Ride Reports for Big Island "Deuce" Rally - Ladysmith, Vancouver Island

[Pat Kelly]

ride report: day 3 and beyond

I'm continuing my ride report from home, I actually made it. 2,815 miles in 7 days...402 miles per day! I will gloss over the days at Sids, there are many other reports of the rides there and they reflect how it was for me. Sid and Mary are wonderful hosts. When I left for home it seemed like I was leaving home (I know, doesn't make sense...unless you were there). Thank you Sid and Mary, you are welcome at my home anytime.
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Day 3: I wake-up at Johnnys. We gather our stuff, load the bikes and hit the road. We weaved through morning traffic of the poor souls that were going to work.
We got to the US-Can. border and got in line. Questions were few and soon we were in Canada (eh). The area we rode through on our way to the Ferry at Duke Point was amazingly similar to where I'm from in Modesto (only cooler). Farms and dairies in relativly flat terrain. We got our ferry tickets and rode around the line of cars waiting to board. it made me feel kinda self-concious cutting in line like that.
This was my first time on a ferry and Johnny showed me what to do and soon we were underway. The ride over to Victoria Is. was smooth and uneventful (we didn't sink). Soon after docking we were zooming down the road to Sids. One thing that Johnny pointed out is that there's no flat spots on the Island, it's all mountains. We arrived at Sids and I was very surprised when people there already knew who I was! I guess it was because they knew I'd be riding with Mr. Yukon and he's a celebrity there ;-) That evening those of us that were there, about 14 bikes I think, headed to a steak feast. I was impressed that this group of reletive strangers rode in a very organized double echelon formation, pulled into the restaunt parking lot, and made a neat line of bikes. I was reminded of the scene from "Mad Max" where the group of bikers pull into the small town (that makes Sid "the Toe Cutter"?). After dinner we rode back to Sids to talk, drink, soak, and generally be a nusince to Sids neighbors.
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day 4: I have a bad habit anymore of waking up early, I was up at 5:30 so I got to take a shower. We rode out to Pt. Renfro through some beautiful scenery and some wicked twisties. My bike had the fairing and hard bags so I worked real hard at keeping it toned down (that and the fact that I was 1,000 miles from home). On the return ride to Sids I somehow got up in the group at the front of the pack (the fast guys) I was pushing the bike pretty hard to keep up when I realized I was the only bike up there in 'touring trim'. I eased-off on a straightaway and let the three riders by that I was holding-up. A few turns later disaster struck...rider down! I grabbed my first aid kit and as Glen was getting attended to I helped Caroline alert oncomming traffic. Soon Sid arrived and sent everyone to a meeting point and he stayed to clean-up our mess. We counted heads and all were found we went back to Sids. Damage assesed, stories swapped, beer, hot tub, sleep...
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day 5: We invaded a small eatery in (closed for a parade) down town Ladysmith. Canadian servings are HUGE! After eating we went back home (Sids) and 'fix-it day' began. Some worked on their bikes, some enjoyed the perfect weather and a chance to enjoy Sids house, some went for their own rides. I was informed the day before that my brakelight wasn't working. We determined it was only the front brake that was the problem. I had to remove the fairing to get to the wiring and I discovered that I had neglected to connect the wires when I was getting the bike ready for the trip...3 weeks with no brake light, I'm lucky to be alive. That fixed, I rode to the store to buy a Pepsi (alcohol and I don't mix), I grabbed some bags of chips and headed home (Sids). TGhe chips disappeared in no time as most were lounging around shooting the sh.....stories. That night the storm hit with all the flash and boom others mentioned. I think I'm the only one who's tent leaked (cheap). the zipper let water drip on my head and it ran to the foot of the tent, it's very hard to curl up in a mummy bag.
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day 6: was the rainy ride to Tofino. This was the only time during my whole trip that the bike stumbled, something in the ignition system got wet and complained for about 5 minutes but it never quit on me. Everyone made it there and back in one piece which shows what skill we all have. It's awe inspiring to sit at the back of a line of bikes that stretches for almost a quarter mile.
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to be continued

[koehlerk]

here is a quicktime movie of a video I shot of the group going around a nice twisty!

http://homepage.mac.com/koehlerk/iMovieTheater2.html

[Madness]

BI Deuce-Day 3

Day 3
After another late night of talking, hot tubbing, and lots of beer, we all had a chance to sleep in today. I still woke up at 6am. Oh well, those who wanted headed out for breakfast at a little place in Ladysmith called the Sunflower Café. We had to make a few detours to get around the parade route, which was scheduled later in the morning. Had a great breakfast. Barely had enough room in there for our group and a few other patrons. I'm sure they don't get such a large group all at once for breakfast.

Today was the day Sid decided to try something a little different from past rallies: NO SCHEDULED RIDE!!! Today was going to be a Tech Day. People were free to do some sightseeing, relax, work on their bikes, watch and learn while other worked, or just get to know some of our fellow riders. What a great success!!!!!! The weather was absolutely beautiful all day. Bright blue sky and a warm sun. A few rode into town to see the sights. Still trying to get the last bit of hp out of his bike, Sid decided to do some jet swapping on his carbs. Deano and Kirk were deep into Kirk's bike trying to track down his charging gremlins. Glen was pulling his carbs off trying to put an end of his dead spot. Carolyne was getting the YICS tool inserted in her bike for the carb sync.

I had a lot of mysteries about carb syncing and the color tune dispelled today. Just watching and giving a hand here and there really simplified the use and purpose of these invaluable tools. I am now definitely gonna get my hands on some and use them soon.

As dinner time neared, about a dozen hot, delicious pizzas arrived to wash down all our beer. As the day wound down, everyone was pretty excited about the improvements on their bikes and couldn't wait to try them out tomorrow. Now it was time to climb into the hot tub to relax all those aching muscle from wrenching all day in the hot sun.

You'd think we'd learn our lesson, but we just couldn't help ourselves. Just too much good company and conversation to turn in early. Another late, late night with an early wake up.

[Madness]

BI Deuce-Day 4

Day 4
Crawled into the tent late last night feeling great after the suds and the soak in the hot tub. Just as I got settled into my sleeping bag I could hear it. The patter of rain drops on my tent. Didn't matter, the sound of the rain just relaxed me even more and soon I had drifted off. Next thing I no, KABOOM!!! I'm wide awake. Large lightning storm passes over in the middle of the night. Sid promised we would have one and he was right.

Get up in the morning to get ready for the ride to Tofino. Everyone that has rain gear gets it on and we're off to Port Alberni for breakfast. Roads were very wet, and just out of Ladysmith we also saw how slippery they were. Saw the aftermath of a semi and Karmin Gia get together. Just down the road was a Camaro with its front end up on the center divider. It was a good wake up call for all to watch themselves on this ride. At one point, the rain really starts coming down. The group pulls over underneath an underpass. The anti-fog spray goes around.

We head off again for breakfast. The heavy rain must have gotten to my plug boots. Only running on 3 cylinders for a bit. Road like that for a bit and it cleared itself up. We finally make it to Smitty's in Port Alberni for another fabulous breakfast. When we're done, we all head over to Glen and Janice's house to help them annoy their next door neighbor. When we get there, we realize we're missing about for bikes. After waiting a short while we decide the others must have gone for fuel and on to Tofino. So that's what we do.

Rain is off and on most of the way. The scenery is beautiful. The steep mountains covered with lush green trees. The clear running rivers and lakes along the way. Nice thing about the rain and the wet roads is it makes you slow down and you can really enjoy the views. The closer we get to Tofino, the better the weather gets. Finally we pull into town and find a parking spot. Sid gives us the general layout of the town and we agree to meet back in about an hour or so.

I take off to do the tourist thing and by souvenirs for home. After I'm done I head down to the waterfront. There I run into Jason, who had found 2 of the missing riders. All of them had made it. They had been there for about an hour and beat all the rain on the way up. I found a nice deli up the hill and had a delicious sandwich for lunch.

We all finally gathered back at the parking lot and relaxed in the sun for a bit before the ride back. Finally it was time for the ride back. The rain wasn't so bad going home, but there were still some sections which were pretty wet. One section of the road hugs a huge rock wall, while the other side drops off. Sid had us stop before this section while Kirk rides up to the top with his video camera to get a shot of us winding our way up this awesome road. The rest of the ride back was fantastic. Where the road was dry the speeds picked up and we were cruisin'. When it got wet the whole pack immediately slowed down. I don't think anyone felt too uncomfortable with the pace.

Finally make it back to Sid's. Everyone takes off their gear and starts talking about how great the ride was inspite of the rain. Sid's bike would not run right after his carb jet swap yesterday, so he immediately sets about pulling his carbs again. Jeremy jumps in to give him a hand. When they remove the jets, Jeremy spots the jets were K&L, not Mikuni. He finds the right ones and they get the carbs back on the bike. Sid takes it out for a spin and comes back looking like a Cheshire cat.

After another delicious BBQ, this time salmon and oysters, we all gather in the back yard. Sid gives a great speech about how great it is to have all these fine bikes and fine people gathered at his house. Awards are given out for the long distance riders. To Dennis for being there for those who broke down or crashed. We toasted to all XSives here and in spirit with some fine scotch.

I had planned on riding to the overnight trip to the Cache Creek area the next day, but I had a message on my cell phone which would have to take priority. My daughter had her baby this evening!!! 7lb 9oz boy. This is my 3rd grandchild, and my second grandson. I told her she was supposed to wait until I got home, but kids never listen do they? So I pass on the good news to the group and decided to take off in the morning with Deano, Kirk, and Carolyne to catch the ferry to Port Angeles.

Spend the last night in the hot tub again laughing, talking, and downing mass quantities of beer. What a great time I've had. The days have gone by way too fast. Got to now some new faces, and get reacquainted with some great people. I'm gonna miss them all.

[Jeremy_Sells]

Made it home safe and sound!!

First of all, to Sid, Mary, and all that chipped in, thanks so much for everything. You guys are the greatest!

[Jeremy_Sells]

Made it home safe and sound!!

First of all, to Sid, Mary, and all that chipped in, thanks so much for everything. You guys are the greatest!

We had a great ride after leaving Cache Creek. Caught a bit of rain and endured a chilly mountain pass on the way to Merritt for some breakfast but nothing that a bit of coffee couldn't remedy. Ken and Norm peeled off early to head back for home which left Sid, Denny, Jason, Jeff, Johnny, and myself to shoot for Princeton. From there Sid was on his way home and the rest of us were off the the border at Osoyoos. As we headed south, the weather just got better. We crossed over the border with little incident and rested a bit in the local park before the last stint into Winthrop, WA. We decided to try a little backroad bypass to highway 20 and found ourselves at the pavements end. After over an hour on gravel, we finally hit the blacktop again and found lodging, showers, beer, food, beer, etc. and were off to bed.

Awoke next morning to beautiful weather, grabbed some food and hit the road. Highway 20 was absolutly stunning. Great pavement, long sweepers and little traffic made for a quick journey. We took a left at Highway 530 in Rockport and came out at Arlington on I-5. Had some Chinese food, shook hands, said our "see ya soon's" and headed down the slab for home sweet home. Johnnny split off first, then Jason, then Denny, Jeff stopped in Oly to see some friends and Chena and I blasted on. We arrived safe sound and tired, grabbed a bite to eat, (took the car) and hit the pillows.

We had a great time, averaged 36 miles to the gallon, and can't wait until the next one. Maybe my place in '03??? We'll see!

Take care all, ride safe and keep in touch.

Jeremy and Chena
79SF

P.S. Pardon the first post, hit submit by accident.

[Madness]

BI Deuce-Day5 The ride home

Day 5
As the saying goes: All good things must come to an end. Wake up this morning and get things packed up for the ride home. Amazingly everything fit back in all my bags. Now it's time to say our good-byes. Chuck W. and Pat K. left before 5am to catch the first ferry out for their trips back to California. Mike, Shu, and Renate head out for the trip back to Seattle. Sid leads what's left of the group for the overnight trip to the mainland. Deano, Kirk, Carolyne and myself head off for the 10:30 ferry.

After a stop in Duncan at the Dog House again for breakfast we make it to the ferry with an hour to spare. We are directed to the front of the line. A few other bikes are already parked and waiting. We head up to get our tickets. Kirk and Carolyne have to hoof it into town to find a bank as the ATM machine there didn't want to give out any money. After they get back and get their tickets, we go back down to wait for the ferry. When ferry arrives and everyone offloads the bikes are directed to load. The bikes ahead of us take off with us right behind. All of a sudden the guy holds up his hand and say we haven't been checked by immigration!!! What???? We been waiting here!!! Where have they been??? The guy says he'll be here. So we sit and wait. Meanwhile, they begin loading all the other vehicles. Finally the immigration guy comes over, checks our papers and gives us the little yellow paper to show we've been checked. They didn't give us a very good area to tie the bikes down in. After some maneuvering we get the bikes into place and do the T&P. (Tie and Pray)

The weather was great on the crossing. Sun, blue sky, couldn't ask for much more. Once we hit land, Carolyne leads us to a little café and we wave our good-byes. After stopping to fuel up in Sequim we head south on 101. Traffic was a little heavy at first, the thinned out nicely. Just as we got into Olympia I was feeling Special. I waved to Deano and Kirk and peeled off to fuel up.

Took a short break and downed some water, then back on the road. Roads were dry, and I was just chillin' on the slab cruising home. I was doing about 75, making pretty good time. As I come over the hill and look down into the valley at the Toledo exit I see I'm gonna have to ride through hell. Nothing but really black clouds ahead. You can see the dark black streaks of rain coming down all over. I take the next exit and break out the rain gear. As I'm standing there in the hot sun, I can see and hear the thunder and lightning over me. Get about a mile down the road and the rain hits. Not too bad at first, but then the floodgates open up!!! I don't think I've ever seen it rain this hard in Oregon!!! All the traffic slowed down to around 40mph. Limited visibility and standing water in the lanes!!! Wow, this was some rainstorm. After a couple of miles it finally let up. The guy at the bike shop joked that I was getting a jump on winter when I got my TourMaster raingear before I left. Boy, am I glad I got it!!! It worked great. I was totally dry underneath!!!

Got into Vancouver, WA just after 5:30. Decided to grab a burger and let some of the traffic thin out before I try to get through the Portland area. Hit the road again after 6:00. No problems getting through. I was going to go home and clean up, but it was starting to get late. So I decided to go straight to Silverton Hosp. to see my newest grandson and his new family. Pulled into the hospital around 8:00.

Went in and had a short visit. Royce was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. My daughter said everything went great. She didn't even use any of the drugs to help the pain! They had a hilarious story of how the Dr. was sitting on the foot of the bed while my daughter was pushing during delivery, when all of a sudden the end of the bed broke and dropped. The Dr. fell on her butt, my son-in-law was trying to help her up, while at the same time pulling on a sheet against my daughter to help her push. In between pushes they were trying to slide my daughter back up in the bed because she was slipping. Sounds like it got pretty exciting! Everything turned out fine. Royce Casey Mata 7lbs 9oz was born at 8:16pm Sunday.

Finally pulled into the garage just after 9pm exhausted. What a great time I had. All the great people I got to spend time with are already missed. All the sights of places I've never been before will be remembered forever.

A huge THANK YOU again to Sid and Mary for putting together such a great rally!

[Jdwags]

It actually may have been a bit low.. it was a little squirrelly in the rain.. i thought it might have been that I had stiffened up the preload..

I backed it off and it seemed to be ok.. but a little goofy... but hey I made it..

Now to avoid a tire thread.. but how to get a tire with "french fry Money"...

[Shu]

Fantastic time!!

Renate and I had a blast at BI2K. We made it back to Germany yesterday, 10 Aug. There were so many things that I could write about but the most important is "THANK YOU SID & MARRY!!!!" We will try and repay it when you take an European vacation. I also would like to thank all the XS'ives for showing up and making us part of the family, even though I was on a XJ 650. I'm not much of a story teller so this is all of my write up and my only question is when do we do it again?? Regards from Germany, SHU

[Old xsive]

recipe for "french fry tire"

1-Go to Mickey D's and buy french fries.
2-Spit out french fry in presence of manager
3-Claim to be "vegetarian"
4-Sue for $millions due to "I could taste the lard!"
5-Purchase new tire without shopping for price!

Just a thought,
Steve
80 SG

[Jdwags]

that sounds like a pretty good idea.. if it can work for coffee.. it should be able to work for this...

[Madness]

Deuce Photo Album

Here is the photo album I put together from the most XSelent adventure I had at The Deuce.

Enjoy.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4291498281

[Ken Talbot]

BI Deuce plus Oregon Coast - intro

Sheila and I had planned a while back to 'do' the Oregon Coast this year. When plans solidified for BI Deuce at Sid's place again, we incorporated that into the start of our plans. We started out on August 1, and got home on August 14. Ride report follows:

[Ken Talbot]

Day 1, August 2

Our first day started with threatening, cool weather but we were at least able to start without raingear. The rain didn't start till we were coming out of the Harley shop in Kamloops after buying Sheila a new pair of gauntlet-style riding gloves. Unhappy gods, maybe? Honest, we tried the Yamaha shop next door but they didn't have anything at all. At least we parked to the side of the main entrance door at the Harley place so they couldn't see our bikes, and of course the rest of the parking lot was empty! Onwards, we ran into a few sprinkles over the Coquihalla pass, but things started improving before we got to the summit, then kept getting better as we get closer to the coast.

By the time we were ready to leave the freeway to head for the Tsawwassen ferry, the traffic was very heavy outbound from Vancouver. What else can you expect at the start of a holiday weekend? As we were inbound, we had things well under control and traffic was fairly light as we traced the convoluted circuit they run you through to get to the ferry. That is, I thought so until we hit a construction detour that redirected us all over the place. The signage was so haywire that at one spot, we were directed off the freeway to 'exit 22', then directed back onto the same freeway at the other end of 'exit 22', and further directed to proceed to 'exit 28' Talk about bizarre! Of course, all of this messing around got us to the ferry at about 16:00 for the 15:30 sailing.

While waiting for the next boat, we got chatting with an interesting couple from Inuvik. They had flown to Calgary and bought a 'brand-new, year old' Intruder, helmets, boots, saddlebags, and riding gear. Their plan was to have a nice couple of weeks touring holiday, then probably take bike back up to Inuvik. Their only concern was a 385 km stretch with no gas somewhere north of Fort Nelson. They figured they would just pick up some containers and pack enough extra gas for that leg. If all else failed, they would just get to some place with airport connections to Inuvik, sell the bike, and fly home.

Soon enough, the ferry crossing was over. We were on the last short leg to Sid and Mary's place and only needed a quick stop in Ladysmith for some liquid refreshments. We pulled in to BI Deuce with lots of daylight left to renew lots of old acquaintances and make lots of new ones. By the time we arrived, there was a very impressive line-up of bikes in front of the house!

When we first arrived, Sid welcomed us heartily and said 'Hey, I think we've got one of the bedrooms all lined for you...' We had certainly not expected this gracious offer, we were just counting on finding a piece of unoccupied carpet in the front room. About then Mary reminded Sid that they didn't live in a 19 bedroom house, and that the folks already bedded down in the spare rooms probably weren't expecting company! It turns out Mary had to do this same little reminder just about every time somebody new showed up and Sid did the hearty welcome thing. That Sid, he sure is a gracious, accommodating host! ;-)

After swilling a few, hearing/telling a few tales, unpacking, welcoming some more arrivals, swilling a few more, and hearing/telling a few more tales, it was time to claim our spot on the carpet in the front room. Sheila and I had a spot next to the fireplace. Horst was in the dining room, Denny was on the couch, and there was another floor camper in the middle of the room. Once the hot tub crowd packed it in, things were actually pretty peaceful. That is, until the snoring started. I could be wrong, but I'm almost certain I was getting a stereo effect from the dining room and the couch. I managed to get back to sleep okay each time I woke up, but whoever started out in the middle of the floor must not have made out as well. By morning, he was long gone, out to the relative tranquillity of the back porch. I would have figured that whole back yard full of tents would have generated quite a symphony too. Must have been that the backyard group was a bunch of lightweights compared to the basso profundo duet inside. ;-)

[Ken Talbot]

Day 2, Aug 3

Day 2 was scheduled as a day to sleep in, catch a leisurely breakfast in town, maybe watch the local parade, and run some tech clinics. It was to be a day to socialize without the pressures of getting a large group mobile and away on a long ride.

The spectacular sunrise through the front window almost made it worthwhile getting up early. It would have been way too easy to go back to sleep if Mike hadn't need puttering around in the kitchen getting coffee under way. I'm sure he was trying to be real quiet so he wouldn't wake anybody, but the smell of fresh-brewed coffee will do it every time. If you want good coffee in the morning, just leave it to the guy from Seattle! Then, once the rest of the crew was up, we mounted up for a short spin into town for breakfast where we completely overwhelmed a tiny restaurant/gift shop towards the lower end of main street. Our waitress was really trying hard, but I don't think any of the orders delivered to our table were correct. However, with a bit of swapping one person's bacon for another's sausages, somebody's brown toast for somebody else's white, and scrambled for poached between yet another two plates, everybody seemed to end up more or less with what they ordered. It turned out to be quite an interesting 'get to know your neighbour' exercise!

After breakfast, some of us hung around town for a while checking out some of the preparations for the big parade and soap box derby races. As luck would have it, we had parked across the street from the empty carwash bay that Ben was using for a repair bay/crash pad. He had arrived late the night before with engine troubles on his Kawasaki and wasn't quite sure how to get to Sid's. We waited until he got things all sorted out, then piloted him up to Sid's where the main tech day was just getting under way. Interesting note - Ben's Kawasaki was sporting an entire front end from an XS11. It appears that the reverse should be possible if needed i.e. bolt an entire Kawasaki front end onto an XS. (Note to self - research for possible tech tip)

About mid-morning, Sheila, Don and I took a short run down the road to Chemainus to check out the murals then on to Crofton for a bit more sight-seeing. The highlight in Crofton was a very interesting Native Indian wedding ceremony complete with drumming, chanting, bells, and candles.

By the time we got back to Sid's, tech day was in full swing. There were bikes pieces all over the place. Deano and Kirk were working on a dead alternator. Sid was colortuning Yellow Zonker with assistnace from Jim. Herb was syncing Carolyne's carbs while she watched and learned. Denny was performing a steering head adjustment. Jason was working on signal lights. Glen was setting his float levels and wondering if he would ever get his carbs back together again. Chuck was showing Jeremy what he packed for a tool kit. All in all, there was a lot of teaching and learning going on. Dealerships from all over the PNW probably got done out of a couple of grand's worth of shop time charges.

Tech day finally started to wind down late in the afternoon. Folks got cleaned up, got their bikes fuelled for the next day's ride, and relaxed in the shade to wait for about a dozen large pizzas to arrive. It's amazing just how good a 'cool one' tastes with pizza after a day like this, knowing you've accomplished something and being in the company of good friends. Another evening session of hot tubbing and swapping tales in the backyard, and it was time again to crash on the living room floor. Yes, there was 'music' again, along with a ripper of a thunderstorm in the wee, dark hours.