Re: [Bulk:***** SpamScore] [Virago] Well now, that was an adventure...

[mcfarlc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Great story Mike....perhaps include the blog address.

I bought a '82, 920J (the one with the fish finder type display) two years ago and it fouled the rear plug in a similar manner. I had the valves reworked and the rings replaced with news ones from ebay. The bike runs like a charm.

Cheers,
Chris.


----- Original Message -----
From: "J. M. Schneider" <grimkirk@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tuesday, August 7, 2007 6:28 pm
Subject: [Bulk:***** SpamScore] [Virago] Well now, that was an adventure...
To: virago@xxxxxxxxxxxx

> A few weekends ago, I took a somewhat impromptu road trip. Below 
> are the highlights of that trip extracted from my web blog I 
> wrote when I got back. I'll apologize up front for the length, 
> but it seemed worth it. I'm sure there will be ample 
> 'constructive suggestions' for future use, and I'm looking 
> forward to them. - Mike
> 
> ---------------------------------------------
> Monday, July 16th -
> I'd tell you my butt is sore, but I can already hear the 
> jokes... (Hey! Your butt would be sore too if you'd just ridden 
> 960 miles from Chicago to Erie, PA and back in 50 hours!)
> 
> A long time acquaintance passed away recently, and I felt rather 
> compelled to pay my respects. However, he lived (and died) in 
> Erie, PA. And seeing that I a) don't own a car, and b) didn't 
> manage to get that cross country motorcycle ride I'd been 
> planning before I found that grad school started the day after 
> graduation..., I figured this was about as close as I was likely 
> to get to one until next summer (or perhaps even the next after 
> that). So, on Thursday I give the bike an oil change and fresh 
> plugs. Then, I set off on Friday evening after work towards the East.
> 
> Having not owned a vehicle of any kind for a few years, and 
> rapidly waxing psychotic for being city-bound, I purchased my 
> motorcycle ('83 XV920K) two summers ago. Two weeks later, I rode 
> it through the remnants of Hurricane Dennis (literally), to go 
> visit a family member who had just been diagnosed with terminal 
> cancer (which was apparently accurate, since he passed away only 
> three weeks after I visited him, [on my birthday, no less].) 
> Since then, it has served me faithfully on trips of relatively 
> little challenge. I've not had the opportunity to really take 
> the bike out and test its mettle, until now.
> 
> So let's see --
> Adventure 1:
> Mishawauka, IN - Friday night, 12:30am
> A Con-Way.com tandem tractor decides to tailgate me for better 
> than three miles. Close enough to see its headlights, but not 
> its bumper. At 70 mph.
> 
> Ahem. 
> 
> Update: Con-Way seemed very interested in my tale of woe this 
> morning (given that insurance for OTR systems is comparable to 
> medical malpractice insurance). I was told I'd be contacted by 
> the safety director for this region later today. Hmm... Yeah, right.
> 
> Updated Update: Never heard boo. Big surprise.
> 
> Adventure 2:
> Maumee, OH
> I rolled into Maumee, OH (south side of Toledo) at about 4am 
> local (time zone change). Take a room for the (remainder of) night.
> 
> Saturday morning, I get up and begin to get dressed to resume my 
> ride east. I surprisingly find that the only pair of jeans that 
> I brought with me (the ones I'd been wearing on the bike) 
> decided at some point between getting the room and getting into 
> the room, to become a pair of chaps! I figure this must have 
> happened when I got off the bike for the night, becuase at the 
> speeds I was riding at, at 4am in the morning, I'd have KNOWN if 
> I'd had a gaping hole from halfway down my zipper to halfway to 
> my knee!
> 
> Anyway, I throw on a pair of shorts, and my new 'chaps' over 
> that, and set off (on the bike, of course) to find a Walmart or 
> Meijer or someplace to get another pair of jeans. [Imagine me 
> walking into one of those places, and up to the 'greeter' 
> asking, 'Hey sweety! You got anything for this?' (pointing at my 
> gaping whatever...).
> 
> Not.
> 
> After about 30 minutes of following the directions I got from 
> the hotel manager, I found the Meijer that was two minutes away 
> from the hotel. :: sigh :: Got two pair of jeans (in case the 
> second pair got the idea that being chaps was a fun idea), back 
> to the hotel, changed and set off again for Erie, PA. It's 11am, 
> I have 5 hours if road ahead of me, and services are at 1pm. You 
> do the math.
> 
> Adventure 3:
> Erie, PA
> Get to Erie, 3 hours late (math is oddly consistant like that). 
> Got directions to the plot from the funeral home, and directions 
> to the reception. While the cemetery was absolutely gorgeous, I 
> was not able to find my friend's plot anywhere. Apparently, this 
> cemetery resods after a burial, and of course, three days isn't 
> time to get a stone erected. So I paid my respects from the 
> curb, in the general direction of where he was supposed to have 
> been laid to rest, and headed off to the reception. In the 
> rain... (Stay tuned).
> 
> Adventure 4:
> Still in Erie, PA
> After a brief respite at the reception (about an hour), I set 
> off again to return home. In the rain. Bike seems to be doing 
> just fine, as always.
> 
> I managed to get out of PA and back into Ohio, and stopped for 
> gas when the rain let up. I thought, "Ok, let's make a dash for it!".
> 
> Now, this is the southern shore of what for all intents and 
> purposes, is, an inland sea (Lake Erie). With all due respects 
> to Gordon Lightfoot, the last thing I want going through my mind 
> while dealing with a storm coming onshore is the lyrics from the 
> "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" while riding my iron pony. 
> Nevertheless, after passing through several bands of torrential 
> rains, the weather abated, and I made it to the south side of 
> Cleveland, OH, just in time for both nightfall and more rain. 
> So, I took a room for the night.
> 
> Note to self: When the hell did Red Roof Inns get to be 
> $100/night in Asswipe, OH?
> 
> Adventure 4.5:
> Elyria, OH
> After taking my bag off the bike and up to the room, I rode a 
> block or two away for a quick dinner, in hopes of getting in and 
> back before the rain actually resumed. When I came out of the 
> restaurant, it was indeed drizzling. So I mopped off the saddle 
> and got on, and started it up. What I got was the most annoying 
> backfiring and puttering and spitting (which I referred to as 
> 'bitching, pissing, moaning and groaning'). I barely managed to 
> get back the two blocks to the hotel and covered it up for the 
> night. I figured I'd just gotten some water in the gas I'd just 
> filled up with, and I'd treat the tank in the morning. Time for sleep.
> 
> Adventure 5:
> Ohio Turnpike / Indiana Toll Road
> Up and out at 11am, after a decent night's sleep. Get back on 
> the bike, and back to the gas station, treat the tank, a quick 
> breakfast at the local Bob Evans, and head off to the highway. 
> Only to find that I can't keep 65mph to save my life (a scarey 
> thought, given where I found myself - the Ohio Turnpike). At 
> least it wasn't raining, and it was daylight.
> 
> So - I get about 50 miles or so down the road (yeah, I hear ya 
> but after all, its a turnpike) with the bike screaming all the 
> way (no, literally, screaming. I couldn't hear myself think.) 
> Once I stopped for gas and summarily discovered that I was 
> getting 20MPG instead of my usual 35+, I decided to do a little 
> diagnostic work on the bike. It would run, but poorly. So, start 
> the bike, pull the front plug wire off, bike keeps running. Put 
> the wire back, and pull the rear, poof. Bike dies. Pull the 
> front plug, fouled beyond belief! (and these were the NEW plugs 
> installed on Thursday evening.)
> 
> Fortunately, I keep a spare plug on the bike for just such an 
> emergency. Pop it in, and voile! I'm back on the road. 60 miles 
> further, the bike starts acting up again. Stopped for fuel, 
> checked the plug, and it looked the same as the one I'd just 
> taken out. Christ!
> 
> Well, after a bit of roadside ingenuity, I managed to 'clean' up 
> the 'spare plug' and put it back, and managed to get the bike 
> running again. Went through this two more times before getting 
> back to Chicago tonight.
> 
> Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig -
> Chicago, IL
> 960 miles in 50 hours. Lots of lessons to absorb, and some 
> repair work to be done. And of course, my throttle hand will be 
> buzzing for a week, I'm sure.
> 
> Update: 8/7/07 - 3 weeks, still buzzin'.
> 
> -- Mike Schneider
>    '83 XV920K (w/KJS kit)
>    Chicago, IL
> 
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