i went to belmont in the morning to work on my motorcycle. i was hoping my father would still be home but he'd already left for work. 10mm socket wrench. check. 5mm hex wrench. check. large 1/2" flat-head screwdriver. huh? i headed to home depot to look for a suitable replacement. i ended up buying a mini crowbar, which i already knew wouldn't work. fortunately when i got back to belmont, my sister had found a large screwdriver.

also during that time i made a quick trip to the belmont macy's to drop off a credit card check for my mother. i made the rookie mistake of parking on a downward slope and had a hard time pulling the 500 lbs. bike out when i tried to leave.

the first attempt at taking apart the clutch lever mechanism ended in failure. i could remove the bracket (by unscrewing 2 hex bolts), but i couldn't take off the clutch cable attached to the handlebar lever. i figured i'd wait until my father came home but then decided to go out and try disassembling it a second time. with my sister's help, i finally managed to take everything apart. the trick was realizing that i didn't have to completely dismantle the cable housing; i just needed to remove the bracket, which was the piece i was replacing.

once the broken bracket was removed, i noticed the new replacement bracket had a slightly different finish (shinier) than the older bracket. i thought it might be an issue but i hardly noticed the difference once i had it mounted onto the handlebar.

putting on the replacement mirror presented all sorts of challenges though. back in december, i bought a pair of replacement mirrors off of ebay. when i threaded (with some bicycle grease) the left mirror onto the socket of the new bracket, it would always land 90° more than what i wanted. no matter how many times i played with it, i couldn't get it aligned. finally, as a wild idea, i took the spare right mirror and turned the mirror on its pivot so it became a left mirror. i tried it with this new mirror and it screwed onto the bracket perfectly.

returning to cambridge, i didn't really notice the new mirror. i've grown so used to riding with just one rear view mirror that i basically ignore the other mirror even though it's no longer missing.

with so much motorcycle drama, i almost forgot to mention the weather today. the official temperature of logan airport boston was 90°, a new april record. it was a hot day, the kind that left sweat on the back of your neck if you stayed out too long. there was also a stifling humidity, and walking outside was like hitting a wall of heat. it made me glad to be indoors and its relative coolness. today was an anomaly though, and the rest of the week looks to be 50-60°.

i had a bowl of honey nut cheerios this morning. it wasn't as good as i expected. maybe that's way i normally don't buy cheerios when i go cereal shopping. it tastes sort of bland compared to my usual high-in-sugar brands. but supposedly it's healthy, something to due with soluble fibers.