Rest day Sturgis

Hi Well we have had our rest day. It was not really a day of rest, more time to make sure we were capable of completing the ride, with necessary repairs and such happening in all area , workshops, car parking lots etc. Our two biggest tasks were to fix our broken clutch basket and repair the brakes that had failed the day before. The brakes were completed, however the complexity of the clutch meant that this had to be machined in a CNC machining center. The parts arrived back to us at 10.30 Pm, and we discovered at 11.00 pm, that they were not correct. Sort of a waisted day, hoever we assempble the remanent fo the broekn clutch and decided to try thi on the day 8 . This was less than ideal, however we had little choice. Christina is having fun, and toured thetown a little, while we worked on others bikes to get them prpepared for the race tommorow. While our clutch is not a show stopper i am surprised that this actually still functions. See what tomorrow brings.

Day 7 To Sturgis

All We left Murdo at 7.00 for the 280 mile ride into Sturgis, throught the Badlands, via the Black Hills into Mt Rushmore. It was quite a ride, and the bike was not going well. It broke down 4 miles from the start with a dropped inlet valve collet. These are unique and i was looking at another trailer ride. As it happens the H/D pins fit straight in and a pal stopped an had these in his kit. So 1/2 hr latter i was going again. The rear brake then came loose, and as we were nursing a blown clutch basket this was going to put strain on the box and clutch. The ride through the national parks were worth the trip, although a little hard to do with a weak box, and no rear brake. At the 200 mile mark the exhuast baffle blew out, so i am sure our neighbours know how this sounds know. It is not the noisest machine, but it is loud. The bike is getting a full owrk out, and is actually getting stronger. We Finshed the day within our time slot and again recieved the full milage. Our score is respectfull and we are in 51 place. There is a rest day tommorow and we will repair the brakes and clutch. Others are busy doing motors, and there are many apart, or the second has also failed. I'm sure ours is run in know, and will be getting stronger. Unfortuanty i cant say that for the box. The pace is so fast, no time to do anything. I planned to take the outfit off and had to allow two days to do this. One to cahnge the tyres and the next to remove the sidecar. After the bikes are brought on the back up, it could be 8.00 or 9.30 pm and this doesnt allow much time to repair them for a 7.oo am departure the next day. Sleep is precisous. Must go.

The race is off.

We have just completed the third day of the ride. I wish i could find time to do more, but the pace is fast, deadlines extreme. We are struggling  with the hills.  They call the range the Never ending mountings and this is quite realistic.  They just go. The scenery is beautifully, however not when the blizzards and winds blow. We started strong on day 1, however 40 miles we lost our throttle cable. IT was something that we couldnt fix on the side so we were on the pick up. The start was amazing, rode through a cavalcade of people and this has been repeated most starts or finishes. The good news is that we were not last on day 1. Paul on his Vello dropped a valve, and the poor old triumph model p, made 9 miles. There were quite a few who failed to make the start and are still Whit us getting there bikes organised. We overhauled the bike and repaired what we could for the next day. We decided due tot he weather and the hills that we would try this solo, with the chair. The bike was running strong, 40 + miles / hr. The conditions were extreme and at one gas station the bike blew backwards in gear due to the wind. I do believe the right decision was to leave Christina in the support vechile. The clutch gave way at about 40 miles. This was a little problem as it is tuff to ride through and up hills without the clutch. I called for pickup, and decided to find a safe collection location. The result was a total of 7o miles for the day over all the Ski resorts and hills. IT was amazing country if you could see this. The total distance for the day was meant to be 310 Miles, so we were in the sweep and arrived at 9.30 pm. A quick unload, and we rebuilt the clutch, valves, chains, maggy, replaced the lost bolts, and had this back running at 3.00 am. The third day was the most difficult, as we had a boat ride on the ferry and this was 300 miles away. There was no way we could make this at 35 MPH average on time. We headed out, and were collected 1 hr after the leaving. The good news is that this was basically a time pickup rather than a failure. It doesn't matter, we having fun. Our bike is cool and tonight Willie Davidson and his wife Nancy were at the function at the museum. Willie was snapping photos and Nancy loved the sidecar. Especially the leather animals in the tauna cover. Had the Iron Indian Riders from South Carolina up here tonight, Its a small world. They were looking for us, and have some more cards coming so we can hand these out. I think we are about 59th or 60th in the listings , but there were many today who have problems. This just reminds us all of how tuff the men were back in 1920 when they originally rode.

The night before the start

All We are at the start of the Biggest International motorcycle event in the world. We have passed the saftey check and also been briefed with the Route and symbols used. The public is amazed with our machine and that someone is going to be riding in  he sidecar. We have been doing laps arround the packing lot with our Flag in Full Flight. Tommorow we change the Kangaroo to the Australian Flag by popular demand. It looks like we will swap and change the flag sevearal times along the route. The bike is going well, had a few minor problems with loosing a bolt on the exhuast and also replacing the broken glass on the fuel cap. Reg this glass didnt work and we know have a hotel Card cut to shape and will know the number of Donimo's pizza soon. The bike seems to be going strong and we are certainly exciting being here amoungst some really neat prepared machines. We ahve just finshed the Gala dinner and again i think this was great. Jsut so many peope we know. The sidecar we doanted to the Organisers is going to be awarded to a team at the organisers discresion. It was well recieved and will be a coverted trophey. Anyway we leave for 210 miles tommorow at 7.04 am and 26 seconds. This is our starting time. I'm sure this is for logistics at the photo shoot  at 8.00 am. More later.

Video update.

We have been buys bee's since arriving in the USA.  The issues with customs allowed some breathing space for a few days and this resulted in some free time to put together a Video (DVD) of the pre-start. The Video is out for production know and is a short documentary of our adventure and the road take to date. This will be available shortly, but a little hard to sort out logistic while travelling on a bike. I am quite surprised at the quality and interest this has received to date and hopefully i remembered to acknowledge all. What most readers will find surprising is that we are belong to the Newport Folk and Fiddle Club back in Melbourne and recently recorded our first CD. Newport Folk and Fiddle Club have been great with the local community support and have supplied us with several copies of the CD to hand out to get our music to the broader audience. Well we have certainly achieved this and i hope that all are impressed with the results. The DVD will be available before the start. The title of our DVD is "The Invincible Adventure" and i hope that all that view this can enjoy this special event, along with our journey to date. We are moving to the start tomorrow and the vibe is really abuzz. Christina arrived and all is well. We are amongst like minded people who all talk our language. Must fly C