Motorcycle Maintenance Do It Yourself

Doing maintenance on your bike can save you money and be enjoyable too. Some regular maintenance doesn't require advanced skills or knowledge. Youtube is a great resource for step by step instruction.  I recommend starting with changing oil and oil filter on your bike. The investment in tools is minimal. All you need is an open end wrench (specific size for your drain plug) to remove the drain plug, a oil filter wrench, a container to drain the used oil into and a funnel to add the new oil. You may want to purchase a service manual for your bike, especially if you want to try additional maintenance projects. Other possible beginner maintenance would be checking air pressure in your tires. Make sure you purchase a good tire gauge and if you want  an inexpensive air compressor will allow you to do this at your home. Lubricating cables, cleaning brake rotors and brake shoes are other simple tasks. If your cycle has a chain drive, cleaning, lubricating and tightening your chain are also beginner projects. Tightening your chain would require you to purchase a torque wrench to assure you tighten the rear axle to required specifications.

I think the next project could be replacing your tires. This would require purchasing about $200 in tools. You would need specific socket wrenches, torque wrench, valve stem remover, tire irons, rim protectors, bead breaker and wheel balancing stand. In my area it costs $50 per tire to have this done at a bike shop, so you will recoup your investment very quickly. There are good Youtube videos that you can watch to help you decide, if you want to tackle this project. I have been doing my own tires for 8 years and although it is a bit of work and wrestling with getting tires on and off I enjoy it. Below are a few pictures to give you some idea of the process. I forgot to take a picture of my balancing axle I use, which I purchased a Aerostitch of Duluth. Other maintenance projects that I do are brake pad replacement, valve adjustment, cable replacement, battery care and cooling system care.    

New Tire ready to ride

Ready to  install

Rear wheel off, center stand or jack required to remove the wheel

Removing old well worn tire

Using tire irons and rim protectors to remove old tire

Bead breaker

THE DEFLATING WINTER MONTHS

Winter is a season I enjoy. I like snow and many of the winter sports, but as a motorcyclist the winter months take a toll on my body. Many people gain weight in the northern states during the winter. 

Inactivity and additional eating due to boredom are contributing factors, but many avid motorcyclists actually loose weight during the winter months. The Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota recently published their study on  Motorcyclist's Winter Weight Loss. The study showed that 60% of their test group of avid motorcyclists lost between 6 - 25% of their total body weight. The average weight loss was 11%! It appears that there are subtle changes in the motorcyclists brain chemistry which affect the appetite and the metabolism. The riders craved raw vegetables and plain yogurt and lost interest in fatty foods, unhealthy snacks and red meat. "This combined with an increase in their metabolic rate caused substantial weight loss," explained Dr. Toldyaso. This unusual medical malady is being called The Flat Tire Syndrome, since the majority of the test subjects had rather large "spare tires" at the beginning of the study. "For many people this weight loss is a  benefit, but for people who are average or below average in their weight range this syndrome can become a serious medical issue," explained Dr. Toldyaso . "It appears some who may have more serious cases of the syndrome could lose substantially more weight and this could present a health risk."        

I was wasting away and didn't know it 

This study was eye opening for me, as my wife would often tell me I seem to waste away during the winter months. I usually responded with a smile and a witty comment like " I just feel like being a bunny  rabbit in the winter!" Yesterday she was empathetic that I put on my motorcycle ride wear and lay on the floor so she could take a photo. I was shocked. Well either I need to move to a warmer climate or start riding my cycle all winter.

    

WAITING FOR SPRING

In the northern states, winter can be very hard on bikers. There are only so many bike repairs and upgrades one can do, then it is just a matter of sitting in a rocking chair an waiting for the snow to melt. I have found a few other activities that help pass the time and prepare me for another biking season.

1.  Get a few more tattoos

2.  Grow a beard

3.  Get another piercing

4.  Go on line and find another used sleeveless shirt on E bay

5.  Get some cosmetic surgery.... fight off the grandpa look

6.  Go out in the woods, wrestle down a wolf and pull out one of its teeth

7.  Make a wolf tooth necklace

8.  Watch Motorcycle Jeopardy

9. Learn how to knit

10.  Go to Florida and rent a bike for a week


Well, I've done all of the above and there is still snow on the ground in Northern Minnesota. I'm about ready to go nuts.

THAT DARK TROUBLING DAY

It is ever present on my mind. Living in Northern Minnesota, one knows that very soon the riding season will come to an end. It may be very abrupt with a early snow storm in October or it may be a gradual process with heavy frost in the morning causing the avid biker to wait till mid-morning to ride.

The beautiful Autumn days can lull a biker into a state of mind that dismisses the inevitable approaching winter. The color soaked trees and the unseasonably warm days in the 60's are some of the best riding days of the year.  

Since I am a safety nut who dresses for an accident, temperate weather suites me just fine. On a unseasonably warm day in the summer when bikers are in T- shirts and I have all my Aerostitch gear on and a full face helmet, I'm  quite sure people think "that guy is crazy!" So now that the morning temps are in the 30's, as I ride into town being geared up doesn't look that strange.

This coming week the morning temperatures will be in the low 30's and that introduces the possibility of the roadways having patches of frost especially on freeway overpasses. Riding in the late fall does require discretion and some critical thinking. Sadly I come up short in both areas, so hopefully my wife will intervene when necessary and talk some sense into me.

This year I think I am primed for riding late into the season. I'm not ready to say the season is over, so I expect that I will have some very cold rides and possibly a few on dicey roads. But I doubt I will break my all time record set in 2010 when I rode to work on November 16 in 3 inches of snow. But one never knows.....I am capable of doing stupid things and I really love riding motorcycles!

ASK KICKSTAND

Ask Kickstand is an email advice column dedicated to motorcycle questions. These questions can be technical; regrading mechanical issues, safety related, philosophical, spiritual or relationship issues. 

Disclaimer: Kickstand is not a psychiatrist, a professional mechanic, Motorcycle Safety Trainer, pastor or a social worker. If a reader chooses to follow Kickstand's advice it is with the understanding that neither Kickstand nor the Nobody Motorcycle Club will be held liable.

Dear Kickstand,

I am a middle aged man who is content with my life. I have a good marriage, reasonable job and grown-up children who are doing well. My friends and family see me as a steady dependable person, which I am, but I have a problem. For many years I have been reading motorcycle magazines on the sly. No one, including my wife, has any idea that I have a passion for motorcycles. It really has not caused any problems in my life, until  several months ago. I took my passion to a new level by going to a motorcycle dealership in another town. It was fantastic! My intent was to just stop by and see the real thing. I ended up spending two hours looking at bikes and talking to a sales person. I surprised myself by how much knowledge I had retained from the years of motorcycle reading. I also impressed the sales person. It all seemed so harmless, but the flood gates opened up; I have been going to the dealership weekly,I have taken a the Motorcycle Safety Course and got my licence! Yesterday morning I woke up in my car. I was parked in my driveway and had evidently had a late night at the motorcycle dealership. Thankfully it was Saturday so I wasn't going to be late for work, but I found a key for a motorcycle in my pocket and a purchase agreement. That is when I remembered a little more about  my wild Friday night. I had bought a 2015 Triumph Trophy SE! No regrets about the purchase, but the problem is explaining it to my wife. I have a week until I need to pick up the bike, Financially the purchase is not a problem, so my wife will not be stressed about that. I just don't know how to tell her. I need your help!

Sincerely,

Secret Cycle Lover


Dear Secret Cycle Lover,

First off congratulations on your purchase and your exciting secret life. You have a problem for sure, but the good new is that you have many different options to consider.

1. Hide the bike in the garage for a week then move it into the open. When your wife sees it, simply tell her you have had the bike for a long time and didn't realize  she didn't know about it.

2. Rent a garage near by and never tell her.

3. Hide the bike in the garage and over a period of a month start getting interested in motorcycling. Have your wife go with you to a motorcycle dealership and soften her up to the idea of purchasing a bike.

4. Take some ignition parts out of your cars so they suddenly stop running one Saturday morning and then come to the rescue with The Motorcycle. By the time your have figured out the car problems your wife is crazy about the motorcycle!

5. Grow a beard, let your hair get long and unkempt, and tell your wife you are hanging out at some wild motorcycle bar. Talk about how you think you missed the boat living such a conventional life and that  it is time for you to get a chopper and live on the wild side. She will get concerned and attempt to persuade you to get some professional help. Now you simply need to come to your senses and find a reasonable outlet for this midlife crisis ..... buy a motorcycle and do some touring!

6. Tell her the truth, but in my opinion that is too simple and lack creativity.


Let me know how things go Mr. Lover and I will share it with the hundreds of Nobodies in our club and with the tens of thousands of the blog subscribers.  

RIDING IN A FOG

Our culture generally discourages us from being in a mental state which is unaware of our surroundings. If coworkers and friends describe you as being in a fog, you will  take that as negative feedback. I personally have found such a mental state relaxing and beneficial. I am not talking about a drug induced fog, which I have no interest in, but a fog due to limited interest in the sensory input to the brain. I happen to  be gifted in this area and have an uncanny ability to go there with little effort.

There are times when being in a fog would be ill-advise such as; when using power tools, sharp instruments and shingling a roof (just to name a few). But in my opinion,  the majority of one's waking hours are good times for such a state of mind. Granted my earthly resume may not carry a lot weight for most practical people. I have never been able to hold a job for more that a week. I have been hospitalized on numerous occasions from injuries due to inattentiveness and I am well know to the Duluth police department for holding the record for motor vehicle tickets for moving violations.

That being said, I live a stress free life the majority of the time. Well to be more precise; I live a stress free life while in a fog. It isn't fun when I come out of it and have to deal with all the problems that have mounted up.

If such a life style is appealing to, I have an easy way for you to initiate you new inattentive adventure. Regretfully it is weather dependent. The next foggy day take a ride on your motorcycle. It is best if visibility is less than 100 feet. Don't leave your house with a plan, just start riding. Focus on the fog; it's density, movement, the different layers and varying shades. If you catch yourself drifting off to a mindless state that is a good and bad thing. It is good because  for a moment you allowed yourself to be in a fog, but it is bad because you realized what was happening and regrettably allowed yourself to become self aware again. Don't be discouraged if you continue to catch yourself drifting off. If the fog holds long enough you will eventually spend some time in a mindless state. It may mean that you get very lost or perhaps you crash your motorcycle.

Over time, with much discipline, you will eventually master the art of being in a fog. The process is slow and it may take many foggy day rides to hone your skills. If you don't live in an area that offers numerous foggy days, you may want to consider moving. Duluth is a good choice and it also offers the additional benefit of having a large number of mindless people per capita.        

THE MAKING OF A NOBODY PART II

Very seldom is a motorcycle club willing to disclose any information about the process of becoming a member, but this reporter was given access to such secrets and actually was allowed to participate in each step of the prospecting and initiation. The only stipulation was that all the information shared with the media would be altered enough to be deemed useless.

I was able to follow the process with Banana. Banana was a strapping 63 year old retired executive, who wanted to fade out of the public eye after spending many years in a high profile position. " I was introduced to the Nobodies through a porter at a Hotel I often used when in New York City",explained Banana. "That is when the dream of living in anonymity took seed".  When I first met Banana he was certainly a man of distinction; he was 6' 4"tall, trim and well dressed; his appearance spoke of a person of importance, who upon entering a room would always draw attention. When he was finally given full Nobody privileges after 14 months, he was a nondescript 5' 6" person, who would often be ignored by waitresses and sales people. Observing the transformation was painful for me. Banana was slowly and methodically deconstructed through psychological and physical ordeals. In one exercise he was ignored for a week; deprived of eye contact, food (other than the scraps he was able to find on the floor), clean air, unobstructed vision, clean clothing, hand soap, napkins, dental floss  and lip balm. Towards the end of his prospecting, when the club members decided to call him banana, he was placed in a curved box which was 5' 6" high for 24 hours.

Today Banana is truly a Nobody. " I am free to live!", exclaimed Banana. He has found a new niche in the world where the joy of living and being overlooked coexist.

Ruddy Turnstone
Motorcycle Gazette