Well sports fans, after weighing all the options I decided to ride to Edmonton with the bike so I could make a value judgement while talking to the folks who had the best chance to fix the bike...if the problem is simple. If a quick fix was possible I could then get back on the road and try to catch up with Mark and David. If not, head home via air since buying here is prohibitive and renting is totally out of the question. It took 5 hours of steady driving to get to Edmonton and we made it just 30 minutes prior to closing. The head Ducati mechanic immediately took a quick look, listened to the engine and agreed that there was a problem. When he pulled the plugs prior to taking the cam covers off to look at the cam gears, etc, he saw that the verticle cylinder belt was balled up. It looks like the cam froze due to lack of oil and stripped the belt. The horizontal cylider is probably just about to do the same thing. This could easily mean two complete heads so I plan to ship the bike home ASAP and tear the motor down to see what is salvagable. There is no sense in talking about fixing it here because this is such an unusual problem that nobody in Canada would have the two complete heads and there might be more damage, such as the crank. In other words, the motor is toast!
I fly home tomorrow at the crack of dawn. Now is when I see how much crap I really have. The Roadcrafter suit is so big I can't very well stuff it in a bag so I will probably have to wear it through the airport. This will be very interesting! Ah, travel, nothing like it to broaden your views. Now for a cold beer!
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So sorry your adventure came to such an unfortunate conclusion. Am also heartened that you have not given up on Ducatis...at least for now! Hope your and your bike's trip home go smoothly. It's beginning to sound like I will have to ride to Viginia some year if I want to see you.
ReplyDeletecheers
Colin
Peter,
ReplyDeleteI'm really sorry that your trip ended with mechanical failure rather than a kiss and a hug from your wife arriving back home. Let's look on the bright side - you get the kiss and the hug and a welcome home reception ;-) a lot sooner than expected and your road problems are temporarily off your radar screen. I'm happy that you're safe. I leave Seattle on Wednesday heading back to Florida going up around Yellowstone then heading diagonally to Arkansas to ride Route 7 through the center of the state - a glorious motorcycle road. My timing was all wrong for Marlington, BUT I rode through the town and area on the Tuesday after the ECM headed back to Florida from Sylvania, OH. I did not know about Route 555?? but will check it out on my next trip up to Ohio.
Cheers, and Better Days!!!
Bobby B.
Peter - That really sucks. There's nothing as helpless as having a breakdown in a remote location. Your adventure will be one that you talk about for the rest of your life. You will be the highlight in the old folks home. We head off for WCM tomorrow and on as far north as Jasper. Hope our paths cross sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteJeff