Forks

No, not Forks, Washington all you Twilight heads. Not even forks you eat with.
Motorcycle forks.
With many thanks to the city of Milwaukee and their HORRIBLE roads, Travis needed to replace the seals in the forks of his motorcycle. While he had it all apart he figured he would replace the springs too. Being the big guy that he is, the stock springs in there probably weren't terribly sufficient for Travis, so he ordered some aftermarket Progressive springs.

He ordered the parts he needed back in May. After issues with things on back order, they finally arrived. So back on Friday he started in on the bike. After all that waiting for parts, how annoyed was Travis when he discovered he needed a tool he didn't have. We went looking that night, but didn't find what he needed (for the curious, he needed a 17mm hex bit - it's like a gargantuan Allen wrench).
That night he found online that sears had the bit singly for $21 or a set of 4 for $40! OUCH! Harbor Freight to the rescue! How can you not love that place? He was able to get the bit he needed in a 9 piece set for only $14! The 17mm is the biggest one in the set!

So on Monday morning during Carson's nap and before we hit the museum Travis got back into the bike.

Looks strange without the forks and wheel...
Travis wanted a shot of his stuff laid out. That's one of the forks on the left. The short spring is the one that came out of his bike, the long one is the new heavy duty one that went in.
After the museum, Travis got back to the bike and when the boys woke up from their naps we all went out to give him company as he finished up. Here he is putting it all back together:
Getting the wheel back on:
Two necessary tools for the job? A PVC pipe and a battery filler - a glorified turkey baster. The PVC pipe, a whopping $1.97 after tax, was to drive the seals in, rather than the real tool that costs more like $40! He said the PVC worked perfectly. The other tool was to replace an oil level adjuster, also about $40, but his perfectly adequate alternative was also only a dollar or two!
Time for a test run!
When he got back he exclaimed, "Holy cow, I wished I'd done that sooner!" Now he wishes there were an aftermarket adjustment to the rear suspension (he hasn't really looked to see if there is). The front takes bumps so smoothly now that he can really notice the bumps coming from the rear.

Avery LOVES being outside when Daddy works on things. He wants to "help" although of course he spends most of the time playing. He does really like learning about all the tools though.
Carson really wants to get on Avery's trike here, but he just can't figure out the order to get the correct foot over...
Okay, so maybe it doesn't sound like the smartest thing to let my kids run around barefoot outside, let alone in the garage, but I promise they were safe... from everything but serious grime of course...
Not that Avery found a bath for those filthy feet objectionable! Carson did though. For some reason he's gotten really fussy about baths more often than not lately...
(btw that's the museum bracelet from earlier that day still on Carson's ankle)

One vehicle project down, one to go... until the next round of annoyances anyway...