A busy schedule this month meant I was either out for shoots and rides or writing stories… and the Bear lay waiting in the parking. But my growing fondness for the bike got me looking for excuses to take it out. So, be it grocery runs or just a stroll in the locality to clear my head, the Bear was my go-to choice… needless to say, the groceries took a little longer to come than my wife expected.
And on one such stroll, the rear license plate off… for the third time. After all these months, I am convinced that the Bear doesn’t like having one on the rear. Trust me, I’ve tried almost everything before coming to this conclusion. The first plate cracked from where it was riveted and fell off, the next two because of loose nuts and this one was secured with zip ties — a solution that lasted longer than the cumulative time of the first three plates, but here we are… again. This time, though, I had bigger worries.
Thanks to all the rain and the ever-going road construction, it was almost impossible to keep the bike clean. While the water on the body panels was easy to wipe off, keeping the chain and wheels clean has been a big challenge. With no centre stand, or even a provision to add one, the only choice left is to lift the bike on the side stand, rotate the rear wheel and clean the chain in stages. Given the humidity in the city, I can’t be lazy about it, too, or there’ll be a rusty chain to deal with pretty soon.
Despite my repeated attempts to go out on a long ride with the Bear, I’ve remained unsuccessful. But my will to break this streak is getting stronger than before. Maybe the Bear and I are testing each other’s patience, or maybe we’re just waiting for the right road. Either way, the next long ride isn’t a question of if — it’s a question of when. And when it happens, the Bear and I are going to make it count.
