Adaptation (8/20/23 Sun)

Nate called his wife and brother last night to discus some options. In the end he decided it made more sense to head back toward NH and not continue going futher from home on a bike that could fail. After we packed up testing began with a highway speed and duration test heading back east on Rt90. The first 15 min at 65mph did not trigger the issue, but the next 15 minutes at 75mph required at 50 minute cooldown. The chosen exit didn't offer the breakfast we had hoped for. Just a gas station with microwaved egg sandwichs and coffee. Once mobile we repeated the 66mph for 15 minute test to a service plaza refuel stop without triggering any issue.

This data suggested that by riding at lower speeds a part of Nate's planned trip was still in reach. Assuming we unerstood the issue we headed toward the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. I have never seen the falls from Canada and Nate had wanted to visit a friend living in London, Ontario. After the London stop we expect to work our way home over a few days to extract some enjoyment out of what could become Nate's one week vacation. Reasoning optimistically that if the bike worked well enough at least half of Nate's time off would be salvaged. And more pesimistically that if a more permenant failure occurs it would be easier to deal with the closer we are to home. I could always ride home and return with my car and bike trailer.

Rt90 dumped us onto 190 then suddenly our exit was the Peace Bridge into Ontario. Prompting a quick stop in duty free parking so I could retrieve my passport out of my top case. A stop which triggered a 30 minute cool down of Nate's bike before it would go into gear again. Our new surprise data point was for a 15 minute stretch of road at 65mph, but in hoter 81F ambient temperatures.

Once moving again we had a smooth boarder crossing into Canada over the Peace Bridge and an $11/bike EZpass toll. After another 15 mintes ride we almost mirrored that bridge mistake by heading into a much longer border crossing over the Rainbow Bridge back to the US. Luckily the exit we used to avoid a border crossing dropped us in front of a Tim Horton's. Less fortunately it was a drive through, with no bathrooms or seating, and the bike decided it required another cooldown. So 15-20 minutes even at 65mph(100kph) at 80F+ can clearly trigger the issue.

Where to from here?

First to a tour of overfull parking lots. Some city driving and traffic followed by two passes around the second full lot triggered the DCT overheating as Nate exited the parking lot behind me. I quickly U-turned back and parked in a no parking wedge to help Nate push. He didn't require much help to get to my illegal spot. Lucky for us, a guy two spots away arrived with his family to leave us a spot. I stood in it and fended off cars while Nate pushed his bike into it. Then I parked my bike with his and bought one hour of parking for $5ca. Off to photograph the falls during this cooldown.

It's true Niagra Falls is much cooler looking from the Canadian side. It's hard to park but a wonderful walk along the edge. Gardens and old buildings line the Canadian side, and a bunch of people.

By now Nate's fuse has burnt short, but he seems to be content in conceeding our defeat on reaching Colorado. I held out hope longer but the new data points have made it clear that the best path isn't to push forward, but to limp back home.

Leaving the falls Nate would have liked to return to the USA and get us closer to home. But heavy border traffic/city traffic had him worried about loosing mobility while stopped in traffic. When you have this fear it's more infuriating that normal to weather traffic congestion. Before long the decision to escape traffic was executed with a U-turn and riding away from the border. The new plan was to go north around Lake Erie and cross into the US further east in New York or Vermont.

However we would soon need a place to stay for the night. We latched onto an earlier plan of camping just east of London. That option seemed good enough and and left the London visit option open for tomorrow. Arriving in Ingersoll we drove past the "municiple campground" to a restaurant to eat. Eating seems to be our favorite way to occupy bike cooldown time.

Chuck's Roadhost turned out to have a decent menu and we ate well. While there we reviewed our lodging options. The campground was actually a parking lot with no tent spaces. A number of hotels seemed good and relatively cheap, so we booked a local one for the night.The Comfort Inn punched above it's cost, probably do to ongoing construction. It offers very nice rooms, and a Timmy's sharing their parking lot. And even walking distance A&W and Burger King, if you lean that way.

This destination yielded another bonus. Turns out London has a Honda dealership that opens at 9am on Monday. We should be able to get the bike looked at tomorrow.

There have been phone converstations about Nate flying out to Colorado for a visit. Fingers crossed that our full bike failure fears remain unfounded and we reach home with minimul delays.

I need to start considering where to ride using my reclaimed Colorado time... The SouthWest seems to be the obvious choice for someone who's gone so deep into the other three corners of the US (and beyond).