I've always done most of the work on my vehicles. I've rebuilt several VW Beetles, done lots of tuneups, shocks, brakes, etc. I'm a pretty good mechanic and confident enough in myself to take on most mechanical tasks. So why is it I've always been nervous when applying a wrench to my motorcycles? I've always done all of my bikes' oil & filter changes over the years. But anything much beyond that on a motorcycle and I'm hesitant to dive in.
That all changed last year.
My latest ride, a '98 FXDL (Dyna Low Rider) was taken to the dealer I bought it from every 3,000 miles for service. Then when I moved back to this area, I took it to another Harley dealer for service. It was sort of reassuring having the bike serviced by a Harley professional - it damned sure cost me enough. But that changed when the throttle cable broke on me last year. Luckily I was about 30 miles from the house, and it broke at the bar end and not at the carburetor. It wasn't long before a bro' stopped and whipped out a pair of long needle nose pliers from his trunk and I was able to extract the cable and feed it out the right side of the bike. I threaded it through one of my gloves (summertime, so fingerless) to keep from scratching the fuel tank, wrapped the loose end around my right hand, and away I went. I actually managed to make it home without dropping me and the bike. The one-handed take offs from stoplights were interesting, but I made it.
To be continued....
4 comments:
Are those pipes Bubs or Screamin' Eagles?
Wow! Good eyes, there. Scream'n Eagles, baloney cuts, installed with SE air filter, carb re-jet, then a few months later Crane 216B cam. On the dyno went from 52 hp stock to 73 hp.
I've since replaced SE air filter with a Uni-filter. Have read good things about them. Do a search on uni-filter and go read. Appears 2 b a better filter than SE
GunTrash who can't log in 4 some rezun
Hey, you changed pictures, right? Is that a cat?
Yeah, the other pic was an old one made with a real cheap digital. This one is still not as sharp as I wished.
Yeah, that's Blue, a stray like all the rest of 'em wandering around here. He's been with us now a couple years. He's the vet's favorite. Good disposition and nice color. But I've seen him kick ass if he's pushed too far by the others. Laid back, but one tough cookie if provoked. He's got blue cross-eyes, hence his name. We couldn't come up with anything else more original.
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