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Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Bike Beautiful Expensive Orange

So, the majority of the bike repaint is done. As of yesterday all but the lower cowl/scoop has been painted with the orange and color shifting paint and polishe. The scoop is being a bitch with the fiberglass repair, so I'm not freaking about it. I rode for a couple months in the spring without it at all... so woop dee doo, for now. I also still need to do the airbrushing of the "extras", but I've not decided anything other than what's going on the tank and I'm still trying to figure out what the best masking method will be. I'm going to freehand as little as possible.

The ride after this picture, with the wife on the back was plagued though. We were going to ride to the bike shop (Land Air... I'd link to them, but I'll explain why not in a moment). About 1.5 miles away the bike started revving like a mutha. I sorta freaked, but knew Karen was freaking worse, not the least by the sudden death grip on my waist. This happened after a red light. I couldn't shift down and didn't know what to do, so I thankfully had a shoulder I could pull over into after cutting off the engine. I pulled over and shut her down. We got off. There was smoke coming from somewhere below. I figured, let's let it cool off a bit and try again.

A few minutes later I restarted and it immediately revved to redline. I cut it off right after. Nervous, I called said shop asking for advice. Eventually it was clear I'd need to bring it in. (I have brought my bike to them since I got it 5 years ago or so) I ended up getting a tow sent by AAA, though I don't have RV coverage, so I was going to have to pay for it myself. I figured $45. That sucks, but so would pushing the bike 1.5 miles through some of the more busy traffic in the area.

Tow guy was nice. We got the bike to the shop... fucking $75!!!! I was robbed. It made me sick and I wanted to throttle someone. So, if you are in the Burlington area, you likely already know this, but fuck Handy's. Plain and simple. I've always hated them with a passion, but dude, $75 to tow a bike 1.5 miles. I pushed the bike onto the lift, held it steady and helped get it strapped in. How on earth... whatever!

The guys in the shop were able to get it in within about 10 minutes or so. After a little bit they came out to say they got it started (oh, I forgot to mention that the battery had mysteriously died while I tried to start it while on the phone with the shop to let them hear what was happening - the bike didn't start, obviously). The revved up on him and he didn't know why. He looked and noticed the choke was on. Well, yeah, it was on because I was trying to get the bike started again... thinking there was a fuel issue. He slid the choke off and it ran normally. He came out and reported the find. In hind sight, I think when I FIRST started the bike up, I left the choke on a little to let it warm up some more and forgot to shut it off. Stupid... stupid stupid stupid!!! Anyway all had a good laugh. They noticed the battery could use a charge and test. So they did that. When all was done we waited for the brass tacks. I figured maybe $30 or summat. No, the fuckers charged me $70... a full hour of labor. Um, they started a bike, turned off the choke and stuck the battery on a charger. Wait time for a charging battery is not labor. And for that matter I could have bought a new battery for half that, on the spot. So, someone screwed me over by not mentioning they were gonna rip me off. I've trusted that place for 5 years and even planned on buying my first NEW bike there. I'm not having serious second thoughts. I'll note that the service guys who were there last year wouldn't have done this. They've never screwed me over like that. I'd right a letter to them, but in case I change my mind, I'd rather not be "that guy"... might be hard to get a good deal on a bike. So, after the easily $250+ to paint the bike (paint, paint gun, sandpapers and other stuff), I paid $145 to find out that I left the choke on a little bit. Yeah, I'm pissed.

On the bright side, I did my commute to work this morning. The only bad thing to happen was that the bike needed to go into reserve about 30 miles from where I was going... but it didn't just suck up the fuel. I switched it after a couple kicks from the engine and it slowly died. I pulled over, threw open the choke and got it started, but it was a scary moment. Yar! I love this bike, but I really really really want a newer more modern bike. I passed 32222 miles on my way home. 33K is just around the corner.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks sharp - nice job! Dig the color choice and the metallic tint...

smvh said...

nice job!

my 84óne is still red.

never had probs with it. -thx to my honda dealer- lol