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Thanks for posting that. My pads are .135", so there's still life left. I put it back together & everything is fine and quiet. Not sure why, but I won't complain.

Well, the caliper moved freely. What is the minimum brake pad thickness? The pads are worn evenly.

I did not pull the caliper off the bracket. I'll give that a try.

This spring I noticed my front brake is squeaking at very low speed. Once I accelerate the noise goes away. I pulled the front caliper & checked the pads - they appear to have a lot of life left. I went ahead and forced the piston in a little before I put it back together. The brake seems to be functioning fine, but I do not like (or trust ) the noise. After experiencing a front brake caliper not fully releasing on a previous bike I know I do not want that to happen again. Since the bike is going up for sale I sure don't want the next owner to have to deal with it either. Any suggestions?

No problem. That looks like quite the project you've got going on there!

Yep, I'm going to list it again. I took a couple more rides & the magic appears to be gone, for now at least. I still think I going to mess with an old VW beetle next.

If you get stuck mine is up on the lift at the moment. You're more than welcome to stop over and take a look.

I've decided to take care of a couple small issues on my Drifter before I put it up for sale. One of the issues is a missing metal button on my Mustang seat cover. I sent them an email today offering to buy parts for my cover. They just wanted my address & shipped the parts I needed...for free!

Sometime last summer I also broke one of the quarter turn plastic latches on one of my Saddlemen bags. I sent them an email as well. I asked where I could buy parts & they asked for my address so they could send me what I needed...free!

Both of these are reputable companies, but as far as I'm concerned they went above and beyond in the name of customer service.

I have a set on mine & they definitely make a difference. You also get reminded real soon when it starts to get warm outside that they need to come off.

Nothing like getting really stuck when you're out by yourself & it's around zero.

Maybe you need another Kawasaki Drifter....

I suspect your questions are intended to be somewhat retrial but to #'s 1 and 2, in this world of cookie cutter houses and with a white Prius on every corner, bikes have become one of the last items you can personalize to fit your own tastes. Whether is ape hangers on a bagger or aluminum panniers on a BMW-R1200-GS, tastes vary and some may be questionable.   Today I read a comment posted on a web site reviewing the new Indian calling it "....an underpowered overpriced piece of butt jewelry for seniors who want pretend to ride bikes." I am a senior and I don't "pretend" to ride but butt jewelry?  Maybe so in some cases. Hey I ride a 15 year old Indian knock-off and love every minute of it. Who am I to talk.

As far as #3 you can't fix stupid!

I think "butt jewelry" would be highly undesirable thing to "google".

Thanks for that comment, John. That pretty much sums up where I'm at. I think it still bugs me that early this year I had a moment on a blind curve that I was unable to get the bike to do what I wanted it to do. I would really like to blame the bike, tires, heavy gravity in that area, etc.... but my real hunch is that it was the rider that was at fault. That REALLY bothers me. My guess is that in a few years I won't be able to take it anymore & there will be another bike in the garage. I'll know when the time comes for that, but, for now, it's time to go a different direction.

I'm sure I'll lurk around here for a while, Greenbarn... besides, I've been working on learning how to do solid aluminum rivets on another project I've been working on. Once I do that I'm going to do a small redesign on the Drifter 800 saddlebag brackets. Since the bike probably won't sell until spring I should be able to make sure they fit.

Speaking of the accident, you probably know the spot; just South of 309 on Pole Lane road. Happened about 2:30 in the afternoon on a clear sunny weekday.

I flew experimental aircraft for 12 years.

I know it's off topic but what did you fly? I started building a Christavia Mk IV a while back. When I started I figured it would be a 10 year project. After working on it as I had time for about 10 years I came to the conclusion that I had another 10 years to go. About that time my son got old enough that he wanted to help me in work on projects. I decided a project that held 4 people a mile off the ground wasn't the ideal thing to have an 8 year old work on. I ended up selling it and got into antique snowmobiles. Every now and then I look at the Sonex's and think I'd like to build one....

I totally agree with the comments about the inherent risks in life. Years ago I was a "run-shift" maintenance man at a new automated factory. To say we had problems was an understatement. The place was built by a Spanish company & it was BAD! Let me just say I will never fly in an airplane built by the Spanish. Anyhow...my point is that during that time I felt the safest part of my whole workday was the motorcycle ride to and from work. And yes I did end up getting hurt at work - long story.

I may end up with a bike again, but for now I've crossed some sort of mental line and I know "it's time".

Bike is going to be in the classified ads here first & then we'll go from there.

I think I'm like a number of other riders in that there comes a time that the bike needs to go. A few years ago, when the kids were little, I lost my desire and confidence to have the bike. At about the same time I had one of the kids on the back of the bike & saw a fender bender that had just happened. When I started thinking about what would have happened to my daughter if that same "fender bender" would have happened with her on the back it really started working on me. Long story short; I sold the bike - but I turned around and bought a 180 horse snowmobile - go figure.

A few years went by & I started getting the itch again. I figured I'd get something that was not very practical or comfortable to keep me from going too far from home, so I bought a Suzuki GT380 to re-live my childhood. That thing could get you numb all over in a surprisingly short period of time. My son, Levi, started to ride it some & next thing you know he decided to buy a bike. After he bought one I figured we might as well ride together, so I bought the Drifter.

We've had a lot of fun the last few years. We have a few friends that we get together with and go for Sunday afternoon "$20.00 ice cream" rides. For some reason this year I've been getting a tinge of the uneasy feeling when I ride and it's been taking the fun down a notch.

This afternoon Levi came across an accident when he left work. Tonight I decided to look on the local news papers website for something unrelated and came across the story about the accident. When I found out it was an older gentleman Levi had worked with and traveled to motorcycle swap meets with it was like a kick in the gut. Levi had just rented a house around the corner from this guy and was getting ready to move there at the end of the month. Matter of fact he had even tried to call Al tonight and had gone over to sit on the porch with him a couple nights ago. Not a fun thing to wake him up tonight and tell him what happened and see the realization hit him that his friend was dead.

Another persons momentary lack of focus cost a good man (father, husband, grandfather, friend...) his life. It was an accident. Now yet another person will have to spend the rest of their life knowing they killed someone. I do not have anger for the situation as much as I'm just sad for everyone involved. I also recognize the times I've driven while distracted or tired and have made mistakes. It's only by the grace of God that my moments of stupidity have not resulted in terrible things.

Long story short; I think the time has come again for the bike to go. I love riding on the good days. I ride to work most days about 5 months a year. I like the looks of the bike I have. I even enjoy nosing around on the message board even though I don't post much. I know if I just stick the thing in the corner and let it sit for a while this will pass, but I do not want to live with the regret of thinking "if only I had gotten rid of it before .....".

For everything there is a season (ECC 3:1), and I think my season is about to change.

Sorry to vent.

Be careful out there!

I'll check the brand & model of tires I have on the bike tonight.

This past Saturday a group of us went for a ride. We hit a few new roads with one of them having quite a few blind curves combined with quite few hills. As I was about to crest a hill I noticed my son (who was ahead of me) started to turn to the right & then adjusted for something in the road. As I crested the hill I noticed a patch of loose stone on the road so I swung to the left (wrong move). Long story short, I was headed rapidly toward the ditch on the wrong side of the road. I really did not think I was going to avoid going head long over the edge, but I was finally able to get the bike cranked back around to the right. I'm also thankful there wasn't any oncoming traffic or I would have been a hood ornament. I'm also thankful I hit the bathroom before we left or it would have been a real uncomfortable ride back home...

All that to set the stage for the need to get my bike to handle better. I have never felt much confidence with this bike when cornering. Have you guys that have put different springs in the forks noticed any improvement?

I realize I put myself in a bad position this weekend, I can't fault the bike for that. I just have always thought the bike could do better. After Saturday I realize something is going to have to change.

I have about 33K on my 800. As long as the bike was taken care of and maintained I wouldn't be afraid of either of them.

Cool!

I've been in "old snowmobile" mode for a while and figured I'd missed the news.

I'll have to make sure one of my Sunday afternoon rides loops down your way so I can check out the new wheels.

The hijack is not a problem. I did throw out the "bait".

June should be good. Hopefully it will be warm by then.

That, and I'm hoping to have the 1500 on the road by then....

I think I've missed something!

Thanks for the input. Sounds like a project for this weekend. The front crash bar is right in the way of where the cable should go so I wonder if that may increase the need for lube.

So, Greenbarn; when are we going to have a North-Central Ohio mini Drift-in? Won't be long & we'll be ready to ride!

I noticed that the speedo cable seemed a little noisy this weekend. What do you guys use to lube your speedo cables?

We had 65 degrees showing on the thermometer this afternoon so I figured it was time for another ride. Made a little over 30 mile loop. Back roads are horrendous. Took the highways but coming through Galion on 309 the frost heaves and pot holes were downright dangerous. It was pretty cool (no pun intended) to be riding and going through spots that the snow is still piled up on either side of the road. All in all it was a pretty nice ride. They have a winter storm warning out for tomorrow so I can't let spring fever hit too hard yet.

Sharp bike.

Too bad the timing was off - I was in Vegas the last half of last week. I could have drove it around for you. You know, just to make sure everything was OK.....

Well March is here and so is the missed cold from Feb, normal to have 2 weeks in the -30*C temps but we missed that.......this morning it was cold and it is getting colder as the day moves on, current temps are -2*F and with the brisk wind it drops it to -22*F so a really cool day out there. Going to go and sit upstairs and polish the bike while looking out the living room window and the snow sitting there, might pop a "Ride with the Troll", stick my ear buds in to hear Bob Seeger, and then ride my bike with the TrollMan........need to get a towel first because I have not got my seat back yet...

I thought you needed the towel to clean off the inside of your windshield after you had been making engine noises for a while.