Monday we just hung around the motel room. I did some accounting, updated the blog, and paid a couple of bills. Oh – and I drank a lot of coffee.

This morning, we awoke to cloudy skies, but no rain. After breakfast we packed up and headed to the Harley dealer to get my bike repaired.

We arrived a bit before they opened at 9:30 a.m. Another gentleman was also waiting, needing a regular service and a new chain on his Pan America. We had a nice conversation with him. It turns out he’s from Brandon, FL, (across Tampa Bay from us) and was returning from doing some off-roading in Montana. Another gentleman, seeing us in the waiting area for a while, offered to take us to lunch, but we had just finished some sandwiches. Thanks, y’all, for being neighborly! By this time the shop determined the overheating problem was not caused by the water pump (which was good), but by the engine coolant temperature sensor. The radiator cap also needed to be replaced, which they did. They also flushed the clutch fluid, which was cooked by the overheating.

They did not have the sensor in stock and the closest dealerships with the part in stock were in Jackson, MS (112 miles east) and Amarillo, TX (651 miles west.) After considering a couple of options, we decided that Beth would take my bike and the trailer to a hotel about 1/4 mile from the dealership, and I would ride her bike to Jackson, get the part, and ride back.

Round trip to Jackson was 225 miles and 2/3 of the ride was in rain. Everything but my gloves stayed dry. (My rain gloves are buried somewhere in the trunk of my bike.)

I’m so glad we are having the work done here in Monroe. To start with, I didn’t see any salespeople or customers at the Jackson dealership, and the parking lot was empty.

The dealership in Jackson is a pig stye. The papers piled high remind me of Doris’s office at Zanotti’s in Butler, PA. If you were ever there, you know what I mean. There were old T-Shirts piled on tables.

Also, the bathroom smelled like a bad gas station bathroom and the used paper towels were piled high above the rim of the waste basket. I appreciate they had the part but, I’m so glad they didn’t work on my bike.

Tomorrow we’ll have the Monroe dealer install the temperature sensor and we should be on our merry way.

Travel distances (day/total): 239/1062