The Thaw

The weather really warmed up this weekend so I rode Nixon in to work on Saturday. I gave my notice last Friday so I will be moving back to Atlanta next week. I'm very excited about not having to commute to Greenville and back each week. The only problem is I'm not sure how I am going to get Nixon back to ATL.

Anyway, it really warmed up around lunch time. I think it was around 60 or 65F. I didn't even have to wear my neck cover. I rode over to Circuit City, taking the interstate on the way there. I passed a couple cars doing about 80. Nixon seems to like going that fast. I think she will hit the ton. CC is going out of business, but their discounts were only 25% so I didn't bother going in. I rode back up to Bi-Lo and bought a sub for lunch/dinner. The guy behind the counter looked at me kind of funny when I shoved it in my backpack. I then took the long way back to work, going up Parkin's Mill, out past Hitachi to Mauldin Rd, then back down to Fairforest. The waste water treatment plant was pretty stinky. Then went back to the office to toil away the rest of the day before dropping Nixon off at my parents and driving back to ATL. I have slowly been taking the corners more aggressively. Partly because I'm still feeling out the new rear tire, but also because it has been awhile since I have really ridden. I'm getting much more comfortable now.

On Retainer

Well, I was able to fix the transmission. Luckily it was very easy to fix, once I figured out what was wrong. There is a small retaining ring on the shifter shaft that holds it in position. The retainer had somehow popped out of its groove which allowed the shaft to slide out of position. The little arm at the end of the shift shaft came disengaged from the shifter drum and.......no shifting. I popped the retainer back into the groove and everything works again. I rode it to work today to see what else was going to break but everything went smoothly. I went to get Chinese for lunch and took her on the highway to see how she like to go fast. Surprisingly, I think she would cruise at 70 fairly well, it was just a bit windy, and cold. I was behind a semi for a little bit and was really getting blown around. On the way back from lunch, I got her up to 85, I think. It didn't seem like I was going that fast. I'm not sure I trust the speedometer much. I will have to have someone else go with me when I try to hit the ton to verify I did it.

Plead the 5th

Last night I got my new rectifier ($3 at Radio Shack) put on and put my new (to me) tail light on. I had to modify the tail light bracket with my dremel tool to get it to fit. I spent the next two hours diagnosing some electrical issues, one of which turned out to be a loose ground wire to the tail light and rear turn signals.

I rode the bike in today so I could make sure everything was working properly before I went on a ride with Schofield tomorrow. While running some errands at lunch, the transmission started acting funny. At one point, when I tried to downshift, I felt the shift lever bobbling under my foot. After that, it would no longer shift gears. I was now cruising down Woodruff Rd stuck in 5th gear. I pulled into a parking lot to check things out. The clutch seemed to be working OK, but it would not shift. So I managed to get the bike back to my parent's house, only using 5th gear. Surprisingly, I was actually able to get the bike going from a stop in 5th gear, but it took alot of clutch work and lots of throttle. Now I get to spend the next week trying to fix this. Hopefully I don't have to pull the engine and split the case to get to the inner transmission parts. I'm also very glad this didn't happen on my ride tomorrow.

The old rectifier with the new one as well as the wiring harness I put new heat shrink on:

Tachy

I finally got to ride Nixon again today. I had to stop a couple times on the way to work this morning to adjust the brakes. I put them back together last night, but you can't really adjust them until you ride it. Headed out to Donaldson Center at lunch. I wanted to run a familiar route in case anything happened, I would know where I was. I stopped to make one last brake adjustment before running around Perimeter Rd. After I made the loop, stuck behind a semi for about 5 minutes, I headed south to cruise past some golf courses. I missed one of my turns and somehow ended up back in Mauldin. It was alright though, as the road was kind of curvy and there was some nice farmland to see. On my way back to the office, I decided to do a quick speed run since I had my new back tire on. I got it up to about 75 going down the long hill on Ridge Rd. My speedometer was acting a bit flaky so I'm not actually sure how fast I was going. When I crested the hill, the speed limit dropped to 30, and that's when I say the Sheriff's Office car headed my way. I had slowed down to about 50, but the freshly adjusted break quickly brought me back to 35. All in all, a good day. Nothing fell off, but the tachometer cable broke. I was expecting it because the outer casing is cracked and it kinks when you turn the wheel. Also, the turn signal indicator on the gauges stopped working when the right side turn signals were on. Probably just a loose wire. I hope to get some more riding in next week.

Rearview

I got one of my Christmas presents in the mail yesterday (that I bought myself) so last night, I installed it. It is a rear view mirror that attaches to the end of the handlebar, rather than inside of the hand grip. They give you a little better visibility and also give the bike that English cafe racer look I'm kind of aiming for. First I had to remove the grip by blowing compressed air under it so that I could get the plastic plug out of the end of the handlebars. Then I used the compressed air to put the grip back on. The grip is rubber and is just a little bit smaller than the bars so it doesn't need glue to stay tight. Blowing air under it inflates it slightly kind of like a balloon, and you can move it around. Then I used an exacto knife to cut a hole in the end of the grip, using the inside of the bar as a guide. All you have to do after that is stick the mirror in the hole and tighten everything down. I will have to wait until I can ride it to make the final adjustments. I also bought a couple small chrome hole plugs from Lowes that fit perfectly in the old mirror holes on the control housings. I think it looks pretty good. I chose to only have one mirror (only one is required by law).