I can't believe it's not winter

November is nearly gone and the weather has been rather mild of late. While it's been a little wet at least the temperature has been above freezing. I hope this continues for a few more weeks but I'm nervous that real winter weather is just around the corner. The oil leak from the base gasket continues to leave a drop or two on the ashpalt in my parking space but it's not leaking much at all. In the last 3,000 Km I have not added any oil to the crankcase so the amount of oil loss is minimal. The oil level doesn't seem to have gone down at all. When the weather turns cold I will park it in the temporary shelter I bought (a big winter tent) and pull the engine. With the engine in the warmth of the basement, I'll tear it apart and replace the faulty gasket. This will also be the time to check that pesky neutral sensor unit that other DR owners warn about. The possible carnage the loose neutral sensor screws can cause is always at the back of my mind and I won't rest until I've securely re-set the screws with locktite. And while the engine is out I may take advantage of the opportunity to do a few upgrades -- I'm thinking about a high compression piston and a high performance cam. I'll have to come up with justification for all that cash though... and I've still got my heart set of a pumper carburetor which is going to set me back at least $500. Oh God, where will it end?

sunny Sunday ride

Daylight savings time ended last night, which means it will start to get dark around 5pm now. Ugh. On the bright side, I woke to a seasonably warm, sunny day -- which was a real treat considering the cool, damp air and generally wet weather we've seen for the last couple of weeks (Friday was especially soggy and I rode all over town with my rain gear). Even though I had a bunch of stuff to do today, I still made time to go ripping aound for a couple of hours.

As usual, I wasn't able to find anyone who was willing to go on such short notice. Oh well, riding alone is just something I've always done and I'm quite used to it. While there's nothing better than to go riding with a buddy or two, I ineveitably end up riding alone more than 95% of the time because --like many others-- I've got grown-up responsibilities to worry about . I'm very busy with a wife, a bunch of kids, a dog and a big house that needs lots of work but I still find time [I make time] to ride. Because I'm so busy it's hard to plan much in advance, so most of my rides are not planned at all... I plan rides by the seat of my pants. When I look outside and see nice weather, I grad my gear and go. And this late in the riding season, you gotta take advantage of a nice day because we could get a snowstorm just about any day.

Had a small scare as I was getting onto the Pretoria bridge, gearing down mid-turn and in full lean at with speed that would have earned me a ticket -- the rear tire slid out a good distance and grabbed my attention real quick. At the very moment it happened, I immediately knew what happened: I let the clutch out while gearing down from 3rd to 2nd just as my rear tire crossed a painted line in the lane. The engine compression on deceleration was enough to slide the tire. Note to self: always remember that the painted lines are slippery as hell, even when road conditions are clear and dry.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from my nice afternoon: