Gophers and Cheese

I finally got to spend some quality time with the Sporty in the garage today. I performed 5 tasks: Cleaned the bugs off the front of the bike that have been stuck there for a few months Fixed the neutral light that was broken all last year Replaced/relocated the choke Cleaned the air cleaner filter Put new tabs on the license plate (now legal 'til Feb 2013!) I'll talk about the choke relocation in a future post. The neutral light was out all last year.  Ever since I relocated the speedo to the left side of the bike, it hasn't worked.  I assumed it was a wiring issue or loose bulb and was just too lazy to troubleshoot it last year.  I was just really, really careful when letting the clutch out all year long. Anyway, I pulled the indicator lights and inspected the bulbs.  Sure enough, the neutral light was burned out. The Harley part number for the bulbs is 68024-94 but a quick search online showed that almost any auto parts store carries bulbs that will ...

In spite of seeing the first snow of the season earlier this week, Saturday was really warm (by November standards).  I took the Sportster downtown and along West River Road from West Broadway down to Minnehaha Falls and back.  It's a slow ride (25 mph limit) but a real nice one. Once home, with the fluids nice and hot, I changed the oil and transmission fluid.  I looked back at my records and I did the same maintenance on the exact same day (Nov 12th) last year.  Weird.

Why why why the hell do I take my bikes to dealers for service???  I've done virtually all the mods on my bikes myself and have done a lot of oil and transmission fluid changes but for some reason there are still some things I haven't learned to do myself that keep me going in for insanely expensive service.  I'm embarrassed to post how much I just paid for the 20K maintenance on my Road King.  It makes me want to puke. All I can think of is the Humancentipad episode of South Park where I'm Cartman and the service department at my local Harley dealership is Cartman's mom. The last line of the clip below is the best ( explicit content - you've been warned). HUMANCENTiPAD Get More: SOUTH PARK Kyle Broflovski , Eric Cartman , more... If the embedded video doesn't work, try going here .  It's Abobe Flash so unfortunately it won't work on iPhone & iPad.

Saturday was beautiful!  I really needed to get my Road King's rear tire changed before riding 2-up for the Flood Run in 2 weeks.  I had removed my Sportster's wheels and had the tires changed at Midwest Cycle Supply last year and had a really good experience. I intended to removed my Road King's rear wheel and bring it in by itself but, after reading the service manual, I needed tools I didn't have and it sounded a lot more complicated than the Sportster.  I decided to ride the bike over and pay the extra fees to have them do everything (it's much cheaper if you remove the wheel yourself).  They opened at 10 and I got there at 10:30, which was a big mistake.  There was already quite a wait.  I was told it would take 1 1/2 to 2 hours so I left it and killed time nearby (Midwest Cycle is just south of downtown Minneapolis and about half an hour from home).  They didn't even get my bike into their garage for nearly 3 hours! I was pissed.  After ...

After last weekend with unseasonably warm weather in the 60s, this weekend's forecast was full of snow and plummetting temperatures. Minnesota. After work on Friday, I reluctantly made the call that it was time to winterize both the bikes.  Nothing like waiting until the last possible minute... My process is to run them for about 15 minutes or so to get them warm, add fuel stabilizer, run them for another 5-10 minutes to get the stabilizer through the system, and change the oil.  I'll put the batteries on tenders, clean them up, ensure the tires are properly inflated, and throw a blanket over them later. With my trusty Sta-Bil tucked into my jacket pocket... ... I suited up for a very chilly evening ride. Yeah, yeah, I know... I wore clears, not sunglasses - it just made for a better pic. After about half an hour riding around in the cold, I took care of the oil change on the Sporty. Then I did it all again for the Road King. I'm really glad I took care of...

After nearly 3 years and 14,000 miles on my last set, the Sporty was due for some new tires.  Not only was the tread on the rear tire almost gone, I discovered a piece of metal (a nail?) in it.  See, there is a functional benefit to a chopped rear fender - you can more easily inspect your tire!  Here you can see the old tire on the bike along next to the new one.  Note the much deeper tread. Here's a shot of the metal in the tire.  It never caused a loss in pressure. I ordered the new tires from Dennis Kirk .  I was so close to ordering Avon Speedmasters but decided to stick with the stock Dunlops as they perform well and last quite a while.  I pulled both wheels off myself.  I have previously had the front off before to install the fork boots but it was my first time removing the rear (I had a local dealer change my tires last time).  I had to loosen the rear exhaust pipe and move it out of the way to be able to get the axle out.  T...