BikeBandit Daily Deals and Tires and Tubes on SALE!

Just a quick post, as I saw a great Daily Deals e-mail from BikeBandit this morning.  The latest street riding gear is on sale-some up to 43% off.    The specific Daily Deal is a Scorpion EXO 500 helmet for only $139.95 with free shipping, like all BikeBandit orders over $99.

Also they are running great deals on tires and tubes, so if you need some new tires for late fall and winter riding, or new tubes and tires for your dirt and dessert tires now that those seasons are upon us, click on one of my links to visit BikeBandit, check out the deals, and help out my affiliate marketing program with them.  You can also pick up shop tools for your garage and parts needed for that next round of motorcycle maintenance you know you're going to have to do sometime soon.

Have a great weekend with family, friends and riding!  I know I am.

"Belle of the Ball" my 1994 Connie back on the road and turning into Frankenbike

Necessity is the mother of invention, and also sometimes the motivation for motorcycle repairs.  I've been slowly restoring my 1994 Concours.  It's definitely been more "slowly" than "restoring".  Well, recently my 1986 Connie suffered some electrical issues and my truck stopped running right (probably fuel delivery, but possibly carbs).  So I moved some parts back to the 94, put other parts back on, and got it running right.  Tonight I rolled "Belle" over 15,000 miles.  Yep, a 1994 with not even 1,000 miles per year, when some folks do Iron Butts on these bikes and rack up 1000 miles in a day!

The bike is known as "Belle" as right now she is nowhere near the Belle of the Ball as there are missing and cracked parts, road rash on the belly pan, missing bolts on the windshield.  To top that off, I'm using a red 1984 gas tank on a purple and grey bike.  And it's going to get worse before it gets better.  You see, the Concours main fairing is notorious for cracking around the turn signals, and this one is no exception.  Matter of fact, the 1994 main fairing is so bad both turn signals are held in by epoxy.  Well, were held in-the left one fell out last ride (back in August).  Fortunately it fell back into the bike as the wiring held it on.  Duct tape didn't work, so I checked out the old parts Connie main fairing I had kept.  Not only does it have the least damage of any of the three mains I have, it even has the turn signal screws in the threaded posts!  Woo hoo.  I'm going to clean it up and move everything from the main fairing on Belle to this one.  So I'll basically use parts from 3 Connies to make one-but when this Frankenbike is finished, I'll have one of the lowest mileage Concours C10s on the road!

Quick update related to yesterday's post and time to do some BikeBandit shopping

Yesterday I FINALLY got back in the wind and it had probably been over a month since I have ridden.  I sold my Sportster earlier this year, had the 1994 Connie apart for restoration, and then lost the headlight on the 86 Connie.  So I started troubleshooting the 86 but couldn't solve the problem quickly, as I detailed in earlier posts about electrical gremlins.  I was going to scavenge parts from the 94, but that didn't work either.  Short on time and traveling for work, I began using my truck.  One week turned into two, into more work travel and next thing I know I hadn't ridden in far too long.  Monday my truck decided to also not run right (it's old, carbs still aren't quite set-up right, blah blah blah) and I had to get something else on the road.

So I did, and riding yesterday was great!  Sure some of it was riding in evening rush hour traffic, but at least I was on a bike!  Being in California, I also could "filter" or lane-split/share, a huge benefit both time and sanity wise.  Having not ridden I am adding a few extra miles to rides even.

With all that said, I realized I haven't changed the oil in "Belle" the 94 since I bought her in February and have no idea how long the oil was in the bike before that.  I need a filter and some parts for the CB 750 project bike, so I'll be on BikeBandit later today getting some motorcycle maintenance supplies.  I'm looking to do a Concours oil change, re-assemble the Honda CB750 as a rolling chassis at a minimum.  Depending on time and having another strong back to help I may even re-install the engine.  But I also want to ride!

Keep it dirty side down-or if you run rat bikes or beater-style, dirty side up and down!

Two Connies to make one

Today I'm riding the 1994 Concours (aka Connie) for the fourth time since buying it earlier this year.  It's slowly getting restored, but last night I had to press it into service.  I still haven't tracked down the electrical gremlin on the 86 and my shop truck, the 1975 C-10 stepside started acting up.  The truck lost power going up hill under a heavy load, including almost stalling out while headed uphill on a freeway.

So last night I moved some parts back to the '94 I had moved to the '86 for troubleshooting, re-installed some fairing pieces and tried to fire the bike up.  At first it wasn't getting gas, as the carbs had sat since August.  Soon some fuel was flowing and after a minute or two of rough running the bike started idling.  I put the seat on, rolled it off the lift, got the safety gear and took it out for both a short test ride and a tank of fresh gas-in the '86s red tank!  So I'm running around in a partially "naked" (i.e. no mid and lower fairings-those are still being prepped for paint) Concours with mostly purple and silver bodywork but with a red tank.  But it runs safely and I'm on the road!

Ride safe!