c't'd from above
Gassed up in San Manuel, then headed back through Oracle, up through Willow Ranch, and back into Florence to part ways:
Interesting clouds that looked like they might be dropping a few snow flakes on Globe, AZ.
It looks like it must have rained just a bit, then a grader came through and knocked the washboards down. I had never seen Barkerville Rd so smooth! (Yeah, there was a little sliding going on around some of those smooth curves!)
Cow was a little more curious than usual... had a calf nearby:
All in all, it was a just about perfect ride. My only regret is whining about only being able to be out for a two days instead of three!!!
And, in addition to the fine ride and great company, "Nothing broke or fell off!!!"
Well Friends,
Weather was reasonably perfect today, sunny and started out around 42F (5.5C), warmed up into the 70's. A couple of good riding buddies (Greg and Claude) were available for adventure so we hit it.
The original plan was to do a very long day, up through the Apache Trail, over to Young, then loop around The Rim road and back down through Payson into the valley. Weather is going to get a little sketchy at elevation in the coming weeks, so we thought we might do The Mogollon Rim route, before it gets too snowy.
You know what they say about "the best laid plans..."
Here is the actual, completed route, curtailed because of some mechanical shortcomings:
A little foreshadowing of the day... While hunting for my heavier gloves this morning, I noticed that one of my "temporary" el cheapo taillight mounts had vibration fatigued and cracked along the bend line where it bolts down to the hack fender. There was still a bolt/washer holding it down, so a couple of rubber bands later and it was secure enough for the day and a more permanent repair, later.
We headed out to Tortilla Flats and enjoyed a rather vigorous run through the paved twisties, before we got to where the pavement ends out towards Fish Creek. I was chasing the two R1250 GSAs at a healthy clip, and put some very high side loads on Black Betty (that bad bitch.)
While stopped out at the Apache Lake Vista and enjoyed a few snacks and beverages. While there, an older couple in a 4Runner stopped to say hello. It turns out that they were out doing the Lord's work, running trails, comparing the GPS coordinates to the Forest Service listings, and mapping them in the Field Maps App, while updating commentary on condition and level of difficulty. Gave us the paper below, which I have since downloaded the app from it's instructions:
Here is an example, out by where we were, we were on the 88 Apache Trail road:
When I clicked on trail 49, in the map, it brought up more info:
c't'd from above:
So anyway, kind of a diversion from the post, but they were very nice folks out having a blast doing something useful. The app seems pretty cool for a free app with real information loaded, GPS enabled.
Now, back to our story...
Rare photo of all three of us in the same shot; nice couple took it, before we rode off:
So we headed down the 88, Apache Trail, out towards Roosevelt Lake. Nothing extreme, but a healthy pace over some moderately aggressive washboards. While stopped, I had noticed a "clean" strip on my front tire sidewall, and was pondering that.
It is a tight fit, but never contacts the shock spring under normal circumstances.
So about 5 miles down the road, I start to hear a squeaky, rubbing sound, in synch with wheel rotation that varied with speed. In all fairness, it sounded like it was coming from the front, and the aforementioned rub marks had me highly suspicious that a front wheel bearing was dying.
I pulled over in a wide spot, put the rig up on a scissor jack and inspected for play in the front wheel. Sure enough, there was a little slop in the right front bearing, when the front wheel was unweighted and subjected to side force. Not a lot, but enough to allow contact with the shock spring that was about 3 mm away from the tire sidewall lugs in normal position.
You know you have good riding buddies, when they turn and come back!
At this point, I was not terribly happy, but decided to ease up a little and ride it the rest of the way to pavement (the 188) up by the dam. Claude followed me.
When we got up to the pavement, he mentioned that he thought the rub noise was getting worse, from his vantage point behind me.
So now the thinking went something like this: Maybe limp on up to the Tonto Basin Ace Hardware store and evaluate options in the comfort of their parking lot. This would have been about 12 miles down the road.
I started out for the hardware store, but got about 5 miles and did not like the sounds. It was getting louder and I was thinking that a spin welded bearing was not going to be a good thing.
We pulled over at a wider, sort of flat shoulder and noticed that we were just barely in cell phone reception, so started looking for wheel bearing options within a reasonable drive. Claude helped with a lot of the calling around, Greg ran down to the hardware store and asked around about local shops that might carry a few bearings, then visited the local shops!
I researched bearing part numbers, cross referenced off Partzilla's OEM bearing part number, and got a size figured out to try to locate.
Shout out to Travis, at the Payson NAPA store. He stayed on the line looking for quite a while, then went off to research it further, and then called me back. He actually found two bearings in their stock that were the right size and seal configuration for the front wheel. Payson was about 30 miles down the road and a turn to the north.
We had, at this point, decided to clip the Rim Road from our agenda, since an hour or so of fooling around had cut pretty far into our daylight options.
The plan was now to get to the hardware store parking lot, and then one of the lads would run up to Payson to pick up the bearings.
Now, here is where it gets a little more squirrelly.
At least one front wheel bearing was definitely not "happy." However, when I went to take off again, to get down the road to the hardware store parking lot, there was a "pop" sound and the rear wheel was locked up. WTF!
So now, upon inspection of the rear wheel, it became apparent that a couple of the brake rotor bolts had backed out (again) and were rubbing on the aluminum casting that carries the rear brake caliper. One bolt finally sheard off and jammed between the disk/hub and the caliper casting.
I may have said a little bad language at this point. This happened once before (as some of you may remember) when I picked the rig up from the Old DMC of WA.
I had ended up replacing the wheel and caliper bracket that got chewed up, putting new disk bolts in, using blue Loctite, and paid A LOT of attention to the torque specifications and process.
For this same thing to happen again (30,000 miles later) was a big disappointment and hugely frustrating. I never like to have the same problem twice! I guess red Loctite will be in order, when I tear things down and deal with the broken bolt extraction.
So with this revelation, I pulled out the tool bag and Claude (one of the few people I would let work on my bike) kindly pulled the caliper, dug out the broken bolt, and tightened the other disk bolt (out of 4) that had started to back out as well. His mood was substantially better than mine, at this point!
So we were still along side the 188 highway, at this point, about 2 pm. We decided to roll towards the hardware store parking lot, then assess the situation, from there.
Claude had also figured out how to get us a trailer (his) up to our location, but that seemed like it should be a last resort sort of thing, since it would inconvenience even more people.
All the noise was actually from rotor bolts rubbing. When the remaining 4 bolts were tightened up, things rode fine. A front wheel bearing still had a little slop in it, and will get replaced, shortly, but I deemed it safe to ride the rest of the way home (maybe 85 miles) on relatively smooth pavement.
Called Travis at NAPA and thanked him profusely for his efforts, but decided not to swing up to Payson for the bearings, since I have a set sitting on a shelf at home.
I had heard rumors that wheel bearings on the Africa Twin are good for somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 miles, typically. I have seen AT's with them going a lot farther, but I think now I will consider 30,000 miles about the interval to change them out as a regular service function. Black Betty gets a little abuse from time to time...
The rear rotor bolts backing out (again) is a big annoyance. I think installing them with Red Loctite is about the only alternative, then paint marking them for inspection. It will be hell getting them out, should I need to change rotors, but that seems like the price to pay to not have that happen again.
So, we left the hardware store parking lot, rode back to Phoenix and parted ways. No more drama, and I made it back to Skunk Hollow about 6 pm.
Funny, as we were texting back and forth later, we were all pretty tired from the day's ride + mechanical drama... go figure.
It was definitely an adventure, and so much so the better for two great riding buddies offering all kinds of help and support along the way! I think we had fun, just a different sort of fun than the long ride originally planned!
footnote:
Africa Twin wheel bearing sizes (std. not Adventure Sport, since Woody's uses Haan hubs off the std.) incase I have to look this up alongside a busy highway at some point in the future:
BF, Great write up with good information, thank you
Didn't go anywhere. Sidecar is parked underneath this. My guests may not know but I do. Oh yes, I do.
This one is less about where and more about who with.
If you read the RGSA/URAL build thread, you saw Chloe did a significant amount of work on the tub.
https://sidecar.com/forum/technical-discussion/2011-r1200gsa-with-ural-tub-build-part-4-up/
Bodywork, loads of sanding, paint, etc.
After putting several hundred miles in solo (except bags of concrete), I was sure the rig was safe and my skills were dusted off. (Been a year and three months since the wreck and the first solo ride).
By then weather and time was against us but FINALLY we got a decent day - 55F in December in PA.
No way I was missing this chance so Chloe and I bundled up and trundled off.
Immediately I felt a difference in handling. Chloe moves around a lot more than two bags of concrete and, damn, does it make the rig corner better.
I looked down at one point and could see her smile through the opening in her full face helmet.
Riding with her was a huge motivation in going to sidecars - not only can we do it together but she is an active part of the ride.
This Chloe...is she married ?
Asking for a friend 
Two Million Mile Rider
Exploring the World in Comfort
Probably a bunch of friends.
What with that fine bodywork and all..........
This Chloe...is she married ?
Asking for a friend
Yes, she is... to a martial arts master who owns a backhoe and 34 acres.
Well Friends,
I have posted still pictures over the past few years from most of these roads, but I thought some of you might enjoy this guy's video presentation of the loop around Benson/Oracle/Tucson, on his 125 Honda. About 335 miles of pretty sweet riding that I love:
This link skips intro: Riding
Today was the last decent weather day before the next round of inclement weather blows in (literally). Took advantage of the day by cruising the back roads out to the Ouray National Wildlife Refuge. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be actual animals, like coyotes, not a bunch of burnt out college students. Who'd have thought? 😉
In any case, here is the basic loop:
Since it didn't quite make it to 60 degrees F, the goal was not to go up in elevation. Something that happens quickly, and easily living in a basin. This route pretty much skirted around and over benches, and not much higher than 6K feet elevation. Normally this would all be under at least a foot of wind driven snow. This year is a bit of an anomaly.
Green River still a bit iced over, but pretty thin ice at that, and some good flow in the shallower areas.
Out in the middle of nowhere at the dead end of a dirt road, a good 7 miles from any paved road was this. I didn't know Powell had lost an arm in the war. Provided a whole new level of respect for the man, exploring a pretty wild and treacherous region.
This is the view:
Managed to put another 180-ish miles of ear to ear grin type fun on in the past three days. Just another 3 months before the "real riding season" begins. 
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
