The whole name of this trip is A Wing and Prayer, well it turns out I was wingin' it abit too much and not praying enough. One of the few times I am riding with someone else, a fellow winger no less, and my bike acts up for the first time in over 7000km's, wtf.Nov 28 Pushing a Train

Murphy´s Law is no stranger to me. On the day I am leaving MAzatlan I did usual morning routine of coffee then a quick swim. I go back to my hotel and go tot the hotel restaurant for brunch. As I walk out to the restaurant, lo and behold, another old style GoldWing! How cool is that? Plates? - Alberta! A fellow Canadian, who just happens to be in the restaurant I am going to in my hotel.

So this fellow John and I get to talking, a really gregarious retired electrician spending most of the winter in Mazatlan with his wife. Over lunch I describe my trip and he his, and I tell him I am leaving shortly. He offers to ride with me out of town to show me the way, thank god he did, it was pretty convoluted.

John and I talked more and we stopped off at his house to get his email address (his wife knows it not him) and visit with his wife Charlotte, a lovely lady.

We have a nice visit then John and I carry on out of town. So this is where the fun starts. John's bike is one year newer than mine , an ´83, whereas mine is an`'82. Why is his missing the windsheild? He took it off forthe hot weather, smart move!

The whole name of this trip is A Wing and Prayer, well it turns out I was wingin' it abit too much and not praying enough. One of the few times I am riding with someone else, a fellow winger no less, and my bike acts up for the first time in over 7000km's, wtf.

As we are riding out of town I hear a rattle in the rear end, so I pull over to find a loose bolt in the brake system. Easily tightened. Thennnn, the damn bike won't start, its like the battery is dead. THEN, while we are futsing with trying to start it the one grip sldies around like it is loose and about to fall off!!! 3 things all while John is right there!

Anyway, with the brakes tightened and the grip positioned, we push the bike to get it running thinking the battery may have worn down if I left the lights on in the restaurant. We have some fun riding out of town and I bid him adeiau.

I am pretty worried while riding that there is something seriously wrong with the charging system on the bike, potentially a very costly and hassle filled repair. I am however only a few hours ride from where I plan to spend the next week so I plug on relatively comfortable with the situation. Until I stop for gas.

So the bike won't start right? It tuns fine but just won't start, sooooo when you fuel up you just leave it running right? Right, unless you are a space cadet like me and out of habit turn the bike off on reflex, DAMN!!

So I get my fuel and look around for someone to help push start the bike, no one but the geezer who collects cash at the gas station.

Now, I like to stay reasonably fit and I'm not a tiny guy, but let me tell you, trying to push start an 800lbs bike loaded with gear is about THE limit of my abilities. Of course there are no hills in sight and the road is not too rough but not smooth blacktop either. Alot of sweat, alot of explatives, a few 'almost fell overs with the bike', completely taxing my quads and the beast roars to life!!! A victory lap of the gast station fo rhte benefit of the laughing geezer and I am the hell out of here!!

Due to spending time with John and Charlotte and dealing with mechanical issues I was behind schedule. A few hours to Sayulita turned into a ride with the last 2.5 hours to be done in the dark.

A cardinal rule in Mexico is, do not drive at night. Welllll for only a few hours, I'll risk it abit. That lasted about 20mins into darkness. The first newly dead animal on the road was a clue. 3 minutes later almost hitting an iguana as big as small dog was a clue. A road block due to dead horse on the road was a clue and then, coming around a corner to a huge bull merging with traffic from some trail, horns whipping by me within 5 feet was another clue.

At this point you might be thinking I was still stupid enough to try to get to my destination. No, all that happened in about 10 or 15 miles, while I was desparately looking for a place to bunk!!! Finally I found a roadside motel that happened to be nice, had a view of the ocean and most importantly, a smoooth paved sloped driveway to start the bike, mmmm mana.

That night a detailed inspection and testing of the bike with the manual out and some tools revealed that it was not the charging system but in fact the starter system. Another potentially costly and hassle ridden repair.

I did recall that Ken, the guy I bought the bike from mentioned that he had recently serviced the brushes in the starter. Maybe it was just them, cheap and easy, maybe the whole starter was finally toast, pricey and hassly. Time will tell.