Over this weekend we had a few things to do. We had to go to North Adams to pick-up Dylan from his Grandmothers as he spent most of the summer up there. We also had to make our way to Springfield, VT to take a look at the bike we are might buy for Claire. It’s a 2010 Ninja 250r which would be a good starter bike for her and get her through 1-2 seasons after we change the sprockets, chain, throw on a slip on exhaust. The bike was in almost perfect condition and when I took it for a ride it went through the gears nicely.
If you have been reading the other posts I have made you will know that I stripped my oil pan due to a defective torque wrench. The lesson learned is to test the torque wrench prior to using it, had I done that I would not have caused myself all of this grief. I contacted Parkway Cycle and asked them how much a replacement oil pan costs. They told me that it was $173 and while I found it cheaper online for $143 I am still opting not to replace it but have it fixed “for now” and replace it in the future. One of my friends is going to weld a nut to the inside of the oil pan so that the bolt will have something to screw into. Now on to the repair process.
The first thing I had to do was remove all of the plastics which was pretty simple. There are only a handful of bolts that needed to be removed and a couple push pins. Once all the plastics were off I climbed onto the ground to see just what needed to be removed. First I thought I could get away with removing solely the muffler and leaving the exhaust manifold connected. I was wrong and it turned out the manifold was the most troublesome part of the entire process. The bolts were locked tight and I had to spray them real well with PB Blaster to get them to release. Once they were strayed down I removed the coupling on the exhaust pipe that held the muffler to the manifold pipes. I removed the rear muffler by removing 3 bolts and then twisting, turning and pulling. If finally came loose and then it was time to remove the manifold pipes.
I hate to even say those words but yes it is out of service at-least temporarily. I guess when it comes to learning lessons I have no choice but to learn the hard way. I wanted to start doing routine maintenance on my bike so that I could learn more about the machine so yesterday I started with an oil change. I made sure to make sure that I was doing everything properly and I first started with removing the oil drain plug and draining the old oil while the machine was still hot from my ride home from work. Once all of the oil was out I removed the oil filter and let that drain for a moment or two as well. I put the new filter on and was ready to add the fresh clean oil to the bike. I picked up my manual and checked what the torque settings were for the oil drain bolt and it stated 16.5 ft-lbs. I picked up my torque wrench that I bought from Amazon and set it to 15 ft-lbs and got started. First I tightened the bolt with my hand and then used the torque wrench. Before I could do anything on the first turn I felt the bolt get snug and then let loose. I knew this was trouble as soon as it happened and I even knew what happened because I had read about it happening online. I just stripped my oil pan.
Ever since I bought my motorcycle I have been looking for a good shop where I could buy my gear and have my bike serviced. I started out by looking at Parkway Cycle which is located in Everett, MA. The service was great there but the location was a bit difficult to get to. You always have to deal with a ton of traffic and VERY limited parking to go to this shop. I had been talking with the staff there and they seemed really knowledgeable and helpful. However when it came time to make the purchase I did not want to have to deal with the traffic to go buy my gear. I had also found Greater Boston Motorsports (also known as GBM) located in Arlington, MA which seemed to have ample parking and a lot less traffic to deal with. I talked with the staff there on my first visit and they seemed just as helpful and nice as at Parkway Cycle.
As you may have read I recently bought a sport bike. I finally got my permit on Friday and did all the necessary steps to get it on the road legally. Now what you may not know is that in the past I did ride a 4 stroke dirt bike but that was back when I was 8 and it was not something I got to ride daily as it was my friends bike. Up until Friday you could basically say I had very little to no experience riding a bike. I started out Friday afternoon by riding in this small cemetery in Lynn, MA (only because it was directly across the street from where my bike was stored until street legal). After riding for about 2 hours Friday I decided to call it a day and spend the rest of the day with my family. Saturday we woke up and spent a few hours at the beach and then I went riding for a few hours and got the bike inspected. After riding for about 4 hours I felt I had a good feel for how the bike handled (I am not an expert by any means, just had a good feel for the bike).
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Over the weekend we started out by looking for cars for my fiance Claire. We wanted to get a second car because sharing a single vehicle can be a bit tough. We looked at several dealerships and on Craigslist but we could not find anything for $3500 that we would really be satisfied with. We decided to wait until tax season and at that time we would have a bit more money to buy a decent vehicle that will last a while. Looking on Craigslist I spotted a very nice looking bike. I looked at the details on the page and thought wow that is such a nice bike and you can’t beat the price.
We took a ride up to Windham NH to look at the bike which was at Revolution Cycles (603-893-9950?). It was on a stand in the front window and when we walked in Claire was looking at it in awe. It was in such nice condition and she asked me I wonder what the price is for the bike in the window…. I said that’s the bike we came to see and she was shocked after seeing the bike that the price was only $3495. The bike is very clean, and only has 3100 miles on it. It is a 2006 but with the condition and the low miles it would usually go for around $4500-$5000. Needless to say after starting it up and sitting on it I scooped it up.
I plan to go take the MREP course that Massachusetts offers so that I can learn how to properly ride a bike but also skip the RMV tests. So what do you think?
Over the last week I have been trying to get rid of a rat that has made a home in our back yard. The landlords had this wood platform that they had built with 2×4 and plywood for the garbage barrels in the back yard. Last week Dylan came in and told me that he thought he saw one peering out from under the wood. I went down and lifted the wood to find a big fat rat was sleeping under there during the day. While I like animals I find these rats to be very nasty and who knows what diseases they carry. The landlord said he was going to put broken glass under the platform to get rid of the rat. I will not go into details on how I got it but take a look how big it was. It’s measuring up next to a 10.5 US shoe. In Lynn MA there is surely no shortage on these things. When I sit on the porch at night you will see them scurry across the street and on trash night you will see them jumping from barrel to barrel savaging for food.
Take a look at this picture:
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Over the last year my step son Dylan has been asking me to get him movies from Netflix. He loves watching movies and has watched all of the “new-release” movies for the last few years. He was not sure what movie he wanted but knew that he wanted a movie that he had not seen before. My fiance Claire and I picked out a few movies from our child hoods. My pick was my child hood favorite “Howard the Duck”. Now when he got the movie in the mail and we let him watch it I was amazed at what was in this movie. I never recalled him smoking cigars, drinking beer or even the naked duck in the tub in the beginning of the movie. While all of this content is harmless because you see it on TV everyday it made me think.. There was nothing wrong with a kid watching this movie when I was growing up but today it seems like it would not be suitable for most kids.
Last week my fiance picked out “Stand by Me” which is a classic that we both watched as kids. It was nice seeing Kiefer Sutherland in something other than “24″. I never knew he was in this movie however until after I had been watching the show 24 for several years now. He was so young in this movie and I was a bit thrown after watching this movie. I did not remember the kids smoking cigarettes, swearing like they did. I was also surprised that they carried a gun. You have to keep in mind the kids in this movie are 12 years old and the things they do are not suitable for children to do these days. Now the movie was made in 1986 and was set in the 50′s/60′s i believe. He watched it because it was a classic movie however we told him that kids never really did those things and that it was just a story.
Are there movies from your child hood that you remember but don’t recall just how “bad” it was?
I have been on vacation in Cocoa Beach FL. I will be back on Feb 22nd and cannot wait to start working at Nokia.
If you have seen my resume you will be saying (^*&%$%*&*(* and pulling out your hair asking why I would add yet another employer to my resume. I feel the same way! I have been trying to find the employer where I could be with for years and count on the stability. In 2008 I was working for Castle Communications and had been with them for over a year before getting the layoff e-mail. However starting Feb. 22nd 2010 I am glad to announce that I will be starting with Nokia after my trip to Florida next week. I am looking forward to working with the highly intelligent team that they have built and I am very excited to start with a company as large and stable as Nokia.
I am afraid I will not be allowed to really talk about what I am doing at work due to confidentiality agreements etc. however I will make posts updating you of things I have worked on once they have launched and are out of the reign of the agreements.
