Moonlight Fleamarket, J&P Cycles Rally, National Motorcycle Museum and misadventures along the way.

I have been getting e-mails from J&P hyping their rally and have really wanted to check out the National Motorcycle Museum's new building so I decided I would make a run out there. The original plan was to head out as far as Poopie's in Savanna on Friday the 28th and have a few drinks and camp but when Friday came the weather was constant rain so I decided to wait it out. I was also hoping to get new tires installed as my rear was pretty bald with over 5000 miles on it but the shop wasn't able to get me in til the next week. Saturday morning was still a rainy mess and I almost called the trip off.  But the rain started to clear by Saturday afternoon so I got my shit together and headed out to the moonlight fleamarket in Belvidere. Right as dusk was starting to fall I rolled into Marengo on Rt. 173 and took my foot off my highway pegs so I could reach the controls and I heard a loud ping noise and watched my left peg assembly bounce away.

Luckily it was bright enough I could go back and find it but the bracket that allows it to be indexed was a goner.  The grade 8 bolt holding it to the motor mount snapped.  Now running somewhat later I stopped in Marengo to grab cash and throw on my clear glasses.

 Once I got to the fleamarket I plunked down my $4 only to find the midway pretty empty of sellers due to the earlier rain.

The neatest item i found was this 50's PBR delivery jacket.  Unfortunately, it was a few sizes too big and the seller seemed to think it was worth $225 so I wasn't buying.

Why are my lights getting dim and my gauges flicking to zero!!?!!?

I had an issue with a broken highway peg.  After I replaced the peg I took the bike out for a spin and all was well.

Two days later I took a cruise up to Fontana, WI from Crystal Lake to check of the lake at night.   On the way the bike sounded like it was sputtering a bit and the horn sounded really funny.  I assumed the horn or the switch was going bad.  After i took a walk I hopped back on and the bike barely started,  I assumed the battery must have been going out and made a note to check it.  I moved the bike then parked again to chuck my extra keys in a saddle bag.  Big mistake!  The bike wouldn't turn over.

I tried push starting it but I was having trouble getting enough speed with all my gear.  After ditching my helmet and jacket I was able to get started but realized my attempts at starting had used up what little juice I had left.  Determined to get home or closer to home while I had her running I took off.  I was still thinking it was a bad battery but rev'ing the bike just made the gauges go dim and the needles sputter to zero.  Trying to use the turn signals was caused the gauges to drop out and the headlights to dim.  I realized I had no charging system. :-(

Quick Trip to Milwaukee to catch the Empty Pockets Live!

My old roommate plays in a great band called the Empty Pockets.  They generally play bigger events and private parties but as luck would have it they were booked to play in Milwaukee at Discovery Pier for a free concert by the lake.  I took it as a sign I should attend and headed up.

Parking was a bit of a mess and the museum garage was trying to charge me $8 to park my bike, so as you can see I squeezed into a quasi-legal space in front of a suburban.

The band was setup right on the end of the pier which was really neat because there was some sailboat regatta going on in the background adding to the scenery.