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?

A new learned trick

I seem to have a thing for getting motorcycles with sloppy shifting problems. My Vulcan would slip into neutral when I was trying to shift up to 2nd or down to 1st. I got really good at shifting up two gears so it would either slip into neutral and then into 2nd, or it would hit 2nd then 3rd and I would just chug along in 3rd.

Some of you may be cringing at this, but I asked my mechanic about it and he said Vulcan 500's had sloppy shifting and there wasn't anything I could really do except learn how to deal with it.

So now I have a Honda Shadow ACE, and while it too will slip into neutral, it has a few other annoying quirks of its own. It will slip out of gear if I don't flip it hard enough into gear. It will also not switch gears if I don't get it solid in gear. I will be in 2nd and try to shift up to 3rd, and nothin'. The gear shift will toe up okay, but it won't engage the gear change. I have to roll off the throttle real fast and then roll on, and then change gears. Not very cool sounding... nor is it very cool looking to be crusin at 40 and suddenly have your bike drop out of 4th into 3rd and you get all jerked around. Not cool at all.

So I once again ask my mechanic and log onto the Honda Shadow forums and come to find that Shadows are also known for having a bad shift mechanism. I was told to try and move my shift lever back and the added leverage of having it nearer the peg and closer to my toe usually (I don't like how they used the word usually) gives it the extra kick it needs to get into gear properly.

Or...

I figured out this one on my own... I can NOT use the clutch. For some reason the little tiny extra bit of resistance from not using the clutch seems to get the bike into gear. Who-da thunk it?

I know I can harm my bike from doing this, but I can feel and hear when it is time to switch gears, and my new mechanic (Mach One!) said he didn't notice any unusual wear on the clutch or the transmission.

I did want some input on it though. What do you all think? Do you even use your clutch to shift gears? I still use it to shift down, just not up.

Anyway, thanks all!

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?

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?