Father Daughter Motorcycle Trip 2020 - A bike debacle tried to derail our plans on day 1 - it only briefly succeeded. (Knock on wood)

I am beyond excited for this long weekend's trip with my dad! I woke up scoping out the weather app - I had to hustle if I wanted to miss the rain creeping quickly towards my house. I am not a morning person. Hustling in the morning is not an easy thing for me to do! But I made it!!! I beat the rain! 

            Leaving the clouds and rain behind me, eager to meet my dad to see where our 2020 adventure would take us! We met just outside of Jay Cooke State Park in MN and rode 210 through the park. 210 is a great road -there are tons of amazing viewpoints of the river, lots of fun corners, and the pavement quality is superb.

From there we took 39 into Superior, WI. Super cool bridge - the train tracks get the top of the bridge, vehicles get the bottom. Luckily, no trains were above us. That would have freaked me out! 

 From there we jaunted around northwestern WI - turning on random back roads to see what we could find. Just after my dad hit the 1,000 mile mark on his brand new bike, we stopped at a little cafe in Brule, WI for lunch. After chatting with a few fellow bikers, including a cool gal on a Victory, we set out to keep going East. We didn't make it far. 1/2 mile to be exact. My dad's dashboard lit up like crazy. It was in limp mode - which is a safety feature to prevent the bike from going fast when there is a 'known issue' affecting the system. The check engine light was on. It was idling at 1300-1500.  There were 3 fault codes showing, and then another one appeared. 

           

My dad called the dealer, who said that BRP has not yet released the 2020 fault codes so the only way they could help is if he brought the bike to the shop for a diagnostic. Great idea, except for the minor detail of us being a few hundred miles from said shop. We took to social media to find answers. We found the fault code listings - throttle, transmission, and sensor codes. He tried all of the suggestions for a fix, nothing worked. Having no other ideas on how to solve the problem, we called my mom, 150 miles away, to hook up the trailer and come get the bike. My dad then took off the side panels again and noticed a loose hanging hose under the right side panel. 

Out of place, he grabbed it to find a spot to get it out of the way of other mechanics. It was then that he felt the kinked hose. He straightened it out the best he could with his hands and turned the bike back on. Poof! All codes were gone. No more check engine light. No more idling at 1,400 rpm's. Nervously, he hopped back on the bike and went down the little side road we were parked next to. He left with unease on his face and returned with a cautious smile. No lights. No limp mode. Too good to be true??  He made a generic splint out of my business card, lightly taped it to the kinked area of the hose to prevent it from kinking again, and hoped for the best. 

                          

We rode another 100 miles - and thankfully, no lights, no limp mode, no sign of issues. RELIEF!!!!!  It's day one of our trip - and to say that the day's events were disappointing was an understatement. Just as he was gaining trust in his new bike, it let him down. Far away from home, on the side of the road, at the beginning of our trip.  I am thankful that my dad was able to troubleshoot to find the issue. Because the 4 fault code lights that came on to 'signal an issue'? They said throttle issue, transmission issue, sensor issue, and something else. I don't understand how a bike that is seemingly so 'smart' can be so 'dumb'. Why not just have a code that says "There is an air hose issue"?  Any

ways - I am beyond thankful that we are able to continue on our trip. It's unnerving to have to wonder if the brand new bike will make it the whole way. But, we are both incredibly stubborn, so we will continue on! And there is nothing we can do but hold out on hope!!! Let the father-daughter trip resume!!!!!

6-26-2020