We rode over to the school for the morning riders meeting.  Had the normal 50/50 drawing.  That money is for fuel for the chase truck, and the other half goes to the winner.  It is usually donated back to the fund.  So far, only one person had donated their winnings back. 

We took off with 22 bikes this time.  The fuel stop and lunch stop was at Wendover at the border.  Some of us took off our helmets as we headed into Utah.  All was doing great until we got to mile 78.  My bike popped a couple of times and just quit.  All I could do was pull over on the side.  Joni and Mary Beth turned around to see what was up.  The merchandise truck stopped, but could not help.  My new battery was all the way dead.  Yes, again.  It was starting to get warm and bulge out, just like the last one.  Only this time it would not even light up my test light.  Cynthia called me from the fuel stop about 21 miles down the road.  I asked them to find me a battery.  Randy rode 10 miles south to Wal-Mart.  He called me to see what kind of a battery I wanted.  Any car battery will do, I told him.  He also got me some wire and returned with it.  I put the big battery on the train horns and wired it in.  I also disconnected the charging wire from the voltage regulator that was not regulating very well.  The headlight was burned out, as were all my tail and brake lights.  I cranked over the engine and it had no fire.  I checked the plug wires and no spark.  As soon as I pulled off my points cover, I saw the electronic ignition fried too.  Randy was going back to the truck stop to get Cynthia and find a truck for my bike.  Drew and Cliff were ready to ride into Salt Lake City to find a new ignition.  I said to wait and I called the Harley Shop.  They gave me a phone number for a V-twin performance shop.  I called and they had a complete kit, including a coil.  I paid for it over the phone and got directions.  I then called Cynthia and asked them to go the 33 miles more into Salt Lake City and get me the new parts.  Randy just got back to her then and they got my stuff. 

Meanwhile, the chase truck had blown out a spark plug back in Wendover.  Headdog stayed back to try to help them with it.  All he could do was shut off the injector to that cylinder.  Steve then took off to catch up to the pack.  He was doing 90-100 mph most of the way.  He stopped where we were and said he was almost out of gas.  I dumped the gallon that I carry with me into his bike so he could make it.  Shortly after that, the chase truck came by and I told them to keep on going, that I had help on the way.  They said that was good, ‘cause the way the truck was running, it probably could not handle all the extra weight. 

Meanwhile, back at the side of the road, a state trooper, who was pulling an enclosed trailer, said he already had one Harley in the back and he still had enough room for mine.  I politely declined and off they went.  Then another truck stopped and a Panhead rider asked if I needed a lift anywhere.  About that time, Randy and Sis showed up with the goods.  I worked on the ignition and wiring.  Drew and Cliff did the new coil.  I set the timing where it looked like it should be.  It fired right up and sounded great.  We’re off again and Randy noticed that his fuel light was on.  He forgot to get gas, in his hurry to get back to me.  We made it back to the famous truck stop where Sis spent so much time.  We all fueled up and as I pulled up in front of the store, the license plate that Headdog gave me last year just fell off on the ground.  The couple that was standing there watching me were cracking up!  Just before we were about to leave, Pappy and Thumper with the chase truck pulled in to get fuel.  They had found someone to put in an insert in the head to hold the spark plug.  We felt great that both problems were solved (almost for me).  We all got a drink and started off to do our last 100 miles to the motel.

It was getting colder all the time.  It was getting darker all the time too.  I had zero lights anywhere on the bike.  It was a very miserable ride.  We finally found the motel after a couple of wrong turns (no I was not leading this time)!  Joni came into the lobby, put her head on Buzz’s chest, and cried, “Why did you leave me back there with him”?  It was a priceless moment, with a lot of laughter all around.  I went to get my battery charger out of the pack and found out that it was burnt out too.  I went over to Wal-Mart and bought a battery charger and some bulbs, to replace all the burnt out ones, in the morning.  I put my new battery on the charger for the night and we ordered pizza.  We all had it in our room and went to bed.