12-09-2021, 07:12 AM
I'm sure all riders have been on the receiving end of other riders opinions. Here are a few of the ones I've received:
Out at my BIL's place in Hesperia, the high desert, we were getting ready to head out one fine autumn day when I see him looking over my bike, the FJR I had at the time. Admittedly, I'm not in the wash-and-polish every time I ride it school of thought, but it looked pretty decent, at least, but he shakes his head, snorts, and says "Don't you ever wash that thing?" Well, I look at his bike and it is spotless, no brake dust on the rims, no road grime anywhere, it looks like a garage queen, but I know it has over 75k miles on it. All I could come up with was a mumbled statement that I did wash it when I thought it necessary. He just shook his head.
Another time, me and a bud are at my house, getting ready to head out. It's a little cool, so I don a leather bike jacket that I'd had for a long time. My bud looks at the jacket and says, "That jacket needs some leather conditioner on it." I acknowledged his statement but didn't defend myself. Later that day, we're at our fave meet-up place, the famous Sancho's Tacos in Huntington Beach. It's getting late, and I say, "Well, gotta head home, see ya." He says, "Yeah, go home and put some leather treatment on your jacket." The nerve!
Another time, me and another bud are coming back from the American Legion post in Newport Beach. He is coming to my house because he is carrying a large sack of take-out grub that I'm bringing home. We get to my house and pull into the driveway. We dismount, and without a word, he comes over to my bike, leans down and gives my chain the tension test, then straightens up and says, "You oughta see to that chain, it has way too much slack in it." After he leaves, I check the chain. There is some slack, but not "way too much". The nerve of some people, but I did adjust it the next day. Has anyone else ran into this kind of thing? But, I guess it means something that our friends are looking out for us, right?
Out at my BIL's place in Hesperia, the high desert, we were getting ready to head out one fine autumn day when I see him looking over my bike, the FJR I had at the time. Admittedly, I'm not in the wash-and-polish every time I ride it school of thought, but it looked pretty decent, at least, but he shakes his head, snorts, and says "Don't you ever wash that thing?" Well, I look at his bike and it is spotless, no brake dust on the rims, no road grime anywhere, it looks like a garage queen, but I know it has over 75k miles on it. All I could come up with was a mumbled statement that I did wash it when I thought it necessary. He just shook his head.
Another time, me and a bud are at my house, getting ready to head out. It's a little cool, so I don a leather bike jacket that I'd had for a long time. My bud looks at the jacket and says, "That jacket needs some leather conditioner on it." I acknowledged his statement but didn't defend myself. Later that day, we're at our fave meet-up place, the famous Sancho's Tacos in Huntington Beach. It's getting late, and I say, "Well, gotta head home, see ya." He says, "Yeah, go home and put some leather treatment on your jacket." The nerve!
Another time, me and another bud are coming back from the American Legion post in Newport Beach. He is coming to my house because he is carrying a large sack of take-out grub that I'm bringing home. We get to my house and pull into the driveway. We dismount, and without a word, he comes over to my bike, leans down and gives my chain the tension test, then straightens up and says, "You oughta see to that chain, it has way too much slack in it." After he leaves, I check the chain. There is some slack, but not "way too much". The nerve of some people, but I did adjust it the next day. Has anyone else ran into this kind of thing? But, I guess it means something that our friends are looking out for us, right?