It's been two years and change now since I rolled her out of the alleyway next to L.A. Honda/Triumph. Two amazingly uneventful years, from a maintenance standpoint, and two beautifully liberating and exploratory years from an operational standpoint.

She's done it all, gone everywhere I've gone. Oh, there was that one trip where I rented a car to drive up to Idaho, but that's because it was wintertime.

But everywhere else. Minnesota. Colorado.

And every day to work and back. Every dark morning in the dim carport lights, the ignition clicks on in a wash of headlights and LCD, always the same. Always starts on the second or third crank. Almost always hiccups once the first time past 2500 RPM; always clunks the forks on the way out over the drainage-curb; and always hmmmmmmmms up smoothly through the gears in its stiff morning oil. Nothing changes. And some things ought never to change. One's primary vehicle, the Enabler, the thing that makes it possible for you to live your life in a world of freeways....that ought to be one of those things. For my own sanity, I have always determined that I need one vehicle as reliable as a stone ax - anything over and above that is Fun and does not need to be reliable.

This Suzuki has been the most amazing stone ax ever. 48,900 miles now. One problem and one only: a bad start button, the day after the warranty expired.

After that, nothing. Before that, nothing. And, it has been dropped four times.

So, I'm thankful, and deeply respectful. This is a cheap motorcycle, after all. It was built very much to a price point, but such is the miracle of modern engineering that even cheap stuff these days is really, really good. And even now with all those miles on her budget shock and forks, she can still give BMW Z4's a run for their money in the twisties...but that's another story for another time.

Joining the two-wheels-with-motors club

Well, I've joined the two-wheels-with-motors club. Also the club of tons of accessories, like helmets and leather jackets, and the club of low annual insurance premiums.

I picked up a 1978 Yamaha XS 400 for a steal on CL. Only thing I've done to it is dump a bunch of oil in and put a fresh battery. It runs great, not bad for a 31 year old bike!

It has been dead around here, hasn't it?

Well, I can't speak for other members of the group, but sadly my life has taken a decided turn away from machinery. (But this does not prevent me from noticing a perfectly restored red Sunbeam Tiger at a car show in Redwood City, then going inside to examine it more closely, marveling at the audacity of the Shelby engineers who packed a Ford V-8 inside its diminutive bonnet.)

The 1969 Chevrolet has been given back to its rightful owner. After the thing was made to run, I discovered a massive transmission leak that I was not ready to deal with. So I was reimbursed for my parts, and I'm looking for something with a box that is newer, simpler and preferably with four cylinders.

The 1982 GS1100E is parked, in pieces again, in a garage in Camarillo. It and I are awaiting the delivery of a revised head gasket from Cometic, a revision that I feel personally responsible for putting into action. Cometic's Multi-Layer-Steel head gaskets were designed to be used in racing motors with high-strength studs and therefore designed for torque values in excess of 40 ft-lb.

The problem I had with leakage did not crop up until recently, since who puts an MLS gasket on a stock motor??? The stock studs can only handle 30-35 ft lb at MOST before they break, and that torque is insufficient to mash the little metal ridges around the oilways flat enough for good sealing.

The solutions to this problem are legion: use black silicone around the oilway holes; get high-strength studs ($$$) and torque it to 40 or 50 ft lb; or (free) get Cometic to redesign their gasket, restamp it, and send me one. This latter has been the most time consuming but the most morally satisfying.

I'm supposed to get the revised gasket next week. We'll see. I'll probably use black silicone with the new gasket too, because if I have to tear that motor down one more time I will be seriously tempted to push the whole assembly off a cliff into the Pacific.

Boston Moped Massacre

Wow, folks, it's been dead around here!

For your viewing pleasure: