It pays to save parts that still work

(June 10, 2015) It has been my experience that dealers are sometimes called "stealers" for a good reason. I've had them sell me parts I didn't need, despite their claims to the contrary. Early on, I learned to ask for the old parts; oftentimes, they were still functional and worth saving.

My friend Mike Russo has had the same experience with dealers. A few years ago, a local Harley-Davidson dealership insisted he needed a new battery. He asked for the old one. When my voltage regulator failed a couple of years ago, I swapped in that unused battery for mine as a test. I decided to keep that battery in my bike and Mr. Russo kept mine, and kept it charged.

Well, last week, his tender loving care paid off as we installed that battery in a recently deceased friend's Ultra Classic. The bike fired right up and I rode it off to get it inspected.

Last week, I pulled into a gas station on my bike for some petrol. After I finished pumping, I went into my Tour-Pak as usual to get my iPhone to record the pump data and odometer reading. The rear Tour-Pack latch fell off in my hand in two pieces. I've now ridden so many miles, I've gotten used to parts breaking in all kinds of circumstances. In this case, I wasn't as irritated as usual because I quickly remembered that I had a spare latch in my garage.

A bunch of years ago, the other latch had broken and I had to purchase a pair of latches to replace the one. When I got home, I went into the top drawer where I keep old parts--smaller parts in are in the top drawer--and quickly located the latch. I felt quite pleased with myself. It isn't often I get to solve a problem like this so easily.

After about 20 minutes, I was good as new.

As always, keep the shiny side up!

-The Long Rider

P.S. My pressure regulator failed this afternoon, leaving me stranded for a short time, until Blake from Jockeys Cycle could come and get me with a trailer. This pressure regulator has only about 20,000 miles on it and has been in my bike only since March 10, 2014. I'll write more about this later.