"$57." "Wait, did you say $57?" That's right. Ghostface KLR's truck and trailer combo was visualized to be under 40 feet in length at the Fauntleroy ferry departure pier by the attendant. "It's under 30 feet." It's always under 30 feet. It's measured with the roller and always comes up under 30, just. This time, the attendant measured three times, each with different measurement results -- all over 30 feet. Nothing good could come of this. Ghostface KLR threatened to just drive around (to the peninsula) unless the price dropped to the correct under 30 measurement. We watched the vehicle boarding gate close as the quibble continued. End of ferry boat story; it was leaving without us. We had to drive around. But not before Ghostface KLR threw a fit. Upon u-turn, his arm went out the window with a full left-armed The One proudly sticking up at the Washington State Department of Transportation's ferry system representative.
"Paninis are no longer on the menu." One of our favorite panini sandwich makers at the Belfair Safeway had to explain to us, loyal motorcycle/Safeway club members and all, that our pre-ride tradition of eating hot paninis was over... almost. The grocery store chain deleted them from the menu because, apparently, The Dirty Crew was the only panini customer. Our maker had saved us two loaves of panini bread, so she was able to satisfy us once last time. Next time we're bringing guns and gasoline, because if there are no paninis, the place is going down.
"Holy S**t! It started!" MotoBum was in disbelief that Swamp Monster's CRF started right up from cold. That bike has never run right... at least since the bike's second ride where it was submerged under water and Swamp Monster coined his nickname. He'd had adjusted the valve clearances to actually be within specification. And now it runs like a champ. Imagine that.
Last Minute Ryan kicked and kicked the XR250R's kickstarter. There was no life there. You could tell by the look on his face that he'd regretted eating his words about never wanting to ride it again. It turned out alright though. Once the engine was warm after a thousand kicks, it fired right up. It actually revved over 4000rpm on this day because Ghostface KLR had slid in a new air filter (with rim grease). Medivac could breathe. And with three remaining strands of throttle cable remaining, what could go possibly go wrong on this ride?
Bwaaa rraaahaa rraaarrhaarra. As MotoBum was following Ghostface KLR through a particularly sweet section of banked snaking trail containing nice tacky dirt, his keen senses could tell that Ghostface KLR was getting particularly friendly with the throttle of his extremely powerful Gas Gas EC300... uncharacteristically friendly. Then Ghostface KLR flew off the trail. What ensued next was something unseen since the Fauntleroy ferry terminal -- lots of swearing. The EC's throttle had gotten stuck open. Ghostface KLR was okay. After a throttle disassembly and reassembly, it was determined that... well... nothing was determined to be wrong. A slight clicking of the twistgrip disappeared after reassembly, but nothing was obviously the matter. Ghostface KLR rode the rest of the ride "cautiously."
MotoBum stuffs it in a puddle video:
About 1.5 seconds after MotoBum stuffed it, Last Minute Ryan did the same thing in the same puddle.
Margaritas and tacos were had at a bad Mexican restaurant in Belfair. It will never be frequented again as the food was bland.
The deer.
Max Speed: 72mph. Swamp Monster topped-off his Honda CRF250X on a dead straight dirt road. MotoBum had this idea to just go for it down an access road. So they did. Swamp Monster's bike actually hit the limiter in 6th gear!
The 2/19/12 25-mile Howell Lake loop:
Download this track (.gpx format)
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