A Buell goes to BC

Really? My first :! Ooooh, I can see why people like doing this. And no, okanogan isn't the worst thing ever, just that there was nothing there. Not even a grocery. (I've got a new nickname for okanogan that I can't post here as my family is following the report). Beautiful camping at sugarloaf though. That much is true. Now where was I? (Or moreover, where am I?)

Day 5 - the reassembly.

So after tearing her down in anticipation of the new belt, I ended up waiting another couple hours til it arrived. Every passing semi and pickup had me running to check the front desk. Nerve wracking and tiring. Thankfully I had excellent company while I waited.

Then I heard it. Definitively, unequivocally, without a doubt, a UPS truck.

Yaaaaay!

Belt on, just a few more pieces and we are rolling.


Yours truly, working away contentedly. Surprisingly, easier going back together than coming apart. That new belt was sure tight though. Some claim its possible to put it on w/o lifting the rear (or laying it on its side, elevated by the side bag) by just loosening the belt tensioner bolts. Tried that, and got almost no extra play in the tensioner.



Kev and Lorraine commented that I'm not a seasoned traveler, and that it's obviated by the fact that I'm wearing all white. Duly noted. (Well, the clothes are hardly white now anyways.

Tadaaaaa!


From there it was a 45 min ride to the border, a 5 minute wait for a background check (I was pretty sure it was clean, but sweating bullets nonetheless) and hello Canada! No pics, as I needed to book it north to Kamloops BC in an attempt to avoid night riding. Unsuccessful. Rode over what were some presumeably georgous passes, but saw little more than a sea of black on either side of the road with a dark blue to black gradient at the horizon line leading to pricks of starlight. Still beautiful, but I'm insanely curious as to what was under that dark cloak of night.

Finally made it to Kamloops. I also understand the name Kamloops is derived from the fact that a person is required to drive in concentric loops until he stumbles upon his destination. Or maybe I just suck at navigating cities. Or navigating in general. Hmmm...

Finally I arrive at my cousin Donnies house where I am greeted with a huge smile and a pork skewer w/ rice, prepared while I waited. Of all the stereotypes of Canada/Canadians, perhaps the truest is their eerily exuberant kindness. Much thanks Donnie.


More Kamloops pics for tomorrow.

Also, a hugely helpful tool for this leg (and anywhere there is no cell signal or where I'm roaming but have wifi) has been my android phone configured with sipdroid and google voice. Free calling (in and out) plus free texts. No minutes used, and its all free free free.

Google voice, sipdroid (a voip app on my HTC G1), sipsorcery, ekiga.net. There's many tutorials for this setup or similar, and I recommend it to anyone with a smart phone who needs free voicemail, in/outbound calling, and text. Look it up, I'm sure some ADVers could benefit from this setup

Day five, over and out.

P.S. Sorry for all the words. Started the report without much to say, I guess. Wanted to keep it mostly pics w/ captions but hey,my story actually got dramatic. Moreso than I imagined (or even hoped). -K

Day 6 - Kamloops BC

Staying the day at Kamloops.* I slept in, went for a hike, and explored the town.* Mostly scenery and art shots guys, just a few motopics.

My lovely accomodations:


The view from the deck:




Went on a hike and had to cross under a bridge.* Penis!










The town of Kamloops.* Right on a confluence, surrounded by mountains.* My kinda country.




Peterson creek.







Motorcycle, along the S. Thompson river.


First shot had the light, this one has the framing spot on (in my humble opinion).

I've got friends and relatives in Kamloops and they seem to like it.....

I've never really spent much time there to have a really good look at the town though....

Day 7 - oh my!

So I'm just gonna let day 7s photos speak for themselves.

An hour or so outta Kamloops (wide open throttle roads):


Motorcye!


Thus begins the jawdropping scenery:


See my road???? Yaayy!!




Purty.


More purty.


Double purty!



More to come perhaps...

Hey, that doesn't look like the road to Prince George! That looks like the Duffy Lake Road: Lillooet to Pemberton/Whistler. Fantastic road, we did it a couple of months ago.

Great pics, Oregon. I love the country you're going through.

Great story and photos, but sorry to hear about your belt. I bought a spare as soon as I heard of the potential for breakage (so far so good on my 2006 X). I assume you're on BadWeb?

God bless the Buells...safe ride...

Oh, and you have a headlight out.

Do I have a headlight out?? Which one? :)

Anyway, after resting up in Kamloops I did some pondering, and considering my time frame (hoped to be back saturday) I decided to head west and south instead. Can't pull one over on the ADVers! And I am sure I missed some good riding, but when I ended up in Tacoma at 5:00, I couldn't resist the urge to bomb it home. No pics for the end of the story, I was just killing it down I-5. My journey officially ended at 10:43pm, Friday the 2nd of September.

Thanks for following along everyone! It did kill me to cut the journey short... but its nice to be home too.

Now, to review some of the gear and tools/items i brought.

Pabst Can Camp Stove: worked quite well. Need a better stand, although the tent stakes worked well enough.

Sipdroid on my HTC G1 cell phone: Also worked quite well, but requires a better internet connection than is available at you house, Jim!

Sedici armored pants: a bit bulky, they came off at around 85 or 90 degrees. Just too much, perhaps a three season pant.

Tourmaster somethingorother: Beautiful. Layers inside and out for rain and cold. it was nice on the Connector into Kamloops at 11:00 at night.

Alpinestars boots: also great, after a winter and several summer trips.

Buell Ulysses: Great, except for that one little niggling complication.

Cab Driver Seat Cover: Great for airflow on hot days, and offers a change-up from the stock seat which is nice at times.

Canari riding shorts: Saved my ass, i suppose!

blah blah blah.

Thanks again for reading!
-Kellen


Edit: Oh, yeah! The customs agent i chatted with for re-entry mentioned that he had a Millenium X1, although briefly! He recognized the Uly right off the bat. He mentioned that something smelled... "hot". I told him it was my crotch. :)

I'm enjoying your ride report and the great pics. Since I recently purchased an 09 XB12XT like yours, I wonder how many miles were on your bike when the belt broke? I now have almost 14k (4k since the middle of June). Just put in the EBR race ECM for the stock setup -- noticeably smoother.

Snapped one belt around 13k, so I figured with 6k on this one I was gonn

Code:

a be fine. Oops. Get a used or new spare is now gonna be my standard line!

Great report! I just bought bike just like yours, picking it up Saturday, can't wait!

Just found this, nice road report. I own the same bike, an '09 XT. It now has 18,000 km on the oe belt, no problems yet. But it did blow a fuel pump fuse in the heat near Merritt a few weeks ago. Carry spare mini 10 amp fuses just in case. If you pass through Vancouver Island, send me a pm or email.
BTW, I was down your way on the Columbia Gorge for Sportbike Northwest last month, a great event.

I've already had 2 fuel pumps replaced. I am well aware of the spare minifuses. That right there is one huge gripe about these bikes. Stupid fuel pumps... also replaced pistons, cylinders, oil pump, iat, o2 I think... and more. Still love the bike though!

Holy...... Man I woulda kicked that to the curb a long time ago....

Not to harsh your buzz but there are far more reliable rides out there my friend....

Yeah, when I list them all off like that it sounds messed up. They were all replaced to fix a starting issue that seems to be gone after the 2nd fuel pump. Also all done under warranty by the dealer. Just remembered they replaced the dash too .

That being said, there are definitely more reliable rides available. I agree. But that damn grinfactor (got one just thinking about it) plus first bike love make it damn hard to quit.

Holy Crap! I have not heard of that many problems yet. That particular bike must have been a factory lemon although it is red... good thing it was under warranty. Which dealer do you use?

Being a mechanic, I do all the maintenance and repairs. In three years and 19K the only problem I've had with my '09 XT is one blown fuel pump fuse in extreme heat with low fuel. I hope it stays that reliable, I expect it will. (knock on wood!)

I'm going to guess that it was the pump all along and the dealer was just throwing random parts at it 'cause they suck at diagnostics

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

Yea, they had to jump through the hoops of HD tech services more or less. Throwing parts at it is exactly what it was.

Don't know if you still have the bike, but this little mod works wonders.
Used a rat tail file to mod my '09 and it works great.