Rockerbox, etc.

Posted: August 17th, 2009 | Author: ccollins | Filed under: General, Motorcycle | Tags: Calendar, Friends, Motorcycle | 2 Comments »

Saturday

8:00 – wake up to the delectible smell of french toast (freedom toast) cooking. After splitting my first helping with the Boy, I eat my fill and check the IM logs and email. Gotta figure out where I’m meeting Mike.

10:40 – Family leaves to go to  a gymnastics event for the Girl. They’re going to stop on Wisconsin Ave on the way and watch all of the bike go by on the way to Rockerbox.

11:30 – Final check on the bike, and noticed some issues, Missing a screw on one cover, and a spring on the clutch lever seems to have broken… not show stoppers, but more things to fix. Off to get gas and meet Mike at Stone Creek Coffee.

12:10 – Finish iced coffee and apple and head out.

12:30 – Arrive at Rockerbox. My family met us down there which was very cool. They had actually already been around the grounds once, but with more bikes arriving every minute, they wer not opposed to going around a few more times.

There were so many awesome bike there. Honestly, I simply forgot to take pictures! Luckily, Mike took a bunch, and even though we didn’t actually hook up with Frankie, He got a bunch of good shots as well.

3:00 – Eat a quick and awesome lunch with the family at the Stonefly

3:30 – Family bugs out for home (the kids were pretty wiped by then.)

4:00 – Bumped into Emmet and Larry. We talked for a while and Mike gave Emmet the very short version of an idea we’ve got percolating.

4:30 – Once last pass down the street with a stop to check out the 1920-something Sunbeam (Sweet!) and Mike and I head home… It was an awesome day!

Sunday

11:00 – Head in to work to get some stuff wrapped up for Monday. I should have looked at the weather report, because there were some big storms on the horizon.

1:00 – Thunderstorms. Dang.

4:00 – T-Storms have subsided for the moment, and I decided to try and make it home before they picked up again. My rear tire is pretty bald, and I don’t want to be caught out in the weather if I can avoid it.

4:15 – Break hard at Teutonia and Bradley Rds., slide a little, and then stop, but in the process my chain pops off. Double-dang!

4:20 – Chain is back on and I take it easy they rest of the way home.

The way I figure it, three issues I knew I had conspired to bench my bike until repairs can happen:

1. Bald rear tire. When the rear tire started to slide, the rear brake basically locked up.
2. Worn rear brake shoes. The front of the bike was stopping solidly, but with the rear brakes so worn, it was hard to feel when they would bite down. Apparently, I hit them harder than I should have, so the back started to slide and basically tried to get in front of the rest of the bike.
3. Stretched out chain. Unusual pressure from the locked rear brake, engine alternately trying to pull the rear wheel along, and the letting go (as I squeezed the clutch), combined with a slight sideways jerk as the rear tire regained some traction popped the chain off.

The result, in any case, is that I won’t be riding again until I get the tire, chain and brakes replaced. This sucks a bit, but it was a good reminder not to let things go “a little longer.”

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