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[HackNDos]

This was my 2nd year attending. And well this is the tale.  I wanted to send it out so that you may all get a good laugh and revel in my trip.
 
Things to note:

1)      When taking a vacation withdraw cash and store some other place besides your wallet.
2)      Be prepared for anything to happen.
 
So, it all began on a crisp Friday morning at 6am.  Yeah my day off, and I am into this trip and up at the crack of dawn. I have prepared my gear over the last week the night before and have my bike loaded up and ready to roll.
 
Sunscreen. Check
Bathroom stuff. Check
Clothes. Check.
Leathers. Check
Bike cover. Check
Rain gear… oh hell it isn't going to pour this year. Leave it behind. (diligently I have been watching the weather, no rain in the forecast.)
 
Saddle up, let's roll!
 
So I began my trip with stop number 1.  Friends in San Jose.  I was told to be there at 7am. Get there 7:05am.  Considered on time. While I chit chatted with my friend Nena waiting for Frank to get out of the restroom.  About 10 minutes later he comes out. (I wouldn't dare go in that restroom at this point.) He quickly informs, me, "Call Nena's cousin Paul, were not going. Sorry, stuff going on we can't go." Alright Frank I understand.  I quickly get there number, place the call get there address and lock it into the GPS.
 
I arrive in Livermore now at about 8am. Vic and Lisa's place.  As we say are pleasantries and good mornings, I quickly explain that Frank and Nena aren't riding and I wasn't sure why.. They offer me some morning coffee, and make some breakfast burritos for us to snack for some energy. (Boy, am I glad I ate them, little did I know what was to come the rest of this day.) Vic informs me he wasn't expecting anyone so early, but glad I came, and that we were meeting up with others around the corner at the local Wing Stop at 10am and continuing on from there to pick up another at the Lathrop HD dealer. Cool! More the merrier I say!
 
I go outside, smoke break while Vic is running his son to school. Eh Half Pack.. I should be good till Reno. Vic gets back, he needs change to give his oldest daughter for the weekend while he is away. We make a quick run on the bikes over to the gas station where he can get change and we top off with gas.
 
We get back, load up, and begin to drive off.  We get about 3 miles away.  Vic pulls a U-turn. (A sign of things to come I think.) Lisa forgot her Ipod and there's no music on his bike.  
 
Alright, we run back and get it. 10:10am we leave Vics house for the second time. We get to Wing stop at about 10:20. Maybe a little sooner, time line this early is fuzzy.
 
We now begin our first wait.  Les and Paula arrive.  Les has his bike in the back of his truck and is driving it over. His bike is HUGE!  (pictures of the bike etc to come later.) We lovingly nick name his bike, "The Pimp Mobile".  You see, this bike is Mother of Pearl white. It is a "bagger". More common as a touring bike.  But it has the side saddle bags, the back trunk, with wrap around back rest and arm rests for the passenger, done in complete chrome with gold trim, tan leather, wire spoke wheels with gold trim on them (you could melt the gold off his wheels and probably get about 2k in cash… lol), 12 plus speakers on the bike and fully ready to roll in "pimpin'" style.

Les runs in and gets us all some food. Chicken wings, cokes, fries, the whole works.  We snack a bit waiting on the other party to arrive. Troy. Apparently Troy takes off  and goes in a whole other direction. We eventually learn that Troy's buddy who he was waiting for lost a throttle screw and are trying to repair his buddies bike before they begin to roll.  We decide at this time that Troy and company will have to catch up with us in Reno. (Little did we know.)

As a side note, this same time we find out that Scott and Tina (Tina is Lisa's sister) are picking up there friend Sunny. She lives out in Grass Valley, to avoid a lot of different stops we have sent them off ahead of us.
 
It is now 11:45am.  We are getting ready to roll and Les pipes up, I forgot my wallet at home! Damn! Alright, Les heads back to his place to grab his wallet, we tell him to meet up with us in Lathrop at Eagles Nest HD.  Vic, Lisa and I begin the "journey" now to Lathrop.

[HackNDos]

We arrive at the Eagle's nest at about 12:45pm. We are now in Lathrop.  Inching ever closer to Reno.  I am beginning to think it's a fictional place only heard about in stories and fairy tales. Hmmm no worries, it's a HD dealer!  Chrome to look at and T-shirts to be had of the dealership while we wait for Les to arrive.

We pull in and immediately ride over to this couple who are patiently awaiting our late arrival.  Sam and Linda. The next to join our posse and "journey".
 
We begin to have drinks, exchange pleasantries, and oogle over the new rides. I quickly point out to Sam as he is looking at getting a new bagger that the '09 models now come with electronic throttle.  No more throttle cables. Very impressed. And then as we are waiting I walk him over to the new model.  The HD Rocker. I said take a look here, the rear seat is "floating" up above the rear fender.  It's not even sitting on the fender.
 
We take some more photos out front of the place as we await Les.  Its about 1:30pm now. Place a call to Les.. Where are you?  He says.. Southbound I-5.. we glance out at the freeway and watch him drive by. He had passed the exit and was doubling back. He arrives with wallet in hand.  Runs in and buys some new tie down straps because the ones he has aren't holding the pimp mobile securely enough.   We strap it down, saddle up, and they make me lead point man now for the ride.  Hell I was the only one with a GPS on there bike.

2pm.. We begin to roll. Say good bye to the staff at the HD dealer who were working Sam over hard to buy a new bike.  They failed.

3pm rolling east of Sacramento.  Things have been going smoothly until now.  Traffic brakes hard. I brake hard and swerve to the shoulder to avoid hitting the cars.  Sam, follows behind doing the same thing.  Traffic picks speed back up at this point. And we began cruising again.  I notice the pack all breaking off from behind me and getting over to the far right to exit..  I follow. Vic rolls up along side of me. Sam's got problems pull in to a gas station etc he tells me. I lead us to an empty parking lot.

Inspection time. Sam apparently is having mechanical issues that is causing flames to shoot out the rear of the bike. Hmmmmm not good. We decide to roll the pimp mobile off the truck and put Sam's on the truck.  
 
Sam is drooling now.  He gets to drive the pimp mobile.  He quickly yanks out his Ipod and plugs it into the pimp mobiles stereo system and grins.  He's in heaven.  

As we roll Sam's bike up into the back of the truck and the guys begin to tie it down, I roll over to inspect the pimp mobile. I had noticed something as it was coming off.  I quickly point out to the guys.  Hey, this brand new tire, Yeah, its bald! (Apparently he gassed it hard on his truck ramp and stripped the tire trying to load it.)

Called a couple HD Dealers in the Rocklin area. No one can get us in to replace the tire.
 
 Alright, means we have to go 60mph tops all the way into Reno. No biggie we can still roll.  We go up the street to a gas station fill up with some fluids, and begin to roll.  
 
3:30pm. All the girls decide to pull out a bottle and jump in the truck and ride in the truck with Les and begin to party in route.

We get to Verdi unload Sam's bike at Lisa's Verdi office. I point out to the crew, hey I am backfiring A LOT.  This isn't normal. Sam thinks it's the altitude or my plugs.  I don't think it's either because my plugs are new, and I have ridden up in the sierra's before without these kinds of problems.
 
Sam tells us Carson City HD will be open with a big shin dig tomorrow, and have pulled extra mechanics in from all over the area to work on bikes.  We will pull in there and have them looked at.

We arrive into Reno we separate and all go to our respective hotels.  I'm at the far end of the strip, Peppermill.  I get checked in around 7pm. Were here! We made it! Woo hoo!

I grab a taxi back to downtown, meet up for dinner, and laugh about the days journey. I get back to my hotel around 1am, and sleep!
 

[HackNDos]

Well I thought I was going to sleep.  Sometime shortly after 6am I am abruptly awaken to loud bangs outside my window.  I walk over glance out.  30 feet away, scaffolding, and 3 or 4 workers working on the new construction. I can't sleep at this point. So I watch TV, 9am rolls around, I call the gang.
 
We meet up at Starbucks in downtown, I grab a quick coffee, some yogurt and we begin.  We are heading to Carson City to put the bikes in the shop.  We arrive into Carson city around 12:30.  Thousands of bikes have come here. Food, Live Bands, entertainment galore happening here.  We pull bikes into the service center. We begin.. the wait.

2:30pm – Les's bike rolls out. $405. New rear tire and brakes.
 
3:00pm – Out comes Sam's bike. Blown sensor. $165
 
3:30pm – My bike rolls out. $33 bucks. Busted spark plug. Damn I am the lucky one! (Yes, Sam was right about the plugs.)
 
And during this wait.. Sam almost buys a new bike.  Salesman and the pimp mobile ride got under his skin. He wants new wheels. LOL In the end, he didn't buy but had a great time looking and thinking about it.

We begin our ride back to town. I head to the on ramp taking the lead and shoving my arms up in the air off to the side like I am flying! Woo hoo! My baby is back and running good!
 
We drive back uneventful into Reno. We all park at Circus Circus garage. And get ready for a night of fun. Sam though is departing us., 6pm.Sam needs to get back to a family reunion in Ripon. We say our goodbyes and part ways.
 
Vic, Lisa, and Paula decide to put in 10 bucks and join a slot machine tournament.  I don't gamble I wait it out as does Les.  We kick back and wait and let them gamble etc.

7:30pm. After cards roulette, etc Vic and Lisa go back to their room to clean up for the night. Les, Paula, and I go back to their room while they get ready.
 
8pm  A call from  Vic and Lisa. Vic has lost his wallet. (Yet again with the wallet.) They have 60 bucks  cash left. No worries, I loan them some money to complete the weekend off. We think he has packed his wallet in Sam's bags accidently.  Won't let it stop us from enjoying the night of fun to come. We listen to music, go to a night club, and by midnight they all bail and head back to their rooms.  I ride my bike back to Peppermill.

Ahhh shoot.. its backfiring again.
 
I get back to the hotel get to sleep at about 2am and awake the next morning at about 7am.  No noise outside.. Can't sleep though. I begin to pack and get cleaned up for the ride home.

I park my bike around 10:45am at circus circus again next to the guys. We walk around downtown for a minute, have a quick drink and energy up for the ride home. And buy a couple event t-shirts.
 
12:30pm we begin to roll. I pull out with riders behind or so I thought.  I make the first corner and check my mirrors.  Vic and Lisa are backing up down the sidewalk. No sign of Les and Paula and the pimp mobile.
 
I quickly circle the block and pull back into the garage.
 

[HackNDos]

Les is stopped and off the bike. I pull up behind him and kill my motor. I am quickly informed that Les's brand new 300 dollar tire is now flat. We decide what needs to be done. Tow truck will take an hour to get to us.
 
I head off to meet up with Scott, Tina and Sunny in Boomtown.  I get there at about 1:10pm. Top off with fuel.
 
We wait here until about 2pm when the others arrive. Les is riding his bike after borrowing and air tank can from one of the vendors. We are hoping it's a slow leak. Les is determined to ride all the way back on his bike.

We pull out.  I lock the GPS into the location of Les truck and we make the 5 minute journey over to it from where we are currently at.

Crap! My bike is stalling, and running worse than before.
 
We pull in at the truck. I quickly tell everyone how poorly my bike is doing. Not sure what to do.  Les checks his air pressure from after the short distance.
 
Damn! 6 pound drop in air already.  
 
He isn't riding it back.  We quickly load him on to the back of the trailer. The journey never ends.  
 
As we go to tie it down, I notice something, Hey Les! When you take it in for the warranty on your tire, you might want them to look at your front brakes.  You got brake fluid all over your bike. Guess it wasn't meant for him to ride no matter what.

I walk over to my bike. And begin to inspect my plug wires. Firmly pressed onto the spark plugs.  Hmmm how about the coil side. Press.. click snap!
 
Damn! The shop didn't secure my wires tightly! Whoo hooo! Another cheap fix for Paul.
 
We begin to roll and this time I take up the rear. We cross the border.  My bike is running great 30 minutes into the ride.  I'm liking this.

Clunk.. grind.. nasty noise…. Moments later after thinking wonderful thoughts… (Damn it! I shouldn't have jinxed myself!)
 
I quickly pull in the clutch without thinking, honk my horn to let the others know something has happened to me, and watch them drive off into the hills not knowing I have dropped off. Gently apply brakes. I think I have blown a tire.  I pull on the small shoulder along I-80. Kill the motor and begin to inspect. Tires good. Hmmm belt drive. It's there, nice and tight. Check.  Hmmm wonder what could this have been.  

I check the motor by starting it.  It purrrrrs. Hmmm very odd. I drop into 1st gear and start to wonder if my transmission just went out on me. I pull away on the shoulder slowly. Heading to the exit up ahead of me.  No noise. No vibration. Hmmmm.  I pull off the exit and begin to ride up and down the back streets.  Running fine. Shoot take a chance, pull back on the freeway and speed up to 70 quickly.  
 
I begin my trek of trying to get back to the pack.  I am running fine once again.
 
I get to the inspection station with no sign of them. I pull through.  Ahhh there they are just up ahead.  They finally noticed I was gone. I pull over.  
 
We give another inspection to my bike as I explained what had happened.

Hey what are these 2 wires dangling.  Ohh well they WERE what was once one of my light pods. Ahhh haaaa! The light pod had broken off, my belt drive grabbed it and wrapped it under the pulley. That's why it felt like it was slipping.  Well all is good now. We begin to roll again. It's around 4pm now or so.
 
Drip. Drip. Drip.. What the hell... shoot that’s a rain cloud!  There wasn't supposed to be any.  We open the throttle up and get ahead of it quickly before it opens up and begins to pour down on us.  Yeah and I left the rain gear at home.  So much for the weather report. Whew! We cleared it.  Didn't get drenched.
 
I am no longer in the back of the pack just in case again. LOL. Oh well fun while it lasted anyways. Scott, Tina, Sunny and I break off from the rest of the pack and do Hwy 20 into grass valley instead.  We want some scenic route.  
 
We cruise into Nevada City. Stop for a bite to eat, get back on the road and drop off Sunny at her place in Grass Valley.  Scott, Tina and I continue on.
 

[HackNDos]

We get back on I-80, I wave and break off as we get into Folsom.  I head over to a friend's place.  Pull in at 7pm finally there.  After hoping to get there hours before hand.  I greet Zach and Ryan.  Where's mom?  She got called out on a suicide call.  Will be back later. No biggie.  We BS the night away and I crash around 11:30pm and set my alarm for 6am.
 
I wake.  Hmmm my friend Tracy isn't home yet. That's odd. Oh well, must have been a bad call.  I jump on the bike and am out the door and off and riding.
 
I pull into Stockton at about 7:10am Monday morning. Woo hoo! Making great time. Will get into work before 10am at this rate.  Pull up to the gas pump… Reach for my wallet.... oh shoot! I left it on the coffee table in Folsom! (what is with wallets this weekend.) I begin my wait until 10am when Tracy shows up with my wallet.  I gas up, and after having a gracious supervisor let me take the rest of the day off, I head back to Folsom.  Its closer than my house is. 
 
We get back there in break neck speeds.  (like 40 mins). Tracy has a lead foot.  And well since she is retired sheriff she can get away with it(kind of).  So I'm not to worried. I find out, Tracy lost her cell the night before on the suicide call, so her calling me in the morning was pure luck to see how I was doing as I sat on empty needing fuel. 
 
When she got there she informed me, she ended up on a call, triple homicide and suicide. Why she didn't make it home last night and while she was on the call had lost her cell. Damn.  It just doesn't stop.

We eat and I pass out, I am exhausted.. Wake up at 5pm eat again. 7pm I head home.
 
I get back to my place about 9:45pm last night. Out by 11:30pm.. It's over.
 
I survived the journey… until next year… at which point.. maybe I should just fly in… nahhhh then what kind of journey would it be.

Side note: Circus Circus called Vic, they found his wallet and are mailing it back to him.
 
I think the 3 of us need wallets with the chains on them to avoid this problem.. LOL

[Gettinold]

 

[Jock]

Thanks for the report...

 

 

[Guilty]

Now that is a lot of drama over several days, certainly an eventful trip that you will probably never forget!

[sadunbar]

Let me guess...You can't wait until the next ride, right?   

[HackNDos]

thanksf or the comments all and your absolutely correct!

Looking forward to the next one.

And I am sure by that time, my next round of mods will be completed.

[Free]

That story hurt my head!!!

Free

[MIKEYTEE]

Your adventures sound like some of mine,not all were on the bike!
I wouldn't trade them for anything. Well maybe I would 
Mike