The major task was putting on new tires for both the spare and pusher wheels, the pusher was pretty worn down and the pusher was a close second. It looks like I may have to order two more tires soon as the new ones are not predicted to last very long given Alaska's pavement.
We also checked out several items trying to chase down a sporadic stumble in the idle after a long day of riding. Everything checked out so far: air filter, compliance fittings, carburetor bowls (replacing the mounting screws with allen head screws), got new screws for the main tail light lens, greased the u-joints on the prop shaft to the sidecar, applied grease to the hub splines for the pusher wheel and the spare, checked the spark plugs colors, looked great.
Determined that the oil burning smell I'd been smelling is most likely coming from the crankcase vent tube that now flows a small air filter! So that was a red herring in terms of troubleshooting. The plugs didn't have oil on them so no blowby/oil getting past the piston rings.
RichardM took my two wheels, new tires over to his friend Dave aka Solar Moose on advrider. Dave graciously let us use/and helped swap out the old tires for the new tires and we were done in perhaps an hour. Quite the enjoyable time, thanks Dave!
Once we had Valencia buttoned up, a quick test ride was in order and RichardM sat in as the monkey. No thing fell off, especially the new pusher tire so it's all good. Tomorrow is the changing of the fluids, checking of fasteners and spokes and lubing of several linkages and pivot points as per the service list.
Installing the new tire onto the pusher made me feel better about the riding ahead. Having a new tire as the spare is also good for confidence. Once I get to Anchorage and the Ural dealer there, I'll probably pick up two more tires. The loose plan is to depart for Wasilla, AK on Wednesday then in sequence: Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Valdez, Denali and back to Fairbanks for more maintenance.
Then, it'll be Cold Foot and Deadhorse next. The prediction is for snow all week for Cold Foot and Deadhorse which is why I am bypassing them this week.
RichardM, his lovely wife Bridget and one of his sons, Kyle took me to dinner at the Silver Gulch Brewery. Very nice meal and conversation. Thanks Bridget and Richard for picking up the tab as well!
8 comments:
Very nice to have time, a warm garage, and friends to help with some regular maintenance. It will be a great couple of days to button things back up.
Motorcycle community is an amazing thing. You have food and shelter, a warm place for maintenance and the right guys with the right tools around, plus lots of decent conversation and company. Try to get that when traveling in a cage...
Love following your progress! Jealousy ensues.... ;-)
BeemerGirl, yes a warm garage is quite the treat and RichardM burned vacation days to be able to stay and help me do the maintenance!
SonjaM, truer words were never spoken.....
da12ask, Oscar....thanks and yes, you should be jealous. Ya know, you could just get in my V-Strom rig and head out this way.....
Like Sonja said, we seem to be part of a fantastic community. Richard would be the perfect person to help with the maintenance - he's a man of many talents.
VStar Lady, he truly is a man of many talents!
This tagging along is fun...
I've done some long-ish Spring trips but nothing like this one and mine were almost always going the other direction!
Oscar, just say the word and I will put your tent in the sidecar and unlock the garage. Now Janet might have a different take on it all.
Good to see you tending to the mechanics of things.
Thanks Richard and family for taking such good car of my wandering mate!
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