New clutch. Yay!

On Friday, I got the clutch plates and springs I ordered for the GpZ.  Very nice. That only took two days for the parts to get here. The nice weather encouraged me to quickly install all of the clutch parts that I have been gathering.  It only took about an hour and a half to do the entire job on Saturday afternoon (thank you Erik, for letting me use your garage and air compressor). The bike now has, in addition to new friction plates and springs, an almost new clutch basket and bearing. What a difference! No more horrible noises and shuddering. It had been quite a few months since I had ridden and it was nice to be back on two wheels. I had a very busy weekend and didn't manage to go on a longer ride like I had hoped to. And now its raining again and probably will be through at least the weekend. Although we need the rain, I hope that more nice weather is in store for next week. Its still too early to ride to Detroit (one of my favorite nearby rides) or Mt. St. Helens (another favorite) because of the snow in the mountains, but it is warm enough to take a spin out to the end of Skyline, to Vernonia, or probably even to the coast (by back roads, of course). I had nearly forgotten the therapeutic effect riding has on me. I'm going to have a hard time selling the GpZ. About the only things I will miss are working on it and cleaning it. Its a filthy pig right now, having sat outside under a cover for the last few months without cleaning it beforehand, and is in need of an oil change. Still, wouldn't it be nice if those were the most pressing things I ever had to deal with.