Doug Sorry to hear about the rear ender. City traffic scares the hell out of me, and down here there seems to be fewer rules of the road. Glad to see that they didn't have to put any screws or pins into you. Head north and look for an early Spring: there are reasons for all that happens to us. Vaya con dios. Redhed
Hi Toad, I am so sorry to hear about what happened. I've been following you and your struggles to get your bike running right: You never quit, have a great attitude, and you always love your girl! I've concluded the last point *is* a fault, but (like you) have resigned myself to acceptance. :) Now, to answer all your long ago questions... DJ is fine; I did take a trip on my "kinda-new" bike in Sept last year right before winter, got back and was going to post about it and was glancing at *other* people's posts to get the gist of it and ran across yours, been following ever since - and no, I never did do my ride report. :) Hopefully the pain subsides soon, you can get some good sleep/rest to heal, and your spirits remain high. You seem in a good mood for all that has happened, but maybe it's the drugs. Doesn't matter; Good for you! Gotta say, your situation touched me and I've really enjoyed your story, appreciate your efforts to keep up with the posting, pictures, etc., and actually toyed with an idea to do a cross State trip just to wave as you passed through Idaho. Maybe next time... Regardless, please don't quit on your report. Everyone wants to know: What type of deal you're gonna make on that Jeep. Don't be shy about the occasional limp and painful grunt. The extra $300 - $400 sympathy money can help with gas. If your Guzzi ever makes it back to Canuckistan or has fallen in love with the MP3 and wants to stay. Does anyone *really* know what goes on when the lights go out and the garage doors close? How close your "vague plan" actually gets to reality. My money's on pretty darn close. :) Hopefully it won't be much longer with the pain (by yourself no less). Good luck on the rest of your adventure and please keep posting. :) All the best!
Have been following your travels...first post...add me to your list...hope your recovery is quick and the Goose is not too badly beaten up..sounds like you are originally from southern Ontario(as am I-over 30 yrs in Pa USA)..hopefully next post I read and your back on the road...inspiring journey
Wow. Looks like my six fans have grown. Seriously, warm thank you to all my well wishers. And when I build my man cave in the Beautiful Kootenays, you are all invited. And, as for the bike. Steve has had a good look at it and it really does look like it only mostly cosmetic. I do have some concerns that it might have put a twist in the frame but Todd will check it for true. Fingers crossed.
You are sounding more optimistic..that is good...where in Ont are you from..I'm from London/University in Waterloo...1200GS rider...mostly short journeys and looking to do longer now that I am retired...as I said in last post..inspiring...gotta get out of my comfy chair
Raised in Galt (Cambridge) Ontario but left permanently for The Best Place On Earth in 1980. Had a warm long overdue reunion with my Brother who lives in Paris when I went thru last summer. I left Victtoria last summer and will not be returning there. Kootenays bound.
Very familiar with Cambridge area...left Ont in 1976..return several times a year...on that note I think I'll go for a ride..just hit 40 degrees and no rain till 3
Scott, if your askin how long is a piece of string, well, I just don't know. But shortly I will continue the report with what was happening around Morrow Bay up to, and after the accident.
A lot of things have changed in a week. My whole modus operandai, of course. But I thought I would chime in with events leading up to and after the change. Morro Bay The picture perfect harbor with its many eateries and bars is a definite tourist trap. Complete with bronzed Ford bench seat. Fish and chips got me this great shot the first night. But the combo platter and one drink ran over thirty bucks.:eek1 Sunsets were spectac those first days combined with awesome surf More stuff I did find a good cheap motel, the Rockview which has just been renovated to present you with big rooms, awesome soft beds and lots of fluffy pillows which turned out to come in real handy for me. And, Carla's, of course is the best deal in town. Look for Jackie who is an amazingly friendly and wonderful waitress. I spent my days planning and riding all the amazing roads around the area, the best of which was the Old Creek/Santa Rosa Creek combo And, as history now records it was on the last leg of a pleasant afternoon return that, as Roosevelt once said, the 'dastardly attack' took place. Well, no, not dastardly. Just fateful, I guess. He may have been texting but, whatever. So, plan B was formulated. As I had always planned to get back to BC and buy a truck to start my new life, I thought I'd go looking. I had a week to conveless and get the follow up exam I rented a car and went looking. Found this, which I think is a good deal, to carry me back to Lotusland. While I was waiting for the exam and truck I got out to see another Warbird museum at Paso Robles and found some interesting stuff One of the first drones First step in a long museum prep There is a lot more stuff including race cars but right now my Photobucket account is pretty well full so, until I do some painstaking editing to make room, that's about it. And, speaking of pain. That little out really hurt. It's just damn hard to sit around in a motel room. So, two days ago I picked up the truck and moved into a Holiday Inn to treat myself cause I'm hoping all the insurances I bought for this trip or the fella that has caused my 'demise,' are going to pay for it. Plus they have a spa which is something I could have used throughout the ordeal. And, this morning I'm off to the hospital for the follow up and to settle the fifty five hundred dollar bill for my three hour stay. How's that for a high class hotel? And northward.
Just getting caught up on threads and came upon you getting wrecked. Glad you are able to mend VS the alternative......... The report has been fantastic and I hope you get everything sorted and are able to complete your trip in the not too distant future. Cheers
Hope you are recovering Toad! I've been reading your report and enjoying it a lot. I had a funny premonition it might take this sort of turn. Mend well, and get your rest. Being sick or injured usually gives me time to think things through, so hopefully you can rest well, body and soul. Godspeed! Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2
Yes to one and No to the second. The bike is taking a rest in my garage until Todd from GuzziTech can get up here to take it down south for repairs. Damage to the bike appears to be mostly on the Traxx racks and left side box. Rest of the bike looks good, Toad let me ride it up and down the street to check it out and I didn't feel anything amiss but it was the first time I've ridden a Stelvio. It is now keeping my Tiger company for a bit.
Toad...how are you doing...are you back in BC or still in California?..hope you are on the mend...best wishes.
OK. So what happened to me. Not a lot to tell and more a drive report now. I'll catch it up to the present and then temporarily sign off till I am ready to jet it back to LA to finish my trip north. Leaving Morro Bay I get to drive one of the last nice roads to Templeton for the follow up med check up and bill paying. (Gah!!) Then it's 101 to Carmel Valley to see my old friend Lantz. And the storm clouds are gathering. After an overnighter at Lantz's I am invited to see his latest project at Pebble Beach. Lantz, like me, is a builder, the difference being his projects are a leeetle bigger than my own. This is a complete reno of a Spanish style home bought by one of the Apple high ups. The influence here is on tile. Temp storage. Lantz's very own handywork. Me and the big guy. Leaving Lantz I headed for Santa Cruz and my other good friend John. The Monterey coast was as spectacular as ever. John and Lantz are old friends. I met them both in 86 when I was on my way back from a ride to Baha from Vancouver. They were riding north to see Vancouver Island and we teamed up for a while with me showing them some of the Best Place On Earth. John is also a builder extraordinaire and I got to see his latest also. I was surprised to learn that John had had hip replacement just three weeks prior. But he seems to be on the way to quick recovery. It all puts my little bump and fly to shame. John's present project is a complete reno of this historic little church. How many Johns does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Just one, my friends, just one. And this one is all about the details. Scratch built staircase. And railings. A lot of the doors were re manufactured and hand crafted from scratch. Leaving my old friend, I set the cruise control on 101 and set my sights on Canuckville. Passed all the cities effortlessly and headed for the border...and the beginning of hoop jumping. Decided to paste this reply to Rick and Todd explaining the 'hoops'. Got your email to Todd and me. Hope the Big Gal is behaving. Me, the leg still aches and the ribs still hurt. Just got back to Victoria yesterday with a real nightmare of a truck import story. After repeatedly asking the dealer if this was all the paperwork I needed for customs and repeatedly being told, 'Yep, your good to go.' I drove up to the US customs and walked to the vehicle export window. Handing him the envelope full of papers from the dealer he looked at me and said, 'Title?' Ya it's one of these, right? He points to the examples on the wall and says he hears my story all the time. I actually have to turn around, drive south to a motel room in Bellingham and call the dealer. 'I don't have the title,' I says. 'Where's the title?' 'Call u back.' says they. Two hours later I call them back and they say it's there and they are Fedexing it to me. Overnighter. OK. Send me a tracking number. 'Sure.' Says they. Never happens. I call the first thing in the morning and find out it never left. Seems it needed a signature from the previous owner who is the bosses son and works there by the way. It is finally on the way that morning, I am forced to stay at least another night and they still haven't sent a tracking number. I am, once again forced to call them on my own dime. This time to the salesman whose card I have and the one that really seemed concerned with my debacle at the time of sale and even tells me what I good guy I am. So, appealing to him 'as a friend' I ask him to personally get me the tracking number, which he does straight away, and ask how they could let me leave there without the title? he says he had never done one of these, whatever that means, before and pleads ignorance. Anyhoo, it is in my hands by 10 the next morning and I am on my way back to the border. Walking up to the export window I find that after a minute the attendant recognizes me, I tell him what I had to go thru, he stamps the title and says, 'see how easy that was?' lol, ya. So it's off to Canadian customs. I'm in the truck crossing where I was told to go and am approaching the three truck booths and one 'FastPass' booth. I don't know what FastPass is so I stay with the trucks only to be asked why I am in this lane? I smile unknowingly. He directs me thru to the first right parking lot with all the trucks and says to walk over to the customs office. Do that, get there, begin the process, take a seat and see the agent walking around outside looking for my truck. Comes back in and asks and I tell him it's way over there in the truck lot where I was told to park. He doesn't understand why and gives me a slip to go and get it. I report to that side and they ask where the yellow slip and passport and stuff is. Back at the other guys place I says. Back I go and the other guy gives me the yellow slip. Back I go again and the truck guy says where the passport and dl? I says, 'don't you guys have radios or anything? and he finally gives me a card to punch out of the parking lot and get to the other place. The inspection is routine and I am finally outta there. I pay more money at the RIV office and am told to book an inspection at one of our service outlets. So, here I am in Victoria for a booking early next week. I am also told by the recommended Canadian Tire service outlet that they think I have to take the truck to Ford to have the headlight set for 'on at startup' Off to Ford where I first am told that it could cost as much as 700 dollars but at my prodding am able to find out it's more like 70 dollars. Jeesh! So, noon today it's happening. The only other hoop I can see having to jump thru is that I was asked if it has tinted side windows and taking a look I find the driver and passenger side windows are clear but the rear little side window for the small bench seat passengers are indeed, tinted as is the rear window. I sure hope they are not stickling on this or I will be hunting down a wreck. Could be by next week I will be totally legal. Or not. That covers it pretty well. Oh, BC Ferries pic of the beautiful wet. And the Ford headlight thing now done. At first it was supposed to be a simple install of a 60 dollar kit and, voila, running headlights. But, of course, that couldn't happen. The kit was designed to work off a spark plug wire signal. No spark plugs here. And no other kits. But after trying a few other things, their very good electronics and diesel guy got it. Ya, baby!! So, this morning it's off for the inspections and, PLEASE, PLEASE,let it happen!
Glad to see you are rolling again...I have had many a nightmare at customs over the years..know what you're going through...welcome back.
With all due respect my friend ... ya need to carry on. Albeit pavement and all. We wanna hear about your adventure !
I have never imported any vehicles to Canada. I have exported a couple to the US from Canada. The toughest experience was when my In Laws gave us a "98 Mini Van in '01. Washington State forced us to pay Sales Tax on about 10,000. Even though it was a gift. (It really was). It was worth more than they valued it because it was an AWD but they didn't have that in the system.
So, after the long sleep, it's time for me to get back on the horse. The 'Monster Truck's' (decided to aptly name it that) final inspection cost me two grand in ball joints, seals and tierod ends. Guess if I'd bought in Canada I could have avoided that too. But, what the hey. Hopefully, all the important stuff is fixed. Just that now I've gone from a 10 to a 15 thousand dollar truck. So, I rented a trailer, got my stuff and headed out to the Kootenays. Took a sight unseen apartment in the backwaters of Crescent Valley till I found a great condo overlooking the water just north east of Nelson. Don't move in till May 15th so, with Todd telling me the bike is ready, I'm headed out tomorrow for Malibu. Just in time to get away from the Kootenay springtime. Not it aint all that bad. The signs are there. Just hope it warms up a little more with the ten days I am allotting myself to get back. As it was thought of as a coast to coast to coast ride I am going to stick to it (prolly a little warmer too) and come up the coast to Port Townsend and the start of the great Hwy 20 thru the Washington high road to my new digs. Bringing with me a new Drift HD Ghost camera and I hope this one hold up better than the first. So, more riding pics and maybe some vids.