Adventures on the First Coast Run of the Year

Going into the weekend I was looking for something interesting to do since the weather forecast promised no rain. The only idea I had was to go on the Road Maggots M.C. poker run. I've never been on a poker run so I thought "why not?".

Then Friday night one of the Brat Pack suggested a coast run to which I replied "hell yeah". I haven't gotten enough HWY 34 in my life lately and the last time I did I got a speeding ticket.

Late Saturday morning I buzzed out to our meeting spot in Philomath. I spotted a CBR1000RR and an FZ6 parked there so I parked next to them and went in. There I met a nice couple from Eugene and we discussed routes and winter gear (you meet the nicest people on a Honda) while I waited for my buddy.

We took our usual route out Decker to 34. The county has fixed Decker nicely. The ride out was nice. Nothing really of note. The road was wet, the traffic was slow, but what do you expect on a Saturday in January?

On the way back I got ahead quite a bit. After waiting at Alsea for what seemed like forever I turned back took look for my buddy. I found him, he was riding, but we didn't pull over to discuss what happened (as it turns out his tire plug had come loose).

Anyways nothing else of note, light was failing, traffic through Corvallis was stop and go due to a sporting event, and we separated. On HWY 20 I went to pass a slow vehicle and my bike stalled while wide open throttle during the pass. I pulled off the road and started troubleshooting.

http://youtu.be/h3yJlL04o8o

I called my girlfriend to pick me up so I could get my trailer. She ferried me home, I changed, got my trailer hooked up and headed back to the highway.

Not the fun kind (track days) of trailering.

I got my bike home and put away and went on with my evening. As it turns out my bike had merely run out of gas. There are two lessons to learn from this: 1. gas gauges can be wrong and 2. use the trip meter!