Or at least as far as the weather is concerned. This afternoon, I was running a few errands and grabbed another shot of the local roads. Most of the main roads are in pretty good shape but it takes a while for the road crews to get to the smaller ones. Some, like this one, are in pretty nice shape as it probably doesn't get much more than local traffic and it looks like it's been plowed recently though not graded. I think that our normal winter weather may be slowly returning as it was 16°F this morning and is forecast to drop to about -9°F by this evening.
Last night, I added a two rows of carbide studs near the center of the tread on the pusher. This has made a huge difference when cruising down the icy roads. Completely stable without even a hint of fish tailing. Still easy enough to break loose when you want it using the throttle. I was reluctant to put studs in the center of the tread as I thought it may significantly reduce traction on dry roads. By late afternoon yesterday, the fog and light snow appeared to be over and we ended up with the sun just peeking below the clouds. The sky was crystal clear on my ride in this morning.
This evening when heading home, I had the now familiar rough running indicating water in the carbs. A quick stop to empty out the bowls (again!) and smooth running returned. I don't know where all of the moisture is coming from, just condensation? I pulled the tank, drained another liter from each petcock (on reserve) and got maybe ½ teaspoon of water. Frustrating...
Richard:
ReplyDeletecouldn't you just put in a little methyl alcohol each time you fill up ?
We are nearly back to normal too with temps above freezing and back to rain.
YA HOO ! for us
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
Generally, methyl alcohol isn't recommended for older vehicles due to drying out some some parts inside the carburetor. But I may need to do something like that.
DeleteIt sounds like you're happy to have the rain back.
Glad to hear your weather is returning to normal. We woke to 15˚F this morning, but freezing fog. They are forecasting freezing rain on top of all our snow tomorrow morning.
ReplyDeleteHope you get the carb issue sorted out.
Freezing rain on snow. You are fortunate to be able to take the bus instead of driving. Freezing fog, that doesn't sound very pleasant. When it gets really cold, we get ice fog made up of ice around smoke particles. Not only miserable but very unhealthy as well. You breathe in the fog and the ice melts leaving the smoke particle in your lungs.
DeleteRichard, a guy in Valdez told me to use the Heet in the yellow bottle, not the red bottle. Swore by it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it needs regular use. That is what I used in the last two tanks of gas. Maybe the amount of liquid water it can manage is pretty small.
DeleteWe have had only a few days of below 0 windchills and already 0 feels pretty good! You know you are someplace special when it's below zero and you see workmen walking around in sweatshirts, no hat or gloves!
ReplyDeleteInteresting comments about the freezing smoke fog.
After an extended cold spell, it isn't unusual to see folks walking around in t-shirts and light wind breakers once it gets above 0°F again. But anytime the wind stops is good! It immediately feels warm.
DeleteWhatever is considered 'normal' in your part of the world ;-) We have had freezing fog all week, and I have neither seen the sun nor surrounding mountains…
ReplyDeleteThe sun taking a glimpse through the could cover is lovely.
"Normal" being that it is colder in Fairbanks than Corvallis. Normally, it is well below 0°F this time of year as is not seeing much of the sun and even when it is in sight, no significant warmth comes from it. Some people just enjoy seeing it, maybe thinking that it decided to burn out overnight... (I shouldn't be so cynical!)
DeleteNormal! Wow!
ReplyDelete