2009 Riding Goals, cont.

One idea for a trip hubby and I are batting around is to visit his folks who live near Albuquerque. That is an 8 hour drive so if we took a full week off to take our time getting there, have time to visit and also have time to ride, that would be really fun. His father rides a Harley Fatboy. That would be really fun to ride with him and even more fun if his sister and brother in law went with us. I should send them an email to put the bug in their ear.

This morning I thought a trip to Telluride, CO could be fun too. It is really pretty there and a good destination town.

2009 Riding Goals

I like creating goals for myself. It gives me something to plan for and look forward to and also helps keep those plans fresh in my mind if I think of them often enough or write them down. The memory just ain't what it used to be. Now that it is nearly February, I'm starting to think of what goals I want to set for myself this season. Last year was a mountain pass, which was unsuccessful. So, that is still on the list. I want to do the same ride we attempted last year through Rocky Mountain National Park. This time we should attempt it earlier in the season and earlier in the day. And we can make the loop from Estes Park, over Trail Ridge Road (one pass) to Grand Lake, down to Granby, over Berthoud Pass (#2) on Hwy 40, to Hwy 6 back home. After the attempt into Rocky last time, hubby mentioned this plan might be better so we don't backtrack and can cover more ground. I like it.

Other goals? I'm still working on them. Probably something to do with the parts bike. I should start that process before the season starts up again. Perhaps after football season is officially over on Sunday. :-) We bought a small lift table so I'd at least like to get one of the engines out of one of the frames so I can start working on it. I think we decided to go with the 86 parts bike first because we don't know if that engine runs and it already has the carbs and most other parts already off of it. That bike is titled too so it will be the runner eventually.

I'd also like to do an overnight longish trip this season. Not sure where or when yet. I'll have to work on that idea a bit. Maybe camping, maybe not. I'm open to suggestions.

Inconspicuous rider

On the way home tonight, I was behind this guy on, I think, a dirt bike who was nearly invisible. So, I took some video of him. Coincidentally, I was listening to the Long Way Down soundtrack and I don't know how to turn off the audio on my camera so, there is some nicely timed music in the background.



I have never seen video of myself on the bike at night but folks have told me I am very reflecty and clearly seen. I've got an extra brake light, light colored reflective clothing, white helmet, and lots of reflective stickers on my helmet, saddle bags, and the bike. Some day I'll have hubby film me so I can see myself.

Motorcycle Parking pass

So, I bought a 3 month parking pass for my car since it is January and because the two snowiest months in Colorado are March and February. I thought it might be a good idea to just cough up the cash (or plastic) and not have to worry about parking off campus for the next few months. (I should be riding the bus, but whatever.) Anyway, of course, secretly my plan was to jinx the weather and have some good riding days. It worked! I rode the past two days (when temps were in the 70s) and even on the MLK holiday with hubby. (Yay!) It is supposed to snow by Friday and go back to normal temps in the 40s. So because I rode to work, I had to park on campus so I ended up buying a motorcycle parking pass earlier than planned. It expires in August. It isn't any cheaper to buy more months, the monthly price is the same. But the thing that rubs me the wrong way is now I have shelled out lots of cash (or plastic) to park two different vehicles. With the car, I have the option to buy a day pass or week pass or by the month or however many multiple months I want. With the moto it is not as varied. My options are basically three months or 6 months or the whole year. That's it. I can't ride every now and then because I can't park without a sticker. Now, if I was paying to park my car through the whole year, and they were making automatic deductions from my bank account for it, I could get a free moto parking pass. But, that doesn't help me. I don't drive often enough during moto season to feel inclined to spend the $40 per month. Especially when the moto is only $14 per month (although I think it goes up a dollar or so every July).

But, now I've got the moto pass so I can take advantage of the warm days as they come. And I should really just ride the bus on other days anyway. I'm just too lazy to do it.

Wrenching continued...

So, I removed a few parts from the bike on Saturday. In addition to the tank, we removed the exhaust pipes and were able to take a better look at them. Not too bad all things considered. I few smallish dents and some rust but no holes of pinching or anything that would prevent them from being useful. That's good because I needed them. The 86 parts bike didn't have useful pipes. They were cut by the PO. I also removed the battery and the battery box and cover. I took off the broken rear signal stems and threw them away. We tried to remove the tool box but it looks like you have to remove the air filter case before you can do that. I think that was it. Maybe next time I'll see about removing the headlight and some of the front end bits.

I'll still need to get new handlebars but that's ok because I want to put straighter ones on the "new" bike and the grip heaters. The stock bars on this 87 parts bike are bent from the accident. The 86 parts bike had the style of bars I want but those are bent as well. I think I'll need risers with this new Tank gas tank too. It is much wider than the 450 tank.

This morning...

we woke up to this:


And it is still coming down.

Wrenching

Today we took the tank off the wrecked 450 parts bike to see how the new Tank gas tank would fit and look on it. It is hard to say since the wrecked bike is quite bent. But, I think hubby wasn't discouraged about it fitting so that's a good thing. He's the one who will be modifying it to make it work. Here are some shots I took of the two tanks. I didn't take any shots of it on the bike. The Rebel gas cap fits. That's convenient.

more Tank parts

This is becoming quite annoying. So, when I last talked to the parts person at Tank, I asked about the cover that goes over the speedo and attaches to the tank. She apparently thought I meant the clear cover that goes over the speedo to cover the numbers and gauges. So, when she said that was being sold as one piece, I thought she meant the cover (or dash) and she thought I meant the little glass or plastic cover on the speedo itself. So, I still don't have the part I need. I'm beginning to wonder if I ever will because she didn't seem to know which part I was talking about. She is supposed to be checking into it this morning and calling me back. We shall see.

This is so frustrating. But I do have the speedo now. All I am missing is the dash cover to attach it to the tank.

New Tank Pics

The new tank is here! The new tank is here! Had a bit of a scare at first. See the hole in the box? Well it turned out to be ok. That was the crappiest packing job I've ever seen. The tank was wrapped in one sheet of foam and put in the box. The box was barely even taped closed. Yikes. But, it turned out to be ok thank goodness. I guess that's how they keep prices down. And you really do get what you pay for.



There is a bit of rust on the bottom which is quite annoying. But, the plans are to paint it so c'est la vie. Anyway, here it is in all of its glory. :-) Not bad for a brand new $90 tank. I'm very happy with it and am looking forward to getting it painted.

Yay!!

Delivered!

The new tank shows as delivered when I track the package. Woo hoo! The speedo and cover hasn't shipped yet but that's ok. I wasn't planning to hook everything up right away anyway. Still have to do some maintenance to the rest of the bike. I did get an estimate for the paint job via email. That's the first one I've looked into so we'll see.

New Tank on the way

So, I ordered the Tank brand gas tank for my Rebel. A few folks on the Rebel Board have said this tank is a perfect fit for the 250 Rebel. And there is a tutorial on how to adapt the 250 tank to the 450. So, that's the plan. The Tank gas tank (I know, very confusing) is slightly bigger than the Rebel gas tank. Not by much (0.5 gal) but every little bit helps. :-)

When I first ordered the tank, I wanted to get the one with the built in speedo. But when I looked for the speedo parts it was showing out of stock. So, I ordered a gas gauge cover from a different model bike hoping it would fit. When I called to check (you have to order online but have to call to get questions answered) I was told they were not compatible so I told them to cancel the gas gauge. Turns out they didn't because I got an email saying both had shipped. So, I called again this morning and they are sending me a return label so I can send it right back. But, the very helpful parts lady informed me that they were not getting in more speedo covers because they are going to sell the complete set - speedo and cover. So, I ordered one of those.

The price for the brand new gas tank - $102.08 with shipping. The price for the speedo and cover - $29.58 with shipping. :-) That's not bad for brand new stuff. Stay tuned for more!