The Repairs

So, after the breakdown in New Brunswick, I had to hit another gear to keep the trip on track. After leaving Isabella in New Brunswick, I caught a bus to Montréal to organize a new cylinder head. This turned out to be quite difficult in Canada - the KLR is not a popular bike up here and parts all seem to be on backorder, requiring up to 2 weeks for delivery. In the end, I managed to get the parts shipped from Oregon to New York. Another bus, and I was back in Hemmingford. Mat very kindly drove over the border to pick up the part and brought it back. After an enjoyable weekend in Ormstown for the annual fair (see the other posts), I headed back into New Brunswick via Montréal.

At this point, the bike hadn't moved in a week. Needless to say, I was anxious to get going. But that wasn't to be. I had let the mechanic (cylinder head installation is not in my roadside repair repetoire) organize the gasket. Big mistake. In the time it took me to travel across state lines, organize a part to be shipped across the US, pick it up and come back, they couldn't order a gasket. Then the wrong gasket was sent. All up, it took a week and 3 days to do something which would take maybe 2-3 days in Perth. Meanwhile, I was staying in Edmundston, NB. There is NOTHING to see here, so I spent most of the time in the motel, making plans, etc.

However, they did find out why Isabella sh*t herself: a missing oil pressure valve, meaning oil wasn't properly reaching the top of the engine. Whoever changed the oil before myself removed it and didn't replace it. I changed the oil before setting off, but didn't even think to check whether it was there or not, so it was partially my fault as well. In the end, it restored my faith in Isabella - how many vehicles do you know could run for over 4000km without oil in the head? I'm surprised I even made it out of Québec!

After the repairs were made, I rode back to Montréal, and Hemmingford.

Anyway, the intake camshaft was also damaged, so I ordered one from Grand Rapids, Michigan. For how/if I got there, see the next post.