Well, it’s a cold crisp late November morning (4C or about 38 deg. F) and I am a proud Canadian, so what else to do but go out and ride for a few hours in the “fresh” autumn breezes! The destination today is a fish & chips diner in the picturesque village of Erieau (pronounced Eeree-oh) which is about 100 km or 62 miles from my home. I’ll be meeting my riding buddies Lakeview, TotalFool and Charlie.
I decided that I feel a bit less....Teutonic... today and since the meal is going to be fish, I am taking my darling Lucille (1976 XS650C)
this morning. As I tossed and turned last night trying to sleep, I made a mental list of the maintenance tasks that I needed to accomplish this morning:
- check the oil;
- check the various nuts and bolts;
- check all of the lights, turn signals (aka “indicators”) and horn;
- make sure the battery tender has the battery fully charged (Lucille hasn’t run since Sept.);
- check the clutch, throttle, tach and speedometer cables for snug fittings and free movement;
- turn on the petcocks for a moment and make sure that the carb needles and floats aren’t going to spoil my day (this is Lucille we’re talking about ya know...);
- check the tire pressures (it is pretty danged cold out there and air shrinks in the cold);
- check the drive chain tension and lubricate it;
- etc.
So, I got up early and went out to the Disaster Central Workshop and got to work. I had a knee replacement a while back and so getting up and down is easier than it was, but it’s still no picnic so I left the drive chain adjustment for last. I gathered the necessary tools and a nice new cotter pin (aka “
split pin”), dropped my snazzy red shop cushion onto the floor, plopped down on my sitter and got busy.
Everything went fine, the chain is in good shape and only needed a little adjustment and all looked good (and yes, I know that the bike is a bit dusty and grimly - but that’ll come later), until this happened.....
Try as I might, I could not get that danged wrench (aka “
spanner”) off until I removed the cotter pin. Odd....but again, this is Lucille we’re dealing with here.
Anyhow, I hope to take some photos and provide a bit of a trip report later.
Have a safe, healthy and happy day everyone!
Pete