UM, I didnt finish ZAMM, but it is obvious that the author, R pirsig is nuts, whats the alter ego he keeps referring to? I dont have the book its my brothers

 

Phaedrus is himself immediately before he went nuts and involuntarily administered shock therapy. Part of the interest of the book for me is his foggy memory returning to him as he gets closer to his old college campus where he went nuts. Ever have the vague, but persistent feeling that you've been someplace before? I've had a similar experience, only in my case it was lots of strong drink, not shock treatment.

 

hard liquor and motorcycles, probably not the best combination

 

I'd already parked for the night in Ogallala, Nebraska. There were no bars or nightclubs, so I was sitting on the curb, taking a taste with my whiskey-colored bike.
(Thanks for policing my terrible behavior.)

 

Thanks everyone, you can all sit back and have a good laugh at me now. I managed to take the front fairing off and change the oil and filter without a problem this morning so my black beauty's feeling a lot better now. My night vision's not bad but it really does help to try do this in the daylight. Next I've got to figure out how to clean and adjust the chain.

Seriously though, how often do you change your oil and filter ? I've read every 600 miles or so and I couldn't get around to it until I'd put about 1,000 miles on the bike. The drained oil was a little nasty looking.

Thanks again.

Chris

 

I thought you were in California, Chris. If you're headed across the country give me a call when you get near the East Coast at 609-387-1688 or 856-220-6999 and I'll help you finish off that Jack Daniels if you haven't already finished it by then and we can chat about Phaedrus and the rest of the Pirsig book, or something else if you'd rather.

Take care.

Chris

 

And now I have to figure out who the psychopathic lunatic was who tried to break into the trunk of my car and broke the lock mechanism so I can get the oil of the trunk and have that changed in another 1,000 miles or so. It never ends.

Take care,

Chris

 

Sorry about the burglar, Chris. (That kinda thing seems to be starkly on the rise lately... I thought the economy was supposed to be on the upswing?)
You should only change the oil & filter about every 3,000 miles (or every six months if you don't get to ride much.) In Europe and the UK, I met many folks who changed their oil every 6,000 miles (10,000 km) and I saw a few high-miles bikes while I was there, so it must not be that detrimental.

I won't be riding across the country again anytime soon. Nebraska is no place to take a sportbike. Neither are Iowa, Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma or Texas. Where are you at on the East Coast?

Cleaning and adjusting the chain is a snap. There are lots of preferences and theories about chain care, so mine is not the end-all/be-all:
To clean, just spray on a good, heavy coat of chain lube, wipe off the excess (this removes some of the dirty old chain lube that was on there), then apply one more, lighter coat and let the bike sit for at least a half an hour before riding. Do this about every 500 miles or when the chain feels dry.
Please don't simply use WD-40--get the motorcycle-specific lube like PJ1, Maxima, Bel-Ray, Kawa-chem or Honda. (I like the Honda, even though I'll never buy another one of their bikes.)
There should be chain-adjustment guidelines in both the service manual and the owner's manual. They usually recommend having 1-1.5 inches of sag to the chain. Personally, I tighten it up to the point that when you push the chain up, you can just barely make contact with the chainguard at the underside of the swingarm. A little looser is better than a little tighter--many years ago, I killed a chain in only 5,000 miles by overtightening it a tiny bit too much and riding around with a passenger & luggage at high-speed in the Arizona desert. I usually get at least 20,000 miles out of a chain, but prefer to change the chain and sprockets before they develop tight-spots. When you start to get the tight-loose-tight-loose action on your chain, it can lead to strain on your drive shaft seal; and replacing that would require splitting the engine cases (a major PITA.)
Good luck, and I hope you live somewhere that allows riding in the winter. (It's 70-degrees here today and clear-as-a-bell--as soon as my gf gets here, we're going riding!)
-CCinC

 

Yeah, so am I; its going to cost me a pretty penny to get it repaired. I guess he was hoping to steal that half-empty case of motor oil and the jumper cables I keep in my trunk -- not much else in there other than a tire-jack. I'm figuring it was a down-on-his luck car maintenance freak who'd let the oil change on his car go too long and don't really attribute it to the economy!!! Or else somebody parked their car by the river in front of the house to enjoy the view and the breeze and suddenly realized he hadn't changed his oil in 5 years or so and then decided that he'd better do it now or never and by that time the local Pep Boys had already closed for the day and the jones he had to change the oil just got the better of him!!!!

Actually, as far as the oil change goes, the engine actually sounded a bit better with clean oil in it 1,000 miles since I last changed it. But, according to the guy I bought it from, the bike had been sitting for 3 or 4 months before he sold it to me. It's only got 3500 miles on it and 1000 of them are mine. I put clean oil in it when I first got it home but didn't change the filter or drain the old oil until today. Did have it serviced at a shop once too since I bought it.

I've been through all of those places you mention, except Texas. Only time I've been in Texas is to change planes at the Dallas airport. I've driven across country a few times, but never on a bike.

I was raised for the most part in New Jersey, near Philadelphia. I'm now living in the house my parents and my younger brothers and I moved in to in 1980. We rented the first two floors for a while and then bought it a few years later. I moved out to Oregon in the fall of 1981 and went to Reed College up in Portland and lived there for 7 years before moving down to the San Francisco area in 1988 to go to law school there. Finished up law school and passed the California Bar Exam in 1991 and stayed on in the San Francisco Bay Area in California for another 7 years until I moved back to New Jersey near the end of 1998. (17 years altogether on the left coast)

Thanks for the advice on the chain. I really do appreciate the help. I got some de-greaser, brake and contact cleaner and chain lube from the store and figured I'd follow the instructions on the containers until I can get a hold of either or both of the manuals. Until I get the manual(s) I'm pretty sure I saw the chain adjustment guidelines on one of those manufacturer stickers on the bike somewhere so I'll take a look at those and follow your advice.

As far as riding in the winter goes here, it gets a little cold here in the winter. We're already going down to close to freezing in the middle of the night. It's o.k. in the day-time or even for short rides in the evening but once the snow hits or for extended rides it really is a little too cold come December, January and February when there's also snow and ice on the ground a fair bit of the time. I figure the riding season here is really only 7 or 8 months, though you can probably stretch that a little bit if you're willing to bundle up.

Have fun with your girlfriend and I hope she's as good as a couple of my old ones. None to speak of these days. Girlfriends, that is. And where are you ? Did I get it right that you're in California now ?

Have fun and thanks again.

Chris

 

Check the DIY section - I posted a DIY on chain adjustment - that might help you out!