I've seen her naked! Working on a fully faired motorcycle.

I changed the oil today. 

The blog serves as a maintenance log for my bike, which is another plus.

It may not be the best use of a blog, but it works for me. And, I usually pontificate on something when I record the maintenance ... so that counts as a blog entry.

I really didn't do a good job of recording the last time I changed the oil.  I mean, I know the date, but can't place the mileage.
  


Like this time, I probably snapped a photo of the odometer at the time I did the change.

Unlike this time, I didn't follow through and actually blog it.

  About the work itself ...

The oil was black as pitch, and had little chunks of some sludge which I didn't like the looks of.  I don't know how many miles I've ridden between changes.  But I know I only changed it in October.  Given the late start to the season, I can't have put that many miles on it.  Maybe 1,000.  I mean, I've put only 5,000 on it since I bought it in March of 2011.  (2011 was a horrible year for riding, but that's another tale for another day.)

Regarding the maintenance work itself, I'm getting better at it.  I don't know if I'll ever really enjoy working on a fully faired bike or not.  But I do think working on ones own bike is essentially to really developing a rapport with the machine.  Without it, you feel like a guest or an acquaintance.  Once you've worked on the bike, you're a bit more intimate.  After all, I've seen her naked!

 Only, in this case, it's not quite true.  I haven't had cause to strip her down and remove the shroud.

I've only peeked around the bits.

The day that I do strip the bike naked to work on it -- and I don't know what would require that at this point -- that'll be the day I truly know the bike. 

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