So here I am, hip deep in a swamp I have never, ever ventured into and I am constantly wondering if at any moment, an Alligator the size of a 1970’s American Car is going to bite me in the ass. Perhaps my fears are unwarranted, perhaps I’m just being paranoid and perhaps I am sending ahead agents of doom to the universe to lie in wait. But let’s be clear, I am a novice and in essence, I am building a nuclear power plant with no prior experience. What could possibly go wrong?

This past week, two things happened that marked a point in this whole process. #1 is that we turned the clocks ahead, gaining an additional hour of daylight. #2 is that I had to order yet another “tool” to put the bike back together why my cam plate waited with cam tensioners installed to be put back into the bike. Why was #2 a point? It is the last thing I needed before the journey back to a one piece motorcycle.

So while I wait, I do other things. Like watch more video’s, review my service manuals over and over, read other blogs and forums on the topic, install the new cam tensioners on the cam plate, rebuild the oil pump….. wait… what?

Yes. I figured while I was in the “Swamp of Death” I may as well go into the “Cave of Death” along its muddy shores. Did it need rebuilding? Eh… The usual comment I get is “Well, while you’re in there…..”. The same holds true about the cams themselves, but I’m doing things that don’t add any additional costs, so the original cams are just fine. Oddly enough, the disassembly, inspecting, cleaning, rebuilding and replacing of the oil pump was actually a piece of cake and went rather smoothly. I can only hope the rest of the reassembly goes as smooth.

So now, I wait. Wait until my $50 parts arrive on Friday so that I may begin the rebuild on Saturday. Waiting is the patient man’s prison sentence. “I am patient, therefore I must wait”. While I wait, I don’t mind. The Ted Shed’s working environment is less than hospitable at the moment.

Speaking of turning the clocks ahead and more daylight…. can we have a temperature increase to accompany said daylight? Spring, I am told, is just days away at the time of this writing. Sadly, “Spring” is defined more by a date on the calendar than is the temperature of the air. Spring indeed.

Damn you people of the south, you and your warmth…. how dare you.