Heroes

 

Kristen and I have been absolutely floored by the people that have gone out of way to help us continue on our trip. It's been really eye-opening and has forced us to take a good look at our own generosity.

*

After a night's rest, we woke up and got to work. 

Our portable workstation:

The beautifully fouled plugs:

And a dirty, rotten punk that mocked me throughout all our work in the parking lot:

After several hours of messing with the bike to no avail, I reached out to Chuck, a member of the Ural-specific forum Soviet Steeds who had offered his assistance. Chuck is retired Air Force and a self-described metalhead - he's also a swell dude. He drove from Clovis, NM (3 hours away) just to help us get our bike up and running again. It turns out that one of the washers underneath the spark plug was flattened by over-tightening or something - either way, it caused an air leak in the head. The plugs were so fouled that they were pretty much useless (running rich-much?), so we added new plugs and worked through the carburetors to change out the pilot jet. The elevation was obviously killing the bike, but with those changes all of a sudden Elga came back to life. 

Seriously, what a guy:

After a full day of working on the bike, we hit the jacuzzi. Job well done! 

Tomorrow we head to the mountains!

Las Vegas, NM

 

We started off the day with some burnt hands and kneecaps. Serves us right for not wearing proper gear. Instead of acknowledging and fixing the problem by putting on pants, we headed to Walmart and bought some 85 spf sunscreen and hit the road. 

It was a fabulous morning with cooler temperatures than we were used to as we rose in elevation into New Mexico. It's amazing how the nicer weather changed my outlook on the long road ahead of us. 

At about noon the temperature rose and it again got blisteringly hot. The sidecar doesn't allow for the best airflow so Kristen found a way to get some fresh air on her legs... Probably not the safest maneuver but it got the job done. She is having a blast - she said that navigating on a road that just goes straight for hundreds of miles is making her a little brain dead (which she's finding thoroughly enjoyable). 

After a little lunch we stopped to fill up the bike with gas on the side of the road with the jerry can (the Ural does not have a great range with its 5 gallon tank and lack of aerodynamics) and decided to take a pic of ourselves. Immediately following this glamour shot, Kris stepped back and hit the exhaust pipe, burning the bejezus out of her leg. 

At least the scenery was nice...

We then set the GPS for Las Vegas, NM and hit the road. All of a sudden the clouds started to look a little ominous and a storm headed directly for us. We pulled over and threw on our rain gear - CUE the most unflattering picture of Kristen ever taken. I love it so much. If I could somehow put it on a t-shirt I would. Anyway, this was the first rain of our trip and the first time we actually got a little cold. 

Right after the rain stopped, Elga started to run really poorly for some reason. The wind was pretty strong but sure not strong enough to force us down to 30 mph. Getting to Las Vegas was going to take longer than expected. 

So now we're currently hanging in Las Vegas while we try and figure out what's going on with the bike. She was running like a champ until we got to the mountains and so we're guessing it has something to do with carburetors. Maybe air filter. So while I try not to yell at the bike, Kris is going to do some laundry and edit some pics. Elga will pull through. The plan is to be back on the road tomorrow morning!

Finally on the Open Road

 

Today was perfect. 

We are relieved, excited, tired, sunburned, and thirsty. 

It was a great day of Uraling today and even though it felt like it was 150 we both had a blast. Big, open blue skies and lots of lonely highways on our way from Mineral Well, TX to Plainview, TX.

I believe my favorite moment of the day came when we came back to our bike after having lunch at Buck's in Knox City. A guy with an eye patch was standing near our bike, checking her out, and as we walked up he chuckled and nodded,

"Now that is a kick ass bike. I have a heritage classic, but I'm guessing that not even my bike tracks as much stink as this." 

I definitely had never heard that phrase but will be using it soon. 

Our seats were so hot after lunch, Kristen tried to cool it down with some water but I swear it immediately boiled off. It was ridiculous.

We tried a few things to cool off, one involving undressing in public. It turns out that if you douse your shirt in water and then put your jacket back on, it will cool you off for a short time while you ride. Better than nothing:

One of the more exciting moments of the day involved an unknown insect and the inside of my shorts (and yes, I know riding a motorcycle in shorts is ridiculous and stupid).

After spending 6, or so, hours on roads like this, getting blasted by the sun we stopped and did some of this:

Such a great day. 

Day 6 mileage: about 300 miles

Exorcising Motorcycle Demons

 

The Adventure Begins!

We left our house in San Antonio at about 8 am. We did our best to get out earlier because it has been ruthlessly hot in this part of the country and we wanted to enjoy a few cooler moments on the road, but we’'ve never been a couple that sticks to a schedule. 

The first hour of riding was great. Not much traffic. Small country roads.

All of a sudden, as I’'m pulling up a small hill, the bike dies. I pull off to the side of the road and get off to take a look at things. Nothing seems out of the ordinary and it starts up beautifully, so we take off once again. Then, five minutes later, it dies again and I'’m barely able to muscle it off the road. We spend the next 4 hours sitting on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere while I try to do everything in my mechanical know-how. I pull the plugs, find that one is black, and begin focusing my energy on the left side. I check the valves. I pull the carb and do a bit of cleaning. I pull the airbox. I do absolutely everything I can think of but the bike refuses to run.

Finally, after hours in the sun with no water or food, Kristen convinces me to call for help. I am defeated. 

Finally, we swallow our pride and call some friends to come pick us up with a trailer and as we’re sitting in the tiny bit of shade that we find under a small tree, a man stops and gets out of his car. Much to my chagrin, it is a good friend of my dad. He talks with us for a few minutes, hears that we’re okay and that we have a ride lined up, and leaves us with a chuckle. “

"All the way to Canada, huh?"”, he says before taking off.

Minutes later, our phones are choked with the calls of friends and family asking what has happened. Awesome.

After several more hours of waiting (thankfully a kind woman stopped and gave us water, grapes and cherries), we'’re picked up and driven back home. After talking to Ken Storm (our faithful dealer), we decide to drive 5 hours to Dallas to stay with a friend and take our bike into Stormseller Motorcycles. Not a great first day. 60 miles by bike. 400 miles by car. 

After a 5 hour drive and a quick overnight at a good buddy's house, we head straight over to Ken's in the morning. Like a boss, he clears his schedule to help us get back on the road. 

It turns out that in our first 60 miles, we experienced significant engine failure. Looking on the bright side, we were very fortunate to run into such a serious problem now as opposed to later when we would have been much farther away from a dealer. After hours of going through the bike to look for simple explanations, Ken finds that the left head has no compression. Something is wrong internally. After poking around the warehouse in the shop (check out the '55 Ural below!) we head back to our buddy's house to wait for a phone call while Ken continues to dig. 

A few hours later, we get the news. A valve guide has failed causing a multitude of problems. The left head will need to be completely replaced and he doesn't have the parts in stock. We head back to San Antonio wondering how we're going to get all the way to Tuktoyaktuk in a month and a half if our bike is sitting in a shop.

A few days later, Ken calls us up and says Ural has intervened. They heard about our trip and our struggles and have found a way to get Ken everything we need. The bike will be ready in 12 hours!!!

When we roll up to the shop hours later, Elga is waiting for us patiently out front. Ken excitedly tells us how Ural orchestrated the rescue and how the bike is running beautifully. I immediately pull out my wallet to pay for the extensive repairs, but Ken waves me off. Ural has decided to take care of us. No payment is necessary. All the labor, all the parts, everything has been covered. We both almost cry (well, maybe just a little). If we weren't completely sold on the Ural brand before, we are now.

Pictured below is the culprit of this whole mess: 

As we're packing our stuff on the bike, Ken suggests we take a quick loop around town to make sure everything is running well. I jump on and race down the road. After barely a mile, the bike spits and sputters and dies once again. I instantly panic, thinking the worst, and call Ken. He comes to meet me, looks over the bike for a few moments and smiles. "Did you check the gas?" 

Of course there is no gas. I'm a dunce. 

*

Finally, after several days of frustration, our trip truly begins. We immediately ride into DFW traffic and spend the next 2 hours fighting through cars in 105 degree heat. You know what - it's bliss! We're on the road!

The Time Has Come

 

Our trip across North America by Ural has suddenly become a reality. We woke up this morning in a bit of a panic to realize that there are only 4 short days until we leave. In my mind, I knew it was coming, but for some reason it finally seemed within reach today. We've been purchasing gear, planning routes, packing and repacking, and getting our dear Elga ready (we've given our faithful steed a good, strong Russian name) for so long that I kind of forgot that we were actually leaving and not just experiencing this trip by computer. The amount of hours we've spent pouring over pictures and videos, reading ride reports on AdvRider, and staring at Google Maps is ridiculous. I'm pretty sure we've left a couple of permanent nose imprints on our laptop screen. 

Anyway, between shooting a wedding tomorrow and editing all the pictures before Tuesday (yikes!), we'll be getting all our gear together and packing for the final time, looking over the bike to make sure Elga is completely ready (she's already had a complete oil change and checkup, which I'm sure she hated as my mechanical skills are terrible), and hopefully getting some sleep. We'll be camping almost the entire was up and even though we have a sweet setup, it's not going to be easy sleeping in the extreme heat of the southwest! In fact, let's be honest with each other sine we're going to be traveling together through this blog - we'll probably be staying in a motel the first night. 

Oh, the adventure on which we are about to embark...