Day 4 - Murphy, NC to Asheville +

156 Miles Believe in the bell Left Murphy around 8:00 a.m. taking US 64 East. This route is a meandering country two-lane highway with a river bounding the right for many miles, yielding to national forest land. A nice ride, but....   The but is for quite some time I've been hearing "chatter" whenever I leaned the bike left or right. Many will probably recognize that for what it is, but it was new to me. In addition to the sound, the bike just didn't seem to ride as well. Pulled into Asheville about 12:30 p.m. and found a Kawasaki dealer on Hendersonville road. The dealer is Mr. Motorcycle and I can't say enough about how well I've been treated. But first...the diagnosis: scalloped tire. Evidently, if you do a lot of righting and lefting while leaning you'll create a wear pattern that creates a ridge on the side of the tire. After a while, the thing starts whining whenever you lean into it. This is what I heard. I hated it, and it was getting worse and worse. Additionally, the tire was just about at the replacement point, so...we replaced it. Unfortunately, this is the busy time of the year for all dealers, and Eric R. the serviceman I talked with said he'd work me in some way. So, I sat in the waiting room until about 2:30 p.m. They did replace the tire and I was ready to go. Oh, and Eric changed the oil for me while I was there, something I'd planned to do in another 500-600 miles anyway. I can't say enough about how cooperative the entire place was. Anyone who knows bikes knows finding a decent dealer is like finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They are that rare. Unfortunately, this wasn't going to be Eric's last opportunity to help me out. Left the dealership about 3:00 and, after getting a sandwich and gassing up, I got on the Blue Ridge Parkway. After only a few minutes into the trip, I started hearing exhaust leaking. Sounded just like a blown exhaust gasket on a flathead Ford engine. It continued to get worse and, after running through a nice, cooling-down rainstorm, I stopped at the first Park Service stop about eighteen miles from Asheville. There I checked the bolt tightness on the exhaust ports but found nothing wrong. I then realized I needed to get it into a shop. After checking with the Ranger I determined Asheville was closest and, despite not wanting to try Eric's customer service skills overly much, I returned to Asheville and MR Motorcycle. After looking at the bike Eric and the mechanic found a large slit on the inside of one of the pipes up near the connecting flange. It looks like a slit you'd get in metal if you "crimped" it then worked it back and forth until it broke at the bend seam. I can't for the life of me figure out how such a slit got into the pipe. But it's there. By this time it's almost 6:00 p.m. and the shop is closing. Eric is going to attempt to weld a bead on the slit tomorrow to see if that will hold. Let's hope so. If not I'll probably be stuck here in Asheville for a couple more days waiting on the new pipes from V&H. Not good! On a good note, Eric had one of his guys take me down to I-40 where I was able to find a room. Tomorrow I'll call and get the news. Here's hoping! The bell? For the non-riders, whenever you first start riding someone will (should) give you a small "tinkle" bell to hang somewhere on your bike. Legend has it that this will bring good fortune and free you from mechanical difficulties. My bell was given to me by the instructor at my Motorcycle Safety Foundation class when I took the course to get my motorcycle license endorsement. I was fortunate enough to ace the test and he presented me with the bell. Since that time I have always had it on the bike and, as you know, it went with me to Alaska last year, and to Montana in July...all without any nagging mechanical problems attributable to "bad" luck. Well, as life would have it, the bell finally gave up the ghost shortly after I returned from Montana. I have been meaning to replace it, but haven't. And now this. Believe in the bell