Year-end preparation time. Basically, all the vehicles we have in storage are covered with towel blankets for safekeeping.
This keeps dust off them, and honestly, if you start thinking about all the ways parts could go wrong, there’s no end to it. I believe it’s important to maintain an environment where owners can feel confident leaving their bikes with us.
Since earthquakes have been frequent lately, I usually apply the brakes before heading home.
I also pull the sidestand forward. If a bike tips over despite that, well, at least I can accept it. (Of course, nothing happening at all is best…)
Looking back through all the 2016 photos…
I really think the finish quality jumped dramatically once we got the ability to do polishing around last year.
No matter how thorough an overhaul is, if the parts look like that, you don’t quite feel the attachment. And when you’re assembling something, working with clean parts boosts your mood too. Win-win?
We replaced cams on several bikes too—making that long-hole jig really helped with the workflow.
This year we had a lot of work on calipers, stems, forks, and wheel bearings.
We did a ton of carburettor work too. They clog up fast if you don’t ride, so lately I’ve been adding Fuel One—which helps a bit—during maintenance.
Wiring harnesses have naturally become more common too. If you replace them with new ones while you can, that’s peace of mind. The OEM quality is really solid.
And so on—we have quite a few tasks carrying over into 2017, but I hope that next year we’ll keep everything looking clean and running well.
Happy New Year!
