This is really strange...
Or is someone messing with my brain?
I am positive I posted up my intro with pictures of my '99 1500 but it is... gone?
I was going to add the latest story regarding my bike to the shipping fiasco story when I bought it.
Quick recap:
Bought on ebay with intention to ship home from Florida to Alaska.
Discovered after buying the bike that the "Quick Quote" shipping on ebay is totally wrong if outside the lower 48 states.
Actual shipping cost to Alaska was 3-5 times as much as the quotes.
I ended up shipping my bike to my brother's place in CA.
Problems with delivery attempts (truckers fault) delayed delivery but the shipping company agreed that mistakes had been made and very apologetically refunded $500 of the $850 cost.
(I do recommend them and will use them again: Federal Motorcycle Transport)
My brother is an active dirt bike rider but has never ridden a cruiser or other heavy bike so it was quite exciting for him to ride the mile home on a bumpy rutted dirt road on the Drifter but he made it without tipping over.
Fast forward a few months of seemingly endless rain with no riding he has been starting it up every couple weeks and running the engine for about 10 minutes.
Since the bike ships with less than a quarter tank of gas I asked him to fill it up.
OK? up to date now...
He had emailed me about a key for the gas cap since the ignition key wouldn't go in.
I told him that it had to be the ignition key and perhaps a shot of WD40 would help.
Or possibly some joker had stuck a toothpick or something in the lock that he should look for.
I called him a few days later to see how he was doing and he told me the story about filling the tank on the Drifter.
He tried the key in the cap and just couldn't jam it down all the way no matter how much he tried...
But while twisting and wiggling it and pushing down on it... the key turned the lock!
Whoa! the key doesn't go in all the way to unlock it. That would have been nice to know.
(the seller never sent the Owner's Manual he promised to mail)
So, the key turns, the cap is now unlocked he figures but the cap won't unscrew.
Hmmmm, this thing is TIGHT! No matter what he tries he can't get the cap to budge.
He tries with each hand, then both hands with no success.
Getting frustrated with the whole stupid thing he looks around to find something to give him a better grip on the cap.
All his tools (carpenter) are in his job box at work and all he has at home is a great big plumbers PIPE WRENCH that is rusty and ugly.
He doesn't want to use that because it would scratch the tank all up.
But there is nothing else to do so he gets some rags and lays them on the tank to protect the paint and he gets that big, ugly, heavy, pipe wrench and sets it on the rags to get a good grip on the gas cap... :o
Are you with me here? :( :'( :-X :-\
Are you ready for the gruesome details? :(
When he laid the pipe wrench on the rags on the tank... it hit the release for the cap and the cap popped open.
Oh. ???
It hinges open.. ::)
Would have been nice to know that too... :-[
He filled the tank and all is well.
I fly down mid June to ride it home to Alaska :)
I don't know if I want to comment on this or not....at least you still have a fuel cap.
That could have gotten really ugly.
That should be a nice ride home.
aralph
A word of advice.... Don't let your brother wrench on your bike... :)
Amen brother!
Put the tool down and back away...
He is a carpenter after all.
I sent him a set of metric wrenches just so he could install the new battery I had shipped to him.
The one that won't start the bike without being jumped from his truck.
Yes, maybe I should ask him to put a blanket over it and ignore it.
What route are you taking on your journey home?
;D Through BC for some part of it for sure..... :o
Quote from: JagLite on March 28, 2015, 00:51:50 AM
Amen brother!
Put the tool down and back away...
He is a carpenter after all.
I sent him a set of metric wrenches just so he could install the new battery I had shipped to him.
The one that won't start the bike without being jumped from his truck.
Yes, maybe I should ask him to put a blanket over it and ignore it.
Phone him NOW tell him not to use the tools on your bike, tell him thanks very much for your work up to now and please leave it exactly as it is..
And buy a owners manual and a service manual before you do any work on it they don't cost very much..
For future information all riceburner motorcycles lift oven on a hinge, some car gas covers unscrew and if it doesn't undo easily it probably isn't meant to undo.
John.
Quote from: 49Reo on March 29, 2015, 18:11:54 PM
What route are you taking on your journey home?
Starting in Weott CA, on the Avenue Of The Giants and heading north...
I will be going up 101 along the coast all the way up to Port Angeles and then take the ferry to Victoria, then up to Nanaimo and the ferry to Horseshoe Bay (North Vancouver) then up the Sea to Sky Hwy (99) past Whistler where I skied in 1976 (?!) to the Cariboo Hwy (97) to Prince George.
Then West on the Yellowhead (Trans Canada Hwy 16) to the Cassiar Hwy (37) and North to the junction with the Alaska Hwy (1) just west of Watson Lake.
Then either down Tagish Rd ( 8 ) to Skagway if road conditions are good, and if not, then on to the Klondike Hwy (2) and down to Skagway.
Taking the ferry from Skagway to Haines and up the Haines Hwy (7 & 3) to Haines Junction where I rejoin the Alaskan Hwy (1) and head for the border and on to Tok where I turn south on the Tok Cutoff Hwy to Gakona Junction where I continue south on the Richardson Hwy to Anchorage.
That's the plan, what actually works out remains to be seen... and enjoyed.
::) I'll be watching Border Security now on the TV........it is a program about the CBSA and the work they do...and watch for a Drifter rider denied entry or what ever happens....lol.......... ::) :o
I never really thought about it before but it seems the only way for anyone living in mainland USA to get to Alaska USA is to cross Canada, That's a bit like buying a house in someone else's garden and having to ask their permission every time you want to go in or out of your own house.
Seems to me that is an ideal excuse for an invasion.
John.
Not to insult anyone of point fingers, but John, if you ever get a chance to watch the show it is very enlightening......
People who have a medicinal marijuana card and then try to bring it to Canada and wonder why they get arrested, people who have a hand gun and do not declare it and are stopped ....or refuse to claim items, it is funny.
Also the number of people who have a conviction for a criminal code offence and are refused entry, and if you think the Canadian laws are strict watch the show about the Aussies and NZ entries......
Quote from: John Hopkins on March 30, 2015, 00:20:21 AM
Seems to me that is an ideal excuse for an invasion.
John.
Nah. People who don't want a hassle can take the water route. There are ferries from Washington to Alaska. If they want the ride, they have to comply with Canadian law. It is no different coming BACK from Canada into the USA.
When I head for Drift - In I have alist of people for references and some who I'll never admit to knowing......
Quote from: JagLite on March 29, 2015, 21:29:51 PM... then up the Sea to Sky Hwy (99) past Whistler where I skied in 1976 (?!) to the Cariboo Hwy (97) to Prince George.
Sounds like an epic route! The road from Horseshoe Bay, although now 'twined most of the way to Whistler, is pretty nice and Highway 99 north of Whistler, including the Duffy Lake Road, to Cache Creek is pretty awesome. Go slow and enjoy the scenery. Watch for the road snakes (cracks in the road filled with tar) on the Duffy lake road.