Monica A
Junior Member
A Triumph, a Honda, and a Kawasaki went on a three day ride.
Guess which one returned alive? The Triumph, of course.
Day One was great! Temps were cool, but not bad. Rode one of our favorite road on the way out of town - Geiger Grade to Virginia City. We did a roundabout way South because we were expecting snowy/icy roads over the Southern passes (Mammoth Lakes area).
Day Two was when it got interesting. My hubby's Honda's battery was dead when we went to leave in the morning. I pushed started him (our friend was conveniently unavailable). We gassed up and stopped at the turn off for Death Valley for our friend. When we went to leave, I got to push start him again. His voltage meter on the bike was reading 10 or dropping quickly. We turned around and parked the bike at our hotel from the night before. I found a battery in Bishop - 58 miles away. Hubby and I went 2up for the ride to Bishop. I emptied out a pannier to carry the battery back to his bike. Meanwhile, our friend on the Kawasaki was having problems with his fuel pump. It just started turning off and the bike would stall out every 10 miles or so. He would stop and then the bike would restart and was good for another 10 miles. So much fun. We got back to Hubby's bike and installed the battery. It started and we started for Death Valley again. As we rode, his voltage was dropping slowly and within a mile our friends bike stalled twice. We decided something didn't want us to go to Death Valley so we turned around about 100 miles outside the park and headed North on 395 towards home. The volatge kept dropping. Got to 9.3 and Hubby thought to unplug headlights to reduce power needs. We stopped in BIg Pine for lunch. Called our son and had him head South with our truck and cargo trailer. When we left lunch, Hubby unplugged his headlights and I got to push start him again. We met about halfway between Bishop and Reno. Loaded up and headed home.
So, Death Valley will have to wait for us. We will be back....
Guess which one returned alive? The Triumph, of course.
Day One was great! Temps were cool, but not bad. Rode one of our favorite road on the way out of town - Geiger Grade to Virginia City. We did a roundabout way South because we were expecting snowy/icy roads over the Southern passes (Mammoth Lakes area).
Day Two was when it got interesting. My hubby's Honda's battery was dead when we went to leave in the morning. I pushed started him (our friend was conveniently unavailable). We gassed up and stopped at the turn off for Death Valley for our friend. When we went to leave, I got to push start him again. His voltage meter on the bike was reading 10 or dropping quickly. We turned around and parked the bike at our hotel from the night before. I found a battery in Bishop - 58 miles away. Hubby and I went 2up for the ride to Bishop. I emptied out a pannier to carry the battery back to his bike. Meanwhile, our friend on the Kawasaki was having problems with his fuel pump. It just started turning off and the bike would stall out every 10 miles or so. He would stop and then the bike would restart and was good for another 10 miles. So much fun. We got back to Hubby's bike and installed the battery. It started and we started for Death Valley again. As we rode, his voltage was dropping slowly and within a mile our friends bike stalled twice. We decided something didn't want us to go to Death Valley so we turned around about 100 miles outside the park and headed North on 395 towards home. The volatge kept dropping. Got to 9.3 and Hubby thought to unplug headlights to reduce power needs. We stopped in BIg Pine for lunch. Called our son and had him head South with our truck and cargo trailer. When we left lunch, Hubby unplugged his headlights and I got to push start him again. We met about halfway between Bishop and Reno. Loaded up and headed home.
So, Death Valley will have to wait for us. We will be back....
