After the sun finally burned through the overcast and the temps rose a little bit, I unwrapped the Green One and ran it out just a little bit.. The old Green Vulcan sure did run sweet, after the warm up deal .. I wound up riding out to Grapevine to visit one of the better dealers in the metroplex.. As usual, those guys made a fresh pot of coffee when I got there and when we got all the visiting done, one of the parts guys men- tioned that my parts had been there for a while.. Huh ? Oh yeah.. I'd forgotten about ordering the stuff to re- place the clutch on my Vulcan.. The shop at Grapevine Kawasaki has been real slow since the holidays and a couple of the excellent techs were idle.. We decided that it'd be a good day to do the job.. since I'm always anxious to contribute to the economy at that dealership. Damn.. those guys had to remove part of the sub-frame and what looked like the whole side of the engine.. It didn't take long for me to realize that this wasn't some easy little job.. Sheesh.. I was looking at a bunch of clutch plates, springs.. o-rings, gaskets and several items that I couldn't recognize.. There were some formed tubing and manifold gaskets that I had no idea were involved with the clutch assembly.. I began to get some idea about why Dean had noted that the Green One was going to be on the lift for something like four and a half hours.. I made myself comfortable with that fresh pot of coffee and settled down for a long wait.. Several other customers drifted in and out and some of them were acquaintances that I'd known for a while.. There were a few good looking ladies that whiled away some time with me.. (goes without saying, we enjoyed the flirting) Finally, Micah (the tech working on the Green Vulcan) ann- ounced that my motorcycle was ready to go. He'd already done the test ride and was satisfied with his excellent work.. As it turned out, some of those unrecognizable parts that I couldn't identify were actually not a part of the clutch assembly after.. When Jimmy Snow (that other good tech) had ordered those parts .. he'd noticed some additional items that were suspect and had ordered them too.. Well.. I'm here to tell you.. that Green Vulcan sure ran sweet.. I'd never realized how bad that clutch was slipping until it stopped slipping.. The bill for the work didn't include all the extra stuff Micah had done while he had the bike torn down.. Most of it was low cost items, but the labor cost would have been considerable, had it been done separately.. The theory was, that replacing those new parts was as easy, if not easier than going back with the old stuff.. After the liberal dis- counts for parts and the consideration of the job estimate, my labor costs were for one and a half hours labor.. Dang.. can't beat that deal with a big stick.. Dennis Wagner (the owner of the dealership) was standing there when I paid my tab and he thanked me for my business.. All things considered, I have to declare again.. it is sure a good idea to have a good relationship with a good dealer.. This old Green Vulcan is road ready and it's going to be a long wait for me.. to sit out our bad weather for the next few weeks.. Somehow, I'll get through it but it won't be easy.. There is one more little electrical problem that needs to be taken care of .. Got a bad ground somewhere in the sub harness in the tail light.. doesn't affect the performance of the motorcycle, just one of the elements in a bulb .. Everyone that is going to be on that Spring run to Guadalajara will sure notice the performance of the Green One.. LOL.. Regards Bill Walker Irving
