The garage is getting crowded

If you ask my wife, she will tell you it's a sickness.  I probably wouldn't argue the point either, but if I'm sick, then there are worse illnesses.

Picked up another ride.  Wife asked me what do you need another bike for.  I told her it had nothing to do with need.  For that matter I don't NEED any of them.  

In this case its a pretty 2009 Kawasaki Vulcan 500, a bike that hasn't changed much in the 20 years it was made.  A twin cylinder, 500cc water cooled little cruiser.  Kinda like a Rebel on steroids.  I wanted something smaller to fart around on, not so small that it wouldn't do well on the highway, but small enough to toss around.

This particular bike had about 2500 miles on it and was really clean.  I'm probably the 3rd owner.  Two easy to service carbs if I need to, chain drive and a disc up front.  Pretty old school.

Everybody likes pics, here are a few:

Life is tough. Never enough bikes just not enough time to ride. There is only one solution double the garage size wife will understand. Justify by giving her a spot for her car

Nice collection. However a garage is never crowded it's just the bikes are parked tight enough together

Good addition. This is a good-looking, reliable addition. Hard to beat that solid Kawi 500 twin that has been around many years. Good on highway and local roads. Suits your "needs" (wants) very well.

I had a Kawasaki EN450 - a predecessor of your bike - and found it a real fun bike with a fantastic engine. Here's a video I took with some stills of the bike at the end.
https://youtu.be/9TrxC_WlAa4

Flyingpanman wrote:

I had a Kawasaki EN450 - a predecessor of your bike - and found it a real fun bike with a fantastic engine. Here's a video I took with some stills of the bike at the end.
https://youtu.be/9TrxC_WlAa4

That is some pretty countryside.  Always gets me how the wide angle view of the go-pro makes it seem like you zooming around much faster than you really are.

I've got about a hundred miles on the bike so far.  Two things I don't care for  are the seat which starts to hurt after about an hour and the fact that it has no tach and the speedo is down on the tank.  I just got a combo tach/speedo from Kosa that has all the idiot lights on it.  That should be going on this weekend.  Not sure about the seat, I may have to get another airhawk for it too.

Well, your mother in law does not have to be alone at Xmas. And plenty of room to sit somewhere.

We had a nice, unseasonably warm and dry day today, so I took the opportunity to ride into work one more time.  I especially wanted to ride in today since the rest of the week is looking to be cold/crappy and after Friday, I won't be doing any riding for probably a couple of months.

Come Friday, I'll be getting a new shoulder put in and after that, will probably be wearing a sling 24/7 for at least 3-4 weeks.  Even after I can loose the sling, I'm not sure when I can start riding again.

I took the Swing today and on the way home, I filled her up.  Got home and pulled the other bikes out and rode each in turn down to the gas station and filled them up too.  I could have taken the car with a gas can and filled that up, but where would be the fun in that?  And they all needed a bit of a run before getting put up for a bit.  I also put some ethanol gas stabilizer in each tank as well and hopefully that will keep things from going south.

EvilTwin,
I guess we both are hung up physically for awhile. Good luck on your upcoming surgery.
Take care and wish you a speedy recovery!

First good luck with the surgery.

I also put some ethanol gas stabilizer in each tank as well and hopefully that will keep things from going south.

That's good for the fuel, have you a battery tender or two to use on them while they are sitting?

I'm going to run each one about once a week up to temp to burn off any moisture in the crankcase and that should keep the batteries at a reasonable level as well. If any of em crank slow or dont crank at all, I can throw a charger on. The spyder has a tender that came with it too.

And I've read online that some folks think its not a good idea to just run them without moving them, but I don't see the logic in that. As long as the motors get to operating temp, this will keep the fuel from sitting and keep moving parts moving. I especially don't want to let the Kawa sit since it's a carb engine and ethanol gas sitting in the bowls will go south pretty quickly.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hopefully too you'll get off those serious meds quickly as well.

FWIW if you use synthetic oil in your bikes you wont have the need to preemptively run them while in storage. Synthetic oil coats the surfaces and wont absorb moisture.

Tim

Cosmic_Jumper wrote:

Best wishes for a speedy recovery. Hopefully too you'll get off those serious meds quickly as well.

FWIW if you use synthetic oil in your bikes you wont have the need to preemptively run them while in storage. Synthetic oil coats the surfaces and wont absorb moisture.

Thanks Tim.  I always use synthetic, so the swing and spyder are covered.  I haven't done an oil change on the kawa yet, so I don't know what is in that bike.  The oil was pretty clean (it has a sight glass at the bottom of the crankcase) so I have not changed it yet.  I did get a new filter for it, but all that maintenance will just have to wait a couple of months at this point.

EvilTwin, good luck with the new shoulder. I am sure you are well versed in all aspects of the surgery and recovery. However, I know that there is some anxiety associated when it comes to the self. Half the battle is being prepared and the other is in putting in the time to allow the body to recover.

Take care and speedy recovery.

Jay.

Thanks for all the well wishes guys. It does make a difference.

Bob

Howdy all. Survived the procedure. Was worse then they thought, did a reverse shoulder. Typing with one finger on wrong hand. Now the real fun begins. My dear wife is taking good care of me. Very hard not being able to do much on my own.

I'm glad the surgery went well, or as well as can be expected. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

No matter what kind of surgery it is it still sucks. I just don't like getting cut open unless that's the only way and last resort.

Whether it's an engine issue or body issue, the experts usually find more damage than expected. Good to see you back and typing. Winter is good time to heal. Spring will come just in time to ride.

Today marked a week since I filled em all up. The Spyder and the Kawa started right up The Swing wouldn't crank at all. Lights were fine, but no crank. I put a charger on it for an hour or so, still nothing. So I wondered if I needed to be sitting on the seat for it to work. Turns out that was it, there is an interlock with a butt needed on the seat. Of course my dear wife opened the garage with me sitting on the bike and she wasn't too happy. Oh well, at least they all started and ran.

Ha! Caught in the act!

Wish I had a butt switch to get my a** in gear.

It's not a riding lawn mower !!! Seat interlock and all. Butt it felt nice for sure.
It's winter and lots of time to recover for next year.

Dislocated left shoulder 25 years ago dirt bike crash. Fell skiing popped right out again. I'm left handed and can't throw very hard and never will again. No pain in that shoulder mostly but right is always hurting??? WT?. Get well. Keep moving don't push it.

Nice bikes. That HVAC system looks pretty old school.

janitorj1 wrote:

Nice bikes.  That HVAC system looks pretty old school.  

Thanks. That is the dust collection ducting for the woodworking equipment. There is a cyclone in the corner near the black trike.

Beautiful day today.  Had to get up into the 60's and was bright and sunny most of the day.  Really sucked not being able to get on something and ride.  But I did the next best thing and got out and started them all up for the second week in a row.  And once again, the Swing would not start unless I was sitting on the seat and had the left brake squeezed and the kickstand up.  But it fired right up when I managed ti get aboard.

It doesn't make any sense.  I went through the owners manual and the only two interlocks are the brake and the stand.  Maybe something with the switch on the kickstand that it doesnt close without weight on the bike?  I'm clueless, but for now as long as it starts.

Shoulder continues to heal. Now 10 days postop.  Not wearing the sling right now, so I can type two handed.  Lots of stiffness, some pain but managing on Tylenol.   First day of winter is Friday,  Yuck.

Great to hear that healing continues well. Slow and steady.

Ah, but at least the first of winter also signals "days getting longer," meaning more light to each day. In a few months both you and weather will be ready for adventure.

Going back to work tomorrow.  A bit less than 5 weeks since the surgery.  Arm is doing pretty well, still some pain and limited range of motion, but it gets better bit by bit.  I would have liked to go back to work last week, but the red tape between the Dr. office and my jobs HR dept made it very difficult.  Took a bit of going back and forth to finally get the Drs office to sign off on the return to work form, but now its done.

And since today was such an unusually warm and pretty day here in VA, I cheated a bit and backed out the Spyder and took it for a couple of turns around the neighborhood.  I've been driving now for well over a week with no big issues, but its mostly been using the left arm.  There's no getting by with just the left arm on a bike and it was a bit uncomfortable keeping the right arm raised up and then turning the bars.  So I've probably got a good month more before things are really healed up enough and I'm sure the ortho would say 2-3 months.  But it still felt really good to be back in the saddle...

wOw - I'm loving the colour of that Silverwing, beautiful...! You keep it clean. What year is that can I ask..?
Looking forward to picking mine up next week.

Cheers;
ishmac
Scotland

It a nice color, I had a SW a few years ago in that color with the adjustable Give windshield as well. It was during a period when I had some knee trouble and get the SW to have something lighter than my '01 Goldwing.

Glad your healing well. Switched to SW when my clutching hand finally went bad. I found when the SW sits a while the left hand break safety sensor will hang up, Put a small fuse to jumper the two leads and see if it starts.