Alright, so I acquired a '79 Honda CX500C from a friend, he was and is very accommodating (I haven't had to pay a dime yet though someday I will re-wire his basement - I'm an electrical apprentice right now). I decided that I was going to use this motorcycle to learn to ride, and learn to maintain a bike.
I haven't to this point in my life ever performed maintenance on such a thing. Oh I have overhauled electrical motors and such, but for some reason the internal combustion engine just freaks me out and I have never worked on it as a result of that freakishness.
Since I got the bike just after the new year, I have taken apart several components for basic maintenance to the fuel system, broken and repaired the transmission cover, rode enough to feel confident on the road and perhaps soon pass the ICBC skills test. I have learned a lot about how a motorcycle works and absolutely love the freedom such a machine provides, if you have the means, I suggest you try it!
Enter note again, I am in my third of four year electrical apprenticeship training.
Last Thursday I decided I was going to go for a ride, got ready and tried to start the bike, no start...I was not happy, all this effort, so close and now it doesn't start. I spent many weekends and evenings working on this bike, got it running and tuned, learned to ride on it, so proud I was, and here it is...not working, wtf...
"Is it out of gas?" asks my wife..."Of course not!" I snap...realizing shortly after that the tank was near empty..."It must be something simple" she says calmly despite my attitude that so poorly displayed all the anger management training I have mastered so well...that is another blog...needless to say I was angry...not ready to destroy but dying to ride my toy and pissed that I couldn't so suddenly.
I begin to research new bikes, I try many options with no resolve, this hugely complex machine is just so far beyond me, I can't comprehend it...I call in my friend "I just can't figure this one out, it isn't as simple as a carburetor or transmission" I say, only fully understanding what those two things are for about two months now.
Saturday morning, tired after a great Hip concert (yet another blog) and pre-pissed as I have to spend my day trying to troubleshoot this highly evolved piece of Asian engineering I gather the tools for the great dismantling of my baby bike. Back and forth to get tools I go, and then he arrives ready to get this thing working "Whats wrong girl?" asks my friend, patting it on the gas tank rather suggestively...
Okay, time to show what it sounds like when I try to start it, pull up the choke knob...check, check fuel shutoff...check, and push the start butto................
"You'll want to switch the kill switch from 'off' to 'on' eh?" says my buddy (Kill switch is motorcycle terms for an electrical on/off switch you would find in every room of your house where a light is located...something every electrician should be intimately familiar with...)
I flip the switch to on, push the button and the CX500C starts with the familiar purr I have come to love...
After much embarrassment, I look forward to a ride in the next day or so...thank you Glen for flipping my switch today.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a note...be nice...