Ice On the River

Still no snow in the long term forecast (not that I'm complaining!). This is the Chena River that flows through downtown Fairbanks and ice is starting to form. Since I was working on the Ural a few days ago, the BMW was easier to get out of the garage. There was a lot of wind today and you can really feel it when coming from the sidecar side. Occasional gusts would want to push you to the left and you can feel the sidecar occasionally get a little light. As in the wheel not being firmly planted on the road.

When going down the highway, I would shift towards the sidecar with more weight on the right peg. The 30-40mph wind combined with 18°F (-8°C) ambient temperatures reminded me that the BMW still needed to have the handlebar end covers installed. And, it feels like the left heated glove isn't working again. Sigh...

Later in the day - As expected, another broken wire in the left glove. Fixed. The next pair of heated gloves will be battery powered...

Tuesday Morning -  And again! This time the right glove decided that it wanted some attention. The break seems to frequently occur right at the end of the strain relief. The problem isn't the strain relief but they use plastic insulated wires that get brittle when cold. Not the best design for something that will be used in the cold. So I carefully cut off enough of the strain relief on the connector and the remaining wire to solder. Then slip some heat shrink tubing over the splice and tape it all up.

I was thinking of looking for some springs at the hardware store that can be slipped over the remaining strain relief and the first couple of inches of wire. Both repairs could use some additional mechanical support to prevent the wire from flexing.