Monday, April 18, 2011

Gonna shoot me a groundhog

Spring has been here for nearly a month, and yet, there have been so few pleasant riding days. This year seems to be all gloom and bleh. O.K., that may not be a word found in the dictionary, but it's the only one that really applies. After all, I went out to ride my scooter to work on April first, and there was a thin layer of snow on it. Talk about an April Fool's joke.

The Sabre has a new set of plugs in it, thanks to the sunny day on Friday. The previous plugs were well and truly carbonated as they had not been swapped since I bought the bike. Later in the week, I'll try to impose upon my brother-in-law to help me get the tank off so I can get at the air filter and swap that out. The Bike's Fuel economy is slipping a little, and while the new plugs have certainly boosted performance, a clean air filter won't hurt anything.

It is amazing what a difference the clean plugs have made. The Sabre almost seems to jump out from under me. It's reminding me why I love that bike so much.

The Scoot is not forgotten. She awaits an oil change, a new Air filter (which costs $20, but trying to vacuum off the gunk is no longer effective), and a fresh plug. I also need to pop the cap off the engine and take a peek at the valves, though the engine shows no signs that they need adjustment.

So, I need a sunny day. I think I need to go groundhog hunting. He promised spring would be early and he lied.

2 comments:

Joe said...

Yep. A big bowl of groundhog stew would make some of these dreary, rainy, somewhat chilly Pennsylvania days a little more bearable!

kz1000st said...

If your spark plugs look anything but worn at the electrode don't delay getting to the air filter. With the advent of unleaded gas spark plugs haven't (or shouldn't) carboned up in years. Unless a bike is running rich, only used for short runs constantly, has bad piston rings or is run with the choke on too long, the plugs shouldn't be carboned up. Also make sure that you're running the proper heat range and using NGK spark plugs.