Snippets

[sportsterpaul]

Good for you John, on both fronts, this getting old ain’t easy!

[Crusty]

Yes; Sometimes I Do Dumb Things


Just for the record; I overdid it by a large amount. I knew when I should stop because my leg was really letting me know; but I got caught up in doing just one more thing, because I don't want to forget I didn't do it. Enough one more things and then it was all done. I started the bike and I wasn't hearing any unusual noises. The clutch works smoothly and the primary chain is adjusted as it should be.

I wrote down the date and mileage and what I'd done in the logbook, then I put the tools away and decided that I might as well fix the garage door. I could do that while standing upright, so it shouldn't hurt the leg any more that it was hurting. I was successful and I don't think I hurt the leg any more than working on the bike did. That’s not true. I think that at the least, I extended the amount of time it will take to get better. I went upstairs and hit the recliner for a bit, then fixed dinner.

The pain has eased, but not completely. I hope I didn't do anything really bad to it. I knew when I should stop, but I just wanted to leave things so I wouldn't screw anything up. It's part of the way I work, I guess. I really hate to leave a job unfinished once I start on it. I'll stall off starting for a long while, but once I start, I don't want to quit until I either run out of time or the job is done.

Anyhow; I promised my brother David that I'd take it easy tomorrow and do as close to nothing as I can. He was a bit pissed off that I acted as stupidly as I did. I had talked to him on the phone as he was cooking his dinner and he let me know his opinion in no uncertain terms. However, he’ll still stop at the Supermarket tomorrow while he's out and about and pick me up some Brioche rolls. I miscalculated on how many I needed to get through Monday morning.

So Tomorrow, I'm going to just hang out in the recliner and maybe read a book or watch a movie. I won't be working on the bike.

If you believe that, you’re even more gullible than I am.

[sportsterpaul]

John, we believe anything you say!!!

[Crusty]

She’s Almost Ready

Well; the other day, I overdid it and wound up with a leg that hurt like a toothache. I haven’t been on the bike in a few days, so I took the Express out for a ride today to see how it felt. It’s quiet and feels good. It isn’t making any funny noises at all. The lifters aren’t bleeding down, there’s no funny knocks, or pings or anything that doesn’t sound normal. Well; the exhaust note is a little sharper; it’s not louder but there’s a bit of bark to the sound. It isn’t objectionable, though. The bike sounds good. This week, I’ll put the skid plate, highway pegs and headlight grill on.

Then, when Dunlop gets off their butts and makes some more tires, I’ll get a set of Trailmax Missions and I’ll put them on just before the trip, along with the chain drive conversion.

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to why the bike was so noisy. When I was at Bike Week, I saw Andrew at Dark Horse’s Pop-Up (Booth?) and told him about the noises. He had a couple of minutes, so he took the bike out for a short ride. He heard nothing funny from the top end, but he thought the noises were coming from the primary. He mentioned that the clutch felt a bit funny. So I changed out the grenade plate and put a new primary chain adjuster shoe in the cover. I also changed the engine oil and started using Syn 3, so I also changed the filter and I put fresh Formula + oil in the primary. I took the windshield off when I was working on the bike because it was in the way.

Now; Andrew knows a lot more about Harleys than I ever will, so maybe he nailed it. I can feel the clutch working better than it had been before the new grenade plate went in. Also, the engine may like the Syn 3 better than the 20W-50 liquid dinosaurs. One other thing is that the windshield can act like a big sound amplifier for engine noises, sometimes. I didn’t put the windshield back on before I went out today.

I will say that the bike felt right and sounded right. I put on about 100 miles, mostly on backroads, but with a couple of miles of Interstate, as well. The ride was wonderful. I think she’s ready; or will be once I do the final prep work.

On my ride, I went over to the General Store in Rabbit Hash and got a Key Lime Pie flavored Ice Cream Sandwich. They’re expensive - $4.00 - but they taste wonderful. Even the cookie part of the sandwich tasted like the crust of a Key Lime Pie. There were about 50 or so bikes by the store; I walked around looking at them all. A sh*tload of Harleys in more displacements than I can keep up with. I saw 95,103, 110, 114, 117 and 120 on air filter housings, a few Sportsters, Indian Scouts and FTRs and Baggers, BMWs, Triumphs, KTMs of varying displacements, Honda Groms, An unaired Gold Wing, and my personal favorite, an old Panhead top end on a Shovelhead bottom end. It was a bit of a rat bike and was leaking a little oil from a few places, but it was authentic.

Well; that’s not entirely true; my personal favorite is the Gentleman’s Express. It really looked good today and ran as well as I could want. She’s my dream bike in the flesh (metal).

We had some heavy rain over the past few days, and there was gravel washed over the road in quite a few places, so I had to exercise some caution; but the temperature was in the mid to upper 60s and spring is breaking out all over. Greenish white flowers on the trees (I think they’re dogwoods, but I could easily be wrong), Farms getting ready for the new season and all the fields were turning green from the dead brown of winter. People were riding horses at one point. Life was returning to the area. It was good to be alive on my motorcycle!

My leg isn’t 100%, yet; but it doesn’t hurt like it did. It isn’t hurting, but I can still feel that it isn’t quite right. I’m being easy on it and I’m hopeful it’ll be better by the time I’m off the Steroids this week.

Well; I think I’ll turn on Star Trek Deep Sh*t 9 and veg out.

[sportsterpaul]

So very happy for you John, peace comes to your world, yea!