Big Red Oil Leak [& more]

Apparently between the blog and our non-sense on FaceBook we didn't quite give folks a complete picture on Big Red's oil leak. We had left Big Red at the Harley Dealer in Staunton VA for some paint work, some repairs and a 10,000 mile maintenance. We picked up the trike last Saturday, drove for about 10 miles back to the campground. Loaded everything up in KaZy and down the road we went to Bryson City NC. Everything seemed fine.

On Sunday Donna and I set out for a nice ride in the Smoky Mountains. I checked the air in the tires and the shocks, cleaned the windshield and Donna loaded up all our gear. Off we went, up to Newfound Gap and down to Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and over to Townsend. Between Pigeon Forge and Townsend we noticed oil on the engine and pipes, not a lot at first. I pulled the dipstick and found the reservoir overfilled by at least a quart. Oil was seeping out of both rocker boxes (valve covers to you cage drivers), seeping might have been an understatement. I felt it best not to drain any at this point and nursed it back to Bryson City. Needless to say we ruined two pair of pants and one of my shirts.

The next day was spent cleaning and making arrangements to get it fixed. One long tow on Tuesday to the Maryville, TN HD dealer and we're back in business. The two service managers worked out some sort of payment between them and I was not "out of pocket" any cash for the repairs. I still need to get reimbursed for the tow and clothes but all in all it worked out.

Businesses make mistakes, let's face it their run by flawed humans. Real credibility comes from how they address those mistakes. So far the VA dealer has stepped up. We'll see if that continues.

~ Stu

Today we headed out on another long ride, fingers crossed and channeling positive thoughts. We got a late start, having to reload all our gear onto Big Red (took it out thinking we were going to have to leave it at the dealer). We stopped in Cherokee, NC for a great breakfast at Granny's Steak & Pancake House (or something similar to that...LOL!).

We took some different roads than before, ending up at Ghost Town Harley in Waynesville, TN. Nice little shop with very pleasant staff. I picked up a shirt on sale and we headed back off. Keeping our eye to the sky we kept waiting for rain. We headed over to Cosby, TN which is one area we are considering as a future parking spot. One little sprinkle passed quickly.

We stopped at Carver's Applehouse Restaurant in Cosby for a mid-day snack. We had hoped for apple pie (led in by a sign touting the same) but once seated found out it was fried pie. Since we both avoid fried foods as much as possible we opted for the peach cobbler, topped with the requisite ice cream.

Oh my! We should have split one....they were HUGE but they were delicious, as was the coffee.


Once we rolled ourselves out of the chairs and waddled to the bike, we decided it was time to toss on some rain gear. Of course that meant the sun came out....LOL! But a little further down the road it started to seriously rain.

It started to warm up as we rolled into Gatlinburg. I pulled off my gloves and half unzipped my jacket & liner. Before we hit the middle of town it POURED. Phew! We were really glad we were dressed for it...we saw a lot of motorcyclists that weren't.

We crossed through the park and as we started coming down through the area of meadows close to the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway we saw several cars stopped on the other side of the road. There were a half dozen elk grazing, at least 4 were well antlered males. Suddenly the cars in front of us stopped in the road...a female charged across the road just 2 cars ahead of us.

We continued on our way, enjoying our wildlife interlude. Next thing we know we're seeing huge wild turkeys eating on the edge of the road. Another treat...at least none of them decided to cross the road in front of us. We continue on to the campground, thoroughly tired and yet invigorated....you need to ride to understand. Quite a day!

Till next time - keep on rollin',
Donna & Stu