Introducing Myself

Hi All,
Wanted to say Hello from the NW corner of Washington State. I'm a 45 yo female who never even rode a bike til age 40. By 41, I had acquired "Brutus", my 1982 XJ550h Maxim. First things first, I had to fabricate steel struts to lower the bike 6 inches as learning to ride while looking for a high place to land my foot wasn't working out. (I've got a pic of the strut in the Photo Gallery). After putting 2000 miles on the "Yama-HardTail", a friend took pity and cut my old shocks in half and re-assembled new ones for me. Since then, Brutus and I have been to Sturgis, up through Montana and all over this NW corner of the US. Not a fair weather rider only, I'll be out there until the roads get icy. When the fuel injection system on my over 400,000 miles VW Jetta acted up this past December, I even finished my Christmas shopping on the bike. Almost made the local newspaper too with my 100 lb. load piled as high as my helmet and the frost everywhere...lol. Now I've got the fuel system on the cage re-built just in time for our rainy season here so Brutus is huddling under his tarp til the yukky weather lets up. Then you'll see us back out there - in the wind.
Take care and keep the rubber down y'all!

 

Oh yea, you'll fit in just fine around here! I'm sure all of us would also like some details on the shock shortening procedure. Haven't heard of that being done before. Welcome aboard!

 

Well Hi There Blue and Sno,
Thanks for the warm welcome. You'll find I won't post much but rest assured I'm out here - lurking and reading and learning! You guys can both team up on me to stop procrastinating and obtain the XJ CD. I'm more of a "tear it apart and see how it all goes back" sort of Gal. Probably not a good idea as next Spring, I'll be tackling his front forks (seals are about gone).

I'll try to snap some pics of Brutus' rear...maybe today as it's not supposed to snow for a couple more days. The assembly of the shocks was really quite simple. A "dig through" of the parts pile revealed a shorter pair of shocks. The old ones were cut apart with a torch, the shorter core was inserted into the now-shorter spring and the mounting eyes were welded back onto the whole mess. They're not real pretty but they sure are functional for this short-legged rider.

And no, I wish I DID have a pic of him all loaded down on Christmas Eve. The newspaper gal told me I should bolt a pair of reindeer antlers to my helmet...am seriously considering it for next holiday season. (Why not? I turned an old moto-x helmet into a ladybug for an old friend who's a die-hard Harley rider). Oh my, I'm saying things that will commit me to revealing just how UN-normal I am. Am assuming this means I'll fit right in here-lol.

Take care guys and keep the shiny side up, Vykky

 

Pics are up of the shocks and more. Sorry there's not more or that they're not better...it's COLD out there y'all! Might have to dig out the snowmobiling coveralls and go for a ride later!
TC y'all, Vykky