Baby Has Brand New Shoes!

Countdown - 82 Days

Cheeto got some new shoes! By the way, if you haven't been following along with this blog, Cheeto is the name of my motorcycle. She's orange, with flames, and lots of character. She's an 8 year old, with lots of experience. She's got 1,100 cc's of power and her bloodline is pure Honda. And now she has new shoes as part of the preparation for the Vancouver Adventure. "Shoes" in this case are tires.

Without boring the non-rider too terribly much, I've used Metzler Marathon 880's for past couple of years. This time I've switched over to Avon Venoms. My wife's bike has the same brand and she swears by them. So do many of our friends, so I may as well try them. I've not been disappointed by the Metzlers, but it's time to broaden my horizons.

Aside from tires, I've got other preps ready: coolant flush, oil change, etc. Those are relatively easy. The tires on the other hand, were not. Let this edition of the blog be a bit of tribute to friends.

My buddies Matt and Roger hooked me up with the service on the tires. Roger has all the equipment and much of the knowledge. Matt has the knowledge, experience and the brawn. Both are excellent teachers. It took a little longer than we expected for the tire switch (remove each wheel, one at a time, take old tire from the wheel, prep the rim, put on new tire, balance it, and re-install the wheel). I suppose if we weren't keeping our whistles wet the whole time, it might go more quickly, but it wouldn't be as much fun.

Matt is the kind of guy would do anything for you. Yeah, that's easy to say about people, but let's face it, if it weren't true, would he have taken the time to drive 6 hours, pull my trailer and bike with his truck, and put up with me for 24 hours, JUST to bring back his son's bike from Roger's house? He is dependable. He's concerned and caring. He's reliable. He's trustworthy. Matt is just a great friend, plain and simple. There's so much more to it, but it really comes down to that.

Roger is much the same. He's the father figure to many of us, or at least that's the way I look at it. He has the mechanical expertise, he has all the tools, and best of all, he has the desire to teach. He's one of the those people you can turn to to trust. He won't pull any punches and he won't blow sunshine up your...well, he won't just say what you want to hear. He's brutally honest, and that's appreciated.

So thanks to these two great guys, I'm a very large leap forward in being ready for 'kickstand up' time. And my Cheeto has some sweet new kicks!