So with lovely weather projected for Memorial Day weekend, I decided to give Incubus fresh middle drive oil. I hadn't changed it since getting the bike running, so it seemed time.
The filler plug on my middle drive is what parts engines were designed for. After I stripped it out trying to unfreeze it and ended up removing it by cutting a groove with my dremel and then using a hammer and chisel, I started adding gear oil (had a spare plug in the dead Special). It was a bit more unwieldy that it looked and I spilled some. No problem, I thought, I'll just add oil until I reach the right level in the dipstick in the tool kit.
So I poured for a while then went to pull out the tool kit. Wait a minute, where's the stupid tool kit? Not in this bike... not in the other XS11...maybe I left in in one of the Hondas....nope...hmmmm...oh, crap. I bet it is in the saddlebag of the Shadow. The Shadow, sadly, is about 30 miles from here at my son's apartment. It would be a good ride to get it, but I don't know how much oil is in the middle drive.
Great.
I have all sorts of measuring tools. So can someone tell me how to verify the level of oil in the middle drive so I can ride down and get the dipstick and check the oil?
Sadly, riding one of my other bikes is not an option. I love riding Incubus so much I let the registration on the other bikes lapse. Except the Shadow. Thirty miles away.
Patrick
The filler plug on my middle drive is what parts engines were designed for. After I stripped it out trying to unfreeze it and ended up removing it by cutting a groove with my dremel and then using a hammer and chisel, I started adding gear oil (had a spare plug in the dead Special). It was a bit more unwieldy that it looked and I spilled some. No problem, I thought, I'll just add oil until I reach the right level in the dipstick in the tool kit.
So I poured for a while then went to pull out the tool kit. Wait a minute, where's the stupid tool kit? Not in this bike... not in the other XS11...maybe I left in in one of the Hondas....nope...hmmmm...oh, crap. I bet it is in the saddlebag of the Shadow. The Shadow, sadly, is about 30 miles from here at my son's apartment. It would be a good ride to get it, but I don't know how much oil is in the middle drive.
Great.
I have all sorts of measuring tools. So can someone tell me how to verify the level of oil in the middle drive so I can ride down and get the dipstick and check the oil?
Sadly, riding one of my other bikes is not an option. I love riding Incubus so much I let the registration on the other bikes lapse. Except the Shadow. Thirty miles away.
Patrick
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