A Little More Test Driving the Sammy

 Monday, September 17

Well, the FAA has announced no more curtailment of flights due to the government shutdown being over.  So the is to drive to El Paso airport tomorrow to pick up Martha and bring her back to Elephant Butte.

Took the Sammy for a bit more of driving within the Elephant Butte SP, found sandy trails which required the use of 4WD in both Low and Hi mode on the transfer case.  No issues getting going again but would have dug myself in on a car without 4WD!

Tiring of sandy four-wheeling, I got back on pavement and headed for the Elephant Butte Dam Overlook to see if this time I could "see the elephant".

Here's the last time I was at the overlook:  link back in February of 2021.

The revisit was inspired by this paintwork on a water tank a few miles away that I saw yesterday.

I think I can see the reclining elephant based on the AI generated description below.  How about you?  To me, the elephant's face is in shadow.

Here's what Google Gemini said:

The name comes from early settlers who thought the shape of the rock, particularly when viewed from a certain angle, resembled an elephant lying on its side.

Look at the large, rounded mass of the rock. This can be seen as the elephant's body.

The high point on the left side (your left in the photo) could be viewed as the head or hump of the reclining elephant.

The slope leading down to the water on the right side might be interpreted as its hindquarters.

 

Moochdocking at Elephant Butte - Mariko, the Sammy, Returns!

I am presently moochdocking at Mike and Laura W.'s home in the city of Elephant Butte, New Mexico.  Mike W.is the Suzuki Samurai Guru I met quite by chance as I was transiting through the city shortly after I had bought the Sammy.

Link to that meeting: I meet a Samurai Guru, this was back in February of 2021.

Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I had a rather frustrating love/hate relationship with the Sammy.  Long story short, I ended up gifting the Samurai to Mike W. After I had failed to get it to pass new emission standards in my home county in Colorado.

The Samurai became Mike's, September of 2022.  Fast forward the three+ years to now and the Samurai will soon be signed over to me.  Mike W. offered her up when I asked about buying his other Samurai.   Some debate later, I agreed to his generous offer to simply return it to me, all fixed up.  (More on that later, basically a lot of errors on my part).

I took the Sammy for a test drive and she ran great! Multiple stops and starts no issues, runs strong, and Mike taught me the correct technique of gear shifting through the power bands correctly, I had apparently been babying ( probably lugging) the engine.  No engine coolant issues anymore once Mike put a 195° radiator thermostat in place of the 180° thermostat sold to me by a NAPA shop.

Mike had even added a new soft top replacing the beat up one I left behind.

The test drive took me to capture Fall Colors at the Elephant Butte SP.

This Bull kept following me around for a while

I was able to test out the 4WD too, having found trails and sections with loose deep sand.  The Sammy powered out just fine once I locked the front hubs and engaged 4WD .

Martha will be flying in to El Paso on Tuesday this week and I'll bring her back to Elephant Butte for a short visit.  She'll then drive the Honda CRV while I tow the Sammy north back to Colorado for the Winter.

Does the Sammy still struggle on steep inclines on the highway?  Yep!  I have to gear down to 4th to barely hold 45 mph if the hill is steep/long enough.  Like the Ural, these aren't interstate highway machines.

Is she 1500+ lbs lighter than the CRV? Yep!  Way easier to tow behind the VRRV.

Way higher ground clearance will prevent future issues similar to what ended up denting the CRV's underside cover back in Quartzite recently.

In short, for when I am camping without Martha, a more suitable vehicle for me to do exploring on alongside my TW200. For the trips were Martha is with me, we will tell the CRV as it is more comfortable.

Boondocking in the Pike NF: Days 5 & 6

 Thursday, August 11

We rode out at around 1030 AM, Rich and I taking the shortcut via Hotel Gulch while John and Gary rode a paved route towards a rendevouz point just north of Woodland Park, CO.

Hotel Gulch was nothing I'd take a regular car down, steep slopes with off camber sections that might interfere with a Ural sidecar rig as well.  This was the reason John elected to go via the paved route even though it was a bit longer.

Yagi, my TW200 dual sport, made up once again for my sad lack of skills and we did just fine through the gulch all the way to the rendezvous point!

Then it was dirt county and NF roads for the four of us!  The only flies in the ointment in terms of the ride were two really tough hills which gave John's Ural some problem until he put 2WD on.  We actually had to push his rig on the second hill since his clutch had overheated.

The second fly was idiots in a short column of ATVs (probably tourists in rentals since the ATVs were all the same).  They didn't know how to communicate, hogged a spot full of water crossings to "film them crossing water" and just generally typified the annoying amateur ruining the roads.  Oh well.

We made it to Lake George and the decision was made there to forget about making it all the way to Guffey, CO and instead we headed east on US 24 to get gas and then have a late lunch in Divide, CO at McGinty's.  Pricey food but good.

The only photo of the ride, we were moving!

We rested the rest of the afternoon and after dinner with the group it was time to try and catch the sunset.

As the sun neared the horizon, it colored the distant peaks nicely:

The sunset itself was obscured by clouds so no pics there.  Here's a pic of Revival group (Year 48), sitting by the fire Thursday night:

Friday, August 12

A no moto content day.

Gary suggested we go look at the "old" RRR or Rampart Range Revival site, called Limbaugh.  I'm told that's what displays on the maps for the location.  Gary and Jerry went in his Rubicon Jeep and John and I followed behind in the Sammy.

The location is off of FR 322, the road's entrance is rough enough to dissuade any future use by me for the VRRV!  Still, no issues for either 4x4 and we were soon at the guardrail which the Forest Service put up years ago due to extensive damage in the area caused by campers and day users apparently.

We parked the vehicles and walked perhaps a mile or so and got to the vicinity of the campground.  

The main objective of the hike was to show us the old RRR campgrounds but really to showcase the large rock formation which dominated the campsites.  It was this rock formation that was climbed, back in the day, to get a look at distant peaks such as Pikes Peak and to watch the moon rise during the RRR.

Gary attempting but in the end not able to climb

up the remembered path to the top of the rock formation.

A view of the rock formation

Posing at the flank of the rock formation, the

campground area below

Jerry, John and Gary, with John and Gary wearing

RRR T-Shirts from past revival events.

Yep, somehow, you could climb to the highest

point of the rock formation.  

On the return trip, Gary in his Jeep issued an informal challenge as he took a steep side detour off of 322, deeply rutted and "interesting" looking.  Of course, the Sammy and I accepted the challenge, I got out and locked the hubs, put her in low gear and 4WD and up we went!  No problem!

Boondocking in the Pike NF, Days 2 & 3

 Tuesday, August 9

Slow day today, didn't do much of anything really, just enjoying the solitude and recharging my batteries.

I did find a really nice group campsite off of FR32y that might be the next spot I move to after the revival.

Here's the sunset from that new spot:

You get a nice view of Pikes Peak from the new spot:

Wednesday, August 10

Here's the same possible future campsite, in the morning's light.

Did some light exploration riding with Yagi, my TW200, but nothing scenic to report.

Shortly after 1PM, Rich K. arrived from Hotchkiss, CO.  He brought along his motorcycle and set up camp at the actual Revival Campsite, 1 mile from my own campsite.

After he got setup, we went up to the top of the mound of rocks that is next to the Revival campsites.  I will be up there again to get better pics, but here's some for now.

Rich K., trying to get a signal on his cellphone

at the top of the boulders.

A view of nearby Devil's Head....

Here's an almost 360 degree pano from the top of the boulders.  I'll see if I can do better but you get the idea, great views.

Some more Revival participants should show up by tomorrow evening.

Boondocking in the Pike National Forest

 Ah, finally some alone time.

Martha pointed out to me that I'd been around people since the beginning of June, and probably needed some alone time to recharge my batteries.

So, I drove the VRRV, towing the Sammy (testing windshield protection mat) to Woodland Park west of Colorado Springs.  From there you can access the southern portion of Rampart Range Road.

Once you're off the paved portion, it's about 9 miles or so to Forest Road 32x of the Pike National Forest, off of Rampart Range Road.  I got a nice spot just off the start of FR32x, about a mile from the campsite for The Revival.

What's The Revival you ask?  It's a gathering of motorcycle-minded people apparently, which has been going on at the same location and time (full moon in August) for decades.  I've not attended before, but I know some of the guys who will attend so it should be all good.

Near sunset, I drove what turned out to be 13 miles to the big rock point hoping to pose the Sammy on the rock again with the sun setting in the background.

Alas, the angles are not right, so here's just the sun as it set:

A Recce of Campsites and Posing on a Big Rock - On Rampart Range Road

 Today, it was time to do some more stress testing of the new Toyota 3K Carburetor and the Sammy's cooling system since I had the radiator flushed yesterday.

I would end up driving 149 miles round trip.  I used CO Hwy 83 to get to Colorado Springs where I picked up US24 to CO Hwy 67 and thence to the southern end of Rampart Range Road.

From there it was about 10 miles to the site of a planned gathering by motorcycle riding friends, called The Revival.  It's been going on for years if not decades and this will be the first time for me if I do end up going.

Stress testing aside, I wanted to see if there were RV-able campsites near the Revival site, since the actual Revival site wasn't doable by Umarang, the VRRV.  It was just out of my comfort level you see.

The Revival Site is next to a large outcropping of rocks and perhaps part of a rock dome as well.  No problem negotiating the "path" with the Sammy, but the VRRV would have issues with low branches and tight spaces.

After picking up a 13 lb trash bag's worth of trash at the Revival Site (people are swine); I found a couple of sites that were usable close to where FR324 and FR300 (aka Rampart Range Rd) meet.  So getting the VRRV to within a mile of the actual site is doable!  Now to figure out my schedule accordingly.

I then spent the rest of the drive, heading north on Rampart Range Rd and checking out likely camping sites.  I found several tight ones, with steep entrance paths, and most of them without cell signal.  I did find one though, about 7.5 miles the Revival Site that'll work and function as Plan B if the primary camping sites are taken when and if I show up.

Soon after exploring this last site, I entered the Fee Area run by the Forest Service and their requirement that you camp only at designated sites.  I didn't bother checking these sites out as they were too far from the Revival Site.

However, I did stop at this large rock formation, to pose the Sammy on top of it!  After a careful walkthrough, I put the Sammy into 4WD and Low Range and crept up the side of the rock, no problem!

At this point, I was standing in front of the Sammy and heard what sounded like the whooshing sound of something under pressure, being released.  Weird.

I opened the hood and looked around, didn't see anything in my quick scan.

I started the engine in preparation for backing down the rock and the Sammy was running rough!  It was the same symptoms for when the old carburetor wasn't getting enough fuel to run the engine!  

Once I got it sort of working, I started backing down, planning a more thorough inspection once I was back by the side of the road.  The engine quit about halfway down and I let the Sammy coast down and stopped.

I could now see, in front of me on the rock a trail of liquid!  It was gasoline, and had started spewing when I started the engine.  I checked under the hood and this time I spotted where the fuel line to the carburetor had come off the outlet port on the mechanical fuel pump!  Doh!  That was the pressure release noise!  

It remains unclear to me what caused this pressure that caused the line to come off...the drive up the rock and the approximately 45 degree angle of climb?  Had the dirt road's bumps caused it to come loose enough?

I reconnected the hose and the Sammy was right as rain again.

I drove north and took the usual route back to CO Hwy 105 and from there, to Castle Rock, Parker and home.  No issues except for the second instance of the day when I had to come to a stop pretty quickly due to a changing stop light.

I stopped fine but the engine died.  It had happened once before in this drive, also at a sudden stop.  Hmmm.  The Sammy started up just fine both times, I'll have to drop an email to the carburetor guy and ask him if this is normal.

Still, overall, a good day of Sammy driving!  Oh, and my souvenir from Hawaii did fine on the dashboard:

His name is Russell Crow, and represents all the chickens that are everywhere on the island of Kauai!

An Electrical Gremlin & Bits and Bobs....

Thursday, As I was returning from another successful test drive of the Sammy's new carburetor, I saw a Jeep broken down in the middle lane of Arapahoe Road near the Saddle Rock Golf Course.

By the time I got the Sammy turned around, other drivers had stopped and helped push the Jeep over to the right lane.  I pulled over in front of it to offer assistance, putting on my Sammy's flashers as well.

I walked over, and the youngsters in the Jeep reported help already on the way.  So I turned around and noticed that the right turn signal light wasn't working on the Sammy.  Hmmm.

Figured it was a burned out bulb, so I disengaged the flashers and went home.

Took the light assembly's lens covers off, saw power going to the socket via a multi-meter so figured yeah, a burned out bulb, even though the filament looked OK.

Three new 1156 bulbs later, no joy.  Hmmm.  Much diagnostics later, along with a purchase of universal socket 1156 kit from auto parts store, it still wasn't working.

I would read voltage without a bulb in place, but put the bulb in place and no power!  Weird.

I called the Sammy guru: Mike W., he walked me through verifying ground connectivity.  It was fine.  He had me check for power upstream of the cannon socket that provides connectivity to the right lights assembly, there was power, but it would again disappear when a bulb was installed.  Weird.

Tiring of this, and quite frustrated by then, I started looking further upstream for a tap point to bypass the wiring harness' wires going to the light assembly.  

As I looked, it occurred to me to check the wiring the PO had made to integrate a tow wiring assembly into the Sammy.  The Sammy you see, came ready to be towed when I bought it.  I'd not used the installed lighting system since the VRRV was set up for just a regular four pole connector instead.

Using the wire's color code, I located the diode involved and removed connections to verify it was indeed the one that would supply power to the rear right turn signal.  I put the wires back on the diode and went to check the rear turn signal for power once more; damn if it wasn't working again!

Apparently, my removing connections and putting them back together had been enough to remove corrosion/dirt and allow the diode to function?  Or something wonky in the diode?  Unsure.  

Of course, I was happy at this happenstance, and put everything back together and ensured all rear lights still worked.

The next day, I removed all the diodes, but left the tow wiring leading to the front socket on the front bumper in place.  I wired up the respective cables directly to each other for hopefully more reliable electrical connections!

RichardM later explained to me about the diodes' function and a likely explanation of why I saw power via a multi-meter but not when bulb was in place.  The meter was likely reading power from elsewhere involved with the flasher lights.

diode in question

Let's see some miscellany as we prepare for a trip:

Martha has decided that Stewie, her scooter, is to go permanently to its de facto home over the last few years.  The scooter has been ridden/exercised and taken care of by Dale B., one of our neighborhood friends who is slowly amassing a herd of scooters.

Friday, Dale took formal possession and Stewart is now living at his de jure home.

As I was at the local ACE hardware store to pick up some lag screws to fix the sagging gate to the backyard; I spotted a display of straw sun hats.

I tried this one on and it fit me quite comfortably yet securely, even comes with a chin strap for those windy days.  It'll be my Aloha State hat....

Last but not least, I'd found during the extensive driving I'd done this week after replacing the carburetor that people just weren't paying attention to this sign and almost hitting me as the Sammy tried to accelerate from a standing stop.

So, I'm trying something more direct in terms of a sign and added a third brake light as well:

The Sammy's Toyota 3K Carburetor continues to function flawlessly, the engine runs at low RPMs when cold but once she warms up, all is well.