MOOTMag # 6

[guywheatley]

The food was good. It's worth the trip. I'm not telling you how many pounds I gained.


Look at that view behind the bikes.


There's my Maggie waiting patiently.


OK, Here's the little train that runs on the track in front of the lodge.


We stopped at another overlook on the way back. All the bikes were lined up and I got a good shot.


Check out the smoke in the trees on the righthand side of the photo. I never did figure out what was burning. I really didn't notice it until we pulled out. I didn't see it as I took this picture.


You can see the road we had just ridden down in the valley.


I think you  can see the road a little better in this shot.


Notice the cloud shadows on the next mountain.


Folks are starting to mosey back to their bikes. Butt rest over!


That's the last shot I took on day one. Unfortunately events would cut short my photography on day two, but you can see what I've got in the next post.

[guywheatley]

Back at camp after the day one ride, I got a shot of a few other bikes. This is a pretty Super.


I thought the pipe (s?) on this one was (were) interesting.


Here is the river below the dam. This was taken from the parking lot where we gathered for rides.


Heading out on ride day two. (Friday)


This cool bike was at the gas station where we topped off before the rides. It's an interesting bike. I think it was a KTM. It looks like an adventure bike, that would be as happy off road as on. It also looked EXPEN$IVE!!!


Here is where my riding came to an end on day 2. I was about 2 miles up Hwy 1 off of US 259. That's about 75 miles from camp, Maggie just died.
I rolled over into the grass with the group behind following me to the side of the road. I could smell rotten eggs.
When I took the seat off, my battery was smoking. I head a, "POP," just as the engine died. As I think back on it now, it was probably the battery caps popping off. She was running fine one minute, then "POP," and she died.
I'll finish posting pictures here, and cry about my troubles in another post.
I do want to take a moment here to thank everybody who help me out. Especially Rob, who hauled me 2up on his valk into Talihina, the Flynns, who 2uped Sharon into Talihina, then let me and her use their bike (a neat little V30)  to get back to the camp. The Otwells, who traveled another 150 miles before even setting up camp to haul Maggie back to camp.
Finally Carla Perez, a nice lady we met in Talihina who drove us 50 or 60 miles back to the bike from the parts store in Talihina.


Here's just some road shots from Charles's van as we were going after maggie.


More road shots.


This if off the dam close to camp.


Same shot, but with a better view of the stream below the dam.

[guywheatley]

Brandon's little Savage got a lot of attention. Unfortunately, it didn't run much this weekend either. With the straight pipe, it doesn't have enough back pressure and we can't get the fuel mixture set. It would run pretty good cold, but as it warmed up, it start backfiring and die. Eventually, it dumped a lot of gas into the pipe. When it backfired, and lit off the gas in the pipe, it looked like a Tom Cat taking off from a carrier.
The fire licking his butt was enough to convince Brandon to call it quits for the weekend.



It rained Friday night into Saturday morning. Of course we didn't have everything put up and a lot of clothes and equipment got wet.


This shot was taken before the great blow torch incident while Brandon was still contemplating riding.


Sharon and Tina Flynn taking about something.


Arms crossed, contemplative looks. This can't be good for a couple of husbands.


Felishia also had problems with her bike. That's why the seat is off. I'll talk about her problems in the problem post, but not running is no reason for a Magna not to look good. Look at Charles putting a shine on it.


He loves that buffer.


Saturday night, they gave out door prizes and awards. John Flynn found a seat on Greg's project bike.


Felishia got the award for longest trip on the bike to MM6.


Allen won for Best 3rd Gen Magna.

[guywheatley]

Darn guys! I sorry, but I just can't remember the categories. Greg won for ... what was it? Best yellow Magna with one pipe on each side?  Best Overal All Magna.


OK, I remember this one. Best vintage Magna.


I think the category was best Super Magna.


Brandon got honorable mention for best non-Magna.


That's pretty well the end of the photos I have. There is more to the story to tell, and I shall elucidate further in a future post.

[ronmag]

  Awesome pictures! Keep us up to date on the bike.
Ron Aebischer

[ronmag]

 What a great time!!! Dave the Dreamcatcher was awesome thanks for everything. Greg and Queen
what a great job!!! Loyal thanks for the lead on Thursday, it was a pleasant ride. Felishia on the day that
I didn't have your back the bike goes South. We won't let that happen next year!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[guywheatley]

The Great Oklahoma Adventure

The trouble started for me on the second (Friday) ride. I noticed a rotten egg smell when we stopped at the little gas station close to Smithville. I thought it was something in the area, later I smelled it again and marveled that the pollution was so wide spread.
About 75 miles out of camp we were a couple of miles up Hwy 1 off of US259. Going up a hill I heard a "POP" and lost engine power. I still had control panel lights, but the engine wasn't running. I watched the tach drop like a rock.
I rolled off to the side of the road and really caught the sulfurous rotten egg smell. I pulled the seat off and noticed that the top of the battery looked swollen up. (Actually, the caps form fit onto the top of the battery, What I saw was where the caps were blown out.)
Bob Barram rolled up and declared I had a rectifier/regulator problem.
My first thought was to get someone to take me back to camp and I come back with the trailer. That would be 150 mile round trip, and who ever made the run would miss out on the rest of the ride.
We all went down to an overlook about 2 miles up the road so that no one would get hit by traffic while we came up with a plan.
I finally decided to just beg a ride on into Talihina. One of the group said there was a NAPA store there and I felt sure I could get a battery. Even with a bad R/R, I should have been able to finish the weekend. I needed a few things off the bike, so Bob Barram volunteered to run me back to my Maggie. He'd had his grandson with him and was having to behave himself. He apparently felt no such compunction with me. As I watched a 35MPH recommended speed sign zip by in a blur, I peaked over his shoulder to see the speedometer inching past 70!
Getting back almost before we left, we started looking for rides. Rob, on his big valk offered to take me as Bob had his grandson.
John Flynn took Sharon on his V65. Talihina was 30 or 35 miles. When John and Sharon pulled up next to me at an intersection, I knew Sharon was in trouble. She looked like a contortionist,  leaned back trying to hold the luggage rack. In addition to everything else, Sharon had come down with a raging bladder infection. She was taking medicine, but it was still dragging her down. Also, she couldn't keep herself hydrated, and of course had to relieve her self often. This whole ordeal was really wearing her down.
When we got to Talihina, She and I set out on foot to find the parts store while everybody else sampled the fair at Pam's Hateful Hussy diner. We walked about a mile and finally found the place down a little road going out of town behind some trees. I walked to the door and saw a sign that read, "Gone to doctor."
Well @#&!!.
I peeked in the window and could see a garage on the other side of the building. I could see someone there, so I walked around the back a found a mechanic. I explained my trouble. He had a key to the store and let me in. He didn't really work in the store, but apparently had helped out in the past when the clerk wasn't there. He sold me THE motorcycle battery. I looked it over and knew it wasn't the right one, but thought I could make it fit.
There was a lady named Carla Perez in the garage and she offered to take us back to the bike. We explained to her how far it was, but she insisted. I knew Sharon wasn't going to ride 2up again, and I didn't want to leave her in case the battery didn't fix our problem. I felt bad, but I took Carla up on her offer. We stopped by Pam's on the way out to let the group know our plans, and to be sure that they would be coming back that way in case Maggie still wouldn't run.
Carla was a wonderful lady who cheerfully gave us a rolling tour as we headed back up the mountain. We learned a little about her life story, and she'd led an interesting life.
We got back to Maggie and I installed the battery. She still would turn over. I checked the fuses, and thought they were OK. I knew Carla had to get back to work. She didn't want to leave us, but I insisted assuring her that the group would be by shortly.
Time dragged on with no bikes. I'm not sure how long we waited, but it seemed like hours. We had no cell coverage. I walked up and down the road trying to get a signal. Sometimes I'd get a single bar, but it would drop any call I tried to make.
Eventually a couple of bikes showed up. The group had missed a turn off, which forced them to go back to Talihina and gas up before heading out again. Two riders with more fuel than the others came ahead to let us know we hadn't been forgotten. Finally everyone showed up and I soon found out that I wasn't the only one with trouble. Felicia was also having R/R and battery problems. Additionally, Greg discovered he could see the air in his back tire.
I won't bore you with the many times we checked the fuses, wiggled wires and tried anything anybody could come up with to get Maggie to start.
Eventually I had to face the nasty reality that I was going to have to go back to camp and get the van. Sharon was absolutely determined that she was not going back on the V65. She was determined to stay with the bike until I could get back. Nobody was going to go for that. Then John and Tina stepped up and offered to let us use their neat little V30.  I can't thank them enough. By the time Sharon got back to camp, she had reached her limit. With that infection dragging her down, dehydrated, sick and tired, she just didn't have anything left.
Just as we got back, Charles was pulling in with his van and trailer. He offered to drop his bikes and take his van after Maggie. Mine is a 78 model that I've had for a month. I was relieved when Charles offered to take his up the mountain and took him up on his offer. But seriously, he made a 150 mile round trip after reaching the camp ground before even setting up his camp. Instead of taking of taking off on a great ride with her husband, Brenda just had to tool around the park by herself while Charles bailed me out.
OK. I was having a crappy day, but I got the opportunity to see and experience the best in human nature, especially exemplified by Carla Perez, the Flynns, and the Otwells.
It started out rainy the next day, and Charles gave my bike a good going over. I swear, at least four people checked the fuses on Maggie, but Charles found a blown one and got Maggie cranking over. We checked the voltage with the engine running. I hit 16.5 volts at 3000 rpm. Yep. I got a bad regulator.
Charles suggested some patches that might let me ride a little, but I decided to just stick the little gal on the trailer and get her fixed before hitting the road again. I'd have been a nervous wreck trying to ride her anywhere.
The other bike I trailered up was Brandon's Savage. It ran during the winter, but with the summer heat, the lack of back pressure from that straight pipe caused it to backfire, sputter and die once the engine warmed up. It would run while cold, but once it warmed up it would die.
Charles and Brenda did a little riding Saturday afternoon while the Wheatleys just tried to relax.
The Wheatleys and Otwells were the last ones out of camp Sunday. We stopped in Idabel for lunch and gas, the hit the road again about 3:00 p.m. Just a few miles south if Idabel, Charles's van sputtered and died. He rolled onto the narrow shoulder and I pulled in behind him. He was as far off the road as he could get, but not far enough. The hill top was less than 100 yards behind us and cars didn't have much time to dodge us. Some of them didn't seem to particularly want to. I stood out between Charles, as he crawled under the van, and the road. I told him that if I screamed an expletive, and disappeared, for him to get clear. He said he had no where to go, and he'd just as soon I didn't tell him it was coming.
I'll let him detail his diagnosis, but eventually we pulled the van down to a wider spot in the road. Emptied his trailer into his van, my van, and my trailer. He unloaded the bikes and he and Brenda road them back.
Here's the score so far. Wheatleys down two bikes, up one van. Otwells, down one van, up two bikes. Between the two of us, we lost half the vehicles we brought with us.
Charles took his car trailer back up later that day only to discover the van was a few inched too wide to fit. He came back and rented a larger trailer the next day. He finally got it home Monday.
He'll have to tell you what the prognosis on his van.
Maggie is home, waiting on a donor organ to come available. I'll call around some junk yards and try to find one.

[trapper]

Wow, Guy....What an ordeal you guys had.  I am very glad that we were there to lend what little help we could.  Sorry too to know that Sharon was sick, but I'm actually relieved in a way...As staunch and rigid as she was on the back of my V65, followed by her refusal to ride on it again, I thought I had done something wrong; I mean, it wasn't like I hadn't showered....

Please get well soon, Sharon

Glad you're home and hoping that you get the bike back on the road soon.  Hopefully Charles can get his vehicle woes remedied soon, too.

Tina and I are looking forward to seeing you and Sharon again...Perhaps at MM7, but I hope before.....

[TLRam1]

You guys did have ordeals to overcome....this does make for a memorable good story telling time.... in the future. Good no one was hurt in all of this and will be able to make the repairs. 

Right after I filled up with gas I was driving down Suicide I35 and the bike coughed and died. I was lucky to have an exit and coasted to the frontage road under a shade tree. Bike wouldn't start just coughed as if out of gas. Set there a minute and same effect. Took the gas cap off and it started and ran ever since, I will have to check a few things myself now. 

[Greg Cothern]

Here is a link for some PICs we took of MOOTMag. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9224884@N02/sets/72157605677864666

[trapper]

Thanks for sharing your pics, everyone.  We have sure enjoyed looking at them

[Smoked U]

  Awesome pictures! Keep us up to date on the bike.
Ron Aebischer

Hey Ron. I'm in Edmond right now working on my project.

I brought something round, black and hard that you wanted to look at, so give me a call and we can set up a time to meet.

[guywheatley]

Sorry too to know that Sharon was sick, but I'm actually relieved in a way...As staunch and rigid as she was on the back of my V65, followed by her refusal to ride on it again, I thought I had done something wrong; I mean, it wasn't like I hadn't showered....

Tina and I are looking forward to seeing you and Sharon again...Perhaps at MM7, but I hope before.....

Hey Trapper:
Yeah, Sharon was really hurting. If she would have just leaned forward and held onto you she would have been more comfortable, but she wasn't going to do that. She's still fighting that infection. At the risk of wearing it out, I just can't thank you and Tina enough for your help. That little V30 was an absolute life saver. And so were you guys.
I think she and Tina hit it off. I saw them talking and laughing together. I hope we get to see you guys again soon.

[SkyRide]

I'm slow getting the pictures up, but here is a link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27906281@N03/sets/72157605755948940

Rick Frankenberger

[rjb/AKA Bob Barram]

I hope all made it back okay. Did Felicia get back to Katy without trouble?