8 Ball In The Wind

Friday, September 30, 2011

Oyster Run


Well we made it to the Oyster Run over the weekend.  All in all, it was a pretty good trip.  Met up with a couple friends in Olympia, and we rode up US 101 to Port Townsend with a couple stops along the way.  We stopped in Brinnon, along Hood Canal for something to eat, and I suggested we make a little side trip to Rockybrook Falls.  A really cool waterfall hiddden from view but just out of sigth until you are right at the bottom of it.

Rockybrook Falls
 Then we headed up over Walker Pass through Quilcene and the back way into Port Townsend.  Going over Walker Pass we caught up with, and slid into a group of bikes that were also heading to the Oyster Run.  Obviously they didnt know the area real well, because when we all got to Quilcene they stayed on the main road while we took the back way.  We reached Port Townsend and caught the ferry to Coupeville on Whidbey Island.


We rode up Whidbey Island to Deception Pass St Park.  Its only about 10 miles from Anacortes.  And we planned on making it an early ride in the morning.  We got there early enough that there was blocks of open parking, but within 30 minutes or so that had changed completely.


early at the Oyster Run

30 minutes later
The wind and threat of rain didnt keep too many people away, as downtown Anacortes was filled with bikes for ten or twelve blocks.  With every side street filled for a block with vendors.  There was a huge mix of stockers and dressers there, a good number of billet brage "choppers", crotch-rockets, and a few cool looking homemade chops and some trikes. 
Even after fighting the high winds on the way back home, I am still planning on going next year...but maybe I will stay over until monday.  So I can enjoy the full day of music and fun on sunday instead of riding home.

Catch ya on the road sometime...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Heading to the Oyster Run

Well Hell...since I just got my 1st paycheck onlya few days before I had wanted to head out to make the Oyster Run in Anacortes, Washington...I figured, fuck it.  I'm gonna go, but knowing how boring the route up I-5 is...and knowing the roads in Western Washington well enough..I decided to head up north to Olympia, and then follow US 101 as it curved through the countryside, and along the miles of Hood Canal.  I"ll swing over to the town of Port Townsend, and catch the ferry to Whidbey Island.  From there, I'll putt to the state park at Deception Pass, and then on sunday morning jet the last 15 miles or so along the seaside road into downtown Anacortes.

I already reserved the campsite, and a couple friends are probably gonna roll with me.  Since this is the biggest run in the whole Pacific NW, I am hoping to get some sweet pics; meet some old friends, and make a few new ones.  I figure with the 25-30,000 bikes that show up every year, I ought to have some good pics, and some stories to tell of the trip and the day.

If you're up in the area this weekend, swing by, and maybe we can have an eyeball chat, or share the road for a spell.  Either way, it looks like it ought to be something to remember.

Catch ya on the road sometime...


Sunday, September 18, 2011

A Question

I have a question that is driving me a bit buggy.  There seems to be an intermittent oil leak from my tranny.  As near as I can tell, it is from the vent tube.  But here is the thing; I can ride the hell out of her, and stop for an hour or so, and just have a small quarter sized spot (if any) on the ground, if I leave it for a day or two ( or if the weather has a sudden change)  I can go out and overnight there is about 4 to 6 ounces of 90wt on the ground.
About the only thing that I can figure is there is a pressure change, or build up over time as the outside temps rise and fall and the clouds roll in or out.  So when the pressure gets too great it forces a bunch of oil out of the tranny. 

So here is my question, does that make any sense?????????????

I cant think of any other reason why it would puke out 90 wt gear oil after NOT being ridden for a couple days.  I dont have that much hair left to pull it out over this.  So any ideas, I would greatly appreciate...cause I'm not coming up with anything else that makes sense.


See ya on the road...

Sunday, September 11, 2011

A Ride To Windy Ridge

Headed out for a ride up to Windy Ridge overlooking Spirit Lake and Mt St Helens yesterday.  It is one of the best roads around here for a bike...although at places the pavement is kind of shitty since it is closed by snow 1/2 the year or more.

I am always a bit leery or coming back down from Windy Ridge because in a lot of places there is no shoulder.  Just a several hundred foot drop down into the valley...and it always seemed to be at a place where the pavement was all fuckered up.

See ya on the road sometime.



Thursday, September 8, 2011

Up And Running


After a frustrating couple weeks of trying to get too much different shit done at once, I finally got Gypsy up and running.  It seems that the mainshaft oil seal the shop sold me was the wrong one, and when we finally got all the other hassles out of the way when fixing the tranny I didnt notice that it didnt have a tight seal around the bushing.  Put it back in the back, and had almost everything together and buttoned up.  Then a partner put the 80 go 90 into the tranny, and it started flowing right out past the seal.  So it was a case of running it back to Brando's place the next friday and installing the right seal.  Everything is back together, and all I really need to do is adjust the clutch a bit better.  BUT there is one new little problem...It seems that once in a while now, Gypsy spits a couple of ounces of gear oil out of the blow by line in the tranny cover....not always, and at times I havent even ridden her when it does it....so still trying to figure that one out.  I went out the day after I took her for a ride, and no leak..the next day there was about 3-4 ounces on the ground under her.  So for now I carry an extra jug of 80 go 90 in the saddlebags.

Now on the job front, I now have TWO jobs...one that only pays $9 an hour and is kind of sporadic hourwise, and the other is 25 hours a week at almost $12 per hour.  I prefer the $12 driving job to the $9 security guard job anywya, so that one takes precedence...until something better comes along. 

I'll keep ya all posted, and I am working on a vid to post here next time of some of the roads to ride around here in the Pacific Northwet (no, I didn't make a typo...up until the beginning of July, thats what this pace has been this year.  lol)

Catch ya on the road sometime.