it's dry...

...but not all that bright.
So I don't know how easy it will be to see in the garage this morning. I'll head out soon and see but no matter what I'll need to get some work done.
I bought synthetic oil yesterday and am going to put the same fluid in all "three holes" so am about to find out how easy it is to do a complete oil change on a harley. The Japanese bikes I've had in the past just had one oil filler cap and that was it to do an oil change. One drain plug and one filler cap! How easy was that?
Oh well nothing tried nothing gained....

...FOUR HOURS LATER...
When it comes to Harleys and oil nothing, and I mean NOTHING, is simple. Ask twenty Harley owners about oil and you'll get twenty-two different opinions. I made a post on the HDRC GB web-site and got a reply saying that I should maybe not use synthetic oil until the bike has done 5K miles to let it all bed down. I've also seen a test where a harley"expert" tried out synth 1500 miles after the first service and gave glowing results. On top of that the MoCo recommend their synth oil in new bikes. (As it's a lot dearer than their mineral oil, they would!)
So I suppose as long as I don't do anything which will do major damage (like ride with NO oil in the engine) then it's my bike and I'll need to do what I feel is best for the machine.

Over the next few months I'm going to continue to blacken out the bike. I'm waiting for a black stainless front brake line to arrive and will fit that to the stock front end for now. I've also ordered a tri-bar tail-light and will get the billet brake and gear-shift levers when I can afford them. At least that will only be a couple of hours to fit so I wont be off the road while they're being fitted.

Like I've said before this will be a longer term project.

nearly there...

...but so far away.

I've almost got my bike back together again but haven't done half of what I'd hoped to.

I was just a bit ambitious in all the customising I had planned for this winter and in the end couldn't afford all the bits and pieces needed.

I'll have to settle for having a solo seat, detachable sissy-bar and pad and the bullet turn signals. I'll keep the twin disc front wheel and my drag bars to be fitted next time around.

So, for now, I will just get myself back on the road and buy the parts I need as I go along.

Then, when I take my bike off the road for next winter I will be that bit more prepared.

moving on or back?

I've been out working on the bike for an hour this morning. Needed to stay a bit longer to get all I feel I should be doing but other things are pressing.
I've started putting things back together to allow me to get on the road as soon as the weather shows a sign of spring-time arriving. It felt a bit odd removing the new bars and fitting my stock risers and bars back on. It will have to be that way until I've put some money aside to go for the complete front end in a oner.

Talking about money, my renewal came in for my road tax this morning. I've had the bike off the road for almost four months while it was taxed but if I SORN it now I'll only have to tax it in a few weeks time. Should have done that months ago when I first decided to start working on the bike, then claimed a refund on the unused tax. I suppose that was the down-side of buying a bike in March but I don't think there could have been any better timing, especially as the best riding weather last year was early on in the year.

Only indirectly related to the bike, but there's been a couple of delays that have really p*ss*d me off! I sent off for membership of the HDRCGB and for a subscription to BSH both at the beginning of January. After chasing both up but still not hearing anything for weeks, I haven't received anything from either of them. Payments are now starting to filter through so I suppose something must be happening. On-line trading can be so frustratiing! In the long run both will be worth it. The rider's club forum is worth the joining fee alone.