What a glorious Easter Sunday here in the Sonoran Desert! After attending the sunrise service (6am) at our church, opening our Easter baskets to one another, and walking Ellie, the Boxer, Steve and I did our traditional holiday motorcycle ride to breakfast. But yesterday I noticed an oil leak by Steve's front wheel and, sure enough, it's his fork--blown seal no doubt. Thankfully I have "spare" bikes so today his Street Glide sat in the garage while he rode my Fat Boy (El Gordo, which means, the fat/plump one in Spanish) while I rode my Speed Triple RS. A good deal all around. The first order of business was to ride to breakfast at Waffle House, one of the two restaurants we ride to on major holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas).. We alternate our holiday ride breakfasts between Waffle House and Denny's. Since we went to Denny's on Christmas, Waffle House was next up in the queue today. We got an immediate seat at the breakfast bar which is always our preference anyway. It's great fun to watch the line cooks at work. They are like a ballet company or a well-oiled machine. Freddie, the Greeter, works this particular Waffle House and he's a delightful gent whose job--and calling--is to be a greeter. This is a caricature of Freddy at the Waffle House entrance. He's a bit of a celebrity on YouTube and (now) TikTok, too, it seems! I forgot to take a photo of my breakfast but it was delicious and huge! A pecan waffle, 2 pork sausage patties, 2 eggs over medium, and hash brown potatoes. And, of course, a couple of cups of coffee. It's our tradition to leave a a very large tip for our server on these holiday rides because we've both been food servers and know it's tough to have to work on a major holiday. It's our small way of "paying it forward". After filling our tummies we proceeded to do our traditional Easter morning westside ride which is beautiful! We go through not one but two "parks"--Tucson Mountain Park and Saguaro National Park-West. On Easter morning the traffic is light and the few drivers we encounter are typically very calm and polite (not always the case on "regular" days!). I love the Sonoran Desert. It's like a "cactus forest" covered with hundreds and hundreds (probably thousands) of saguaro cacti. Google Image Home again, home again. It was great to be out on Speedy, and El Gordo and Steve enjoyed each other's company. Today was the warmest temperatures we've ridden in since last fall. My engine felt really hot but it might have just been the SUN! It was a bit toasty by the time we arrived home around 1pm. Interesting, we're finding that our trip odometers are a fair amount different when we compare mileages. First we noticed the difference between our Street Glides. Steve's Street Glide always measures less than my Street Glide. Today's difference between my Speed Triple RS and my Fat Boy was 3 miles. Not much for a days ride but a big difference over the life / ownership of a motorcycle! Anyone else notice this with their bikes? All in all, a wonderful day together celebrating Easter! El Gordo Speedy
What a lovely ride out @Sandi T - I am still envious of that gorgeous sunshine and it would be incredible to see the "cactus forest". I like the principle of "paying it forward" too, I am sure every little action adds up to make the world a slightly better place. Hope Steve's bike is back on the road soon .
Another great story board to present your ride out. It looks like you guys had a great day and yes I’m very jealous of the beautiful weather you have.
Prep time for 2023 ..... finally! Life keeps getting in the way so today, whilst the household was asleep, I got up early despite not being at work to provide me with some productive time A quick spring clean under the tank and trim the plastic infill panel that unfortunately the bagster harness had cracked. Full left lock and a wound round strap proved too thick for the space available. At £35 for a bit of 5hitty plastic an alternative solution was found. Rebuilt, test run and now ready for mot prior to May taxing.
Last night was the first bike night at HR4K - I went on my Street Triple and Helmut the Tuono. Weather was thankfully great (chilly on the ride home though!), turn out really good and quite a few good people we knew there so it was a really pleasant night. They’re going to be held monthly, which I think is about right. I still hate riding in and out of these things though . I didn’t take any photos I am afraid so have stolen a few of someone else’s.
Spot on @TRIPLE X ...... naturally finished the job off first, minus fitting the tank, and hey what's that gasket on the floor!!! I'd removed the SAI valve and pipework to check it and aid cleaning whilst in there. The pipe fits under coil lead 2 and 3. A quick squirt of wd40 to clean the inside of the jackplug and the gasket decided to do one. Keep an eye on the orange gasket below if you disconnect these.
Went for an aimless ride on the first warmish day of the year to Wendover for a ridulously expensive coffee and millionaires shortbread, did taste nice though and it was a glorious little outing.
Dug the old girl (2010 865 se) out from under the covers (she lives outside) for the first time since somewhere around October time. Unplugged the battery tender and she fired straight up. Was very happy, gave her a wash and polish ready for a run Wednesday.
Succumbed to vanity and fitted a Monza fuel cap. Not lockable like the cheap OEM cap but that doesn't bother me and it really suits these bikes IMO, plus it should be good for at least another 10mph.
