Motorcycle Camping Trip - Nevada, eastern Oregon, and California:2012

Motorcycle Camping Trip - Nevada, eastern Oregon, and California:2012

-Motorcycle camping trip in summer of 2012

<< abstract 

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> Heard some odd clattering down near the engine all morning so I stopped here in Austin, NV and investigated. 
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> Discovered a badly stripped countershaft nut, just barely holding the front sprocket in place. Wow! Close call! If that nut and sprocket had continued to wiggle loose the entire engine and drivetrain would have been demolished. Miraculous that I discovered it in time, and that I'm actually in a town with phone service. Most of my time has been in remote backcountry 'til now.
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> Anyway, now I'm stranded here in Austin, NV. The nut that failed is very specialized; nobody has 'em in stock, not even Suzuki dealers. I also need a special splined locking washer that's mangled  I'm having them shipped to the closest Suzuki dealer (Carson City). They'll get there Tues AM, but it's about 150 miles from here. So now I need to figure out how to get myself and my bike from here to there by Tues to pick 'em up.
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> So I spent the afternoon bandaging my wounded bike back together, with the help of Ray, a former auto mechanic who retired twenty-five years ago. He owns a junkyard now and is the closest thing to a practicing mechanic within 110 miles of here. We did some MASH-style surgery which I think will get me to Carson city.

I stumbled into two people who were on a bike tour a couple weeks ago. Interesting because one of them was riding a purpose-built Trek 520, and the other was riding a mountain bike that he'd transformed into a rugged touring rig. That's what I was suggesting when we talked at Dad and Mom's house a few weeks ago.


I stopped and took a few pictures to show their setups.

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<< a couple small pictures, including map shot>>

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