These days, this is now the norm with even colder temperatures on the horizon. The four day weekend was uneventful and sharing Thanksgiving dinner preparation with my daughter in-law was a real treat. I'm afraid that there are no food pics but it turned out well. Enough variety to satisfy everyone and it's nice to be able to try out new dishes.
No work done on the bike even though it would have been a good opportunity to knock off some of the maintenance tasks such as lubing the transmission input spline, changing the brake fluid or rebuilding the carbs. The input spline is supposed to be every other year, the brake fluid every year, and the carbs due to the fact that my mileage has really dropped over the summer. To get to the input splines, the rear swingarm and the transmission need to be removed. I last did the task in
March 2010, so it is overdue. By the end of my trip last summer, the transmission needed to be shifted carefully and you can feel the bike try to move forward a bit when it is in neutral. Sure signs of dry splines.
This picture shows how the body is suspended from the frame. The sidecar came with only 4 installed to soften the ride and two of the rubber rings are almost cracked all of the way through. I found a supplier of Cozy parts at
nfieldgear.com, an online supplier of Royal Enfield parts and accessories. I think that these are going to be a bear to install.
According to USPS tracking, the front sidecar mount should be delivered to DMC today sometime. I'm not sure what their schedule is like but I'm hoping that I will have the parts by the end of December. I will be down in San Francisco next week and stopping in Oregon on the way back. I could even run up to DMC which is in Enumclaw, WA, a couple of hours north of Portland. But hopefully they would have already shipped the parts by then.
Wednesday Morning Update - Temperatures (and daylight) are continuing to drop. I have been getting out walking around again though I usually opt for a ride in the morning. That way I have time for coffee and, occasionally, breakfast. I will be stopping by DMC aka Dauntless Motors, in a couple of weeks to pick up the modified front sidecar mount, the new crossmember and other miscellaneous mounting hardware. Probably on the 12th on my way to the airport. Actually a six hour detour but it seems worth the side trip.
Posted with Blogsy
I'll have to remember to never complain about the cold down here, or the days that seem too short. I noticed the 10:00 sunrise and 3:12 sunset. Yikes!
ReplyDeleteAnd our days are getting shorter currently at about six minutes per day. One of the "features" of this temperature is good traction on the roads. The average weight of a vehicle isn't enough to melt the ice under the tires.
DeleteRichard:
ReplyDeleteYou're doing precisely what you are supposed to be doing on Thanksgiving -- Nothing. Feels good doesn't it. Eat and enjoy family time.
Even if it were +Plus 23°F, it would be too cold
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube
I was feeling incredibly lazy over the weekend. I knew that there were things that I could've been doing but opted not to...
Delete+23°F would be a great temperature to go x-country skiing. When it's below zero, you go a lot slower.
Richard - I remember those -20 something & colder days too during my time in Prince George and I have to say I don't miss them in the least. I missed something, did you get a bike with a sidecar rigor did you buy one?
ReplyDeleteAround here, it only feels cold until it gets down to -40 for a while. Then -20°F feels pretty nice.
DeleteI picked up just the sidecar and not the attached bike. It is a Cozy, made in India, and the bike subframe and sidecar mounts are made/being made by Dauntless Motors aka DMC in Washington.
I think with your weather it must be like the boiling frog syndrome.....you just get used to it. That is about -30C and I remember -38C in Edmonton. Brrrr.
ReplyDeleteI know the cold doesn't seem to bother you much now, but how did you handle the cold your first year up there?
To me, there is a huge difference between -30°C and -40°C. At -40 it is very difficult to get anything done outside or keep vehicles running but at -30°C,
DeleteThe first years I was up here I was probably a lot more tolerant of the cold than I am now. But I also dressed more appropriately such as mukluks instead of running shoes and wearing scarfs and face masks. These days, I don't bother unless I plan on being outside for a while. Plus, now I have a garage. Up here, that makes a huge difference. Though with my sidecar project, I can't park the truck inside at all...
Ah yes, lubing of the splines...the one task I've not tried yet. But will, once Brigitta gets past 100K.
ReplyDeleteSo, does everyone use 5w30 as engine oil up there Richard?
For gasoline engined cars 5w30 is the usual recommendation. I noticed that our Prius uses 0w30 and my Dodge diesel runs 15w40 year around. I've never asked any of the year 'round riders what they use in the winter.
DeleteThe spline lube goes pretty quickly once you've done it the first time.
Brrrrrrr! Glad you took the time to enjoy doing nothing for Thanksgiving - I'm always thankful when I don't have anything that I have to do!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even get myself to go out for a walk and it wasn't the temperature, just felt lazy. I think that my only activities were preparing meals for the family and tagging along whenever anyone had errands to do...
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