Mayday

It is finally early May.  The bikes are oiled and cleaned, time to putt.  I took a picture of a friend's set of early Yamaha XS650 motorcycles.  He has completed one of each of the early years.  I sold one to him and bought one from him.  Together they are wonderful eye candy.  Running they are also ear candy.  

My own latest XS2 has carb problems but I am getting it sorted.  It's the first one I've had that had a broken shock.  The shaft just snapped off.  I've not seen that before.  I replaced the shocks with a set from Mike's XS.  The Monza shocks for the early years are not very supple.  The damping and spring rate are harsh.  I wouldn't recommend them.  Other than that I like the current XS2 quite well.  The engine seems a little stronger than my previous XS2.  These old machines seem to have enough personality that there is a noticeable difference between units of the same model.  

I also ran into a problem which I am told is not uncommon but is a first for me.  A spring in the shifter mechanism broke.  Normally these are easy to reach being just under the right engine cover.  Of course the one that broke for me is on my sidecar rig so the car is in the way.  If I can just find a child with strong fingers, good eyes, and who can operate in a strange and cramped position I might be able to get it replaced.  For me it will be a bit of a stretch as I currently have problems with pinched nerves in my neck.  I managed to get the cover off but cannot seem to reach the position to put on the spring without putting too much strain on my neck.  

"Getting old isn't one thing after another.  It's every damn thing all the time."

Get out and ride.  

LN