Maintenance Woes

  Got an email recently from my friend, Richard, who has recently purchased an new 2007 Suzuki Boulevard C50T.  The following is an account of his first oil change.

 

Leonard - Remember the motorcycle insurance ad with all the gremlins? They came to visit me yesterday while changing my oil.

 

  First, I wanted to check the oil level one last time to see if any had been used. I got on straddled to lift it and was surprised with the heavy way it felt then it seemed to release and went upright easily. Not thinking anything about it after finding the oil level OK, I got off went around the other side of the bike and found my quart of oil under my lower muffler with the cap pushed waaay down into the bottle where the muffler had apparently squashed it when I set the bike up. Took some doing to extract it out to where I could use it.

 

  Next, after draining the oil and taking off the old filter and putting on the new one I was in the process of pouring in my first quart of new oil when I happened to look over to my creeper and there set my .... oil plug. Oh, crap. Fortunately I had just started and it hadn't worked its way down yet and I saved a near disaster. I'm really proud of that save by the way.

 

  Third, after finishing the oil change and still patting myself on the back over the near mess, I got on the bike, turned the key and she started right up. Naturally, I wanted to take her down the street and see just how she would sound with the new semi-synthetic oil in her so I tripped her into first gear, let out the clutch to maneuver myself out of the garage and immediately ran slap dab over and thru the old oil which I had forgotten to remove from under the bike.

 

   I can barely explain the mess three quarts of old black smelly oil makes on a garage floor but the fact that Joyce drove up just as I was contemplating how I could get this cleaned up before she could see it will be ever locked in memory. And.......how did your day go?