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Hi My name is Michelle (aka: The Grasshopper) Welcome to Grasshopper's Ride, the adventures of a mild mannered, middle-aged bookkeeper on a motorcycle. Highlighting the beautiful Sunshine Coast of British Columbia, Canada. ------------------------------------------- Let's start with an Intro! With my bike down for repairs, I have a bit of extra time on my hands. So I have prepared a trailer for my YouTube Channel, Grasshopper's Ride. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWHkOm8ZDUQ8XzdHkbM9ng?view_as=subscriber Have a watch, it's silly, funky and just good fun on two wheels. Have a great week everyone! I'll post other videos here for your viewing pleasure. Unless everyone starts throwing rocks at me, then I'll quietly retreat back into the forest again.....lol

Went for a short ride around on Friday to a few of my favourite scenic spots. The December day was cool but dry and a lovely one for a ride. Off Bagheera and I went, first along a fun side road to Sargeant Bay Provincial Park. The view here is always very nice. I enjoyed the view and Bagheera made a new friend! Then along some coastal highway to Trout Lake, a small & quiet lake, but it is a special spot for me. I made a short video of my ride as well....

The mid August day was cooler, as the hot summer days seemed to have passed. A light rain the evening before had made the gravel roads a bit less dusty and the forest brightened up with a fresh green. My Himalayan was running just right, a happy single just thumping away. With all that and some quiet roads through the forest, you have a wonderful August excursion. A short stop at the lake doesn't hurt either, to make the ride there that much sweeter.

Last weekend we decided to take the Himalayans for a ride to a local lake we enjoy. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a nice ride through the forest with a short stop at the lake and then home. That was the plan, Plan A we will call it! The riding was really dusty. After the heat wave we had the back roads were extra dry and loose, a bit tricky to ride on, but still fun. We made it to the lake and it was a splendid day. The bikes were running great. Not too hot yet, still early in the day and no one was around. The lake looked so nice and it was really warm. After a nice break we decided to head home. Got all ready, turned the key, dash lights on.....hit the go button and POOFF!! DEAD, nothing....NO GO So the jackets and helmets came off and we proceeded to try and find the problem. We did all the usual stuff, checked all we could check and still found nothing. Bagheera was dead. The day was getting on and we needed to get home for our dog, so Plan B started. Let's try to tow the bike home. Well that didn't last long, the other Himalayan just didn't have enough power for the loose gravel hills we had to go up. I had never towed a bike with another bike, so it was a good learning experience at least. .....so onto Plan C One person goes home and brings back the 4Runner and we try and stuff Bagheera into the back somehow. Sure, no problem, only 450lbs to lift up and stuff in..... So my partner went home and I waited with Bagheera, removing as many extra parts as I could, to help with the stuffing into the 4Runner. After some time, my knight in a dusty 4Runner appeared to save the day. It was then that I had a feeling that my Gazoo (the 4Runner) would never be the same after that day. But he did look good in rescue mode. Ok, now to make this work. Sure it will fit! We removed the gas from Bagheera and got into a spot where we didn't have to lift too far. We got out our awesome MAXTRAX MKII Recovery Boards, which I have been wanting to use and proceeded to lift and push.... It was hard because we needed the handle bars to lift the bike, but he wouldn't fit in with them on........we also needed to lift him up and over the rear area, how the hell will this work?.......I was getting hot and grumpy by this point. Then the motorcycle spirits came to our aid. After a few people passing, who were nice and all, but would not be useful in these circumstances, we had just the right guy come by. He was an old long hair, with a big old pickup and two dogs. After shaking his head at our idea and smiling to himself, he was happy to help. Eventually the three of us managed to stuff Bagheera into the 4Runner. Damaging who knows what, but at that point I didn't care. Of course we could not close the rear hatch and with the dusty roads, we all looked like we had been caught in a sandstorm when we got home. Everyone was hot, dusty and tired now. The 4Runner was a total mess, layers of dust, dents in things, the rear bumper for one. The floor over the back seats had some holes in them as well. Which is all good, I have been wanting to rip the back seats out for awhile now. Then build in some storage for camping and 4x4 travels. Who needs back seats....lol Bagheera had a few scratches from the drive and his shifter was totally bent in, but I should have replaced it the first time it bent after a fall..... At this time Bagheera's electrical gremlins have yet to be found. I have a few ideas, but nothing conclusive. All part of the adventure with Bagheera, the cursed Himalayan......

Ride Log April 10, 2021 Mount Elphinstone Provincial Park is located on the beautiful Sunshine Coast in British Columbia, Canada. There are a few gravel roads that travel through the park and offer the locals a great place to adventure into the backcountry and play the day away. We ride there a lot during the summer and fall, but thought we would ride up there this Spring and see where the snow line was at. The tires on our bikes are not meant for snow in any way, so we go as far as we can. After some slip sliding around, we decided to turn around at 666 meters (more like our tires said, GO HOME SILLY ?) . We will try again soon, as it is one of our favourite roads! ? Fun ride and great experience, I even managed to keep the rubber side down. A slipping and a sliding.... The forest did look beautiful with the fresh snow. ?

Had a great ride on Bagheera today. It was rainy, so the forest was extra fun, but muddy. ? The roads are starting to warm up from the cold so the top layer of dirt is like creamy sludge, very slippery, but fun. Went to Phare Lake to enjoy the quiet and the view, which is so nice on a misty day. There were five swans swimming at the one end. The camera I had didn't pick them up very well, but you can kind of see them. It's the first time I have seen so many together in this area. Really cool. This place also has it's amenities sorted, a nice organized camp site with beer bottles for return all stacked nicely and a toilet with a view all ready to go. Only in Canada I was very happy (from the ride, not the amenities, I squat, like a real woman...lol) and so were the Himalayans, but they were soooo dirty when we got home. All part of the fun! Great ride. ? A short video of the day!