Frankenfoot

Man this is taking so long I might have to wait until I get home to Florida to upload them.

408 miles in 8 hrs 6 mins. Gertrude ran flawlessly. About 43 mpg. Put some SeaFoam in her last tankful. Hotel is shit. Dirty. Nasty. AC wets the floor. Counters not washed. Toilet not flushed. Ewwww. Wiped everything down with alcohol. They didn't even vacuum the floors. I'm in the process of uploading the unedited videos I took today onto YouTube. Actually, I'm finally getting tired; I'll upload in the morning.

Went over to a friend's house today to meet him and his wife, and to work on Gertrude. He had a couple of parts I needed (like ANOTHER saddlebag lid). I noticed that my right side cover wasn't fitting right, and when I took it off I discovered a very important bolt was missing! And on the other side, a previous owner had substituted a smaller and longer screw that was barely still in there. Fortunately Gene had a couple of the proper bolts in his junk bin and we were able to install them. Man, that could have been very, very, very bad. He also helped me by adjusting the saddlebag latches correctly, and we also discovered that my upper handlebars were coming loose. Man... And... the reason why bigger bumps have been beating the shit out of me like the front springs are shot is because the front springs are shot. So, I just ordered some progressive springs from Dennis Kirk; they should be here by Friday. Now on a brighter note, I scored an Avid Mbox Mini off Facebook Marketplace ...

Only day I can get the $89 Autotrain fare is Monday. Only days Mike has off are the weekends. Don't want to spend a whole week in Florida. So, now I'm pondering riding down there, by way of Henderson NC instead of hitting Henderson on the way back. So now we're looking at: Tuesday - leave Philly, by way of the Eastern Shore, Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel, to Henderson, NC Wednesday in Henderson Thursday - Henderson to somewhere in SC. Friday - Wherever I stop in SC or Georgia to Melbourne FL. Weekend in Florida. Monday - Melbourne to wherever I run out of steam on the way to The Tail Of The Dragon. Tuesday - Tail Of The Dragon, and on to Knoxville. Wednesday - Knoxville Thursday - Head home by way of the Blue Ridge Parkway. I'm not quite sure how realistic this trip is. I don't think there's such a think as a really cheap motel anymore. I'm considering hitting campgrounds instead (except in Florida). Holy shit I just looked at the time. No wonder I'm so tired...

Rode to Williamsport to visit a friend today. 329 miles round trip. Need to adjust the cruise control; it destroys the gas mileage as it is - 40 mpg going up through the twisties, even less I think (trip odometer froze) coming back on the turnpike. Little bit of high speed hesitation, like fuel starvation - I have the new fuel filter on hand. Not thinking, I filled her up just before I got home. Need to run the fuel tank down to almost empty before changing the filter. I had a fun time riding up there through the twisties. Not as much fun as the trip up to Hancock was, but still quite a nice ride. GoPro #1 ran out of space/battery just before the best part, and I didn't notice it until I was where I couldn't find a place to pull over. GoPro #2 wasn't charged. Rats. Air cushion seat cover makes all the world of difference! Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Rode all the way home without stopping until I was almost out of gas. Before the new seat cover I had to stop about every 50 miles. Pr...