Up at 5:00 AM to be on the road before 6:oo to avoid Friday morning rush hour and once again I backed out of the garage, turned the motorcycle on, no headlight.The same thing that happened when I left for Vermont last month.
Back in the garage to tear all the carefully packed gear off so I can get the seat off to check fuses and the headlight fuse was blown. Three fuses later I’m running out of 7.5 fuses and need to find out what’s causing the problem. I pulled my much liked HID bulb and replaced it with the old PIAA and the fuse doesn’t blow when I turn the motorcycle on.
Repack the motorcycle, throw the HID in the top case in hopes I can figure out the problem while on the road and hit rush hour traffic at 7:00 AM. Once on the frontage road I see I-35 is at a stand still so I take surface streets to cut through old town Lewisville and get on 121 heading northeast to find very light traffic. Head north on 75 and all the traffic flow is headed into town so I have smooth sailing.
I had decided to wear the Aerstich since I would need my Gerbing heated pant and jacket liner in the cooler temperatures up north so I left the mesh at home. By 10:30 I’m regretting that decision when I have to stop and unzip everything I can to try to get some air flow to combat the 90+ degree temperatures. Have I mentioned how tired I am of the heat???
I had decided to try the shorts and sleeveless top that I wore comfortably under the mesh in high temperatures and promptly found my exposed skin stuck to the lining of the suit when I started sweating. I hate the way the Aerostich lining feels, but too late to do anything about it now. And yes, I have read the warning in my Aerostich that you’re supposed to wear long sleeves and long pants under the Aerostich, but the folks who make this suit are in cold Duluth, Minnesota not overheated Texas.
I follow US 69 uneventfully north through Oklahoma and then I-44 into Missouri. I stopped at the Missouri welcome center and the wonderful lady at the desk fixed me up with maps, directions on how to avoid St. Louis traffic, and coupon books for motels in Illinois where I hoped to stop that night.
I have a very sensitive sense of smell and frequently smell things burning when I’m on the road. I repeatedly was getting that smell and had stopped and checked there was nothing resting on the engine or muffler and burning. It didn’t occur to me until later to check the HEADLIGHT. The PIAA bulb had vibrated loose, turned slightly sideways and melted the plastic around the bulb mount. Great.
I reseated the bulb, once again making sure the lock ring was firmly attached, and discovered I could see the back of the bulb while riding and started checking it periodically to make sure it wasn’t loose again. Meanwhile I’m imagining how expense the back of the headlight will be if I have to replace it…
I continued my rush hour trend that I seem to follow on my solo trips and hit St. Louis at 5:30 PM Friday night. Fortunately the suggested route quickly got me out of congestion and into Illinois.
It’s funny how fast you can go from sweaty and soggy to cold and shivering. Within minutes the sun disappeared behind clouds, the temperature dropped into the upper 60’s and I had to stop and zip up. I was still cold but hoped I’d be stopping soon.
I missed my planned stopped in Vandalia, IL and ended up going on to Effingham where I had been told there would be a lot of motels. Unfortunately that had me arriving after dark with my miserably poor PIAA bulb. I was really missing my HID.
The only really pretty thing I saw all day was while crossing bridge over the Mississippi — I looked down and there was mist hanging over the still water and it was a beautiful, serene scene. Just not a scene I could get a picture of.
750 miles today and 550 tomorrow for me to get to my errand north of Detroit. Rain is forecast for the entire day. I can’t tell you how excited I am about that forecast.
I talked to Jean-Francois hoping he was close enough I could blow off my errand (and the rainy ride) and meet him instead, but he was in Arizona and hour from the Colorado border. He’d had problems with his motocycle and had lost time on repairs.
So I guess it’s the rain tomorrow.
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