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!
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Fi ,Jonathan & Tammara in good spirits |
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Hazel as always in the midst of things |
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Nigel lusting after a Commando chop |
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There were many speeches |
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Martin with Tammara & Lynn |
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Party at oor hoose |
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All of our hangovers last week came out of those boxes |
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Fi with her new stetson on tries out a new bum for size |
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Peter Reaching for another Buffalo Bill beer |
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The Irma |
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Opening was nice, very patriotic |
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Rodeo time |
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Yee Haa |
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Just as soon s the calf gets roped the guy is already half off his horse to rope its legs |
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More Yee Haa |
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Ouch! |
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Double roping, first the head then one back leg |
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The Barrel racing was impressive |
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Need to try this next time I pass Applecross house! |
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Ouch even more |
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The team having a late one in the Silver Dollar |
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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 |
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Just what you don't want to be doing in a campsite! |
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... ;-)
ReplyDeleteThere is no legendary BMW reliability, its all a myth Jake. NOW I'm wishing I was on my Commando!
DeleteWell Gino - at least you had some practice on swapping the water pumps :-)
ReplyDeleteHi Pete
DeleteYea but I wish I hadn't!!!! Hope the hols are going well
Gino
Great blog and photos especially the Zappa interlude, hope you both well and looking forward to the Canadian trip.
ReplyDeleteJohn
Cheers Bro, aye enjoyed singing that as I crossed the Border! Heading a bit further North today
Deletenot long after reading this post I had a terrible dream.
ReplyDeleteSomebody 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
HI DON
DeleteThat would be a nightmare ha ha, never understood why people ruin a good bike like that. Thanks!
Regards
Gino & Fiona