Yesterday I had to take my roommate to pick up his car from the repair shop. He paid $350 in parts and $1100 in labor, so I gave him a little shit about a) bikes are MUCH cheaper and b) bikes are MUCH easier to work on.

I did find out a DL-650 isn't much for 2-up, but then again, Mike's a pretty big guy.

My brakes started squealing, so I took a look at them. It took me only 30 minutes and 4 tools to pull off both calipers, pull the pads, find a small bit of "something" stuck in a pad and remove it, and put everything back together.

Ah, that's fun. I enjoy the hell out of things like that.

The disk is scored a little, but not enough to catch a fingernail, so it's ok, I guess.

It got me thinking about how important little things are. There's a pin that holds the brake pads in, and this pin is kept in the caliper by a *tiny* little clip that probably costs less than a dollar. But if that clip wasn't there, I'd be in a world of hurt. This clip is so small it easily fits on a fingernail.

That sort of thing actually happened to Eddie Lawson when he went into a turn at Laguna Seca at about 150mph and... no brakes. They later found the pads on the track. Fortunately he only had a broken heel, but getting back on that bike must have taken some big brass ones.

I think of that every time I work on a bike.