Once again, it seems as if its been forever since I’ve put anything to print… mostly because it has been forever since I wrote anything.  You would think that the world has been spinning far too quickly to allow me time to put things into print.  Alas, that isn’t the problem.  I believe the real culprit is laziness. Yeah, that’s pretty much it: I’ve been far too busy being lazy to think about writing.  But, hey, what can I say?!  It’s wintertime in the Great Midwest!  After a long day of staring at a computer screen, while listening to moron level customers try to describe a non-existant part, sitting in front of the tv is far too easy.  It has been a pretty good time, tho, since the last post.  I’ve had some fun playing xbox, racing around the internet and crashing people I never met.

But, enough of that.  On to what is important!  What bike things have been going on?  Hmmm…. well, bro-in-law and myself have figured out why the techs get the big bucks: we replaced the transfer case cover gasket on a old ’83 V65 Magna.  The bike was scattered all over the floor of my garage, the rear end all in parts, oil and coolant everywhere, but we got it back together, and it was fun!!  Nothing better than figuring out that you can actually take something apart, find the problem, fix it, and put it back together!  Ok, so its not all the way finished; there is one gasket on the muffler, but that is a minor technicality.

Also, I came across a set of older, smaller street bikes– a ’75 CB125 and a ’80GS250.  Both had been sitting in some guy’s garage for 10-15 years (he had no idea how long), and hadn’t run for easily that long.  With (a lot of) help, the CB shuddered to life again, in the back room of the shop.  It took some fancy carb cleaning skills, and many other talents that I don’t have to get it going, but it is a runner!  ….sort of.  The tank was in very bad shape, and I got all the rust out of it that I could, but it needs far more help than my skill set allows for.  We kicked on it (yeah, how bout, a kick start street bike from Honda?) for quite some time, and every kick blew rusty, dusty gunk out of the exhaust– what a mess!  Finally, she fired up, and ran– albeit poorly.  Eventually, the running got better, but the poor thing does burn oil at a hefty rate.  But, what can you expect, the thing is old, but sturdy!

The second bike, the old GS, may be more work.  The tank is better, but the carbs are frozen tight!  I also have to figure out the front brakes– they are stuck tighter than a drum.  It looks pretty good sitting there, tho…if you like little engine bikes with huge windshields and back rests!  I’d imagine that I’ll start tearing the GS apart soon enough.  …more bike parts to scatter all over the floor!

That’s the bulk of my excitement. Unfortunately.  I look at my RR almost every day, sitting in the cold and shivering (poor thing).  I’m seriously thinking about taking up the carpet in my basement, and letting the CBR sit in there over the winter…hmmm, or moving to a warmer climate, so I can just ride the poor thing!

Well, here is to hoping that the ‘throttle’ gets more use this year than last year!

Til then, remember: don’t jerk the throttle, just twist it with authority!