A continuing journey into the psyche of Carl La Fong, world traveler, jack of all trades, soldier of fortune, adviser to kings and potentates and lover of beautiful women. All opinions are those of Carl. The author is to be held blameless for any death or dismemberment that may result from following any of the procedures contained herein. "What the world needs, is more geniuses with humility. There are so few of us left." Oscar Levant
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Oh Lord, I'm Stuck In Lodi Again........Well, Actually, Palmdale
Last month, I was going to go on a ride with a bunch of guys to Big Bear, a local mountain resort area where one of them has a cabin. I packed my sleeping bag and a toothbrush as well as a few cold weather items and headed towards Barstow, a particularly unattractive place to live, but a good spot to hook up with my buddy and ride in together. A weekend of riding, eating all the wrong stuff, telling lies and other geriatric motorcycle debauchery awaited me. What could possibly go wrong? I got about 60 miles from home and the bike began to run very poorly. I pulled over to the side of the road and attempted to find the problem. It acted like a fuel issue, but everything seemed OK, yet it ran like crap. I was able to nurse it to my daughters house. The next day, I returned with my trailer and drug it home. A laundry list of things that needed to be done, including moving Wifey's mom into a assisted living facility, kept me out of the shop for a few weeks. I was, finally, able to go down and tear into it. My first suspicion was the fuel pressure regulator, but it was holding a steady 4 pounds. Next I removed the fuel filter, which is a nice billet aluminum deal that I ordered from Jeg's. It has a 40 micron stainless screen in it. I opened it up and dumped all of this crud out of it. It is all rust. I suspect that it is due to the crummy, ethanol laced, moose piss that the benevolent oil companies are foisting off onto us and calling it gasoline. I'm no chemist but I believe alcohol is hygroscopic. It attracts water, which then condenses on the inside of the gas tank and, voila, clogs up the works. I only have 2 or 3 thousand miles on the bike since the new fuel system. I'd hate to think that this will happen again so soon. I plan on another ride in two days with the same group. I hope I'm not left stranded again. I'm going to hook the trailer to the truck before I leave so if the worst happens, I can call Wifey to come and pick me up
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