Compensated

Coos Bay, Oregon  has to have one of the most magnificent bridges along the Oregon Coast. When it was completed in 1939 it was simply called The Coos Bay Bridge but was re named after the fellow who supervised the design of it, and 10 other spectacular bridges along the Oregon Coast.  

 

The Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge

 The Siuslaw River Bridge in Florence Oregon is another of McCullough’s designs that opened in 1937. Walking over the span the 4 gothic columns that support the draw bridge are especially impressive.

 

Siuslaw River Bridge

On our last run over the McCullough bridge sitting on the north side readying for a south bound run down 101, my trusty motorbike who on occasion and especially when hot would make terrible noises when the starter motor was engaged,

 The Rusty And Former Trusty Nakoa Coos Bay

 But my  trusty bike had always started, so I thought nothing of the occasional trashing coming from the lower extremes of my bike.

 This time however the starter stuck and the sounds coming from the bike rose to a very exciting crescendo of metal parts grinding themselves to small bits. This forced me to hit the stop switch, which I did, and silence returned to our parking place along 101.

 

Meshing Gears

 

 There was really nothing much left to do. It was a go or no-go situation on a holiday weekend with the nearest motor company outpost closed for the next few days. I did the only thing I could do, which was hit the starter switch again. The bike started just fine. 1 down 5 up.

It was a bit frightening the first time I shut off the engine. Would it start again?

My Pit Crew

 

It did  start again, so we kept going, and the bike kept starting with out much noise or effort.

 

Battery Point Light

 

Since it was starting so good we just kept starting and stopping for photos,  koffee, and beach breaks.

 

Our plan was to stay a day or two in Eureka California, and there just happened to be a motor company outpost in town. I thought it would be good to at least have them look at my ride, and since they were on the north side of town we pulled in.

 The crew there was impressive. The service manager quickly diagnosed the problem and went to searching his inventory for replacement parts. Even more amazing all the parts were in stock, and it would be no issue to show up at opening and pick up the bike the same day.

 Getting service like this is more than I have come to expect from the motor company, so I walked outside the building and made sure the bar and shield was on the building and sure enough it was.

 

Big Foot Employee Of The Month Redwood Harley Davidson

Not wanting to spend the day waiting in the outpost and since my traveling compadre secretly had her passenger floor boards removed a day or so ago, we decided to hire a car. As it turned out it was a cousin of Ford we had rented in France, however this was Champagne Hybrid and was quite a bit more sophisticated and even had a dash display that digitally put leaves on branches as your efficiently improved. Might not be a good car for fall.

 

Champagne Hybrid Very Cobra Like

 

We had a great day exploring the northern coast beaches. Eating in exotic places like The Trinidad Lighthouse Grill, and even exploring the Arcata tidal wetlands.

It was so great I let the bike spend the night at the motor company’s outpost, and in the morning discovered why the Compensator is called that, as to get one repaired you are compensating the motor company quite a bit.

 Redwood Harley Davidson gets high marks from me, for not only knowing what the issue was, but for having the parts on hand, and most of all having skilled staff to do the job right, The First Time, and that is not always the case at motor company outposts.