Trike Maintenance

There is so much I have been learning about how to take proper care of my trike, and there is still so much to learn yet.  With Phil's help I've changed my own oil in it and he has me making sure I check bolts and nuts much more regularly than I have in the past. I must admit though that I forgot to check things on it today when I rode it to town to get the fork seals changed. Oh well, I will make sure I check around the trike before I ride it again.... or tomorrow just to have it done.  I learned something today about my front tire, and about how to adjust my carburetors and I still have to learn about cable management, so how to oil the various cables so they don't brake on me.  I am sure there are other things too that I need to learn about basic care and maintenance of my trike. All of this is taking a lot of time when I wish I could just be riding, lol.

Trike Brakes

After spending another $450 on my trike's back brakes (just over $500 now) I sill do not have proper, working brakes. This is really crazy and I am getting very fed up with this problem. Of course, when you have 'go' you must have 'whoa' to be safe and without sufficient 'whoa', I have not been able to ride as I wish to do.

I took it to Phil's last Friday for him to look at some more, after I paid another guy $450.00 to do practically nothing!!  We ended up taking it to a mechanic he has used in the past, a guy named Myron.  Phil went in his car and I followed on my trike. As I pull up in the yard of this guy's shop, I hear a woman say "Is that Alice?"  It turns out my neighbors, Doug & Denise, are now working with Myron.  That was cool!! Both Doug and Myron had a look. I have been told by 2 guys 'in the know' that I do not need new brake shoes and with everything else being done, Phil & I have been thinking that's the only thing left.  Doug and Myron both think I need new brake shoes.  So I went to the auto parts store and they don't carry them, so ad to order them for me and it will take about a week for them to get here.  I am hoping for Thursday or Friday this week.

In the meantime, the trike sits in my carport and I drive my truck!

"Old" Joke

An 86-year-old man went to his doctor for his quarterly check-up. The doctor asked him how he was feeling, and the 86-year-old said, 'Things are great and I've never felt better. I now have a 20 yr-old bride who is pregnant with my child. So what do you think about that Doc?'

The doctor considered his question for a minute and then began to tell a story.

'I have an older friend, much like you, who is an avid hunter
and never misses a season. One day he was setting off
to go hunting. In a bit of a hurry, he accidentally picked up his walking cane instead of his gun. As he neared a lake, he came across a very large male beaver sitting at the water's edge.

'He realized he'd left his gun at home and so he couldn't shoot the magnificent creature. Out of habit he raised his cane, aimed it at the animal as if it were his favorite hunting rifle, and went 'bang, bang.'

'Miraculously, two shots rang out and the beaver fell over dead... Now, what do you think of that?' asked the doctor.

The 86-year-old said, 'Logic would strongly suggest that somebody else pumped a couple of rounds into that beaver.'

The doctor replied, 'My point exactly.'

This day

It is a cool and dull day today, the weather forecast is "Increasing cloudiness early this morning. 60 percent chance of showers this afternoon. High 16." Not exactly a wonderful day for being outside trying to get a suntan, or riding a motorcycle.  However, it still would be a good day to spend in the garden, or even relaxing on an indoor chaise at ChaiseLounges.com, reading a book or watching some good TV programs.  As much as I'd like to have a day in my garden to plant a few more things, or laying around in the house with my cat and a good book, I am off to do other wonderful things.  I will be moving my trike then going to the park to meet friends and do some drumming, then off to my Mom's for a much needed visit.

Trike Make-over

Here are some photos of the Trike Make-over.

This is the front of one of the fenders.  I bought the fenders and Phil, a very good friend of mine, built the brackets to attach them to the trike box.  This box needs to be replaced, but for now it is what it is.  Phil straightened it up as much as possible and make it strong enough to last another year. 

 Here Phil is drilling a hole to bolt the bracket to the box frame, and holes to attach the bracket to the fender.

 This is Phil cutting another piece of aluminum to make a bracket for the back of the fenders.

And this is the bracket he made and how it attaches to the fender and box frame.

We  used acorn nuts to attach the brackets, front and back, but for the fun of it Phil put a 'spiky nut' on, just to see what it would look like.  I love it and wish I could afford to buy a bunch of them and do it all in 'spiky nuts', but the acorns will do for now.

I am so very grateful to have Phil as a good friend, and I am grateful that he did all this incredible work for me.  He really made my trike look beautiful!!  More to come in future posts.

Spiritual Evening

On Thursday evening I went to a friend's place... affectionately called The Ashram, for a spiritual evening with friends... some I've known for years and some I met that evening. It was a truly awesome evening with singing, dancing, watching a Rev. Micheal Beckwith video, blessing water then drinking some of it, etc etc. Chris Madsen, one of the dear friends, is a very gifted musician and song writer. He makes the guitar sing!! He also has drums of various kinds so we tend to drum there too. Oh, he doesn't exactly have a Gibson Les Paul guitar center in his home, but he does have a good collection of guitars as they are the main tool of his trade. I used to go to a Spiritual Centre every Sunday and most weeks Chris was one of the entertainers, singing spiritual, uplifting songs that he had written himself. For some time I haven't been 'connected' with Chris, life took us in different directions for awhile, as with our dear friend Joan. I am so blessed to be reunited with them both now, sharing Thursday evenings at the Ashram... and this afternoon going to Polson Park to do drumming and chanting. It will be a great day!!

I've had some 'issues' the last several days.... I'm finally back!!  All is good now with internet and with other facets of my somewhat crazed life.