'95 C10 "Zoe" - She picked it from a list of names by smoothing out her idle. Should I be troubled that my bike is sentient enough to talk back to me?
I am completely new to motorcycles and bought a C10 Connie as my first bike. 3000 miles and three months later we're getting along great but the first week was rough.
#1 Left turn from a stop. Too much clutch and fell over. The left saddlebag antler broke.
#2 Right turn from a stop. Too little clutch, stalled and fell over. I Eased her down with no damage.
#3 Emergency stop test at the DMV. Inexperience and rapid weight transfer from accelerate to braking in roughly two car lengths. The left foot peg bracket broke. I ordered a replacement from a Harley shop, the only bike shop near my house that doesn't think a Vespa is big, on the way home.
#4 My house has one of those driveways that's just two concrete strips perfectly spaced for car or truck tires and really good at catching the back wheel of a Connie. She went over on the right side; my roommate cushioned her fall and got a leg burn for his trouble.
#5 Oddly placed dirt pile in a parallel parking space. The front brake rotor hit its thick spot and locked on the dirt. The right mirror rattles a little more than it used to.
Side question: are Connie discs able to be resurfaced on a brake lathe or do you just replace them when they warp?
To make amends I've replaced all her fluids, removed the radiator thermostat mod that was making her blow fuses and overheat, replaced her spark plugs, corrected the polarity on her coils, secured her coils to the frame using nuts from the "spare parts" baggie that came with her, adjusted her valves to spec, replaced the oil again due to a sudden rainstorm while adjusting her valves, rebuilt her petcock and given her nothing but non-ethanol fuel. I think she forgives me but she does have a nasty Sea-Foam addiction that worries me.
I am completely new to motorcycles and bought a C10 Connie as my first bike. 3000 miles and three months later we're getting along great but the first week was rough.
#1 Left turn from a stop. Too much clutch and fell over. The left saddlebag antler broke.
#2 Right turn from a stop. Too little clutch, stalled and fell over. I Eased her down with no damage.
#3 Emergency stop test at the DMV. Inexperience and rapid weight transfer from accelerate to braking in roughly two car lengths. The left foot peg bracket broke. I ordered a replacement from a Harley shop, the only bike shop near my house that doesn't think a Vespa is big, on the way home.
#4 My house has one of those driveways that's just two concrete strips perfectly spaced for car or truck tires and really good at catching the back wheel of a Connie. She went over on the right side; my roommate cushioned her fall and got a leg burn for his trouble.
#5 Oddly placed dirt pile in a parallel parking space. The front brake rotor hit its thick spot and locked on the dirt. The right mirror rattles a little more than it used to.
Side question: are Connie discs able to be resurfaced on a brake lathe or do you just replace them when they warp?
To make amends I've replaced all her fluids, removed the radiator thermostat mod that was making her blow fuses and overheat, replaced her spark plugs, corrected the polarity on her coils, secured her coils to the frame using nuts from the "spare parts" baggie that came with her, adjusted her valves to spec, replaced the oil again due to a sudden rainstorm while adjusting her valves, rebuilt her petcock and given her nothing but non-ethanol fuel. I think she forgives me but she does have a nasty Sea-Foam addiction that worries me.
