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February 12, 2005
L'Air du Printemps
The big thaw is on. It got up to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit today, and the sun was out all day. The garage was finally warm enough to spend some time in, which is good because the fleet was in pretty sorry shape.
I am not one of those hardy people who keep their bikes ready for the first day of clear roads, like the guy we saw on on his Harley on the way back from Cabela's on our infamous Gore-Tex hunting trip. It was ten degrees outside and this guy was barreling up Hwy 35. No, I am not like that. However, I have seen people zipping around campus with their Zuma's, and I am encouraged to begin commuting ala moto again.
The Morini is awaiting an instrument holder from England, for which I am exchanging a pair of reproduction air filter boots. Because the Morini parks in school parking lots and the Honda 90 in the bike racks, I will not be picking up a parking permit for the former any time soon. At least not until the Morini is back among the rideable fleet.
The Honda is the most reliable of the pack, and it fell apart on me last fall. The throttle was slipping, and so I had ordered a new cable. I also ordered a new neutral light to replace the bulb that blew when the 90's battery exploded. The third operation was the replacement of the muffler with one I bought off eBay. I took out the battery, topped it off with distilled water (which had frozen, cracked its container, and thawed just enough for me to fill the battery). Replacing the cable was a little trickier than I thought it would be. And it turns out that there was nothing wrong with the old one, except some seriously cracked and bent outer cable. I eventually got the new cable on and the bulb replaced, and by this time the battery had been charging for a couple of hours. The bike started right up and ran nicely.
Then I remembered the muffler. The muffler I got off eBay was a two-piece affair, and the one on my bike was a single tube. If maintaining the 90 in its original condition was important to me, I would have stopped there. But I just wanted a muffler that did not have a dime-sized hole in it. The new old muffler was rustier than the one on the bike, which was the first disappointment. But I figured I could take the shields off the old one and the surface rust would be hard to see. So I took off the old muffler and switched it for the new. Unfortunately, the new muffler did not line up exactly right. So I loosened the pipe from the muffler, and the header from the exhaust port, and forced the muffler into position and bolted it in. Then I tightened everything up. I started the 90 and I heard a louder exhaust leak than I had had with the old pipe. Turns out the new old bike has a cracked header pipe; it is an easy fix, but it is disappointing to have to do it nonetheless. I am considering replacing the entire assembly with a new replacement from the Little Honda Folks.
Leaky exhaust header notwithstanding, I felt very hardy riding to the store for cookie materiel while the alley was still piled with (albeit melting) snow. I made a point of riding directly over some icy patches, just to live a little dangerously.
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