Kansas to Prince Rupert, BC, Canada or Bust!

I cannot be more thankful enough that Jeff insisted on not continuing on in my originally panned journey.

With so many strange things that have been happening with the bike, I'm glad to have his voice of reason outweigh my stubbornness...or I would have been in Colorado or New Mexico dealing with the bike issues alone.

After I arrived at the camp in Black Hills, I got to enjoy some of the amazing riding Jeff has been posting about. I've never been there until now, so I was still able to enjoy a new place on the trip.

It was great fun to meet his other friends and a couple of motorcyclists who were passing through that enjoyed a night at the camp. Awesome riding, food, campfire, crazy campfire story time, and storms that put us sleeping under a pavilion.

Yesterday morning Jeff's friends left for home and we left to Minnesota. He has friends he hasn't seen in years at an RC helicopter event going on. Also I knew I'd love to see the event. And bonus is that we could do work on the moto while there with resources.

Just after leaving camp yesterday morning, and just as we were getting to Needles Highway in Black Hills, the bike had a hiccup and the FI light kicked on. And so it went on and off during the day.

On top of it, the temps were over 90 degrees and I feel humidity had to be at 100%. We were dying on I-90 in our gear and already hot motos.
Then we had to hit 4 miles of 5 mph single lane highway traffic. We were both losing it from the heat. Jeff could only dream of getting off on one of the dirt side roads to get under a shade tree, but no access. Plus there were 3 state troopers sitting in the closed lane, and one had a woman pulled over. Seemed like there was no way out of the traffic. Until we finally saw an exit and a glimmer of hope for air conditioning...McDonald's. So we made a beeline there to recover from the heat that was about to do us in. At least being female I didn't have to worry about my hot gas tank burning my specials...poor Jeff!!

After cooling down and getting drinks there, we hit the road again. The bike didn't take long to really act up. At a gas stop, the dash would flicker and I was bucking around so much from the power shutting off and coming back on that I thought I was going to lose control of the bike.

We pulled off again at the nearest exit. Jeff hopped on the bike to try to see what it was doing. Not much luck. He just saw the dash flicker.

My stubbornness would have me keep riding, but Jeff knew how much it would suck to breakdown in the dark on the highway. While he was test riding my bike, he spotted a super nice KOA we could stop at for the night. This worked out well. We had a safe place to stay, showers, laundry, and was still close to the highway. We had time to think about what to do next with the bike. The plan would be to get to the RC heli event as soon as we could in the morning. We would swap seats and he would ride mine and me his. That way he could see how the bike behaved.

I'm so thankful I wasn't alone because I would push it. So glad I listened to Jeff and joined him and his buddies through this last few days. We made it to the event early afternoon while riding each other's motos and soon began looking at the bike.


First thing Jeff noticed was the positive battery cable. That could explain a lot...
He cleaned things up, checked things over, made some adjustments. There are improvements in the charging system voltage now so that's promising.

I'm not sure how that cable on the battery came loose. That was put in days ago in Chilliwack, BC. I've been using that tool for years on my motos when installing batteries and I have never had a problem. I'll make sure to periodically check that as a potential issue if the bike acts up again.

There has just been so much happen on this trip, who would have thought a simple cable was loose.

Tested the bike and it's behaving like a good moto now.

I've seen some of your posts about the battery tender charger and the new battery I purchased. I'm still happy I purchased the battery...there was still no explanation of what happened in Edmonton, AB when there was no start at all.
That day I remember my phone wasn't charging either. I still don't know what is going on or if my stator is getting crummy.

But no matter all that's happened on this trip, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I've learned so much that I will be even more successful with issues on my own in the future. And if I'm not successful I know who I can call on. I'm already mulling over my next trip.

I am spending the last night of my trip with Jeff at the RC Heli event. We are about to set up our tents and watch the night flights. We will both head home early morning.

I'll post when I get home and include more pics if I took any...going to Kansas so, yeah. Maybe I'll get a beautiful golden hour photo of my moto!

But for now, we are here.


Best quote ever: "GPS dat shit." ~Jeff

I am so lucky to say I have made a new best friend in Jeff. Many more wonderful friends and people along the way have also got a spot in my heart.

I'll find my way back to Canada soon. <3 <3



Those on this forum are spectacular!! We have an amazing group here. I hope many of you get out on the road and just ride. As you can see by this thread, there are friends out there just waiting to host you and lend a hand. Including me!!!!
Come to Kansas!!!! <3 <3


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This is freaking awesome!!!!

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