... here we are, at the T-intersection on the west side of Tioga Pass,
where the Indian started popping fuses ... we started to roll
down the hill toward Groveland, going through Kalle's fuses
and then my fuses, before Kalle simply bypassed his
electrical system with his alligator-clip jumper wire,
by hooking his battery up directly to his ignition coil ...
We spent the last half-hour rolling along in the
dark, with the Tiger's headlight on and hooked up to the two six-volt
batteries in my saddle-bags, hoping we had enough
volts to keep it running with the lights until
we could get to a motel where we could fuss with
the Indian and put the Tiger's tired batteries on
the new trickle charger I'd purchased in Pahrump to
replace the cheap $20 Cycle Gear charger that had
quit in Furnace Creek ...
We finished pushing our luck in the dark in Buck Meadow,
where we found a motel and a good restaurant ...
Kalle got the Indian jury-rigged to ride home the
next day without the headlight, and we stayed off
the interstates in the Bay Area by taking Crow Canyon
to Redwood Road, where we stopped at the
big campground above the golf course to
put the Indian on an RV-full-hookup campsite
electrical outlet to charge it up for the final push
home ...
Except for an idiot who tried to kill
the Indian while we were lane-splitting through
stopped traffic on Hwy 13, we made it back to
Lower Haight 1400 miles later, safe and sound ...
It usually takes us at least a couple of years to
forget how long a ride it is from San Francisco
to Death Valley on vintage bikes, but with the Indian's new
bash-plate, I imagine we'll be back to the
Max Bubeck Death Valley Memorial Road Run
and Titus Canyon in a few years ...
see you around
the campfire,
-- SFMCjohn
arty
