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My wife’s car is in the shop so I said honey take my car the weather is going to be great and I can ride my bike to work. I checked the oil and tires and a quick run around the neighborhood since I hadn’t ridden her in a while. After the second day I decided to go round and tighten up bolts and screws and have a look at her. Uh oh I see a missing bolt . This bolt goes through the fork leg to hold the right brake caliper on there are two bolts upper and lower. Next day I’m riding home and my cup holder flys off and lands in my lap. I know it’s not a car but it’s a little scary to know things can vibrate off even when you do a quick inspection. So just a reminder check your bike before every ride cause you never know!

Austria is beautiful...... Near the Kaunertal (glacier) 2750 meters altitude and Lake Silvretta.

Thanks for the axle alignment suggestion, Carl. I believe the axle is running fairly true because during the tire/wheel swap I took note of how the axle came out, and after the axle nut was removed but before starting to pull the axle I was able to rotate the axle very easily...nearly with just my fingers. As I was removing the axle by slightly rotating it side to side, it remained loose until it pulled clear of the drive-side of the wheel. A couple of years back when I installed the VMax rear end, I loosened the 4 acorn nuts, set the axle in the swingarm without the wheel, jiggled the whole thing until the axle turned freely, tightened the axle pinch bolt, snugged up the acorn nuts, released the pinch bolt and pulled the axle. This past wheel removal, I didn't touch the acorn nuts, just pulled the axle. It seemed to be where I had left it on the rearend swap. If the alignment was in question, wouldn't that squirm be present in the MC tire as well? I don't get any feeling of uncertainty at all with either the present Metz or the previous 2 Avon Cobras. At the other end of the horse, I tried out Cowpuc's method of testing the front end. I seem to remember reading somewhere on the VR site about a method of checking the front end by getting the front wheel up off the ground and bumping the bars right or left. The goal was to have the bars swing freely to the limit without rebounding. This may have been 3-ish years ago, and at the time I think the bars were pretty loose. They would swing to the stops and bounce back easily. I recall trying to tighten them up then, and maybe improved it but not enough. When I checked them this time they seemed fairly loose based on the pull Puc suggested, but after loosening the 27mm nut, and working a flat screwdriver into those 2 locknuts on the steering shaft, I was only able to snug them up a small amount. The "pull" on the bars is now a bit more than before....I can get about 3 lbs on my little luggage scale.... not quite the 5-7 lbs Puc had mentioned. I'll be riding this afternoon and will take note of any change..good or otherwise. Cheers....

I am in full agreement and as a mechanic for 50 some years I have seen the changes and how they effect the trucking industry. the increased amount of time that these trucks spend in our shop compared to years ago and the repair bills I have to hand customers are brutal to say the least. Now we do not just replace a $2 headlamp but a $1,200+ headlight module. Due to increased use of data link in our vehicles wiring issues can take days instead of hours to resolve and pretty much any issue that may occur can no longer be repaired on the side of the road. Ninety percent of breakdowns now either have to limp in or get towed in. Where I used to see 3- 4 tow ins a year I now see them on a monthly bases sometimes even 3 in one day. It may be great for my job security but my heart sure bleeds for the poor truck driver, specially the independent who only has the one truck. Ninety percent of this stuff only satisfies gadget crazy people and the manufactures. at the end of they day your still only riding or delivering product from A to B.

Wow, that is a scary situation. Sorry about your teeth, but glad your okay. Hope all goes well, Later-

Scary tale there! Glad they were able to patch you up. I watched a riding buddy take out a rather large bird with his cheek at 60 mph! The bird exploded into a cloud of feathers and darn near knocked him out, he was able to get the bike stopped safely too.

we are sure glad y'all are alright and thanks for sharing it's been years since I hit a bird.

Glad you made it through, would hate to have to miss you!

Glad your all OK. I've hit multiple crows and one duck. The duck it was about 5 years ago while my wife was learning to ride. I was behind her on my gen 2 at about 30 - 35. She spooked the duck. It came up and all I could see and feel was it's wing across my face. I was wearing a half helmet at the time. Scared the crap out of me but it gave us nothing more than a good laugh.

I've used this a few times now during a camping trip - this is an awesome stove, I also purchased the griddle to put on top of the 3 burners. Heats up quickly - works great. Nice way to cook a large amount of food in a short period of time.

We took a 105’ tower truck out of service recently because of electrical/electronic issues. As it was a custom built truck there are no diagrams or graphics to go by to track the issues. It’s all to do with the ladder movement not the engine. 18,000 miles on it and it’s being sold for scrap. To replace it is $1.3 million, we don’t have the budget so we do without. CORRECTION: they’ll do without, I’m retiring next month.

A few years back a motorcycle cop here in Ontario was killed while training a group of new MC cops when he was struck by a Canada goose.

My son’s next door neighbor lost his life after hitting a turkey on his bike a couple of years ago