There's a saying about boats: "Until you break it, it's not yours!" You're getting to know each other.
Here's my list:
When bought..ran well, just needed a new tire and rear pads! Great..right?
Had it painted...beautiful....withing two weeks, got SUPERGLUE on the tank (don't ask)...then one night, after a few Rum and Cokes, tried to get it off with my Dremel tool (Don't EVER do that)! And in the meantime, my mechanic also dinged the new paint..
Rode well..but started blowing fuses and stranding me...20 amp fuse fixed that, until it was clear that I HAD to find the problem! Found the wire shorting out on the frame..insulated it..fine..
Then there were the connectors that the wires would pull out of, but you couldn't see that they were disconnected....once drove 30 miles home in the dark throught the country because my tail light went out...it was one of the connectors under the seat...And there was the connector up by the triple trees that was just a little too tight, so when I turned the bars too hard, the engine died...
Then, it started bogging..so I decided it need a carb rebuild...after trying to do it myself, I paid someone else to do it right...but it still bogged...Hmmmph! Then in the shower one day, it struck me that that's exactly how my old 2 cycle dirt bike felt when its points went bad...so I checked my timing...my bike was way retarded! Solved that one myself!
So, after three seasons, the one thing that finally brought me to my knees (Last year}...I'd be driving along, and my headlight would go out...sometimes It would come back on if I hit a bump just right, or if I banged on the bars while singing a chorus of Yankee Doodle...after a while, electrical problems make you really superstitious...and gee wiz, lo and behold, later last summer, my starter button stopped working! That was the problem all along! The headlight cutoff switch and the starter button! After I fixed that, I realized that I think it's been shorting since I had it. My headlight is bright for the first time!
This summer, now that I got past that last demon, she purrs like a kitten and pulls like shes got "Fahn Beeg Laigs!" Our bikes are like #$%*y women. They want attention. Sometimes it's like a war. But once you get through all the crap, we grow to know and respect each other, and they become more like a partner.
It's not yours until you break it and then fix it...you're just getting to know each other, and you're paying your dues and investing in both of your futures!
