Garage Baptism & Being Honest about your Skillz

 Sometimes... you just need to baptize the garage floor. 

This is what being impatient gets you. Plus, these oil pans suck.

Normally, I use a regular old open oil pan, but mine cracked and I can't remember how it happened.  Did I back over it with my car? Did I drop something on it?  Who knows. Any who, I was going to find an old kitchen bowl when I remembered this oil pan under my work bench.  

I was being impatient, the oil was still very very hot, and I thought I could control the flow.  Narrator: "He could not control the flow.".  The plug popped out, the oil burnt my fingies and my garage floor got a healthy coating of VR1 20w50. I am smart enough to not clean up the oil until the whole process is complete. In positive news, the oil plug was free from shavings and the screen displayed no more slivers of aluminum.  

I took the duc out in the lovely hurricane related rain over the past 2 days to test my gear. I purchased a one piece textile suit (not Aerostich) from eBay.  While comfy, within about a half mile, my arms were already soaked and I could feel water leaking in along the outsides of my legs.  I don't want to mess around with waterproofing spray before my trip, so I got out my Gore-Tex gear from my last trip. That gear worked great in 2022, but I wanted to explore a onesie. One day I'll get a Roadcrafter. 

With the KLIM whatever jacket, and my Aerostich Darien pants, I went back out for another hour+ of riding.  This time, I came home dry, except for the ends of my sleeves, which is to be expected.  If my sleeves would reach over my gloves, that wouldn't be a problem. 

One thing I'm strongly reminding myself of is, that regardless of how many bikes I've owned, and how long it's been since I started riding, I am a new rider.  I only state this due to the long stretches of not riding.  So instead of refreshing my skills, I'm learning them again almost as if from the start.  Being a flat-lander, riding into the mountains on a still relatively new to me bike, has me a bit nervous.  But riding smart, riding my own ride, and trusting my tires, are keys to riding safely.  

There are so many great riding skill resources out there.  I'm a big fan of Canyon Chasers and Moto-Jitsu, and many others.  Although, I'd love to see them try and ride a 900SS in the box, or practice tight u-turns; due to the huge turning radius.  It's like turning a garbage truck with very good brakes.

Stay safe out there.