The motivation thread!

[Yard Dogg]

I thought I might start a thread for motivating each other. I'm one of those who sometimes procrastinates just a bit when it comes to working on my bike. I figure, if your glued to the PC and know you need to get to work on your bike, you can post here and we'll give you a proper chewing on. If nothing else, it could be fun.

Right now I need to pull my rear wheel and repaint it, and grease my drive shaft and swing arm pivot. It's a little windy and nippy outside, actually it's blowing about 30 mph, but I know I could do it if I wear a jacket. I'm just enjoying my coffee and sweat pants too much.

[Yahman]

Oh come on, the wind blowing in the Tri-Cities... Your joking right!

The wind doesn't blow in the Tri-Cities, it sucks!!!

Now suck it up, get out there and paint that wheel! Just be sure to tie yourself to a tree, that way you don't have to worry about those wind gusts.

Larry

[Yard Dogg]

I would but not it's raining too. I see you've spent some time here. I like that, tie yourself to a tree. I can honestly say I know what it means to be knocked down by the wind.

[crazy steve]

.. I see you've spent some time here. I like that, tie yourself to a tree. I can honestly say I know what it means to be knocked down by the wind.

Isn't the trick finding a tree? C'mon, this is eastern Washington you're talking about!

Worst bike fuel mileage I ever got, bucking a headwind between Spokane and Pullman... besides it being a white-knuckle ride!

'78E original owner

[Yard Dogg]

Isn't the trick finding a tree? C'mon, this is eastern Washington you're talking about!

Worst bike fuel mileage I ever got, bucking a headwind between Spokane and Pullman... besides it being a white-knuckle ride!

'78E original owner

Oh man you found the Muther of all sections around here. I went through there last year with no windshield or anything. I was getting gusts of around 60 - 70 mph side winds. I got scared for a bit. I was leaning so far into it my kick stand drug a few times. There was one point where I passed a semi on the left and immediately after got completely pushed across his lane right in front of him to the shoulder. I was protected in a vortex beside him even though I was on the side of the wind then whoosh! I sat for a minute after that one.

Oh wait, you said Spokane and Pullman, I was thinking between Yakima and Ellensburg.

[Yahman]

I love that 50 MPH cross wind that hits you when your going over the Columbia River from Kennewick to Pasco, gets your attention every time.

Larry

[Yahman]

Riding in a dust storm from Kennewick to Umatilla is a lot of fun too!

Larry

[Yard Dogg]

Yeah it gets to be a black out in there. Lots of dry desert. To be honest though, I kind of like it sometimes. Feels like more of a wild ride! I'm thinking about going out for a bit right now, probably just to get a bite to eat, not too far.

It's just too bad I had to return my riding jacket I just got to BikeBandit. I accidentally ordered a 4X instead of a 2X. Otherwise I would have a nice jacket right now. Looks like it'll be another few weeks.

[latexeses]

C'mon wimps, quityerbitchin and go ride!!

Yard Dogg,

Was that sort of what you had in mind?

[tarzan]

"It,s windy","it's cold","there's no trees over there".....waaaaaaa
You sound like a bunch of old ladies.lol
I ride to Pullman and back to Spokane quite often.Yea there is some wind,
but if you take the back roads, there is some good twisties and great scenery.I agree that down by the Columbia or the Snake rivers it is windy.
I ride down through Pullman and then to the Lower Granite Dam.They have it fenced off there, but you can call from a call box at the gate and a guard will escort you across.Then we rode to Lewiston from there.Fun ride.
I am going to have to ride down to the Tri-Cities this year some time,maybe for a demo derby down there.I hear they have great demos.

[crazy steve]

"It's windy","it's cold","there's no trees over there".....waaaaaaa

Hey, that's why I live on the west side....

Yeah, like Yard Dogg says, when the semis/motorhomes went by the other way trying to say on the road/in your lane kept you very busy... It didn't help I was on a lighter bike at the time either and these were two lane undivided highways then. I remember another time heading to Missoula and took the 'shortcut' across White Pass, across the Hanford rez. HOT!! No, let me rephrase that: EFFING HOT!! Ran the XS up to over a 100 in an attempt to even slightly cool off but it still felt like we were riding through a blast furnace. Pulled into Othello, the now-x says, 'oh good it's cool here'. Felt like AC after the desert. But the temp on the bank said it was 101....

'78E original owner

[Yard Dogg]

I did end up going for a ride. I decided it's best not to open up anything internal on my bike due to all the wind. I don't have a shop or even a slab to work on. Wouldn't feel right if I didn't try to do something on the bike. So I started looking around Pasco for some gasket material to make new petcock gaskets with. I found a rubber company in Pasco that sells the really good stuff resistant to gasoline, never knew they were there. It's called nitrile, the white stuff. I explained about our forum here and told them we are always looking for inventive ways to fix things on our bikes to save money for parts. They took me back in the shop and cut me off a 1/8 inch thick square foot or so of nitrile and charged me donut money. Then he showed me this kit of various sized round stamp type cutters. Once I see if I can make the 1/8" thickness work in my petcock, I might take my old gasket to them and have them punch out about 50 of em depending on the price for their service and sell em too all of you for a discount price. Beats paying for the whole kit when all you really need is that one. I'm gonna try to make a gas tank cap seal out of it too, but I'll probably have to glue it on.

The ride there was interesting. For some reason when I get in the wind, I just want to crank the throttle even more. Cagers were on my nerves more than usual so I was weaving in and out like a maniac. Shouldn't have done it, but it was satisfying. I hate when people loiter in the passing lane. I kept my middle finger down though.

[Yahman]

I wasn't complaining about the wind, it can be a blast (pardon the pun) to ride in. I've logged 20,000 plus miles in that area of the country and I truly enjoyed most of it. Gives you the opportunity to learn new skills too.

However, the wind is one of the reasons I don't live there anymore.

Larry