Ever since I got the 250 Nighthawk the front suspension oil seals have been leaking. It's not the first motorcycle that my seals have leaked on so I didn't pay much attention to it. When the dust seal finally cracked from being dried out on one side I knew it was time to do something. The first thing I did was go to an online dealer I had used before and ordered the parts. Normally this is the easy part as usually the parts come in about two weeks. I ordered the seals in the beginning of November and when the middle of December rolled around I emailed the company to see what was the delay. I got a quick reply that the parts were on backorder and if I wanted to cancel they would do so. I let it go thinking they would come in another month. When March came around and I still didn't have the parts I called to see what was up.
    To my discomfort the message on the phone was that the number was out of service. More emails yielded no results either. I called my credit card company to file a dispute, something they reacted to quickly by replacing the funds, mailing me forms to fill out and promising to get to the bottom of this. I ordered seals from another company and they came within a week. Upon their arrival I took the bike into the local shop on a Thursday and got it back on Tuesday. The new seals look spiffy and the front suspension is much firmer than it was before.
    I have since heard that the online company, in business for twenty years, has gone belly up. I had done a lot of business with them prior to this and was saddened to hear the news.
    This spring I have at least three oil changes to do and a drive belt change on the big scooter. While the miles haven't piled up on them, a good amount of time has passed and the oil has been in the bikes a good, long time. Stories of these tasks will follow.