We're okay, but I've hurt Ruby. I can't see anything wrong except there's no air in the tire. I a "glass-half-full" kinda guy, so I'm thinking the impact just broke the bead loose from the rim and the air escaped. Reseat the bead and air her up - no problem. I also check everything underneath the bike - no damage, no leaks, nothing hanging down. I'm pretty sure the cast-iron piece missed the bike entirely after hitting the front tire. I perform another inspection of the wheel and, DAMN, there's a big dent. So THAT'S why the air escaped. This is not good. Well, it's not all bad because we're able to stand there looking at it, but it's not good. This bike is very unique in its construction. The chances of finding a Raider wheel in Bullhead City are about as good as it repairing itself while we stand there.
Enter the Calvary. Well, not quite the Calvary unless you consider an ADHD guy (his own admission, okay?) carrying a cup of some brown liquid the Calvary. Tracey thought it was a spit cup, but then the guy took a drink. Look! Behind that tree - I think I see Rod Sterling. He's a friendly guy though and informs me he has a couple of wheels out back we could probably make work. As I'm explaining the unique nature of Raider parts, he's walking behind the outbuilding and I'm following. He points to 2 wheel/tire assemblies (front and rear) that came off a sport bike lying in the weeds - lying there at least a year. I explain again that the front wheel is a 21-inch and the biggest one here is 18 and he looks at me like, "We can make it work." HELP!!!!!
We go to the shop across the parking lot where he works and walk inside to use a phone book and strategize how to put Ruby Dumpty back together again. We walk in and the owner's behind the counter reassembling a 9-mm automatic. "Just replaced the firing pin and trying to remember how to put it back together," he says as if I'd asked what he was doing. That doesn't exactly put me at ease and, for some reason, wherever I go the barrel seems to be pointing my direction. He gets it back together and says, "Now to try it out" and pulls a bullet out of his pants pocket - I see Rod Sterling now standing next to him. I ask if he's gonna fire it inside and he says, "Yep, it's a blank." Actually, it's just a priming cap but still a little nerve-racking when he says, "Hold your ears" and pulls the trigger. It works without being deafeningly loud and he puts the pistol away - whew. Oh, did I mention this guy totally reminds me of the guy from Pawn Stars? Well, to make a long story a bit longer, we discuss it and decide to take Ruby into his shop and see if we can beat the wheel back out enough to seal the bead. Another of his workers claims he's done it before with an alloy wheel so what the heck, right? We don't have much luck but decide to shoot some air in to see if we're making progress. That's when I discover the impact really did damage the tire; slices so fine they could've been done with a razor blade spew air out as fast as we can put it in. Okay, so it's not just the bent rim that's the problem. It just keeps getting gooder and gooder.
The owner, Mike's his name, offers to let us store Ruby there until we can figure out how to get her fixed, so we roll her into a corner and throw a couple of blankets over her because they're gonna be doing some spray-painting and don't want to get any on my bike - see, they're nice people. We use his phone book and get in contact with Budget Rental Car and Mr. ADHD (can't for the life of me remember his actual name) gives us a ride to the rental counter.
He drops us off at a building with a little sign that reads "Budget" and a BIG sign that reads "PAWN SHOP." We stand there amazed that two totally incongruent entities would share the same building, but Rod Sterling (yep, he's still there with us) says, "C'mon in!" We walk in and Budget is directly ahead, to the right is the Pawn Shop. I glance that way and get my second 9-mm encounter of the day! Once again it's pointing my way as the prospective buyer is sighting down the barrel. God, please keep me safe.
Forgive me for the length of this chapter, but I just have to share our "Bullhead Budget" experience. There are 4 cubicles for Budget (they call them counters) and they ask if I have a reservation. "Why, yes I do." "Okay, I'll help ya at Counter 2" (it's really just one 16-foot counter people with partitions between the desks). I go to "Counter 2" and am then asked to go to Counter 3 because she's training this other girl so she will help me and would I mind if the other girl watches over her shoulder because she's learning too? No problem, my day just keeps getting weirder and it's not even 10:00 a.m. Now they're in full upsell mode (combination of training mode and slow day) and I keep saying, "No, thank you." Then I decide to upgrade to a larger car. "Oh, okay sir, can you please step down to Counter 1 then?" You're joking, right? I'm looking around for the hidden camera at this point, then the lady tells me that the mid-size cars are only available with full-tank fuel purchase. "You prepay for the gas and bring it back empty." Excuse me, I'm only driving around town until I can get my bike back - there's no way I'm going through a tank of gas. "Sorry, only option." "Fine" I say and we finish the transaction 20 minutes later.
Tracey and I jump into the Hyundai Sonata (HUGE downgrade from the Raider) and off we go in search of parts I'm pretty sure we're not gonna find.
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