It finally happened today. My big scooter, Galileo, finally crossed the ten thousand mile barrier. That doesn't sound like a bunch of miles in this age of 200,000 mile automobiles, but for anything on two wheels that is milestone. It wasn't long ago when many motorcycles were parked with less miles than that. Bikes were cheap, service was expensive in comparison to purchase price and high mileage wasn't a priority in their design. Now Craigslist is littered with bikes that have forty thousand miles or more. Chinese scooters by their reputation on the web have short fuses. I'm hoping to disprove that but every mile from here on will be uncharted territory. Just call me Indiana James.


The 150cc scooter I've had since 2008 is also closing in on the big mark. It's hovering around 8,500 and just might hit the big milestone next summer. I have a vast collection of tools and I'm not afraid to use them.
Which leads to my next subject.
Yesterday I dove in to change the oil on the Honda Rebel. As well built as it is, even a Honda needs its oil changed. As I have used the Honda lately I've noticed it gets pretty grumpy about changing gears when it gets warmed up. I decided to assault it with modern fluids to see if that would change its behavior. I'll let you know if it succeeded. I learned two lessons, again, about oil changes on the Honda. First, unless you're fire proof don't change the oil when it's hot. The exhaust pipes are very close to the work area and just waiting to scorch you. Second, the soft metal washer on the drain plug just loves to fall off the drain plug and hide. I learned where its hiding place was after twenty minutes of searching and will remember the next time. Oh, and a third thing. It holds two quarts of oil, not one. I blithely dumped in one quart of very expensive "Motorcycle Specific Oil" and expected it to be full. I jiggled the bike back and forth to check the level again and again, looked to see if the drain plug had mysteriously fallen out and let the oil fall on the ground and just stared for ten minutes trying to think what was wrong. The answer was right in front of me all the time in the waste oil drain pan. It was marked in graduated volumes. Had I just looked at the pan I would have seen the level of waste at two quarts. Instead I broke out a quart of Mobil 1 and slowly filled the bike. Sure enough at two quarts it was full. Then I looked at the drain pan and smacked my forehead. The things you learn.
Summer weather is slowly slipping away but hopefully not the opportunities to ride. I'm hoping to see more than a few miles on my fleet before I park them for the winter. I'll let you know how it's working out.