The doctor will see you now

Getting the brake pipes and assorted mudguard fittings off Fidra's front end yesterday was incredibly hard work.  Getting the first of the shocks off today was a lot easier.  Getting the thing apart to drain the oil was actually simplicity itself.  I first spent half an hour distracting myself by taking my impact driver to bits because it wasn't impacting anymore, but all I could do was stuff a bit of new grease into the gearbox.  I then spent half a day making a wooden clamp to hold the fork tube securely in my vice so that I could unscrew the top cap, which took as long as ten seconds.  Sometimes putting in the time to make a jig to do one job absolutely properly is necessary.  The jig will get used again when I put the new oil in, which itself is a precision task.

After another lovely long chat with BikerBabe this afternoon I cycled out to IKEA and found a small storage box that was perfect as a drip tray to drain the old fork oil into.  I have no idea when – or if! – the oil was changed before, but goodness knows it jolly well needed it.  The stuff was thick with tiny grey wear particles, which makes me wonder if the bushes will need replacing after all, not just the seals.  We shall find out soon enough.

The shoulder muscle below my neck is still really sore.  I was saying to BB that I'd not been stress headachey for a while now, but it seems I'm having to reach for the pain meds anyway.  Bah!