Author: Gale

Magog, Quebec to Conneaut, OH Wednesday, August 11

Between motorcycle repairs and pricey lodging I felt it was time to get home and stop spending money. I was dreading the ride back into the heat and just wanted to get it over with so I left Quebec with the goal of reaching home in three days. I left Magog at 5:40 AM (first light) in heavy fog. I love fog because of it’s beauty, but this fog was so dense I could barely see the road and I almost didn’t see the entrance ramp to Autoroute 10 to head toward Montreal.

I had decided to go west through Quebec to cut across the southeast corner of Ontario and cross the border into New York. My 5:40 departure took me through pockets of heavy fog and had me crossing the Jacques Cartier bridge into Montreal at 7:30 right in the middle of morning rush hour.

The route I had chosen took me down Ontario 401 to cross the Thousand Islands bridge to the US. My excitement for seeing the St. Lawrence again was quickly wiped out when I came around a curve on the road that started out across the river to see an enormous bridge that had a steel grid deck. I had crossed a couple small bridges the previous summer with this slippery surface and hated it — I never would have knowingly chosen this huge bridge that arched up 800 feet above the water and was completely steel grid, but there was no turning around at a border crossing.

I ascended the bridge and was so scared I realized I was shaking from head to toe – so counterproductive to good control of the motorcycle, but at that point I was having to remind myself to breathe. I topped the rise of the bridge to see construction ahead on the steel grid and a stop light that was red. I did not want to stop on that surface — I just wanted off it. I slowed down and to my great relief that light turned green just as I approached and I didn’t have to stop the motorcycle until I had my feet on wonderful, predictable pavement.

Getting that scared wears me out (which I didn’t need) and it took me a while to stop shaking. The most disappointing part was  missing what was probably a spectacular view of the St. Lawrence because my eyes were glued to the steel grating. I still got to see the parts of the river since NY 12 is a great route that follows it in an area where there are islands everywhere.

NY 12 took me to I-81 which connected to the New York Thruway I-90 and I started repeating the route I had taken north in reverse. It was only 5:00 when I got to my planned stop in Conneaut, OH for the night, but it had been such a good place with a great restaurant I decided to call it a day and get on the road early the next morning since I knew I had experienced my last day of pleasant temperatures while riding. It had been 78 degrees when I crossed the border from Canada, but it was 90 degrees in Conneaut. It was going to be hot and humid all day the next day.

August 5 to August 8, 2010 in West Dover, Vermont

My pictures from Vermont: http://motorcycle-journeys.com/current/photos/vermont/index.html

I finally got a cool day of riding (temperature). I had made it to Conneaut, OH Wednesday night around 8:00 PM. It was pouring rain when I first looked outside at 6:00 AM but had stopped before 7:00 so I could load the motorcycle and get on the road. Many, many miles of wet roads through Pennsylvania and New York yet somehow I was never rained on the entire day.

The scenery started getting pretty once I was east of Utica, NY and was much better after I exited I-90, took I-87 north briefly, and got on Route 7 to get out of New York. I’m not a big fan of  interstate highways due to the lack of scenery but it was necessary to make up the time I lost in Louisville.

I made it to West Dover around 5:30 on Thursday. Arrival accomplished in four days but only 2 and 1/2 days of riding after spending a day and a half in Louisville, KY getting the motorcycle repaired. Quite a few riders had gotten there the day before so I was one of the last to arrive.

The Gray Ghost Inn is owned by Magnus and Carina Thorsson (http://www.grayghostinn.com) and is extremely motorcycle friendly, but I would recommend it for riders and non-riders alike. The setting is gorgeous with nothing but green in the back, large decks along the rear of the Inn with a hot tub, grass that slopes down to a swimming pool and fire pit. It’s a B&B so you get a great full breakfast every morning.

Our group spent evenings in lawn chairs circled around the fire pit swapping stories after riding all day and Magnus prepared a wonderful dinner for the group on Saturday night.

I rode alone on Friday so I could stop and take pictures whenever I wanted. Magnus has a binder at the front desk with motorcycle routes and when I picked the “Covered Bridge Route” he highlighted a Vermont map and talked me through the entire route so I knew exactly where I was going.

What a great place to ride — no traffic to deal with, gorgeous green mountains, homes and towns from the late 1700’s, and covered bridges. My route also included a stop at “100 Mile View” where you could see mountains all the way to Massachusetts.

On Saturday Carina took me on a tour of the Green Mountain area which included a stop at Grafton Village Cheese Company where I bought incredible aged cheese (Grafton is a beautiful New England town), more covered bridges, a stop in Peru, Vermont where the movie Baby Boom was filmed, and then a great lunch in Manchester (another stunning New England town) at Candeleros Southwestern Grill before returning to the inn. Carina is such a great person and I feel very fortunate that I was able to spend a day riding with her.

The temperatures were exquisite — mid 70’s during the day and it even dropped down to 39 degrees Saturday morning. I wore my jacket liner that day and it was almost perfect riding weather. Such a relief after the heat on the ride north.

The Chain Gang members from the Northeast were all very nice people and I’m glad I had to the opportunity to meet them and have time to talk and get to know them. We had three riders from Ontario, and then riders from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, DC, Vermont, and me from Texas.

Sunday morning I left to ride north on Route 100 to head to the Canadian border under sunny skies and 70 degree temperatures.

I was up at 5:30 but needed to wait for a little daylight to check the motorcycle. First thing I did was turn it on to check the head light. Nothing. I didn’t even pull the ABS sensor. I replaced the blown fuse and sent an email to Rick in Louisville that I was heading that way and started packing the bike.

I could deal with no speedometer, an inacurate odometer (huge pain in the butt when you don’t have a fuel guage), and no ABS. I felt no head light was an official show stopper.

Rick and I talked and he came to help me check out the motorcycle. The fuse was blown again. Since the HID ballast could be causing electrical problems he thought I should switch back to the OEM bulb. I still had no ABS and the speedo was off, so I decided to take it to the local BMW dealer that was, fortunately, only 5 minutes away. Rick let me follow him and came in to make sure the service guys took care of me. Interesting dealership. The local Harley Davidson dealer bought out the BMW dealer and now carries both motorcycles under the same roof. The mechanics moved too. Am I the only one that thinks HD and BMW are a strange mix?

As soon as I arrived they pulled the motorcycle in, put it on the computer and there was only an ABS fault. I can’t get the motorcycle on the center stand. Once on the stand one quick spin of the wheel showed the problem. About 25% of the ABS ring on the rear wheel was missing. Just broken off and gone. I guess that explains why the speedo wasn’t right and why the ABS computer couldn’t figure out what to do. 

 The tech had never seen a broken ABS ring and didn’t know they break. Good news was the ring would be covered by my extended warranty. Bad news was they weren’t carried in stock (since they never break) so it would have to be overnighted from BMW.

Unfortunately 2 hours of labor later (on my tab) all that was found was a loose positive battery post connection. This could definitely cause the fuse to blow, but no guarantee.

Everyone at the dealership was really great to me all day. I got a call from the extended warranty company and they wanted a picture emailed of the broken ring so they could approve the claim and pay the dealer tomorrow and I could be on my way. Wow. If you do not have an extended warranty and want one I recommend Western. I bought the 4 year extended warranty before I left on the Canada trip last year and it has more than paid for itself and the people at the company are absolutely wonderful. I am so glad I have it.

Even the customers were really nice at the dealership — mostly Harley riders. One who is extremely familiar with roads headed to New England mapped out an entire route complete with recommended fuel stops (nice facilities). He knew I would be running behind and wanted to get me there as quickly as possible.

The tech called later in the day to ask if my tires were new — I had new ones put on a short time before the trip. He said possibly the ring was damaged when the new tire was mounted. Considering I had to take the front tire in to have it remounted the day before I left because it was leaking air, if the rear ABS ring was broken too that was the most expensive tire change I hope I ever have.

The new ring, hopefully, will arrive tomorrow morning. They will put it on as soon as it gets there and hope to have me on the road by noon. The only downside being the temp is supposed to be 102 here tomorrow.

Once again I say you don’t find out how really great people can be until something goes wrong.

I forgot to mention — Rick called to check on me this afternoon and if the part doesn’t arrive he wants to bring the rear wheel off his F50 down and swap with mine so I can get on the road. Like I said — you get to find out how great people can be. I won’t let him do that, but how cool that he even thought of it.