Disaster: The Black Hose!

June 28, 2013
Seattle, Washington

After meeting up with my best friend from high school Luke I found to my immense satisfaction my trip reaching an all new peak.  He even agreed to help me rig up the face shield on my helmet for emergency situations as the plastic attachment thingy had fallen off somewhere about a thousand miles back (and I have a habit of keeping everything in the hopes of fixing it!).  So I go out to move my bike at around 10:30pm with all these cars flashing their lights at me.  A simple fuze must have blown and I was dangerously left without a headlight.  Not normally driving at night this was the first I had noticed, now moving my bike only a few blocks but breaking a number of laws in the process as it was dark out. 

We ran to the store and fixed the issue, came back and fixed my helmet all while trying to hide the embarrassment of my somewhat shoddy gear.  Saying goodbye but promising to meet up the next day I start the bike, but notice a long black hose coming out of the engine.  Knowing no hose should be there much less hanging off the bike I curiously reach down to touch only to real back in the realization that it's not a hose at all... My hand was soaked as its oil now shooting out of my bike in a steady stream 5 feet covering the ground, the garbage cans, and ironically the recycle bins as well.  In total shock and fear I turn Saphira off to diagnose what appears to be an immense possibly game changing problem.

Pulling gently I manage to remove the oil gauge by hand and without twisting that my dad had carefully reinstalled after its last habit of spitting oil.  To my complete amazement the solid brass extension that used to be there had sheared completely off leaving most of it inaccessible inside the engine block.  Fearing the worst we rigged it up well enough to get it home, ran to the gas station again this time for more oil, and by pure chance I managed to make the 30 minute drive back to my hostel arriving with one boot soaked in oil.  Knowing there was nothing I could do more for her at that hour except worry, I retired with terrifying thoughts of having to buy a new bike, being stranded less then 5 days picking my girlfriend up in Portland, or an exhorbinant repair bill to retool the block and get the broken piece out.

After a good nights sleep I got back to it, this time looking to fix the problem for good with some JB weld and some sort of cap.  The only problem being that if the JB weld didn't work I'd have an even bigger mess on my hands.  So I made my way to the closest Napa Auto parts store and that's where I met my angel of salvation Angie.  She told me that there was a simple tool called the Ease-out that would get the broken piece out and less then 5 skeptical minutes later it proved the case.  In all of probably 30 minutes we had it fixed with the amazing customer service there as my  mechanic skills are certainly sub-par.  For only $11 my baby was fixed, full of oil, and back on the road. 

Now I have no idea how that solid piece of brass broke, but without a doubt if not for the incredible customer service at the Napa close to Seatac my day could have been a whole lot worse!  So thank you to everyone there for your help, I couldn't be more thankful!

Today I'm leaving the peaceful atmosphere of my hostel Second Home Hostels and making my way into Seattle to stay with my buddy Dave from college.  It should be another awesome reunion as I haven't seen him in years and will finally get a chance to explore the city's marvels and hopefully another chance to experience some incredible food with the money I save couch surfing!