Weekend Update (Lots of Good News!)

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
06/02/2019 at 22:18 • Filed to: Weekend, wrenching, Two Wheels Good

Had a productive little weekend!

My motorcycle garage is down to just the five bikes (from eight) I wanna ride this summer. I still have the Ruckus clone (technically number six), but that’s being sold to a fellow Gambler like the Elite was so hopefully that’ll finally be out of my hair.

That means my condo stable has a two bike hole (I can keep three there) ! I decided to pull out my “Grom” Yamaha DT175. Upon inspection, I noticed two things:

The front tyre is dry rotted. Eh, this isn’t a problem to me as I’ve planned on getting street rubber to make it even more like a Grom.

And... somehow something I didn’t notice riding it last year:

The engine is missing a couple sections of two cooling fins! :O I took a look at the first pics I ever took of the bike and I certainly bought it like that. No leaks and it also doesn’t appear to overheat. How much should I be worried? You can see the missing sections if you zoom in on the bike. I put a couple hundred miles on the bike last year and nothing seemed to be wrong.

Outside of that, off to my apartment it goes! Bike #3 will be the CBR600F3, but I’m going to buy legit trailer ramps before I do that.

The GS850G crossed over 30,000 miles (currently 30,250). This marks 4,000 miles under my care!

I also finally set up both my action cam, bluetooth speaker, and my phone mount. I’ll publish my test run later but it’s super nice to have tunes on a long ride. I captured this with my phone attached to the bars:

That RX-7 is right hand drive, has a massive turbo, and spits fire on acceleration. Flat out, the GS850G was no match.

I also witnessed a crazy dumb crash that could have been me on a worse day.

I was sitting at a light on a 4 lane city street, 2 lanes both directions, no turn lanes. In the left lane were five cars, in the right lane where I was was just one car that I was behind.

Light turns green and I immediately notice that the left lane ahead is blocked by a car stopped and trying to turn left. We’ll call it car 1.

As we approach car 1 I start slowing down in anticipation that people will change lanes to avoid having to stop.

Car 2 is front of the line in the left lane with car 3 in my lane running almost parallel to him. As car 2 approaches car 1 I notice how he doesn’t slow down. Then he turns on his indicator, still not slowing down.

I lay into my horn while he still has enough time to stop and the car in my lane can realize what’s about to happen. He ignores it and starts changing lanes. Car 2 crashes into car 3 which almost rolls but is saved by crashing into a parked car. I stuck around long enough to see if nobody would run then off I went.

Car 2 caused a 30mph three vehicle crash because he couldn’t be bothered to head check before a lane change. It was a tad freaky to me because had I ridden just a little faster I could have been car 3. And sure, I basically have my head on a swivel so I would have seen it coming....but it’s still a weird thought.

Finally, it appears the foreclosure issue is finally resolved. Apparently the courts will allow my mom to file for bankruptcy, save the house, and possibly remove me from the mortgage since I’m just a cosigner. Either way, no foreclosure. The details will be finalized in court in a week or so.

DISCUSSION (5)

dtg11 - is probably on an adventure with Clifford > Mercedes Streeter
06/02/2019 at 22:24

That’s great news with the bikes and I’m glad the mortgage is working out, hopefully that headache will be passed soon enough. Good luck!

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
06/02/2019 at 23:42

I really want a little Enduro style bike like that .

Bill and I lik ely will not be able to make it to the OG Illinois Gambler this year. Them moving it down south makes it a logistical nightmare. We are trying with the idea of planning a 1-day scooter Gambler this summer though :)

Tapas > Mercedes Streeter
06/03/2019 at 01:14

I love the DT175!

Mercedes Streeter > shop-teacher
06/03/2019 at 08:08

Most of us from the north and Wisconsin towed in our vehicles. The drive itself wasn’t too bad! Tyler (the guy with the Miata death kart) had the worst drive since his towing setup was too sketchy to exceed 50mph.

Either way, I'm down for a scooter Gambler!!!!!

shop-teacher > Mercedes Streeter
06/03/2019 at 08:52

Towing isn’t the problem, it’s the time. I get lots of time off as a teacher, but I don’t get to choose when it is. Taking the day before and the day after a weekend off is a no-go.

I'll let you know if the scooter Gambler happens.