Last Rides of the Year?

Today through Thursday are closure days for the university. Only two of them are actual paid holidays and the others are annual leave so I have a little bit of free time. There was water in the right carb again this morning. After emptying it out, I took another ride. I was thinking of making some sushi rolls but lacked a couple of ingredients. I had heard of another asian grocery store and thought I'd see what they carried. Sounds like a good excuse for a ride. It turned out that 90% of their goods were snack food, noodles and sauces. I was looking for kanpyō (dried gourd) and frozen unagi (roasted eel) and they had neither.

This may have been the coldest temperatures I've ridden in so far this year. The heated gear was turned on high and I could feel cold spots on my neck and between the gloves and my jacket sleeves. After about an hour and a half of running around (not including stops), my feet were starting to get cold and the battery voltage was steadily dropping. I don't think that the stock 280 watt alternator is able to keep the battery charged when the heated gear is on high, multiple restarts and not much cruising down the highway. Normally, after arriving at my destination, the voltage is around 12.7v but at my last stop it was only 12.2v and the engine cranked slowly. The stock battery would have given out at the first stop. After coming home, I put on the smart charger and not simply the tender.

I kept looking for places to park the rig and get some pictures but not many places. Most of the roads don't have plowed shoulders and too much traffic to just stop on the road. In addition to no reverse, I also don't have a parking brake. During the summer, I would use a short bungee cord wrapped around the front brake lever but in these temperatures, rubber loses its flexibility so bungee cords don't really work. This is just a short way from home and the sun looks like it's about to set but in reality, it's just after solar noon, i.e. the sun at the highest point in its path. At this time of year, it only gets about 3° above the horizon so it's not like there is a "high noon".

Yesterday morning, I had gone for another ride as I hadn't been out for several days and was starting to feel a little antsy. It was only 9 am so still well before sunrise. Since I was initially only planning on riding as short distance, I didn't bother to put on the overpants on top of the Carhartt jeans. My legs were starting to get a little chilled after about half an hour of riding. By the time I got home, I could tell that there was water in one of the carbs again. I think it's time to completely drain the tank and run it through a water trap.

Just for comparison, this was the temperature at 4:45am last Friday morning and I think that was the coldest temperature that we've seen so far this year. It would have to be a really good reason to leave the house. Most of last week was really cold but I believe that the cold has moved on to somewhere else (e.g. ND, MN, WI) as it has been generally warming up.

We are still loving the temperature inversion as it has rarely been below 0°F at the house for several days. I'm thinking that I may still be able to get at least one more ride in this year;

I wish you all a healthy and happy 2014!