Deals Gap 2006
If anything from previous weeks is to go
by then I suspect the next few weeks are going to be a little strange, no real
reason to suspect that, other than I am flying out to the U.S. with my pal Sir
William Baxter. Bill has been over here to see the lads in the U.K. attempt to
do some drag racing, I have a feeling that although he enjoyed himself the
racing here is not quite as intensive as it is in the U.S.!
So, the purpose of my trip is to my now
annual pilgrameage to the The Deals Gap Campground, situated at the top of a
road that is called the “Tail of the Dragon” and to meet up with all my pals in
the U.S. . . . the ulterior motive of the trip is to wander to a dealership in
Tennessee that is supposed to have a “new” 1972 H2 in a case ; ; ; the search
for the holy grail continues!
Nothing too dramatic with my departure
from the U.K. other than I have a tooth infection and am on strong antibiotics
that mean absolutely NO alcohol for the next 6 days – Being a confirmed
“drinker” this could be a problem but we set off on the trip and I am drinking
lemonade on the plane – it’s all alien to me but I have no hair left to rip out
so all is fine.
Once at New York, Bill and myself take
separate flights, Bill goes back to Texas and I jump aboard a flight to collect
my H2c and KZ1000 these I will take up to the Gap to ride - the KZ1000 is very
legal, the H2c is insured but not registered to me so I have no number plates
for it, so I have a dilemma that with the reported large police presence I may
get pulled on the H2c and end up in small town Hicksville Tennesseee sharing a
cell with Bubba . . . . and squealing like that proverbial pig!
The bikes are loaded up and after a 7
hour drive I am at Crossville in Tennessee to check out this new H2, there is a
sign on it displaying the fact that there only 5 known NEW H2’s in the World . .
. . Hmnnn I’ve got 3, I have sold 2 more . . . . Anyway, a closer inspection
reveals the bike is not quite new . . . nor is it
used
. . . but neither is it anything like 100% correct, the rear passenger footrests
are Honda, the bungs are missing from the rear grabrail, the clutch cover is off
a H2c, and several more niggling faults . . . it then became apparent that the
entire engine was a N.O.S. H2c item
L
2cH2cHhhhhisdfvoi
I am checking the bike over when
“Scott” the shop owner appears and realises that I am looking VERY intently at
his bike – I explained who I was and asked what the story was with the bike,
Scott explained that he had bought it a few years back and that it was bought
new in ’72 and the motor taken out for a ”project”, over the years a few more
bits and pieces were robbed and Scott bought the bike with the intention of
displaying it in his Kawasaki Dealership, he fitted the engine and replaced what
items he had available. Scott asked me to point out what was wrong with the bike
and I hesitantly did so, I was somewhat surprised that he actually listened to
me and didn’t rant on about being a Kawasaki dealer for 20 years and “what the
hell do you know anyway”, We checked over some other bikes that he had collected
over the years and I have to say that not only was Scott a nice guy but he has a
genuine passion for the Old Kawasaki’s . . . . oh, and fast cars . . . and
fast bikes, powerful trucks . . . .Scott likes his toys!
So,
it’s late Friday afternoon and I reckon the gap is only 2 hours away, the
weather is great (Mid 70’s) and I am really looking forward to seeing all the
guys again . . . and this time a “Gal” – “Tripleschick” has made the long drive
down from the North Michigan/Canada border to hang out with the guys for the
weekend. As I make my way to the foot of the Gap I am pleased to see various
triples riding by, there were also a few cops that all seemed to be heading away
from the gap, in fact FAR more cops than I had seen in previous years so I was
thinking that the rumours were correct and THIS weekend was a cop clampdown on
bikers at the gap – Just my luck . . . . I travel 4,000 mile to get away from
speed cameras only to be faced with a worse clampdown on some of my favourite
roads in the World! The slog up the mountain to the gap is a long one (with a
truck and trailer) if you havn’t read about the Deals Gap before it is a 13
mile drive up the mountain with some 113 bends in it – hard work on a bike but
very hard work on the engine, steering, brakes and transmission of a truck. I am
forever slowing down as yet another bike comes up behind me and I want to let
him get by – a couple of guys on triples blow their horns as they go by and I am
eager to get there and meet up with my pals. I arrive at a reasonable 7.30 and
am a VERY happy camper to see all my buddies, Cody, Russ, Gordon, Jeff, Lane,
Alan, Steve, . . . . . . . . . Wink, to name but a few – I also finally got to
meet Milton Soto, who without even asking had helped me out with an Ebay
purchase that went sour – the somewhat “tenatious” Milton had liased with the
seller on my behalf and finally I got the parts – in this particular Ebay case
it wasn’t the value of the parts it was the principle of being taken for a pratt
as I wasn’t in the same country – THANKS yet again Milton!
The afternoon was spent catching up with
folks and a wondering how the weekend will go after Russ tells me he was caught
speeding at a paltry speed TWICE within 20 minutes – If he had been caught One
more time he would have gone straight to jail! The problem with speeding fines
(even minor ones) is that they have a severe impact on the cost of your
insurance in that they can easily add over a hundred quid to your premium, Russ
was not a happy camper to say the least
Especially as he was less than 10mph
over the limit!
I jumped aboard the Z1000 and took a
leisurely ride down to the overlook, a wonderful sight and very photogenic!
After not seeing a single cop on the
ride to the overlook I decided that they must have all gone to bed early and I
took a FAR more spirited ride back up to the campground
J I
have to say though that it was VERY hard work riding at speed with all those
bends and braking etc. Once back at the campground it was barbeque time and an
almighty effort to convince Wink that I really was going to stay sober! After a
late (ish) night – it’s a mere 1.30am and I am pouring my SOBER self into bed –
Yep, scary but true – I have not had so much of a sip of alcohol – and yet I
REALLY enjoyed myself without it . . . If only I could give up smoking as
easily!!
At a very respectable 8am I was
unloading the H2c, as I approached the truck I could smell petrol and sure
enough the carbs had been dripping all night, not only that but there was a pool
of oil under the left fork leg, I assumed that the strapping down had forks the
fork seals to leak. Anyway, I throw caution to the wind and swap the plate off
the Z1000 and onto the H2 – The bike was insured but I would have to risk a fine
for no title in my name, as I roll the bike off the truck it almost goes pear
shaped when I grab the front brake and realise there wasn’t one! It then dawned
on me that it was not fork oil on the bed of the truck but brake fluid! I top up
the brake res’ and after a few pumps the brake is back to normal – not very
reassuring though, ESPECIALLY considering the amount of braking required to go
at any rate down the “tail of the dragon. The bike fires up like a champ and I
soon head off to the overlook accompanied by Jay Davidson, Jay comes to the gap
each year and was soon pushing me to ride harder, a few bends in and I
accelerate out of a bend only to have the back end step out quite drastically, I
think I need to let these old tyres warm up a little before pushing it again! A
few more miles in and the rear brake is getting very poor, in fact it soon
became non existent and I was convinced that the linings had separated! So, I am
hammering down a mountain with no rear brake and a front brake that could spew
it’s fluid out at any time . . . . Sounds like a challenge to me
J
Once
at the overlook it’s time for another photo session and a check of the tyres,
the rear brake is just overheated and needed backing off a little, the front brake is contaminated with fluid
and the tyres are VERY badly perished – I make a mental note not to push this
bike too far on this occasion.
On the way back up the hill Jay runs
away from me and I bite my lip as I have to let him, what is worse is that
“Killboy” the Dragons photographer captures several frames on camera as Jay
pulls past me . . . . Next year I will be back with vengeance!
Once back at the campground we all
embark on a ride over the skyway and the chereehola, from memory I thought this
ride was around 40 miles, I didn’t need to fill up as I had over Two gallons in
the tank . . . this was later to be my downfall. We set off with around 25
riders and to be honest after a few miles it became somewhat tedious, everyone
was terrified that a cop would be round the next corner so there was very little
“spirited” riding, eventually a few guys broke away and the ride livened up a
little, we started climbing up the cherehola parkway and the roads were very
sparsely populated, Milton started to have mechanical problems and was soon out
of the ride, someone stayed with him to get him back to the camp, the ride went
along and the scenery was fantastic -it was a joy to be out riding!
Many
of the group set off whilst I took a quick pic of Jay on his H2, the pace hotted
up a little and as I rounded a bend I saw debris in the road, as I braked it
became apparent that Roger Swartout had stuffed his KH500 into the Armco, Roger
appeared to be O.K. and was walking back to his bike when all of a sudden Two
more triples came round the bend and ploughed into Roger and his fallen bike, a
KH400 hit the fallen bike and then hit Roger!
A H2 just about managed to stop in time
and toppled into the mess, Roger received a nasty gash to his knee but with help
from tripleschick he was soon limping back to his bent bike to try and get it
back to the campground. We all set off again to catch up with the guys that had
gone on ahead, by this time I had been on reserve for 10 miles or so. We caught
the rest of the pack up and when I asked how far it was to the next gas station
I was somewhat perplexed to hear that it was 45 miles! I found a plastic pint
bottle and set off ahead of the gang ”feathering” the
throttle
and not daring to go over 50mph as I knew there was no chance of me making the
distance to the gas station, I soon caught a guy on a Harley and just stuck
behind him for many miles – eventually the H2 died and I was somewhat pleased to
see that I had covered nearly 40 miles on reserve! Some more of the guys caught
me up and we filled the pint bottle with petrol and again I set off, this time I
wasn’t going to go over 50 mph and was lying down flush with the tank, some 12
miles later we came across the gas station, I still hadn’t run out of fuel so
that means I was achieving at LEAST 80miles to the gallon!!!!!!!!!!
Once back at the site I was pleased to
see that Milton had made it back O.K. – but in a slightly novel way, he ended
getting towed back home with a length of hosepipe that he find in the graveyard
across the street!
It was mid afternoon and I managed to
scrounge a ride on Gordons new ride, a VERY smart looking bike with a well
ported motor and one that should have run like a scalded cat, I was disappointed
but can only put it down to something being mismatched or poor carburetion –
Gordon doesn’t cane his bikes and as it was freshly built there had been no time
for setting up. As I came back up the hill the police were stopping at a scene
where a bike had gone over the edge and into the trees (this was 4.30pm) a while
later there was a
report
of another bike down two miles away, a woman riding a Harley had binned it on a
bend and broke her leg, Deals gap isn’t really the place to have an accident, it
is at least 30minutes away from a hospital and as there is no mobile phone
signal in the mountains you can figure on at least a 30minute wait before ANY
official help arrives! After a barbeque I decided to take a leisurely drive down
the mountain, it’s 8.30pm and the police and rescue squad are still trying to
get the biker up and out of the woods some 4 hours after the accident!
At least my waiting time is up and I can
have a drink, surprisingly I didn’t go over the top and had a pleasant evening
with the guys, unlike the boys in the U.K. the Americans do tend to call it a
night a little early and by midnight most have called it a night.
The campsite was then lit up with amber
beacons
flashing,
a wrecker pulled in with the Suzuki that had gone over the edge! This was SEVEN
and a half hours after the accident, the wrecker was followed by the owner of
the bike who had apparently escaped with just a broken shoulder and rather than
face huge medical bills he had been assessed at the scene and would make his own
way to hospital.
So, Sunday morning and I am heading out
to head South to meet up with some friends and call in on Tony Nicosia. I arrive
to find it is a wonderful 90 degrees and great for riding a bike, I leap on the
Z1000 and head off to a local river that is supplied by an underground spring
that is a year round constant 73 degrees! Once in the roped off swimming area I
do a few lengths and climb out to sit on the deck, there are just two Mexican
guys swimming and another fella climbing out, as he passes by me the older guy
says “watch out for that alligator over there in the bushes!” I smile at him
and he realises that my smile means I am not taking him seriously, he points at
some bushes 50 feet away, I am not convinced but after hearing on the morning TV
that a girl was killed by an alligator on this same river 12 miles downstream
just 24 ours ago I get back in for another swim with a little trepidation, no
sooner had I left the deck when all hell broke loose and I had two Mexican guys
swimming towards me like there arses were on fire shouting ALLIGATOR! A quick U
turn and I am safely back on the deck as this 10 foot alligator comes swimming
thru the roped off area just feet from where we had just been swimming – I was
so mesmerised that I forgot to get the camera out and take a pic!
After the brief encounter I sort of lost
the enthusiasm for swimming and decided to take a ride back to town, 3 miles in
and I have a horrific pain in between my big toe and the next one – after
wobbling to a very quick stop I extracted a Hornet that was firmly wedged in
between my toes! – That’ll teach me to ride in sandals! The pain was soon
relieved by my newest pocket held item – an “Anti-Bite” stick.
I am due to fly out of Tampa in the
morning and decide to spend my last night some 50 miles south at the small town
of Englewood, what a great choice, wonderful sandy beaches, superb clean, VERY
warm water and a great sunset over the gulf of Mexico.
Yet another trip is over all too soon .
.
Rick
Brett
The H2c was later shipped back to
the U.K. I stripped the rear brake, only to find that the rear linings really
HAD come off and I was riding a round the mountains with a rear brake that could
lock up or disintegrate at any moment!
