Christmas Catchup

Had an awesome, awesome week off, and I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Let's get caught up, shall we?

The bike saga continues, but with perhaps some actual progress finally.  I brought the bike to Cape Cod Harley - another dealership which I will never deal with again.  Why?  Let's discuss the 'why'...

Stu, the guy that's been helping me out with the bike troubleshooting said he had been buying parts from this dealership and they seemed good to work with.  So, on his recommendation, I went with them.

Stu called them two Thursdays ago and talked to "John" in Service.  He explained the problems I was having, all that we had worked on, the parts we'd replaced, that we'd run out of ideas and that it needed to go onto a dyno so the problem could be diagnosed properly.  AND, he told them I'd be in, in two days (on Saturday).  "John" said he entered everything into the system and that when I showed up, I should ask for him, and things would be good.  Fantastic!

So when I showed up at the dealership two days later and asked for John, imagine my surprise when I found out that John was on vacation.  Huh.  Well, ok - no biggie, I mean...after all; all the info that Stu had relayed to John was in the system, right?  Nope.  There was nothing in the system on me, on my bike, or anything that Stu had relayed.  F'ing awesome.  And this all should have been an indication of other problems to come, but I'm too stupid to think ahead.

Anyway, I gave the whole rundown to the guy at the counter and he entered it in.  He asked if I was in any kind of rush (huh?), so I told him yeah; I like to ride every chance I can, so if they could get right on it, that would be great.  He said ok, and that was it.

Fast forward three hours and I get a phone call from the dealership.  The guy says (and I quote); "We've done what we can.  It's ready to be picked up."  Say what?  What do you mean "you've done what you can?  You're the dealership.  You take in bikes with problems, you ID the problems, and you fix them.  You don't take your best shot and then dump it back on the owner."

This didn't seem to sit too well with him and he snapped "What do you want me to do?"  I said "Put it on your dyno, replicate the problem in real time, then fix the problem."  "We don't have a dyno" he says.  Well WTF - your guy John said that wasn't going to be a problem.

"Look", said the guy.  "My tech took it out for a 30-minute test ride, thought he understood what you were describing so we brought it back, reflashed the ECU and then took it out for another test ride.  We think the problem is fixed."

Whatever.  I told him I'd be down later in the week to pick it up.
Fast-forward again to this past Saturday.  The same guy I'd had the conversation with was at the counter, so I didn't bother getting into any conversation with him, I just paid and left.

Surprisingly, the bike seemed to run much better than it had been.  I only felt a little twinge of hesitation when I was on the last stretch of the ride home, and that might even have just been my imagination.  I need to get more miles on before I can fully say whether things are fixed or not.  (Maybe even get some miles on, on New Year's Day, despite the weather calling for temps in the single digits.)

So there you go - that's where the bike saga stands at the moment.

What else...the Olean crew and I have traded some beers back and forth between hockey and football.  I think I'm a couple, in total, so that's nice.  Thanks Olean!

Ok, it's late and I've gotta run to meet some folks.  I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas and that you all have an awesome New Year's.

A brand new year is right around the corner!

Sabres, Service, and Solstices

Wow, look at me; three posts in three days.  I'm on a tear!  Let's get caught up to speed.

I guess blood really is thicker than water, because it doesn't look like Dana sat out last night's hockey game.  The B's lost, meaning I owe King and Lynner a beer each.  Tim tried muscling in on the bet as well, but he waited until after the Sabres had scored their first goal.  I told him he was out of luck unless he was willing to spot me the goal they'd already scored.  I never heard back from him, which was good for me, since the Sabres went on to win.  Next time, Tim!

The weather is getting warmer, the roads are clear, and tomorrow looks like a good day to ride.  Which of course means it must be time to drop the bike off for service again.  Yup!  The good news is there'll be a bit of riding involved, as I'm bringing it to Cape Cod HD's Service dept.  It'll be about 60 miles or so, which will feel GREAT!, but then it'll be a 4-wheel ride home, courtesy of Matty.

I'm meeting him for breakfast @ 9, we're gonna knock back some grease and calories, then head off for the dealership.  I've got my fingers crossed that it'll be a quick and easy fix (and cheap, despite the fact that it's a dealership doing the work).  Hey, focus on the brigtht side, right?  At least it should be fixed, finally.

What else...what else...oh yeah!  Tomorrow is the winter solstice.  Sweet!  That means the days will again begin getting longer.  'Course, it'll be about 4 months before we really get to appreciate that, but still; the process has to start somewhere.

I've got next week off from work (company shutdown), so there'll be quite a bit of mischief achieved, I'm sure.  I can't post updates to this blog from my phone, so unless I happen to stumble upon an internet connection along the way, there will be a bit of a delay (about a week or so) before I write again.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas and an awesome New Year's!

RIP Dana

Another year has passed, but your Maine Event legacy lives on as strong as ever.  It's enjoying a resurgence in popularity, attendance is on the rise, and the celebration is including more new people each year.  Thank you for starting what has become something so many of us look forward to each year.

Give the crew a round of hello's from us down here and let 'em know we still think of them quite often.


Now then...the Sabres are playing tonight and I've got the usual beer bets going with your brother, as well as with Lynner.  See if you can do me a favor and sit this one out.  I need a win tonight.

After all, it's all about winning.   (Winning beer, that is.)

Rest Easy, Dana.

Latest Developments

My gut was right; the hesitation/skipping is still happening so the bike is going to the dealership.  This was a mutual decision by Stu and I, so the cool thing is there are no hurt feelings.  The dealership will have a dyno which will allow them to replicate the problem in a controlled environment which at this point is what is needed.  Stu has a working relationship with Cape Cod Harley, and since my only preference is to NOT bring it Precision HD in Pawtucket, I was ok with going to Cape Cod.  He's called them and filled them in on everything we've done so far to the bike, so that was cool, and I've got a 9:30 appt on Saturday morning to drop it off.  Matty is following me/lugging me home, which is much appreciated, so all-in-all, things are moving along.

The weather hasn't really cooperated this week; two decent-sized snowstorms have walloped the roadways, but the temps are supposed to increase through the weekend so with any luck, my bike will arrive safely, albeit quite dirty.

Winter is here, everything is covered in white.  The last time I rode through this kind of crap to bring my '08 to the dealership...

...I never got it back.  So here's hoping there's a happier ending to the story this time around.

I guess it's time to start hunkering down for the season...

...or maybe it's time to start planning a nice warm vacation somewhere where the bikes are still rolling...

...hmmm...

Bringing The Baby Home

I got the call from Stu a couple days ago; the TPS reports...er...TPSensor is in.  He hasn't had a chance to test ride the bike due to the nasty weather we've been having but I'm going to pick it up tomorrow and ride it home.  And that will take place as soon as he opens, because apparently we've got one whopper of a snowstorm coming tomorrow.  I haven't bothered to check the forecasts, but it's the main topic of conversation coming out of everyone's mouths, so there must be something big coming.

As for the bike, my gut tells me that the hesitation/hiccuping problem has not been fixed.  Why does my gut tell me that?  Becuase the problem had become so bad that it was fairly noticeable, even at idle.  And I think if replacing the TPS was the problem, I think Stu would have been able to tell that we'd finally resolved things.

But, I need to keep a positive outlook on things, so I should probably do that...

...although, it is Friday the 13th today...

Anyway, the bike is coming home tomorrow morning, and I'll know right away whether the problem is still there or not.  At the least, McCarthy's bike (which is in my garage) will have company again.

Wish me luck...

Ohhh The Weather Outside is Frightful...

So today is the first actual snowfall of the season.  We've had a couple of minor overnight dustings prior to today, but this one is the real deal...ok, so not really.  It's not supposed to accumulate to much, but in looking out my window, all I can see is white flurries coming down, the sky is a pale white, the tree limbs are starting to sag a bit, and traffic is moving at a crawl.  So for all intents and purposes; I'm calling today the first real snowfall.

My bike is probably pretty happy right now; ordinarily it'd be parked in my unheated garage but since it's in the shop, it's probably warm and toasty.  That's all well and good but I want it home (and running properly) so that I can try and squeeze in some more miles before the calendar page flips over to the new year.

Still pretty slammed at work, but I've got a week off coming up (between Christmas and New Year's) so maybe I'll be able to scare up something exciting to share with you folks.

Until then, keep the fireplace warm and the beers cold.

'Vous Video

I got home last night to find a package waiting for me.  It wasn't ticking, or leaking any fluorescent liquids, so I brought it inside.  Inside, were the DVD copies that King and Lynner had made for us Massholes.  Sweet!  I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but they said it was a good one this year so I'm looking forward to watching it.

I know my posts of late have been lame in frequency, and in content.  There's not much I can do about that; been busting my hump at work, and around the house.  Nothing exciting to share, I'm afraid.  The bike goes into the shop again on Saturday so hopefully I'll have some good news to share soon.

Part of me would like to bitch about how it always seems that my bike goes into the shop around the ~December timeframe, but that would be bad juju.  I should be grateful that it hasn't been going in during the warm summer months.

Ok, enough chit-chat, time to get back to it.  Hopefully everyone out there is still getting some miles on.

Ride Hard, Take Chances