This was a couple of hours yesterday

That's the chain slider that goes around the swingarm on the bike.  Which announced it was done when I was backing into the driveway and that lower portion fell off.

Yeah, that's what I'd ordered from the parts place.  Less of a pain to replace than I'd feared, but still took a while, as I'm not that good at kneeling and rolling around on the driveway anymore.

A chain slider on the bike broke the other day

So I went looking for parts, and during this it hit me that the Honda is 20 years old, and aside from general maintenance and personal mods, it's still original.

That make those suckers well.

It's been a nice couple of days,

and one of them involved riding the bike*.  Which was nice.  And that new front tire (Michelin Pilot Road 4) is great.

If hadn't needed to carry some stuff that wouldn't fit on the back seat, would've ridden today, too.  But tomorrow is coming.

Crap, seems like I've got a lot to do.

Yesterday was fun

Along with the normal stuff I had to get a new tire for the bike, and son has the machine for changing that, so a short trip was made and the new tire put on the rim.

I knew the old was bad, but when real pressure was put on it to break the bead loose, jeez, little cracks all over.  If I'd realized it was that bad I'd have done it a fair while ago.

But I got to visit and pet the dogs, so it worked out.

This is not good for BMW

BMW Motorrad North America has apparently issued a stop-sale order and asked its United States-based dealers to stop selling all new, internal combustion-powered BMW motorcycles. At least two dealers have confirmed that during a recent Skype call, BMW Motorrad North America put the stop-sale order in place. It’s not yet clear whether the stop-sale order also affects Canada.

According to one dealer, BMW North America said that the issue stems from an emissions canister component provided by a non-BMW supplier. However, a different dealer couldn’t confirm that the stop-sale order resulted from a supplier-provided part and suggested that it could be something entirely different.

Holy crap, a steam-engine powered motorcycle!

That's... amazing.

Being able to use the knee well enough to

get down in the driveway and back up, some long overdue maintenance on the bike was done.  Because they way things are, I'd rather keep a paid-for bike and save some on gas than sell it.

So oil & filter changed, which with a bike like this means taking half the fairing off.  Two other things kept it from being done before now:
Finding the oil I needed(the filter was no problem), and
Getting son to swing by and put it on the center stand.  Which I wasn't willing to try yet.
I found out that the oil I usually use isn't being produced through the end of the year due to some of the supply crap, so a good substitute was found, should do nicely.

And I really need to give it a bath, after all the rain and dust and such the past while.  And check the tires again, I forgot that yesterday.  

The knee is progressing.  The part that's a bit of a problem for riding* is bending that leg enough to get on the footpeg; can be done but that last few degrees is still stiff.  And I can mow and such now.  This afternoon is going to involve celebrating(that's my excuse) by throwing some ribs in the smoker; I lucked into some the other day with 'reduced for quick sale' that made them affordable.  What doesn't get eaten the next few days will be frozen for later enjoyment.

I put some loads together for testing in the .45-70, really want to get to the range and try them.  But that'll require it not trying to drown the region, and a day with enough time.  It'll be a while before the mould arrives and I have some of the new bullets.

*Aside from if the surgeon found out I was riding some he'd probably excrete a brick.

I'd been looking at selling my bike,

since, due to the back and joint problems, something with a more upright seating position would be better.

Looking at the current situation, I think I'll keep it.  I wouldn't take it on long trips(me trouble, not it), but it's paid for and runs great.  And looking at what prices on good used as well as new bikes are likely to do...

Because it was a nice day and I couldn't not try,

I rode the bike today.  Only about ten miles total, but by the time I got home the hip was telling me to knock it off.

We'll see how it goes in the future.

One of the fun things about this back problem

is this:
I'd been thinking about selling my bike- a sport-touring type- and finding something with a more upright seating position, because this one has started to really bother my legs on long rides.

Now I'm wondering if that, or if it'll be 'Get rid of the bike entirely, because I won't be able to ride worth a damn anymore.'

The physical therapist I've been working with says not to do anything permanent yet, because she thinks I've improved quite a bit and might be in pretty good riding shape by the end(in somewhere between 1 and several more months).    We'll see.

Dammit, I hate it sitting in the garage, not being ridden.

436 miles there and back,

average mileage 46.5 per gallon.  Including some around-town riding at the far end.

Not bad.  And the final hundred miles was right at 50mpg.

And I need to clean my helmet,

and wash the bike

Bike needed new front brake pads

Manual says "Push the caliper against the rotor to force the pistons back in."

The hell it does.

Few days ago

rolled the bike out, because the next couple of days would be good riding weather.

Find nail in back tire.

Hunt around, find new tire, get installed.

This morning, drop tire gauge.  Then find it's reading wonky. 

Joy.

It was a couple of days ago, but still:

if I ever meet whoever set up the way headlight lamps are to be changed on my bike, I may hurt them.

One day about twenty years ago

I was riding down the street and saw smoke up ahead. On the other side of the intersection I was going through was a bike in the turn lane, burning, a car stopped a ways down, and the rider laying in the street between with a couple of people standing to keep traffic away from him. Yeah, that gets your attention.

I have no idea how many times I've nearly been sideswiped by someone not paying attention, or looking but not seeing, or with a phone in their hand.  The assholes who think the stop sign or red light doesn't apply to them.  The asshats who think the whole road belongs to them.

I really like riding, and I'm not planning to give it up.  But you damned well better have your head on a swivel in any traffic, and use your mirrors, and watch for the assholes who think their conversation or text is far more important than what else is on the road.

I've met people who'd love an electric bike:

no oil changes, no shifting and so forth.  If they can get the range to 100 miles minimum*, even in bad weather conditions, and can keep the price reasonable, they just might sell a lot of these.


But back to my original question, because it really matters to me. Just who does the left think should march into cities like St. Paul, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Atlanta, Dallas, Baltimore, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York, and take the guns away from the gang bangers. Just how would that be accomplished without a massive loss of life? Does anybody really think that a phalanx of body-armored paramilitary police can accomplish this in even one city?

Of course not. The goal is for conservative, legal gun owners to comply with “law and order” and do as they’re asked, while the illegal guns stay on the street.
Some of these idiots actually seem to think the bad guys will obey this law, even if they keep breaking the others; the rest are like the Chicago aldermen who pass these laws and then work to make sure their voters aren't screwed with by the cops.


And every time someone with OBLM starts the "We are for peace, we don't want violence!", a goodly number of their own members prove them wrong.

I'm sure someone will inform us that while it's ok for them to condemn all gun owners because cop-killer in Dallas, it's very bad to act like OBLM has any connection to their own members doing crap like this.


Apparently that socialism thing doesn't work well in France, either.
France’s employment minister Michel Sapin has admitted the country is “totally bankrupt”.

The unexpected news came during a radio interview yesterday and is thought to have sent the country’s business leaders into a state of shock.


This... oh, lots of people I have to annoy with this:
Germany’s legislature voted Friday to sharply cut back on subsidies and other financial incentives supporting green energy due to the strain wind and solar power placed on the country’s electricity grid.

Germany’s government plans to replace most of the subsidies for local green energy with a system of competitive auctions where the cheapest electricity wins. The average German pays 39 cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity due to intense fiscal support for green energy. The average American only spends 10.4 cents per kilowatt-hour.
...
The amount of money flowing into European green energy from governments and the private sector collapsed from $132 billion in 2011 to $58 billion last year, according to a May report by a British auditing firm. Green energy’s failure to meet reliability and cost goals were the primary reasons for declining investment. Europe has poured $1.2 trillion into the green energy industry to fight global warming, but its CO2 emissions and power bills just keep rising.
And this. This is priceless:
Nuclear power made up 29.5 percent of Germany’s energy in 2000. The share dropped down to 17 percent in 2015, and by 2022 the country intends to have every one of its nuclear plants shutdown. This shift caused Germany’s CO2 emissions to actually rise by 28 million tons each year after Germany’s nuclear policy changed.

Nuclear power’s decline has created an opening for coal power, according to a Voice of America article published in November. Coal now provides 44 percent of German electricity.
Green Energy: so bad they had to move back to coal...



*Yes, I know, "Lots of people don't ride that far in a day!"  True enough.  I like having a cushion, and the capability to take off somewhere if I want.

I have a strange desire for one of these

No money for it, or place to keep it, but yeah, I want one.

A milestone passed!

Well, I rolled the bike out of the garage, anyway.  First time in more than a month.  So I could start it.  Turned the key, pushed the button, and on the third crank it fired and ran normally(yay modern engineering!  Yay battery tender!  Yay Sta-Bil!).  And, it being Sunday morning and almost no traffic, after it warmed up I pulled on the helmet(interesting with about 1.3 arms) and gloves, and rode it.

Mind you, had to give my right arm a slight boost to get it on the grip(think Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein), and I wouldn't have even thought about it if there'd been any real traffic(among other things, if various people had known they'd have thrown fits).  But a mile down the road, then back, had it a full operating temp for a bit, and cleaned the dust off while it cooled.

It's back in the garage now.  But it felt really good to ride, even a short hop like that.

On my latest graceful moment,

it was taking something off a shelf when a piece of steel bar- with, of course, a sharp(very) corner, that should not have been there, pulled off the shelf.  And fell corner-first(of course) on my foot.  Giving me a hole in my shoe and a very interesting hole in the side of one toe.

Which, of course, bled like a punctured bag, leading to a trip to medical assistance which resulted in stitches.
Me: Here's what happened, I think it's going to take a couple of stitches.
Doc, after looking it over: I concur with your diagnosis.

Which I determined, barring collapse, was not going to prevent taking care of a matter, said matter resulting in 471 miles in the saddle over the weekend.  The good thing: once up to speed all the foot had to do was sit there, so it worked out.  Aside from the dehydration, etc.*

Anyway, all that stuff's taken care of.  Happily before today, as between the temp and humidity, well, I'd rather stand over a forge again than try to ride any real distance today.

Speaking of, the bike in travel trim:

 Hard saddlebags would be nice, but do you know what the damn things cost?



*Highway speeds on a bike in current weather conditions just sucks moisture out of you

Henry was not wearing a helmet.

Yeah, Lieutenant, that made a BIG difference, I'm sure.