Urbana, IL to Bowling Green, KY
Today was the longest day at around 317 miles. It was also the hottest so far. We spent about 10 hours on the road to include 50 miles running 55 on a 70 mph highway. It was exhausting! After the display at Harley Davidson of Bowling Green, parking lot duties kept me up til midnight!
No photos today as I had the sweep truck parked across from me during a gas stop and spark plug change just before lunch. This means I was the last bike on the route! Within 20 miles I passed 8 bikes at their gas stop which put a buffer between me and the sweep truck. That was a relief!
After crossing a river on an old railway bridge (wooden trestles with rivets - sketchy to ride on 2 wheels) I ran into Bill Page pulled over in front of a farmhouse. His generator had failed and his battery was depleted which means a dead bike. I had a small 6V emergency battery which got him to the lunch stop where he rounded up a couple others which got him to the finish. At the evening stop we found a local gentleman who was willing to drive us to Batteries Plus where we identified and purchased some higher capacity 6V batteries which should get him through an entire day.
So here is the big problem I am fighting, front spark plug is fouled after 60 to 100 miles and has to be cleaned or replaced. There also appears to be an air leak on the rear intake. We don’t have the time, tools, or facilities to fix this properly. So it’s either quit and repair properly or bandage and go.