Bringin' my stuff

Good luggage. It's what turns a street bike into a useful commuter. Hard, soft, a rack and bungies - whatever allows you to bring your stuff on two wheels. I left with my portable office and returned a bag of cat litter heavier. Did you bring your stuff on in-line wheels today?

Will he ride?

He digs the wheel ...

... but will he dig the clip-ons?

Speed bleeders

A few years ago I did some brake work on a Honda Civic that required draining the fluid system completely. I used the task as an excuse to try out the Speed Bleeder product. Thanks to those tricky little bleeder valves, I was able to bleed that Civic's brakes by myself.

Fast-forward to last week: I decided to take my ZX6R out for the first time in a month or so.

Warm one in #NoVA! Let's do lunch, ZX :) o-`o

— walk_n_wind (@walk_n_wind) January 24, 2012

I pulled away, squeezed the front brake lever, and found the lever traveled way more than I expected. "Wow, I guess I forgot how late the brake lever tightens-up on this bike," I thought to myself. I learned later in the trip that I was a fool for taking it out and that the brakes were failing.

Anyway, back at my non-garage, I determined I needed to drain and refill the brake fluid system. The reservoir was empty and the fluid looked ... old. Not looking forward to tightening/loosening the bleeder valves for each squeeze of the lever, I called upon the Speed Bleeder product again to make my life easier.

If you've never tried Speed Bleeders, you might want to consider them...