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Death Valley Run 02 - via Mike Thomas

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  • Death Valley Run 02 - via Mike Thomas

    The group of 13 Australians just finished up a ride around part of the
    western USA with Max Bubeck (our fearless leader), Jerry Hatfield and
    myself. We left from Las Vegas 1 day late due to the wharfies striking
    on the docks however the docks were open for a 4 hr period on the Sunday
    in which the container containing all of the m/c's finally got on its
    way to Las Vegas. I was surprised to learn that the Aussies all took
    this in stride and without worry at all. "No worries mate" was their
    motto. I later learnt that the lack of beer is the only thing that
    upsets these guys. This delay put the trip 1 day behind schedule but at
    least they were on their motorcycles. We left Las Vegas in very nice
    weather and traveled North to a motel in NV for the night. The next day
    we headed East to Zion National Park. After leaving Zion and heading for
    Bryce Nat Park the weather started to deteriorate and we encountered
    rain and a good rain storm at that. Due to the heavy rain we bypassed
    Bryce and decided the motel was our best spot to see it out and warm up.
    After unloading our stuff into our rooms Straw had the communal jacuzzi
    all cranked up and beer every 2 feet around the peremiter of it. Hot
    chocolate would have been better but we're travelling with Aussies and
    hot chocolate is never 1 of the choices. Upon rising the next morning we
    saw snow and the snow line was only 200' above us. This made the next
    days ride very cold. We did cover some good mileage though as we just
    wanted to get to the next gas stop looking forward to a hot chocolate or
    coffee. There was a 110 mile stretch of riding with no gas stops which
    made for some guys not making it however the Uhaul back up rig was well
    prepared in advance with gas. Our next stop was Arches Nat Park,
    absolutely breath taking scenery. We arrived at our Motel (near Moab UT)
    in the dark but could make out some silhouettes of some mountains. Upon
    waking in the morning and looking out the window I have never ever seen
    such breath taking scenery. Well worth the trip to this remote resort
    location.

    The next days ride was in very heavy rain and it sure poured which then
    turned to snow. Everyone was cold but we all seemed to stay dry. Some
    did not have wet weather gear so we improvised and dressed them in
    plastic trash bags and Ductape (the ductape is always part of my tool
    kit). Remarkably they stayed very dry. The next leg was to be over to
    Durango Colo however due to the weather being just as bad there we
    decided to blow off this section. Since it was so cold Max had to be
    pretty much lifted off the seat of his 39 Four. At this point he did the
    next leg in the Uhaul truck. This was the 1st time in Max's career he
    has never completed a ride/race/event with his m/c still running. At 85
    yrs old he well deserves a warm ride. Since we blew off Durango, this
    now put us back on the original schedule and we figured heading South to
    Kayenta AZ was where it would be warmer. South = warm was our motto or
    more like we were hoping like hell it was warmer and dry. Gosh anywhere
    but where we were at just had to be warmer. We travelled through
    Monument Valley Nat Park and visited the Wupatka Indian ruins which
    dates back to 1100 AD. We stayed near the Grand Canyon in Cameron. Our
    next days stop was the Grand Canyon and onto Kingman AZ which we took a
    nice section of old Route 66. From here we went through Oatman AZ which
    is a very twisty (15 mph turns) and hilly leg of Rt 66. Many of us were
    hot dogging and I had just blown off some guys on their modern bikes. I
    miss judged a corner and ran off the road into a gravel pullout (view)
    area however I managed to keep it upright narrowly going up a big bank
    made out of rocks. I did connect with some big rocks that made a heck of
    a bashing noise under the bike and it bottomed out the forks on the 48
    several times (it was one hellava wild ride). We never came to a stop
    and the bike and myself did not miss a beat and I rode right back onto
    the road and continued on however at a slightly less of a pace. I was
    hoping to go unnoticed but my mates had a great view of my exhibition.
    The next stop was back to Las Vegas for everyone's servicing and a bit
    of a rest up. The next leg was onto Death Valley for the next 4 days
    which I am sure has been reported on. The group consisted of 16, of the
    group 3 were 4 cyl Indians and 3 Panhead Harley's. Credit must be given
    where due and the Panheads ran flawlessly for the whole trip. The 3
    Fours were the nightmare of the group with 1 thing after another. I
    learnt a ton about 4's which was a great education to get especially not
    at my expense. The team mechanic was Les who was the number 1 person of
    the group. While everyone in the group was great, this guy can get
    anything back on the road and I mean no matter what happens to it. He'll
    run without sleep if need be (and he did several times) and overhaul
    anything anywhere. He has that knack and I have never seen such a
    dynamic guy. A dream come true for those needing things taken care of
    while on the road trip. To give you 1 example, 1 of the 4's broke an
    exhaust valve stem. He couldn't get one or find a Chevy valve anywhere
    in the stores (he just needed a blank to machine 1 from) so along the
    way he spotted a Chevy engine on the side of the road 4 sale. He bought
    it and pulled the heads off and stripped out a valve. While at Jim and
    Toni Coe's in Las Vegas he turned down the stem dia in Jim's lathe,
    machined in new keeper grooves and cut the valve to length, threw it
    back into the engine and she fired right up completing the Death Valley
    leg of the run. While it is not the perfect valve, it did the trip so as
    he can do the job properly back in Aussie. This was not his only job
    that evening, the other 2 4's needed serious attention too (plus one of
    the Chiefs) and all 3 were running by morning. A pretty much impossible task to anyone except Les.

    I was Max Bubeck's room mate and it sure was enjoyable. He's a guy who
    has been around and he was a fantastic tour guide as some of his past
    jobs have been traveling all over the western US. The stories about him
    on his 4 are way cool too.

    Total mileage was just over 2400 miles for me which was a little greater
    than the rest of the group as I left from Riverside to meet them in Las
    Vegas. I'd guestimate the Aussies mileage at 2100. The guys were
    extremely accommodating and friendly. Their bikes were very well
    prepared for the ride and they ran extremely well, in fact some of the
    strongest 74" bikes I've come across and a credit to them. The 74"
    Chiefs were extremely well tuned and ran like heck. Many got abused and
    still ran good for the whole trip. There was no babying of any bikes and
    all were set up to run hard and fast. I don't recall running much less
    than 65 much of the time. Their riding style was 1st class, at every
    turn the #2 rider in the group dropped out and stayed on that turn and
    the last vehicle was always the Uhaul. No chance of anyone getting left
    behind. I was very glad to be a part of their ride and look forward to
    another. Hopefully they will get over all of their sheep jokes involving
    Kiwi's. One day they will learn that us Kiwi's take our sheep very
    seriously (or anyway we can get them). A big thank you to Jim and Toni
    Coe (of Las Vegas) who opened their home (and refrigerator) to the
    group. I don't think they knew what they were in for especially when we
    returned for some maintenance. All of a sudden Jim's tools and resources
    were going in all directions and so was he.

    Thank you guys for a great time, fellowship and hospitality. I hope to
    see you at the Australian Great Race in March.
    Thanks for the great memories Peter, Dave R, Harry, Colin, John, Dave F,
    Straw, Warrick, Steve, Jeff, Wayne, Les, Dugal, Jerry and Max. It was
    truly a pleasure to ride with you all.

    Mike Kiwi Tomas
    Kiwi Indian USA
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