Big Trees HOG Touring Rally Day 6 End

Redding to Eureka. The End

I left my Redding hotel at 07:00 and beelined west on Highway 299. It was raining and around 50°F, so I had to choose between wearing rain gear to stay dry and plugging in my heated gear to stay warm. I opted for the heated gear, which turned out to be the best option. The drizzle broke once I got over the mountain, but the roads were wet all the way to Eureka. Very slow going all the way, but I made it to my hotel by 10:00.

I was able to check in and offload my bike, then I went to brunch at Café Waterfront, which had an absolutely delicious shrimp, crab, and scallop scramble. They also had live music, a muted trumpet and keyboard duo. Excellent meal and atmosphere in a small space. I did, however, get a lot of sideways glances as I was peeling off my riding gear 🤣.

After brunch, I went a mile down the road to the dealership where I had scheduled a rear tire replacement. And man, did I need it! I had just over 15,000 miles on it and it was as bald as I've ever ridden on, which is another reason why I took the ride so slowly. (Read the post script 🫣.)

Unfortunately, when I started the bike to go to the hotel, the check engine light came on. The codes were for the rear wheel motion sensor (new code and they just changed the tire 🤔) and the right hand control module (historic code). They cleared them out and I went back to the hotel, no problem.

A couple of hours later, I was going back to the dealership for dinner. When I turned on the ignition, the display lit up...then turned itself off. It did that four or five times. And it was doing it so quickly that I couldn't get the bike started until the last time. I rode immediately and directly down the avenue to HD and gave them back the bike. A little while later, the guy said it seemed to be a short in the right hand control module, but they didn't have one in stock. Um, ok.

I said so long to everyone and took Willie back to the hotel. He started fine (because when you're at the repair shop the problem never happens), but when I turned off the ignition, he didn't stop for a few seconds. Ugh. Not sure what I'll do, but I'm not staying here.

So long [for now], and thanks for all the fish! ✌️

Day 86 mileage: 166.0 (total 20345.8)
HD Dealerships: 1 (total 191)
National Parks: 0 (total 38 in 18 states)
10 Rides for 2022: 0 (total 5 of 10)
MCGTTX Stops: 0 (total 23 of 50)

P.S.: While I was waiting on my tire install, a guy came into the store walking slowly and looking pale. I figured he was cold and wet. I was wrong. A mutual friend of ours later explained that he went down in a turn 🙁. On the mountain 🫢. With no guardrail 😳. Part of his rear wheel was literally hanging off the edge of the road 🫣. With a 35-foot drop-off 😱. Luckily, he didn't go over 🫡, and both he and the bike were pretty much ok. I'm pretty sure that what I thought was a look of cold and wet was really a sign that he needed to change his underwear 💩 🤣.Read more