February 18, 2008
Speedo Needle
After passing about 10,000 on the odometer, the Trail 90's speedo needle fell off. I may check the speedo repair place on 4th St. to see if they can repair it. If not, I may just have to throw caution to the wind!
Posted by Underblog at 7:59 AM | TrackBack
February 14, 2008
Swing-Arm Bushings
I was planning on taking the Morini out last Sunday, but I noticed that the swing-arm has excessive play. This is a common weakness on Morini's, and once upon a time I replaced the bushings on my 500. At the time, it took all the adjustment the bike offered to remove the free play altogether. This time, I hope to give myself a greater margin for future adjustment. Removing and replacing the swing-arm is kind of a dirty job, as it involves removing the chain, the rear wheel, the shock absorbers (which really ought to be replaced too) and a bunch of other stuff. But now that it is getting warmer, I may be able to stay up later and operate on it.
Posted by Underblog at 6:20 AM | TrackBack
February 13, 2008
Another Reason I Love New Mexico
Here we are in mid-February, and already I am complaining when the weather is too crappy for me to ride the Trail 90 into work. I generally refuse to ride in when the temps are below freezing. The tiny 6V battery won't support heated gloves, and the 4.7 mile commute distance is just long enough to induce numbness in my extremities. This week has seen lows above 32° F and so I have begun riding in. I much prefer riding to caging in.
This weather is so unlike Minnesota, where it is warming up now with a high of 19°; soon it will drop back down to the minus and single digits again. And I am sure that it won't be nearly as sunny.
Posted by Underblog at 6:04 AM | TrackBack
February 10, 2008
Albuquerque Motorcycle Riders' Group
Today I rode this. After lunch at the K & I Diner on South Broadway, about half of the group of 13 continued south to Los Lunas, picked up NM 6, and rode northwest to I-40. It was a lovely day for a ride, and it was nice to share it with other motorcyclists. In fact the company was ideal. Mostly older, but not entirely, and no squids.
NM 6 is very much like NM 47 from Belen to NM 60: mostly rangeland, light traffic, high speeds, occasional curves. Kinda ho-hum, but it was nice to be out in the sunshine. I hope to do another ride with these folks where the roads are more, shall we say, challenging.
Posted by Underblog at 4:55 PM | TrackBack
February 7, 2008
Itching
I was discussing with motorcycling colleague at work yesterday how much we miss riding. I felt fortunate to have squeezed in a ride to Madrid a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, it is supposed to climb into the 50's this weekend, so I may take a little spin. Hopefully, where the roads will be dry and clear.
I doubt the 750 Sport will be out of the shop by then. I'll call over to see if the brake lines and necessary Mikuni jets ever came in.
Posted by Underblog at 6:18 AM | TrackBack
February 6, 2008
Tripe Down Memory Lane
I recently received an email from an old friend, who had been looking in a box full of Stuff From A Former Life. He came across several issues of Snappy Jack News, a scooter fanzine of sorts I produced for most of 1985 in San Francisco. He was missing Issue No. 4, and was hoping that it had some cool pictures in it.
I produced the early issues of SJN in my room at the Civic Center Hotel, a fleabag at 12th and Market. It was the kind of place that organized the clientele by floor, and the bathroom was down the hall. When I told a friend (who by a twist of fate now lives in Albuquerque) I was on the 5th floor, he cooed "They must have loved you to place you up there." He lived on the third floor. Later, I moved across the street to 23 Franklin Av, above the parking lot that was the staging area for motorcycle rides that met at Dudley Perkins. Interesting stuff went on in that parking lot, since it was a convenient place for the prostitutes sex workers to take their johns.
At first, I typed up the galleys for SJN on a typewriter. Later, I rented time on an Apple /// or a Lisa at a little desktop publishing place on California between Polk and Van Ness. Headlines were done with Letraset sticky-back letters and occasionally whatever stick-on lettering I could get my impoverished hands on. I was a big fan of zippotone and Letraset tapes. Page layout was done with spray mount. The biggest expense was having half-tones made of the photos. They looked like crap if I didn't do that much. Fortunately for my finances, I often imposed on friends in the printing biz to do the photowork for me.
Reading the articles in No. 4, I am reminded that I spent a fair bit of my weekends riding up and down and around San Francisco's hills, and then writing about it later. Plus ça change, plus ça même chose. I begged and cajoled my friends to contribute to SJN, and they did, sometimes. Walter Alter could be relied upon to provide a stream of consciousness, but I ended up writing most of every issue. I credited folks as they wanted to be credited, and offered advertising in exchange. And now, immortality.
Snappy Jack News, Jun-Jul-Aug 1985 4.4 Mbyte pdf.