Spokane

Post date: Jun 27, 2016 3:11:44 AM

Well, I arrived in Spokane a day early. That seems to be established as a normal routine since I planned short riding days. This town is a maintenance stop for tires, oil change, shipping a package, and acquiring necessary items before turning into Canada.

Tires

You might have read that I tried to arrange tires days in advance of arriving. The only place that gave me the customer service I appreciate was Cycle Gear. They sold me tires at a reasonable price, along with some items that I needed like oil and a new kickstand puck, as well as mounted and balanced my new tires. Kudos to them.

Currently, the best tires on the market are Michelin Pilot Road 4's. I have ran those and the GT model, and I just got 7,883 miles out of a set of GTs. I probably could have ridden another 500 miles on them, but I'm going into Canada.

Cycle Gear will mount and balance tires, but they have to be off the bike. So, I dig out my tool bag and commence.

I bet the sales guy that I could have both wheels off before he unmounted the first tire. I won bragging rights.

You have to put the front tire on before the back, at least it's easier if you do, so I waited for him to finish both wheels. I hung out in the back where the tire machine is and shot the shit with the guy. While he was balancing the front tire, I noticed that I've dented one side of the front rim pretty good. It's not bad enough that the bead won't seal, nor does it require a ton of weights to balance, so I'm forgetting about it.

Back in the parking lot, I attract the attention of several onlookers. They're astonished at the position of the bike and that I'm able to change tires that easily. Eventually, they move on, and I get to work. A learning moment occured.

When I raised the front end to slip the tire in place, I must have pulled the bike towards me. It felt off the center stand and listed to the passenger side. There was nothing I could do to stop it. Crunch! It fell over. I stood there for a moment stunned at what just happened. Curses!

I inspect the downside that contacted the asphalt and surprisingly not a scratch. The cylinder heads protrude far enough outwards that they protect the entire faring from touching the ground. The highway pegs that are installed protected the valve cover from even a nick. German engineering at its finest! Luckily, I had removed the side bags and left them in my room. If the passenger side bag had been attached, it would now be destroyed. So lesson learned - if you need to change tires while traveling, remove the side bags, and lay the bike on its side for easy access.

Well, the bike is laying over on its side. I now have prime access to replace the wheels, so I put them on. It takes about fives minutes. Easy. Next task.

Oil Change

I brought three oil filters with me because they are "special" and aren't readily available. Plus, the oil drain plug has a crush washer on it which is definitely not readily available. I popped in a Wal-mart that is next door to Cycle Gear and bought the cheapest gallon of water I could find. I'm thirsty after changing tires, but more importantly, a one gallon container is required to catch the used oil. I'm not sure if it will work, but I'm improvising.

Back near my hotel is an Advance Auto Parts store. I know they recycle used oil, so I head over there to change the oil. In the parking lot is a recycling dumpster loaded with cardboard. Perfect. I grabbed a large piece of it and placed it under the bike to catch any oil that the gallon jug doesn't. After some surgery on the now empty gallon container with my pocket knife, there's a hole in the side big enough for the oil to flow into.

I pull the drain plug and blam! I managed to drop it in the hole I cut in the gallon container! Hah! Just my luck. This solution is working though and quite well. I'll just pour the oil into Advance's recycling container slowly. I should be able to remove the cap from the gallon container and dump out the crush washer and drain plug. It works perfectly.

Back in the parking lot, I replace the drain plug and filter, and fill the engine with its nectar of life, oil, and proceed to the next task. I just saved myself at least $100.

Shipping

I had to shop some items to my Uncle's house. Lucky again, there was a FedEx office one block away from my hotel. Sweet!

Shopping

Well, there's an REI just over a mile from the hotel. That close, it's a no brainer. I'm going for a walk. It's even more exciting because 42 city blocks in downtown Spokane are blocked off for Hoopfest. There are people everywhere.

First though, I'm hungry. Yelp tells me that there is a highly rated sushi place around the corner called Sushi.com. The food was really good, and I ended up having a nice conversation with the owner of the place about Spokane and his business. The guy is Korean. Hah!

So I trekked down to REI and got some food for Canada. I also bought a new hat because my Beretta hat is hot.

I also decided to retire my current pair of Merrells. They've been to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Peru & the Amazon, Acadia, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Parks. They're dead in six months, but I've put a LOT of miles on them.

I walked back to the hotel after a long and productive day and started updating my blog.

Done.