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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Ride Report part 3
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Message started by bentwheel on 09/05/05 at 10:50:46

Title: Ride Report part 3
Post by bentwheel on 09/05/05 at 10:50:46

I didn’t ride for several days because of family commitments and other indulgents which vacationers are content to do. My son who attends college and is working a co-op for the summer surprised us with a weekend visit so we went fishing and rented kayaks.
My mind never strayed from mapping out my next ride so after a break in the action I set out to do some exploring. When I fired up Black Betty I noticed an exhaust leak at the header pipe. I could see a bit of carbon on the fins so I assumed it happened sometime during my ride up. I wear ear plugs and have a stock exhaust system so the leak went unnoticed .I really prefer a hushed serenity to loud pipes when cruising. I carefully tightened the exhaust nuts as much as I dared and made about a 25% improvement. This was my first problem I encountered on the trip. No biggie, I’ll replace the gasket when I get home.
Two years ago I rode to the Island on a BMW F650GS and had a ball so I decided to have a dual sport theme for today’s ride. I picked a road that was off the Island, north of the small town of Webwood. Leaving Manitoulin to the north requires taking a bridge and paved roads jumping across several islands until you reach the mainland. I picked dirt roads to get me in the tempo for the main course, a road that is marked on the provincial map as Private Road With Public Access. I asked about this road and was told it was a logging road called PV50 or something like that. It’s long, and leads to a place called Ramsey. I rode into Webwood and filled up at an old style gas station on the Trans Canada Highway. An old timer came out to work the pump and I asked him “How many kilometers to Ramsey”. “Kilometers? Hell I don’t know, it’s a hundred miles” he said. I knew I wouldn’t have enough gas to do a round trip as he told there was no gas station in Ramsey. ‘What are you going there for” he barked.” Because it’s there” I said. He never said another word to me. I got to thinking about this ride and figured if my tank needs filling , so does my stomach. I only had breakfast two and a half hours ago but I decided to eat while I could. I picked a little take out joint right next to the highway. When I say next to the highway I really mean that. This place has an out door patio that is about 10 feet from the highway and sitting there I imagined any one of the hundreds of 18 wheelers flying past could easily wipe out all the old buildings and people if any driver lost control. It’s reminiscent of an old Route 66 town with about 20 mostly abandoned buildings and a highway running through it. Anyways I ordered a Hamburger deluxe and a coke. Actually a Vault burger. I had to ask what a Vault burger was and the kid ( the owners son) said it had cheese, mushrooms and bacon on it, and he said it was really good. I don’t normally eat like that anymore, but because I was on holidays I made an exception. It turned out the name of the place was The Vault. I asked the owner when he came around if he ever took the road to Ramsey. He said he hadn’t been up there in ten years, but his dad was on that road two weeks ago and it was really rough. I told him I was going up that road for about 75 kms , then turn around and return. “Are you going up there on THAT bike ?”. He told me I would never make it and not to attempt it. He told me he knew of three different motorcyclists who had become stranded overnight and one for 3 days on that darn road. He seemed genuinely concerned for me and promised me he would call the OPP if I did not return to his restaurant by 9 o’clock that night. I was now feeling really good about the road I picked. I sat on his patio eating the much vaunted Vault burger wishing I had ordered something else. This was easily the greasiest anything I had eaten in recent memory. I pondered my fate. It seems I surly will die on this road and when I’m found the autopsy will find my belly still full of grease.