So I've been thinking about what I need to replace or add to my motorbike whilst driving towards Johannesburg. When I arrived in I felt overwhelmed and unsure of where to get what. Instead of immediately going about acquiring the things I needed, I spent my first few days sewing a cover and a holder for my fuel and my dromedary water bladder.
I also needed gloves. My current gloves are cheap summer gloves with silicone working gloves i put inside to make them waterproof. They are super thick and sweaty and cold. I also would like to get a waterproof Bike jacket and pants so I would not ned to wear the extra jacket, but will have to see if I can afford it.
I spent time seeing my friends from Johannesburg, hanging out with Jolandie and Bella at a new Turkish bakery where we ate average pastries that took forever. But had the loveliest time catching up and seeing my old neighborhood in Braamfontein.
I watched Wonder Woman with them and was underwhelmed by the scriptwriting! And the lack of queer lesbian relationships on a woman only island that are warriors- obviously you are making this movie intentionally not queer!? The copious special effects and explosions would bore me normally so I won't waste your time 😋. Oh wait I just want to complain about one more thing- whoever heard of someone fighting in high heel sandals by choice and what warrior has such limp looking arms (the amazons that aren't Wonder Woman had muscles!) oh and apparently the actor is a Zionist.
Also she kills the god of war which should end all wars but what about World War Two and wars in the middle east and Africa?!
I'm sure if I read the comic book there's some explanation?
I like that the actress isn't American though and there are many Eastern European actors but what's with the one Native American guy that's all mystical- why is everyone so white! 🤢
I wouldn't watch it or make someone else watch it and I don't feel grateful that at least there is a focus on making more white women protagonists in film.
And why does this character mercilessly kill German soldiers and act as if everyone is innocent except for the god of war who is making them all do things?
So instead of doing what I was originally setting out to do and learn to do everything myself I decided to call a motorcycle place and ask them to change my front tire and change my clutch cable and check my break fluid etc
I took it in and the next day I called
To pick it up and they said they will me with the invoice in an hour or so.
They finally called me at 3pm saying that they will charge me this amount to do these things- do I agree?
Because i had told them exactly what I wanted done. And it hadn't been done and now they were asking me to accept it before going ahead?!
Anyway I thought about it for a while and decided to be brave and
Get the supplies from them and do it myself.
I am concerned about not having a center stand to lift my motorbike with. I have a paddock stand in Cape Town but now I am lost.
I started looking online at foldable stands from polisport but they are very bulky and obviously I'd want to take it with me. I looked at one tonne jacks at Midas and contemplated making a flat top for it and seeing how it goes.
I decided to start work on things that did not require it up yet and took off my aluminium box and my panniers and seat. I remembered an earlier plan I had to use the box as a stand but having been too afraid that it wouldn't hold up I had let it be. I'd been thinking recently of leaving the box in favor of repacking lower down and changing my setup.
So feeling like if it broke I will just make a new plan for luggage- I decided to try it.
I've picked it up from its side many times. But literally picking it up with your legs feels impossibly heavy. I decided that there has to be a technique or a clever plan I could use and after googling around for a bit and watching videos of muscly men struggling and managing to pick up their dirt bikes onto stands with pure brawn- I found a very helpful comment in a video. It was an older man saying :for people whose knees aren't so good anymore - you must attempt wiggling the bike onto it. So after a few minutes I managed to get it on by pivoting the bike on its side stand then pulling in the stand under the bikes engine. Pushing it onto the stand and wiggling it on more until it's on there.
Now I, a not so muscle bound thing can also quite easily lift my bike onto a stand.
I then instantly remembered that I hadn't pre-loosened the axle bolt on m front wheel so I had to take it down again -good practice!(loosening the bolts first is recommended because you have to apply a lot of torque to remove them and if you are doing this whilst the bike is balancing on its belly you're very likely tip it over- so just pre loosen the bolts slightly on the floor.)
I've changed a few bicycle tires and I've seen someone change a car tyre at a farm (and though it was the scariest thing ever) but getting a motorcycle wheel off the rim and putting a new one back on is hard but nothing compared to blood sweat coming out of when trying to reinstall the wheel in the brake caliper.
I recently changed the front brakes pads at MO's in Cape Town. Mo made me an offer to have the person changing the brakes and doing the service show me exactly how to do everything.(this was before I had access to my bikes manual - which I was then waiting for in the post in Johannesburg).
