If you said, "A song by the Young Rascals, 1968, on the album Time Peace: The Rascal's Greatest Hits, and the song reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100," you get 25 bonus points. Partial credit will be given for partial correct answers.
Yes, it is a beautiful morning here in the desert: 70º at 7:30 am. Murphy was enjoying time outside...
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Wasn't meant to be...
Since it was a refreshingly cool morning, I thought it would be good to get out for a ride. And, maybe take the HoverAir X1 Pro along... in case there wasn't much traffic on the mountain, I could see how it would do following the bike on a twisty road.
I put a 360 camera on one of the bike mounts, connected the beacon from the HoverAir to the bike, geared up, and hit the starter... it clicked. I have had the Battery Tender on the Suzuki, but I was planning to take the CTX today. I got out the jumper battery and the bike fired right up.
Joan was going to close the garage door for me, but when I got on the bike, she said, "Wait a minute! There's something under your bike!"
She pulled out this...
I have been all over this bike at different times, but I don't recall seeing a bolt this size. A definite WTF moment! Joan brought out a mirror and I started looking all over the bike... nothing looks out of place. It is somewhere in size between the large bolts for the swing-arm, and the bolts I used to install the center stand.
No way was I taking this bike out and running it on twisty roads until I could determine where this bolt goes. I rolled the bike out into the driveway, where I could get plenty of light on it. Crawled all over the bike, and... nothing looks out of place. I looked around the Suzuki, which is parked next to the CTX. Nothing. I put the garage door down and looked at all the bolts on the tracks and the opener. Nothing.
With the plan of getting out for a ride put off, I put on full armor gear and took the bike for a "test ride" around the neighborhood. Nothing unusual. Yeah, the creeps me out and certainly doesn't instill confidence it taking the bike out.
So... no ride today.
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I would like to say I found where the bolt was missing, but Joan is more nimble and flexible than I am - she is my hero. It is from the centerstand I installed 3 years ago. I ran to Ace Hardware and picked up another nut (nyloc this time and Lock-tite added). I picked up some irrigation line stoppers for Joan while I was there.
Back home, I got the necessary wrenches and the Lock-tite out, and slithered as far under the bike as I could. Joan took some photos...
Time and grunting - it is in a place where I can't see it, so working by feel. It is up close to the exhaust pipe, so an open wrench is the only way to turn the nut, and enough room for a 1/4 turn at a time. I could say I was patient, but that would be a big fat lie - my neck and back were hurting from the position, but I didn't want to have to mess with this again. It just takes time.
A very sincere thanks to my Honey for finding the spot where that bolt belongs!
1 comment:
At least Murphy had a good morning outside. I hate it when stuff like that happens. One has to depend on their equipment. As I've gotten older, the soreness hits on day #2, not the next day after the wrenching. Good luck!
Light rain here today and a high of 78°. More rain coming throughout the week, with cooler temps too. No highs above 72° for the next week. Yay!
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