License Plate Bracket Project

So I finally made the decision to shell out the bucks for a side mount license plate bracket for the Harley and tonight planned on putting it on. Of course, the instructions are very vague like, remove left lock nut, and axle, replace left spacer with new spacer and bracket. No mention that you might just have to almost completely remove the tire to get the left spacer out. So the tire is off. Now, I notice that there is just about 300 miles left on the tread. Hmmm, put the tire back on and then spend the money in a month? Or spend it now and save 50 bucks on install. Since I am also waiting for the fender to return from repair, might as well spend more money.

The commuting starts!

As was expected, the weather opened up a window to all a few days of commuting. I believe I had mentioned in an earlier post that this year, the bike felt as if I had never taken a 3 month hiatus. I still had the same feeling that first morning. As I was riding in, I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of traffic that morning but then realized that no, it felt that way because I was not in a car. So I fired up my internal "car prediction" system and started to create scenarios of what the cars around me could do and what I needed to do in order to react. Low and behold, idiot number one appeared from an on ramp next to me and proceeded to merge on me without even a signal. I was mid vehicle when the truck(a new silver, Chevy silverado) started to cross the lane so I sped up in order to avoid being hit. I couldn't believe it, the first commute and the first idiot instance of the year at the same time. The fact that he/she, or idiot covers both, did not even use the signal tells me that there was no real effort to look either. It was dark, and I was on the left side of my lane, you cannot tell me my lights were not visible to somebody looking around. Anyway, it goes to show that you always need to keep your senses sharp at all times.
No encounters on the second day but true to Nebraska tradition it was 65 degrees and snowed the next day.

First Short Ride of the Year

Nothing fancy, did a quick loop after prepping the GS for the daily work trips. Hmmmm, echoes of winter with brown snow piles and gravel pits still around at only 43 degrees out. Oh yeah, and the term "wind" was in effect also. I tested the use of my new EarFuze headphones. EarFuze provides a inexpensive way to get custom fit headphones. They seemed to work fine although still not the quality sound I have been looking for but a good step up from the standard AudioComm set I had before. Time will tell if they irritate my ears but for 30 minutes, the headphones worked well under the helmet. It felt great to stretch the bikes legs running hard through the gears a few times. Oddly enough, even after the 3 month lay off, the bike felt as if I just rode it the day before. I can't wait to get on some curves. Good news, the weather looks decent for the next few days, I should get at least two days of commuting in.

Cozmo

This is Cozmo. He is not smart, but is happy go lucky and usually very hungry. Nothing bothers him very much except the other pug, Bodger, but if you give him a full stomach and a warm register and he is happy. He will never be a motorcycle basket dog as he is very afraid of everything but should be a good mascot.