I finally made it home on Sunday August 2 at about 12:30 am. It was a long trip and a lot tougher than I ever imagined it would be. We made it to Port Orford Oregon Sunday night July 26. The next morning, Monday July 27, I headed south into California so that I could see the red wood forest. I started having mechanical issues as I was riding across the Klamath river bridge. My bike shut off and I was on the side of the road for about an hour when a BMW motorcycle that was headed north turned around to check on me. The rider took off his helmet and it was Al whom we had met a few days earlier and camped with at crater lake NP. We pushed my bike to the exit and off of the 101 so that we could troubleshoot in a little safer area. We were still scratching our heads when a couple of indians rode up and asked if we were alright. We accepted all of the help that we could get. Dennis is a member of the Resighini Rancheria band of the Yurok tribe, and we were parked and I was broke down on Yurok reservation land. I ended up camping in Dennis' front yard and eating supper with him and several of his cousins sitting around his fire pit. I met Sonny Man, one of Dennis' many cousins and he said that he could give me and my bike a lift down to Eureka to the Kawasaki dealership Tuesday morning. After several delays we arrived in Eureka Tuesday afternoon and I met one of the most rude non-helpful people that I have ever met. The only mechanic the dealership had was named Craig and he wouldn't look at my bike until I washed it, so I pushed it across the street and pressure washed it. I could understand the need for a wash since it was pretty dirty, but when i returned to the shop he said " just because I said that I was stranded didn't give me any kind of priority over the other bikes that were already inside. I asked him if it would help if I were to take off the plastic fairing and the fuel tank, he said sure but you cant do it inside my shop and you cant use any of my tools. While I was pushing my bike out near a chain link fence I told him that I just rode across this great country, do you think that I would attempt something like that without tools? I'll have this stripped down in a few minutes for you. I was finishing up taking off the fuel tank when Craig walked out and said that he was going to lunch. He returned about an hour later. after several hours of trouble shooting he figured that it was my main wiring harness and said that it would take a week for one to come in and another week for him to install it. i had to find a way home and quick. I wanted a pickup truck but none of the rental places had any available for one way rentals. I ended up getting a Budget 10' box van Wednesday morning loaded up my bike and camping gear and headed west on hwy 299. I slept in the back for three nights and parked it at rest stops.
