Day 11 - heading out of Windham ME, original goal was Bennington VT but plans changed because of the oil/engine situation.
I always like heading out on misty mornings, this one as well...
The day started clearing beautifully, and its always nice to have a local set the pace... into New Hampshire I was poking along at 15 over or so, a couple locals blew by me on the passing lanes so I stepped it up
OTOH later at a stoplite the bike was idling poorly; one cylinder coming in and out. Even though it smoothed out at road speeds, I was worried about something really letting go.
I stopped for gas in Hillsboro NH I found the engine again almost empty of oil. I started looking for a way out at that point. I found a motorsports dealer in Keene who would take the bike, figured out the motel situation and a rental car- the trick was it was located 40 miles from Keene but getting there was a problem for later; my concern was would the bike make it 30 miles to Keene.
Enroute to Keene, this rolling roadblock saved me from a ticket- I slowed to temporarily take up the station crawling behind the trailer and then saw the state trooper. He was quite interested, getting on the road and creeping on me for the next 15 or so miles until we came upon a disabled vehicle which he stopped for...
To my profound relief I rolled into Keene... the R6's final stop with me.
The last 2 pics of my forlorn & abandoned bike. After signing the papers I went off to the Days Inn full of regret and uncertainty of how to get to my rental car which was 40 miles away in Mass. None of the in-town taxi's served destinations that far out, no uber or lyft in town. No u-hauls or similar I could have loaded the bike into. I still think it was the right call, the 5+hr days were starting to really hurt at the pace I could safely sustain, and 2 long highway rides with a sick engine to get home.
Next morning via further conversations with the local taxi outfits I got a referral to a long-haul taxi who fixed me right up, I was on the road home by 10:30a