Your dad only turns 80 once...

[Capn Ron]

Second Leg, Day 3: Somerset, PA  to Plum Orchard Lake, Scarbro, WV (230 miles)

As much as I enjoyed the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, I had to keep moving in a southerly direction.  I packed up the bike and walked across the street to that same place for breakfast as the day before and then got on the road.  The bike started right up without issue...I'm thinking that the problem has gone away...hopefully to never return.

I checked the navigation app on my iPhone...looked for something interesting and headed off on this route for the day:



Nothing too exciting, but as I got further along in the day, I figured out that my route took me right over the New River Gorge Bridge!  Why is that exciting?  Well, back when I lived in the east, I did a two-day white water rafting trip down the New River in West Virginia and we paddled under that bridge.  It's just over 3,000 feet long and for quite a while, it was the world's longest steel single-span arch bridge...and at nearly 1,000 feet high, it's the fifth highest vehicular bridge in the world!  I pressed on heading south and as I was approaching the bridge, I saw that there was a very steep, windy road down INTO the gorge, across the old bridge and then up the other side.  I decided to take that as it looked a lot more interesting:



The road down into the gorge was in rough shape with VERY tight hairpin switchbacks...I felt more comfortable on the FJ than I would have in a car! I tried to get some good shots from under the bridge:



I parked the bike and walked across the old bridge:



Just beautiful!  I rode up the south side of the gorge through steep switchbacks and amazing views.  When I got up and on to Fayetteville, WV, I stopped for fuel and looked at my options.  On my camping app, I saw a place to pitch the tent for the night at Plum Orchard Lake about 20 miles south.  I decided to head there for a place to sleep for the night.

About ten miles down the road, the road turned to dirt/gravel and I wondered what I got myself into.  I pressed on and the surroundings got creepier...thicker forests...deteriorating road...it was getting late in the day...I was starting to wonder if this was a good idea.



I found the camping area and got myself set up.  It was WELL worth the rough ride!!  



I took a quick hike down to the lake...it was picture perfect!



It was mostly set up for fishermen...I met some great folks up for the week from Georgia.  We shared some stories, some food and a few beers over a campfire...a most welcome highlight of my day!

Camping always seems like more of an effort than just grabbing a hotel, but you end up getting much more out of it.  

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

Second Leg, Day 4: Plum Orchard Lake, Scarbro, WV to Robbinsville, NC (330 miles)

I woke up this morning in a great campground next to a lake...I took my time packing up and continued on the dirt/gravel road so I could see the rest of the lake.  The views are amazing when you get off the beaten path!



When I got back to pavement, I set my sights on Robbinsville, SC...the "Tail of the Dragon" some 300 miles to the south.  My day's ride looked like this:



At this point, with over 5,000 miles, my rear tire was getting pretty thin.  I was watching it very closely and trying to figure out if I could make it to my R&R location in South Carolina, three days and 800 miles from now.  It wasn't looking good.  Add to that, the starting issue that I thought had gone away was back.  Sometimes it was stubborn and took four or five attempts to get it to fire up...other times, just two.  Occasionally, at a gas stop, it would start first time.  Strange and frustrating, this.

I made great progress towards The Dragon through the day and was keeping a close eye on the weather.  It looked like today was going to be the only clear day with heavy rain coming in tomorrow.  If I was going to run the Dragon...today was it!  For those who aren't familiar, the "Tail of the Dragon" is a section of route 129 south west of Knoxville, TN.  It's in the very scenic Smokey Mountains and is a challenge with 318 VERY tight turns in just 11 miles!  It's a big draw for just about anything on wheels. 



I have to say I was a bit nervous going in not knowing what to expect.  I wondered if I would get stuck behind a rabid pack of slow-moving Harleys that would suck the joy out of my ride.  I wondered if I...rolling at over 1000 pounds...would be the one who would suck the joy out of the ride for a pack of superbikes.  I didn't want to be THAT guy!  All that in mind, I headed in and got ON it!!!   



The Pirelli Sport Demons (what was left of them) were sticking like glue!



I got into quite a rhythm knocking out turn after turn.



I was having a blast pushing myself and the bike...had the road to myself...nearly redlining it in 2nd gear, drop the throttle, push the bike over hard left, then fully upright and push it back over hard to the right...try to peg the apex and back on the throttle!  Over and over and over again...  Damn this is hard work, but major fun!   



I was just getting to the last mile and three guys on supermotos were starting to show in my rear view mirror.  I edged over to the right and they buzzed me like flies.  I figured they knew this road well and got on the rear wheel of the last guy matching him turn for turn.  I know I had the advantage of following and was making full use of that.  Two minutes later it was over.  I followed them to the gas pumps and pulled up next to one of them.  With the biggest grin on my face, I said, "You guys are fucking nuts!"  He took off his helmet and shouted, "YOU'RE the fucking nut!  We were trying to catch you for the first TEN miles!!!  What IS that...a fucking 1200???!!!"

I felt good about my run and felt like I was a better rider for it.  There's a lot of carnage on the Dragon.  My brother wrecked there last year on his R1 and it tore him up pretty good!  Just a small sample of plastic on the tree of shame:



Fortunately, I didn't leave anything behind.  I grabbed a damn good burger at the restaurant there and then headed to Robbinsville for the night.  The hotel where I stayed was very accommodating...they had shop towels for working on your bike, lots of maps of other roads in the area to go check out and they lit a campfire for the motorcyclists.  I met a group of guys on Hayabusa's that rode in non-stop from Michigan!  We chatted around the campfire over a few beers well into the night.  Good times!

I'm a little concerned about the rain that's coming, but I'm wiped out...turning in for some much needed rest!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Bminder]

Wow what fun!
Who snapped the pics of you in the turns?

[Capn Ron]

Wow what fun!
Who snapped the pics of you in the turns?

It was GREAT fun!  The East Coast Rally is just up the road in Boone, NC about 175 miles...I'm sure a lot of those guys have done the Dragon...I know 1Tinindian (Leon) has done the deed as well.  It definitely lives up to all the hype!

Killboy has been taking action shots on the Dragon for years.  He actually has about seven corners covered and just snaps away as you ride by.  He then puts all of those pics of you together on his website and you can download them for around $7 each.  I don't know how he sorts all that out...on the day I went through, he had over 20,000 pics on his site!  He separates them by calendar date, then by vehicle type (Sport bikes, touring bikes, cars, etc...), then by time of day (early, afternoon, late).   http://www.killboy.com/.

Cap'n Ron. . .

[1tinindian]

Wow what fun!
Who snapped the pics of you in the turns?

It was GREAT fun!  The East Coast Rally is just up the road in Boone, NC about 175 miles...I'm sure a lot of those guys have done the Dragon...I know 1Tinindian (Leon) has done the deed as well.  It definitely lives up to all the hype!
Cap'n Ron. . .

I broke my Rally cherry on the Dragon with the great guys from the East Coast.
It was an awesome start to what has been a great journey, and meeting so many great new friends and riders!

I just wish I had done it years earlier!
My FJ wears its "Dragon" decal with pride!

Leon

[Capn Ron]

Second Leg, Day 5: Robbinsville, NC (85 miles)

I woke up this morning to some pouring rain.  I checked the weather reports and the radar maps and it looked like it was going to just soak the whole area...all day long.  So far on this trip, I've only been sprinkled on now and again and wasn't looking forward to riding in a soaking rain.  I couldn't decide what to do...

I still had two hours until checkout time at the Phillips motel...I know I needed tires and everyone around the campfire last night was raving about this motorcycle shop called "Wheelers Performance" so I decided to make some phone calls.  I called them...and three other shops in the area and none of them were answering the phones.  I wondered if it was because it was a Sunday?  That seemed odd to me.  I put on some riding gear and rode the 3 miles up to Wheelers in the rain.  Sign on the door:  "Closed, raining."  I guess they figured it was the only day they could get some rest so I decided to do the same.

I went back to the hotel and extended my stay for another night.  It was only $50, the bed was nice, I had a TV, WiFi and a heater to dry out my wet clothes.  The only thing I didn't have was wine for later on.  Robbinsville is in a dry county (Graham) and if you want wine, you have to ride 40 miles to Cherokee County, so out the door I went.  An 80 mile round trip in the rain.  I was soaked...I guess my "Waterproof" gloves really aren't waterproof!"   

Not too exciting, but this was the extent of my riding today:



If you take a close look, you can see a lot of lakes and all the twisty roads in that area.  Next time I go there, I want to spend a whole week!

I had a nice relaxing (dry) day of rest, but I was itching to get riding again!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[rktmanfj]

It was GREAT fun!  The East Coast Spring Rally is just up the road in Boone, NC about 175 miles...I'm sure a lot of those guys have done the Dragon...I know 1Tinindian (Leon) has done the deed as well.  It definitely lives up to all the hype!

FTFY.

The East Coast Fall Rally was just last week in Tellico Plains, TN (much closer than Boone), and we rode those same roads (and many more!).   

[Capn Ron]

Wow...I just looked up Tellico Plains...PERFECT location for a rally!

I missed the 2012 East Coast Spring Rally (Boone) by just a few days.  I tried to work out the timing and I had never been to a rally.  Now that I've attended the 2013 WCR and had a blast, I should have made the ECR happen!!!

Cap'n Ron. . .

[rktmanfj]

Wow...I just looked up Tellico Plains...PERFECT location for a rally!

I missed the 2012 East Coast Spring Rally (Boone) by just a few days.  I tried to work out the timing and I had never been to a rally.  Now that I've attended the 2013 WCR and had a blast, I should have made the ECR happen!!!

Cap'n Ron. . .

Now you have a reason to come back...     

Leon has his 1st Dragon ride posted up on YouTube.

[Capn Ron]

Second Leg, Day 6: Robbinsville, NC to Trenton, SC (250 miles)

I woke up this morning and it was just sprinkling here and there so I packed up all my gear, checked out of the motel and got on the road!  I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to explore more roads in the area so I headed back up the 129 towards the Dragon to check out Fontana Lake.



That was the plan anyway.  Since I was riding right past Wheeler's Performance, I decided to pull in to see if anyone was around...sure enough, they were open and servicing bikes!  That back tire of mine was nearly a slick and I was hoping they'd have at least *something* in my sizes.



Definitely a chicken strip...but that's 5500 miles since I pulled out of the driveway in Los Angeles on mostly straight roads.  I didn't want to trust that rear tire in the wet.

I'm still running the stock wheels on my '92 so my choices are limited.  The Sport Demons are pretty easy to get ahold of so I was hoping he'd at least have those and I *might* be able to make it back to California on them.  When I bought tires in LA, I was really looking for a high-mileage touring tire...the Metzeler ME880 Marathons...in MY sizes.  Four shops in LA told me they don't make them in the FJ sizes anymore.  A couple even made some phone calls and it was a no-go.  Alright, Wheeler's HAD the Sport Demons in my sizes in stock and he brought them out.  I was about to tell him to mount 'em up but thought I'd try my luck asking for the Metzeler 880s.  HAD THEM IN STOCK!!!  Are you kidding me?  Easy choice...we set to work getting them swapped out.



Excellent!  Now I shouldn't have to worry about another tire change on this trip! 

I rode up to the intersection and contemplated running the Dragon once more...With wet roads and brand new tires, I thought I shouldn't push my luck.  I took the right and rode Fontana lake.  More twisty roads and great scenery!  Once I got to the end of the lake, I checked my navigation app for more interesting roads heading southeast.

I saw this one that looked like it would be interesting right alongside a river that was called "Needmore Road."  As I was riding down it, I thought that was a strange name for a road...It was plenty wide enough...The pavement was in good shape...Then this happened:



The road turned to dirt!  Need more road!  I get it.  It was beautiful running alongside the river and I just took it slow...well worth the effort!

The total route for the day looked like this:



I purposely picked a route around all those lakes and reservoirs...the route criss-crossed the South Carolina and Georgia border several times through the day.  I took a side road to go check out a dam overlook.  About a half-mile from the damn, I saw this sign:



WTF??  Sure enough, if you just kept driving, you would have ended up IN the river below the dam! 

I thought about camping, but decided to call the only motel in McCormick, SC to see how much it was.  $25.  Whoa...Definitely not going to camp if the motel is that cheap!  About an hour later, I was at the McCormick Motel.  It looked like the Bates Motel...and there wasn't a single car in the parking lot...sketchy as it was, I figured, how bad could it be?



You had to go into this cinderblock cage in front of the middle room.  Inside there, there was a sliding window covered in chicken wire.  The owner told me it was $25 plus $5 deposit for the remote.  He wasn't very nice and I could barely understand what he was saying.  This is a place I definitely wanted to pay cash!  I went to start the bike and it wouldn't start, so I pushed it up to the room.  Once inside, I figured out why it was so cheap...70's paneling on the walls, bathroom floor was peeling up, the carpet was questionable, the door had NO deadbolt or chain to lock it and the fridge still had 1/2 a six-pack of Coors Light from the last guy who stayed there.  Classy place.  I checked for bedbugs and it was all clear.  I had to get some food and call my buddy in Beaufort to let him know I'd be there tomorrow.

Okay...so this town had NO cell phone reception.  I got the bike started and rode 5 miles in every direction looking for a signal...nothing.  I then went back to town to find some food and the bike wouldn't start again.  I then saw four guys rolling in a slammed Honda Civic with the bass blasting and checking out my bike.  As I was trying to get it started...figured I wait a bit to let it cool down...they drove by three more times.  I was getting worried.  The bike finally started and I decided to get the hell out of that town!

I went to the motel and told him I wasn't staying.  He started screaming at me to give him back his key and his remote!  I told him I had to go to the room to get my gear and I'd be back in a minute.  He kept screaming at me in some language I could barely understand.  I walked back up to the room and got my hard cases loaded up and approached the owner.  He yelled again for his key back.  Now, I'm getting angry.  I said, "Not until you give me my money back!"  He yelled some profanities at me and I said, "Well, then you're not getting your key."  He handed me some bills and grabbed for the key...I saw that it was five one-dollar bills and I backed off.  I said, "I want my $30 back!"  At this point, it was no longer about the money...I mean, it's only $30...it was the treatment I was getting and I just didn't want to reward him for that behavior.  He then handed me a $20 bill, but took back his $5.  I gave him his key back but then told him the remote is going to cost him another $5.  He gave me the wad of singles and I went to the bike to leave.

It was getting dark and the four guys in the Civic were back!  The bike would NOT start!  I cranked it a dozen separate times and it wasn't going to start.  I pushed the bike out to the edge of the road to get some distance between me and the motel owner.  Still would not start.  The Civic kept circling around.  The owner of the motel was watching me through an open door.  I wondered if he had a gun.  I wondered if he thought I had a gun.  I was cranking the bike more just hoping for a start!!!  I could smell fuel...More cranking...I was out there with him watching for 20 minutes!!  Then...KA_BANG!!!  The bike back-fired and the guy ducked for cover!  It was just a backfire, but he didn't know that...Things were getting dire.  A few more attempts and KA_BANG!!!  Another back-fire!  One more attempt and it started up!!!  Holy smokes, I jumped on and got out of there!

I just rode like someone was chasing me for about 50 miles and pulled into a motel in Trenton, SC.  I didn't care how much it cost...it was clean and safe.  My standards for what is acceptable in "just a place to sleep for the night" had been put to the test.  Lesson learned...that will NOT happen again!

After my heartbeat returned to normal, I slept like a log!  It was a very long day with more action than I prefer...I'm happy to be back on track.

Cap'n Ron. . .

[FJmonkey]

What? No wine that night? 

[Capn Ron]

What? No wine that night? 

Oh...yes!  I actually broke out my tiny Soto backpacker stove, set it up on the bathroom counter in my hotel room and boiled me up a Mountain House sweet and sour chicken backpacker meal.  I had that with a glass of wine while I contemplated the events of the day.  I also wondered if the bike would start in the morning, but all things considered, that was a small problem.   

Cap'n Ron. . .

[Bminder]

MORE MORE MORE!!!!
Sleep later! 

[Capn Ron]

Second Leg, Day 6: Trenton, SC to Beaufort, SC (150 miles)

After the excitement of yesterday, I was happy to be on the last day of this leg.  By this afternoon, I knew I would be at my friend's house along the coast of South Carolina for a week of R&R!!   

I knew I had an easy mileage day today so I slept in.  I'm certain I left the hotel room less than five minutes before checkout.  I got some breakfast and started off on what would be a casual 150 miles:



I looked up a local Yamaha dealer in Beaufort and figured I'd stop there and see if they had any ideas on my starting issues...I also was in desperate need of a new chain.  Ironically, the bike started right up this morning and I pulled into the dealership less than three hours later.



I went in and talked to the guy at the service/parts counter...  He really didn't have a decent chain in stock and certainly didn't have the FJ sprockets either.  We moved onto the starting issue and I ran the symptoms by him.  We went through all the standard questions...Is it getting fuel?  Is it getting spark?  He then came out to the parking lot to see for himself.  Sure enough...it didn't start.  Just kept cranking with out a single cough of firing up.  Over and over...Nothing.  Now I had time to kill sitting under that big tree in the parking lot.

I put in a call to our own RPM Randy to get a new front and rear sprocket on their way...Done.  I called an EK ZZZ chain distributor and got the new chain on the way to my friend's house.  Now back to the starting issue.

I called my friend Chris and told him my situation.  He said he'd come out and get me...or rent a trailer and haul me and the bike to his house...Or whatever I needed.  Wow...friends are great to have in good times and in bad.  The guy from the Yamaha dealer thought all that was silly and offered to put the bike in the back of his pickup truck and take me to my friend's house just for a "thank you".  I forgot about Southern hospitality...It was very refreshing!  Just before trying to load the bike into his truck he suggested I try and push start it.  I had plenty of power in the battery for cranking and didn't know what this would accomplish, but as they say, "I'd piss on a spark plug if I thought it would help!"  We got a nice push going, popped the clutch and it started right up!  I was thrilled!!!  I offered the dealer guy $20 for some beers and he wouldn't have it.  He just said, "Welcome to South Carolina!" 

I jumped on my now-running FJ and rode the four miles over to my buddy's house.  I was greeted by him, his wife and their four kids...This was going to be a great week!  Their second oldest wanted to sit on the bike...after letting him know where the hot parts were to avoid, he jumped on.  Looks like a future FJOwners member to me!



Chris made space for the FJ in the garage and promised we'd start some serious troubleshooting in the morning.  We had a great dinner and I retired to the guest room.  This would be my home for a week and I was loving it!  I didn't have a clue what the problem was with the bike, but I knew Chris and I would get it solved.  In the meantime, I had this view out my window and all was good....



Cap'n Ron. . .

[Capn Ron]

R&R #2: Beaufort, SC (0 miles -garage bound)

I woke up in my friend's house with the place nearly to myself...My buddy Chris and his wife were at work and 3 out of the 4 kids were in school.  The only ones left were their 2 1/2 year old daughter, Ella and the nanny.  I made myself some breakfast and headed out to the garage to do some serious trouble shooting on the FJ.  I knew it was getting fuel, so I focused on electrical issues.

I pulled a spark plug and cranked the bike.  I was seeing a spark, but it looked weak to me.  I started thinking that there wasn't *enough* spark to fire the engine.  I checked the forum, scrounged up some parts and added relays to the coils to up the voltage.  I got a noticeably stronger spark, but it still wasn't starting.  It was nearing the end of the first day and I was getting frustrated with these confounded machines!  Ella wandered out to the garage.  "Whatcha doin?" she asked.  I told her I was working on my motorcycle.  She said, "Can I help?"  Awwwww...I nearly melted.  She's 2 1/2!  I said, "You already have!!"   

The next day was more of the same...checking systems to make sure things were working as they should and then moving on to the next system.  Ella kept me company and I'd have her hand me things...Not that I couldn't get them on my own, but I knew that made her feel like she was helping me...and that made for a great day.  The chain and sprockets arrived in the mail, so I installed them...even though I was still baffled as to why the bike wouldn't start.   

Just about wanting to give up, I slept in on day 3.  I woke up at around 10:00am...made myself breakfast...and had a VERY meaningful conversation with Ella about coloring books.  This was going to be another good day. 

I finally worked my way out to the garage and Chris was already working on the bike!!!  He had taken the day off work and was out there since 8:00am poking at it!!  He had hooked up an old-school timing light to plug 1, had the side cover off and was shooting the light at the rotor.  He says, "Hit the starter."  We do this several times and it sure looks like the spark is 180 degrees out of phase.  Could that be right?  We did several more tests and a fair amount of head-scratching.  Sure enough, the bike timing was 180 degrees off!!!   

I do some digging on the web, I learn that the FJ uses a "wasted spark" system of ignition.  That's where there is a spark provided on both the compression and the exhaust strokes, but only the spark on the compression stroke does anything meaningful.  Based on our timing light test, MY bike was firing on both the intake and power strokes and therefore, NOT doing ANYTHING meaningful...like starting!  Further digging reveals that it's the ignitor's task to determine proper ignition timing.  Do I have a bad ignitor?

...To be continued....

Cap'n Ron. . .