Greetings all. This is a special edition of STuff! (STuff is the
official BS of the un-offical STOC!)

(Background info -- some of you know, but now you all will. I've been
hunting for a fairing noise on my ST over a month)

I have good news and bad news from the road.
The good news is I found my fairing noise!! (HURRAY!)

The bad news is it was the raditor fan eating away at the radiator.

I found out the hard way. Memphis is a good place to break-down,
but Saturday night is a lousy time to do it.

The verdict -- HRCA (Honda Rider's Club) towed me to the local
Honda shop in Memphis (there are two) -- Al's Cycle Shop.
The got everything stripped down and found the problem. My ST
(at 52.5k miles) was out of warranty since December. They called
Honda. Seems the nut that holds the radiator fan propellor is
lock-tighted at the factory, so there is no reason for it to ever
come apart. Or even be checked (in the service manager's mind).

So, Honda's warranty person finaly called back and paid for the parts.
(Radiator and fan assembly ~ $600)

Fed express got the parts there in a hurry and everything got put
back together so Mary and I could head back up to Wisconsin for a
Beautify HSTA rally in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

There were about 34 participants, and at least seven STs there to
my memory. One ST owner was there on his Honda Hawk GT. I think
thats understandable.

The STs, of course, showed everyone how well they haul.
I showed everyone how much the 170/60 sized rear tire eliminates
ground clearence -- at least two up.
Beveled the feet on my center stand, then started dragging the
center stand and the exhaust collector system. When I was washing
some things this afternoon I found out I had dragged the right side
of the lower fairing (the long grey piece on the bottom) and most
important, the last allen bolt holding it on. I was finaly able to jam
the flat head screwdriver on my pocket knife in the remaining hole to
get it removed. WHEW!
I was almost STuck!

Four more weeks of traveling left, and then I'll send out a real
issue of STuff. People have been sending lots of great comments
and fixes. Rumor is my father will be sending out an up-date some
time in the next few weeks about my travels. Don't hold your breath!
To prevent that kind of electronic bragging (hey Derek! what do you call
this??) I won't call him then he won't know whats up.

Hopefully no more visits to the service department!!

There will be an ST owerner's meeting at the Honda Hoot.
I wanna say its Wednesday night, but I don't remember.
Someone that gets Grant Norman's newsletter can let everyone know
the details. See you there if you can make it.

Derek
"Second Generation 'Cyclists -- we're born to ride!" (tm)

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