Lessons learned, Final installment
Sorry this took so loog, but life has been busy. After Rich saved the day with his safety wire, we were off again. I was happy that the bike seemed to be fine, the Otterbox was firmly attached, and the day was still fresh. That is, until we pulled up briefly to a gas station that had many riders milling about, taking a break. the group quickly decided to move on, and did so quickly. That is, except me. I was pushing the start button, and the engine was cranking over, but nothing else, nothing that was supposed to happen, was happening. No start. From previous scans of the Canondaller.com website, I was armed with the knowledge that the spark plug on these bike would foul at the slightest provocation. I was trying to not hold the button down for mare than a few seconds at a time, fearing that the spark plug would soon be covered with a gooey mess. Just as i was about to get off of the bike, or at least look for something to lean it up against (remember that I did not have a kick stand) the bike started up. I was off. for a while.
About three miles down the road, shortly after we entered another forest road, the bike just, well it just died. Rich was at this time behind me, and stopped to offer (again) his assistance. The start button, this time, was offering no help , just a siily thing on the handlebars to push, with the hopes of something happening. Nothing this time. Just as I was about to give up hope again, and after waiting five minutes (I found a tree to lean the bike up against) she started up. After this point, every thousand feet of so the bike would start to die. I would then pull in the clutch, wait a few seconds, and then press the magic read buttons, with the engine roaring to life. This happen, over... and .. over...I was getting tired of this, and wanted to get off, but since we were on some great double tracks, I figured what the hell and kept on riding. Soon enough, we exited the trail system and arrived at another gas station. I had had enough.
After getting some gas, and buggering up one of my decals as the bike leaned up against the pump (did I mention not having a side stand???)> I decided to call it a day. T.W.O. was about 10 miles down the road, and the lunch was just a few miles the other direction. I chose to retreat, heading back to T.W.O. with Jim form Texas, who had had enough of gravel roads for the day. We made it back of (the bike only hiccupped once on the road back) and soon, we were sitting under the shade of a tree, eating some great burgers served up by the staff at T.W.O., and talking about like, bikes, and things that make us what we are.
After I had taken a nice, hot showier, I took of a look at what was ailing the Cannondale. After I removed the Front and rear side panels, and the fuel tank, found the problem, a loose negative connector at the battery. I have had this happen on a carbureted bike, and if it starts, it runs. No so with a fuel injected bike, even more so a fuel injected dirt bike.
Lessons learned:
1. Ride with the correct tires for the roads/terrain.
2. Learn a new bike before you take a big trip with it.
3. Shake down a new bike before you take a big trip with it.
4. Other riders are great to have around to help, but don't put yourself in a position that you wear out the good will.