As much as I like my work, by comparison it just seems a little mundane. That’s good, because it means things have gone fairly smoothly and we’ve been able to make plans and talk to students here in this city.

On the back of a motorcycle

Getting to church this morning involved a half hour ride across town on Robin’s motorcycle. Before we left I asked him if I could drive, but he just laughed.

After a while it got easier. By the trip home I was taking pictures and video and could have sent a text message from my phone just like everyone else riding on the back of all the other motorcycles.

At the Osteen Diner

Lunch today was at Osteen Diner with my friend, Dave. We got there on our motorcycles on a very warm Florida November day. Lunch was good. Travel was better. Dave let me ride his Harley Davidson back home, a bike twice the size of mine. Fun.

Before

After my first unsuccessful attempt at getting the brakes on my 1986 Yamaha XJ700 Maxim motorcycle working a few weeks ago, I did more research and found out that Yamaha never intended for their brake lines (rubber hoses surrounded by steel spring guards) to be in use longer than 4 years. It had been 22 years on my bike, and since brakes are the biggest safety element on a motorcycle, it seemed wise to finally replace them.

While I was at it, I decided to rebuild the master cylinder, too. It wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be. Along with the replacement parts I bought a special set of ‘circlip’ pliers that made the job possible. Amateur Mechanic Lesson 1: get the right tools.

My friend, Dave B, helped me install these a week ago. It wasn’t too difficult, but making the new lines actually fit was a bit of a brain puzzler (as was the master cylinder job). Stainless steel brake lines don’t twist at all, so you have to figure out which position allows them to connect smoothly at the fittings.

Now I have a whole new lexicon of motorcycle brake terms, and I learned how to operate a brake bleeding pump and a torque wrench (not hard). Compared to the corroded, old, water-in-the-brake-fluid system the bike had when I bought it, the new brakes are incredible!

After

Dan’s Garage

My friends, Dan and Dave, helped me rebuild the front brake caliper assemblies on my motorcycle today. The good news is that Dan really knows how to recondition brakes, and we got my 22 year old brake assemblies back into good condition. The bad news is that we never regained pressure in the brake lines, so these newly cleaned brakes don’t work. Good thing Dan lives nearby, because I drove home on just the rear brake. Something tells me the next step is rebuilding the master cylinder, but I’m hoping not.

1986 Yamaha Maxim

Last night I became a motorcycle owner, and today I did my first commute to work on it. It was the first time I’ve enjoyed the commute to the office since when I rode my bike to work back in Budapest. It was really fun!

Yamaha Maxim

A friend of mine let me know of a motorcycle for sale last week; a 1986 Yamaha Maxim. I decided to take it for a test ride, as my friend had it at the office. It has a 700 cc engine, half the size of the V-Rod I rented but it was still a fun ride. It’s not something I was ready to act on, so I figured it was just another fun experience.

But then last night my friend called me again and said the same bike was available for me to ride this weekend if I wanted. The owner is certainly a smart man, providing opportunity for a potential buyer to get hooked on the product. But I’ll take that risk anyway.

Last night I did another night run around the neighborhood, and later today (after I finish my chores) I’ll take it out for another spin.

The 7 Of Us Before Starting Out

Included in the tuition for our motorcycle class was a free one-day Harley rental. Today was the day, and I am now completely ruined. Even though they’re way overpriced, Harley V-Rods ($19k) are really cool bikes and I REALLY NEED one now. I used to think our recently acquired Escort had good acceleration, but after dropping off the bikes tonight and driving it home, I was wondering why it felt like a school bus by comparison. It’s a good thing I have no money for such things, otherwise Harley Davidson would have it now.

Seven of us started out the day riding together and headed northeast on the back roads toward the coast. After lunch in Osteen three of the group headed home while the remaining four of us continued on to put our feet in the ocean at Harley Mecca, Daytona Beach.

Riding a motorcycle with no windshield at, let’s say, “highway speeds” is not unlike holding on to the side of airplane in flight. Pretty fun, but the faster you go the harder it is to hold on. That V-Rod’s 125 horsepower was smooth all the way through the gears and really easy to ride, other than the wind.

None of us had any close calls during the day either, but ironically I almost got hit twice (by cars) in the Harley Davidson store parking lot as I was pulling the bike around to park it at the end of the day.

This was certainly one of the funnest days I have ever had, and I’m hoping it won’t be the last of its kind.