Mar 3rd, quick trip to Daytona

This story took place in 2007 during Daytona bike week. I was 67 then and had decided to attend bike week. I'd make a quick trip allowing 2 days to get there from San Diego.

Quick trip to Daytona
I was going to go to Daytona for Bike week. I had put a good used/new, to me, engine in my '84 1100cc Sabre (motorcycle) that was, I thought, to carry me for the next 10 years.

So to that end, I left for Daytona one early morn to try and make the run across I-10, The southern route to Daytona, in 2 days. Along about the 14th hour and somewhere in westTexas a noise in the power plant, that sickened me, indicated the end of my trip. Oops, you can't miss the noise/symptoms of a spun bearing.

A total failure in the crankshaft department had left me along the side of the freeway about 15 miles west of Ft Stockton. It was dark and cold. I did thank my lucky stars that there was no Tx wind to add to the ordeal as I waited for an AAA tow truck to haul me into town.

I have been a tow driver, and there is nothing worse than to be sent out on the freeway to look for someone when you don't know exactly where they are. So it's night in west Texas. There are no landmarks.

I'm on the incoming freeway side of the freeway. The tow truck will be coming out of town on the other side of this four lane freeway. The AAA lady keeps asking me for an offramp close to me. I tell her, "This is west Texas, lady, there are no off ramps." At least not for 50 miles.

I had passed a sign that said 28 miles to Ft Stockton, So I guessed that I was about 20 miles from town. After a bit, she settled for that. I watched every vehicle that passed on the outgoing side of the highway. I could see enough of an outline to guess at what it was. The semis and passenger cars were easy, but the mid length vehicles were hard to make out.

I was looking for a flatbed hauler. When I would see anything remotely the right size I would turn my headlight on. The pickup with a utility trailer almost got by me, but then I tumbled to him being a possible as well, and he responded to my light signal by throwing a quick u-turn across the 30 yards of Tx desert that they call a center divider.

The wait for AAA took nearly an hour. That wasn't nearly enough time to solve my problem in my mind, but it was time enough for me to realize that my plans for Daytona were out the window.

The tow driver set me up at a motel with WIFI right next to where he would keep my bike for me. He was a very nice guy of about 30 years old, and offered to let me keep the bike at his house under a tarp. I was thankful for that, and went to the motel after bedding down the bike.

I was damned happy to be in a bed at midnight after leaving Ca at 4:15am. In fact it was a bit of a relief to not have to continue riding for most of the next 30 hours. I pondered the possibily that I had run the bike out of oil. I figured my bike was using a qt of oil every 2000 miles from my riding before I left.....but riding hard will use a bit more. Do you suppose..........?

My first impulse was to Abandon the bike in Ft Stockton and send the tow driver the pink slip. I have long since advocated that with an old Sabre that I could afford to do that......but what were my other options.

I could..........bus home ............................................159.00
Drive my van and trailer back................800.00....round trip W/expenses

Or, I could..........buy a vehicle there & haul...............2000
..........Plus expences.................................... 400
and ......................Prolly get money back.....................2000

This buying a vehicle thing looked like a good deal. I spent the next day with that in mind. The vacation/trip had taken a new direction, and I would just have to enjoy what it had become. Here is an accounting of my Day in Ft Stockton.

I had a day to work out my
logistics in Ft Stockton. I got out of the motel room by the check
out time. At that point, I was within three blocks of the tow driver's
house (where my bike was being kept for free) and the Greyhound bus
depot. So after breakfast at Lupe's Cafe (breakfast Burrito with
cheese and sauce). BTW, Texas Mexican food is altogether different
than SD Mex food). I went to work on buying a pickup for under 2000.

I saw a gentleman sitting in a pickup, and asked him about buying a
truck. Of Course, it was Sunday which eliminated car lots in this
sleepy little dying west Texas town. So Abraham Gonzales (ABE) it
turns out is 68 years old and his family has been in Ft Stockton since
before the Alamo event.

Abe was an interesting guy. He made and lost a couple fortunes
there. He bit it big time when the Tx oil boom died in 1980. Said he
lost about a mil from that deal. But he has property and family all
over town. But today he needed to get an 89 Lincoln moved from in
front of a house a few blocks away.

So Abe was laying in wait for a tow driver to come out from the
little Cafe where I had breakfast.....and said that the driver might know of a
pickup for sale.

So in the meantime, Abe and I became best friends. Abe will do
anything. He has owned liquor stores, antique/thrift shops, mex
restaurants. This car he needs moved is purely junk, but it has a
good set of tires that he is eyeballing.

I offer to steer the car to his property if he tows it with the
chain. Well, we get there and find out he doesn't have keys so we
can't steer it ..That's out. So back to the Cafe to talk to the tow
driver about moving it for him.

The tow driver want 50 dollars to move the car and lies to Abe about
doing it at 2pm. Tom driver also calls a couple guys that have car lots. They
have pickup trucks for 5000 dollars. Abe tells me the car lot owners are no good
SOBs, and to be careful.

Abe wants to know about my tow driver. So I get Abe an
introduction. My tow driver say sure he'll move the car for him but
has to wait for the tow truck owner to go to church so he won't see
this free tow job happen, otherwise, he'd have to charge 50 bucks also.

Abe takes off and I go on a couple tow jobs with my new tow driver
friend (Mike). We also stop for burgers from the local convenience
store. I try to buy burgers, but he won't hear of it. I end up with
a free lunch. We go back to have our burgers with his live aboard,
Serina.

We eat our burgers and watch 'Edward Sizzorhands' and drink cream
sodas. Life is good.

Tow driver says it time to move Abe's car. He contacts Abe, and we
get the car and take it a couple miles to Abe's 25 acre parcel of
Desert. Holy cow, Abe has a junkyard of all manner of trash as well
as a dozen cars from years past.

Abe and the tow driver talk about the Various old relics there, and
who used to own them, and who is now dead and who is in jail.

In Fact, tow man, Mike, was in jail a couple days ago for not
having a moto license while he was riding his '04 R1. Seems as though a
check on Mike's driving record show 3000 dollars worth of past due
tickets for one thing and another. Mike is now making payments to the
county.

Mike tells Abe that if he's a friend of mine the tow job is free. We
say goodbye to Abe who is beside himself with appreciation. Then we
go out to a buddy's wife's house and give her a free jump start, cause
her old man is in jail also for warrants.

I could go on......I tell you this stuff, because I don't want
you to think I'm not having any fun. Life in Ft Stockton is a blast,
sport bikes are everywhere. Mike know them all, and they all will pull a
wheelie when they see Mike.

Mike gets a call to go impound 4 cars for the local cops. Seems the boys
were getting into a little mischief and racing down the main street in town.

Rescue for me is on its way.