Yesterday I was concerned that I had a leaking fork seal because I was finding spots on the backrest of my bike so Garry & I planned to go to Reno Harley-Davidson early this morning to see if it was a problem. When Garry went to start his bike he found that he was missing a clutch pivot pin and he had planned to have it washed as well. We arranged to have both bikes looked at. Garry's bike didn't have enough oil in it so that had to be taken care of and the mechanic found that the steering head bolt had not been tightened properly in Rock Springs. We arrived at about 9:10 a.m. but by the time they were finished we left the dealership at about 1:30 p.m.
Reno Harley-Davidson
I, on the other hand, should never have doubted Big Red. There was no problem with the fork seal. When I had my bike serviced in New York State last summer the mechanic greased the steering bearings and he put excess grease in and the grease forced its way through the bearings on to the triple crown. With the temperatures we have been having, the grease was melting and at the high speeds we have been travelling it was being blown off the triple crown and into the air. Big Red still continues to run flawlessly.
Leaving The H-D dealership we rode to Virginia City on a wonderful road that clung to the side of the mountain and which climbed over 2400 feet in about 9 miles. Many of the corners were limited to 60 kph. The ride was challenging but the scenery was worth every moment of the ride. We crested out at 6800 feet then began the ride down in to Virginia City. At one point it was the richest place on earth with the discovery of the Comstock Lode.
View from the road to Virginia City
These hills are typical of the hills around Reno, NV.
Looking over Reno.
On the way to Virginia City
Much of the old town remains today along with false front buildings and wooden sidewalks. The newspaper building which was built in the early 1860s was the place where Samuel Clemens worked as a reporter and where he created the pen name, Mark Twain. The old buildings include a striking Catholic Church, St. Mary of the Mountains, that was built in 1863 after the fire of the previous year.
St. Mary of the Mountains church, Virginia City, NV
Wooden sidewalks in Virginia City
Street scene, Virginia City, NV
We walked around the town going into several bars, one of which still had the vault which was used to hold millions of dollars of silver, gold, and currency in a secure place during the boom times. One of the famous saloons in Virginia City is the 'Bucket of Blood'. We checked it out and it still looks like it must have in the 1870s with the exception of the slot machines that line the walls. On the sidewalk we met two women walking their pugs, one in a stroller. I thought the sight was hilarious and asked the lady if I could take a photo of her & the dogs.
Bucket of Blood Saloon, Virginia City, NV
Bucket of Blood sign.
The lady & her pugs.
We left Virginia City and headed to Carson City. Again the temperature was in the 90s but the bikes seemed to be running better than we were. Carson City is the state capital but it is not a very pretty town. It has many casinos but we didn't find the old town or the capitol building before we headed to Lake Tahoe.
The road again climbed from about 4500 feet to over 7200 feet before dropping down to the shores of Lake Tahoe. The Lake is over 70 miles long and its shores are lined with houses. We rode along part of the Nevada shore but we were unable to go around the lake to the California side.
At about 5:10, Garry noticed that he was getting a warning that his engine had been overfilled with oil. We had a 38 mile ride back to the dealership over the Santa Rosa Highway. This highway is the highest pass in Nevada that is kept open during the winter. Again, it is a mountain road and has numerous sharp curves and steep grades. We reached the top at 8900 feet which is the second highest altitude we have reached on this trip after the 9033 feet of the Bighorn Pass in Wyoming Down the other side was a series of switchbacks which challenged the handling ability of Big Red. We were pushing our bikes as much as we could and dropped from 8900 feet to about 4500 feet in about 16 miles.
The run in to Reno was quick but we had to stay close to the speed limit. At 5:55, we took the exit from the main highway to the street that led to the H-D shop. After waiting a nerve wracking 2 minutes at a particularly long light, I rolled into the parking lot with Garry close behind at 5:58, two minutes before closing time. The mechanic talked to Garry to let him know what was going on with his bike so he was satisfied that everything is OK. I was pretty pleased to have made the 38 miles across a mountain highway in 48 minutes.
The ride back to the hotel was easy and we had lots of time to go out for dinner then do some gambling. Garry made about $160 over the past two nights playng blackjack while I took the fifteen dollar voucher that Circus Circus gave me and walked away with eighteen dollars.
Tomorrow we are aiming to make it to Klamath Falls, OR. It will be a reasonable ride so we shouldn't have to push too hard. The trip is winding down but we have had a great ride and both of us have had a lot of fun. To this point we have ridden about 5800 km and expect to be close to 7500 kms when we arrive home. What an experience!
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