My wife had a dinner party at work last night and I had spent most of the day riding from Russell to Massena New York to visit my PO Box and then to Maxville to pick up the dogs Flea, Tick and De-Worming Medications. That was two tanks of gas and almost 4 Hours of riding.

When I was in the US I stopped at Sears and they had Craftsman Torque Wrenches on sale. I had needed the small one (0-15 Newton/Meters) for the ten small bolts holding the belt casing. I remember this from last year since my torque wrench could not go that low and I just used the tighten by hand then one quarter turn method. So I bought one for $30.00 instead of $ 80.00.

I like the Craftsman because they are solid, easy to use and very accurate. I had purchased a Pittsburg one and I could not get it to work accurately (it is now for sale if anyone is interested).

So last night I ate early and it was a warm sunny evening. The new torque wrench was sitting on the tool bench ion the garage just calling out to me. So I decided to “Inspect” the condition of the belt on Chantal’s bike because she was planning to ride it to work the next day and this would be a sensible and prudent thing to do (wink wink).

For the records, I had changed her belt last year on May 5th, 2013 and the bike had 4,716 Kilometers. Last night the bike had 9,428 Kilometers. Therefore the belt had 4,712 Kilometers or 2,927 Miles.

All I can say is that I had the opportunity to use the new Torque Wrench and I also ensured the safety of my wife’s ride. The belt looked new and I could barely blow any dust or soot our from the casings because they were relatively clean. I measured the belt’s width using my Vernier Caliper and found it to be 20.80 mm +/- 0.01 mm and the Haynes manual says that the belt should be replaced when it is below 19.5 mm, cracked or has oil on it. To me the belt looked fine (picture below).

Of course the ten bolts holding the belt cover on are now perfectly torqued as required by the specifications. I am certain that the ride will be smoother now (LOL). I did clean up inside a bit before reassembling everything.

After finishing the the belt inspection, I adjusted the tire pressure, washed the bike, cleaned the windshield, took it for a test drive and filled it with gas. I also plugged in the Scala Rider so she will be fully charged to use her cellular phone on her ride to work and back.

Now that I have that inspection and adjustments out of the way there is a list of other toys that need attention. My turntable is skating a bit and requires a tone arm adjustment:

My Open Reel Tape Recorder and Player needs to be taken apart, adjusted and oiled:

And finally my new I-Robot 870 needs to be programmed for its cleaning cycles (got to read).

Well, I was about to tackle these chores when I got side tracked and decided to mount the GoPro Mount onto the top of my helmet so I can get the first person rider’s perspective. I cleaned the helmet with a bit of rubbing alcohol then firmly applied the curved mount that fit perfectly onto my Arai. It actually looks like it was meant to be. Now it has to sit for 24 hours to firmly set and attach. What I do not understand is that on the GoPro video, they recomend attaching a tether to the GoPro for added safety but I did not get one in the camera kit or the other mounting kits I purchased ( http://gopro.com/support/articles/using-the-rubber-locking-plug-and-camera-tether). I guess that costs extra too… The GoPro adds up to quite a bit of pocket change once you go back for all the mounting equipment you need.

Oh yes, found it online. Yet another $ 20.00 and a 40 minute ride to Henry’s Camera.