Well after many weeks of working on my '94 ST1100, I finally put all
my work to the test.

Quick summary of the work completed: Timing belt,
upper and lower radiator hoses, 40 amp alternator upgrade, new rear
wheel & bearings, new rear brake pads, rewired farkles, coolant
change, and oil change, new rear wheel, and brand new Avon Radials.

We headed for Franklin, North Carolina on Friday, June 27th, and
arrived back in Milwaukee, July 7th. About 3,000 miles total. I
rode my '94 ST, my son Zak on his 1988 EX500, my nephew on his 2005
Katana 600 and my brother on his 2006 ST1300.

We rode to Jeffersonville, OH on the first day, a little over 400
miles to meet up with a friend on his 2004 ST1300. Spent the night in
Jeffersonville, on Saturday we rode to my brother's home in
Lewisville, NC which was just under 400 miles. We ended up in some
rain and wind in West Virginia that I really don't want to experience
again. I normally don't stop when it's raining but it was raining so
hard, and was amazingly windy that we had to get off the freeway.
Rain stopped after about 30 minutes, just time enough to dry off and
have lunch.

On Monday, I was ready to go riding. So we headed to Franklin, NC
which was only about 285 miles; however, it took us all day, as we
decided to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway into Asheville, NC.
Unfortunately the BRP was closed shortly after we passed over the Linn
Cove Viaduct, so we had to take the detour. Well we turned on I think
226a somewhere and enjoyed some awesome twisty roads!! The road was
as inviting as Grandma's apple pie! Although we were heading in the
opposite direction nobody seemed to care, and when we ended up in the
same place we started from, we all simply smiled! My nephew said,
"let's get lost again!". We didn't. I wanted to check out MR
Motorcycle's in Asheville so we needed to get on the freeway and head
on over to Asheville. MR's is a nice dealer with friendly people. I
decided it was time to purchase a new riding jacket and picked up a
Olympia Jacket. I really like it but everyone says I look like a
yellow highlighter.

After spending some time and money we jumped on the freeway and
eventually arrived in Franklin, NC.

Tuesday, we headed to Deals Gap (about 70 miles) from Franklin. I've
been to the Gap many times before, but my brother Dave, my son Zak,
and nephew Seth have never been there and were so looking forward to
"slaying the dragon". The ride on Hwy 28 north to the gap is a great
ride with nice twisties and very few cars. Once at the Gap, we
stopped and walked through the store, but the boys wanted to ride. So
we rode the Dragon. Not once, not twice, and not even three times but
four times! Dave, Zak and Seth were like little kids at a carnival
with a "free ride pass". They had the time of their lives!

After numerous passes through the Gap we had lunch and headed home. I
think Seth had a smile on his face the entire ride back to Franklin.
My brother who is almost 40, was just as smiley! Zak, has been to the
gap before as a passenger with me, but this was his first time on his
own bike. He had fun, but not as much as my brother and nephew.

Wednesday brought another great day to ride. So we decided to ride a
loop south of Franklin. The route would take us Hwy 64 south out of
Franklin to Highlands, then Northeast on 64 to Cashiers where we would
pick up 107 south. This is a beautiful ride with clean rodes and very
little traffic. Hwy 107 intersects with Hwy 28 which takes us back up
to Highlands and to hwy 64. Unfortunately, we didn't make it back to
Highlands in one piece. About 5 miles north on Hwy 28, we entered a
very tight right handed turn....Tom, Rich, Dave, Zak, Seth, Me,
Ruthann. Just as I was to enter the turn, Dave was on the radio
indicating this was a tight one, and to be careful. Well I was in the
turn, and as I began to finish the turn I saw my son on the side of
the road and the bike on it's side in a pile of leaves! "Zak's down,
Zak's down" I exclaimed on the radio. I couldn't immediately stop
because of the turn. I had to finish the turn and complete the next
left hander before I could go to my son's aid. As my heart raced, I
turned around and flew back to him. By the time I got my helmet off,
he appeared dazed and confused, and said, "have you seen my ipod"! I
knew at that moment he was ok.

After brushing him off and uprighting the bike, we began to assess the
damage. His '88 EX500 had minor damage: Broken mirror, turn signal,
bent rear brake lever, broken rear brake adjuster, hole in the
waterpump cover and some scratches on the body. The bike appeared
ridable until we started it and coolant began leaking from the
waterpump gasket. His riding pants where torn open to the knee pad
with some wear there. Good thing I insisted on good riding gear and
didn't allow him to ride in jeans, because he'd probably be in the
hospital today. His helmet never hit the ground.

Seth (my nephew) indicated that Zak's rear wheel just broke free and
Zak low sided across the road. No braking in the turn. My son
insists, he did not brake or attempt to slow down in the turn, and
actually tried to ride out the low side, but realized it wasn't going
to happen and eventually let the bike go. The Lord was watching out
for him that day, because there was no oncoming traffic, and he missed
the guard rail and rock, and slid into a pile of leaves.

Of course there was no phone service for about 14 miles, we had to
ride up to Highlands to call for a tow. The tow arrived about 2 hours
later! Argh!

The next two days my son and I repaired the EX, while the others rode
the Gap a few more times. It's amazing what a little JB Weld and
gasket glue can fix. Finally Friday, we were able to test ride the EX
and it was road worthy again. So we rode a little just to make sure
everything was in working order. It was, and now it's time to eat and
get ready to ride home.

Saturday we headed home and about 380 miles into our trip my son
radios that his bike will not slow down when he rolls off the
throttle. Uh oh, better find out what is going on. We got off at the
next exit and Zak pulled in the clutch and killed the motor and
coasted to the stop sign. Seems that the return cable on the throttle
tube may be broken or binding, so he fired up the EX and rode to the
gas station only a few blocks away. Once we pulled the throttle
controls and found that a small piece on the throttle tube was broken
and the throttle cable was popping out of position. Hmmm, I thought!
Then the MacGyver in me began to take over. We got some super glue,
and I cut a piece of rubber from the broken mirror and glued it over
the cable and forced everything back together! It worked and got us
another 420 miles without another incident. It's funny what you can
fix, when you have to.

All-in-all a wonderful trip. A few new parts needed now that we are
home for the EX. But my ST after all the repairs ran perfectly!

If you would like to check out photos of the trip you can view them
at: http://tinyurl.com/6mplw8

HondaBob