"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
06/06/2020 at 20:23 • Filed to: None
3
7|
"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo)
06/06/2020 at 20:23 • Filed to: None | 3
| 7 |
As you may have seen, I broke the shifter on the Ducati this morning, scuttling my riding plans. So I had to get out of my funk. So I washed the Fiat, and Mrs. IM took me out for a drive to run a few errands.
She really loves her little Italian wedge, and keeps remarking on how happy it makes her. So that made me happy. After a trip to Napa for some supplies I needed (am I the only one who always loses the little tube of blue Loctite before it ever ends up empty? It is like a 10mm socket for me ), and a quick trip to Cycle Gear (no helmets that I liked, but it reminded me that the Vespa needs a battery), I came home to put the spools that just came in the mail on my son’s Monkey.
The Monkey has no dedicated threaded holes for spools, so I had to special order them. You take the cap nuts off the bolts th at hold the shocks on, and put the local weird spool nut on the end of the bolt then the silver side of the spool slides on to that, and the black side of the spool fits on the end of that. The bolt from the kit holds them together, and tightens with an Allen wrench. We need to get the fucking thing on my rear stand so we can figure out how to fix the kickstand that won’t stay up. I think it got damaged somehow on the truck ride from Texas. We also need to clean the chain which suffered sitting in Texas weather for 2 months. This means I can give him my rear stand, since I need to get a single sided swingarm stand for the Ducati, but I am not sure which one to get. Shockingly, Revzilla is cheaper than the Ducati branded version.
I tried Gorilla epoxy to attach the broken lever on the Ducati so I can ride it to get fixed at least, but if worse comes to worse my insurance will haul it over there for free. I’d do it myself, but the Ducati service people gave me an estimate of $100 parts and labor. Given the odds that I will frustrate myself, I’ll have them do it for that price. I also want to pick up the Ducati bar ends for a little added color. The red will look good, I think.
I also have pretty much decided on a motorcycle trailer for the GTI.
This thing is expensive, but it is light weight and stores easily, both of which are important to me. The hitch I put on the GTI isn’t made to haul anything super heavy, so I want to be minimalist. It has a suspension of its own, which I like, and the ride on design is nice so I don’t have to wrestle with a separate ramp. We are going to Oregon in a couple of weeks, and I want to take the Ducati if I can get the trailer in time. Any Oppos around Bandon? Toby would love to meet you.
My younger son is doing his first open mic night since things around here started reopening tonight, which should be fun. He has been writing a lot of music during the lockdown, and his skills are rapidly improving.
RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars
> ImmoralMinority
06/06/2020 at 20:28 |
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Yay for cheerful FIATS! :)
The Snowman
> ImmoralMinority
06/06/2020 at 21:10 |
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Is there some kind of euro bumper that destroys pedestrians but fits 16" closer to the body?
Snuze: Needs another Swede
> ImmoralMinority
06/06/2020 at 21:26 |
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Fiat looks great, and I love the planned Duc mods. Seems like you turned your day around, which is good!
Kiltedpadre
> ImmoralMinority
06/06/2020 at 21:50 |
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I’m glad to hear she’s such a fan of the Fiat. Hopefully it serves her as well as the Sunchaser serves you. Do you feel like it’s pretty well sorted out at this point?
This thought is coming from someone that’s never actually used one, but I like the design of the Ducati stand better. The U-shaped front looks like it would be more stable than the single leg.
for Michigan
> The Snowman
06/06/2020 at 22:12 |
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Yes!
Or you could go bumperless:
Exage03040 @ opposite-lock.com
> ImmoralMinority
06/06/2020 at 22:40 |
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?? The Duc shift lever looks like it’s just 2 allen head bolts,
some loctite and some grease... Even easier than my Honda where I had to reset the linkage.
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2018/RCRIT-18V835-0714.pdf
Merkin Muffley
> for Michigan
06/07/2020 at 08:13 |
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Bumperless for the win.
Those "ladder" Fiat bumpers are the worst