Murphy’s Motorcycle Law | Hindsight
You ever have one of “those” months? You know what I’m talking about. Those times when no matter how much fun the road ahead looks to be, you just can’t seem to get out there to enjoy it because of life’s random pains in the ass and unexpected hurdles. Well, last month it was my turn. As I started doing my pre-trip maintenance on The Creature, my 1989 four-speed Harley-Davidson Sportster in preparation for three back-to-back weekends of moto-camping shenanigans, I began to discover one issue after another.
First, the clutch was slipping. With just one day before I was to head out, I started hustling to find the clutch plates, etc. needed to get me back on the road. After calling around and asking the internet for help, the only guy in town who had them for my old Sporty left town early for the weekend. Now that I wasn’t pressed for time I decided a full clutch upgrade was how I wanted to solve my slippery issue. And because she was gonna live on a lift for a couple of days I figured this was a good time to do a few other mods that had been on the list for a while. So I went car camping while waiting on parts.
Now I’m looking at a new clutch, carb swap, tire and wheel sprocket change, wheel balancing both front and rear, fork seals, and rear fender swap. While I waited for my new clutch to come in I started on the other items on the roster. I did all of the stuff and things necessary to get the carb ready for install. Then, I saw that the shop gave me the wrong cables. Ordered new ones, no problem. Right? Stoked to use my new No-Mar tire changer & wheel balancer, I quickly installed it into the garage floor. Changing the tire and balancing was a breeze. Seriously, super easy. What now? Sprocket center hub won’t fit. Dammit. Next day, I go to get my cables and drop off the sprocket to be machined out, since that was quicker than waiting on a new one. I return home to find the new cables are wrong. . So I just left the sprocket with a frown on my fat head. I popped off the primary cover to find that the chain tensioner had been chewed up. Trip two is now a no-go. This continued for another week until I finally decided that staying home in Long Beach, California, was looking like a fun Memorial Day weekend with my favorite local assholes and a whole lot less stress. Although bummed about my canceled adventures, I only felt defeated until I rode up to my pal Speed King Steve’s BBQ and got my first grins. Boom. Like it never happened.
Just goes to prove that no matter how much I can love, hate, and slave over my motorcycles, in the end it’s all about the people you spend your time with. So make sure you spend it with some good ones.
