15 June 2018 – Today
will kind of be a lazy day. I’m going to check on line for Galfer’s
website. Then I’m going to order 3 sets of front and rear brake
pads for my Kawasaki. They only last about 7,000 miles so I never
like to get caught short without any. You never know when they will
wear out. I got them ordered and if I’m lucky I should have them in
5 days. The other thing we’re going to do is go back to Bert’s
Mega Mall and get my tire balanced. We left after 1:00 p.m. so
everybody at Bert’s will be back from dinner.
When we got there, I went
to the service area and Larry, Tonya and Mary went to the showroom
area. I asked at service counter if they had time to balance my rear
tire. They typed up a work order and took my tire. I figured I’d be
waiting hours for it to be balanced. I was waiting maybe 15 minutes
and one of the techs came out and asked about my tire. Something
about the balancing weights I wanted to use. I told him I wanted the
weights that clamped onto the spokes. He left and in about 10 minutes
he returned with my wheel balanced. I asked him how much my bill was
and he said there was no charge. I said, free…….are you sure?, he
said yes. I said, I don’t want you all to be calling the police on
me when I walk out the door. He said “never happen.” I thanked
him for balancing the tire and left. That was sure nice of those guys
to do that for no charge. I have paid up to $30 for the same
balancing if you can believe that.
I walked over to the show
room and found Larry, Tonya and Mary. They were looking at the
different motorcycles, boats and 4 wheelers. Tonya told us she found
the motorcycle she wanted. It was the Polaris “SlingShot”. Well,
imagine that. We talked a little more about the selection of
motorcycles and then left. Mary and Tonya were genuinely impressed by
the number of motorcycles and stuff they had setting on their show
room floor.
We drove home and I
unloaded my wheel. To install it, I got out all my cleaned parts and
axle. I wiped off the swing arm again so it was immaculately clean. I
put the steel side shields in place on the swing arm and inserted the
chain adjusters into the swing arm. I put the sprocket assembly back
into the wheel along with all the wheel spacers. Everything is
greased up so nothing will rust. So, we get the wheel in place and
put the chain on the sprocket. With all the spacers in place we then
push the axle thru till the threaded end is just visible. Then I put
the brake caliper support arm in place and push the axle all the way
thru the swing arm till it comes out the right side. I tighten the
axle up until it’s wrench snug. I tapped the axle forward till the
chain adjusters are snug inside the swing arm. I now can adjust the
chain out. I wrote down the number of turns I backed the nuts off
when I took out the wheel. I will now adjust out the axle in equal
amounts till I’m within one turn of the correct adjustment on the
chain. I spun the wheel a few times to make sure I put everything
together correctly. I didn’t want to hear any grinding noise. I
tighten the axle a little more till I make the final adjustment when
the motorcycle is fully loaded. I check the brake pads and they look
ok. So, I can put the brake caliper back on the brake caliper support
arm. With the brake caliper in place I use Blue Loctite secure the
bolts with the correct torque. 
With everything assembled I spin the
wheel several times and step on the brake. I wanted to see and hear
if the brakes were working correctly. Everything looked and sounded
good. This task is complete. I will start the process of checking the
valve adjustment next. That’s always a fun job.
Mary will be leaving
tomorrow as she needs to get back to her job. She’s also going back
to check on “Little Hiss” our black cat. She was a rescue cat
that someone kicked out of their house. She lived on the streets in a
small town in Western Iowa. She’s declawed, that why we know she
was someone’s house cat. We believe she lived outside for at least
5 years maybe more. She a pretty wily critter. She seldom gets caught
off guard. She hates dogs and dislikes you if you associate with the
enemy (DOGS). In the last few years, she has lost her hearing. She
still is ever vigilant. She still enjoys the outdoors during the
summer but during the winter she prefers the inside. Just a sniff of
the cold air coming in an open door is all the closer she cares to
get to winter, after living outside for so many years. She routinely
patrols around the house chasing off other cats, dogs, chipmunks and
mice. She’s just a silly “Hiss”.
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