24th July
Oregon is in the middle of a heatwave. I rode my bike from Sandy to Aloha in just over an hour, pausing only to stop and take a pic of another foreigner, far from home...
...before arriving at Jorge & Sheila's house at about noon. The outside temperature was about 100° F and I was warm. Thankfully Sheila had the air con on and I was soon feeling a little more human. I conducted non-destructive testing of their laundry facilities, before showering and considering myself fit to re-enter society. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant called 'Beaches' - excellent seafood.
25th July
Jorge & I were up early to start work on the major service that the Adv so desperately needed...
Unfortunately, the tyres won't be arriving until Monday, which is frustrating, as we're going to be removing the front wheel and the rear caliper as part of the service, and it would have been simple to get the tyre fitted as part of the same procedure - ho-hum...
I'd already had an oil change done in Vancouver, so we replaced the gearbox & final drive oils (I was relieved to see that the magnetic drain plug on the final drive had a small deposit of metal filings - no swarf!), fitted new front discs (courtesy of BMW GB), new front pads, new rear pads...
...pretty sure I got my money's worth out of the last lot (new pad in backgroud for comparison
), new fuel filter, replaced brake fluids, adjusted the valves (damn near spot on, having not been tweaked in 14k miles) and balanced the throttle bodies (way out).
I then took the bike out for a test ride - to the local jet wash. It came back looking much cleaner. It's already a much smoother ride, and that's before the new shocks get fitted (Monday evening). I return to find Greg & Connie (Mr & Mrs Deacon) have arrived bearing gigantic pieces of salmon and desserts which all have a warning from the Surgeon General...
We have another great evening...
Jorge & Sheila are leaving for 11 days in Europe on Wednesday and have asked if I'd mind staying at their house and 'dog-sitting'.
Despite limited success the first time I tried sitting on Cricket...
...I am delighted to agree - it'll give me time to sort out my travel plans and finish re-fettling the bike (if I'm lucky, I may be able to get the Ohlins re-fitted before I leave).
I'm just off to take the dog for a walk....
Oregon is in the middle of a heatwave. I rode my bike from Sandy to Aloha in just over an hour, pausing only to stop and take a pic of another foreigner, far from home...
...before arriving at Jorge & Sheila's house at about noon. The outside temperature was about 100° F and I was warm. Thankfully Sheila had the air con on and I was soon feeling a little more human. I conducted non-destructive testing of their laundry facilities, before showering and considering myself fit to re-enter society. We went out to dinner at a local restaurant called 'Beaches' - excellent seafood.
25th July
Jorge & I were up early to start work on the major service that the Adv so desperately needed...
Unfortunately, the tyres won't be arriving until Monday, which is frustrating, as we're going to be removing the front wheel and the rear caliper as part of the service, and it would have been simple to get the tyre fitted as part of the same procedure - ho-hum...
I'd already had an oil change done in Vancouver, so we replaced the gearbox & final drive oils (I was relieved to see that the magnetic drain plug on the final drive had a small deposit of metal filings - no swarf!), fitted new front discs (courtesy of BMW GB
), new front pads, new rear pads...
...pretty sure I got my money's worth out of the last lot (new pad in backgroud for comparison
), new fuel filter, replaced brake fluids, adjusted the valves (damn near spot on, having not been tweaked in 14k miles) and balanced the throttle bodies (way out).I then took the bike out for a test ride - to the local jet wash.
It came back looking much cleaner. It's already a much smoother ride, and that's before the new shocks get fitted (Monday evening). I return to find Greg & Connie (Mr & Mrs Deacon) have arrived bearing gigantic pieces of salmon and desserts which all have a warning from the Surgeon General... We have another great evening...
Jorge & Sheila are leaving for 11 days in Europe on Wednesday and have asked if I'd mind staying at their house and 'dog-sitting'.
Despite limited success the first time I tried sitting on Cricket...
...I am delighted to agree - it'll give me time to sort out my travel plans and finish re-fettling the bike (if I'm lucky, I may be able to get the Ohlins re-fitted before I leave).
I'm just off to take the dog for a walk....
