Labor Day is finally about here.
Been working rediculous hours so am ready for a couple "free" days this weekend.
Currently in Grants, New Mexico. Different country here and a lot cooler than at Aztec. We're parked in the middle of an old lave flow area at a KOA Campground. Lots of cedar type "forests" here.Very pretty and green country. Has been raining nearly every afternoon.
Spent a couple hours this evening and installed a new drive tire on the rear of the hack.
Tire on the bike was 1 1/2 years old. The tire was a trails type tire and wore much longer than the cheepo Shinko's I've been using. Still had a little tread but the tread disappears fast when they get down low. We'll probably ride around 500 miles this weekend so the tire never would have made it. Haven't ran a lot of miles in the past 1 1/2 years. Gotta get busy and start wearing out more tires!
Cleaned / lubed the drive hub splines....lubed the rear wheel bearings. Bought a new Odyssey PC680 battery a few months ago, so installed it. The old battery was 3 years old and showed 100% charge but didn't crank the engine like it should. The new battery cranked it much faster. Guess I'll hold onto the old one for now. Maybe I'll find another old bike to mount on the battery?
Checked / aired up the tires. Still have a minor pushrod tube seal leaking but not too bad, anyway not bad enough to not go for a ride.
Packed a couple spare inner tubes and a new "screw jack" to replace the old heavy bottle jack I've been hauling around for the past 5 years.
We plan on riding through the El Malpais country and down to Alpine AZ. Looks like some interesting country around Alpine so we'll do some exploring. Have a reservation at a small "lodge" in Alpine for Sat. night...web photos look more like an old Motel.
Sounds like a pretty good chance for afternoon showers all weekend so the rain gear will go along for sure.
Not planning on any camping so will not be packing enough gear to wear out the new tire this weekend.
Hope to take a lot of photos. Always look forward to riding new country!
