Day 21 - Small Town America To the Rescue

The Tunnel of Trees was amazing, however I did not cover many miles. I woke up in Frankfurt the day before needing to cover about 1,200 miles and this morning, I have 940 to go to meet up with PJ, Dennis, Vern and Login in Rapid City so we can attend Sturgis together.

I start the day still dreaming about the prime rib dinner I had the night before in the Stonehouse Restaurant and Lounge. It was simply perfection and it was nice to have some Midwest beef. But loading up the bike seems to take longer and longer. I ride over to Circle K, fuel up, then go inside to buy some water and an energy drink. I down the water, half the energy drink then hop on Ember. I'm already feeling late. I need to go!

Punch the starter, Ember makes exactly one valiant effort to start then stops. I mean, she just stops trying. The gauges ho hay wire, the odometer and gear shift indicator start blinking. I have never seen this before. It's like she's possessed. I wait a few minutes, try again. Still no joy.

Then it hits me. I am at least 100 miles from the nearest Harley Dealership. Holy Crap. I'm screwed. But what else am I going to do? I look up a dealer in Wisconsin and call their service department hoping for a solution. Unfortantely, the people who man the phones at a dealership really are sales people. Nice people, but sales people. It was unreasonable to expect them to be able to help me debug the problem.

The mechanics (called Technicians) don't get on the phone with customers. They're too valuable. But that's what I need. I need to talk to a mechanic. And then I thought of my Dad. He never shied away from a technical problem. That's the kind of person I have to reach. So I find the closest motor cycle shop, Northwood Motorsports and call.

A guy answered the phone in one ring. I ask him, "Do you work on Harley Davidsons?" He answers yes without hesitation. Not only does his shop work on Harley's, they OWN a Harley Davison dealership! He asked where I was and he then told me they had a garage behind the Circle K. Not like a block behind but literally right behind the Circle K. He tells me to hold on, he will be right over to help. I hang up and I can't believe it. I'm thinking, this can't be right, but true to his word, a few minutes later he rides up on a KTM, and hops off. He's a young guy - may be early thirties, but he's super energetic. He takes one look at my Harley, and says, "darn it. I was hoping it would be something simple like a dead battery in your key fob, but nope... you've got a dead Motorcycle Battery."

Together, he and I push my 900 pound Road Glide Special - loaded down with luggage and full of fuel, to this large industrial tin building behind the Circle K. Together the Harley roles smoothly into the garage, and Eugene is there to help dig into what's wrong with my Harley.

Within minutes they remove the seat the rats nest of cables that sit on top of the battery. Then Eugene grabs a special battery tester than will also put a load on the batter (trick the battery into thinking it is actually connected to a Motorcycle.) Initially the battery looked fine, but as soon as Eugene pulls the trigger to simulate a load and the battery voltage drops from 12 to below readable. The battery has a blown cell - or in layman's terms, the battery is finished. So Jesse, hops on the phone and starts calling around. Incredibly, they find a compatible battery and he goes and picks it up.

While we're waiting, Eugene tells me about his and Jesse's adventures owning motorcycle dealerships. Then it hits me. The owner of the company dropped every thing he was doing to some and help me fix my Harley.

When Jesse returns, I thank him and I tell him, "I can't believe you stopped what you were doing to help me." and he says, "Hey, you're going to Sturgis, we have to get you back on the road!" True to form, he and Eugene put Ember back together. They clearly know what they are doing as they put everything back together correctly.

After only an hour, Ember is up and running and I follow Jesse back to his store. I start doing the calculations in my mind. This easily would have been a $500 to $1,000 repair, but Jesse basically charges me the cost for the battery and a single shop hour. Total cost? Just over $300. I can't believe it.

Have you ever had something bad happen, only to end up feeling super lucky? That was how that day started for me, but as I drove away from Northwood Motorsports I felt incredibly blessed. Okay, I was getting a late start, but I'm not complaining. I'm under way for a fraction of the cost in time and money - but what's more? I got to meet two incredible business owners who were kind, decent, and not afraid to get their hands dirty. God bless hard working, humble small town business owners.