I had to take the Honda as Rocket appears to have a crack in the header pipe. It probably could have made it, but the Honda needs to be ridden too. Leslie's Vanessa continues to leak coolant and now I have found that the new back tire is out of round. Scooter ownership has its issues.
I planned the route. We went out 90 to Macclenny. Then headed south on 121 to 130 where we cut over to Lake Butler on some little used roads, 229 and 238. From there we went back on 121 to Worthington Springs, then 18 to Fort White. Then 47 south to 340 to 349 that took us all the way to Suwannee. The return was similar to 340 but we stayed on that to High Springs to Worthington Springs again. Then 18 all the way to 301 where we headed into Starke where we split up to head home.
Weather was great, cold in the morning but nice and toasty returning. Not a cloud in the sky all day.
At the start
Leuthold brothers on their bikes
Along the way
Bikes at the restaurant
At lunch
View out the back
Very nice ride Bill. By crack in the header you mean the exhaust header, right?
ReplyDeleteI had one of those repaired in July.
The whole exhaust set up seems to be the GTS's Achilles heal.
The good news is that it's a relatively easy fix.
David, yes, it appears to be the exhaust header. I was prepared to fix the gasket but it was in just fine. Then I checked the nuts at the head and they appear to be on tight. So I cranked it up and could feel air coming from the pipe. After letting it cool again I could feel come cracking in the pipe. I will take it off as soon as I can and replace it with one of several that must be laying around the warehouse. If I can't find one, I might just put the Leo Vince back on. The exhaust system is clearly the weak link of these fine machines.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a nice ride. Lunch not too bad either...not easy to get that menu around these parts. Some day, when life slows down a bit, it would be nice to make it around the country to ride. You're way ahead on that one......
ReplyDeleteHi Dave, It was a fun ride with the group. Lunch was very good too, with specialties from the Gulf area. You should plan a big ride one of these days. Those rides are the most fun I have these days.
ReplyDelete