Post rally checkin in

[canuckrider]

I rolled into my garage at 3:00 this afternoon. Kinda funny; I am probably the one who lives the closest to Canmore and one of the last ones to get home (after accompanying Hammmer part way home).

From the DreamCycles museum I headed south to Vernon and east on Hwy 6 to Nakusp. Just east of Lumby the road was closed. In the storm that Kris mentioned in his post a tree was knocked down over the powerline and a guy with his truck and camper came in contact with the fallen tree. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the road was closed for at least an hour until a BC Hydro crew could get there to shut down the powerline and remove the tree. From Nakusp I headed north to Revelstoke
and spent the night there. Back on the road this morning on the Trans-Canada. Could see no evidence of any mudslide so not sure where that happened.

Thanks to Kris and Ricky for all their hard work putting this event together. It was a top-notch rally IMHO.

Ride safe everyone!

[Chili]

Well we are officially home, rode the last leg in from Regina today. We had a blast at our first ever rally and I can't thank Ricky and Kris enough for all they did to organize the rally. Look forward to attending future rallies!

[rickyboy]

Hi everyone
I've been busy with guests at the "new place" at the "108" and trying to catch up with "judygirl" on the latest issue around the selling of our cabin in the US of A.
I met up with my friend in Canmore on the Thursday while you guys headed out for the ride to Longview for lunch. He said he saw the grp. and waved to all of you. We headed for Kamloops BC where we stayed the night before heading north on the #5 Hwy. as far as Little Fort and the #24 Hwy. through Lone Butte and north again to my new, soon to be permanent home on the 108. The trip home was not without some excitement that included me coming close to my demise riding into Kamloops. I'll try and give you a Readers Digest version here.
"midge and I had been getting close to Kamloops with a Harley Davidson rider on our tail all the way. When there was a chance for us to yield a lane to him so he could pass we did so. He managed to pass with what seemed like all he had "in the tank". He no longer passed us and he seemed to back off and slow down, which in turn slowed us down. So the two of us pulled out to pass him, which "midge did. I on the other hand hit some dips in the pavement caused over time, by the many tractor trailers. I think because of the angle at which I pulled out to pass the HD rider, I went into a violent speed wobble taking me across one lane of traffic on my side of the HWY., and across two other lanes of traffic on the other side of the Hwy., narrowly missing the divider, and a number of oncoming cars, all flashing their headlights, screaching on brakes and honking their horns. I managed to keep the Nomad upright and pulled over to the other shoulder of the road. That is probably the most scared I have ever been in my 58 yrs. of living. I truly thought I was going to be killed.
I managed to rest a few minutes and got back across the road where my friend was waiting for me. I have no reason to believe there is anything wrong with the bike that caused the h/s wobble. I really think it was the pavement and the angle at which I pulled out.
Anyway,... We stopped in Kamloops for the night and went over the bike without finding any issue. In the morning and after a number of rather "stiff" beverages the night before, we headed to "the 108".

I want to say thanks to Kris my friend and co host for the rally, for all he did to make things happen. I learned a lot from him and his experience in holding a rally. Thanks Pal !!
I also want to say thanks to all the sponsors and vendors that contributed in the way of prizes that helped to raise the $680. for our charity, The Canmore Animal Rescue. My special thanks to to Bruce Marcia of Kawasaki Canada. He made a huge impact with prizes and support for our rally. Thanks Bruce!! Bruce even managed to ride out to meet some of us at our base camp the Rocky Mountain Ski Lodge, the day of our dinner. Unfortunately he was unable to stay for the dinner because of prior engagements. It was great to meet Bruce personally and to have him talk with a few of the members that happened to be around at the time.
Many thanks to all the other vendors who helped us out like, Behind Bars, our very own "Chuckster" and "Idaho Jack". It was great to see you again Bud. There were many others that helped to make this rally a success and a tip of the "hat"/helmet is in order to all of you.
I couldn't possibly stop here though in giving thanks. Thank you to each and every member and their significant others who managed to take the time to attend the first in Canada rally. Without you and your effort to attend there would of course be no rally. I trust everyone had a great time and arrived home safely without incident. To those of you who couldn't make it for whatever reason, maybe next time. There will be other rally's for sure. I am now looking forward to next year and our National Rally in Colorado. Thanks again everyone.!!!!!

[Netnorske]

Sounds like a few of us had pretty scary moments on our way home....glad you pulled through it...!! I too wish to echo Rick's sentiments in giving my many thanks to him for helping in the planning of the rally....and to all of you who made time in your busy schedules to attend. Like Ricky said, without you guys...there would be no rally! This was my 6th KawaNOW/VBA Rally....and it truly was one of the best...such a great venue and so many great folks. I hope to see all of you again next year in Colorado for the 2013 VBA National Rally....should be a hoot...

[lomax]

Yikes!!!! I'm happy to hear you were able to get stopped without a pile up Rick. Must of been a very scary incident indeed.

And you as well Kris. So glad your close call with the deer didn't turn into a disaster.

Things could have turned ugly for several of us. I'm happy to hear everyone made it home safely. (or will arrive safely)

It was a great rally for sure. Thanks to everyone who attended!


On another note, I have ordered the broken part for my mirror and should have it later this week. About the same price from my local Kaw dealer as from Bike Bandit or Cheap Cycle Parts. Go figure!

[replay13]

I'm glad that everyone came through all the close calls. I would still worry about that high speed wobble, but I'm not an expert. It might be a good idea to go through the steering head bearings, tires (tread wear), wheel bearings when you have it jacked up. Don't forget to check the swinging arm for play too. Even the fork oil difference in both sides, and tire balance could keep it going. I'm sure that you would do all that anyways. It just sounds way too scary.

Thanks again Ricky, Kris, and everyone for the great rally. It was one of my best trips.
James

[rickyboy]

Thanks James,... I have to get back home before I can do what you suggested. I did have the steering bearing apart, so to speak and greased both the bearings, before the trip. I know it was tightened down ok. I will check all the frt end that you mentioned though and get specks from the dealer. will for sure be speaking with the service guys at my dealership. The frt. tire seems OK but wondered about the balancing of it. No jack here to even spin the tire.

[hammer]

Hey bud I am glad you are OK! Check out the bike but that can happen if you hit dips and even tar snakes on a really hot day. Several of our group down in Utah in July had close calls with tar snakes.

Just get the bike checked to be sure and fogedaboudit!

[petenomad]

Made it home tonight around 9PM. 4515 miles on my bike. I think the spyder probably had another 200 since we used it for most of our evening dinners and the trip to Banff. Too tired to post pics tonight.
Rick, thank goodness that you are okay. We were very fortunate and had no such nastiness on our trip.

[schoeney]

Ride safe Rick. Must have been the oil the HD was leaking

[micmicdu]

Rick, we are so glad you made it safe after such a close call. What a coincidence that both you and Kris had near misses on the way home. Glad all have arrived home safe and sound. Just want to say thanks again to you all for making Michelle's & my first Rally a great experience. We will be attending more as date and time permit. I will have to state now though that if the National Rally is held in June, we will most likely be unable to attend, that is unless the Lotto God's smile upon me and I can retire early. Both of us work in the education field and June is a bad month for us.

Once again, thanks to Kris & Ricky for putting a great show and we really enjoyed meeting all of you. See you on the road soon. Keep the shiny side up.

Mike & Michelle

[rickyboy]

Originally Posted by hammer

Hey bud I am glad you are OK! Check out the bike but that can happen if you hit dips and even tar snakes on a really hot day. Several of our group down in Utah in July had close calls with tar snakes.

Just get the bike checked to be sure and fogedaboudit!

Not sure about the tar snakes and if there were any just right then but there were extreme dips beaten into the pavement/blacktop from the trucks and their trailers. And it was extreme heat if that can play into the dip scenario.
I will be having a closer look at the bike when I get home next week. I had some other people suggest it was because of the add ons like the fairing, tour pack etc. I have on my Nomad. These suggestions came from Voyager owners. Personally I don't think so. There are a lot of us who have these mods done and I haven't heard that there have been a number ....or any high speed wobble problems. 'm not sure I'll "fogedaboudit"but I will be looking at the bike. I still need to ride home though and I am a little nervous about that. It's suppose to be dry at least, so that's a good thing. Going through the canyon to get home has it's hazards anyway, but there are a lot of trucks that use that route lending to more "dips" in the roads. I'll be careful and won't be a rush. I'll try and post to let everyyone know when I have arrived home. Thanks for everyones good wishes and ....say a prayer for me tonight that I have a safe trip home
Talk at you all later
Rick

[rickyboy]

Originally Posted by rickyboy

Not sure about the tar snakes and if there were any just right then but there were extreme dips beaten into the pavement/blacktop from the trucks and their trailers. And it was extreme heat if that can play into the dip scenario.
I will be having a closer look at the bike when I get home next week. I had some other people suggest it was because of the add ons like the fairing, tour pack etc. I have on my Nomad. These suggestions came from Voyager owners. Personally I don't think so. There are a lot of us who have these mods done and I haven't heard that there have been a number ....or any high speed wobble problems. 'm not sure I'll "fogedaboudit"but I will be looking at the bike. I still need to ride home though and I am a little nervous about that. It's suppose to be dry at least, so that's a good thing. Going through the canyon to get home has it's hazards anyway, but there are a lot of trucks that use that route lending to more "dips" in the roads. I'll be careful and won't be a rush. I'll try and post to let everyyone know when I have arrived home. Thanks for everyones good wishes and ....say a prayer for me tonight that I have a safe trip home
Talk at you all later
Rick

Hi again !!
Yep made it home to Langley yesterday without incident. I must admit I was a little nervous as I started out for the ride home. The slightest groove in the road, "tar snake", or cross wind that caused me to "move" had me expecting the worse. At least for the first hour till I reached Cache Creek. From there I had pretty much gain my confidence that the bike was fine and even started to look for opportunities to try and make the bike react like in Kamloops. Well maybe not that violent but to try and get a wobble out of it. I'm happy to say I didn't accomplish that. Anyway,..... I'm here to put three days in at the "salt mine" and then I've managed to book some stats I had saved up where, with my days off, I should be able to get back to "the 108" for another two weeks. I know !!!! Poor me !! I have a great job and with being off for my knee injury for almost two years, and having a great Union behind me, I'm able to take that time now. Next year will be different though and my time will be less.
Thanks again to everyone and we'll see each other at the next National in Colorado. And will chat in the mean time.
Ride safe my friends.

[rickyboy]

One more thing I forgot to mention.... I just know Brad Langley aka "blowndodge" would want to know, that there were a huge amt. of prizes given away this year at our rally. With no offense to anyone that was there and didn't win something. I want to say that I think Kevin Clark aka "voyager" the Western Canada asst leader made the biggest dent in that prize booty this year. I'm sure he won waaay !!! more than Brad ever won at the Redwoods Rally. I also did pretty good but managed to draw extra tickets to give my huge amt. of prizes away. ....... Brad. Plus I had no room to carry the jackets and "hoodies" home.
Anyway, my point is, I think Kevin and few others from Canada won the majority of the prizes. I know someof you might think that Steve won a whole lot as well, but most of those were probably suppose to be Gregs/Schoney ....but we won't tell Greg.

[Netnorske]

Originally Posted by rickyboy

One more thing I forgot to mention.... I just know Brad Langley aka "blowndodge" would want to know, that there were a huge amt. of prizes given away this year at our rally. With no offense to anyone that was there and didn't win something. I want to say that I think Kevin Clark aka "voyager" the Western Canada asst leader made the biggest dent in that prize booty this year. I'm sure he won waaay !!! more than Brad ever won at the Redwoods Rally. I also did pretty good but managed to draw extra tickets to give my huge amt. of prizes away. ....... Brad. Plus I had no room to carry the jackets and "hoodies" home.
Anyway, my point is, I think Kevin and few others from Canada won the majority of the prizes. I know someof you might think that Steve won a whole lot as well, but most of those were probably suppose to be Gregs/Schoney ....but we won't tell Greg.

All I know is I won the quick release knobs for the saddlebags..... Damn....I hope they work on a 2012 Voyager....!