Monday, 22 July 2013

Into Montana, Rodeos & BMW breakdown

We had a great time at the International Norton Rally, so much so whilst saying goodbye to Captain Allen & the crew we decided to head to Cody Wyoming with them for another night, it was roughly on our route anyway and John Martin said there was a rodeo on so another box to tick.
Cody is a nice little town, still very much a cowboy town and still upholding the traditions including a gunfight every night outside the Irma Hotel (where may famous cowboys stayed)
The Rodeo was fantastic, we really enjoyed it, the skill of the cowboys & cowgirls was very impressive, after we ajourned to the silver dollar saloon for a very late night watching a band who mainly did AC DC covers (and well).
Goodbye said again Saturday morning and Fiona and I headed North into Wyoming intending to head as far as possible that day but as always Mr BMW has his part to play, after 100 miles my bike was constantly overheating, I'd noticed a weep from the water pump breather which is a sign the seals have gone, we pushed on another 50 miles but as it was around 100 degrees F the bike was only getting 10 miles before overheating. We spotted a sign for a campsite and while Fi set up the tent I checked the bike over, definitley the water pump so now in a quandry, I had a pump & seal kit but no gaskets, a call to the nearest dealer 250 miles away was not helpful so nothing for it but to get stuck in. Luckily 10 miles away there was a Autoparts shop which had the consumables I needed so while I stripped the bike Fi headed off to get Coolant oil and gasket cement just in case. Cutting a long story short I got it back together just in time to eat our dinner before dark.
Today 360 very hot miles to St Regis just off the I90, a couple of moments today with high temp warnings but it was incredibly hot and we were going quick so hopefully no more issues, Plan is to head to Seattle to stock up on BMW spares before heading to Canada and hopefully Vancouver Wednesday, of course it all depends on Mr BMW......again!
Fi ,Jonathan & Tammara in good spirits

Hazel as always in the midst of things

Nigel lusting after a Commando chop

There were many speeches

Martin with Tammara & Lynn

Party at oor hoose

All of our hangovers last week came out of those boxes

Fi with her new stetson on tries out a new bum for size

Peter Reaching for another Buffalo Bill beer

The Irma
Opening was nice, very patriotic

Rodeo time

Yee Haa

Just as soon s the calf gets roped the guy is already half off his horse to rope its legs

More Yee Haa

Ouch!

Double roping, first the head then one back leg

The Barrel racing was impressive

Need to try this next time I pass Applecross house!

Ouch even more

The team having a late one in the Silver Dollar

I might be movin' to Montana soon
Just to raise me up a crop of Dental Floss Raisin' it up
Waxen it down
In a little white box
I can sell uptown
By myself I wouldn't
Have no boss,
But I'd be raisin' my lonely Dental Floss.....
I'm gonna find me a horse
Just about this big
An' ride him all along the border line
With a Pair of heavy-duty
Zircon-encrusted tweezers in my hand
Every other wrangler would say
I was mighty grand
By myself I wouldn't
Have no boss
But I'd be raisin' my lonely Dental Floss
Frank Zappa

Just what you don't want to be doing in a campsite!

 
   

8 comments:

  1. So what happened to the legendary BMW reliability? Must have been built by the same people who built my leaky car... Reminds me why I don't do water-cooling. You should have done it on Nortons, or dare I say, Harleys... ;-)

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    1. There is no legendary BMW reliability, its all a myth Jake. NOW I'm wishing I was on my Commando!

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  2. Well Gino - at least you had some practice on swapping the water pumps :-)

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    1. Hi Pete
      Yea but I wish I hadn't!!!! Hope the hols are going well
      Gino

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  3. Great blog and photos especially the Zappa interlude, hope you both well and looking forward to the Canadian trip.
    John

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    1. Cheers Bro, aye enjoyed singing that as I crossed the Border! Heading a bit further North today

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  4. not long after reading this post I had a terrible dream.

    Somebody stole my most prized possession, my '72 combat.
    But months later, the local police called to tell me they had recovered my bike!

    Thats when it got really bad, the thieves had modified my little roadster; they converted it into that thing with an extended front end and airline seat!

    Thanks and thanks again, sublime story and photos! mahalo!

    Cheers, Don

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    1. HI DON
      That would be a nightmare ha ha, never understood why people ruin a good bike like that. Thanks!
      Regards
      Gino & Fiona

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