I had planned to do the oil changes on my 2013 V7 prior to my up coming trip and found that I didn't have any 85W-140 for the pumpkin change. No problem I'll just jump on the bike and head to the dealer 20 miles away and get the oil nice and warm in the process. I was on the freeway testing out beetle's map for the V7 (working great btw) but that is boring so I figured I'd jump off the freeway one exit early and head east a bit and take a twisty road into town. As soon as I got onto the exit ramp I noticed my bike shifting poorly and then poof the shift lever falls off into the road
. I quickly pull to the side and kill the bike, run back and pick up the lever and do a quick look for the missing bolt but the road is busy and I can't see it anyways. I get the bike into neutral and start it up, use the lever to kick it into first and then holding the clutch in with my right hand use my left to pull the lever off again and put it in my pocket. Only thing close by that looked to be of any help was a local tire shop so I tootled on over there and begged for help. The guys at the store were great (Santa Maria tire in Santa Maria go figure) and helped me source a replacement bolt and washer to get me home.
Decided the twisty road would have to wait but still needed the oil so off I went and hurrah they had the stuff which isn't really a given as this is a large Harley dealer that has the Triumph and Moto Guzzi lines as well (Guzzi content at the store was one V7 Special, one Griso and one Cali 1400) but they have so many more HD's than anything else. They have more used non-HD bikes than new non-HD bikes but they did have my oil and also a oil filter for my Stelvio so I can't complain and they are very nice folks.
Got home, changed the oils and added locktite to the standby bolt holding the shift lever on. I'll replace it as soon as I look up the part number or find a suitable replacement at the hardware store. So glad I didn't need to buy a lever and what if I lost it on my big trip? Lucky me.
