12-31-2025, 04:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 12-31-2025, 04:34 PM by Gone in 60.)
You are quite dedicated, sir! I applaud your riding year, and wish you many more.
I got out for a ride on my NC... for five minutes. I have been itching to test ride the work I've done recently - new rear shock linkages, clutch and brake levers and hand guards among them. Holiday activities, emergency garage repair, scheduling repairs at Mom's house, and on-again-off-again rain have tempered my riding, however.
Today, I had lots of errands to run. Weather was looming and the skies were grey, but it wasn't raining. I thought maybe I could get everything done and get back home before the sky opened up. Most of the errands were quick, but one of them was picking up a new pistol at the local Turner's. I won't go into California politics and don't invite commentary, but let's just say we do a lot of paperwork. It's sort of like buying a new car. I figured the one spot I might get stuck for a while was that last chore, and I didn't want to be staring out the window looking to see if the rain had started while I was waiting for a counter clerk to go get the next document for me to sign a fifth time.
Didn't matter. I got out the door and within one block, drops started hitting my oh-so-tall windscreen. I turned around and grabbed the car. But, that one block felt good, and I could tell my efforts were worth it, in smooth suspension and wind-free fists!
I did roll the NC out of the way to finish fixing the garage beam that cracked right next to its parking place. Filled and painted the repaired and reinforced beam. Looks like new, and my thought is that by filling the crack, if it starts to crack again, I will notice it, hopefully early enough to do something about it. But, it's braced nine way to Sunday, and should be stronger than before... in theory.
Also, fate made a decision for me. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I can't have anything visually imperfect on my vehicles... I bought the NC knowing it had some flaws, and I thought I could live with them since this is going to be a commuting appliance. But. the previous two owners were quite short, and even with a lowered suspension, there were some boot scuffs on the pillion seat from them trying to stretch their 28" inseams across the seat while climbing aboard.
I thought I could live with those scuffs but they continued to bother me... I couldn't get them out by any means, the vinyl was scratched. Then, while wiring up my auxiliary brake light, I was mending a solder joint on my wiring and a molten blob of solder inexplicably spat off of my iron and landed on the pillion seat, scorching a mark in it. Ugh.
Well, that was one flaw too many. And, you tend to stare at the pillion seat when you get on the bike. Just for kicks, I pulled the seat and stopped by a local upholstery shop in my travels yesterday. He eyeballed the pattern on the vinyl, we went though a bunch of swatches, and darned if he didn't have something that's almost a dead match. I left the seat with him (I only need the front half to ride), he said to give him a few days, and for a few bucks, I can have some visual peace of mind.
Man, I'm too picky.
I got out for a ride on my NC... for five minutes. I have been itching to test ride the work I've done recently - new rear shock linkages, clutch and brake levers and hand guards among them. Holiday activities, emergency garage repair, scheduling repairs at Mom's house, and on-again-off-again rain have tempered my riding, however.
Today, I had lots of errands to run. Weather was looming and the skies were grey, but it wasn't raining. I thought maybe I could get everything done and get back home before the sky opened up. Most of the errands were quick, but one of them was picking up a new pistol at the local Turner's. I won't go into California politics and don't invite commentary, but let's just say we do a lot of paperwork. It's sort of like buying a new car. I figured the one spot I might get stuck for a while was that last chore, and I didn't want to be staring out the window looking to see if the rain had started while I was waiting for a counter clerk to go get the next document for me to sign a fifth time.
Didn't matter. I got out the door and within one block, drops started hitting my oh-so-tall windscreen. I turned around and grabbed the car. But, that one block felt good, and I could tell my efforts were worth it, in smooth suspension and wind-free fists!
I did roll the NC out of the way to finish fixing the garage beam that cracked right next to its parking place. Filled and painted the repaired and reinforced beam. Looks like new, and my thought is that by filling the crack, if it starts to crack again, I will notice it, hopefully early enough to do something about it. But, it's braced nine way to Sunday, and should be stronger than before... in theory.
Also, fate made a decision for me. Anyone who knows me well enough knows that I can't have anything visually imperfect on my vehicles... I bought the NC knowing it had some flaws, and I thought I could live with them since this is going to be a commuting appliance. But. the previous two owners were quite short, and even with a lowered suspension, there were some boot scuffs on the pillion seat from them trying to stretch their 28" inseams across the seat while climbing aboard.
I thought I could live with those scuffs but they continued to bother me... I couldn't get them out by any means, the vinyl was scratched. Then, while wiring up my auxiliary brake light, I was mending a solder joint on my wiring and a molten blob of solder inexplicably spat off of my iron and landed on the pillion seat, scorching a mark in it. Ugh.
Well, that was one flaw too many. And, you tend to stare at the pillion seat when you get on the bike. Just for kicks, I pulled the seat and stopped by a local upholstery shop in my travels yesterday. He eyeballed the pattern on the vinyl, we went though a bunch of swatches, and darned if he didn't have something that's almost a dead match. I left the seat with him (I only need the front half to ride), he said to give him a few days, and for a few bucks, I can have some visual peace of mind.
Man, I'm too picky.
You know what? I actually would like a pickle.