5 - Another Breakdown, Snowmobile Trails and Niagara Falls
Today I decided to follow my GPS to Niagara Falls. I packed up after routing to the Falls via the "avoid interstates" option. After loading the bike, I turned the key, pressed start and nothing happened. I went through my troubleshooting list and decided it was electrical. Suddenly the bike started and off I went.
The GPS indicated a left hand turn when a right is what I expected. I followed the GPS and spent the next hour riding 15 miles of dirt roads. Nothing like riding a 21 year-old machine that weighs 1,000+ pounds down trails meant for snowmobiles.
The road went from gravel to deep graded gravel to dirt and back to loose stuff.
At points, the road was very wide, perhaps three lanes wide. I can only imagine flying down the road at 80 mph through a foot of fresh powder.
Ah, back on pavement. No more rattling my bike or my teeth.
After getting out of the middle of nowhere, I knew I had to get to the nearest mechanic. I made it three hours to Jamestown, NY. There was an older guy who specializes in Goldwings and rode up after a test ride on an old 1200 just like mine.
Merv grabbed a multimeter and ran some tests. Sure enough, the start switch was shot. Honda doesn't make the part anymore and it's a huge pain to change. Something I didn't want to do in a parking lot. Merv showed me how to start my bike with a screwdriver and told me it would run like that forever. I was delayed less than an hour. Merv was fantastic. He answered my questions and didn't charge me a dime. Back on the road and off to Niagara Falls.
My first stop for fuel was a bit sketchy. For the rest of the trip, I pulled as far from the fuel pump as possible and downwind. As I got better with starting the bike with a screwdriver, the resulting sparks got smaller. The screwdriver bridges the posts of the solenoid to complete the circuit. The sparkler-like sparks don't hurt anything, but are quite disconcerting next to a gasoline pump.
After beginning the day with 15 miles of gravel, I couldn't resist the urge to take a jaunt through the fields for a change of scenery on the way to Niagara.
Wow!
The falls were awesome. After seeing them, I was compelled to hit the road once again. From Niagara Falls, I would ride the coast of Lake Ontario all the way. Last summer, I rode along Lake Superior from Deluth, MN up to Grand Maris.
Since I was a kid, I've always wanted to see the falls. Mission accomplished.
I'd hoped to make Saranac Lake before nightfall, but that wouldn't happen. The coast along Watertown NY looked good, so off I went.
Since Merv had shown me how to start my bike, I grabbed my screwdriver and fired it up. The looks on peoples' faces are priceless.
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