Monday, July 14, 2008

Getting ready for the big ride.

Yesterday was the big day for motorcycle maintenance for me. I had called Rose Kawasaki early last week to see if they could take in the bike to do a few things to it, but they were pretty much booked up. I decided to go ahead and tackle everything myself.

With 2120 miles on the odometer I decided it was time to change the oil and finally install that 15-tooth front sprocket. I am happy to report that after the usual hours of cussing and hitting ratchets with mallets that it does not appear that I have broken anything! The oil is changed, the bike is riding fine, and the new sprocket is on.

I was a little disappointed with the new front sprocket as I don't think it goes quite far enough with its mission. I have seen a drop in RPMs of around 500-600 in my normal operating range which is all well and good, but I was hoping for something around 2 times that much. Top gear acceleration is off just a bit, but it's not very noticeable at all and the character of the bike is the same. 55 mph now equates to something like 6200 RPMs.

This week I need to borrow a tank bag and a sheep skin seat cover, get some gel grips or gel gloves, better sunglasses (shatterproof ones), mount up the GPS, and wire in 12-volt outlet into the auxiliary power wires inside the front fairing. It's all coming together!

This is a crazy week for me as Friday is the day we leave, and the day I close on the house I am buying, and the first day of early voting for the campaign I am managing. Stay tuned and see if we get it all done before time to roll out.

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