Crossing central Oregon

The eighteen-wheelers kept me awake last night. The room was near the highway in Burns, Oregon. If I had paid for a double bed, it would have been in back, but costs more.

Every night I cover Da'mit with the camo rain poncho. No one has bothered the rig or my stuff.

 

Before the time of Christ, man discovered the benefits of irrigating his crops. Little has changed with that practice. Gravity fed canals direct water to the fields.

Except we now have sprinklers that go in circles.

Modern technology has changed or replaced the irrigation practices like it has affected so many other fields.

Not sure what crop this is. Overheard two farmers talking about radish and dill crops, and the cost to weed and spray this morning in the cafe. And what happens when the wrong field is sprayed and who pays for the damages. I should be a farmer.....

 

Da'mit has become more insistent on where we stop today. Central Oregon is a farming area with crop irrigation, fields of alfalfa and hay.

"There's a nice place to stop and rest"

"Da'mit, we just stopped ten minutes ago".

Silence

 

Hey, how about that field for stopping?"

"Not yet. Later".

Silence

 

"There is a nice green field for resting. Can we stop?"

"No! Further ahead we will stop".

Silence

 

Seems like the only turn-offs Da'mits suggests we take to rest, lead into green fields

 

"I'm slowing down. Are you going to turn in or what?"

"Okay. Its time to cool off your motor. We'll turn in here."

 

No sooner had I climbed off, turned around and Da'mit was gone.

Like bees to honey, men to steaks and mules to alfalfa.... Looked over and she has her nose shoved into a mound of alfalfa bales, getting a snoot full.

Saw some interesting rock formations or is it just erosion...?

 

 

Today we took it easy breaking in Da'mit's new engine. Only rode from Burns to Bend, Oregon, a couple hundred miles. Stopped frequently to let her cool off.

The new engine is quieter, slightly more power, and some vibration in the handlebars but that could be from the more aggressive tire we mounted up front. Did not realize how noisy the other engine was until now. No metallic meshing, banging or tapping. Am getting better gas mileage with the new one breaking it in than I got on the old engine broken in. That should only improve with time.

The speed at various rpm's will not change as the transmission and final drive were not replaced. I think Da'mit is going to roll up a lot of miles on this one.

Thank you Madina and Jason for getting this new engine out to us asap.

Nite Da'mit,

Nite all.

 

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On the trail again with Da'mit

Waiting in Hobby Airport to board the flight to Denver, a positive sign was given of what awaits for Da'mit and I.

Arrived in Boise after several delays. Finally fall into bed at 2:00 am. Up at 6 am, walk to the dealership.

Sitting in the back lot with her new found stable mate... waiting.

Da'mit says the guys at Big Twin are very professional and caring. Especially Jeff who fitted her with the new engine. Was careful and took tender care of her.

Da'mit surprised me the comment "Too bad he's not my type though."

"Really. And what type is that?"

"Yeti, are you blind? He only has two legs."

Da'mit had taken to calling me her Texas Yeti. Said I remind her of the Russian Yeti back in the Ural Mountains where she was born.

"Because of my tall handsome rugged good looks?" I asked.

"No, poor eating habits, unkept beard and need a bath!"

Ouch!

So I trimmed the beard and took a bath before returning to Boise.

After a final tweaking by Jeff, Da'mit was ready to hit the open road. Well, not too hard. Take it easy they said. So we rode 105 km today, staying in Parma, ID for the night, tomorrow on to Bend, OR.

Riding out of Boise we spot an abandoned ghost/haunted village. Well, the ghosts there must be a playful group. Across the road is a used farm implement dealer. Someone in the middle of the night flipped their sign over.

Maybe this is this the ghost version of midnight cow tipping?

 

Will give a report on Da'mit's transplant tomorrow after we put s few more miles on her.

Nite Da'mit,

Nite all

 

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Message from Da'mit

Received a text message from Da'mit today:

 

"Hey TexasYeti, where r u? Got the new motor in, am ready to roll. The guys here at Big Twin r great, fun group, but I belong on the road not in a shop.

Got other suitors eyeing my wheels so get your gear up here and let's ride... before another Yeti takes me for a spin. Da'mit"

 

Had to tell her to cool her heels. I'll be there bright and early Friday morning to pick her up. Then we'll GO DA'MIT. The ride will continue, .. not to Texas... just yet. But to Salem Oregon for the BMW Rally starting next week. That will make Da'mit happy. More roads to explore, things to see... admirers for her and adventure for me await around each turn in the road.

Nite Da'mit, Nite all

CCjon

 

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July 5th in Houston

Is relaxing to be in own bed again and home with family. The routine of the road remains, still awake at 4am. Cannot lose that habit, Da'mit awaits...

Celebrated my beautiful wife's birthday..... at lunch.

At dinner, our oldest son's birthday...

His family helping blow out the candle.

And of course our country's birthday!

The road beard was getting too long for hot weather. Time to trim it back to normal. Hudson and Harrison agreed to help trim Grandpa's beard.......

First Hudson happily trims a little... watch the nose!

Next Harrison gets seriously into it...

Then everybody wants to give me a cut....

Hope you and yours had a relaxing weekend.

Nite all

 

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DAY Forty-two: Flight to Houston

Awake at 3 am, finish packing and load UHaul. Meet taxi driver at 3:30 who will follow me to the UHaul drop off spot. Then take me to the airport. Flight leaves at 6 am so try to be there two hours before

Observations: As the age for girls piercing their ears fell, the number of piercings rose? Correlation? It seems more women than men are getting tattoos these days. Will the age for girls getting tattoos drop too?

The dress code for flying these days has changed drastically from when I first flew the 1960's.

The sky was clear and blue with interesting cloud formations. They made me think of ice bergs...in the sky.

First calving from the glacier...

, then slowing drifting away on a sea of blue air...

Arrived safely home with family.

Grandsons, Hudson andHarrison coming from the beach.

Life is good.

Nite all.

 

 

p.s. Note to the guys: Never refer to the beautiful love of your life as "the wife". Nuff said! Da'mit.

 

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DAY Forty-One: Big Twin Cycles, Boise, ID

Arrived at Big Twin Cycles before they open Tuesday morning. The first to arrive is Carl Boockholdt, the Operations Manager, riding a Ural. Now that is a good sign. We talk about how riding a Ural is so much different than riding two wheels. Not the actual riding part as much as the overall experience is different. Is very hard to compare riding two wheels to riding three. Just as one cannot really compare riding two wheels to riding four. Different animals. Some prefer horses, other mules.

Carl turns me over to Neal, the Service Manage who introduces me to Jeff, the mechanic who will actually determine what happened. Several hours later, Jeff informs me Da'mit is getting a new engine. He spoke with Ural headquarters and they are shipping a new engine. He removed the heads, rockers, valves and piston heads, all look normal. He did not have to go deeper than drain the engine oil to find a lot of metal debris to know the engine was toast. Bearing failure. Exactly which one? A complete disassembly will be required for that. Not Big Twins responsibility to do that. Not sure what happens to the old engine, will ask when I get back.

Kudos to Ural for standing behind their machines. Have to say the people at Ural has really been very supportive, giving priority to getting me back on the road. The Fourth of July holiday is complicating the shipping. Thank you Jason and Madina.

And a big Thank You to Mr Cob/Dave, who helped walk me through the diagnosis while stranded on the side of the road. He was the first to give me the bad news that the engine might be toast after we eliminated the other possibilities. Also for posting a help request on Soviet Steeds and for letting Ural know I was trucking Da'mit to Boise. Dave, I owe you big time.

Thank you Dave

 

Does this mean Ural are not reliable? No. Not any more than you can say BMW's, Ford's, Nissan's or Honda's are unreliable. As I have been stranded with mechanical failures with every one of those brands, both two and four wheels. Any machine can fail at any time. Whomever is the supplier of bearings for Ural, must bear the brunt of today's criticism. Ural is to commended for their outstanding warranty service and support.

While Da'mit awaits a new engine, decided to remove any pressure from Jeff in getting Da'mit put back together. Rather he have the time to do it right and complete. Therefore am flying home to Texas, enjoy a Fourth of July weekend with the wife, family and grandchildren. Good time to take the cold weather gear home and return with mesh riding gear.

I'll return next week to continue the adventure. Da'mit is in good hands with Big Twin Cycles in Boise.

Found this photo I forgot to paste when I talked about boarding the ferry in Haines, AK. The bikes sit out in the rain while we waited to get aboard. Of course, motorcycle were loaded last!

And this photo of an Ocean Tribe fishing camp with totem pole on an isolated island.

Nite Da'mit, see you next week.

Nite all

 

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DAY Forty: A new adventure in Idaho

Up and on the road by 5 am, wanted to get as many miles in as possible before it gets too hot. The US is going through a heat wave this week. Temps over 100 in many states.

Crossed over a 6000 ft pass between Darby MT and Salmon ID. Out of the Bitterfoot Range into the Sawtooth range. Da'mit does fine on the mountain passes if I go at her speed, keep the rpm about 4000.

Stopped in Salmon in the downtown cafe for breakfast. Saw four adventure motorcycles parked out front, so had to be a good place. Never did find out if it was good. After the one cup of coffee and thirty minutes later, the food had not arrived and never got a refill on the coffee. Told the waitress to cancel my order, I need to be back on the road. No charge for coffee.

The road out of Salmon is straight and flat through fields and pastures, a nice change. Rolling along at a steady 50-55, suddenly I hear gears grinding, metal on metal. No loss of power, but rapid heat build up. Quickly pull in the clutch and roll off the throttle. Coast to the side of the road, the engine quit before I stop. No banging sounds, no blue smoke, Da'mit doesn't try to throw me. Just the metal on metal grinding, engine is hot and dead. Try to restart, click, click, click. Nothing.

Put in neutral, push Da'mit on to a driveway going into a hay field, to get further off the pavement. A safer place to diagnose the problem. Check oil, level fine. Pull spark plugs, are white. Ran lean?

Try the electric start, get only clicks. Engine does not turn. Try kick start, won't budge. Call Mr. Cob to walk through the diagnostics with me. A calm mind NOT on the side of the road will think of things that are not obvious to me. He suggests I pull the starter to see if maybe gears messed up. Have to disassemble airbox and left carb to remove the starter. Is working fine.

Transmission seems to be working fine, shifting, into neutral, first gear, reverse, no problem. Bike rolls okay in neutral with clutch out, or in gear with clutch pulled in.

From the description of the noises and how it is acting, we suspect an engine bearing has failed. Hopefully is something minor. The dealer will figure it out.

Now to call AAA for towing. The nearest Ural dealer is in Boise, 260 miles away. I have a 100 mile limit on towing. Bill the wrecker driver/owner is very nice and helpful. He arrives on schedule. By now I have set up shade, chair and water for the hour wait in the sun, surrounded by mountains.

We discuss my options. For him to take me to Boise on a flat bed wrecker, the cost is roughly $600 after my 100 free miles.

Da'mit looking downcast on the wrecker.

We decide to take Da'mit to Salmon and check out renting a UHaul truck. The better option. Cost is $300 for a 14 ft UHaul to Boise. Bill helps me load Da'mit from the wrecker into the UHaul. Then he gives me exact directions on how to find the Ural/BMW dealer in Boise. Thanks Bill, you were a great help to me and Da'mit.

The most direct road to Boise is over several mountain passes, following along mountain streams and rivers for miles and miles. Reach Boise at 8 pm. The only vehicles on the road slower than a Ural are bicyclists and UHaul trucks. In fact the only vehicles Da'mit and I passed in all of our trip, were UHaul trucks

Trapper Peak

Ten miles north of Boise, spotted smoke in the distance. Pulled over when closer to take a few photos of the fire-fighting operation.

 

As we get closer.

We watch the helicopter scoop water from the lake below and drop it on the flames. The News last night said there were six fires they were fighting in the Boise area. Most caused by lighting.

Located the Big Twin Ural dealer in Boise. Will be at their front door 7 am waiting for them to open Tuesday morning.

Da'mit is locked up for the night in the UHAUL, she doesn't like it. Wants the freedom of the road.

Nite all

 

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