Bike Broke in Port Macquarie, Fixed Now, Still In "The Port"

First things first. When we last left off I was in Tamworth and on my way out of town I spied a Motorcycle Museum. So I stopped in and looked at about 50 cool bikes. They even made me a cuppa tea with cookies! Glen, the volunteer for the day gave me a personal tour as I was the only one there for about an hour. I told Glen that I was planning to go on the "Thunderbolt Highway". He said yeah a lot of guys ride that one, but you should take the Oxley. That is a road! Oh you'll like that one. But, I say it's The THUNDERBOLT Highway. He says, yeah, but what's in a name Mate? Okay, the Oxley it is and what a fantastic ride that is/was.

I don't think that I have been on such a long and technically challenging motorcycle road. It had everything, long sweepers, corners that changed altitude and sharp corner after sharp corner with winding road in between. I was tired after that ride and I think I'll do it again. Heh heh. At the end of the road is the city of Port Macquarie.

So I get to the City Center of Port Macquarie and I decide to stop and see where I might be able to find a cheap place to stay. So I pull into a parking space that is in the middle of the street that divide tow lanes of traffic. By my "Rough Guide to Australia" guide book, I see that the Hotel Macquarie is near by and cheap. So I jump back on the bike turn the key and... nothing. No lights at all. Nothing. No starter noise no nothing. Nothing makes a bikers heart sink quicker. So I do a quick diagnosis and I can't quite figure out what is going on, so I start walking to the hotel. They have a room for me (a bedroom to myself with shared toilets and bathroom for only $40! Deal.) I plop my helmet and jacket on the bed and head back to the bike to pack up everything and (thank God for those backpack straps!) I think to myself, I'll worry about it tomorrow.

I find a nice cafe to grab a bite to eat. Maybe you've heard about it, McDonald's. They have, get this, McCafe's here. Oi vey. Anyway, while I'm sitting there I see a guy with a helmet coming out of the theatre and I run up to him to ask if he knows if the Honda shop that I saw on the way into town is open on Sundays? He says he doesn't know, he has only been living in town for about 3 months, but is willing to help. So he comes over to my table, where I'm eating, and we chat for a bit. Dustin is an architect and a Kung Fu teacher. A very interesting fellow. We chat for quite a while that evening over several beers at the pub in the hotel. The next day...

Happy Mother's day! I get up and go take a look at the bike. As I was just getting to the bike Dustin drives up on his way in to work. So we check out the bike and find that the main connection for bike power had melted and a 30 Amp fuse had blown. Replace the fuse and... Vroom vroom! The bike works! Whew. Thanks Dustin, I'm off to put my bike into the hotel parking lot and wait for Monday.

Monday morning I get up and find out that the Honda shop opens at 8 A.M. Cool. I eat a good breakfast (BTW on this trip I eat a big breakfast every day that I can. A good breakfast will keep me until 2 or 3 in the afternoon and then some kind of snack will suffice until dinner), then I START the bike (whew), and head to the Honda shop. I get there and they are swamped. 3 guys are standing in line waiting around for the service dept. I talk to Werner and show him the melted bit and tell him I'm traveling, he sends over a mech. who finds out that there must be a contact short somewhere, more than likely at the base of where the plastic bit is all melted, causing the bike to push more amps through to compensate, melting the plastic piece, and blowing the fuse.

He, Heath tells me what he thinks needs to be done is to clean the heck out of the connections, toss the melted plastic bit, and cut the wires, re-strip them, and put on these new clip connectors. Okay I says, you're the mechanic. He doesn't have the time to do the job himself so he gives me the tools and some pointers. I do it all, he comes over and checks my work, and suprise, surprise, suprise the bike runs! Not only does it start but it runs perfectly fine now. Good job Thom! I quiz Heath for a bit about this situation and he says it should work fine unless there is a different problem with the electrical that isn't evident right now. Okay then, here we go.

I take the bike out on a good hour long run and everything functions great. I broke down in "The Port" (as the locals call it) and stayed for four nights. It is nice here and the weather is decent with highs around 70 and partly cloudy skies. Plus some great places to eat and drink. I will leave soon for parts unknown at this point. But this was as good a place as any to get stuck for a while and chill out and read a good book (now I know why the Devinci Code is so popular, what a read).