The seal on the Bonnie is still holding. It’s been over 100 miles of not showing it any mercy and it’s still bone dry. I’m at the stage now where I’m not worrying about it. I think that if the process can get me a rock solid seal for 100 miles, even if it fails, in principle there is no reason why repeating the process, but with more epoxy putty and more liquid gasket, won’t fix it permanently. As a precaution I dropped some oil and took my time filling it to just over minimum. That should reduce the risk of pressure causing a failed seal. While I was at it I lubed the chain. The drought is supposed to be ending, so I need to be prepared for rain.
I’ve done a quick job on the Sportster. After realising the clutch lever position was the same on all my previous bikes as it is on the Harley, I looked in the manual to see if I’d set it wrong. I had. I had it taught, you’re supposed to leave 1.6mm slack between the cable end and the clutch lever block. That sounds like nothing, but it has to be pretty slack to get that gap. It means the first part of the pull of the lever is without resistance. Which is a definite improvement when it’s such a reach and so hard to pull. The cable lube arrived today but I’ve not applied it yet. There are a list of jobs I want to do to it for the aesthetics, but right now the only practical thing is to sort out the handlebar position. Once I’ve done that I’ll have to get appropriate sized front brake line and throttle cables. I also need to fix the bar end mirrors, but that’s probably not a purchase. I can probably do that with washers and silicone sealant. Again, I don’t want to make a permanent fix if I’m going to be changing handlebars.
All the jobs are dependent on money, obviously. There is no rush to buy all the bits for the Sporty. The Harley has been running fine, so it is a good backup for work as it is. All the work I want to do on it can wait for the money.
Which brings me to work. After the first week of days, where I was fretting because I only got one shift, I’ve worked all but one of the days I’ve been available. 4 days last week. I’ve worked it out, I seem to have paid breaks and and I am on about £20.20 or so an hour. For my 4 days last week (two of which were relatively short, 8.5 and 10 hours) I made £815. That’s £42,380 a year. For a 4 day week. On days. That’s a whole lot of extrapolation from one week’s work, but I have to have tomorrow off for a hospital appointment, and they sent me a shift. That’s 6 of the last 6 shifts that I was available that they asked me to work. If that keeps up we’ll soon have a buffer in the bank and I can go back to spending.
I did intend to batter the shifts to get loads of money straight away, but now I’m thinking I’ll just do the 4 on, 3 off. That’s enough money if I’m getting all of the days, and it gives me time to train. And not be stressed.
After knackering my foot I’ve not been doing too much training. I did a 6 mile run on my first day off, then went out in the afternoon yesterday intending to do a half. I was all keen until I started getting into my kit, then I came over weak. I started running, but I had nothing. I think it was too much caffeine and too much sugar during the day. I called it quits and ground out a really slow 6 miles. Today I was off and Wendy was at work so I did 90 minutes on the bike trainer, then out for a half. It was tough, but I got it done. My foot is a bit delicate again. I don’t think I’ll be doing that half tri in a fortnight. No swim, 27 miles on the bike and a half marathon today, and I was battered. It’s Warrington half the week after. I’m good for that, at least.