| We got up bright an early, and started on what we were
hoping would be a great, if not long, day of riding. We left BRCC bright
and early, probably our earliest departure on the whole trip, and made
our way back along 276 into Waynesville. From there we made our way
to 209, a very fun road. However, before we even got onto 209, we
passed a State trooper and then got stuck behind a sheriff! Damn!
So, we plod along behind the sheriff for a while, and eventually he turns off. Whoohoo! But our luck was short lived, as we passed another a few miles up the road, and then another shortly after that! I think we encountered no fewer than 12 cops that morning. Anyway, we make our way along 209 into Hot Springs. We jump onto 25/70 west for a few miles to 107, and then follow 107. All, really, really nice roads! |
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Suddenly, as we are riding along, Tom pulls over. He has lost his clutch!
We do a little investigating, and we discover he has managed to break his
clutch cable!
I convince Tom to continue on, starting the bike in 1st, and clutch less shifting. |
| We continued along our route:
- 107 to 67 - 67 into Johnson City to Elizabethon. - 91 to 133, following the Appalachian Trail. - 133 to 58 - 58 to 603 - 603 to 16 - 16 to I81 We stopped at a gas station at the intersection to the highway. We found a motorcycle shop not too far away, in Wytheville. So we jumped on the slab, and made for the shop. |
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We found the shop. They did not have a ZX9 clutch cable, but they did do their very best to try and find one that worked. I think Tom tried 3 different Honda cables, but none would work. |
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While Tom was working on his clutch cable, I took the opportunity to get a new rear tire. With less than 3000 miles, the Pilot Sport was toast. I did not trust it to get me home. |
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I pulled the wheel off, using only the tools in the Honda tool kit I might add, and took it to get a new tire installed. Here is Tom trying another clutch cable, the parts guy, and the XX, sans rear tire. |
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The new 207 I got. It was the cheapest "good" tire they had, but still ran me over $200!! Oye! |
| Striking out there, the parts guy told us about another Kawasaki place in Christiansburg, so we got back on the slab, and made our way there. As it turned out, the Kawasaki place was not a bike shop, but a car/power equipment place, with no bike parts. But we did find out there was another, large bike shop in Roanoke! So back on I 81 to Roanoke! | |
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Another very, very large dealership, with just about every brand, but no clutch cable! |
| At this point, it was about 5pm, and we had not had anything
to eat since breakfast, so we made our way to a pizza joint, where we would
figure out what we were going to do.
Tom decided he wanted to make a run for it. Not wanting to leave Tom, since his luck this trip had been anything but great, I went with him. We jumped back on I81, and started slabbing! By about 11pm, we had made it to Hagertown, PA. We stopped for gas. Tom decided to make a run for it, only being 2 or 3 hours from home. That was not an option for me, being 7-8 hours from home, so we parted company. I continued up I81 to I80. I should have stopped earlier, but wanted to get as much ground under my feet as possible. Unfortunately, where I ran out of steam was Pocono. So I ended up spending $90 for a Hotel room. :-/ But at that point, I wasn't going to argue. I collapsed, and promptly fell asleep. Day total: 726 miles
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| Total mileage: | 3416 |