Chilly Saturday Ride

It was just warm enough to take a spin. I procrastinated a while because I thought the day would get warmer, but by 3pm, it wasn't going to improve, so off I went. It was just a short ride around the neighborhood, but it got chilly quickly. I went through the ponds and stopped at a local fishing spot for a quick break. Then back home; the sun was going down and the temperature was dropping quickly. Still, it was nice to get out as it might be the last ride of the season.

Saturday in November

It was an unusually nice day; the temp. got up to about 64F. I got the bike out and ran a few miles to get some fuel stabilizer through the system. I only had a couple hours to ride because I wanted to visit with a friend before the evening. So I set out with a short, slow ride around the neighborhood. I found a dirt road, that I haven't travelled, and started down. I ended up at this pond.

New Toy

This Saturday's ride was quite chilly and my arm was bothering me, so it was just a short ride around the neighborhood, fuel fill up and then back home. This might be the last ride of the season, but I hope not.
I got a new toy. It's a digital camera. The old one took very low resolution images and it's time I bit the bullet and got a better one. This one was not too expensive, but more than I want to pay (I'm very frugal, some would say cheap!). So now, the blog will get some better imagery.

Sunday Beemer Breakfast and rides

Sunday was a little chilly, early on, but a lot of riders made it. My back has been bothering me so after the meeting, I returned home for a rest. Later, feeling better, I went out for a couple of short rides when the weather got warmer.

New (to me) farkles

I just got back from East Providence, a hundred dollars poorer but more space on the motorcycle. I added two side cases. They are not as big as the top case, but this is what I wanted. Now I have some extra storage; enough to go on a short camping trip.
The ride there was a bit long because much of it was in the city. Then trying to find the place was interesting as I had to cross over a large river with limited crossings. Once I found one, finding the guy's house was a bit easier.
My ride home was mostly north on route 114 into Pawtucket, then into Cumberland to Woonsocket then into Blackstone when I stopped in to visit my friend Mike, who wasn't home. I talked with his wife for a short time then continued on my way home.
Riding out after a storm takes a little more concentration because some of the dead leaves have blown off the trees and litter the road. Combine that with some rainwater and you get a slippery areas here and there. A rider must look a little further under these conditions.
I haven't ridden much this month due to colder weather. Today, I waited until 2pm before the temp got over 55^oF. Then I rode out to Pascoag on my way to east Providence. It was chilly and when I started out, my sleeves on my jacket weren't zipped. After stopping for fuel, I made sure I zipped them up. After my first stop, I had to put on my chaps, scarf, and heavy gloves. Then, the rest of my ride was comfortable.

Watch out for sand!

It was a nice Saturday ride that took me south on route 12 to Connecticut. East on route 44 was the next turn. That brought me into Rhode Island. Then routes 100 to 98 through Burrillville. North on Douglas pike then into the Douglas Forest area brought me to a pull-off where 3 younger riders were stopped. I went down the road a bit and found there was no roads going in the direction I was heading, so after a turn-around, I stopped for a smoke were the 3 younger riders were parked. One of them, it seems, was a little too aggressive on a smaller side street and hit a patch of sand at the end of the road. He then slide his new 1000cc motorcycle across the road, instead of stopping for the stop sign. After helping them get the injured motorcycle on his girlfriends truck I bid them "good luck" and was on my way. The three of them were riding 'crotch rockets', not something made for the secondary streets. I like riding the back roads and off-roads, but a rider needs to be careful of sand showing up in the worst places. When coming to a corner, there may be some washout where sand can collect and make a nice day go bad, rather quickly.

It's back!

After a too long repair session, my bike is back! Found excessive leak in the cylinder head and needed to be rebuilt. Replacement parts included head gasket, exhaust valve, valve guide, air filter and battery. After riding it back from the dealer in Worcester, it seems to be riding a bit rough, this could be due to the age of the gas (bought in May!). Now, after finally getting it home, I need to check every screw, nut and bolt to be sure they are all there and they are tight. Then, I need to give it a good cleaning as it came back looking like it was in the neighborhood garage.
Update:
The screws, nuts, and bolts were ok, for the most part (a couple were loose). It still needs a really good cleaning, as it seems there is a lot of fine oily dirty dust all over the engine and some areas near the engine seems to have a bit of oily dirt around.