As Tight As A...

(insert proper analogy here)

No more loose chain! I took Alexia over to Mach 1 and told him my chain was loose again. Long had a look at it and suggested just getting a new chain since it had streched so much, so often. I asked about the sprockets, and he recommended changing those out as well. I had intended to have this done in addition to my 12k mile service, but had a $300 price limit. The chain, sprockets, and hourly came to $250. However, I also mentioned to Long that my bike was slipping out of gear. He said it could be a transmission problem. I told him that I had read on the Honda Shadow forum (hey guys!) that a simple solution to the slippage was to just move the shift lever back to increase the leverage when shifting with your toe. Long said no problem, and when I got me bill I discovered he had not charged me the labor to move back my shift lever! What a guy!

While my bike does still fall out of gear, it only does it about 10 - 20% of the time now, verses almost 50% before.

So I now have 12446 miles on Alexia, 448 since the new chain, and have not felt any slack in the chain yet. Good news, but my other chain started to slack after 800 - 1000 miles. Alexia also needs new tires soon, like real soon. I noticed a small bald spot on my rear tire. So I now need to save up for new tires and 12k mile service. After this, I should be able to enjoy my bike for a few months without blowing $200 or more every other month on maintenance.

Alexia also needs a bath. A plastic bag on the freeway managed to land on my hot pipe, and now my motorcycle smells of burnt plastic. I tried to wash the plastic off, but it had become a solid piece of plastic that wasn't budging. I finally wised up and after riding into work the other morning, I got out my old pair of leather gloves and just wiped off the now hot, melty plastic off of my hot pipes. While this removed a lot of it, there is still some nasty stuff left.

Any suggestions for removing melted-on plastic?

As loose as a (insert funny analogy here)

Damn chain is loose again. WTF?!? I don't know what is up with it now, but since I have reached 12000 miles on Alexia (yea me!) and she needs to go in for service now anyway, I am just going to have Long Mach put on a new chain. Oh I'll ask as to why it is getting so slack so quickly, but I am insisting on a new chain. (please leave your analogies in a comment!)

The chain is so loose that the top position is resting on the frame when not moving. I can also hear it rub against the frame as I slow down. Yeah, not good.

Have I mentioned before how much I HATE chain drive?!!

In retaliation for Alexia misbehaving, I have started drooling over this beauty.
This is the 2006 Yamaha Road Star Warrior. This sucker is 1607 CCs and is about 600 lbs! It also has a 28 inch seat height, which my long legs love. Oh, and the best thing, its a belt drive! So far my favorite of all drives. And I love the exhaust on this thing. I test fit one a few weeks ago at Mission Motorsport and loved it. Alas, I may have to drool on this one for a while more. I think the jump from a 750 to a 1600! is a bit extream. Also, I need to build up my strength a bit to handel the additional 100 lbs. What do you all think?

--

On a slightly different note, I figured out this weekend that I have about 26,000 miles of motorcycle experience. 15k or so on my Vulcan, and now 9k on the Shadow. I have had a few minor, hairy moments, and hope that those experience are the extent and extream of what I have to face in the future. I was reflecting on what I have learned, and what I need to work on. I also committed to re-reading Proficient Motorcycling. I think I still have a lot to learn, especially about handeling turns. I want to work on slow speed manuvers as well.

The easy way out

I gave in to laziness and took my motorcycle to Mach 1 for a chain clean and tighten. Best 15 bucks and 20 minutes of my week! They were a little concerned that my chain had gotten so loose so quickly, but couldn't offer an explanation. The chain looks good, the sprockets are okay, and my rear axel isn't loose. Mystery!

I will ask for a new chain when I hit 12,000, which is only a few months away. 11,361 miles on my baby!

And I need new tires soon. Does the money ever stay in my grasp?

Lefty loosey

As I mentioned before, I had to have my very loose chain tightened at about 9,000 miles. Well, it needs it again.

I was again riding into work, when I hit a bump and heard my chain hit the chain guard. When I deccelerated, I purposly rolled off the throttle real quick to see it the chain felt loose. Yup, it was. I then accelerated quick and felt the chain snap into place. Damn, again?

I can't believe it! Only 2,000 miles later and my chain is slack again. How did it manage to go from 3,200 to 9,000 miles just fine?

So I am debating whether I should try and tackle the job of tighening the chain myself, or taking it into Mach 1 for a clean and adjustment. It does need a good cleaning, and I just don't want to do it. Well, that and I ran out of red auto rags to clean the chain with, and don't feel like going all the way to 1 of 3 Costcos in a 10 mile radius to get another pack.

I know, I know, poor baby!

Oh, and I still haven't found my spare set of motorcycle keys. I had them when my aunt and uncle visited from UT, but haven't seen them since.

The dangers of...The Chain

I get on my bike to go to work on Friday, and notice a little something different. When I accelerate, there is a snap on my chain, and when I decelerate, there is a chugging and I can hear slack in the chain flinging forward. Hmmm, that does not sound right. I get to work, and get off my bike to inspect my chain. It is loose, very loose, like 2" give on the chain. Yikes!!

So I call Mach One too see if they could accommodate my bike for the weekend. I was just going to have them quickly look at my chain, but since I have been putting of my 8,000 service for 1,000 miles now, I decided to have them just do it all.

So a new air filter (quick story: they didn't have an air filter in stock for my bike, nor did the honda dealer across the street. so they were going to do everything but that, and have me come in on wednesday and replace it when the one they ordered came in. when I arrived to pick up my bike the guy said he had checked online and called a few places and found one about a 1/2 hour drive away, so he ran out to get it. he said he had promised me he would have my bike ready on saturday), a new oil change, a new bulb for my highway lights, and $430 later ('nother quick story: they had quoted me $300 for labor, but had actually gone over to about $350. they guy had crossed out the $350 and written in $300, because that is what he had quoted me. parts came to $130), Alexia is back and in working order.

I can not say enough for the guys at Mach One. They are always honest, go way above and beyond, and keep their word. Extremely knowledgeable, and they let you into the garage to point out stuff and to show you stuff on your bike. As a biker that loves to know as much as I can about my bike, this is fantastic. Each time I have gone has been wonderful!

Now I just need to save up for my car's service...


Side Note: They never did figure out why my chian got so slack so quickly. They did tightened it down, but had found nothing wrong with the chain. Any ideas?

Mornin' Folks

Not much been happening in my little motorcycle world. Reading about my daily morning commute would get very monotonous, as well as possibly freak out my parents. Not that I ride dangerously, mind you, but I do have a tendency to lane split, and that freaks out my parents, especially my grandma.

So I will not remind them of that on a daily bases. I guess I could regale you with tales of my weekend (always a good fall-back plan!). This weekend was a holiday weekend *Yipee* so a lot of riding was accomplished. I spent the better part of cloudy Saturday cleaning my bike of all the awful grime that had accumulated when I road it briefly in the rain on Monday. I even went as far as taking off my saddlebags to clean the fender underneath, and gave my chain a good clean and lube.

Which brings me to a temporary rant. I hate chain drives! I hate them! It is such a pain to have to clean that blasted chain. You have to get down on all fours to reach all the nooks and crannies, stand up and slowly walk your bike forward a few steps, then get back on your knees and do it all over again.

Hate it!

The chain may very well end up being a reason for not keeping Alexia for very long. Not to say I will be getting rid of her anytime soon, she hasn't even hit 10k miles yet! I also do not have the funds to get another bike at the moment. However, should the opportunity arise, I may very well be tempted to move up to a 1100 of some other bike. I may even try out a sports bike for a short time. Hmmmm...

This may also be the fact I got beat by a corvette the other day. I got off the line first, but I was struggling to get the bike up into 5th gear when the 'vet zoomed ahead of me with a gear or two to spare.

Oops, mom and dad, don't read the part above.

Sunday was spent just riding and walking around the coast. First I went over to Laguna Beach. While I have cruised LB via PCH many a time, I have never actually walked around LB. So Sunday I did. There was a small artisans craft fair going on, a pro marijuana protest in progress, and a ton of people just there to hang on the beach. I found a great little bead shop, so now I won't have to order as much of my stuff.

I left LB around 3:00 and headed up PCH to Huntington Beach. HB also has a craft fair every weekend from dawn till about 4:00 pm. I found the Knucklehead Industries booth and bought a bracelet from him (www.knucklehead.biz), and also found a really fun shirt booth (www.alanscottdesign.com) that had some bleached out designs on short and long sleeved shirts, and some really nice hoodies. I normally hate hoodies, but did like these. They were similar to my Dragonfly hoodie (www.dragonflyclothing.com).

After HB I cruised around Balboa and then headed home, slightly tired and very satisfied.