I am pleased to report that out of my list of to-do's for Suzi-girl a few have been accomplished. Such as reassembling/refilling the fuel tank (a moment of panic when I realized I hadn't tightened the petcock down quite right). Such as removing the front fender in preparation for painting, and such as (hallelujah!) getting ONE bolt removed from the flywheel assembly. MAPP-gas and air-wrench! Word, yo.

But alas, the flywheel puller I have is the WRONG size; I need a 35mm instead of a 30mm threaded adapter. Suzuki switched from 30 to 35mm on the flywheel shaft halfway through the 1982 model year, and I had no idea which one I needed. Now I do. Now it's another week waiting for a tool...

And, while I was at it, or rather while waiting for my helper to arrive, I did a perfunctory 25,000 mile service on the Strom. Oil change. The oil pan plug had a few shavings of metal stuck to its magnet. Maybe that cam chain noise is more serious than my mechanic told me it was (shudder) The manual says check and tighten chassis bolts but is blissfully inspecific about which ones. I checked the obvious ones. Same for the muffler and exhaust. I adjusted the shift lever down so I'd quit getting so many false neutrals. Damn, those slivers of metal bother me. The more so, since there wasn't enough metal to really justify worry. It's a sign, added to the loss of about 250 ml of oil every 3,500 miles, a sign of some impending doom which this motorcycle seriously does not need any more of. But the valve service isn't till 28,000 miles....

I mean, come on. A burnt starter switch, losing oil (though revs to 9,000 rpm produce no smoke) a rattling cam chain and now metal in the oil - and all this immediately after the Suzuki 1-year warranty has run out. This is unheard of. The Suzuki 650 v-twin is one of the best motors made today and has reviews and awards to prove it. Was it my fault? Did I not break it in properly? Or is this thing just...going to have problems?