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XSEast Ride Report - May 2001 Rally Report by Mark Robertson
XSEast Ride Report - May 2001
Canadian Observances
Day 1 (Thursday) - Bruce and I left my home a little after 9 am (Atlantic time) under sunny skies but heading into a cool North wind. Our first stop was Truro so we pick up a few more supplies, gas up And adjust the load in my trailer to stop the slight weaving when speeds approached 65 mph or when passed by an 18 wheeler truck.
The drive was pretty uneventful until after lunch when we just passed the last exit to Moncton, NB, Bruce began to have running problems and had to pull over to the side of the road. This was the first of many mechanical stops that was to plague Bruce for the rest of the trip. He had clogged fuel filters and had to remove them. They were clogged with green,liquid electrical tape (?) which he had used on his petcock diaphragms. A half hour delay and we were off again.
Just passed Sussex and heading North to Fredericton, we had to pull over again at a small gas station. This time the petcocks came off and were dismantled and cleaned. Bruce then gave the carbs a blow job as he tried to get any remaining crap out of the carbs. A one and a half hour delay this time.
We stopped just outside Woodstock and Bruce worked on the bike again. We had doubts if the bike was going to make it and we knew we were not going to make it to Caribou, Maine for supper. We entered the USA at Houlton and proceeded north to Caribou. Bruce would run good for a while and then the bike would die and then pick up again. This went on all the way to Caribou and we finally arrive at Tina's place at 11:30 pm (Eastern time), just 15 hours after we left my home!
Day 2 - The next morning Bruce decided that his problem was electrical, the coil pick up wires were bad. He proceded to repair them after Bill Kingson arrived with some soldering supplies. It was after 10 am before we all left Tina's place. A late start but we were still happy at this point. There were 5 of us now. Tina and Bill, 2 up on Bill's XS11, Tina's son John on Bill's Suzuki 550 and of course Bruce and I. I noticed that the Suzuki is burning oil and when we get to Houlton extra oil is purchased and we have lunch at the Elm Tree Diner. Great food and atmosphere but lousy coffee.
Out on the Highway 25, heading south, the problems with Bruce's bike occur again. We finally make a long stop at a gas station for more repairs. Struggling on and behind schedule again, we make it to Bangor and have supper. Its off to Augusta where we gas up again before heading into town to find Highway 101 South. Bruce and John take the lead and head towards Augusta's big traffic circle. They get lost and are not sure what exit to take so we go round and round before they head off to 101 North. I try to stop them but they are gone. I catch Bill and discuss the situation. Bill goes after them while I wait there. Another delay. When they get back I take the lead and get us out of town as darkness falls. The roads head up into the forests and hills. It is hard to drive in the dark and there is a constant worry of deer and moose coming out in front of us.
After driving for a half hour, I pulled off to check directions. Bill is tired and cold and wants to find a motel for the night. I want to make it to camp. We push on with Bill taking the lead. It is a tortuous route over rough roads and the trailer is taking a beating. We get lost but we figure out how to get back to the route we want. It is relief when we finally cross the NH State line. We check the map and Bruce his GPS. We are close. Off to Conway and then up the forest road. After travelling a number of miles we stop. Bruce's GPS says we have passed the campground. We circle back (not easy with a trailer on a narrow, dark road) and look for the campground but can't find it. We eventually end up back in Conway and try to reach the campground by payphone. We finally get through and discover that we were still a few miles short when we had turned around. Bruce's GPS coordinates were wrong. It was 2:30 am when I found my campsite in the dark and its 3 am before I went to sleep. We were 16 hours on the road and I was not a happy camper!
Day 3 - After some good coffee and muffins from Deb, I was feeling much better about the situation. I was ready to go, even though I had only a few hours sleep. Bruce was not up to it. He was tried and discouraged with his bike and decided to stay behind to rest and work on his bike. His day went even worse. When moving his bike at our site, he hit some sand and the bike fell over and trapped him underneath. There was no one around to help him and he had a real struggle to free himself from under the bike.
I on the other hand, had a spectacular ride around the center of the State. We saw the Old Man in the Mountain and drove to Mt Washington and watched the cogged railroad. The roads were wonderful, twisty and fast. The scenery was gorgeous. It was during the ride that I realized that I had the only XJ1100 at this rally. And Bruce and I were the only Canadians there; in-fact we were the only Canadians at the campsite.
That night, the rain began. It was the first rain since April.
Day 4 - I woke up to find my tent still leaked a bit despite waterproofing a few days later. Bruce's tent was also leaking. And the rain was to continue for the rest of the day. Bruce and I had a discussion and decided to pack up and head home that morning. We hoped to make it to New Brunswick by evening where we find a motel for the evening.
Everyone went to a great brunch at restaurant a few miles south of the campground. We made our goodbyes and out into the rain Bruce and I went. Everyone waved goodbye and I saw concern in Deb's face.
We headed south towards Portsmouth, intending to get on Interstate 95 and head north to Bangor and then NB. It was raining pretty steady and after a half hour I looked in my mirrors to see that Bruce was gone. I pulled over and looked back to see Bruce about a quarter of a mile back waving to me. I realize that I have to go back because the tools are in the trailer. I was very nervous about making a U turn in the rain with heavy traffic. I eventually make it to Bruce and he then lays out on the road in the pouring rain to try to fix his pick up wires. A green Saab pulls over across from us and a man gets out and comes over to see if he can help. He suggests that we head back a few miles and take Highway 25 to Portland and then pickup the Interstate from there. He asks us if we really need to head home today in this terrible weather. He says that he is worried about us and offers to put us up at his place for the evening at no charge to us. We thank him but decline. We pull out and make a U turn and head for Highway 25. A mile into Highway 25, Bruce breaks down again. Once again he lays down in the rain and tries to make repairs. Just then an old Ford van with painted windows pulls over in front of us. A man wearing a Harley Davidson hat comes out to offer some help. When he realizes there is nothing he can do, he gets back into his van to leave. He then gets out of his van and comes back and informs us that he will be coming back this way a little later and if we are still here he will try and help us. What nice people here in NH.
We get going again and the rain never lets up. My gloves are soaked through and my boots are full of water but my bike is running like a trooper and the trailer is no problem at all. We get to Portland and stop at a light. When it turns green, Bruce's bike stalls and will not start. I yell at him to push it through the intersection which he does and gets it into a small parking lot. I drive to an adjacent lot and park the bike. This is like one of those nightmares where you have to get somewhere but can never seem to get to that destination. Bruce is really discouraged and talks of renting a truck and driving the bike home on the truck. He gets the bike going again and we go another block and he pulls up by me at another traffic light and tells me that the bike is not going to make it. He sputters along, has a wicked backfire and pulls into another parking lot. We do not know what to do, it's Sunday and car rental places are closed.
Bruce gets it going again and we get to the intersection just before the first toll booth of the Interstate. We pull into a gas station/Tim Hortons and Bruce starts to really work on the bike. The rain eases a bit but Bruce is talking about staying right there for the night and renting a vehicle Monday. He suggests that I continue on alone. I really don't want to do that so I encourage him on and help as best as I can. We are there 2 hours and it is obvious we will never make NB this evening. We decide to try and make Bangor. Out on the Interstate, Bruce's bike dies about every 10 miles. He is really getting discouraged and is talking about never riding a motorcycle again. I try to keep a brave face even though I am tried and discouraged with our bad luck and this lousy rain.
About 10 miles south of Bangor, Bruce pulls over again. He is almost in tears now. This time he is reaching under the gas tank and burning his fingers on the valve cover. I haven't a clue what he is doing. The bike starts and off we go again. Bruce is running strong and he waves his fist in the air. When we reach Bangor, his is real happy. He tells me he has a runner now and had figured out what the problem was. There is some sort of wiring ballast under the tank and the wires had fused together. He had separated them at the last stop and now the bike was running like it should. We decided to call it a night, find a motel room, get dried and have a great supper (which we did at Applebys).
Day 5 - We leave Bangor and find Highway 9 under overcast skies and some fog but no rain. The ride is uneventful all the way to the border except for some rough sections that bang the hell out of the trailer. I found out later that the signal lights had banged against the trailer's brake lights and broke a chip out of each of them. Once back in Canada, the drive along the Fundy Coast is very foggy. Then just before St. John, the skies opened up and we hit the heaviest rain fall for the entire trip. It is so bad that I can only see a couple of feet in front of me and the road is a river. We immediately pull off onto the shoulder to wait it out. My hands and feet are soaked once again.
The rain continues until a few miles past St. John and then the sun comes out. Except for stopping for gas we push on until we get to Sackville, NB where we stop for supper. We continue on to Nova Scotia and hit rain again in the Wentworth Valley. I arrive home at 8:10 pm (Bruce continued on to his home after gassing up in Milford). My total mileage for the trip: 2538 kilometers or 1573 miles. This is one trip that I will not soon forget.
Mark Robertson
Milford Station, Nova Scotia
'84 XJ1100 - Omega
Canadian Observances
Day 1 (Thursday) - Bruce and I left my home a little after 9 am (Atlantic time) under sunny skies but heading into a cool North wind. Our first stop was Truro so we pick up a few more supplies, gas up And adjust the load in my trailer to stop the slight weaving when speeds approached 65 mph or when passed by an 18 wheeler truck.
The drive was pretty uneventful until after lunch when we just passed the last exit to Moncton, NB, Bruce began to have running problems and had to pull over to the side of the road. This was the first of many mechanical stops that was to plague Bruce for the rest of the trip. He had clogged fuel filters and had to remove them. They were clogged with green,liquid electrical tape (?) which he had used on his petcock diaphragms. A half hour delay and we were off again.
Just passed Sussex and heading North to Fredericton, we had to pull over again at a small gas station. This time the petcocks came off and were dismantled and cleaned. Bruce then gave the carbs a blow job as he tried to get any remaining crap out of the carbs. A one and a half hour delay this time.
We stopped just outside Woodstock and Bruce worked on the bike again. We had doubts if the bike was going to make it and we knew we were not going to make it to Caribou, Maine for supper. We entered the USA at Houlton and proceeded north to Caribou. Bruce would run good for a while and then the bike would die and then pick up again. This went on all the way to Caribou and we finally arrive at Tina's place at 11:30 pm (Eastern time), just 15 hours after we left my home!
Day 2 - The next morning Bruce decided that his problem was electrical, the coil pick up wires were bad. He proceded to repair them after Bill Kingson arrived with some soldering supplies. It was after 10 am before we all left Tina's place. A late start but we were still happy at this point. There were 5 of us now. Tina and Bill, 2 up on Bill's XS11, Tina's son John on Bill's Suzuki 550 and of course Bruce and I. I noticed that the Suzuki is burning oil and when we get to Houlton extra oil is purchased and we have lunch at the Elm Tree Diner. Great food and atmosphere but lousy coffee.
Out on the Highway 25, heading south, the problems with Bruce's bike occur again. We finally make a long stop at a gas station for more repairs. Struggling on and behind schedule again, we make it to Bangor and have supper. Its off to Augusta where we gas up again before heading into town to find Highway 101 South. Bruce and John take the lead and head towards Augusta's big traffic circle. They get lost and are not sure what exit to take so we go round and round before they head off to 101 North. I try to stop them but they are gone. I catch Bill and discuss the situation. Bill goes after them while I wait there. Another delay. When they get back I take the lead and get us out of town as darkness falls. The roads head up into the forests and hills. It is hard to drive in the dark and there is a constant worry of deer and moose coming out in front of us.
After driving for a half hour, I pulled off to check directions. Bill is tired and cold and wants to find a motel for the night. I want to make it to camp. We push on with Bill taking the lead. It is a tortuous route over rough roads and the trailer is taking a beating. We get lost but we figure out how to get back to the route we want. It is relief when we finally cross the NH State line. We check the map and Bruce his GPS. We are close. Off to Conway and then up the forest road. After travelling a number of miles we stop. Bruce's GPS says we have passed the campground. We circle back (not easy with a trailer on a narrow, dark road) and look for the campground but can't find it. We eventually end up back in Conway and try to reach the campground by payphone. We finally get through and discover that we were still a few miles short when we had turned around. Bruce's GPS coordinates were wrong. It was 2:30 am when I found my campsite in the dark and its 3 am before I went to sleep. We were 16 hours on the road and I was not a happy camper!
Day 3 - After some good coffee and muffins from Deb, I was feeling much better about the situation. I was ready to go, even though I had only a few hours sleep. Bruce was not up to it. He was tried and discouraged with his bike and decided to stay behind to rest and work on his bike. His day went even worse. When moving his bike at our site, he hit some sand and the bike fell over and trapped him underneath. There was no one around to help him and he had a real struggle to free himself from under the bike.
I on the other hand, had a spectacular ride around the center of the State. We saw the Old Man in the Mountain and drove to Mt Washington and watched the cogged railroad. The roads were wonderful, twisty and fast. The scenery was gorgeous. It was during the ride that I realized that I had the only XJ1100 at this rally. And Bruce and I were the only Canadians there; in-fact we were the only Canadians at the campsite.
That night, the rain began. It was the first rain since April.
Day 4 - I woke up to find my tent still leaked a bit despite waterproofing a few days later. Bruce's tent was also leaking. And the rain was to continue for the rest of the day. Bruce and I had a discussion and decided to pack up and head home that morning. We hoped to make it to New Brunswick by evening where we find a motel for the evening.
Everyone went to a great brunch at restaurant a few miles south of the campground. We made our goodbyes and out into the rain Bruce and I went. Everyone waved goodbye and I saw concern in Deb's face.
We headed south towards Portsmouth, intending to get on Interstate 95 and head north to Bangor and then NB. It was raining pretty steady and after a half hour I looked in my mirrors to see that Bruce was gone. I pulled over and looked back to see Bruce about a quarter of a mile back waving to me. I realize that I have to go back because the tools are in the trailer. I was very nervous about making a U turn in the rain with heavy traffic. I eventually make it to Bruce and he then lays out on the road in the pouring rain to try to fix his pick up wires. A green Saab pulls over across from us and a man gets out and comes over to see if he can help. He suggests that we head back a few miles and take Highway 25 to Portland and then pickup the Interstate from there. He asks us if we really need to head home today in this terrible weather. He says that he is worried about us and offers to put us up at his place for the evening at no charge to us. We thank him but decline. We pull out and make a U turn and head for Highway 25. A mile into Highway 25, Bruce breaks down again. Once again he lays down in the rain and tries to make repairs. Just then an old Ford van with painted windows pulls over in front of us. A man wearing a Harley Davidson hat comes out to offer some help. When he realizes there is nothing he can do, he gets back into his van to leave. He then gets out of his van and comes back and informs us that he will be coming back this way a little later and if we are still here he will try and help us. What nice people here in NH.
We get going again and the rain never lets up. My gloves are soaked through and my boots are full of water but my bike is running like a trooper and the trailer is no problem at all. We get to Portland and stop at a light. When it turns green, Bruce's bike stalls and will not start. I yell at him to push it through the intersection which he does and gets it into a small parking lot. I drive to an adjacent lot and park the bike. This is like one of those nightmares where you have to get somewhere but can never seem to get to that destination. Bruce is really discouraged and talks of renting a truck and driving the bike home on the truck. He gets the bike going again and we go another block and he pulls up by me at another traffic light and tells me that the bike is not going to make it. He sputters along, has a wicked backfire and pulls into another parking lot. We do not know what to do, it's Sunday and car rental places are closed.
Bruce gets it going again and we get to the intersection just before the first toll booth of the Interstate. We pull into a gas station/Tim Hortons and Bruce starts to really work on the bike. The rain eases a bit but Bruce is talking about staying right there for the night and renting a vehicle Monday. He suggests that I continue on alone. I really don't want to do that so I encourage him on and help as best as I can. We are there 2 hours and it is obvious we will never make NB this evening. We decide to try and make Bangor. Out on the Interstate, Bruce's bike dies about every 10 miles. He is really getting discouraged and is talking about never riding a motorcycle again. I try to keep a brave face even though I am tried and discouraged with our bad luck and this lousy rain.
About 10 miles south of Bangor, Bruce pulls over again. He is almost in tears now. This time he is reaching under the gas tank and burning his fingers on the valve cover. I haven't a clue what he is doing. The bike starts and off we go again. Bruce is running strong and he waves his fist in the air. When we reach Bangor, his is real happy. He tells me he has a runner now and had figured out what the problem was. There is some sort of wiring ballast under the tank and the wires had fused together. He had separated them at the last stop and now the bike was running like it should. We decided to call it a night, find a motel room, get dried and have a great supper (which we did at Applebys).
Day 5 - We leave Bangor and find Highway 9 under overcast skies and some fog but no rain. The ride is uneventful all the way to the border except for some rough sections that bang the hell out of the trailer. I found out later that the signal lights had banged against the trailer's brake lights and broke a chip out of each of them. Once back in Canada, the drive along the Fundy Coast is very foggy. Then just before St. John, the skies opened up and we hit the heaviest rain fall for the entire trip. It is so bad that I can only see a couple of feet in front of me and the road is a river. We immediately pull off onto the shoulder to wait it out. My hands and feet are soaked once again.
The rain continues until a few miles past St. John and then the sun comes out. Except for stopping for gas we push on until we get to Sackville, NB where we stop for supper. We continue on to Nova Scotia and hit rain again in the Wentworth Valley. I arrive home at 8:10 pm (Bruce continued on to his home after gassing up in Milford). My total mileage for the trip: 2538 kilometers or 1573 miles. This is one trip that I will not soon forget.
Mark Robertson
Milford Station, Nova Scotia
'84 XJ1100 - Omega