February 28, 2016 - my nephew helped me with the scooter.  After all attempts as noted in my previous blog http://www.missrider.com/blog/broken-scooter
 it became obvious that special tools were required for the job.  My nephew brought an impact wrench  to loosen and tighten the bolts afterwards.  Take a look at our video.....

The work continues preparing my Yamaha XT250 for the big ride.  This weekend I installed the handlebars.  A few videos to keep you posted.

My dear friend Pat who is currently riding around the world on his Yamaha XT250 suggested that I lube the from steering rack.  My Triumph Bonneville and Ducati Monster both suffered from this illness.  Both bikes needed the entire front end taken apart to lube the joints.  When my Ducati had about 15,000 miles, the front end was very sticky and hard to turn.  Then, while I was taking a small slow turn near my home, I felt it locking to the left.  Once the lubrication was applied, it was like riding a new bike.  I really want to perform the work myself but as you will note below, the job is bigger than my skill level, tools and resources.  While the bike is taken apart, I might as well replace the handlebars because Pat said the factory ones are very soft and bend easily.  Here are a few videos with my progress.

Autumn of 2015, sometime around October.  While I was riding to work, I felt a pop under the seat of my scooter.  The bike slows down, no acceleration, engine was fine.  Immediately I knew that the transmission was busted.  Stuck on the side of the road, I called my friend Carleen and her husband who came to my rescue.    A few weeks later my sweet friend, Robert Bendix came by and opened the transmission cover, sure enough, exactly what I expected, the belt popped, it was in pieces.