Tuesday, June 22, 2010

New Chain for a Whole New Machine

On Saturday I had a new chain and sprockets put on the Triumph. All I can say is it's incredible how much a bad chain will decrease your riding enjoyment. Suddenly the Speed Four is a whole hell of a lot more fun.

Partly to celebrate the joy of a smoothly operating machine, and partly because I realized I haven't gone out riding for fun in a really, really long time, I decided Sunday would be an awesome day to ride out to Tortilla Flat. I forgot that it was Father's Day, and every dad in the world would have permission to take his boat to Canyon Lake. Oops.

So, kind of a slow ride behind a lot of boats. I'd been hoping to reduce the width of my chicken strips a bit, but no such luck. Between slowbies ahead of me, and trucks crossing the center line coming towards me, I was focused on not having a high-energy meeting with a couple tons of steel more than getting my knee down.

Of course, it was still fun because the road to Tortilla flat is spectacular, and a quick 70 mile ride will always put a smile on my face. Even more so with a nearly silent, smooth new chain on the bike. I have to admit, I may have ridden a little faster than I needed to here and there...

3 comments:

RichardM said...

I too was looking forward to a nice ride on Sunday but others in the family had other ideas. We have a lot of traffic on the roads these days but the most problematic ones are the class "A" motorhomes driven by older folks who only get out every couple of years in it. Just about all of our roads are narrow two lane with little if any shoulder.

Nice post. Sometimes a few minor repairs really do seem to make the bike run a whole lot better.

Richard

irondad said...

Shaft drive sport touring bikes. Need I say more?

Lucky said...

Richard - Yeah, it's best to avoid amateur bus drivers.

And I do think that motorcycles are simple enough that every change has a holistic effect.

Irondad - I'll have to try and get a test ride on one some time. I suspect they might be too comfy for me.