Thursday, May 05, 2005

Project Raven v1

Last night, I installed frame sliders on my bike. For those of you who are cycle challenged, frame sliders are sacrificial plastic pieces installed on the left & right sides of the bike. Mine are black plastic, so they match the surrounding fairings very well.

I am really proud of the job I did installing them, too. It is the first time I have done any meaningful work on a motorcycle, and it came out Great! The 2" hole I had to cut on the right side fairing is about 2mm oversized for the slider puck, giving me the perfect amount of clearance. The hole is nearly centered, too; only about 1mm offset. Pretty impressive considering I positioned the hole using a little piece of bunched up masking tape.

Now that my bike is protected, I will feel much more comfortable getting out on real roads like 103rd St. and US 17. I think I will continue to avoid Blanding Blvd for a while, since they have the street surfaces all torn up and lots of uneven pavement.

It has been raining all morning, but here it is 3 pm, and the sun has come out! If the sun stays out and kinda dries the streets, I am going for a ride when I get home. Stoked!

Motorcycle Glossary:

Fairing

The plastic pieces that form the 'body' of the motorcycle. These are the pretty painted pieces on the sides of the bike.

Slider Puck

The sacrificial plastic piece that bolts onto the slider's base. During a crash, this piece will be sliding against the road surface, preventing the frame from contacting the ground with force, and partially protecting the fairings on the bike.


Listening to: Twentythree - Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue (03:27)

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