Exhausted

Last weekend was the 'Vous, and it was awesome as usual to see all the folks we don't get to see on a regular basis.  We had great weather; a bit hot, but no rain, which is always a nice bonus when you're sleeping inside walls of nylon.  We rode, we partied, we laughed, and we made some new friends along the way.

And then it was over, and time to head back to reality.  The weather met us with an extremely hot/humid day, but everyone made it home safely.

Next up; the Support Post 106 run for this coming Saturday.  Planning has been in the works for months, logistics are set, the only last thing to do is the pre-run of the route, which is going on tonight.  Yep, all looked to be in good shape.

Except for that tiny crack in my exhaust pipe.  It first appeared about a week ago, but between the job, and then heading off for the 'Vous, I hadn't had the time to look at it, or take care of it.  Well, my bike decided it would force my hand last night on the way home from work...

Damn.

Pulling over quickly into a side street, I shut her down and surveyed the damage.  No way was I going to ride with it like that.  One decent bump and the leading edge of that tube connects with the pavement, possibly digging in, and either ripping the rear support bracket out, or just plain launching the back of the bike into the air.  Neither option appealed to me, so something would have to be done to rig it up away from the road.

Ok, let's see what I have on the bike.  Well, I've got bungies - oops, no I don't, they're still in the tour pack (because of the 'Vous), and I took that off again as soon as I got home on Sunday.  Ok, what else...oh, I've got a coat hanger because of the dress shirt I wore to work today - oops, no I don't, I opted to leave that at work today.  Damn!  Well, I've gotta have something I can use...and then it hit me...

The hand towel that I always carry (for wiping the seats down when it rains, not for any other reason, I assure you).  Wrap that around the hot pipe, then a bunch of zip ties, and I'm good to go.

I managed to make it home without rousting any of the local LEO's - after all, my bike was louder at this point than if I'd had simple straights on it.  I was careful to keep it down as much as I could as I cruised through the various town centers on my way home, and I finally pulled into my driveway, safe and sound.

I had chores and errands that required my attention first, but by 9pm, I was finally able to get to pulling the exhaust off the bike so that Aaron's buddy can (hopefully) weld it up this afternoon.  Due to the late hour, and the lack of outside lighting, surgery would have to take place within the confines of the garage.  Setting out a bunch of tools and an assortment of shop rags, I got to work.

I'll tell ya; I sure am not a fan of the whole cross-over pipe system.  More than once last night, I was wishing I had the dual pipe setup that the Shovelhead, and the Fatboy, both had.  Those were easy on, easy off.  None of this multiple, curved sections of exhaust pipe, which had to be accessed first, then disconnected from each other, then moved this way and that, to finally be extricated from within the bowels of the machine.

And the heat/humidity weren't helping anything, either!

After much too long a time (this was my first experience with the cross-over system so it took me a while to get the process down), I finally emerged triumphantly.

There'd been a lot of cursing, a couple of cut and bruised knuckles, a whole lot of sweat in the eyes, and a lot of muttered frustrations aimed at Harley for devising such a confounded system in the first place, but I'd succeeded.  Looking down at the pile of parts I'd had to remove so that I could then access and remove the various sections of exhaust...I hoped I'd be able to get it all back together.

I'm meeting Aaron this afternoon to hand off the two broken pieces so he can bring them to his buddy.  The good news is the break seems clean, no rust, and not on a pre-existing weld, so I have that going for me.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things get lined up correctly so that when I go to reinstall things, all the brackets and bolt holes will line up correctly.

I've still got time, and with a bit of luck, I'll be back up and running in time for Saturday's run.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed - despite the banged up knuckles.

Ride Hard, Don't Get Exhausted