Well, unfortunately the solution is that I don’t know what's wrong… We need to get the bike towed to a dealer since I cant find the problem, and we can't ride it with it leaking gas like this (right onto the hot engine).
Despite being broken down, today was really cool. There are definitely worse places to be stuck on foot than Lake Louise :-) We slept in pretty late (by camping standards), and cooked a decent breakfast of instant oatmeal, banana's and coffee. I spent a few hours fooling with the bike, and eventually gave up on it, so we needed a way to get to Calgary (the nearest town with a bike shop, about 180 km away).
Just to recap to those reading who may care… here is what the bike is doing, and what I've done to try and fix it. It leaks gas… When the bike is running, or the petcock is in the prime position, gas drips slowly off the bottom of the carbs. Unfortunately, I cannot pinpoint where the leak is originating, so it is difficult to find the problem. I had two suspicions. 1) stuck float valve. I pulled off the carbs (not an easy task) and dropped the float bowls. I cleaned them out with carb cleaner, and manually checked that each float needle was seating properly and shutting off gas flow. As far as I could tell, all was ok in there. Put them back on the bike, and there was no change, still leaking. 2) leaking from the crossover tubes. I pulled the carbs AGAIN, and this time separated them from each other. All the o-rings appeared alright, I cleaned everything and put it back together. No change. I'm out of ideas at this point, and give up. I know a decent amount about carburetors, but obviously not enough. I'm very curious to find out what the problem is. Hopefully something simple…
I called a shop in Calgary, and they said they could start working on the bike first thing Monday if I could get it in there. That's good at least.
We needed a break from working on the bike, I had inhaled waaay too much gas by this point, and was feeling pretty woozy, and had quite the headache. A hike sounded like a good thing. Janet and I made the 3.1 km hike from the campground to the lake. Doesn't sound like far, but it's steep! Anyway, the lake was just as I remembered it (I was there when I was 7 or so, and have some faint memories of it. I was curious how reality would compare to my memory).
There is a small deli in the hotel, so we bought a couple of sandwiches and drinks, and rented a canoe on the lake. It was perfect. Once again, it was an incredibly clear and hot day, and being summer, the lodge and lake area were packed. In the canoe, we were able to row out to the middle of the lake for a great picnic. The lake is incredible. Milky aqua bluish water, the monstrous hotel at one end of the lake, glacier at the far end, with forests of super dense trees lining the sides.
Anyway, back to camp, we needed to setup a tow. I had signed up with the AMA (American Motorcycle Assn.) MoTow emergency towing service before leaving, but unfortunately I had not received the info packet before leaving, so I did not know the 800 number. I did have my COG (Concours Owners Group) member directory with me, so I called Guy Young, someone I have never met, but have "talked" with over the COG email list, and someone who I was pretty sure was a member of the towing service. He is, and was home, so I got the number! A quick call to them, and we were set. We'd call back tomorrow morning to set it all up (since it was too late to get anything done that day).
Today's log is too long. I'll simply end it by saying that actually got a fire started (we bought an axe today, on one of our three walks into town) and roasted hot dogs for dinner.
later,
david.
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