I'm visiting my parents and brought my bike with me. My mom has a vespa and we decided to go for a ride to lunch together. First time ever riding with her, was pretty cool to be able to do. Now I just need to convince my dad to pull the trigger and buy the BMW cruiser he's been talking about.
After posting my slashed rear tire here yesterday, everyone recommended replacing it. I decided to take on the challenge of doing it myself since I would have to wait until after the weekend for an appointment otherwise. I've never done it before, and this was actually my first time working on a bike at all (I bought it used in February and took it to a trusted mechanic for first full service). I managed to pull the rear wheel off, pull the tire off of the wheel, put a new one on, then get the wheel back on the bike (the most difficult part). Did it all solo this afternoon with just a single tire pry, a flathead screwdriver, hammer, and adjustable wrench. Used my shirt to protect the wheel and not mark it up.
I have a Ninja 500, and getting the rear wheel back on was a hell of a job. There is no extra space at all to wiggle things in, the wheel spacers fall out super easily, then the brake slides out of place... It took me a few hours and a lot of sweat, but I'm glad I was able to do it. Learned there are aftermarket spacers that make the job much easier, so I will grab those for next time.
I don't really have any friends, or any family that cares so I wanted to share my small motorcycle victory today somewhere. It's dark out now, so I will take it for a slow ride around my neighborhood to test it out tomorrow.