All I need are big dreams and open highways
I’ve been a riding fool. I ride every day to work regardless of the weather.
The weather and daylight time is starting to make a change. It’s becoming darker when I leave for work. I need to be more aware of deers jumping out in front of me.
I’ll be switching to winter riding gear soon.
I replaced the sleds rear tire today. The odometer is at 45,500 miles. I’m going to take some precaution and will change my standard route that takes me to the main dump road.
I’m thinking that I’m picking up nails and other sharp object traveling the same roads as the guys spilling shit on the roadway going to the dumps.
I ordered the rear wheel a couple of days ago and it was delivered today. Now that’s quick.
I went with my 3rd choice of tire since the Dunlop Elite 4 series is damn near impossible to find in stock. The Metzler 888 series is a tire I’ve used for years in the past with my other motorcycles.
As a note my second choice was the Bridgestone series.
I got another flat on the Goldwing. The puncture came from an object that appeared to be a part of a nail.
I rode the sled to this place that specializes in Filipino Food. Even though the name of the restaurant is Teriyaki House it is Filipino owned and these guys serve some down home grub.
If I remember correctly it has been at least 12 years since I’ve gone and eaten there. It used to be a common grub spot when I worked in the Folsom, California area.
One nice thing about this place is the front parking has 3 motorcycle spots available and I’ve never seen one bike parked there throughout all the visits I’ve made.
I need to come back more often for sure.
This is a blog entry that is a reminder that I replaced the front tire this morning. The mileage at the time of tire replacement is 42,243 miles.
The front tires seem to go from “yeah, I have a few good miles still…” to “oh shit, I need to change this sucker!”.
Let’s start off with I had no intentions of riding in this weather. If you’re a commuter and ride a motorcycle every work day of the year you will at times get caught in weather and road conditions that are not ideal.
I have never seen a sun and cloud formation like this before. I could see something falling from the sky but couldn’t tell if it was rain, snow or hail. In hndsight I should have known it wasn’t rain, there were remanence of ice on the road and top of the hill.
At this point I should also have decided if I wanted to ride that direction home or figure out an alternative route. At my current location it would mean possible an additional 30 mile detour.
If I were to be in this situation again my thought process would be to avoid the snow, hail and slush road conditions at all cost. Find another route home or wait it out somewhere nice and warm.
During the winter months I’ll take a glance at the tires to and from work. This time of the year the roads are muddy and wet and lately when I look at the tires they are covered in dirt or mud.
The treads are worn through so bad it a freakin’ hazard to be riding on it. The front tire is not bad and can easily see the tire wear.
Lesson learned, take the time and wipe down the tires for inspection. I noticed the loss of traction on the mountain curves as I would occasionally slide.
If I were doing a Centramatics commercial this would be a good sample. I took the rubber down to nothing and still no cupping. The tire looks balance.
To add insult to injury, I ran over a small nail at some point.
The previous owner must have had used an impact wrench that had way more torque then the electrics and air Mac Tool impact wrenches I have. The Mac Tool impact wrench has taken out every bolt or nut I’ve thrown at it. Not this time.
I had to use a 4 foot extension breaker pipe to release the lug nut. That sucker was on tight. I’m not sure if the previous owner felt additional torquing was needed to sandwich Centronics balancer in securely.
Since I no longer have a bike jack I had to remove the rear plastic fairing piece, support cross bar and the reposition the amplifier housing to make room for the wheel removal.
It’’s not too bad of a job. The Centronics balancer has to be removed and installed first when taking the wheel off and then back on.
Maintenance Note: rear tire replaced at 41,088 miles.
The weather forecast is showing rain and possible snow tonight and the morning hours when I leave for work.
This should make an interesting ride if it all comes about. I’ll take photos and a video.
I ordered a set of Dunlop Elite 4’s. These are the set I’m currently riding on. I’m having good wear life on so far I figured I’d keep it the same.
The wear bars in the case of the Dunlops are “wear holes”. These don’t have the traditional rubber bar in the threads. I have a few miles left on mine, I’ll take the tires down a bit more before having it replaced with the new set.
