The Triumph is nearly finished. It sits silently in the garage, glowing
with new paint and shiny chrome. Its antique status license plate looks
clean beneath the taillight. No trace of oil or grease can be seen. It's
a sight to behold. Just a couple more parts and it will be ready for a
test ride.
I feel strangely quiet. The excitement and anticipation left me
a long time ago. This had turned into more of a quest than anything.
And it is nearly over.
I glanced out the window and could see the golden hues of the leaves
beginning to wear their Fall colors. At one point, I had envisioned
myself riding throughout the summer, now, I am simply content to
sit quietly in the garage alongside the War Pony and think about
all the lessons I've learned during the past few months. Some of
these lessons were hard-learned with scraped knuckles and cuts,
others were more difficult to assess.
Here is small list of things I've learned about motorcycle maintenance
(maybe I should have read the book with that Zen guy first).
Lessons Learned
Just because an antique motorcycle is lying in the weeds doesn't mean
it' s not comfortable there.
Grease and oil under your fingernails does not impress guys when out
on a date.
Cardboard which sits beneath a dripping motorcycle is slick.
Sand can creep under your safety glasses and your clothes. I would
recommend taping yourself into a trash bag before using a sand blaster.
Using the sand blaster is different from sand at the beach. Beach
sand is fun, sandblaster sand is not.
If you can operate an electric mixer, you can use an sander, a grinder
or a drill. (and that goes the other way around for you guys).
If you accidentally burn the bottom of a cooking pan to a crisp, use
the sandblaster on it. It comes clean as a whistle.
The air compressor (with enough hose) can be used to quickly dust
the furniture in the house.
Jesse James is not real. (ok, so maybe he is, but he makes it looks
too easy).
Bondo is not like cake icing. . Paint samples at the store look different
in the sunlight.
A permanent black magic marker works ok when you chip the new paint
and don't want anyone to find out. . Gaskets can be made by anyone who
can use scissors.
A shop vac and dental floss are handy tools in the garage.
Never paint when the wind is blowing toward you.
Always drink beer when you're working on the motorcycle. You never
know when you might need to use a can to repair an exhaust leak.
Vinyl or surgical gloves won't keep the oil off your hands. They tear
too easily.
Manicure tools won't remove the oil from under your fingers. Buck
knives are usually the best tool for grease removal.
The PPG paint store people have never really painted anything themselves.(I
think they're like the computer- help desk people who flip through probable
answers until they come across one which works.).
It's ok to sit on your motorcycle in the garage and make engine noises.
New parts are very expensive.
Old parts are usually dirty.
You can use your daughter's big hair ties to hold the top set of spokes
while lacing spokes on your rims.
A solder gun needs to be plugged in before it gets hot (ok, so I didn't
notice the cord wasn't plugged in while waiting ten minutes for the
wire to melt).
Battery acid makes holes in your clothes.
American, Metric and Whitworth bolts are not interchangeable. (Attempting
to make them interchangeable strips them out . . . wonder how I know
that . . .).
Using clear nail polish on regular bolts keeps them from rusting for
awhile.
The advertisements which state a certain brand of chrome polish "easily
wipes off with no rubbing for a brilliant shine" are all lies.
When attempting to order parts from British Only, they require a part
number. You can't give them a part number unless you purchase one of
their $12.95 books which gives you all the part numbers.
Sometimes, if you think long and hard enough, you eventually will
'figure it out.'
Jan is a resident of West Virginia, the boss of Hawk Mountain Trading
and the webmaster of West
Virginia Bikers. To learn more about her, check out her biography
or visit her web site.
