Vastly different indeed. On the 24th, I rode. North again, I hit some water in Tomoka park but not as deep as before, so not up to my bottom bracket. There was nothing else of note that day or at least nothing that I can remember !
Yesterday, however, was memorable. I started out the day with a visit to the gym and 15 minutes on the stair master at high speed. That's killer exercise and I need it. I don't do much that really pushes my heart rate, but this does.
Then I set to working on the outside overhead fans. I needed to cut some plywood, 12"x12" to go over the electrical box to keep it dry. That was easy but that was a combo with cutting up the "driftwood" that I'd piled by the road. I also helped Gene with his This particular driftwood was 2x6's, 8' long that came from broken docks and was along our shoreline. Nothing more exotic or decorative !
I hung the plywood and the boxes and then went with Sandy to the kayak store to pick up her new kayak. At 12' it sticks out the back of the SUV, big time. We got home and she took it to the Yacht Club where she's going to be keeping it on a rack. At $5 per month, it's a good deal. They've got a sandy launch spot which is friendlier than a ladder off our dock !
So ... I needed to go to HD to pick up some 1/2" male adapters and elbows and that's where the day went downhill. I started the M5 with a ROAR and quickly shut it off ... what the heck ? Raising the hood ... nothing. Look underneath ... I see something dangling. Well it turns out that the bung into the exhaust pipe that holds the O2 sensor has come out. It's not rusty; don't know why. Dang. So I decided to go to HD with the Harley. It wouldn't start. It's been on the battery maintainer but that apparently either wasn't doing it's job or the battery wasn't taking a charge. So ... I got out the battery charger with the xx amp starter boost ... dang, the battery charger is dead ! It hums but there's no voltage at the clips ... yikes.
Oh boy. Sandy was home by that point, needing some help with the lock, which I dealt with and she went back to the SYC to lock up the kayak. Once home, I took the X5 over to Holmes to ask him about the exhaust and he recommended a place on US 1 in Port Orange that would weld it back on. From there I went to Advance Auto, picked up a new battery charger and some muffler tape -- later taping the O2 sensor in place, hoping that will hold it there for a drive of a few miles. Before I leave, I'll add some tape to hold the sensor higher in case it comes out again so that it doesn't drag on the road.
From Advance Auto, I went to the Harley dealer and picked up a new battery. The battery was in tough shape last year when David was using the bike, so this shouldn't be a surprise. I also picked up oil and a filter; it's overdue and that was on my list anyway. I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't ask for ID -- every other time that I've shopped there I've been asked for ID making me wonder what kind of people shop at Harley dealers ...
... and from there, to Home Depot -- that's what started all this -- and spent < $6 on the electrical conduit parts. This is one case where getting there was a whole lot more expensive !!!
I'd run out of time for any conduit work and fan work; that will wait for another day. We ate at the SYC with the usual Wednesday crowd, but up in the other room because they're still working on the ground level rooms. When we get back from Oz everything should be in good shape
Sandy's hoping to get out in the kayak today. I'm doing a 200k. I have to figure out when I can get the M5 over to US 1 Auto and subsequent to that, the X5 over to Tire Kingdom to install the new tires that are really in my way in the garage ... especially since the snow tires are also there .... !!!!
My comment to Holmes was that he must love people who keep older cars running ...
Onward indeed !
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