You all know about Mr. Murphy. He is the inventor of Murphy,s Law: "if something can go wrong, it will". Remember this; you will hear about it later.
One of the reasons I decided to become tour captain was to choose meeting location. As I had never been to Song Dog, that was very high on my list. I selected April because I thought the hills would all be green with lots of wild flowers. When was the last time it didn't rain in February, March or April? Remember Mr. Murphy? I choose a tour route that was long on good roads, lightly traveled and lightly policed, with both twisty and sweeper sections, planning to leave early and ride hard. Sounds like an R1100RS kind of ride. Before I continue a little background is needed.
Several weeks ago I developed an oil leek on my R1100RS. The leak was diagnosed to be a blown head gasket. In the process of fixing the problem it was determined that two of the cylinder studs had pulled out of the engine casing. Being somewhat cautious I had all four of them helicoiled. Got the bike back, ran it the proscribed 600 miles and had the head retorqued. This occurred the day before the tour. Got the bike back, drove it home, no problems, great. The previous weekend I was out making arrangements for the June meeting in Hat Creek on my GS. For some unknown reason, before leaving the Hat Creek area for home I looked at my brake pads, and to my surprise they were essentially gone. During the week I cleverly bought replacement pads and decided since I was going to use my RS on the tour, you remember the good roads lightly policed ride hard etc., there was no rush to install the brake pads. Now the weekend report.
Left the house about 5:40 AM, ten minutes later than planned, no problem. Going down 280 at about the junction of 92, I decide to put the ball of my foot on the peg. Well my boot promptly slide off the peg. Yeah you guessed it, oil leak and a fairly major one at that. Remember Mr. Murphy? What to do? No way I can make the trip on the RS. OK turn around head home and take the GS. Riding home making a mental list of what I had to do when I remember I need brake pads. No way I can make this trip without new pads. Remember Mr. Murphy?
You think I,m through yet? No way!! OK, I get home. Luckily, Nancy is awake. I tell her to call the Dunneville Store at 7:30 and tell the folks I'll be there at 8:15. Transfer my gear to the GS, take the brake pads and some tools and take off. Arrive pretty much at 8:15, recruit a tour captain, give out route sheets and send the folks off with the idea to meet in Cholame for lunch with me going over Parkfield Grade to make up the time difference. Change the pads in about 15 minutes and I,m off with two other members who waited for me. Go down 25 and find the tour at the junction of Peach Tree Rd. and 198. Take a 10 minute break to relax a little and we're off. Go to San Miguel for fuel and then off to Parkfield. On the way to Parkfield, going around a left hander at reasonable speed, it suddenly feels like I'm riding on jello.
Get through the turn off the road and I,m putting the bike on the center stand when the rider behind me runs up and says something like "wow, that tire really blew out." Well, there were seven riders present who in total had probably ridden 750,000 miles and none of us had plugged a tire. Remember Mr. Murphy? You probably now think we couldn't get it plugged. Fooled you. After doing what any reasonable person would do, reading the instructions, it got plugged and actually held air. Onward to lunch and a shortened tour to Song Dog. No further incidents to report, well, at least until the next day.
Wake up, pack up, get ready to go and think maybe I should check my tire. Yeah, Mr. Murphy is still hanging around. This time, however, I know how to plug tires but I,m out of glue, CO2, etc. Go begging and as usual the members of the club come through. Plug the tire, have breakfast, check the tire and leave. I decide to be conservative and take 101 home, staying in the right lane at the speed limit. Am I through for the weekend yet? Read on. Somewhere between Paso Robles and King City I see flares in the road with the attendant CHP, sheriff, Emergency Trucks, etc. Slowing to about 35 mph, I pass in the open lane and look over and there it is, a BMW on its side with rider being attended to by the paramedics. I stop to investigate, assuming it's one of our group, and unfortunately it is: Jim Carroll, who was a second timer at the meeting. His sleeping bag had come loose and wrapped itself in the rear wheel, locking the wheel. It appeared he skidded upright for about 125 feet (my guess) before going over. At the scene he was "uninjured" though he did not remember things like his name and what had happen. Well they took Jim off to the hospital, Ted Hutz had stopped along with John Barron, who Ted was transporting back to the Bay Area, and we got Jim's bike and gear loaded on the tow truck. At this point in time I've about had it with Mr. Murphy and this weekend. A few hours later I finally get home. I'm not quite through yet. Rolling the bike into the garage I hear a really strange sound. Up on the centerstand I rotate the front wheel and yes there is a sound once per revolution. On inspection it seems like some object lodged between my rotor and caliper and scored and burred my rotor. Now I really am done except for some observation and conclusions.
I guess I'd have to say the weekend was fun even with Mr. Murphy's presence. I did learn a few things however. First and foremost is to always carefully double check how you load your bike and how things are secured to your bike. I know we all take care, but what happen to Jim is unfortunately not that uncommon an occurrence. Jim by the way is OK. I spoke with him at the hospital on Sunday evening. They had admitted him for observation. Hopefully Jim will soon be back on the bike and joining us at some future event. The second thing I learned is that if you plan to take care of problems when on the road, learn how to do it before you go on the road. The other solution of course is to carry roadside assistance and carry your VISA.
In closing I cannot stress what a great club this is in terms of members helping member who need help. I have in my possession a fair number of things to be returned to members at the rally that were given to me in the context of: why don,t you take this in case you have a problem. Thanks to all who helped.
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