Whenever you start off on a long trip on a bike that is almost 40 years old you have to expect some sort of difficulties. Before I left I was talking to a co-worker who used to do motorcycle touring and I told him I was looking for a little adventure as every one needs a little adventure in their lives. His response was "just a little adventure but not too much". This time I got a little more adventure than I was looking for.
After leaving Graeagle in Northern California early in the morning I had the most glorious ride through the mountains. I passed a little lake the had deer in the woods above it and antelope grazing in the grass next to it. Made me feel that I was really in the west. I had ridden about 1000 miles (1600 Km) mostly around 65mph (100 kph) in temperatures near 100 degrees (37c) on my trip.
I stopped in Chemult Oregon for gas just as it was beginning to get hot. When I went to restart my bike the battery was completely dead. First I had to prove to myself that I can't push start a R100 by myself on a flat parking lot, then I went looking for a jump. I found a Harley rider at a tire shop near by who put my battery on a charger while I went to get a blackberry milkshake. After 40 minutes it showed fully charged but still won't start the bike. I put it on started boost and got it to fire up and gave him $10 even though he would have done it for free. Once I got riding I realized that I couldn't stop because I had no way to restart the bike. The R100 gets way less mileage than my R65 and I wasn't sure if I could make it home on one tank. I figured that if I was going to have to call a friend for help I wanted to be as close to home as possible. I made it home, going onto my first reserve, 200 miles without stopping which is the farthest I have ever ridden in one shot.
When I got home I discovered that the 4 year old Odyssey extreme battery would not take any charge. I guess it was not extremely reliable and had lost a cell in the heat. With a new battery installed, I am heading out again tomorrow but this time plan to go down the coast to try and avoid the heat and the wild fires. Check in on my travel blog and leave a message if you care to.
