Whatever

You training Ninjas today?

 

Glad you’re improving…. Hope you are back to your old self in no time!

 

You feel up to doing things?

 

Ninjas and hooligans!!!!

Had all of the grandkids overnight….. taking them to the Mississippi today.

 

You sure you want that?

 

I want to… feeling energetic about it is a different story. I’ll likely take it easy and maybe do some household chores instead. I’m over TV after it all though. I’m caught up on everything… including things others mentioned…

 

Did ya lose your taste?

 

Just remember, you gotta bring them ALL back from the Mississippi!

 

Dammit

If I get any sass mouth⬇️

 

@NoOne

Are we the only 2 awake??

 

Well…… Morning!!!

 

Thankfully no. Taste and smell stayed perfect. (Funny story there… I actually tested into culinary school, where your senses have to discern certain qualifiers (like blind tests of the senses). My Daughter didn’t have any of that stuff when she went and has that fancy BS for Boulangére.

 

No shit?!? I bet the meals at your family gatherings are

I’ve mentioned I lost my taste and it floats in and out of no taste, very mild taste, or everything tastes bad
About 2 weeks ago I ate something basic and couldn’t get over how good it was when I realized I could taste it! I was so excited!!! That lasted for a couple days…. Now I’m back to no taste

Doesn’t stop me from chowing down tho

 

which reminds me... time for a long story


The Do-It-Yourself Motorcycle Mechanic... with Gritto


Some time ago, I started to hear a faint scraping sound... one that would vary with the speed I was going.
I was sure it was coming from the front wheel (well, pretty sure).
No problemo.

Lifted the front, removed the wheel, and replaced the brake pads.
Which, from the looks of them, were soon gonna need replacing anyway.
Put it all back together.
No difference

Shit, it's the bearing.
Replaced the bearing.
That got it right?
Noooo

Okay, I was wrong, must be the rear wheel.
Process of elimination.




BTW, it just goes to show how hard it can be to track down a noise.
Anyway...

Getting the rear wheel off is a bigger pain in the ass.
What did I find?
A tiny stone in the rear drum

The only thing I could think of is that it got in there when I last changed the rear tire
Evidently it took awhile for that stone to get lodged in just the right spot.
I was all ready with replacement parts, but it looked to me that the shoe was still at 90% plus, so I left it be.
And that, dear friends, fixed the mystery noise.


So why (I hear you asking) does my Vulcan have a disc front brake and rear drum?
Cuz Kawasaki figgered a drum in back was fine... and they were right

You want most of your braking power up front, and especially so on a motorcycle.
80/20 is a good approximate figure.
Front disc for brute power, rear brake for fine control in curves.

The last thing you want is to lock up that rear brake.
I did that once when an asshole pulled out right in front of me and I had to panic brake.
I nearly went high-side when the rear tire regained traction coming out of the skid
@1buzzbait knows what that means.

After that near disaster, I slightly loosened the cable to the rear drum so it can't quite lock up.
The pedal bottoms out now just shy of locking up.
Try doing that with a disc brake.
The mope that inspected my bike told me my rear brake needed adjustment.
I just smiled and nodded

As an aside, I'm always amused at the threads here griping about rear drum brakes on Tacomas.
Why oh why aren't there disc brakes back there and how can I convert them?

They don't need 'em
Besides, drums can last a long time...

 

Everyone make sure to wish @The Blonde a happy 30th…

 

Mrs McBlondie