Thursday, March 13, 2014

How's This For Spring!

It feels pretty "Springy" to me. It hasn't been very sunny in the mornings but it has been clearing up by afternoon or evening. And even though it has been dipping down below 0°F some mornings it has been warming up during the day. So to any nay-sayers, this is starting to look like Spring. To further reinforce the thought, the state has been out pushing snow far off the sides of the main roads to minimize melt water on the road surface. They usually don't do this until they are reasonably confident that we're not going to get dumped on again. The warm weather also means that any road surface that sees the sun is getting to be pretty clear of ice.

I've only had a chance to try out the new-to-me Ski-Doo helmet a couple of times. It is a bit noisier than the Nolan so unless it is near 10°F or lower, I'll probably opt for the Nolan. Without any fresh snow, things are starting to look a little drab. All of the drips from everyones cars all winter are showing up. One good thing about the warmer weather is that I've not had any water in the carb and riding has been almost completely trouble free. I did need to dig into the headlight bucket a few days ago to touch (yes, literally just touch) the fuse again. This bike uses these old ceramic fuses with an aluminum wrapped around it. Pretty old design. I may just solder some wires onto the terminal and replace them with modern blade style fuses outside of the headlight bucket though mods like this tend to get the BMW purists bent out of shape. But, maybe that's a good thing...

Thursday Afternoon Update - And even more "Springy" with lots of folks out walking (including me!) enjoying the warm afternoon. The clouds are starting to lift and there's water running down the middle of the parking lot.

18 comments:

  1. I'm happy that you are truly enjoying what you referred to as your "favorite month"!

    We have 30s and 40s for highs, but I heard the word "snow" in the forecast for this weekend and into next week. Sort of the same situation where winter so gradually and grudgingly slumps away.

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    1. March really is my favorite month of the year. It's usually clear with almost unlimited visibility, nice warm days and cool nights. Snow is something I've gotten used to and, believe it or not, actually enjoy.

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    2. Oh, I can understand enjoying snow. I used to.

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    3. What happened? Too much Winter?

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  2. Richard:

    It's Springy here too. Lots of sunshine and feels warm but rain again for this weekend. You are not that much colder than here.

    Replace your fuses with the modern blade style. Less prone to vibration and losing contact. Even the round glass ones can look okay but not work. I had to use my VOM to do a continuity check to find the bad one.

    Spring officially arrives in 7 more days. By then your snow should be melted . . .

    bob
    A weekend photographer
    or
    Riding the Wet Coast

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    1. Maybe not completely melted. That won't be until the middle of May. Gardener types don't usually plant outdoors until Memorial Day weekend.

      I have a 6-place fuse holder that I may install this weekend if I can find a good location. This would allow me to get rid of all of the individual fused circuits connected directly to the battery.

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  3. Ha! It's colder here than Alaska! Now that REALLY sucks. Glad you've got spring though. :)

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    1. Pretty sad isn't it…

      We noticed that during the Super Bowl it was warmer in Fairbanks than either Seattle or Denver…

      Alaskans for Global Warming!

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  4. no Late Spring this year eh Richard?

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    1. Who knows how long the snow will actually stick around. As you know, snow in May isn't unusual.

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  5. Hooray for Spring-like temperatures above freezing. Did it seem like a long winter?

    Probably not as long as it did back east.

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    1. Not at all. But we still have at least a month or so of snow. But it really is no longer Winter.

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  6. Nice to see some "balmy" temperatures in your region.

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    1. I think a lot of folks around here feel the same. As long as the melt water stays off of the road, things are good.

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  7. Richard, with spring comes holes in the road here. The first warm day caused holes so large that in the city they were busy running around putting pylons in the pot holes as a safety measure. This year is proving to be particularly bad ... if I see water on the road, I swerve to avoid it - assuming it is only masking a giant sink hole. Glad your warm weather is making for trouble free motoring.

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    1. Our sink holes are still frozen. Though I did find one on campus that must've been a foot deep already.

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  8. Now I feel as if I can say I ride in Alaska-like weather!

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    1. You sure can, hopefully we won't start to get PA summers!

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