Wilsons Sandbox

For the Labour day weekend (Sept 1st in Canada), I decided to ride down from Moncton, New Brunswick to Digby, Nova Scotia to visit my brother and at the same time take in the Wharf Rat Rally. Long term weather predictions were good, so I decided to take the long trip around and take in the Cabot Trail as well. This a picturesque area filled with ocean views and climbing twisty roads. I put on a new rear progressive shock/spring, loaded the bike with my camping gear, told the wife I would miss her & took off.. I got as far as Amherst (about 50 -75 km) when I noticed that the rear tire was going flat. I popped into the local Kawa dealer for a quick fix & I was off again (good thing I had a spare rear tube as they were out of stock). I took route 104 to Cape Breton & transferred to Route 105 wanting to do the Trail in a counter clockwise rotation (closer to the cliffs & better view). I stopped at a campground near St Margaret's village and enjoyed a warm evening without bugs. In the middle of the night it started to rain (so much for accurate weather predictions). Next morning I stored my gear and took off. The rain was so hard at times that I had to depended on my GPS (60Csx) to give me advance warning of sharp curves. Rain continued until I finished the Cabot Trail & then the sun came out (so much for the view). I took the 104 / 101 heading for Digby following the 110 kph speed limit (would I say anything else?). I got to Truro and decided that my mount & I needed a break and did a quick stop at Tim Horton's coffee shop. Upon dismounting I noticed that the gear lever was soft on the down push and upon closer examination saw that the weld was broken. I had removed the damaged after market shifter and had relaced it with the OEM until the new shifter came in, but never did the switch. Oh well only 300 km to go and my brother is a mechanic, no problem ,only open road ahead if I shift lightly I'll get there, or so I thought. Relaxed I got on the bike and lightly took off. I rode 20 km and had to stop for bridge construction, shifter fell off 60 feet past the construction area. Walked back to the bridge working crew and asked them if the had a welder to weld the shifter back together. Needless to say their welder puts out enough juice to weld inch steel, my shifter would have gone up in smoke . Two of the welders teamed up and asked me to take the shifter off , and then promptly brazed it together. I have to say that those Nova Scotia Dept of Transport guys were great. The only thing they wanted in return was a handshake. Off I go again and this time make it to Digby in 1 piece. The Annual Wharf Rat Rally hadn't begun yet so I keep going to Meteghan to see my brother. Since it was a long weekend Wayne & his friends would be camping at their so called Redneck camp. Got to the camp and met with Wayne and other relatives and had a quiet evening. Camp was made up of a variety of sleeping accommodations including regular (but old) trailers, a stripped down Dodge Voyager van (sleeps 1 short man in the back with his livingroom where the steering wheel used to be), a fiberglass emergency boat (sleeps 2 snugly (preferably opposite sexes)), a community kitchen (good food, not weight watchers approved), a community shower (shower head connected to a high capacity agricultural pesticide sprayer, decontaminated of course). Toilet facilities included a flush toilet , you need some home amenities (flushing directly into a large hole in the ground). And the "piece de resistance" was a 6.5HP roto tiller converted into a 4 wheeled buggy capable of hauling dirt, tree branches etc. I had missed the chariot races (had been held the week before). The chariots were subcompact cars cut off behind the drivers seat with tubing welded on and a trailer hitch so they could be pulled by an ATV. Open concept so no protection from the flying mud, seatbelts available. Next day I went to Digby and participated in the Wharf Rat Rally. Last year, according to security, participation was between 6000 - 8000 motorcycles. This year the attendance was estimated to be between 20,000 - 25,000 participants. For this event the main street in Digby was cordoned off from traffic and only motorcycle riders could ride in on their mounts. Orange County Choppers (OCC) had brought in a few bikes and there were other specialty builders as well. The general attitude was great, the sun was out, temp in the high twenties. The best part was looking at the regular bikes and checking out the various add-ons. Last year I seemed to have been the only dual sport at the show. This year I saw at least 6 other KLR's and 1 Suzuki DR650. I will definitely go back next year. On Sunday Aug 30th the weather report said that hurricane Hanna was supposed to hit Halifax next day so I got the bike packed up, said goodbye to some good people and hit the road (afternoon). Start of the trip was nice, sun was out with wind in the back, what more could you ask. Got close to Windsor (near Halifax) and the rain started. With the rain came strong winds. I stopped in Windsor to gas up both the bike and yours truly. The rain was coming down hard. People were looking at me as if I was nuts especially when I told them that I would be taking the Rawdon hills shortcut (twisty roads, hairpin curves, deer & pickup trucks). Geared up, put on my fluorescent safety vest and took off. Rain was so bad that I had a hard time following the speed limit. Again the GPS was useful in indicating upcoming curves. I was nearly out of the Rawdon hills when I hit a newly paved stretch of road. The center yellow line was tape not paint. For some strange reason the rear tire lost traction & started swerving side to side, speed was 70kph with a curve coming up. I instinctively stood up on the pegs and rode it out until the bike regained traction. The loss of traction was so bad that my mind was already calculating where & how I would crash. All I can see is that the rear wheel touched & spun out on the yellow tape. Bike was not easy to control with all the gear on board. Anyways I finally made it out to hwy 102 just south of Truro. Rain had finally stopped and some stars were peering through. Another 3 hours and I would be home. After about 15 minutes of riding I heard what I thought was rain hitting my helmet so I slowed down a bit. After a few minutes I realized that my visor was still dry . Slowed up some more and realized that hail was bouncing off the bike. Slowed down some more and rode it out. Stopped in Truro and met a couple fellow riders who had also gone to the show. Made it home in 1 piece. Equipment used: Progressive front springs, Progressive rear shock & spring, Kenda 270 tires (34 PSI), Ortlieb saddle bags, Helen 2 wheel compression bag & cloth bag, various tools in tool tube, 2 tubes, dual star tank bag, Canadian tire tent, Mountain equipment coop air mattress and stove (dragonfly), Garmin GPS (60CSX). Missing equipment: gear shift lever All in all a very good ride with over 1600 km completed in 4 days. As for the Cabot Trail? The year isn't over yet. Brian.