My Life as a Motorcycle Mechanic.

This week has been unexpectedly and passively zen, which probably explains my increasingly detailed gaze. San Jose is strikingly beautiful today, at least to me. The air has cleared up a bit, and the hills are golden yellow to the east, and green and purple to the west. We hauled some bikes and gear from Travis' barn out in the eastern hills. Pretty cool little property out there amidst the suburbs - the barn is filled with old appliances, and two vehicles: a late 60's Mustang and a really old, rusty hauling truck.

I've unexpectedly learned quite a bit about fixing motor vehicles. I changed the oil filter on the Ninja today, and put in new oil; now the bike starts up and runs beautifully. It wasn't the carburetor after all! Doug is currently working on washing the bike, and getting the assorted pieces and panels onto it.

The bike running has put Doug into a much better mood (not as depressed and/or angry - which means he is a calmer driver!) and has allowed me to lay aside my previous urges to bail on this ride if things didn't come together soon. A functional bike to sell means we're leaving tomorrow or Monday. I actually hope it ends up being Monday, because then I'll head to the San Jose church tomorrow morning. But if we do leave tomorrow, I'll probably make the DC Critical Mass on Friday the 4th. Either way, I'm looking forward to shooting up road signs with a rifle at the Utah Salt Flats in a couple evenings :-)