Homeward bound in the morning

DAY 71 on the road and the piglet is back in traveling trim, with a new chain, sprockets, spark plugs, fresh oil and a valve adjustment.

We’re 11,325 miles downrange and about to set out on the final transcontinental leg of the journey. In the morning we’ll ride east from Tete Jaune Cache, British Columbia, and start rolling the 3,000 miles between here and the humble manse, in Cranston, Rhode Island.

I’m likely to stick to a northern route. I had hoped to visit friends in Montana, Kansas and Missouri, but I’d be trading fine traveling weather in Canada for the dog days in the States.

It’s time to be home with loved ones, too, that’s the main thing.

A few days ago, Bob and I rode 100 miles of logging roads along the east shore of Kinbasket Lake. We rode out to see a big burn that consumed an entire valley in about 20 minutes last summer.

It was a dicey ride on a bike with a gone suspension and stock gearing that’s a bit too tall to suit my skill level. I would have been better off with more 1st and 2nd gear torque.

You get terrible traction with a gone rear shock. I end up relying too much on the throttle for getting out of trouble. It’s easy to start digging holes when the rear wheel sits so loosely on the road.

I was off the bike once, and felt good about being off it only once. I’m starting to think I may have put a crack in my right collarbone, though. It hasn’t started hurting less yet, but it’s not hurting more, either, which is good enough for now.

Doesn’t interfere with riding, that’s the main thing.

Broke a highway peg off the bike at a water crossing. Or my failed attempt at a water crossing. Oops…

What a great place this has been to take a break from the road and enjoy good company. Last week, Bob and Janey invited family and friends over to help eat a 10-pound bull trout Bob had caught in the lake.

Done to perfection on the grill.

I’m awakened early each morning by the sound of hummingbirds buzzing my tent. That, and Tig the cat may come wandering by to give me a courtesy wake-up meow.

Then there’s Cleo, 50 pounds of heart shaped like a dog. She has no problem harassing a 400-pound bear until it figures there must be an easier blueberry patch it could raid. I’ll try to get a photo of her in action next time I’m here.

I don’t have a photo of Janey from this trip, but here’s one I snapped last summer. She sang at a memorial for Tony Parisi, a late friend of her’s and Bob’s.

Just remembered… I have this pic of Bob and Janey from last December, when Bob got home from riding his motorcycle around Australia for nearly four months. I don’t know who snapped it.

The piglet on the lift, in Bob’s shop. I had opened up the rocker boxes to check valve clearances and adjust as necessary.

Closer view. Not a very good one.

This is better: the aft box. Where the intake valves live.

The covers, and the two plugs out of the left engine cover. They need to come out so you can rotate the motor to top dead center on the compression stroke. That’s the point in the rotation where all four valves are closed.

With the valves closed at TDC you can slip a feeler gauge in there and measure how much room the valves have to expand when the motor’s at operating temperature.

Intake valves need .004, exhaust valves run hotter, they need .008.

Almost forgot… the bearing from the rear sprocket carrier, or cush drive. Mine was pretty tired. I was carrying a new one with me, it made sense to swap them out.

This bearing is a weak point on the DR650. It’s a poor design. Failure prone.

Speaking of cush drives, Bob’s bearing failed on a recent trek through southern British Columbia. He custom machined an elegant solution. Here he is operating the lathe in his shop, turning out parts he designed to support the drive with two bearings instead of just one.

His setup makes the drive much more stable; the chain can’t exert a side load onto the single bearing and wear it out prematurely.

He bored the damaged center out of the hub and made a sleeve, seen here on the right. It slides into the hub with a press fit. We dismantled my drive to get all the factory reference points he needed to design his custom hub.

Two bearings instead of one, a grease seal, and the three spacers Bob fabricated to align his two-bearing solution on the rear axle.

Like so…

Here’s a tip of the hat to homegrown, seat-of-the-pants engineering; a smart rider solving a real-life problem that the factory designers failed to foresee.

Will hail you from the road when & if I can.

Cheers to all.

Tony DePaul, July 31, 2019, Tete Jaune Cache, British Columbia, Canada