Wilsons Sandbox

Hello List, I have often reflected the primary reason for having children late in life (age 41, now 53) is that you will have someone to help you pick up your motorcycle. cough. for starters... Picture this, nice dinner, beautiful, sweet wife, great 10y/0 daughter and a small ox; aka '12 y/0 son' After the dinner-- "Sam (12.5 y/o), we have to go do some maintenance, let the women do 'women's work." Gentle laughter in the background, comments about sleeping on the couch- -follows, as we escape with hecklers in the background. (all said in good fun--we all take a turn at dishes--I don't want to get stoned by the lady readers! It is the only way I can get my hands completly clean!) We escape to paraise; Out to the motorcycle garage--hijacked for the summer from the car-garage-- to do battery maintenance on the A15's YUSA battery after 1500+ miles--longer than usual--but almost all riden at temps below 70F. "Sam, get the #3 philips, --remove the side covers Get: Distilled water and a glass cup. I'll look for the nose syringe. I'll get the 10mm socket and the extensions." Off come the side covers--right side has a bent luggage rack--how did that happen? Frollicking in the snow, cough. No more of that! 10mm on the seat bolts--off comes the seat. #3 screwdriver on the battery retainer screw #3 screwdriver on the battery bolts Remove the drain hose Remove the battery--only down to the min line--on all cells. Wooh-Wooh! Remove the cap-strip, Sam pours water in the cup and fills syringe. I backlight the battery with a flashlight and let Sam add the water to each cell. Bump the battery for air bubbles--adjust the water level on three cells. Replace cap-strip and back the to the bike. Positive post won't engage. Battery back out and see that the nut is cocked and won't engage. "Can you see that Sam?" Yes. Build a little paper washer to push up the nut to hold it level-(I ain't afraid of no fire! or 'faaar' if you are reading this in Georgia- - (If I could find my 'shop' Vaseline--I would have dabbed some on the nut and made it stick to the batter post--but I could not find it--now remember it is in the travel tool kit! Not home enough to know where everything is kept. sigh.) Battery: Back into the bike--works like a charm. Sam screws it down snug, plus a little. I check his 'torque'. His feel for a 12y/o is pretty good. Add the neg ground. So far so good. Battery retainer--wont fit! "Dad, shouldn't we have put this on first?" refering to the l-shaped plastic retainer... Who me? Do I look smarter than a 6th Grader? Don't answer that-- Yes, Sam, you are correct--I smile, "Sam, you take off the neg post, and put the l-shaped plastic piece on." "Put the black screw in the bottom of the L-shaped plastic." Dad--the screw won't go all the way on-- Add some WD-40 to the screw hole. Still won't go all the way in. Hmmm. Sam, "Say, what is this metal piece doing over here--it has a screw hole in the bottom?" Just great--the glasses I choose to work on the bike in the dim light are not the best for seeing beyond your nose...I think I am about ready for a seeing eye dog! Not really, but having 20/15 vision (near and far) all my life and now can't see the dirt under my fingernails, or salt from a shaker, is annoying. Yeah, my little 6th grade-ox (did I mention he is already bigger than I was when I graduated from High school?) Yes, that would be the bottom retainer for the battery. Amazingly enough there is now plenty of screw and metal to make it all fit. Do I look smarter than a 6th grader? Still--don't answer that.... Another great reason for having children late in life--they are cheaper than a seeing eye dog. At least they can tell you that you don't have the battery parts in the right order AND pick up your KLR whereas the seeing eye dog would only watch...and laugh at you. Life is good. I think I got a KLR mechanic in the making. We ended the night with 1 hour of math homework. Last day of the homework cycle--school ends here on Thursday--and today's math homework was what I was doing in freshman algebra, sophomore geometry. head shake. After some 50 minutes, I hear the magic words every tutor longs to hear, "I got it. I can do the rest of it now." I watch as he does the last 10 minutes, flawlessly. smile. Best time spent all day--did I mention we also went to the dump and shot cans with a .22 Ruger pistol? What a hoot. He who sees the best, shot the best! If not a KLR mechanic, at least, a good start on an engineer. I could not be prouder. Oh, and the ladies--they DID DO the dishes without complaint. Might be because I am taking them to HI on Friday for 12 days....you think? I started out asking, "Are you smarter than a 6th grader?" Maybe the bettter question should be, "Can you see better than your 6th grader?" No, appearantly not. shrug. could be worse--maybe he would no want to ride motorcycles or shoot cans with his dad. Hope you have as much fun with your kids/grandkids this week as I have had with mine. revmaaatin. Who has a friend in HI with a KLR! Cough. I might even 'pull an Albatross' and rent a Harley cough, hack, spit (never met a motorcyle I did not like--some just a lot more than others.)