Thanks for the info Union man. I've gotta run errands this p.m. but will keep checking here. There's a couple more people I can reach out to, and realistically if the weather is decent camping may be an option, if there's availability.
Alright, tossin in the towel on this one. HC will not be happening for me this year. Thanks for keeping me posted and hope to catch up with ya twin cities area buellers for some rides. Travel safe, have fun and take lotsa pics. B.
Hope you all had a blast. Had to work Sat. but have this week off so it's on the trailer w/ the S3T and XT and out west for a week.Travel today,tomorrow MT78 to Red Lodge then Beartooth and Chief Joseph and back up to Laurel. Tues it's Butte and the 41,278,43 loop and then it's Missoula and Lolo pass both ways on Wed. Thurs it's Libby and the Yaak loop with the dam and MT567 for good measure and Fri we're at Glacier and Going to the sun rd both directions. Sat it's back to reality and the cities. Hated to miss homecoming but this is our reward.
My only option for tools were 2 hammers. I used a a medium sized rubber mallet and placed it as evenly as possible on the outer race of the bearing and then used the steel hammer as the driver. It actually went in easier than expected once I used this technique.
I would like to say "thanks to one of Minongs finest,Officer Eric Gulbrandsen. (sorry about the pic Eric)
I flagged him down and he took me over to the fire station/police station and opened the garage doors to let me use what tools they had. We talked shop for a bit and as I tore into the bike he began calling motor heads he knew in town but being a Sunday and beautiful outside,.. nobody answered. OH well all is good now.
Good thing you didn't listen to me, and you went and bought new bearings!
Sam and I really had a blast- y'all are great people. Thanks to those that put effort into planning both Homecoming and our rides. Thanks to Dave (Mnrider) for your hospitality when we arrived- the room and hot shower made all the difference when we arrived! And thanks to the rest for being great people and making our weekend fun.
All who rode home with us are doing fine. I am sorting out all the pictures and will post them soon.
To the guys who I was supposed to call on Sunday morning...SORRY...I met so many people that night I can't remember your names. I had a few cocktails and I didn't plug in my phone. I couldn't get to your contact info before we had to go. I didn't mean to blow you off.
Sounds like you guys had a blast. Bummed I didn't make it, was thinkin' of y'all as I watched Friday's weather forecast, glad the weather cooperated for ya and you had a safe ride. Lookin' forward to the pics. B.
MN riders, you can download full rez versions from that link. Also, feel free to upload you pics to share with us, video too! I created it with a link at the top to make it easy.
Things are getting better for me every day! Funny episode to share with the group (for those of you that don't know, I dropped the Uly by the Mindoro cut. Broke my neck). I haven't seen my bike since the accident and my memory is really foggy. But yesterday , my in-laws drove to West Salem and brought back the bike to their farm in Arkansaw. When asked by my wife how bad the bike is broken, my mother-in-law replied to her "Not as bad as you wish it was". So that's an encouraging thought! Hopefully I'll get out to the farm in a couple weeks to build my parts order. :-)
Thanks Union man for the ride home, it was great to meet everyone I met. I couldn't say enough about how much fun I had with you guys... Did you get my email?
Heal strong metaldude. From what I remember, your bike looked really good. The frame protectors did their job, and the rest of it looked like it would clean up. The subframe was busted, but other than that I dont remember a lot of damage.
and I didn't plug in my phone. I couldn't get to your contact info before we had to go. I didn't mean to blow you off. 
