My friend Ed’s training a young protégé in the art and discipline of motorcycle maintenance. What are they practicing on? My Goldwing. Here are Ed and Matthew draining and cleaning my left fork before installing new seals and filling it back up with fluid:
I mentioned in a previous post that the seals on the left fork blew. Ed thinks the anti-dive valve mounted on that fork is causing the problem. Since this is the third time we’ve replaced the same seals, he’s probably right. In addition to new seals, I bought a new anti-dive valve, and Ed and Matthew plan to swap out the old one with it. After some other work, that is.
Other work as in replacing front disk brake pads, steering head bearings, and throttle cables. To get to the last two, most of the plastic has to come off the top and front of the bike, plus the handlebars, which you can see resting atop my ride’s guts in the above photo.
It’s a big job and I can’t be there for all of it. We’re having our house painted and I need to be home to watch over that. But Ed says Matthew needs the practice, and so does he, because after my bike they’re doing similar work on another friend’s Goldwing. Still, I plan to spend as much time as I can, over the next two or three days, at Ed’s garage, helping where I can.
I ordered new throttle cables but they’re not here yet and may not come until after Thursday, when Donna and I leave for a Woodford family reunion in Missouri. If that happens our daughter Polly, who’ll be holding down the house while we’re gone, will take the cables to Ed’s so he and Matthew can finish the work. Busy busy busy.
My next scheduled motorcycle outing is Sunday, October 28th, when I’m leading the Knuckledraggers Baja Arizona chapter from Tucson to Arivaca and back, a ride I’m very much looking forward to.
Speaking of riding, Donna and I were out with our Trail Trash friends yesterday for a 13-mile-plus bicycle ride on the Rillito portion of the Loop, the paved biking & hiking trail that now encircles Tucson. No way we’re ready to ride the whole 131 miles yet, but 13 miles is more than twice the distance we rode the week before, and it’s an even bigger deal for me with the new knee and all. Here we are at a Loop rest area on the northwest side of town:
We’re close enough to our departure date it’s time to start checking weather forecasts for Cape Girardeau: high 50s/low 60s, partly cloudy. Jacket weather, a real treat for us southern Arizonans, though to tell the truth I could almost be wearing a jacket today in Tucson, and will probably bring one with me to the air museum tomorrow. Just as a precaution, you know.
I hope your weather is autumnal, your motorcycle well-maintained, and the paint on your house looking sharp. More soon!