than that at my dad's funeral.  But it's the journey, not the destination, right???  Hope the nails grow out soon.   tomp 
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Offline Rhino

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2015, 07:17:16 AM »
I was thinking that it was a mechanical issue myself. When I made the cable connection to the linkage, I drilled and tapped a hole, then ran a small screw in there with Loctite on it. Perhaps this connection let loose, chain broke, or the place where I fastened the outer cable is loose and the housing is sliding instead of pulling. I really didnt want to pull the fairing apart again. CC cages, broken nails... blah, blah, blah!

I did it exactly the same way and having the same problem now. Light on, every thing looks ok but not engaging. But have been too lazy to pull the side off. I'll get to it before any long summer ride.

Offline st2sam

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #12 on: April 05, 2015, 07:01:06 AM »
Late to the party again, but better late than never.

Nice job on the Ride Report Nicole, thanks for sharing.  :goodpost:

How did the $80.00 camping pad work out, worth the money?  (comfortable I hope?)

IMO if you take into account a one night Hotel stay is about $90.00, maybe $80.00 isn't all that expensive?
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sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #13 on: April 05, 2015, 07:12:47 AM »
Yes the new sleeping pad is nice. I would say that it was worth the money.

Offline Jim H

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #14 on: April 05, 2015, 09:49:03 AM »
Sounds like a blast Nicole!  Thanks for sharing.  I am finally getting to ride for the 1st time tomorrow!  Taking bike to work.....a start!  LOL

sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #15 on: April 08, 2015, 06:16:03 AM »
It was a really great trip. Although it is a distant memory now, with only pictures to rekindle the thoughts. Here I sit on the boat (paid incarceration)  with the brain engaged for planning the next outing.

Offline rhhall

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #16 on: April 18, 2015, 12:05:57 AM »
Great write-up Nicole. Thanx for sharing.Natchez Trace is on my list. 8)
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Offline SteveJ.

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #17 on: April 19, 2015, 07:32:27 PM »
Hey Nicole, nice write up and nice pic of my old worn out c-10 in our little tent city.

BTW, the "group" camping was a bit of last minute improv due to the official group sites being already taken.

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sailor_chic

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #18 on: April 20, 2015, 05:43:24 AM »
Hey Nicole, nice write up and nice pic of my old worn out c-10 in our little tent city.

BTW, the "group" camping was a bit of last minute improv due to the official group sites being already taken.

Heading to BRMC the first weekend in May?

Steve, I doubt that I will make it to that event. I'm not due off the boat until April 30th, which means arriving home after midnight or early AM on the first.

Offline twowheeladdict

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Re: Our Spring ride
« Reply #19 on: April 20, 2015, 11:21:56 AM »
Couldn't get through the story.  Hard to read all the words congested together like that.  Especially on a smartphone!
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