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Chain sounds a bit more involved than disassembling my tail light. Glad I didn't have to do that.

So, was on a ride with my nephew last weekend and had to make some interesting roadside repairs. Apparently somewhere in about an 80 mile stretch, both my taillight quit working and my right rear turn signal broke. My nephew got behind me right before we got off the highway and pointed them out when we stopped for gas. This led to breaking out the tools and getting the taillight working again, thankfully I carry some basic electrical repair tools on the bike. The turn signal unfortunately was beyond repair as it ripped out one of the wires as it was dangling, and I couldn't quite hack it back together under a gas station awning (new ones are ordered). So, what are some interesting roadside repairs you've done with the tools you carry on your motorcycle?

A little late to the party, but these are the ones I got for my bike. I think they look pretty good with the styling of the drifter, and are black. It looks like they're not made anymore possibly? and are getting harder to find unfortunately, but can still be found a few places. I really like mine, and haven't had any issues with them.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Arlen-Ness-M-1034-Rad-III-Teardrop-Mirror-Right-Chrome/141698008594?epid=171115995&hash=item20fddc0612:g:OEYAAOxy0bRS~MbG

I tend to prioritize a combination of comfort/protection over style as I'd much rather be comfortable/safe as opposed to looking cool and being miserable. I like the "mesh" motorcycle jackets though. They make several that are pretty low key and don't look too sport bike-y in black or black/gray, and they're nice to wear in the summer. When you're moving you get plenty of airflow, but they still take the brunt of the impact from rocks and bugs. I prefer the lighter textile gloves with a padded palm as well for basically the same reasons. As an added bonus that gear keeps you out of the sun. Little bit of a bigger deal for me since I look at a picture of the sun and get sunburnt.

For helmets, this is the main one I use for summer riding
https://www.cyclegear.com/gear/street-steel-oakland-helmet

I like the drop down tinted visor because I can flip it up/down as needed depending on the sun as opposed to taking sunglasses on and off. It's also not super bulky, looks good with a fairly low profile, pretty light weight, and DOT approved.

Only place I know of would be to check Ebay. It took me a long time just to find any exhaust tip for my roadhouse as my bike came without any exhaust tip for some strange reason. That's where I finally found mine, although it's also a slash tip. I'd really like to have one of the fishtail-type exhaust tips as well.

For the rear shock, Progressive Suspension makes a really nice one. Do a search on here and you can find the correct part number. I don't know it off hand. For a standard shock, I'm not sure of any other manufacturers.

You can replace the rear shock with a progressive unit, or I installed air ride. I'm thinking your shock is bad though because I weigh significantly more than you do and never had my bike bottom out during normal riding.

I used the double sided tape that's used for holding automotive molding on cars. It's been several years with no issues. When I bought the bike they were (barely) attached with silicone, wouldn't recommend that route. I haven't clear coated mine, and they still look fine. When you do attach them, make sure to clean the area of the tank really well, removing any/all wax and grease.

And I thought they were expensive before ($200 or something I think). Glad my bike came with them. if someone had a set not installed, it would be fairly easy to make a silicone mold and cast them out of resin.

Mine usually sputters for a bit before it dies. Well, usually long enough to reach down and switch to reserve. I usually just pull the clutch in and coast so I only slow down a little bit. Usually I just try not to hit reserve, but that doesn't always go as planned.

a lot of us on here use the Commander II's with no problems, so that's rather odd.

49, that sounds pretty terrible. I'm lucky in that I live in a very gun-friendly state (Kansas) so we don't have to deal with all that. Unless we want to get a concealed carry license. Then that sounds about right. Which complaining about how long that took, and the hoops you have to jump through doesn't seem like as big of a deal now knowing what you guys have to go through to get any firearm.

wow, that sucks. Is it hard to get a gun considered "restricted"?

probably the difference between miles and kilometers.

the only add-on ones I've seen for a non-efi bike are the fuel sight tubes. I think they look pretty sweet, but I'm not sure about longevity and not leaking.

10k out of a rear tire isn't that far out of ordinary. Age can sometimes play a role and make a tire wear faster as well, and each tire is different. Some wear out faster than others. On a motorcycle the rear tire will wear a lot faster than the front though.

The Enfields are nice to shoot as well. I have two of those as well, but different variations. K-98's are nice but bring a premium. A good alternative is the Yugo M48 Mauser. Basically a K98 clone without as high of a price.

The Garand is really fun to shoot. So much so that I have two... Recoil on them isn't bad at all (at least by my standards) and they can be extremely accurate. Downside is they're a bit heavy, but that helps the recoil mentioned above.

Shooting black powder is so much fun. Hardest part though is finding a place where you can shoot them. Around here several of the ranges don't allow them. But if you do find a place, so much fun.

My tank had some surface rust in it, and after I cleaned it out I put another inline filter right after the petcock. It was a clear one so I could see what was going on. It was also a smaller diameter one so it didn't look as bad. I only left it one for a little bit to make sure it was trapping anything in the filter. The "filter" on the petcock is really just a single layer of mesh and doesn't seem like it would be overly effective so an inline filter wouldn't be that bad of an idea to run.

The EBC pads aren't the cheapest, but they work really well. I have had them on my bike for 1.5 years and they work great. Better than whatever pads were on there before, and (subjective) seem to have less brake dust than the old set.

We had interesting weather yesterday. 0.5" of rain followed by 3.5" of snow followed by 56° that afternoon.

https://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KICT/2016/3/27/DailyHistory.html?req_city=Wichita&req_state=KS&req_statename=&reqdb.zip=67201&reqdb.magic=1&reqdb.wmo=99999

My brother owned one for a bit. He liked it except for (his words) the fact that the engine got hotter than his HD did in regards to feeling the engine temps. Other than that he really liked it. He said that during the trip we took last summer, and there were some long patches of riding where the air temp got pretty warm. Not sure if that's what caused it or not.

The riding around Sturgis is fantastic. Part of what there is to do depends on how far away you want to ride. There is great riding in the badlands. If you want to go farther away, Beartooth highway is fantastic to ride, so is Chief Joseph Highway. Ride beartooth second as it is a much better ride and nothing seems as good after you ride it. Also a little bit of ride is Cody wyoming. If you're into firearms at all, you'll want to go to the buffalo bill museum. One entire wing is firearms. You have to go to the basement though, phenomenal gun collection. Both those might be a little far to ride during the day, but if you have time on either side of your trip they're worth a stop.

Can't help much with the Sturgis part. I went there last summer, but not during the rally. There were still a ton of motorcycles there.

My first car was a Jeep cherokee with the 4.0L and AX15 Manual (great combo). My current Wrangler is the 2.5L but the rest of the Wranglers have the 4.0 in them. Ranges from 80K miles to over 200K. They're a very good engine.

As a side note, the alternative Jeep engine, the 2.5L is also a very durable engine. It's biggest downfall is the lack of power for driving on the highway. Speaking from experience that means nothing on the trail. Not to the legendary 4.0L status though.