I picked up a nail in the rear tire of the R11 today somwhere between Phoenixville
and Horsham.   I probably put another 70 miles on with the bike feeling wonky.  Tonight
I got a chance to go out to the garage and inspect the rear and found the nail. An attempt
to plug the tire from the inside failed. This is my first attempt to patch
from the inside.  The failure is not surprising. I’ve never had a plug or patch take well.

I’m contemplating trying again on Thursday, perhaps with a gooey patch rather than
a plug from the inside.  Perhaps I’ll just order new tires; the front is shot.

Subsequently, low rear tire pressure really affects the handling of the bike.  Cornering today was really, really tough.
 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted.  Much has happened since August which has distracted my attention from writing, and quite frankly, sleep…  On August 25th my wife and I brought our first child into the family.   As anyone that’s been through this before can tell you, it’s an exhausting joy!  I’ve been having a great time, but have been a lot more busy than usual.  Or, I guess I can say that I’m usually busy these days.

I’ve still been following racing.  It’s been fascinating and educational to follow MotoGP closer than I have in the past.  I’m getting some riding in as well.  Since I’m spending more time around the house, the stable of bikes is slowly converging on mechanically sound, well running, and (shudder) clean.  I’m even hatching plans to begin working on the Laverda and MotoGuzzi.  Perhaps have them both back on the road in the spring.  Spring may be a bit agressive for the Guzzi, but we’ll see what progress we can make over the winter.

Mechanically speaking electrics have been a consistent thread recently.  The R1100RS, SV650, and SM610 all developed issues with either turn signals or brake lights during the same week.  The fixes took some ingineuity, but I didn’t need to buy anything more than bulbs.  So that was good.

There’s more to report, but I’ll leave it to later posts.  Suffice to say I’m not dead or anything, just a bit preoccupied.

SV650 Throttle Cables 

A few years back I put some Rizoma clip ons on my 1999 SV 650.  The kit is nice, though the angle of  the bars is a bit too forward and the bars themselves are quite long.  I trimmed the bars down last season and began to notice that the throttle was quite stiff.  Yesterday I lubed and rerouted the throttle cables to run below the headlight bracket.  The bike has such a better feel.  I know it's a very little improvement, but the throttle response is quite good.

Some folks on the SV650-L have mentioned that re-routing cables can cause headaches with idle when turning the bars acutely.  I did have this issue, but some quick adjustments up by the bars took care of it.  The bike is much more plesant to ride now.  I'm very much looking forward to day rides and track days on the bike this season!

The cost of being disorganized

Yesterday I went to an auto tags/ notary service in West Chester to renew some registrations (for the SV and the R1100RS).   When I moved last year the post office was sub par on the forwarding.  So much of the mail I've been waiting for just didn't arrive, or arrives 3 months late.  So I renewed two registrations online (using the notary as opposed to going to the PennDOT web site).  Yikes!  a $16 messanger fee for EACH $18 registration.  

I suppose what I should have done was renew at the PennDOT web site.  Cheap and I'd have a printout to verify that I'm registered  until that fancy license plate sticker comes in the mail (sheesh I love those things).