January 1, 2019:
My wife and 2 sons had gone for the holidays to her fathers house, and were still gone at this point. I was unable to come with because I had just started a new job, and didn't have the time off available yet. So I stayed home and got a ton of work stuff done, and also took the Honda out for a fateful ride on New Years Day.
This was to be my 2nd true 'throw the glove down' challenge of the 'Back road to Crown King', since I had built my spare tank holder. The first time went well, but I took a wrong turn and probably would have made it to CK had I not.
This trip started out gorgeous as always. Here's a couple action shots, as I climbed up elevation.
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As you get deeper and further in on this trail, you will eventually come across 2 washes. The first your forced into, and have to crawl through for quite a ways (2-300 yards). The second isn't so bad. For this particular outing, they were both mildly active, pretty much like a slow creek.
I kept climbing, and ran into a group who were trying to assist a Suzuki Samurai that had rolled over trying to do one of the optional 'extreme challenges' along the route. I didn't have any tools or anything to offer any assistance, and they all turned down my offer of a extra pair of hands. So I pressed on.
The night before, it had rained at my house. This means it had snowed at the elevation I was now at. There was around 4-5 inches of snow on the ground. The Honda took it in stride, and kept on charging. I came up to a pair of Jeep Wranglers, one trying to pull the other up the hill with a tow strap. I can't get around them, and I'm starting to get cold. At this point, it's starting to get gloomy like it might start snowing again, so I decide to turn back. Yet again defeated in my quest for Crown King.
The way back, it does start snowing. I'm sure it's in my head but it feels like the Honda is getting 'tired'. It seems like it's tougher to get through the wash/creek on the way back, like the tires are slipping off rocks that they had gripped before, that sort of thing. We manage to lumber our way through, and get all the way back down the mountains to the staging area.
Throughout all this journey, the entire way, the old sweetheart never missed a beat. The
Engine ran strong the whole time, and took me from mild to wild and back again without whine nor whimper. We covered probably 35-40 extreme miles that day. Here's a scenic view of Lake Pleasant, first a close up and then a zoom out.
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After we got back to staging and I had loaded her onto the trailer, I restarted her and was letting her idle with the petcock off to get some of the gas burnt out of the lines/carb bowl since she always dribbled out of the overflow onto the trailer deck on the drive back.
It was during this idiling while sitting on the trailer as I was getting everything else stowed. Suddenly I hear a 'PING', and the Honda dies.
I go back to it, and hit the starter. It cranks, but it sounds funny, not at all like the normal 'thump thump thump' when being spun by the starter. It refuses to start. I stop, thinking maybe it inhaled a reed or something. I'm concerned, but not too concerned that it won't start. From there I finish up with getting ready to leave, and I start thinking about things, both what had happened and what could have happened, had it died like this on the trail.
So, that's how the old sweetheart earned her rebuild. Effectively stock, she muscled her way most of the way up the 'Back road to Crown King', 78mm piston and all, with an extra 25lbs of fuel and frame hanging off her tush. She did it end to end, and literally died on my trailer on the way home. She could have abandoned me in some pretty extreme climate, and forced me to take my truck up through the wash(s) to get her. But she didn't, she gave up the ghost after she was strapped down on her way home. That touched me, and made me wish to return the same kindness.
The cliff hanger at this point is, just what happened? What was the PING? Place your bets?
So that, my newfound friends, leads us to Act 2, the rebuildening!