BROKEN MOTOR

Day 3, Tuesday, May 2, 2017

My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and it took me a while to shut it off.  I was enjoying the bed and the comfort.  I got up, got dressed and started packing my bags.  Jan got up as I was finishing packing.  I took my bags downstairs and out to my Motor.  I had asked the Desk Clerk last night if I could park under the awning at the entrance of the hotel and was allowed.  I took the cover off and packed it.  After packing my bags into my Motor, I got my towel and went back in and soaked it in hot water.  I cleaned my messy Motor and it looked much better.  Jan came out and packed his bags and cleaned his Motor.  We then went into the breakfast area and had breakfast.  Soon after, Ken and C.E. came in.  Jake followed and then J.B. and Chuck.  As we were having our breakfast, C.E. told us that he was having electrical problems with his Motor.  C.E. and Ken went out to the Motor to try to see if they could fix it.  We later followed and realized that we could not fix it.  We decided to ride to Dodge City where we knew that there was a Honda/Harley shop.  We all packed our Motors and rode to a neighboring Shell Station to gas up.  We left at 8:48 AM.

It was Jake's turn to lead.  J.B. was familiar with the road to get to Dodge City, since he had come from there the day before.  J.B. followed Jake, followed by C.E., Jan, Me, Ken and Chuck.  Jake took us north onto US 83.  We rode for a while and then turned onto US 56.  We rode straight into Dodge City, riding for 58 miles and arriving at the Dodge City Honda/Harley shop at 10:19 AM.  C.E. rode straight into the service area and explained the situation.  We all parked and walked into the Harley AND Honda Stores.  We waited until C.E. came and told us that they were working on the electrical problem first.  It wasn't very long before they told C.E. that they found the problem.  It was a blown fuse.  They started working on the brake problem.  That took longer.  We waited and waited and finally they told C.E. that the problem was from a prior Recall on the Honda rear master cylinder. C.E. had taken his Motor in to be fixed for this problem in Peoria a few weeks back.  Apparently the Motor was not fixed properly.  C.E. was feeling bad that his Motor problem was making us lose riding time.  We told him that malfunctions happen.  It wasn't his fault.  It got to be lunch time and we decided to ride to a nearby Subway and have lunch.  We told C.E. that we were going and asked him if we could bring him back something to eat.  He said, "No."  We left at 12;13 PM.  While at the Subway, C.E. had texted Chuck and told him that the brake rotors had been warped and had to be "turned."  They were sending them out to O'Reilly's Auto to be turned.  We ate lunch and then left and returned to the Honda Harley shop at 1:19 PM.

We waited some more for the rotors to be returned from O'Reilly's.  We also offered to go and pick them up if it would be any quicker.  We were at our Motors when a pick up truck, belonging to one of the Harley employees, drove up, parked and got out of his truck with the rotors in hand.  A few minutes later, we saw C.E.'s Trike back out of the service area with an employee to "test ride" the Trike.  We applauded as he rode by us.  He returned and gave us a "thumbs up."  Again we applauded!  Soon after C.E. came out, put his helmet on and we were off.  We left at 3:47 PM.

With not much daylight left, Jake led the Group northbound on US 283.  We rode for 31 more miles and at 3:43 PM, Jake pulled into a gas station in Jetmore, KS so that C.E. could gas up.  As we waited, C.E. gassed up and then pulled up next to Chuck.  He told Chuck that he had no power to his radio or turn signals because the fuse had blown again.  We rode for another 94 miles.  The weather was getting cooler.  The temperature never went below 60, nor higher that 70.  It was good riding weather.  We arrived in Hill City at 5:23 PM.  When we were still in Dodge City, Jan checked "Google" and found 20 hotels available in Hill City.  When we arrived, we found NO hotels.  We checked "Google" again and found a Best Western hotel 27 miles away.  Chuck called the Best Western and found that it was completely booked.  There have been numerous power outages in the area and we have seen numerous power company trucks.  I'm sure that many are here from out of town and were staying at the Best Western.  We stopped and got gas at Casey's General Store and asked the clerk about hotels in the area.  She told me that there was a motel about two businesses away from the General Store.  Jan rode to the motel to check on the availability.  Jan came back and told us that there were four rooms available.  A double was for $50 and a single was for $40.  We took a vote and decided to go for it.  We all rode to the Western Hills Motel and checked in.  The roommates for the night are:  Chuck and Me, Jan and Ken, J.B. and Jake and C.E. as a solo.  We unloaded our Motors and took our bags to our rooms.  There weren't many places to choose from to go and have dinner.  There was a Pizza Hut across the street and we all opted to go there.  We walked over and had dinner and then came back to the Motel and tucked our Motors in for the night.  We are expecting rain tonight and tomorrow.  We will see what tomorrow brings us.  There is a cafe not far from here that was recommended for breakfast.

Today we rode for 218 miles.  It happens.  Mechanical break downs happen.  We are very glad that the Motor was taken into a shop to work on the problems. We can make up the time later.  As for tomorrow, we are headed northeast.  Where?  I don't know.  The weather tomorrow will help us decide.  So, until tomorrow...