tales of a hapless squid

Squids. Young riders on sport bikes. Addicted to fun. In over their heads.

Geoff fits that description. Proud owner of a 2nd hand ZX9R Kawasaki.

Learned to pull the front wheel off the ground. Learned to keep it off the ground. Learned that a wet sump motor makes funny noises when you starve it of oil.

Here is something basic. The sump holds the oil that lubricates the motor. It is designed to operate in a horizontal plane, deviate to often or to long from this plane and the little tube that picks up the oil will suck air. No lubrication. "Knock knock, can we come out?" the bearings said.

Geoff wants to buy a used motor. He prefers this to opening up the one he has and fixing it. I think he feels guilty. He doesn't want to face the damage he has done.

Geoff wants to spend X number of dollars but the bone yards want 3X. Oh oh.

There are 3 kinds of owners of sporting vehicles.

There are the ones who drive recklessly and crash. For motorcycles these guys are currently out of season, but spring is coming.

There are those who drive recklessly in a different sort of way. They ruin their machines through abuse and a lack of care.

And there are those who drive with care. This doesn't mean they don't have fun or go fast. They just take care of their machines while pushing the limits.

I recommend taking care of your machine and pushing its limits. You know what I mean if you have been reading this blog.