It has been a lot of years since I was last at the Laconia Rally, and so far it has been very interesting. Usually I ride my motorcycle to the rallies and am there to take photos and do an article on the event.
This year I am here to be part of an event celebrating and honoring people in motorcycling put on by Paul Cote with Check Twice – Bikers Helping Bikers. https://checktwice-savealife.com
I do not think I have ever flown to a motorcycle rally before, But I am honored to be invited to this and time did not allow to ride and hell, with gas prices it was cheaper to fly.
Okay, so I flew in and met Paul at the airport and a motorcycle was there for me to ride. We made it to Weirs and the motorcycle just quits in the middle of busy Saturday traffic. Motorcycle had gas and acted like a dead battery. I get a push and try to jump start it without any success. Ended up at the Weirs Beach Convenience and Gifts Food Mart.
As we figured out how we are going to handle this Paul checked with the owner about us parking there. It turns out her name is Jennifer and she said not only can we park there, she will help. Next thing I know she had the seat off and one of those hand held jump start tools. It did not start the motorcycle. I am lucky enough to know a lot of women who wrench on motorcycles and Jennifer knows what she is doing, I was in good hands so I stood back and watched.
She and I both believed it was a bad battery. Off Paul and I went to the parts store. The guy at the part store said he tested it, and it was okay. Well technically it did have voltage but No Cranking Amps. We ended up buying a volt meter and went back to the motorcycle and Jennifer re-installed it. We put the meter on it and 12.5 volts. She hit the start button and meter dropped to 5 volts.
We were scheduled to be at the Chop Shop Laconia Beer Tent for a raffle drawing, so arrangements are made to have motorcycle towed and repaired.
The Chop Shop was crowded with folks partying. Time for some adult games. This one was where the guys held a piece of pvc pipe between their legs and the women with a plunger between theirs and try to insert the handle in the pipe without using their hands. Interesting at best and a lot of fun had by all.
The motorcycle ended up at EVL CYCLES in Belmont, and the owner Tony Tal installed a new battery and checked the charging system and got us back on the road by Sunday.
In the meantime Patrick let me ride his Softail to ride to Weirs
So far it has been interesting and enjoyable and still have a few more days here. Hang on for more reports.
