Well, I completed my first long trip. It wasn't the one I planned, but was an opportunity that presented itself. A couple of friends from Lewistown, PA invited my brother and I out for the weekend. From Philly, it is about 200 miles, a bit less maybe. Unfortunately, I had previous obligations to meet on Friday night. Instead, we woke up early Saturday morning and hit the road. It sure was uncomfortable! Before I continue though, I must confess Ive never ridden more than about 10 miles at a time. Anyway, about 5 miles out, my brother's 71 CB450 started running on one cylinder. We pulled over and determined that his plug caps were loose. I cut off a bit of wire and reattached them. We continued on. We tried to stick to back roads, but after about 5 hours we stopped for lunch and realized we were only half way. It started looking like rain ahead so we jumped on a highway to make up some time. Neither of us had ever ridden on a highway before and were quite nervous about it. By this time my upper back and shoulders were killing me and the ride was no longer fun. I couldn't believe how exhausting sitting down for 6 hours could be. At about this point my bike up and died as I was cruising. The road was a bit wet and I knew that I blew a fuse right away. I pulled off and replaced the fuse with one that I had in my pocket. I tried to catch up with my brother. As I pulled off again to meet him, the fuse blew again. I took my time this time to look for the short. I found a few exposed wires from the tail light and rear turn signals. I taped the wires up, rerouted them, and plowed ahead. The sun began to set and we couldn't believe how long this ride was taking. The rain began coming down harder and harder with the setting sun. We both were uncomfortable with the weather and darkness and pulled off the highway as another fuse blew. I nursed the bike into a nearby shopping center and up onto the curb under the overhang. I began stripping the bike as much as possible to look for the short. I traced it down to the rear right turn signal and tail light. Every time I turned on the right turn signal the fuse blew. I decided to unplug it and continue on. We were getting pretty close to warmth and comfort, which was enough to egg us onward. The rain continued down and we decided to stick to the highway. I didn't want to risk dark windy back roads. On we went into the night. At some point, my taillight burned out and I was left with nothing but a headlight and my safety vest. I tried to keep up with traffic the best I could but visibility was awful and the terrain was unfamiliar. I was cold, sore, and soaked when we got to our exit and limped to our friends' house at about 8, eleven hours after departure and 12 hours until we had to hit the road to get back.
In the morning I sorted through my electrical mess. I found lots of water in my turn signals and tail light. I took everything I could apart to dry. Still though, I was blowing a fuse on the right turn signal. I left it unplugged. I noticed though, that with the right turn signal on, just before the fuse blew, I noticed the green neutral light would flash in rhythm with the signal.
The ride home, without lights, was uneventful and took half the time. We took some great windy backroads and stuck to highways in the afternoon to beat the sun. Time for an oil change and a tune up!
Anyway, Oct 11-13 my brother and I are going to attempt a ride from Philly to Shenandoah and back. He's on a '71 Honda and I'm taking my '75 XS650.
