Giving blood (again), 1 year later

Gonna give blood tomorrow-the Red Cross Bloodmobile is coming to my work, and I am dreading it because I am such a WUSS with needles.
They sent this reminder at 1:13 AM????? Huh?
There's a link that you can click on to change or cancel your appt. That was the FIRST thing I looked at before giving myself a shake and telling myself that it's no good putting it off, just get it done and be self-righteous the rest of the day.

I'm gonna wear short sleeves so that people can SEE I gave blood. Plus long sleeved shirts, rolled up, can cut off blood flow, not be good for the sphygmomanometer (aka blood pressure cuff little metal round thingy with numbers that measures your systolic and diastolic B/P), and might show blood, even though I have a GREAT clotting factor.

It stems from when my mom took me for my first blood test to the local lab where they draw blood, I think I was 11 or so, and she dropped me off at the lab and told me, “Just do what they tell you to do”. I had NO IDEA what I was in for. I never liked needles anyway. When I was in the hospital in 2nd grade with pneumonia, a couple of nurses came by, and I was really glad to see them UNTIL I saw the needle, then I starting freaking out and stuff and it took me a couple of nurses to kind of hold me down. You can imagine I carried that memory with me when I went to that local lab. My mom was SUCH a wuss, she didn’t even come in, just let me go in by myself and I CRIED, lemme tell you. At least I went in with my son & daughter (still do with my daughter if she needs me to).

I still get a bit woozy and apprehensive but I don’t freak any more. Or that much anyway, or maybe I'm such a great actress that it doesn't show. I do know that I become a motormouth and tell jokes just to occupy my mind. Maybe it comes with having IV’s in me on various occasions, like surgery, childbirth, junk like that. In those cases I can kinda ‘take’ the inevitable, but when it’s a CHOICE, then I still kinda freak. A little. Note to self-get some 'blood drive' jokes to tell, like, "Why did you become a phlebotomist? Did you play World of Warcraft a lot when you were growing up and you just like blood?"

There’s two reasons that I try to remember whenever I give blood:
It’ll do someone somewhere some good, and
There are cookies afterwards.

I did this last year also-see link
http://ridinglady.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-gave-blood-i-didnt-wuss-out-didnt.html

This year I didn't do so well-I got woozy and stayed kind of woozy for the rest of the day.

I get down and dirty. Don't go there, dirtbag, I went to a basic maintenance seminar for my bike.

I'm trying to make this blog in order chronologically or at least have some sort of methodology…I FAILED. Oh, well.

WHY AM I INTERESTED IN THIS STUFF?
* I want to know what I'm driving, all the ins and outs of what it needs to be driven
* Want to talk halfway understandibly about parts, tools, crap that can go wrong, etc
* Save money by doing it myself, i.e. I take a hair under 3 qts with the filter in-I don't want someone charging me for 4 to 'just make sure' because all the other larger V-Stars take 3.2!
*I LIKE doing things with my hands and feeling empowered and the satisfaction of doing it myself.
*I'm not afraid of looking around my bike because I clean as many spots as I can, but I'd like to be able to take off more parts and clean under there before it gets REALLY grody.
*I DO have a fear, however-the fear that my bike will fall over when I'm on that side, even though the sidestand would be holding it up

QUESTION: has ANYONE looked at their owners' manual at the page that has the period maintenance and minor repair info??? GMAB! It's almost all 'starred' meaning that it is recommended that a Yamaha dealer perform an airfilter element cleaning???

This seminar was offered thru Women on Wheels, Spiritrider OC chapter and happened at Bob Taylor Motors 17662 Metzler Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647 (714) 841-5522, great place, techs are extremely knowledgeable about most bikes and treated us wonderfully. Cost was only a $5 donation plus WOW had a BBQ.
Before the event I got anal and looked up how to do it, what tools are needed, etc. BUT looking stuff up, reading it, even eyeballing pictures just isn't the same as physically getting in there, getting’ dirty and doing it. I familiarized myself with nomenclature, i.e. names of the parts, names of the tools, names of the areas of the bike and what they do.

To the left, Christine from Women on Wheels is just getting thru with her bike. This is the shop where all the action took place.

I read the some of the manual directly pertaining to this seminar and even printed out the parts with the oil change and air filter, because you never know if the mechanic who is helping you knows specifically about Yamaha cruisers; Justin the tech at BobTaylor Motors had me check the manual pages I had print out and check my info. HE KNEW, but he wanted to make sure I KNEW.

Barry helped me a bit on the tools (they said bring tools, but turns out I didn't need to), but I brought some wrong ones-the long-handled allen wrench set that he gave me didn't fit, even though they were metric. I needed 4 and 5 size allen wrenches, and he had 4.5 and 5.5. Weird.

We measured out the oil I'd need (it was confusing since the manual said 3.0 with filter, but 3.2 total) and put the oil into a 5 qt container. It was easier to carry in my old workout bag and that spider bungee came in HANDY! Yes, I can put it on myself, Mr. W, it's not a 2-person job. So there.

It wasn't all women there, some guys came by also.

I checked my specs and it said 10-40 was perfectly fine, could use 20-40 or even 15-50, but we figured that since The Wrench used 10-40 on Bub's bike, why not with my bike.

Got an oil filter and a crush washer from a local dealer, $12 total. Barry's lucky in that he has that conversion kit for his 1100 and so can us a regular canister oil filter from WalMart. BTW, this is from Gregg Tchick-
Crush" washers "crush" and seal the drain bolt against the case. When you tighten up the drain plug the washer flattens out and seals. Keeps oil from leaking and also keeps the drain plug from loosing up. They should be replaced every time. Thanks, Greggy!!!

STUFF I NEEDED (for the seminar)

-Metric ratchet tools -they let us use theirs, I guess...what are they? (I probably know by sight, just not by title)
-oil filter wrench (if needed-I didn't need it)
-oil (I used synthetic 10-40)
-oil filter (gasket comes with it-mechanic mentioned that the gasket goes on bulgey side up)
-crush washer for the oil drain plug (I believe he said that the flat part goes on the outside and not up against the bolt head, must check
-hand wipes
-shop towels
-latex gloves-I'm glad I brought a lot
-old clothes-I actually DIDN'T get dirty (except for my face-the WOW women took a pic of me, I thought it was because I was so pretty, but it was because I had a streak of dirty and oil across my face like an Indian)

STUFF THAT I WANNA GET/ALREADY HAVE:

-Ball allen wrenches that are long, with a ratchet:
-Some box wrenches (unless Barry has them)
-Locktite 520 (the blue kind, for all the bolts and screws, will explain why later)
-Spray degreaser for the bolts/screws, inside the oil filter area, inside the oil pan covers,and to clean off places where the oil dripped, like pipes, floor boards, stuff
-A telescoping magnet - good for grabbing my inside oil filter element cover's deep screws
-Funnel
-A motorcycle wheel chock to keep my bike upright

QUESTIONS I HAD PRIOR TO SEMINAR

-What else can we do besides oil change?
-Air filter cleaning
-Find out abt. this final drive shaft lubrication
-T-CLOCS, but I'd like someone to physically go over T-CLOCS and show me exactly what some of that stuff means…I don't know where half the bolts and screws ARE to even be able to tighten them or check for screws missing

PROCEDURE FOR SEMINAR

Went thru a small orientation re: how go thru the seminar; we'd do the work ourselves with very little interference by techs. Photo to the right. Above, Lambie is ready for her closeup, Mr. DeMille.

When it was my turn, Justin my tech pushed my bike up onto a lift and put the front wheel into a wheel block then operated the lift to bring my bike up to about waist high.

Got all tools out-allen wrenches, box wrench, oil filter, crush washer, lots of latex gloves, shop towels, degreaser crap, etc.

My bike had been sitting for about 1/2 hour, so it was still warm but not burning up.

I put the oil pan underneath the drain plug, below.

Went to the left side of the bike, put the box wrench around the drain plug, used my weight to 'start' it and noticed that it was a bit of a pain because of limited range of motion to unscrew the bolt underneath, even with the bike on the lift, so had to do it with smaller range of motion (note to self-when I do this in the garage, it's gonna be a pain, lying down next to a slightly-tilted bike. ) Photos above.

Oil sloshed out, surprised me a little (SEE what I mean re: "Doing" vs. "Knowing"? Ya gotta get the hands dirty!!!)

Fished out the drain bolt from the oil pan where I dropped it & changed gloves (not for the last time). Photo to the right.

Cleaned off the drain bolt & placed the crush washer on it. (why do they call it a 'crush washer'?)

ARE CARS THIS FRIKKIN' HARD TO WORK ON???

When the oil was draining, started opening up the outside cover & inside cover of the oil filter element on the right side of the bike.

Below, no, I DIDN'T get my hair in the oil pan, below.

Dropped a screw into the oil pan. Fished it out, changed gloves. Again.

Took out the oil filter, cleaned out the opening, cleaned out the inside of the covers, cleaned the screws with the degreaser.

Went back over to the oil drain plug, made sure all the oil had come out, REPLACED THE OIL DRAIN BOLT, tightened it.
To the right, thar she blows! (not me, the oil, stupid) Above, whatinthehell are YOU lookin' at?

Went back over to the oil filter element, cleaned off all the screws.

Went back over to the oil filter element, started putting things back together. Again, ball allen wrench/ratchet came in handy.

Each time I put each screw back in, put a little blue locktite around the threads.

I had been taught to put the top screw in first, just enough to 'hold' the cover, then put the others in 'snugly', not tight, then go back around to tighten.

Justin told me a trick to check the tightness of an allen screw-when using one of the thin regular allen wrenches, tighten it until the allen wrench very SLIGHTLY 'bows' with the pressure. That's how you know it's tight enough. The Wrench was telling me that most newbies tighten shit too tight (his words).

I put the top cover oil filter element on.

Fished the small allen wrench out of the oil pan & changed gloves. AGAIN.

MOVED the frikkin' oil pan AWAY from me.
Cleaned off everything that oil spilled on; exhaust, outer cover, floorboard, my hands, etc.

OKAY-now I actually remembered that I had to put oil in the engine, so I got the oil and a funnel.

Justin told me to put it in until it covered the view window, which surprised me, but he said that the oil would circulate and the oil would go down. We'd then start it up, see where the oil ended up (was supposed to be between these two maximum and minimum level marks marks at 8 & 10 o'clock) I did so, we did so, it was a-ok.

Then went back over to the right side of the bike and took off the air filter cover. Took out the air filter, Justin said it was in great shape, just bang the outside on the workbench to loosen up some of the stuff in there, then blow it out using the compressor on a low setting, blowing from inside to out.

I guess these things don't have to get replaced very often, just cleaned out. Somewhere I was reading that someone cleaned it in a cleaning liquid, then rinsed it in water, then used the air compressor to dry it. Justin said mine wasn't even close to being dirty.

After all was said and done, Lambie went back to the parking lot and I had a burger. Blew the diet, but it was for a GOOD REASON. I feel SO EMPOWERED NOW.

STUFF I LEARNED WHILE DOING THIS, OR KINDA ALREADY KNEW BUT DIDN'T REMEMBER UNTIL TODAY:

*Good shop habits-clearing the area I'm going to work in of everything except what I'll need
*Having all the tools I need handy vs hunting for them in a tool box with oily hands/gloves
*When taking out screws and bolts, place them in the position that you found them on the unit. A good idea to place them on a white shop towel
*After draining the oil, put the oil drain bolt (with crush washer) on so that you DON'T forget to put it on when you put oil in!
*After draining the oil and putting on the oil drain bolt, MOVE THE OIL PAN. I dropped the oil drain bolt, an allen screw and an allen wrench into it. I think Justin did that on purpose, to see if I'd learn and when I'd finally get the idea to move it. I didn't. He moved it.
*Wipe down all the bolts and screws and inside pieces with degreaser
*Use the BLUE Loctite on the bolts and screws for that add'l seal. It won't dry out and act like crazy glue, but just maintain enough of a seal to avoid leaks and set those bolts and screws more securely. This is especially important because my bike, being a 650, vibrates ALOT. THANKS WRENCH. Your advice noted and now seated in my brain.
*After unscrewing the oil drain plug, the oil WILL be hot, so instead of holding that bolt there, drop it! (Again, THANKS, WRENCH, I DID DROP IT, so I don't feel so badly)
*Bike must be warm in order to change the oil-ensures the most oil comes out. Oil will still be in part of the engine, but you want as much as possible to empty out.
*It will be more of a challenge i.e. HARDER to do it next time because my bike will be on the floor slightly tipped on the side stand, so even less room underneath, plus I'll have to lay on the floor to get to stuff.
*Those longer ball allen wrenches and the ratchet came in handy, because without the use of those for the screws by my floorboard, it would've been a LOT harder to get to those suckers. As it was, I had to move the brake lever up to get to 2 of them on the inside oil filter element cover (yeah, I had two covers, go figure)
*WRITE DOWN everything I do, because I'll have to do it again withOUT a lift, on the floor.
*Write down the date and mileage & keep the info in a folder or with the registration/insurance info on the bike. Put a projected date (based on riding habits, summer, winter, etc) into my PDA. *To get rid of the old oil, we use a gallon milk jug. I don't know what Barry does with the oil, but The Wrench takes it to Jiffy Lube for free. (Again, thanks, Wrench. You ROCK)
*Make sure that one of the areas to wipe down/clean with degreaser is the exhaust pipes, unless you LIKE the smell of burning oil.

MORE STUFF I WANT TO DO / HAVE TO DO/ FIND OUT ABOUT / GOING TO DO SOON:

-Detach my seats, JUST to see what's under there
-Change out the final driveshaft gear oil BUT find out how to drain it since the drain plug isn't, kinda, 'facing downward' , so do you just drain PART of it out? anyone? anyone?
-Adjust the shocks (and understand why I want to! I may not need to, but I want to learn how and why)
-Check my brake pads/shoes and understand when I need to replace them-what to look for
-Understand how and why I may need to adjust my clutch cable
-When, why and how to lubricate the control cables
-What to look for if I do or don't need to lubricate pedal pivot points
-How to replace a fuel filter, if I can do it myself (it's not yet, but it's coming up in December)
-Uh, oh! Looks like I have to replace my spark plugs! Owner's manual says it's time! So now I gotta learn how to gap 'em (SHIT, do we even have a gapper?) PLUS the instructions say that the correct tightness (if I don't have a torque wrench) is 1/4 to 1/2 turn past finger tight-is that ALL???
-What is a swingarm and what does it do? (Yeah I know, Johney, you told me once before, but hey, I'm blonde, remember?)



More to come as I tackle more and more things, and OF COURSE with pictures.

Glendora Mountain Ride Trip 06-14-09, and we almost get scalped by a stunt plane!

No foolin', this plane came around one of the hills where we were stopped (at that 3-pronged fork in the road where all the bikes usually stop and ogle each other's bikes), came toward us on his side, aimed at where we were standing on the edge, then straightened out and flew DIRECTLY and CLOSELY over our heads about, and this is what both guys said, 10 feet. I say it was more like 10 yards, but whatever. After flying so close to us, he did a couple of barrel rolls and veered right around another hill. We waited a few more minutes, but he wasn't coming back, so we took off again.
NOTE TO SELF-ALWAYS PARK ON AN EVEN SURFACE. Since my legs are so short, when I park on an angle, one leg doesn't go down to the ground well enough for me to push my bike back. I feel stupid. I DO need to lower my seat or get a flatter seat for my bike.
We started out from Denny's and it was getting warm in Brea. Boy, did THAT change when we were on Azusa Rd. Here we stopped where 3 roads come together. Left is Barry, of course, with a ciggie in his hand. To the right below, why didn't I comb my hair?
Notice how my bike is 'listing' more to the port side than Barry's? That's what I meant when I was commenting on the need to part on a frikkin' flat surface.

RE: the scenic pic above-above, I took that JUST BEFORE that plane came around the hill on the right and aimed right toward us. It was a stunt plane you could tell, kinda yellow-ish.

The nice thing about my tool kit is that I actually had a wrench that was needed. Barry has an area for storage stuff where he keeps the paperwork, but it's not very big, so we use mine. Of course, he has his saddlebags which has room for lots of shopping stuff.

Lunchtime at the Mt. Baldy restaurant. Bub had a REALLY nice, thick turkey and swiss, Johney had a grilled chicken quesadilla and I had the chicken caesar, plus 2 pieces of JH's quesadilla. I will explain. One time when we were out all together, I was looking at Barry's food with that puppy dog at the table look, and they both commented that whatever a woman orders for herself, she STILL wants some of the guys'. So this time I just didn't touch my salad but looked at the quesadilla. (I didn't necessarily WANT any of it, just wanted to bug them.) They both laughed and Johney loaded up my plate with two pieces. That thing was huge, it was 6 pieces of a large quesadilla and each piece looked like the size of a piece of pizza. It was THAT huge. Our comfort level is very high, great friendship.

The roads we took up were Azusa Rd (from the 210); East Fork Rd; stopped at the 3-road fork for pics and because EVERYBODY always stops there, then took the east road, Glendora Ridge Road to Mt. Baldy, lunch at the restaurant and then I wanted to go back west on Glendora Ridge Road then down 'Spastic Colon Road' aka Glendora Mountain Road. We had a consensus-type chat and decided to go down Mt. Baldy road. As usual, the 'children' behind me (because of the kid-like way they did the following) saw the tunnel, ZOOMED by me to get into the tunnel first. I must explain that both those 'kids' DO NOT have stock pipes, but rather extremely loud suckers whose noise levels go UP in an enclosed space. Like in a tunnel. Whosoever is BEHIND them gets the brunt of the noise. Unfortunately, on Mt. Baldy Road, there are TWO tunnels, which they knew from our previous ride a year ago. They backed off their throttles, then GUNNED it. The decibel level HAD to be above 100. Gee, thanks a lot guys, you almost cracked my windshield AND my eardrums. After the tunnels they waited a little bit ahead for me to come up to them and when I passed them and got situated, I gave them the AB salute. You know. They were grinning-wretched muttz, so childlike in some ways. I'll get THEM sometime.

Coming down Mt. Baldy road, I kinda blew it by not taking the sharp-ish left towards San Antonio Heights and Euclid Ave, so we continued down Mt. Baldy Road to Mills St. to Baseline west and got onto the 210 freeway at Towne Ave to the 57 and then homeward bound. Not sure what time we got home but I DO know that it was early enough to a) not have the sun in our eyes going west, and b) early enough to do more yardwork.

Next time I'm NOT gonna listen to ANYBODY and take the second route that I planned. That way I'll be too tired to do anything else that day.