Tell-On-Yourself Thread

vismajor said:
I know this is an old post, but my bike is new to me, so I gotta say thanks for teaching me how to operate the center stand. :)
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It's a balance and timing finesse thing so those knitting muscles will come in handy :wink2:

I noticed in your photo that you don't have boots that cover your lateral malleolus (big bump on the outside of your ankle - the low end of the fibula). I recently went down at about 20 mph and broke 3 ribs - but would have needed skin grafts on that bump were it not for good, high, leather boots and riding pants.
Something to think about - even if you only wear high-cut hiking boots it would be something.
 
Alll these spelling mistakes I make are not my fault well ok they are but its because Im typing without my glasses and my keyboard likes skipping letters on me.Im to lazy to use the spell check and correct my mistakes .Whooo I feel better getting that off my chest:laugh::laughing:
 
It's a balance and timing finesse thing so those knitting muscles will come in handy :)
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Hahaha! I'll take all the help I can get. :D

I noticed in your photo that you don't have boots that cover your lateral malleolus (big bump on the outside of your ankle - the low end of the fibula)... Something to think about - even if you only wear high-cut hiking boots it would be something.
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Thanks for that. I need to update my pic to have my full gear on - call me a scaredy cat old lady, but I've made it 42 years without any serious injuries... I'd like to keep it that way, so I've got a full helmet, armored jacket, full gloves, reinforced riding pants, and reinforced riding boots. Doesn't hurt that I feel like a total badass with all that gear on (but I still ride safely). ;)
 
I've got one from this morning. Went to start up my bike & couldn't get anything. I checked the ignition, kill switch, had the clutch in, everything... no luck. Eventually it occurred to me that because I parked it in 1st gear (at the recommendation of the MSF coaches) & the sidestand was down, it wouldn't start. Lifted the sidestand, pulled in the clutch, and she started right up. :)
 
couple days ago I was walking from my shop to the house with my rotor, starter clutch and woodruff key. tripped in a hole, parts went flying into long grass. by long I mean 5 foot high around my yard. well found everything except the smallest of the smallest the woodruff key................... used magnet on rope I have, and nothing after a 10 yard radius of where other parts were......
in my infinite wisdom I thought hey ill just go down to the local repair/parts shop. only to find out it is discontinued..... so now the parts lady is trying to track one down in Canada to save the $20-30 shipping..........:doh:
small parts are my downfall. not the first time I have lost something so small, and so important..............
 
Took it for short spin last night, only about 15 miles in a loop through some neighboring towns. Come home and park the bike, hook it up to the tender, go to shut the garage i see it, or well DONT see it. My taillight (which holds my plate )vibrated off hit the rim and ripped off. Spent the next hour retracing my path forwards and backwards searching for my light and plate, NOTHING.

i just noticed it was loose last weekend and made a note to tighten it down even more, and it still flew off! :yikes::eek::yikes::banghead::yikes::banghead:

i have plans for a ride this weekend so good thing i have a bobber taillight handy, but no rear signals until my new light gets shipped...
 
Rode to work today and the first half of my commute was unremarkable, but after a sustained sprint the idle screamed up to 4.5k and stayed there. I was afraid I'd lost another idle air screw (they're both brand new, I replaced them when one vibrated itself loose) and I tweaked my idle down to a reasonable level. This made the bike gutter at stoplights and I had to keep feeding it throttle to keep it from dying. Kickstarting at a stoplight with people stacked up behind you isn't fun. When I got a longer light I turned the idle back up so it was resting at 1.5k and noticed it was lumpy and pulsey...and that's when I realized I'd done 80% of my commute at half-choke.
 
Am I the only one who finds a full face helmet to be the hardest thing there is to put in a draw-string helmet carry-bag? :mad:

If I had 3 hands though, it would be a snap. :shrug:
 
ChHNZ.gif
 
XS400NJ said:
First bag goes on, then helmet goes off the head ? :)
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Wow! So simple. One's head becomes a 3rd hand - well, more like a stump, but it works!

First there was Thomas Edison, the "Wizard of Menlo Park," then there was Albert Einstein, the Genius of Princeton.
Now, XS400NJ & Sesty, the Jersey Shore Savants. Must be something in the water!
 
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Lou Ranger said:
Wow! So simple. One's head becomes a 3rd hand - well, more like a stump, but it works!

First there was Thomas Edison, the "Wizard of Menlo Park," then there was Albert Einstein, the Genius of Princeton.
Now, XS400NJ & Sesty, the Jersey Shore Savants. Must be something in the water!
Click to expand...

Just make sure you can get your helmet off or people will start asking questions.

Or take your helmet off, put it on your seat, and use both hands to get the bag on?
 
... yesterday after work, after installing new transparent blue fuel line and inline filter, without any particular plans for the evening I decided to leave my beer alone and to go for a ride. At a traffic light while watching bubbles in the filter I managed to stall the bike, no biggie.. started right up... Eventually I found myself on Palisades - new pavement! Nice! Soon I was facing Washington Bridge. It was always on my mind that one day after work I will ride to lower Manhattan, meet some friends and hang out in one of the bars with live music. I figured what the hell, there is no traffic - let me have a look into that!
Next I remembered that my ez-pass is home... no problem, I am out for a ride, so extra loop to cash booth and in no time I am on the Henry Hudson, flying south... at about 30th street it started... stop and go, mostly stop, all taxi cabs paying no attention to anyone. I was going to take exit at 14th, so it was not too bad. Having already stalled once I was holding revs high, and it felt like bike is getting too hot... so I reached down with my left hand and slapped few times on the engine to get a feel how hot it is... the bike died! While traffic moved few feet I was sweating and kick-starting it… and nothing... I looked at my shiny filter - no bubbles... Switched to reserve, to prime - nothing. I am looking at what I was slapping at - fuel line? pick-up cables? coil connectors?
Cars became inpatient and started to squeeze by me, one bike passed and the girl on the back looked at me with understanding… Embarrassed, I pushed the bike to the next pedestrian crossing, rolled it of the highway and parked it behind big dumpster so no one can see me(yeah right, in Manhattan…). Could not tell if fuel line is empty or full, tried with choke, WOT,… nothing. Decided to check for spark. Unscrewed plug caps from cable – no spark. Tired, without any tools on me, I put bike on the stand, locked helmet to it, finally relaxed and was able to put my thoughts in right order: girl was cute; bars are still open; really cute!; buses are running; I have a friend with truck; I have a story to write into “tell-on-yourself” thread... and that is when it hit me! How do the stories in that thread usually end? …. I slowly looked at the handlebar and there was the kill switch pointing left. With a big smile I started the bike, found an exit from what turned out to be some restricted area (guard was nice to let me out), found free parking next to a triumph, and treated myself to a snack with live music... and I got my hands on that beer after ride home. :D
 
Out riding last night, just came off the freeway and into a residential area where my sister lives, when I heard a clatter and saw something flash in the headlights of the driver going the other way. I've been battling an oil leak around the camshaft and have had my TCI cover off and on, and unfortunately the exposed bolt is pretty stripped out so I've been gentle in torquing it down. Too gentle, I guess; I got to pull over and walk back down the street to recover it from a crosswalk. Oh well, I wanted to replace those bolts anyway.
 

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