Spokane Tech Day 5/6/06 -After Action Report

[usmctpdog]

Our First Spokane Tech Day was a great success! A hearty thanks to Our Host Big Al Bobst who provided the "HeMan" shop and excellent lunch buffett with delicious Angus burgers and Sizzling Hot Sausage and salad sides. Brian Ley (SanJuan2) brought along some chilli peppers and Brian (Ragin Cagun) brought in his steak, beans and rice mixture....Good eatins folks!

With Ken Meese called away and not able to attend our LT day, the knowledgeable Brian Ley and Matt Felton stepped to the plate as the head Brain Trusts and were both run ragged with 9 Lt's in various states of undress, disarray and under some form of physical abuse!

Brian Ley wins long distance award for getting a passport and coming to the east side of the state after he did a tech day last weekend! I am eternally grateful to Brian for bringing me his spare seat to use while I send mine off to Russell to be customized. Brian was like a pin ball bouncing from bike to bike whether to help Jack Nuess with his Valves, someone else with something or helping me in Tupperware 101 removal and attachment with having to search down the frame to release the heated seat wires. Many Thanks Brian!!!

Matt Felton delivered tools, Nitrogen tanks and Fenda Extendas the previous night so he could ride in with his AMAZING Camping Packup to give us a practical demonstration of what is truly possible do take on a LT!
Thanks for the Packing Clinic Matt and all that you bring to the table for us!

Matt has us all riding high on Nitrogen tire fills when all the bikes left and his tools sure came in handy with all the fluid changes and his Fenda Extenda installations. I had been kidding Matt about his packup for about a week and you would have to see it to believe it. 2 cots, 2 sleeping bags, 2 bedrolls,
1 tent and 2 chairs and one Jet boil for cooking and he had not even used his saddlebags yet!!! All done compactly and with a practical eye using Walmart Waterproof Bags yet!!

Gary Schweiger finally found his way in from Kennewick and demo-ed his gadgets and proper brake bleed procedures and I was so busy I did not get some of the other Lt'ers names who attended. It was a busy day where everyone learned something, and some of us learned alot!!!

A good time was had by all.
The Marines and Airforce were well represented and even got along.
I am sure glad I decided to bring this idea to fruition and bring together a bunch of LT people who all made new friends and learned about their bikes.

I am sure there will be more Tech Days in the future!

Photos Will follow shortly!

[RajinCajun]

As a new LT owner, nothing beats experiential learning. I learned more than I can remember in a single day, but even better was the camaraderie shared by all. What a great bunch of guys you are.

Thanks Al for the hosting. Is was a great environment and your hospitality was impeccable. Brian, you are a talented man. Thanks for all the knowledge -- and now my feet can touch the ground! :rolleyes: Matt, thanks for the nitro tires and the tethers. Awesome. Jack, thanks for making me feel at home with the shit stirring you did. It was also nice to find out that Marines really aren't as dumb as TopDog told me they were ;) Gary, creativity should be your middle name. Finally, Topdog, thanks for putting this together. It was truly a great day, and I look forward to the next one.
RajinCajun

[sanjaun2]

I had a great time as well, There was a really great group of people there. I tried to figure people out before hand on this website and through emails and such. But in person everyone was different than I anticipated. Everyone was easy going and brought something to the experience. A mighty fine group I must say, Even the marine guys!!!! A special thanks to Al and Cathy, Great hosts, and some of the finest people you could meet anywhere. Thanks for having us over and putting up with me for the weekend! Exellent place you have and one heck of a shop. Lets get together for a ride sometime.
P.S. I didnt put nitrogen in my rear tire because I will be replacing it soon. Maybe I should have. My rear tire went sideways on one of those wet painted crosswalks! While the front tire had perfect traction with that nitrogen in it! Thanks again to all for such a good time. And thanks to Mike for doing a lot of the planning.

[ErnieA]

Two Tech Sessions in two weeks and I missed them both! :( It sounds like you were all kept well in capable hands and had a great time to boot. ;)

Right now I've got the ultimate tech session going on in the little garage I call a shop. My friend broke a starter engagement gear in his Kawasaki Voyager. The replacement of said gear requires the removal of the engine and splitting the cases. This has turned out to be a much bigger job than anticipated, but the reassembly is going well. I hope I do not have to tear into our LT this deep anytime soon. Kawasaki will not work on a bike that is over 10 years old. I was in a BMW store this past week and they had a 20 year old bike up on the bench. I'm glad BMW is not afraid to tackle the old bikes.

When I get out from under this monster I would like to have another tech session at our house. Here are a few pictures of this beast:

[usmctpdog]

Some Pics of the Action:

[meese]

What a strange motor, Ernie. The pistons are pointing in a weird direction. :)

[ErnieA]

What a strange motor, Ernie. The pistons are pointing in a weird direction. :)

That's a Kawasaki for ya ;)