Ural Headlight

It seems every winter my headlight on the Ural dies. The first few times I replaced it with the standard sealed beam, but that was a hassle and took up too much room as a spare. Several years ago, I found a Bosch kit online to convert it over to an H4 bulb instead. The H4 is much more convenient since most of my bikes use it as well. They also take up less room on the shelf. It would be nice is the bulb would fail while it is warm out. Taking the fairing off is a messy job with road grime everywhere.

I have a ratcheting box-end wrench which makes quick work of the bolts. It is quite a mess in the headlight assembly with all the wires from all over the motorcycle coming together. Once the headlight was out, putting in a new bulb only took a few minutes. I also took the time to clean the headlight. It was covered in a thick layer of road grime and salt. It is hard to believe I clean it each time I get gas when it looked so dirty. It is nice to have a working headlight again.

New Motorcycle

A friend bought me this wooden motorcycle at a local auction. I quite like it. The artist spent a lot of time on the little details like wheels that roll and a working sidestand. There are even little wooden spark plug wires. It appears to be made entirely of wood except the metal axels, steering head, and pivot for the sidestand. I put it in the living room, so I can see it more often.

Spotted Again

A friend sent me this photo and asked if it was me. One of his Facebook friends spotted me on the way home and took several pictures with his phone while driving. I frequently see folks taking photos, but I rarely get to see them.

SV650 in the House

I’ve been dreaming of bringing my SV650 in the house during the winter for the last several years. Each time I have to go into the unheated garage to work on the SV it pops into my head on how much more comfortable I would be in the house without my fingers freezing holding onto cold metal. I’ve had room to bring it in, but I was concerned my cat would get into something she shouldn’t and get sick. Sadly, my cat died last week.

As you can see, the SV is now in the dining room. I think it looks great. Now, I can admire it while I eat at the dining table. Awesome.

I used some heavy duty rubber rugs to protect the wood floor from the stands and any small chemical drips. Getting the bike into the house was easier than I thought it would be. I used a small metal ramp to get the motorcycle up the six inch step into the house. Two big pushes later, it was done.

I’m going to let it warm up for a day. I started bringing in my tools and some of the things I need to replace as well. The maintenance list is getting quite long! (oil, spark plugs, brake fluid, brake disc, rotor, chain, sprockets, tire, battery, rack, and levers).

I hope I can get it fixed up in the next week or two, so I can bring the WR250R in and start working on it too. Maybe 2014 will be the year I finally finish the heated grip install on the WR. I’ve had them now for two years. It’s getting embarrassing. Maybe I didn’t need them after all.

How is your winter motorcycle maintenance going?