Wrenching on da bike; or, pain and the art of motorcycle maintenance

[unixronin]

I managed to get outside for about an hour and a half today and get a little work done on my sadly (and regretfully) neglected Honda CBR929RR.  With a little trial and error, I was able (thanks to the 929's tubular rear axle) to improvise a field-expedient shop stand using assorted steel bars and a pair of heavy-duty axle stands.  This enabled me to get most of the surface rust brushed off the chain rollers and get the chain well sprayed down with WD-40, which I plan on leaving overnight, then giving the chain another brush and a good wipe with a shop towel, after which I'll liberally apply Motul chain lube.  I think the chain is saveable.

The battery is less of a success story.  According to my meter, it seems to be intact -- i.e, all six cells are functional -- but it's very deeply discharged and heavily sulfated.  After filing the rusting clamps on my start-cart back to clean metal, I put the battery on 2A trickle charge for a couple of hours, but the regular charger can't break through the sulfating, and the battery will take only a momentary surface charge that leaks away almost immediately.  (I also learned during this process that the timer on my start-cart is not working.  I assume it, too, has rusted.  I'm going to have to replace a lot of tools when, or if, we finally get out of this place.)  Motion Pro imports a battery tender-like device from Europe which they sell as the Optimate III, which can also do battery maintenance; it has the ability to detect a sulfated battery and will automatically run a high-voltage, low-current recovery cycle to break through the sulfating.  It's $60 which we haven't been able to afford until now, though.  Thanks to dafydd, I may shortly be able to justify getting one at last.  If I can get my hands on an Optimate III, I think the battery is saveable too.

---

The price I paid for this wrenching is that my left foot has been hurting badly since I came in, and will probably continue to do so for the rest of the evening.  It is entirely within the bounds of reason that after my abscess finishes healing and I start working my foot and ankle more, I'm going to have to go see a pain management specialist and get some more potent daily painkillers than the 100mg extended-release Voltarin (diclofenac sodium) I'm on now.  Otherwise, I may not be able to tolerate being on this foot long enough each day to get it worked back into shape.

On the other hand, recent indications seem to suggest I may be able to get more movement back into my ankle.  I doubt I'll ever have full motion again, but I have at least 50% more motion in it than I had immediately after the last ankle surgery.  (I tried to get into full lotus last night, sitting on the bed, just to see if I could.  My left leg went along with the idea.  About a foot and a half short of enough rotation to get my right foot into place, my right knee laughed hysterically and said, "You and whose two-by-four, boy?")

Comments

[persimmon.livejournal.com]

You haven't mentioned it - or if you have I haven't seen it, which may be more likely - but somewhere in your future should be a course of physiotherapy for the foot, shouldn't there?