Stopped at KC

I can take eating at LC's BBQ in KC off my bucket list now. We stopped there on the way home Monday. Its about 1.5 miles off of 435 East on Blue Parkway in KC. Slim has been talking about this place for years. Its not fancy, but the BBQ is famous.

-- Photo and original text sent from cell phone, edited later.

Raspberry Station Breakfast

Shot with and sent from my cell phone from the uni-sex bathroom at Raspberry Station on Saturday morning. The people of Missouri have a unique sense of folksy humor.

-- Photo and original text sent from cell phone, edited later.

Friday Morning, Eagle Rock Mo

Sitting under deck on patio, watching the sun come up. Rain hitting metal above me. I'm looking at Table Rock lake, listening to the birds doing their morning post rain singing songs. Its going to be a nice day! Randy and I are heading to Rockbridge for Trout Ranch, if we can get hold of Steve. Stan and Jim are headed there from Jasper Ar.

Made It

Made it to Eagle Rock, MO - Mom and Dad's place. Randy and I had a good day of riding.

Washburn,Mo

Stopping at Warner Kwik Shop in Washburn, MO after we managed to get on Hwy 90 in southern Missouri. Hwy 90 is great. We did a bunch of gravel to get there after starting out on Big Sugar Creek Road in Pineville, MO. Probably rode twice the miles we should have, but it was fun.
I water logged Pig just east of Pineville, MO, but she made it across the ford crossing before she died, so no swimming was required. Big Sugar Creek Road follows Big Sugar Creek.

The water at the ford (called "Deep Ford Access" on Google Maps) was deeper and colder then it appeared. I thought it was just a few inches deep, maybe a foot at most. I first crossed it and then crossed back because the road on the other side was really rocky (not good) and because Randy wouldn't cross. OK, I admit I was momentarily lost even with the GPS when I first crossed it.

On the return trip back across, I went to a little too fast because the water came over the top of the windshield for a second and that is probably what water logged Pig. Randy caught the entire incident with his helmet cam. Later learned I should really have pulled the plugs before I started Pig back up, because the water could have damaged her engine. After trying every minute, after 3 minutes she started. Water in her must not have been that bad because she still runs fine.

The next ford on BSC Road was a lot lower then last year when we got there. While we were discussing whether to cross that one, we watched an oncoming pickup truck cross from the other side. The water on that ford runs fast and came up above the top of the wheels on the 4x4 pickup. The road in this particular ford was also very narrow. The guy in the pickup joked at us as he went by, telling us to "hit the gas and giver hell". We decided we weren't ready to try that, so we took dirt road we took last time which followed a ridge line around. Maybe next year, hehe.

-- Photo and original comment sent from cell phone, updated description added April 28th.

Historical Powell Iron Bridge near Powell, MO

We saw a sign for Historical Powell Bridge so we had to stop. Its on Big Sugar Creek near Powell, Missouri. Bridge makes kind of strange groaning sounds when you walk on it.

-- Photo and original text sent from cell phone, edited later.

Pineville, Mo

Randy and I stopped at Pineville, MO to take a quick break. We asked the lady working in the store how the country road was east of town and the lady said it was fine. This was a road we tried to ride down last year, but found it was impassible then because of high spring water.

-- Photo and original text sent from cell phone, edited later.

Leaving Trent and Shary's in KC

Jim's son Trent and his wife Sheri put Randy and I up with Jim and Stan Wednesday night. Its nice to be able to roll in their garage and just leave the bikes. This is a photo of Stan and Randy waiting for Jim and me the next morning on the street below their steep driveway.

Photo - Stan and Randy waiting for Jim and I.

-- Photo and original text sent from cell phone, edited later.

Disappointments with parts and service

I have been trying to support local companies by buying parts and services locally when I can. This seems to often be an uphill battle and is often discouraging when it comes to motorcycles. I'm starting to think Internet shopping sites are not only generally much less expensive, but many cases they do a better job and provide a higher level of service.

A couple weeks ago I had the radiator off L's Shadow. There is a widely discussed shop on the net which is a highly regarded which specializes in aluminum motorcycle radiator repairs. The shop ussually charges $35 + shipping for most repairs. A friend had used and recommended a radiator shop in South Sioux City, NE last year after they pulled him out of bind and fixed his son's Honda radiator. So I took over to that shop and they said they would run pressure tests for me for no charge and if it needed repair they would try to fix it. I went back the next day and they told me it didn't leak, but they had gone ahead and cleaned it for me (not discussed or needed). With 2 clamps (the clamps did not fit btw) the total cost was about $20. The first problem I noticed was that they had scraped a lot of paint off and bent a lot of the fins on the back side of the radiator. I wasn't very happy about the damage, but since the same may have happened had I sent it in the mail, I decided to avoid conflict give them a pass on this. So a couple days later I put it back on the bike, replacing the thermostat, and finished flushing the entire cooling system on the bike. No sooner than I had everything back together, I noticed that radiator was leaking slowly, just as before. After pulling the plastic radiator guard off, I was quickly able to find the leak with a bright flash light. It was near a mounting stud at the bottom. I ended up taking it to a different radiator shop locally (in Sioux City proper) and they listened to me, did a great repair, and repainted the areas the other shop had beat the paint up. Their cost was $40 even. Total cost now $60 and a slightly beat up radiator. By the time I got the radiator back on, I had lost another week to work on the other bikes.

The next week, after some discussion, I ordered 2 wind screens (for VFR and GS) and a air filter for my V-Strom. The dealer convinced me to buy a paper filter, after telling me they were better and that the K&N was $83. I had been reading about this discussion on the web and there seemed to be a lot of different opinions on paper vs. reusable filters. After a few days both the big ticket items, the wind screens came in. After about 12 days I finally asked where the air filter was and the person working the parts counter could not find the order. So I asked them to cancel the order if they ever found it, and went bought a reusable K&N filter on the web (I ended up paying $48.30 with discounts and free shipping). The non-reusable paper filter was approx. $46 with tax locally. The correct K&N filter arrived 2 days later in the mail and I was happy. This process threw me back another week on getting the V-Strom ready.

Finally, last week after changing the rear tire on my V-Strom I found that the rear pads on it were nearly gone. The next day I dropped by yet another local dealer to buy some new pads. They looked up the part number and sold me what they said I needed for $43 + change. Over the weekend I tore the brake apart and noticed the old pads looked nothing like the new purchased replacement pads. So today over lunch I returned the pads and ordered a set from SW Moto Tires for $29.95 with free shipping. The Strom is still on the paddock stand and I have managed to drag it to the side of the garage so I could work on the GS.

The worse part of all these trials is all the wasted time working on the bikes and running around town. The whole process is taking too long and I don't seem to be making much progress on my spring repairs.

To top everything off, my K1200RS chewed up the engine output shaft about 10 days ago within 14K of my second clutch replacement (hadn't shifted right since the repairs). Part of that clutch repair service should have included inspection and lubrication of that output shaft. The service cost to get to the clutch plates is over $600. Frustration! Maybe I should sell the bikes and build radio controlled airplanes like Ryan.