I have been traveling for work almost every day for the past four weeks, and the one afternoon I was home was one of the rare Southern California rainy days. So for nearly 30 days I hadn't ridden. I had visited a Polaris shop, talked bikes with a few of our students and even received some replacement parts for the new-to-me 1994 Kawasaki Concours. But I hadn't ridden. Yesterday I pumped up the older Connie's tires, checked the fluids, rolled her out of the garage and tried to fire her up. True to form she was a little hard to start, but since it's nearly summertime tempuratures here already she fired up on the third try and soon was idling nicely. I let the Connie warm up a little bit longer than usual and was off. The improvised bracket my buddy Glen and I made is holding up nicely-I'll probably pull it off when I move the tank to the 94 Connie for test rides and plasti-coat it, but for now that motorcycle repair worked well. I rode on a few errands and took the long way home to my short twisty road "run" I do just to get some non-highway miles in as well. I rode about 50 miles which was a good break-in ride after that much time off.
I've got a number of projects-both motorcycle maintenance and motorcycle repair-awaiting me. The replacement parts I bought off of the Concours forum (a great resource for Connie owners) have been sitting in the garage. I opened the box tonight and the front brake system looks great at first glance. The centerstand is in much better shape than the one on the '94 Connie but not a priority. If you've ever put a full-size sport-tourer on a centerstand you'll know why! I'll likely do that project as "mechanical fellowship" with Glen.
The next project will be a new front tire for the old Connie. The parts are on order from BikeBandit and should be here by the time we're ready to do the project. My local indy shop where I have tires mounted and balanced isn't open tomorrow, so that motorcycle maintenance project is awaiting both the tire and the shop being open. No rush as the current front probably has 500 miles plus left on it and I won't get to ride that much until this weekend at the earliest.
Other repairs need to be done to the bodywork on the older Connie, but that can wait. I also need to service the Harley Sportster's K&N air filter, but the bike is out on loan right now for a friend who is rebuilding his bike's clutch. I am in no rush to get it back what with these projects and also getting some riding in!
I'll post some pics and maybe a video or two to my YouTube channel, where there are a few motorcycle maintenance videos already. And the Joe Namath/C.C. Ryder sandwich intro scene from C.C. and Company, probably my favorite biker exploitation movie! Check it out if you get a chance.
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