Thursday, July 05, 2007
SLOWER AND SLOWER AND EVEN SLOWER
Yesterday on my way from Casper, Wyo on my way up to Hardin, Mont.,
which has a lot of grades between Casper and Sheridan, I felt that
my 'Bird was not performing very well, so I pulled into a truckstop to
change the fuel filter, when I opened the door, I about got blown over
there was a very strong headwind, so I figured that had a lot to do
with the lower performance, but I changed the fuel filter any way, I
poured the contents of the old filter into a jar that I use to drain
the water separator into and the fuel was clear with no debris in it at
all and then I got back under way, one the road leveled out my 'Bird
ran just fine at 60-65 mph all the way to my check in at the KOA in
Hardin, Mont.
Today started out just fine, as I left the KOA at Hardin, Montana on my
way to Red Lodge. On my way to Billings and the Flying J while climbing
one of the long grades , my 'Bird progressively got slower and slower,
nothing different than it had done on the previous grades the day
before, but today the engine actually shut off, but by the time I
placed it into neutral and I got to the shoulder it was running again
and performed just as good as the day before.
I stopped at the Flying J and topped off the fuel, drove over to Wal
Mart and got some supplies and then headed for Red Lodge, all went well
on the Interstate and then for the first ten miles on the two lane with
speeds at 60-65 mph, then on an almost level grade just after the only
rest area it started to slow down, until the fastest I could go was 45
mph on the flat with no headwind. When I would come to any size town I
would pull over when I could and let the line of cars pass me. I
finally made it into the KOA here at Red Lodge and I'm sure that my FAN
CLUB that was following me on the two lane with no passing areas and no
shoulder for me to pull off on to and let them go by and this being the
4th of July with a rodeo being held in Red Lodge, I'm sure that they
were not very happy with me to say the least, but there wasn't much
else that I could do, I was sure happy to see the KOA.
I plan on changing out both water separator filters and the fuel
filter along with the air filter before I leave for Livingston on Sunday. I will go to the local
NAPA store later this morning and hope that it is open and see if they can get me
another set of filters, to go along with the spares that I have on
hand, plus the ones that I will use to replace those on the 'Bird now.
I'm hoping that will solve the problem.
On another note I had a guy walk up to me at the Flying J and ask me if
my 'Bird was the old Budweiser 'Bird that he had seen on the Internet,
it turned out to be one of the Wanderlodge forum members that owns an SOB, I'm
sorry that I can't remember his name, half of the time I have to look
at my underwear band to see what name my mom put in there, to know my
own name :o)
There is a huge Honda Goldwing rally being held in Billings this week and the couple that are camped in their motorhome next to me have been attending it and later this morning I will ride up over Beartooth pass with them, plus when Sandy and Karen Gee along with John Ford and Ricky whatever his last name is that is too hard to pronounce :o) get here this weekend we will ride up over it again, after all more is better...right?
CHECK OUT;
The Wi-Fi here at the Red Lodge KOA is driving me nuts, I'm only about 200 feet from their outside antenna, yet I can only get a two bar signal with my laptop sitting on a wooden serving tray that I place on top of the steering wheel, so that it is right at the windshield with nothing metal to interfere with the signal and it still drops the signal right in the middle of my downloads, so it is irritating. Overall I have not been impressed with KOA's in general, for a single person that doesn't need a swimming pool, or a place to entertain children, they just don't seem to be a good bargain, even though it is still cheaper than running the generator on the 'Bird and using 1.4 gallons per hour to dry camp, so I'm still saving money. I think that for me the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Forest Service campgrounds are a better bargain at half of the cost of a KOA and even better for me, as being a 100% disabled veteran, I get 50% off of the regular price. They don't have the amenities, for the kids but if you need showers they have them and they have always been clean, although I very seldom use them and there is usually a lake or a river right next to all of the US Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds to enjoy the view of, for an old guy like me. The only problem for me has been finding them in the areas that I have been on this trip so far, but after I leave the air show at Oshkosh, Wisc. at the end of this month, I will be staying at US Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds near my sister in Rock Island, Ill. like I did last year and then on my trip further down the Great River Road next to the Mississippi River.
which has a lot of grades between Casper and Sheridan, I felt that
my 'Bird was not performing very well, so I pulled into a truckstop to
change the fuel filter, when I opened the door, I about got blown over
there was a very strong headwind, so I figured that had a lot to do
with the lower performance, but I changed the fuel filter any way, I
poured the contents of the old filter into a jar that I use to drain
the water separator into and the fuel was clear with no debris in it at
all and then I got back under way, one the road leveled out my 'Bird
ran just fine at 60-65 mph all the way to my check in at the KOA in
Hardin, Mont.
Today started out just fine, as I left the KOA at Hardin, Montana on my
way to Red Lodge. On my way to Billings and the Flying J while climbing
one of the long grades , my 'Bird progressively got slower and slower,
nothing different than it had done on the previous grades the day
before, but today the engine actually shut off, but by the time I
placed it into neutral and I got to the shoulder it was running again
and performed just as good as the day before.
I stopped at the Flying J and topped off the fuel, drove over to Wal
Mart and got some supplies and then headed for Red Lodge, all went well
on the Interstate and then for the first ten miles on the two lane with
speeds at 60-65 mph, then on an almost level grade just after the only
rest area it started to slow down, until the fastest I could go was 45
mph on the flat with no headwind. When I would come to any size town I
would pull over when I could and let the line of cars pass me. I
finally made it into the KOA here at Red Lodge and I'm sure that my FAN
CLUB that was following me on the two lane with no passing areas and no
shoulder for me to pull off on to and let them go by and this being the
4th of July with a rodeo being held in Red Lodge, I'm sure that they
were not very happy with me to say the least, but there wasn't much
else that I could do, I was sure happy to see the KOA.
I plan on changing out both water separator filters and the fuel
filter along with the air filter before I leave for Livingston on Sunday. I will go to the local
NAPA store later this morning and hope that it is open and see if they can get me
another set of filters, to go along with the spares that I have on
hand, plus the ones that I will use to replace those on the 'Bird now.
I'm hoping that will solve the problem.
On another note I had a guy walk up to me at the Flying J and ask me if
my 'Bird was the old Budweiser 'Bird that he had seen on the Internet,
it turned out to be one of the Wanderlodge forum members that owns an SOB, I'm
sorry that I can't remember his name, half of the time I have to look
at my underwear band to see what name my mom put in there, to know my
own name :o)
There is a huge Honda Goldwing rally being held in Billings this week and the couple that are camped in their motorhome next to me have been attending it and later this morning I will ride up over Beartooth pass with them, plus when Sandy and Karen Gee along with John Ford and Ricky whatever his last name is that is too hard to pronounce :o) get here this weekend we will ride up over it again, after all more is better...right?
CHECK OUT;
The Wi-Fi here at the Red Lodge KOA is driving me nuts, I'm only about 200 feet from their outside antenna, yet I can only get a two bar signal with my laptop sitting on a wooden serving tray that I place on top of the steering wheel, so that it is right at the windshield with nothing metal to interfere with the signal and it still drops the signal right in the middle of my downloads, so it is irritating. Overall I have not been impressed with KOA's in general, for a single person that doesn't need a swimming pool, or a place to entertain children, they just don't seem to be a good bargain, even though it is still cheaper than running the generator on the 'Bird and using 1.4 gallons per hour to dry camp, so I'm still saving money. I think that for me the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Forest Service campgrounds are a better bargain at half of the cost of a KOA and even better for me, as being a 100% disabled veteran, I get 50% off of the regular price. They don't have the amenities, for the kids but if you need showers they have them and they have always been clean, although I very seldom use them and there is usually a lake or a river right next to all of the US Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds to enjoy the view of, for an old guy like me. The only problem for me has been finding them in the areas that I have been on this trip so far, but after I leave the air show at Oshkosh, Wisc. at the end of this month, I will be staying at US Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds near my sister in Rock Island, Ill. like I did last year and then on my trip further down the Great River Road next to the Mississippi River.
# posted by John Finn & Buddy & Cally Cat @ 4:43 AM 
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