Ride to Granite Run

Another flight plan change.  Saturday morning I only had time for a quick ride since I had other obligations during the day so I got out early with a simple plan.  Ride up Goshen to Providence Road, make a left and follow Providence to 252, make another left on 252 to Goshen and then back home.  When I was approaching 252 the light was green and I made a change on the fly to make a left onto 252.  Following 252 across the West Chester Pike I continued on to Route 1 and took that towards Granite Run where the Media Bypass merges with West Baltimore Pike to the 352 turnoff.  Route 1 had very little traffic and it was moving pretty fast so it gave me a chance to open the Bullet up a little.

Once on 352 I ended up following two crane trucks but they were moving fairly fast so it wasn't a problem.  This road has some good turns before getting to the West Chester Pike so it was an enjoyable ride.  The work still continues on the road just shy of the Pike but luckily there was not much of a backup.

On the other right of the Pike I made a right onto Strasburg and began following that for the ride home.  When I got to the point by Bartram's Covered Bridge, where the groundhog had crossed my path the day before, a pack of riders was coming my way in the opposite direction.  I had never seen a pack on this road, mainly singles and pairs at most, but it was nice to see about 25 to 30 riders taking this road.  It was a mixed pack with some cruisers and sports bikes running together.  It would be nice to find out who this group is and maybe I could join them for some rides.

Another nice easy ride.  By the end of the ride the odo clocked 943.5 miles.

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Wildlife Encounters

Friday's afternoon ride took me to West Chester via the Paoli Pike.  The original flight plan was to head up Goshen/Strasburg to get to the West Goshen Shopping Center on the Paoli Pike via the West Chester downtown.  That was the target because I need to go to the pet store there to buy treats for my new kitten, Lucifer.  When I reached the 252 and Goshen interception I made an on the fly decision to change the plan and take 252 to Darby Road, Devon Road, and the Paoli Pike to test traffic conditions in the early afternoon on the Pike.  As I headed up 252, I startled a red-tailed hawk that was on the grass at the right side of the road.  She took flight and at first attempted to fly across my path to the trees on my left but as soon as she was up, she veered right and came to perch at the top of a phone pole on my right.  The reason she was on the grass was that she had caught a snake which she took with her to the top of the pole.  If that was not a good omen from the shades of my ancestors, I don't know what is.

The rest of the ride out to the shopping center was without incident, traffic was light and moving at a good pace.  Traffic in the opposite direction was fairly light as well.  After stopping at the pet shop, I continued up the Pike into town and used the Wawa, right after the merge of the Pike with  Gay Street, as a turnaround and refueling point.  At that point the odo clocked 895 miles and tank required 2.597 gallons to fill up, still averaging 67 mpg.  Next refuel at 1095 miles.  While at the pump, a guy that had pulled up on a sports bike came over and asked me "what's that?"  We talked about Enfields for a while; he had never heard of them and was really interested in learning.  It was nice to chat with someone about the Bullet and it really confirmed that people will just walk up and ask about the thing.

The path back followed the usual run down Strasburg/Goshen and was nice as ever.  At a point shortly before reaching Bartram's Covered Bridge on Boot Road a big fat ground hog ran across the road from my left to my right.  I say him with enough time to react and slow down so there was no problem but it definitely was amusing to him waddle across the road.  Since I had slowed down almost to walking speeding, I decided to pull over on Boot Rd and get a shot of the Bullet with Lewis Run and the covered bridge in the background.  The bridge is not really visible because of the trees and the quality of the phone photos is not great but is not a bad shot overall.

I continued down Goshen all the way to it's end over Darby Creek at Darby Paoli Road.  Took a left after the creek and followed Darby Paoli to Godfrey for a run by my office.  I stopped in to check on somethings I had forgotten to do before leaving earlier in the day and the headed back home on my regular commute route.

It was a great ride, no problems from the Bullet, great to see wildlife up close without any negative effects, and to be able to put in some more easy miles on the odo.  At the end of the ride, the odo read 917.5.

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Return from Pottstown

Randy Kiss called me yesterday to let me know that the Bullet was ready for pickup.  Evidently it had a bad kickstand switch with they replaced at no cost to me since this was under warranty.  My wife and I drove up to Pottstown this afternoon and within five minutes of getting to the shop, I was ready to get on the road.  The Bullet roared to life without any problems and I headed up High Street to take my usual route back from Posttstown via 724 to 23, across Phoenixville to the Village of Valley Forge and through the Valley Forge Park to 252.  The ride was easy and uneventful, we left Posttstown a little after 15:45 so by the time we reached Phoenixville, I could see traffic starting to get heavy but it cleared on the far side of town.  The repairs on 23 leave a lot to be desired and the stretch of road between Phoenixville and the Village of Valley Forge is pretty rough and bumpy.  No potholes left but just a really bad road surface.  This time again I took the right at 252 under 202 rather than continue on to Waterloo.  That is an easy route but at that time of the day 252 north of 30, where it chokes to single lane under the rail overpass, was backed up fairly solid.  No big deal but all the idiots on the left trying to force the right and not looking over their shoulders make me feel a little uncomfortable.

After we cleared 30 I took Sugartown to Church and at the intersection of Beaumont, seeing the road clear behind us, I pulled over to the right and asked my wife to lead the way so we could get an early dinner at the Chipotle in Wayne.  I didn't want to lead because I'm never quite sure if, after we take Brooke Road, we should stick with Brooke on the left or fall back to Church on the right.  The answer is to fall back to Church on the right.  We stopped at Chipotle for dinner and after I went back home via 30 to Spring Mill and my regular commute route.  On Sproul, before hitting the Godfrey turn, traffic had backed up quite a way so I split the lane to right to get to Godfrey.  Not a wise move but with traffic standing still and me moving at about 20 mph I risked it.

The Bullet started without any problems after every stop and once again after I got home.  I hope that that was the only issue and that things are fixed now.  After this trip, the odo is at 879.9 miles.

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A Long Way on a Royal Enfield

Getting started in Sydney

Found this bit on Jorge Pullin's blog.  There is a young man in Australia that has set set of to make the journey from Sydney to London on a 1969 Royal Enfield Bullet 350.  At least I think it's a 350.  His name is Jonathan Gibson, a former bartender and urban designer from Sydney, and he is keeping a record of his travels in his blog, The Answer is Always Yes.

He started of on March 26, 2014, from Sydney and has endured an incredible run of bad luck with breakdowns, lost gear, and dead kangaroos.  The last entry on the blog is from June 6 and he has gotten as far as Darwin where he is stopped with a hole in the piston and serious engine issues.  The blog is a really good read and I hope he can continue, on with better luck, to regale us with tales of his long journey.

1969 Bullet 

I wish him fair seas and following winds.

Photo credit The Answer is Always Yes blog.

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It Did It Again

On the way

 Well, this morning the Bullet started, sputtered, and died.  Several tries later, all that happened was that the ignition would try to spark but there was no engine catch.  Tomorrow the tow truck is supposed to come to take it back to Kiss Honda.  Maybe they can figure out what's wrong.

At Kiss Honda

Addendum (24 June 2014): Tuesday morning, Bill from Peg's Towing showed up as scheduled and picked up the bike.  We made it Pottstown without any problems.  After I dropped off the Bullet, I watched as the service technician got on it and it turned over right away without any issues.  Of course it would!  They'll be keeping it to see if they can figure out what the problem is.

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First Casualty of the Thump

Missing rear shroud round head bolt

I noticed yesterday that the rear round head bolt holding the muffler shroud had fallen out with the shake of the Bullet.  Figured that it was around a 6mm bolt, I tried removing one of the others to checked the length but at the time they were both still firmly attached so I judged from the cavity that it would not be very long.

Today, on my diagnostic trips around the neighborhood, I took a jaunt to the True Value Hardware Store in the shopping center on the West Chester Pike and 252 to get some bolts.  The shortest I was able to find was a 6mm x 12.  I settled for that and brought it back home.  Once home, I was able to remove the side bolt and it turns out that it's probably a 6mm x 6.  I put the original bolt in the rear hole of the shroud, where I have lost the original, and the replacement 6mm x 12 in the side hole.  That fits much better there, I could probably get away with a 6mm x 10 in that spot but in the rear spot it really stuck up.  I used blue Loctite on both bolts.  When I next go to big box hardware store, I will look for a 6x6 or a 6x10 to replace the 6x12 I have now.  I will also have to keep an eye on it just in case.

Original front shroud round head bolt

Replaced rear bolt with original side bolt

Hardware store 6mm x 12 temporary on the side bolt  hole

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DK Diner in West Chester

At the DK Diner

This morning my wife and I headed out on the Bullet for a late breakfast at the DK Diner in West Chester.  I had a little trouble getting the bike started because it seemed to be struggling to catch.  Once the throttle was engaged and the engine started to rev things seemed to settle down.

 We took our usual route up Goshen/Strasburg to the West Chester Pike and into West Chester.  The ride up Goshen/Strasburg was perfect, the llamas were out in the pasture and I thought for a second to pull over and get some pictures but I saw a pelotón of bicyclists assembling off Goshen under a tent and I did not want to get caught up in their madness.  The Parcae smiled on us and we hit every stop and light without opposition and were able to reach the Pike from 252 without putting our feet down once.

Charlene at the DK Diner

The DK Diner is on Gay Street before getting to downtown to it was an easy off right into the parking lot for a prime parking spot.  After breakfast we headed up Gay into downtown West Chester and then turned around on New Street to take Market Street out of town.  We took the Paoli Pike to the Chester County Book and Music Company and hung around there for a little while.  When we returned to the Bullet there was a gentleman in his pickup truck waiting to talk to us about the Bullet.  He was a flat track racer and had Triumphs and BSAs when he was still riding.  He had been born in West Chester and had grown up in the area but had eventually moved to San Francisco a lived there most of his adult life only returning to West Chester after retirement.  Besides motorcycles we talked about things California and because I grew up in Southern California (Anaheim, to be precise) we ended up talking about In-N-Out Burger.  You can't talk about California without talking about In-N-Out.  It was great to meet him and to talk about motorcycles and burgers, it really is hard to go out on a Bullet and not meet someone.

Enjoying breakfast

Enjoying breakfast

We headed back up the Pike towards West Chester to turn around towards West Chester Pike.  I didn't want to stay on the Paoli Pike because my rides on that road have not been enjoyable and I did not want my wife to have an unenjoyable ride.

From the West Chester Pike we got back on Strasburg and followed that down all the way to 252.  The light caught us there and when it turned back to green the Bullet gasped and died on the spot.  I tried to restart it and despite the engine priming and the electrical giving it the best it had it refused to ignite.  After the next light cycle, I trundled it off the thoroughfare and began again.  After several unsuccessful tries we both decided to trundle it across 252 to the parking lot of the Newtown Square Presbyterian Church.  This, of course, had to happen just as people were arriving for services and filling the parking lot.  We found a spot in the far end of the lot and I began trying to restart the Bullet again.  I tried with the kick start but despite several tries nothing improved.  Eventually, I could feel the engine trying to start at the bottom of the kick so I switched to the electronic ignition and it finally caught.  We went straight home from there and after dropping my wife off I did several starts and stops, a couple of loops around the neighborhood, and even as far as the hardware store on West Chester Pike and 252 without any other problems.  I have no idea what the issue could have been.  I will keep using the bike with the intention on taking it in to have it checked by next Saturday regardless of a repeat of the episode.

At the end of the day, the odo clocked 822.7 miles.

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