the battery went dead again. After we found a place to camp, I
took the battery out and with my trickle charger, walked to the
nearest house. I knocked on the door and asked if they had
an outside outlet I could use to charge my battery. They got us
plugged in and I came back the next morning to a fully charged
battery! The next day we went about 80 miles, stopped for
gas and to charge the battery again for a couple hours. Rode
another 100 miles and it is dead again! Now, I’m thinking
maybe I pinched a wire when installing the new harness. It is
still cold with the only day it got above 40 degrees being the
day we drove down to Norfolk with Larry. So we look for a
cheap motel where we can check the wiring harness again.
We found a motel for $5.00 (and it looked it too). But, it did
have a linoleum floor and a heater inside and was big enough
to bring the bike in. Val and I again replaced the wiring harness
and charged the battery.
Unfortunately, the new harness did not solve the problem.
We continued this routine of charging the battery once during
the day, usually at a gas station, then begging for electricity
at someone’s house at night through SC, GA, FL, AL, & MS.
Our plan was to get to my buddy’s house in New Orleans, who
was also a Harley mechanic, and we could fix it there. So after
about a month, we finally made it to New Orleans.
Now, my buddy actually lived in Southern California, but he
always came back to his parent’s house in New Orleans for the
Mardi Gras. So, we stopped at his parent’s house and were
informed that my buddy Tom, could not get off work and would
not be there for Mardi Gras. Thankfully, after some phone calls,
Tom convinced his sister and her husband to put us up for a
week. During this time I took my bike to another Harley shop
to have my electrical problem fixed. They did some testing,
figured it was the regulator/rectifier module and replaced it.
Cost me $75 which, at that time was about 10 days-worth of
travel money!
We had a good time at Mardi Gras and then headed for
Daytona and Bike Week, thinking that the bike was fixed-WRONG! Got to Pensacola, FL and the battery was dead
again. So we head to another Harley shop, explained the
situation and again get invited to come around the back after
closing. The mechanic met me out back at 6:00 pm and helped
me change out the rotor and stator. Finally, the problem was
solved and we were good to continue our trip for the next six
months.
The whole “electrical-problem” situation was quite an
experience. We learned that there are a lot of good people in
this country and that bikers really do help bikers. I also learned
that I needed to learn to be a better mechanic. I wonder what
would happen nowadays in a similar situation!
Stay tuned for more legislative updates and anecdotes from
the road.
We invite everyone to help protect our freedom and become
more legislatively active. Join your local State Motorcycle
Rights Organization (SMRO), they are fighting for all of our
freedom and the right for us to ride the way we want to ride.
Stump
www.thunderroadscolorado.com
April 2016
Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado 7