Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Ouch! That sounds like a stinger, blues. I doubt if one little red-hot 'smiley' covers it. The manufacturers and dealers stick a siphon in your pocket the moment you buy your bike. It sometimes feels like it, anyway.

You'll need to do some good solid riding in the weeks to come to get over that one, I'm thinking.

Really bad luck.

Take care.

Thanks, SV. I get to pick it up tomorrow. Then I'm off work for three weeks. I'll finish a couple of projects at home and will take a road trip. Maybe a week.

I haven't yet decided where....but when I decide the day is right....I'll pack up and just start riding.

I retrieved my motorcycle on Saturday afternoon. So nice to have it operating properly.

A friend of mine who also rides wanted to go for coffee and a ride. He said he'd meet me at Holeshot. I told him I had to look up bus times and would get back to him for a time. I was hoping he'd offer to give me ride there....

Anyway...I texted back that I had the times of the buses and would see him there at a specific time.

Anyway...taking the bus isn't difficult...it's just not pleasant when you have to carry a big bag of your gear, wear your jacket,carry your helmet, and walk several blocks from the bus to the shop. South of the Fraser as my area is known...has lousy transit compared to North of the Fraser. Less frequency and farther distances.

Anyway...I got my bike and got into my gear...and waited...and waited...and waited...and waited...

The fellow from the shop saw me in a different area of the store and asked with a surprised voice, "Are you still here"?

I said I was waiting for a friend who was tardy.

Well....I waited 40 minutes past the time and sent a text to say I was leaving. Then I left.

I rode into Fort Langley to get some lunch (late) and coffee and water. I had long finished my bottle of water that I had with me. I got into Fort Langley and parked and checked my phone. There was a message from my friend.
He had taken the freeway exit way past where he was supposed to and then when he turned around and came back, he went the north exit instead of the south exit. Incidentally, he has been to this shop several times. Directionally challenged. This is the same person whose sister lives in the boonies. We went to visit her and when leaving, he said he wanted to use his GPS.

We ended up right back in front of her place.

Anyway...as I was sitting having my lunch, I saw him ride past. He took a chance that I may have gone to Fort Langley...he found my bike parked and came into the restaurant....

I guess I am predictable...

He apologized sincerely and said he knew he should have sent a message to let me know he was late. He'll know better if there is ever a next time. He got a coffee and we chatted a while. I asked if he'd like to redeem his transgressions.......

I needed some help to attach a couple of things onto the bathroom walls. I had removed everything (with some help for the big stuff) so the bathroom could get painted. I needed help to get the three-way mirrored cabinet on the wall....it's a 2 person job....he readily agreed to help. So we rode to my place where we got the mirrored cabinet attached, the big flat mirror attached....and while he at it, he also put the hinges back on to the cabinet doors and re-attached them to the cabinet. (I didn't ask him to do those; he just did it. )

I'll go for a short ride once rush hour has eased.

I should be out riding today.... but the warranty company and I have been emailing back and forth....I want to be home to help the process of finding a solution....quickly.

I have scanned and emailed all my documents. They are looking into it.

In the meantime....I'll have a cup of coffee and go water the plants and refill the bird bath. The birds love having a source of water on a hot day.

The warranty company found my contract. The claim has been submitted. Now just waiting to hear whether it's accepted or not.

It has occurred to me that over the few years I have been making entries into this blog, I have made fun of a lot of people I have known. The stories are true, but perhaps I should make fun of myself for a change.

I have done some dumb things, too. They usually occur when I'm tired. I have learned a lot about riding while impaired....impaired does not always mean drinking alcohol. The people with whom I associate never drink if we are riding. Impaired can mean being tired. Impaired can be on medication for a cold. Anything that can cause a lapse in judgement or making slow decisions or having slow reactions is making us impaired.

I stopped riding for a few weeks earlier this year because of a bad shoulder. I knew I couldn't control my bike if I had to have a sudden move or stop. Anyway....I have done dumb things like

Getting off the bike and forgetting to put the kickstand down.

Riding on reserve, filling up the tank and forgetting to put the petcock back to normal. Of course the bike will only ride for a short time before running out of fuel again....I've had to pull over a few times to turn the valve from reserve to on. Now I have a fuel injected machine and there is no reserve to worry about.

I left the switch for the heated grips on...and of course the battery went dead. That was the day I had to suddenly run for the bus.

I was helping a friend who was short of money.... so I let him store his bike in my garage for the winter. So that meant squeezing in a Tenere, my Vulcan, my car...It was the end of a very long day and I was tired....We got the 2 bikes parked and then I backed my car into the garage. Unfortunately I misjudged the width of my car and it scraped against the door jam of the garage. I have a nice white paint decoration on the right rear corner of my car now.

I have learned that if I am feeling fatigued when riding, to go take a break. It helps immensely to take 20 minutes for a walk around and a coffee or juice. Other stupid things happen when I'm tired... like first thing in the morning if I've had a lousy sleep and wake up feeling groggy......

I made a cup of coffee in my espresso maker and forgot to put the cup under.... I stood there watching the coffee flow onto the counter and floor before I could figure out what I had done...

Another time in a groggy state I put the cup upside down under the coffee coming out...again it took a few seconds to realize what was happening. I have a clean floor due to all the wiping up I have to do.

Anyway...I also poke fun at myself when I do dumb things. And..my friends also poke fun at me, too....they just don't happen to write about them.

blues2cruise wrote:So what does a person do when their motorcycle is in the shop and the weather is lousy? Bake and do photography.

I baked cookies to day to take to work tomorrow to share with my co-workers. I got my sewing repair pile done. And cropped a picture and resized for posting....

The colour is real...I just edited out the bad spots and a few stray leaves underneath.

The coral rose.jpg

Love the colour of this rose, do you know the variety?

My dad was the rose king of our neighbourhood, probably had 100 different varieties...

Edit: never mind, I saw the name in the attachment just as I hit submit...

I was away for 5 days. I rode my motorcycle to Shuswap Lake in what is known as the Thompson Columbia region of BC. It's close to 400 miles away.

While I was there, a friend of my hosts came by on their motorcycle. All I could say to myself was, "YIKES". Here is why.
I don't care how hot it gets...flip flops and short shorts should not be an option.

I stopped a couple of times on my way home to get a picture of my bike in the scenery. Most people going back and forth to Kamloops (you go through Kamloops to get to the Shuswap)....use the Coquihalla because it is a higher speed limit and will save a bit of time. The Old Quilchena Hwy is prettier...even if it is slower. There is very little traffic.

Here I stopped for a moment by Nicola Lake. In the distance you can see a truck and trailer. Most of the traffic was heading north like this one. Almost nothing coming south in my direction. There were lots of trucks heading north on 5a. It's easier on them than using the Coke. The Coke is steeper, longer and faster.
This is just another stop where I was about to put on rain gear. It had starting raining, but fortunately the rain did not last long. (It's making up for it today) I had just dug out the gear, when the rain stopped.

The sky was white from Shuswap to Merritt. It was white from the smoke from all the forest fires. Overnight and today's rain are a blessing for the firefighters.

This picture gives a good idea of what the area looks like. I was probably halfway between Kamloops and Merritt.
Once I got past Merritt heading south the skies cleared up and were blue the rest of the way home.

I am happy to report that the Extended Warranty company will be covering for the throttle assemble repair. I got the email today. I should receive payment in a few days.

I'm also happy to report that the throttle works better than when it was new. I always thought the high revving was a characteristic of the Vulcan.... Now I know the throttle was probably already faulty but slowly got worse over time.

As soon as I receive the cheque, I'll be pay the credit card off. It sure is nice to have a credit card for those unexpected expenses.