Bullfrog Soup

Ever hear how to make bullfrog soup? Don’t throw him in a pot of boiling water as he will just continually hop out. Put him in a pan of cold water on the stove, maybe with a lily pad in it. Then ever so gradually turn up the heat. He will eventually know something is wrong but it’s been so gradual he can’t figure it out. Pretty soon it’s too late and you have bullfrog soup.

So I had some time off over the holidays and decided to do some maintenance and upgrades to the Phat Gurl (2001 I/S, 84,000 miles). Normal stuff: oil, filter, air filter, clutch and brake fluids, spark plugs. I also decided to do the desmog (Red-Eye, shiny), install a Dan Marc 152 and do the standard drive shaft maintenance of lubing the pinion cup/drive shaft and the drive splines. Since I was in there I also decided to replace the u joint as I had a spare new one on the shelf and it’s not that much more work (except of course for the boot!)

After three days of work I took it for a test drive. Now let me first say that for the last year or so I thought I noticed a slight vibration in the handle bars. I wasn’t sure. Sometimes it felt fine and sometimes just a little rough. Couldn’t put my finger on it. Thought I might have a vacuum line leaking or something hence the desmog installation. (Oh and one of the lines WAS cracked.)

When I got it on the highway for the test drive I couldn’t believe the difference! Smooth as silk. No subtle little vibration at all. Like riding an electric motor. I suspect my u-joint was on the verge of failure. (84,000 miles for those that like data points.)

When I swapped them out I wiggled the new one vs. the old one. I could feel no looseness in the old one. Only thing I noticed was that when I flexed them the new one was tighter and harder to flex.

Anyway, just thought I toss that out there. Listen to your instincts.