Today we will ride out to the Olympic Peninsula after taking a ferry ride to Bremerton. Don Gentry will join the group and ride with us today. We got the chance to finally meet Don last night when we got back and had a great time doing what submarine sailors do best; laughing, joking, pinging and swapping stories. Then it was off to dinner for more of the same.
It's still dark here so I can't tell what the weather is going to be but it's not raining so that is a good sign.
While we're on the Peninsula we'll meet up with John Clear and get a tour of the Naval Museum, stop for lunch and the "Horse and Cow" and then head up the road towards Port Townsend. This has all the makings of another very good day.
The day took a few interesting twists but it was a good day none the less. We visited the Naval Undersea Museum and had a good time with John Clear. The museum is very impressive and John is obviously doing something he loves. We got the full tour and were able to see things that took all of us back to those magic days when we were invincible and "pulling the ocean over our heads" was just grand sport.
From the museum we headed north up towards to the Famous (or is that infamous) "Fat Smitty's". It sure lived up to it's hype. Mickey the waitress was congenial and downright funny. The food was good and Blue and Stoops each ordered and consumed a genuine "Fat Smitty"
From there the day got a little interesting. I learned a lesson that every biker learns from day one; be aware of your surroundings at all times. The opportunity to make a mistake never takes a holiday. Today it was my turn and fortunately it all turned out OK. We pulled into a gas station to fuel up and I managed to put diesel fuel in my bike instead of premium. The pumps were right next to each other and I just wasn't paying attention. The bike didn't like its new diet and promptly let me know it by backfiring and belching blue smoke, then stalling. My shipmates were quick to respond with concern and we pushed my bike back to the gas station and that's where I discovered what I had done. The guys were fantastic and were more concerned with how we were going to get the bike back to Renton for repairs than in pinging on me for my lapse in judgment. That would come later. Ralph and Blue left to go get the trailer to haul my bike back; the SSMC guys made calls to the Harley Dealership to find which one could quickly correct my problem. Don Gentry and Jim offered to stay with me until Ralph and Blue could get back with the trailer (a round trip of over 200 miles). Then good fortune in the guise of Jim and Don took over and things got better. Jim found a bit of tubing that would fit into the fill tube and was able to siphon the diesel fuel out. Don assured me that putting diesel fuel into a gas engine is not fatal and that if we could get the fuel out and replace it with the proper fuel that the bike would start and clean itself out. Then, providentially, a diesel powered pick-up truck came into the station and we were able to give the owner the diesel fuel for his vehicle. The problem of disposing of over 5 gallons of diesel fuel was solved.
Once we got the bike to start it purred like a kitten and we were able to make it back to the hotel with no additional problems. However, Jim tells me that my exhaust stinks. Couple more tank fulls will take care of that.
I wonder if Tommy Cox could rewrite his lyrics to "Diesel Bikes Forever"?
Let's not forget the steely-eyed Marine finding your highway peg that decided to work its way off your bike shortly after the "diesel incident" or the fact my bike wouldn't start just after as well. These things always happen in 3's so they say...
ReplyDeleteThose were all minor and the types of stuff you expect to happen on a trip. Putting diesel in your tank is best left to over the road truckers.
ReplyDeleteBut, you're right, Don, we did have an interesting day. Glad your bike is back running smooth.