Learning Motorcycle Repair on My Own

I guess the next logical step after buying your first bike in about 30 years was to want to learn how to work on it yourself. I checked out the local community college for a Motorcycle Mechanics Course, no luck. The closest school was in Orlando, Florida. I work a fulltime job and helping to raise a family so there is no chance of enrolling there so the next best thing I could find was a free online Motorcycle Repair Course. A guy by the name of Dan offers a free course which can be found at http://www.dansmc.com/ . I have decided to follow along step by step and see just how much old Dan can teach this old dog. One of the first things Dan suggests is finding an older simpler bike to work on as you learn the ropes. I have placed some flyers around the office asking if anyone has an old motorcycle just sitting around that they would be willing to give away. Hopefully I can find one someone is willing to give away so I can start following the steps outlined online. I will post some updates on my progress. As for now I'm looking for that bike to start working on.

Wearing a Helmet, Why Wouldn't You?

Here in South Carolina you can see some of the dumbest bike riders in the country driving up and down the road everyday. They are not hard to spot, you see they are the ones NOT wearing a helmet. I don't know what these knuckleheads think is going to happen if they have an accident. There is nothing between their head and the pavement but air. A motorcycle accident at almost any speed can result in the rider being thrown off the bike and his body, to include his head, then bounces along the pavement until the laws of physics brings him to a stop. Along the way he has suffered at best bumps and brusies, maybe a little road rash. In the worse case he has suffered major blows to arms, legs, and even the head. With nothing there to protect the head or the body the injuries received during a crash are more severe than if the rider had been wearing a helemet, a jacket and pants with padding and CE approved body armor.

You can stuff your "It's my body and it's my right to wear a helmet or not" arguement. What about the loved ones who are now left with taking care of your broken and brain damged self for the rest of your life because you were too stupid to wear the proper gear when you rode? You want to be "free" then you should have to suffer the consquences of your "freedom" and nor expect the insurance company to pay for your increased medical bills and your family and friends should not have to take care of you because you wanted to be "free". Sometimes you have to treat some people like little children and make them do something that is going to protect them from harm. Almost every state now makes seatbelt use mandatory in vehicles. Why? Because it save lives and reduces injury in the event of a crash. Almost every military base requires people who ride bikes on base to pass a motorcycle safety course, wear a helmet, reflective vest and protective gear. Why? It saves lives! Not so here in good old backwoods USA. South Carolina is more than happy to let people cruise up and down the roads wearing nothing more than a t-shirt, shorts, flip flops, and a smile while they ride their bikes. Then we watch in shock when a motorcycle crash is shown on the evening news and we read about the death of yet another bike rider. Wake up South Carolina, change the helmet law in order to protect your citizens and visitors. 

You Can Go Home Again

By the time we reach middle age we start to look at where we have been almost as much as where we are going. Life for the most part has been good for me. God has been good to me and continues to bless me on a daily basis.

As I look forward down the road of life I see days ahead in the not too distance future where the pace of life will slow down and my wife and I can have more "us" time together. The kids will have all graduated college and have started lives of their own and the wife and I will have retired and can work because we want to continue to be active not because we have to pay the bills.

You are probably saying, "What has all that got to do with riding motorcycles?" The answer my friend for me is quite alot. I find I am making more time for riding which is something I should have done years before now. I recently took a trip through the Blue Ridge Mountains from my home in Spartanburg, South Carolina to my hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee. This was my first extended trip since buying my 2001 Honda Shadow Spirit 750 in August. The trip was great! I took Highway 74 west from I-40 outside Asheville, North Carolina toward Cleveland, Tennessee. The route passes through the Nantahala Gorge, Andrews, NC, and Ocoee National Park in Tennessee before taking me in to Cleveland, TN and on to Chattanooga.

The bike made it ok except for the occasional sputter or backfire at lower rpms. My brother, Ken, and a couple of our friends from our childhood who have stayed involved with motorcycles were quickly able to tell me what the problem was. It was the carbs. Those suckers were mostly likely suffering from debris in them that needed to be cleaned out and the valves adjusted. They also informed me that I needed a new chain and two new tires. I guess thats what I get for buying a bike from a dealer "as is - no warranty". I quickly learned that when some salemen tell you,"We serviced this bike and it is ready to go", it usually means they changed the oil and filter and thats it. No telling how long this bike sat around before the previous owner decided to trade it. All that old gasoline just turned to varnish in the carbs. My brother and friends told me they would throw in some of the labor for free but it would cost me $100 for a new chain, $100 plus per each new tire, and about $300 to remove, clean, and reinstall the carbs as well as adjust the valves. Total hit to the wallet - $600 ouch! I haven't had the work done yet for two reasons, 1. My time back home in Chattanooga was limited and 2. I didn't have the money. A cop with a kid in college and another one on the way just doesn't walk around with $600 to spare these days. The plan is for my brother to take the bike back to Chattanooga and work on it in his garage over the winter so it will be ready for the spring riding season. I hope to be able to send him some money over the winter months so my bill will be paid in full by spring.

My brother is the Parts Manager for what will soon be the newest BMW Motorrad / Ducati dealership in North America, Pandora's European Motorsports, which is scheduled to open on December 15, 2009. I'm telling you folks if you have never taken a BMW or Ducati out for a spin you don't know what you have been missing. Yes, these bikes cost a little more than the average Japanesee or American bike but they are worth every penny. One of these bikes will provide you with years of great motorcyle riding pleasure without landing up in shop once a year for repairs.
I am learning more everyday about motorcycles (riding techniques, gear, different types of bikes, etc.). I would love to find a course that would teach me how to do some of the basic repairs on my motorcycle. If any of you have any ideas please drop me a line at tivey58@gmail.com .

I Didn't Know What I'd Been Missing

One day in late August of this year it hit me out of nowhere. A revelation that made me realize I was missing out on one of the greatest joys I had ever known. What could I do to release the stress that working and living in this insanely fast paced brings about? I'm not into getting a massage. The thought of some stranger putting their hands all over me was not my idea of stress relief. I don't drink or do drugs; all those do is screw you up and cause more stress. Then I suddenly remembered how much fun I had as a teenager riding my first motorcycle. The burnt orange and black Honda XL 100 that my brother and I had pushed a lawnmower up and down yards in the swealtering heat and humidity of the South to earn had been my ticket to true relaxation. Feeling the power underneath me and the open air around me helped me to forget all my cares and enjoy life. I wanted that feeling back. The question now was how was I going to do it? Like a lot of folks money is tight. There had been not pay raise at work, in fact we had to take six days off without pay or they were going to start laying people off! I have a kid in college and another getting ready to go next year. How in the world was I going to afford a motorcycle? Well you know the old saying; "Where there's a will there's a way". I went and took a personal loan out at the credit union and came up with a plan to bring my lunch each day to work and try and work as much overtime as I could to earn the money to pay the loan back. Now the search was on for a bike I could afford. After weeks of searching I found my current bike in a motorcycle shop near where I work. I went in and made the best deal I could and rode out with a 2001 Honda Shadow Spirit 750 with 7100 miles on it. My first extended trip into the Western North Carolina mountains was amazing. I not only felt the stress melt away with each passing mile but I found I had fellow bikers waving at me as we passed. I was now a part of a whole new exclusive club. A club of fellow bikers who enjoyed the open road and experiencing life like few ever do.

I am the type of person that once I commit to something I am in it all the way. I have begun to read and research motorcycles and riding, gear, trips, etc. I would love to be able to ride different types and brands of motorcycles, test out new gear, and make trips around this great country. I hope to meet and make contact with new friends in the motorcycling community through my blog. Thanks for reading and I'll see you on the road. Until next time....