Maintenance, finally
May 29, 2004We went up to my in-laws’ place for the weekend and Maria went shopping sonI finally have the time to do the annual maintenance. My informal list consists of:n* oil changen* inspect tires and pressuen* lube cablesn* inspect hosesn* pull and inspect sparkplug.n* check brake fluid, hoses and brakesn* clean chain, check for stretch and reluben* inspect sprockets for wearn* check suspensionn* check miscellaneous bushingsnand detail the whole machine. nnI like to do the oil change after the engine has warmed up but I didn’t nhave time to pull the battery this fall so after one exhausted click, it died. nNot even the lights came on after that. Okay, I think, I have a charger with a njump start feature. nnExcept somehow in one of the moves some of the contents of my carton must nhave been mixed up with either my father’s or my friend Charlie’s and insteadnof my 12 volt quick charger there is a 24 volt charger. Damn. I give a callnto my Dad, who never had any 24 volt equipment, so it must be in Charlie’snstuff. Damn. I can go to Sears and buy one but Maria has the car.nnThat left me plenty of time to do the rest of the work. After eleven years thenbike is still in good shape. The front brake hose (only one, it’s drum rear) nlooks good but I should replace it with braided stainless. nThe rear shocks are okay but I might upgrade them with better parts too.nNot today, though.nnTomorrow, after I charge the battery, I’ll get in a ride. That should warm thenengine up enough to let me do a thorough oil change.