Preparating For a Short Journey

The Guzzi Quota is 99% ready fro a short jaunt. I did all the PM such as the oil change and a new rear tire. It is rarin to go and so am I. The only missing piece is the tach. The silly thing crapped the bed a week ago. I have a new one on order, but it is a coin-toss as to whether or not it will make it here in time. Ah well, lose a tach, gain a cupholder.

This is going to be a short one. A one day blast to Kelowna BC and then back a day later. It will be about 6-700 miles. No joyride this time as I am doing it to go to my Grandmother's Memorial.

Yes it is that time when I must say godbye and thank you to my grandma. It was a surprise really, we figured her for an easy centenarian. And she damned near made it.

Some of my family may well be thinking it is a bit inappropriate for me to use the event as an excuse to ride my bike. But I dont see it that way. After all, what is it that you do when you go to a memorial? You think about that person and what they meant in your life as well as prepare yourself to live a life in which they no longer play an active role. Riding will allow me to do just that. When traversing long distances on a bike you become very intimate with your own thoughts. The act of riding makes your concious mind work very hard indeed, allowing your mid and sub concious mind to have a long conversation. It is exactly likemeditation. When meditating you concentrate on some small thing; breathing, a phrase something like that. When riding a long distance you do the same thing, you focus entirely on the task of staying upright and out of the ditches so the rest of your mind does what it will. Concious without being concious.


So for 700 miles or so I will be thinking of Muti and what she meant to me. I will be thinking of her contagious and constant giggle. Her shyness. The wonderful food and warmth she always wrapped her family in. I will be thinking of her strength and what she accomplished and how it must have been for her to emigrate as a German just after World War Two with her family and how hard she worked. I will be thinking of my grandmother.

Progress

As I mentioned elsewhere, the has a new front end now. Smooth as buttah.
New forktubes, new sealts, new tree, new bearings. That's old news

Today I went by the painter's place to drop off the decals I want put on
the bike under the clear coat. All my parts are stripped and some have
gotten the primer. The tank got some extra attention. The guy hot tanked
it and discovered that it had been brazed once upon a time and then
lined. But you couldnt tell it had been lined because the liner was only
in the very bottom. So it now has new filler and a new coat of liner.
He's gona start with the coloer in a few days.

When I have something done for me that involves a great deal of skill
and aesthetics, I like to give the craftsman a bit of room to try
something or express himself. I have found that they tend to be happier
with that and when happy and interested, they also do thier best work.
So I told them I wanted a green color, maybe something dark. I pointed
out greens that I liked and the embellishments I liked. I pointed out
the chromed sections of the tank and noted that while I like them,I
wasnt married to them. So when I came by today he showed me the green he
wanted to use. A deep British Racing Green made even darker with a black
base coat. He is also going to hand paint the words "Pogue Mahon" on the
rear fender that I had originally made with a cable labeler. As a
finishing touch, he is going to deviate from the decal I wanted on the
tank. Originally I had a laser cut vinyl Mister Yuk outlined in black.
Instead he has gottne this retina searing neon green. And he is going to
stencil the Mister Yuk on the tank in that vile green. Sweet!

I can wait for the first weekend in May!