The Elusive Unicorn and Tom's Kawasicki

It seems that the older we get, it takes longer to get started in the morning and we seem to be leaving later than we used to. Maybe it's a function of age or just that we don't seem to be in that much of a rush any more, but most mornings start with a visit to Starbucks before we get serious about riding.

This morning we went is search of the elusive motorcycle unicorn, a Honda CB1100A. I first saw one in May when I stopped at the local Honda dealer and when I spoke to Jim about it, he told me that he was looking at the same motorcycle, because it is a modernized version of the classic CB750 that we both really liked but never owned. We both took it for test rides and both of us liked it so much that we each put a down payment on a 2016 model.

However, this bike is a unicorn. You hear that it exists but no one has ever seen one. The earthquake in southern Japan in April apparently damaged the Honda plant so that no bikes are being shipped at present. The earliest we can expect to see our new bikes is mid- to late August, if ever, We have been checking out some Honda dealers on this trip in the so far vain hopes that we would see one.

This morning we checked out the Honda dealer in Ontario, OR, and lo and behold, there was a CB1100A, albeit a 2014 model. Strangely, the dealership has been unable to sell it, and the price that was quoted was incredibly low. However, not being a US citizen, I couldn't buy it. Still, we finally saw one, even if it was two years old.

The Honda CB1100A

Jim on the Unicorn

Because we want to explore southern Utah, we have decided to stay on I-84 until we are south of Salt Lake City. Most of today was spent on I-84 with a few stops in small towns along the way for gas and Starbucks. It seems that our stops get longer as we move along, but the constant 100+F temperatures may be a factor in this.

Jim, for one is really impressed with the rest stops along the highway. Picnic tables are under shelter so they are in the shade, and the building are very clean and are air conditioned. It is a real treat to stop in these places. The water fountains even run cold! Awesome!

View from an Idaho rest stop.

Over the past several days we have seen quite a number of wind farms in Washington, Oregon, and now in Idaho. It is intriguing to see the huge three bladed rotors turning slowly all the while they are generating tremendous amounts of electricity. It is a sight that I have only seen once in Canada, and that was in Manitoba. Perhaps we should consider following the US lead in this area.

Wind farm near Twin Falls, ID

As we rode along today there were areas where there was a strong petrochemical smell. It is the odor that I have experienced in Alberta, Montana, and Wyoming when I have ridden past producing oil wells, but this time I saw none. 

Tom has been having some problems with his Kawasaki. It seems to run well for a while, then it starts to miss and loses power. There doesn't seem to be many people who can work on his motorcycle, so we may well find ourselves in a situation where either the motorcycle fails and needs an emergency fix, or where we slow down and hope that it will run well at lower than the highway speeds we have been running at since yesterday.

On the way into Twin Falls, ID, the floor board rubber broke off my bike so I raced in to Twin Falls to see if I could get a replacement. As we arrived in town, Garry and I were separated and while I rode to Snake H-D, Garry waited for Tom & Jim. I was able to reconnect with them by sending an e-mail message to Garry's smart phone. He responded with his location at a Starbucks where I had just been and we were reunited. I must have been there less than five minutes before they arrived. And, I have two replacement parts waiting for me in Salt Lake City.

We have gone downscale in our accommodations tonight. For some reason rooms are really expensive here so we settled on a sixty-five dollar room at Motel 6. No fridge, microwave, or coffee machine and a small tube TV, butt hat's what you get when you cut financial corners with accommodation. Fortunately, the A/C works well.

Again tonight we saw a build up of storm clouds and when we were finishing dinner we could see a series of lightning flashes in the distance to the west. It was raining when we left the restaurant and we saw lightning flashes to the east as well. It seems as if we are surrounded by lightning storms. This is becoming a bad pattern, but at least the bad weather is at night and it hasn'y yet affected our travels.

Tomorrow we will go to the Kawasaki dealer with Tom and if they are going to work on the bike, we are going to take a ride to Shoshone Falls. It seems to be quite an attraction so it will be worthwhile seeing. Where we go tomorrow is uncertain right now, but under the best of circumstances we are hoping to make it to Salt Lake City. We are all hoping that the issue with Tom's Kawasaki isn't too serious and that we'll be able to continue on the trip without too much delay.