Bike Troubles

Posted on February 22, 2010

It’s been a rough few days on the bike lately. After giving my SV650 a wash on Thursday the bike began acting up. Idle wouldn’t stay normal and it kept dying on me. I tried to take it for a ride on Thursday and ended up walking it back home through downtown West Palm. Fun fun.

After talking to my Dad I checked all the hoses, vacuum lines, lifted the tank and checked the airbox and air filter. Once cleaned up it seemed to run fine until today when it began acting up once again. Geez.

So after taking a quick ride it began acting like it had bad gas, bad idle but luckily I had a screwdriver so I was able to adjust the idle enough to get me home. Tried to take it apart once again but the idle still wouldn’t stay below 3k without dying.

So now it was time for run out to the bike shop. The guy at the shop said it was probably a fouled idle plug. After catching a cab back I’d just have to wait for a call.

Luckily a few hours later he called and said it was all good. He just took the hoses off, sprayed out all elements with air, put it back together and adjust the idle and it’s back to running fine. Hopefully all will still be well tomorrow so I’m crossing my fingers.

Thanks to Spencer for giving me a ride out to the shop. The guy only charged me $80 to take a look at it and make the necessary adjustments / cleanings.

New lesson I guess…don’t use a self car wash to clean the bike off. Hand wash everything and watch what gets wet. Who’d of thought getting a bike wet would foul out the damn thing. I’ve ridden in a monsoon before with no issues.

Gearheads, Rednecks and Sportbikes…Awesome

Posted on January 21, 2010


Last night I joined Jamie for a ride up to what used to be Moroso Speedway (forgot what it’s called now) for some drag racing. Nice night ride on the bikes up, a bit chilly but fun. His buddy Adam was racing his Kawasaki ZX1400 (same bike as Jamie, though race tuned) on the strip against a couple other bikes. We had a chance to watch him hit the strip twice, both times were right around 9.87 seconds. Quick!

Loads of hotrods, slicks, funny cars, road rockets and even a couple supercharged Jeep Cherokees. Loud, smokey and awesome. The scenery reminded me of the Highland County Fair, though regrettably not nearly as many red necks. Plenty of junk in the truck though, haha.

Aside from the 45 minute track shut-down for an oil spill it was pretty bad ass. I shot some video and snapped a few shots. I’ll post the video later.

Glad That’s Over

Posted on December 31, 2009

Wow, there are stressful weeks and there are stressful weeks. This week was to be a hair graying week for sure.

With two sites due by Wednesday noon and a full site design comp I had a ton of work to get done in two and half days. On top of that I found out my motorcycle had a flat back tire. It was a brand new tire (3-4 months old) so I must have ridden over something nasty, good thing it was a slow leak.

Now having a flat in a car is fairly simple, put the spare on and drive to a shop and get a new one. Not so with a motorcycle. Since it’s my only transportation it brought up some unique issues with such a dilemma. One, no way to get it to the shop and in my case, no tools in which to change it.

Luckily I had driven Vince’s girlfriend and kids to the airport on Monday morning so he let me borrow his ride to solve my issue. So I went up to cycle gear and purchased all I’d need to change it. A bike rack (raises the back wheel off the ground), the tire itself and since I was there I got all the necessary items for an oil change as well. One problem…no sockets. So it was off to AutoZone for a 22mm socket (since that’s what the guy told me I needed). I bought a 21 and 22mm… neither fit so I went back and got a 23mm…. no luck there either. Finally I just got a set and said screw it. Of course it took four trips to get it right but I could finally get the wheel off.

Now to take the wheel off you have to take the axle off, remove the chain and brake assemblies and then it was back to the shop. Once that was done it was a challenge to put it all back together the same way it came apart…what fun. In between all of this I gave myself an oil change. Keep in mind during this entire time I have three deadlines on my mind so every trip to the store was also costing me money and precious time. Just a little stressful.

It’s all back together now and running fine and I was able to meet all deadlines but man, I’m glad that was over. A couple 12 hour days and some serious eye strain will do it. At least I now know how to service my bike and change the dreaded back tire. Hope your week was better than mine.

Another Weekend Gone

Posted on October 5, 2009

Monday morning is here once again. This past weekend was pretty mellow though there were some note worthy events.

Jamie’s birthday was on Saturday so by chance I happened to run into them on Friday night. In the process of trying to watch a movie on Friday night Primecasts satellite connection went down (of course) so I headed downstairs to pick up a handful of movies from Netflix which were in my mailbox. I stepped out front for a few minutes when I ran into Jamie and friends waiting for the rain to pass. They were on their way to Oshea’s but the downpour impeded their progress across the street. So I offered my umbrella and was invited along for a few drinks.

From there I visited Rocco’s and then over to Opa to see my buddy Ramil who was out with friends.

Saturday was the big 610 barbecue. I was asked to do the grilling so bring on the meat. I must have cooked over 60 burgers and who knows how many dogs for what was to be a great turnout. After grilling for a couple hours I wanted to catch the Ohio State game (which wasn’t even on TV). Needless to say we won! Turned in early and called it a night.

Sunday was up early for a ride to the beach and a coffee / breakfast at Starbucks in downtown. Lunchtime was in the mood for Chipotle so I hopped on the bike and headed for Linton Ave in Delray. Nice little ride and the weather was perfect.

Sunday afternoon by the pool just being lazy and that’s pretty much it. I’m sure the barbecue photos will be up on Bob’s site soon so I’ll link them up for you guys.

Update: Here’s Bob’s page with photos of the event

The Backpack Arrives

Posted on September 22, 2009

Axio Swift 2.0 Backpack

The brand new Axio Swift 2.0 backpack arrived yesterday and it’s really nice. Should be perfect for hauling stuff around on the motorcycle. It fits my 17″ laptop perfectly as well as my Canon Digital Rebel and extra 300mm lens. The stress of the last couple days kind of puts a damper on the mood though but I’m trying to focus on the positive things right now.

It’s been a rough month. Not the first and probably not the last but I’m hoping for better days. At least this little item allows me to travel where I need to with what I need to travel with.

Normal backpacks flop around and can throw your balance off when on a motorcycle which can be very dangerous. This is actually very comfortable to wear and fits securely. I still wish it was waterproof but I guess you can’t have everything. All in the name of saving money which, these days is the name of the game.

keep looking »

  • About

    Damien Komala - web designer

    I'm a seasoned 33 year old web designer originally from Cincinnati (born in Wilmington) and now living in West Palm Beach. I specialize in high-end PHP and CSS sites as well as fully functional Wordpress and E-commerce sites for various clients.

    Even though I'm from Ohio I'm a die hard South Florida Surfer and beach guy. I picked up the sport over five years ago and never looked back. Any chance I get I'm in the water, which is sometimes rare considering that South Florida is fairly inconsistent with surf. Those days we do get are always a great gift.

    The blog itself is primary here to communicate with family and friends. If you're looking for my professional site you can go to http://www.mynameisdamien.com/ for a full resume, portfolio and blog.

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