Ride Reports and Other Drivel: Moto Camping

Yep, I was going to take two weeks off for vacation this year, but my work decided that I started the year with -5 days, so my two weeks are gone and I'm down to three days paid out of five. Gotta love it. They are going to pay for it in morale, and employee turnover no doubt.

But, I'd had some charging problems with my bike that seemed like I just couldn't trust it for longer than to work and back, which is only about 7 kilometers or 11 minutes away (if you don't get caught behind a slow islander or his cousin).

The Fundy Trail Parkway

I got a text from my friend Wobbly Cat warning that at long last he was going to take me up on my offer of a couch and a meal or two, and that he would be arriving sometime on the Friday before my vacation, so I started to clean up couch so I could see it again, then found out from my sister that my brother Rich and his wife Kay had hit the island and did I want to head out to Stanchel to join them for supper? Lol. Time was running out, my motorcycle parts weren't here yet, as I'd put a new battery in the bike only to find that it still wasn't charging, and I'd only been able to get to and from work by charging the battery over night, then running straight to work, and back again with perhaps a single stop if the fan had NOT been running while stuck in traffic. Yeah, it was bad. My car was down as well, with a seized windshield wiper transmission linkage. The left side was just impossible to free up and even my Red Seal certified mechanic of a nephew gave up on it. I was not a happy camper, and on the weekend I was not looking forward to the of the month, and the start of my vacation which my girlfriend no longer had off, so I was going to be playing host to a good friend motorcycling his way about my favourite province, and here I was with a dead bike, car, and no parts for either. **sigh

Enter English J to the rescue. He used his parts look up super powers to locate a wiper transmission in a local salvage yard. Rich and Kirk visited it on the Monday and bought the one they had in stock, of which Rich & Kay made me a gift. I used Monday night to install it.

test

I called the local Kawasaki dealer, Bolger Motorsports, to obtain a quote on parts, and they informed me that both the stator and regulator/rectifier I wanted was on backorder from their parts supplier, so I opted to order them in from Fort Nine as the Kimpex heavy duty Stator and their Regulator/Rectifier with Mosfet were both in stock and ready to ship! Whoot! I ordered a stator cover gasket and some fork bushings from Bolger Motorsports. Things were looking up.

I spent some quality time with my Island family, Rich & Kay, in spite of the sickness rolling around through them, and managed not to catch the summer cold, but I'd shot my cleaning plans and did what I could on the Thursday night before Wobbly Cat showed up, And again on Friday, as he was a bit later than I had been expecting, but that was fine as I needed the time to get things sorted.

Wobbly Cat arrives a chez moi!

We stashed his bike down in the underground, and I helped carry his gear up the four flights of stairs to my apartment as the elevator is down for the next couple of months while they replace it all. What joy!

I sautéed some peppers, garlic, onions, celery and added in some hamburger, then did some basmati rice up to which I tossed in a jar of butter chicken sauce and presented James with supper, quick easy and filling, and headed out for a short walk with James out to Peake's Quay where the Cows booth called out to me and I might have convinced James to try some of their finest. I think he was envious of my sprinkles.

Cows Creamery's finest
Photo Credit: Wobbly Cat Photography

Saturday reared it's head, and I sent Wobbly off to meet up with his friend, armed with my Google Map of the island that I've marked up with some of my favourite spots.

Ride Prince Edward Island
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1STTrTlknWPlzrp5Mg36sEAZsNRD9Urf6&usp=sharing
The Island is like a Lobster trap… It's free to get in, but you have to pay to get out.
Ferry and bridge are free going to the island, so a common theme is to come from Pictou Nova Scotia and leave via the Bridge.

Yeah, it's a bit busy, but you need to zoom in, as it is only a small island after all.

Sunday

Sunday was the big day for me, I'd arranged to use by Brother-in-law Kirk's garage to do the repairs, and riding with Wobbly Cat out there was just like a blast from the past of my former life in Onterrible (Ontario) with my fellow moto junkies. Except I had to do a U-turn for this lemonade stand that had popped up just around the corner across from Queen Charlotte Intermediate School. Two girls were accepting donations in support of Ovarian cancer, and were selling Croc stick on thingies as well, so I did my bit, donated some money and enjoyed a cool lemonade while Wobbly Cat chatted and got his photos. I used to run a lemonade stand myself, so appreciate the need for good patronage. :)

We stop for Lemonade

Fundraising for a good cause

We got my Versys into the garage just after noon, got it up on a borrowed rear stand, dropped the oil into a cut away oil jug, and promptly had the side cover off the bike using my Bikemaster 1/4 inch drive T-Handle that I was learning to love.

This thing was awesome! Loads of torque yet easy to use.

The side cover came off for the second time for this bike, and I was able to quickly remove the old RM Stator I'd installed in 2018 and swapped in the Kimpex one, but it didn't look all that great. In fact, I didn't like the position of the screw holes as they try to be multi purpose for many types of bikes and it seemed like the cable that goes under the spinning mass of the flywheel was not going to clear and get rooked soon after I started the bike. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, then I tried a radical rotation and the screw holes lined up, the cables worked, and it was time to pull out the blue loctite and smear it on everything I was touching. I got it sorted, in spite of my apprehension.

The old stator tested well, and I can't see any visual faults
But I'm tired of towing my dead bike
so out it comes

The Kimpex stator has more holes for a variety of mounting options than the RM Stator did, and I have to admit, trying to figure out where it was going and how I was going to secure it in was more fun that I wanted at the time, but I managed to get it into place and fastened in making me think that the spinning mass of the the fly wheel wasn't going to cut through the stator wires, so I blue gooped everything and fired it back together.

This round I knew that I would be reusing an old gasket, so I'd some RTV silicone borrowed from my nephew Ryan, and I stuck that gasket on and ensured I had a wee bead all the way around the case and that the metal gasket was gooped into it, as well as positioned over the case locating holes.

I got it in, on and together, and was pleased so far... although if you are new to this game, the hardest part is matching the two case halves, the pins, gears and all while fighting a strong magnetic pull!

Not fun at all, but easier this time as I'd used that RTV silicone to keep the gasket in place, and I'd ensured that the gearing you see was located in the bike side of the case as it was easier to simply get two pins home, then pins and gears.

So I'd been having connection issues with the three wire connector, they seemed pretty secure, but obviously I was seeing some arcing and heat here. One person on KawasakiVersys.com suggested that the OEM stator was wound as a Y

My nephew Tyler shows up with the beer, but I told him he made a mistake, beer is for AFTER the work is done... :)

Time for a test ride!

Cooper enjoys the treats

I am not going to lie, I was pretty happy, and with the bike charging the battery, it felt like the world was my oyster. I went from a unreliable pain in the ass PITA to being back in the saddle and ready to go and do what I wanted to do.

My Island family and I

Funny face shot, not everyone got the message

Under Construction

I really wanted to get out and go camping, and for the past couple of years, even though the heart was willing, the bike or circumstances didn't permit, and I'd only just gotten a night of camping in a couple of weeks ago, and I'd made a total shambles of that, being so out of practice that I could barely boil water for tea.

My friend WobblyCat from Onterrible was still knocking about, enamoured as he was with the East Coast and all the lovely adventuring one could do, and he was desperate to ride the Cabot Trail, and I thought the idea of a fall colours ride was enticing and I was really looking forward to seeing what Cape Breton Island had in store for us this end of September and beginning of October. What follows is three days of motorcycle riding, and motorcycle stopping, with lots of motorcycle loitering for want of a better expression. Remember the philosophy:

"Smiles per gallon,
not
Miles per gallon."

Now that I have set the stage, shall we continue?

The Google MyMaps route

Day 1 - Charlottetown PE to Linwood NS - Drive 406 km, 5 hours, 21 minutes

Charlottetown PE to Linwood NS

WobblyCat was bunking with a mutual friend over in that cesspool of a metropolis Moncton New Brunswick and wanted out of there in a bad way, so we arranged to meet up in Port Elgin the following morning for 1030ish, which I was going to try to make, but I still had some packing to do, which is why I put the "ISH" on that one, and I felt bad leaving as I had to fess up and tell him that I was running a bit behind and would try to make up time on the road. The elevator in my apartment building is undergoing a retrofit, so hauling all my gear up and down the stairs really was the lack lustre moment of the morning, but I managed and I was finally away!

I rode like I was on a mission, with about a half tank of gas too, so when it hit a bar left on the confederation bridge, it was easy to think of the only two stations en route that I could stop at, one at Hardy Road, Allen's gas & Grocery, the Petro Can, or the newer Shell station at the Port Elgin roundabout up ahead.

Mainland Ho!

I skipped all my fun routes, and as the traffic was comparatively light for a change, I stuck it out on the main highway, just playing dodge 'em and weave until I was at the head of the pack seeing clearly the road ahead, right up until I caught up with everyone in Port Elgin and pulled in for gas, about an hour's worth of riding, and just under a hundred K from home. Now to see if I could spot WobblyCat's new to him distinctive 2016 Triumph Tiger 800 XRT, but all I found was a couple of Islanders on their way Home with a new toy, a used 2011 KLR that had about 28K on the clock IIRC.

WobblyCat had really slept in and was going to arrive at 11:45! I had plenty of time to chat and grab a tea, so I went over and chatted them up.

2011 Kawasaki KLR 650 going to a new home on PEI

I talked so long about bikes that I found myself wondering if I was meeting him at the Bistro Le Chat Bleu or at the Shell! Darn it, he didn't say, so I jumped on my bike and lit out towards Baie Verte, just a hop, jump and a skip down the road, and we passed each other.