Picking up and enjoying Orat's new Tiger ; Ridin' and walkin'

(posted from home)
(This post covers 23 - 31 August, 2013)

----------------------------------

Saturday, 31 August -

I spent the morning on the web and then dropped off the rent check for our storage unit on my ride in to Starbucks. I then rode in through York and on to Fuddruckers for lunch before going home. I had planned to ride again to take my walk but rain was threatening and I have a bit of a sore foot so I didn’t go.
That evening we watched ‘Death and the Civil War’, a PBS American Experience special.

---------------------------------

Friday, 30 August -

Another hot one today. I rode the Thruxton to Lowe’s to look for a small cable-lock for my gear. I have no storage space on the bike so need to lock my expensive jacket to the bike. No luck, though.
I then went looking for a brass drift at Sears, Harbor Freight, and Tractor Supply but again had no luck.
Riding around in the hot weather took its toll so I took a quick nap in the afternoon, then after supper I rode to Rudy Park for my walk, finishing up at dark and enduring the bug-filled ride home on the bike.

-------------------------------

Thursday, 29 August -

We had an extra-sticky day today so it wasn’t pleasant to work outside. But I decided I just couldn’t put off exercising my gasoline-rotation plan. This is mostly a matter of putting the older gas into the van (because it has a large tank and I can dilute the older gas with new).
I had bought two methods of transferring gas so gave them their first workout today. I found the electric gasoline pump I had bought worked very well. The other, a siphon pump made into a gas-nozzle arrangement, didn’t work well at all for this purpose. After the transfers, I drove over to the non-ethanol gas station and filled my two gas cans and added Sta-bil.
I also picked up a tube of Mobil 1 synthetic grease and a grease gun to use on the ATV trailer. While there I picked up a nice little 6-ton bottle-jack for Mocha Joe.
I washed the top of the boat and then rode the motorcycle to Lowe’s for license-plate bolts.
That evening we watched ‘Detropia’, a very good documentary about the decline of Detroit.

--------------------------------
Wednesday, 28 August -

This morning I dropped off the Thruxton at B and B Triumph in Lancaster. Time for the 500-mile service.
I took the Thruxton over with the ATV trailer and returned to York. After lunch and a quick coffee I drove to Rudy Park, thinking I’d take a walk. But I was feeling exhausted so I just took a nap in the van there at the park for about a half-hour.
I was awakened from the nap by a call from the shop-- the bike was done!
I picked up the bike and paid my $250 bill (which seems like a lot for an oil change and basic checkover but also included exhaust gas analysis and loading the latest map in the fuel injection system)
Back home I mowed for two hours to get my walk-time in.
Later that evening we watched the movie ‘Lincoln’ on DVD. This is the third time we’ve watched it, which is quite extraordinary for us, particularly in such a short timeframe.

--------------------------------

Tuesday, 27 August -

I talked with Orat today and learned he had had to re-do the left-side bearing on the motorcycle trailer. We had bought a kit with the right bearings but the seal’s inner diameter was wrong. The kit with two bearings and a seal was less than $15 but a single seal with the correct ID was $10. Why the kit had the wrong seal is a mystery. There are apparently multiple ‘standards’ used by the trailer-building industry.
At noon-time I ran up to the township offices to pay my school taxes and then went on to Walmart to get a set of Bearing Buddies for my ATV trailer. Given Orat’s trailer problems I want to go ahead and check my trailer’s bearings and make maintenance easier.
Upon my return home I put off working on the trailer to help Labashi clean out and wash the sailboat. We want to sell it yet this Fall if possible but need to clean it up.


--------------------------------

Monday, 26 August -

This morning we repaired Orat’s motorcycle trailer. After a quick bit of research on the web (trying to find a source for bearings), we took the old parts in to the local Tractor Supply to find new ones. We found a kit of two bearings and the seal and bought a set of new dust caps (since one had been lost when the bearing failed).
We replaced the failed bearings on the left side and re-greased the right side using the marine bearing grease I use on my boat trailer. I also had a set of bearing buddies so we used them rather than the cheap, ill-fitting dust-caps we had bought.
Orat left around noon so I then rode the GS to Starbucks and then Crist Park for a long, fast walk.
I called Orat after my return home and learned he had had yet another problem with the trailer bearings. When he stopped for a break in Williamsport he noticed the left-side wheel was looser than it should be. He had to tighten the bearing again- and far more than it should have to be adjusted. (We later learned this was because the inner diameter of the seal was wrong and we hadn’t noticed)
That evening Labashi and I watched a documentary, ‘Wake Up’. Wish we had skipped this one.

--------------------------------

Sunday, 25 August -

We woke to a foggy morning but it burned off quickly. We rode the Tiger and Thruxton down to Long Level, then on through to Indian Steps Museum. I’ve been there several times but had never toured the upper levels. I was surprised to find a Pennsylvania canals display and need to go back to study. I was so impressed with the place that I became a member.
We rode on down to SR74 and then across the Holtwood Dam bridge and up to the butterfly garden at the arboretum. A wide variety of plants were there to entice butterflies but only the butterfly bush was attracting them today.... but there were dozens of them.
I led the way on to Susquehannock State Park and nearly caused an accident. I had forgotten one of the turnoffs until nearly upon it and slammed on the brakes without my turn signal, assuming Orat would see and follow. He happened to be looking away at that moment and I next heard the squeal of his tire--- MY tire, since he was on the Thruxton at the time--- sliding to a stop next to my leg. That was close, very close. Can you imagine the shame of not only wrecking our bikes but running one into the other?
After gazing out the Susquehannock Park overlook, we then rode north to The Pinnacle Overlook and then on up along the river.
We hadn’t had lunch and it was 1500 by then so we stopped at the John Wright Restaurant in Wrightsville. The girl at the desk said we’d have to wait 15 minutes for a table but if we didn’t mind the bar, we’d be served quickly there.
That turned into a fiasco. Our bartender gave us menus and did manage to get us drinks in a reasonable, though certainly not quick, time. But we waited and waited and waited to order something for a meal. She twice told us she’d be right back for our order, then go on to do something else. On the third time, I said ‘Yeah, that’s what you said before’ and she didn’t like that. She said, ‘Great, now I’ll have to go get my notebook and pencil and get those last people’s order again.” ... and disappeared.
She must have thought about as she left because she came back a minute later to say.... ‘OK, guys, tell you what. You had to wait so your beer’s on me.’ But then she ruined it completely by telling us the cost of the beer would have to come out of her pay. We said thanks but then got up and left our half-finished beers and walked out.
We rode on home and that evening had crab cakes and fresh corn-on-the-cob.
That evening we wanted to do something so the three of us jumped into Labashi’s car and drove in to York to show Orat the new street sculptures. We took a leisurely walk around the arts district and ended up at Bistro 19 for appetizers before heading home.

---------------------------------

Saturday, 24 August -

Orat arrived around noon today with trailer in tow. We’re off to pick up the Triumph he bought on Ebay. We had a quick lunch and checked the trailer’s wheel bearings. Orat had noticed the left side had more play than the right and that was indeed the case. The grease on that side looked odd but the wheel turned fine. We adjusted it a notch on the castle nut.
Our drive to Port Deposit (MD) was a straightforward one thanks to the GPS. The seller lives out in the country in a beautiful, spotless home. The bike is a Tiger 1050 and it too was spotless. A similarly-perfect Harley Sportster and a 1967 Mustang shared the garage. It turns out the guy is an engineer retired from Aberdeen Proving Grounds. He had bought the Tiger in April intending to ride it to the Grand Canyon this summer but had come to realize he wasn’t up to it as he’s now in his early 70’s and says he doesn’t feel he can trust himself for such a long run anymore.
We loved meeting this guy. He has been there, done that and had many interesting, understated observations to make about everything from bikes to politics.
The only thing notable about our trip home was that we stopped to check the trailer wheel bearings twice. The last check was just before getting on I-83 some 35 miles from home.
Imagine our surprise, then, when we found the left wheel nearly off upon our arrival. The dustcap was gone and we soon saw there were only two rollers left-- the cage and all the other rollers were completely gone. Fortunately, the inner race hadn’t welded itself to the spindle.
But we declared that a job for Monday.
After supper we unloaded the Tiger for a short ride on such a perfect evening. I took the Thruxton and we buzzed around the back roads near Mount Wolf and Manchester before stopping at the Giant to buy a half-gallon of ice cream and hot fudge sauce for a treat back at home.

---------------------------------

Friday, 23 August -

This morning I cleared off the counter I use as our inbox to temporarily put stuff until I get around to addressing each issue. I paid bills and took care of my motorcycle insurance for the Thruxton and then deposited some checks in the bank.
I had hoped to ride today but we have this odd rainy weather we’ve been having this year. The weather prediction services say there’s little or no chance of precipitation yet we see low-hanging clouds and smell rain. The rain itself is very light, often more of a mist, but then we’ll get enough to wet the roads.
I took Labashi’s car to the grocery and state stores and then to a local roadside produce stand, all to pick up provisions for our visitors this weekend. Orat is coming down to pick up his Tiger and Maypo is coming over for a get-together.
The clouds cleared out around 1500 and after supper I rode the Thruxton down for coffee and news (via the iPad). I decided I’d not walk today since I’ve been pushing hard the last few days but the evening was so nice I just had to get out on the bike.
That evening we watched ‘Gold Rush’. It’s getting weird. The producers have run out of ideas and are generating ‘excitement’. What a miserable job that must be.

*************** END OF POST ************