Back in the saddle again

With gas prices on their way to $4/gallon and beyond, I finally got the old bike out of the garage. One new battery later and I was puttering up and down the road. I had to dig through and under several boxes to find my helmet, and the chrome on the bike has suffered as a result of the damp polebarn, but it seems to run just fine. It’s still leaking fuel out of the crankcase air box, but some research reveals that it needs a new petcock fuel shutoff. So I’ll take it into the mechanic this week to have him do a safety inspection and replace the part. I know the family is not exactly thrilled about it, but it felt great to get back on the bike and I’m definitely looking forward to 40mpg fuel economy.

Earthquake!

I was just barely conscious enough at around 0530 this morning to notice the bed shaking as if a large truck was driving by the house. After it kept going for a few second, stopped, and started again, I thought, “Maybe that’s what an earthquake feels like.” The next thing I remember was my own snoring waking me up about an hour later. When I got up at 0745, I turned on the news to hear that there was a 5.2-scale earthquake in West Salem, IL that could be felt throughout the midwest.

So, all those trips to the west coast and I never felt an earthquake. Apparently, I just had to stay home!

Info from the USGS is here.