Dieting is serious stuff when it comes to bikes. To illustrate I emptied the panniers of heavy items that aren't needed, removed the top box, and changed to a smaller tank bag. Then I rode into town to meet some friends for breakfast. The difference in handling was incredible, no feeling of top heaviness at all. You’d think that would be obvious to someone whose been doing this for a long time but I guess it just got away from me for awhile. This afternoon I oiled the chain to see what effect the weight reduction would have. I chose a spot on our driveway with nearly the exact slope I’d had the issues with a few days ago. It was like night and day, I was able to roll and steady the bike with one hand. I also popped the left side pannier off to increase access to the chain and that helped too.
Anyway I’m ready to begin repacking and I’m not taking anything that isn’t absolutely essential, like my credit card, AAA card, AARP card, etc. I think camping in Motel 6 is going to be fun.
Oh, the photos… I wanted to take a couple to show the Ninja’s new slimmed down profile. Chance, our collie has this thing about poking his nose into everything including photo sets. If you try to shoo him away he just barks at you. What is that anyway?
Oh man, after all that I'd be blogging "Nova Scotia on an airplane."
ReplyDeleteYou should tell Motel 6 what you plan to do ... they might want to have a film crew tag along and make you the star of their next commercial.
I hope you have lots of cold beer and a clean room...
ReplyDeleteI take it the Ninja doesn't have a center stand. My last chain driven Asian bike had a center stand and boy that made the chain oiling scenario real easy.
ReplyDeleteI take it no one has contacted you to tell you they have your saddle bag.......We found a suitcase along the road a few years ago in NV. It contained a lot of jewelry, checkbooks, car titles, small gifts in boxes and a lot of expensive things.....I got a lot of satisfaction by hunting down the owner in AZ. and sending it to her. She thought someone had stolen it out of her pickup, it obviously had fallen out...I even got a $20.00 reward....(cheap old broad! LOL) I enjoyed the fact that such an act refreshes peoples beliefs in others.....there are still a LOT of ethical, honest people in the world. Hopefully one of "them" found your bag. Maybe your bag will come back to you.....later...Smitty
Nope, no center stand on the Ninja. Due most likely to the undercarriage location of the muffler. This seems to be a trend of late and not one that I care for.
ReplyDeleteI found out today that my insurance company won't be paying out anything due to the $500 deductables on my Homeowners and Motorcycle policies. In plain language that means my losses above $1000 would be covered...$3.69 in this case. Of course they'll be glad to handle that but the claims would build points against me. Ouch.
Oh well, I haven't had many losses in my lifetime so it's time to move on.