7-29-08 Day 32 Kamloops to Eureka, MT

We're back in the US! Todays ride was great. Woke up to partly sunny skies and temps in the mid 60's! Can it be possible that we can go 2 days with no rain gear? YESSSSSSSSSS! We will run Route 1 from Kamloops back to route 95/93 in Radium Hot Springs where we were supposed to be last night. On our first leg Tom says he has a vibration in Old Red. I tell him it's probably the mud/dirt on his wheels that he didn't clean off. At our next gas stop we borrow a hose and he cleans the wheels although it's baked on and he needs to use a stick to loosen it up. We take off and he says it's much better but not gone. At our lunch stop Tom says he's now got some kind of noise with the vibration above 60 - 65 mph and gets worse if he goes faster. We keep it around 65 and cross the border around 6pm. Our hotel is in Eureka which is just 8 miles from the border so we pull in, unload and Tom & Mark try to find the noise. They're thinking collasped lifter but that is ruled out after inspection. Tom now feels it's the compensator so they open the inspection door for the primary chain tensioner and the noise is much louder. They decide to pull the case cover off to get a good look and fortunately Old Red is a dry clutch setup so there's minimal oil to deal with. Once the case is off it appears the compensator spring is shot as there is a lot of slop with no tension on the drive gear from the compensator. Tom feels better knowing what it is and feels he can run the bike til we come across a Harley shop along the way. Bismark, ND may be our best bet. They put things back together, clean up and we walk next door for Mexican. At dinner we all agree the best course of action is to head straight home. We have been told by some folks that Glacier National Park just down the road has a great road for a ride called "Going to the Sun" that goes over Logans Pass at the Continental Divide and then heads east on Route 2 which will bring us to 94 to Chicago and then we will drop down and pick up 80 east to New York. If things are going OK we might try and swing through Milwaukee and go to the new Harley Museum. Stay tuned!