Yesterday, Lola hiccupped once while passing through St. Louis.  I had just convinced myself that it may have
been an unseen rough spot in the road when she hiccupped again.  This time I was certain something was amiss.
Overall she was running well, though, so I proceeded on into Illinois.

About halfway across the state, it became evident that Lola wasn't her normal self.  In mid-RPM range at cruise
throttle, she was bucking and generally throwing a hissy fit.  I had just fuelled up before this started, so I began
to suspect maybe I got a bad tank of gas.  Water or debris maybe.  So I stopped and filled her up.  Sure
enough everything was smooth and strong.  Problem solved.  Alas, after 50 miles or so it started rearing its
ugly head again, if anything, getting worse.  Later, upon reaching Indiana,  I fuelled up again and it was smooth
again but this time for less long.

First thing this morning, I called Bloomington Harley Davidson and asked if they could fit me in for service.
They said they'd try.  I arrived there about an hour later and they had even scheduled a technician for me.
They took Lola right in onto the operating table and began their magic.

Their waiting area is equipped with reading materials, all about  motorcycles of course, and well supplied with
some munchies, bagels, bananas, pop corn, and coffee.  My breakfast!

It turns out that the fuel pump is located in the gas tank.  There is a plastic line between the pump and the fitting
to go out the bottom of the tank to the injectors.  The factory made this line a little too long and consequently
it rubs on the side of the tank, eventually wearing through.  When the  computer senses that the pressure is too
low, it shuts down the engine until the pressure comes up again so it will not run too lean.  Why the gas level in
the tank made a difference I cannot figure out.  There is a new replacement part that is a bit shorter so that it
will not be subject to the same kind of wear.  Being shorter,  though, makes it harder to install.  That's probably
why they decided on the original length.

Lola is healthy again!

Today is Saturday, a weekend, and not just any Saturday but demo day
at the Harley dealer. That means the place is crawling with people.
If I had arrived any later, they would probably not have been able to get
right to me.

There was a local church there cooking free hot dogs (donations gladly
accepted).  I enjoyed one and of course put a couple bucks in the jar.

It started raining really hard after I got there so the demo rides
were canceled.  When I was getting ready to leave, it was coming down
really hard with no sign of ever letting up.

On the way home from the HD dealer, I got lost.  I missed a turn from
one expressway to another and was about ten miles down the road
when I realized I was not finding the cross road I was looking for.
Worse, the GPS screen did not even show me on any road at all.
For all it knew I was in the middle of a field somewhere.

I finally figured out what I had done and did find my way back to
the house.  Soaked again.
 

Speaking of that, what a wonderful thing to be able to use
Mo's washer and dryer.  This will certainly help keep the
sticky and stinky factors in check during the upcoming days
remaining in this trip.  Without that, I'd have had to revert
to the motorcyclist's standard rule of wearing underwear
four days: forward, backward, and then both again inside out.