Ted and Marilyn provided each of us with our own bedroom and we all slept well without having to try to eek out some REM time amongst all the snoring, Breakfast was served at 0730 and it was easily the best breakfast we’d had all trip. We started getting John’s bike up on blocks so we could change out his blown right front fork seal. We got that done and got a parts list put together then headed to a local independent to get Rich’s bike looked at. The guys at Thunder Road in Fairbanks moved Rich’s bike to the front of the line and were working on it within 15 minutes of us getting there. They had it fixed once around noon but found another problem. Turns out it was in the charging system – they got his bike fixed and he was back on the road.
In the mean time, John, Ted & I went to the Harley dealer to check on my fuel hose. The guy checked the tracking number and sure enough, just like Ted said – sometime tomorrow (Friday) and the UPS guy usually shows up around 1700. That means that even if it shows up Friday, I wouldn’t be able to have it installed until Saturday, if they even work on Saturday in the service department – UGH!!! Oh well, guess I’ll just have it shipped back to CA and hope my repair holds. Back to Ted’s to work on John’s fork seal. That turned into a bit of an ordeal but long story short there – we did get it done. Marilyn made sandwiches for lunch.
As for my fuel line – at 1325 the Harley dealer left a message on my phone, my part was IN. Not only a day early but early in the day to boot. I picked it up and we went over to Thunder Road to see if they wanted my business as well. He said, sure and we headed back to Ted’s to get my bike. It’s 17 miles from Ted’s to Thunder Road, I couldn’t have picked a worse time of the day to make that ride. I got SOAKED on the way over there. I have all the rain clothes and everything but just didn’t contemplate that it would be pouring rain for a 7 or 8 mile stretch. No big deal though – I’ve been wet before, so far I’ve always dried out – I’ve always said that. While they were woking on my bike I noticed the owner – Jerry”s – bike and he had an aftermarket horn on it. He demonstrated it for me & I said, good enough I’ll take one. SWEET – all the bikes are ready to roll. We’ll be heading out sometime tomorrow, still working on a destination.
Marilyn made lasagna for dinner, we all sat around talking about this and that until it was bed time. Ted has lived up here for over 40 years and some of the stories he had to tell were fascinating. Us guys stayed up a little too late out in the garage/workshop drinking beer kicking tires, while my boots and gloves were drying out under next to the wood burning stove.
Before we move on, I want to say a special thank you to Ted, Marilyn, and Nick. Without those people, we would be stuck. They took us in and we were immediately family to them – not too many of those kind of people out there and we couldn’t have made it this far without their kind assistance.