Welcome to Government Motors

I’m a Chevy guy. More so, I am a GM guy. Have been for a long time. My stripped 99’ Malibu will clock 175,000 miles at its next oil change. The fact that most of the cars my family has owned have been GM’s does not escape me. My dad in his 65 years has never owned a Toyota, Honda or Nissan. To my knowledge, the only foreign car he has ever owned was a Daihatsu he took over the payments on for me when I was in college. A great car but just that, “just a car”. The manufacturer only gone now because Toyota bought them out, mined their technology and closed them down to eliminate a domestic (Japan) competitor.
My first cars were Oldsmobile’s and Buicks, 70’s junk from the oil embargo days. Olds is gone, Buick only survives because it is a price point between Chevy & Cadillac. All of these had “personality”, some good and some bad. My most memorable cars? My first car was a 1973 Olds Custom Cruiser Wagon we called the Sub-Urban Assault vehicle. An army green grocery getter hand-me-down from my mom. At a buck a gallon it was a $30.00 fill up. I sacked a lot of groceries to cruise Forest Lane in Dallas, TX on Friday nights. I had a 1977 Buick Electra with a “plush” back seat... if you know what I mean. However, my number one would be my (don’t laugh) 1984 Chevy Celebrity wagon. Should be on the all time ten worst GM list but only misses the cut because it was so forgettable that nobody remembers how bad it really was. This car, which I paid $250 for with 92,000 miles on the clock, got me through college… all 6 years of it. It had gone 196,000 miles the day I traded it for my first new truck, a very forgettable Ranger.
But here is the thing, none of these cars I have mentioned ever left me on the side of the road. I changed the oil, fixed things as they broke, and did not drive it like it was stolen. If you take care of your car, it may last forever. Ed Wallace said it best a few years ago on his “Wheels” radio program. Paraphrased, “If the average American car owner treated a Toyota the way they treated their Cavalier, the car would not last as long. The typical American car owner does not properly maintain their car. The tolerances of American cars are built to the specifications of their consumer’s habits, not for optimal quality.” My Malibu would agree with this.
Why the blathering about this? I feel that the demise of GM & Chrysler, the latter filing bankruptcy today, can be aimed in a lot of directions. Labor Unions (my #1), politics, leadership (tied for #1), globalization all had a hand in this. You cannot blame the workers. Look at the quality of the products being built in non-union plants, not just Toyota. Did you know American workers build the Toyota Matrix side by side with the Pontiac Vibe in California? The Matrix outsells the IDENTICAL less expensive Vibe at almost 2-1.
GM engineers were handcuffed. Designers & Engineers reverse-engineering new products backward with the budget remaining from Inflated labor & benefits costs, Michigan taxes, political kick-backs and what have you. You build a $20K car that only $5K goes into the vehicle. The archaic union model has destroyed this industry. Are the non-UAW American employees of Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan or Honda being exploited? No, and the pay is comparable. The Department of Labor and EEOC have long ago taken the torch in the protection of the worker’s wellness. Where will UAW workers go when the American car makers are gone? Nowhere, they will stay home and ask the Government to care for them, just like the Union did. And this administration will do just that, just check out the “Employee Free Choice Act” legislation.
As reported in CNN money, the now government controlled GM will give the UAW 41-50% ownership of the company. Before we buy a car from Government Motors ask yourself, what has the Gevernment ever done really well? Stumped? Me too. What kind of a car will you build if you know you can never be fired? How many raises will you give yourself since you are negotiating your labor contracts in a mirror? You can read the article on the link below. I fear I have bought my last GM. This is a sad day.
On a brighter note, Ford in not doing too bad. JD Power has many of their vehicles beating Honda and Toyota in initial quality! Who knows, in 10 years I may have a 175,000 mile Ford Edge or Fusion in the driveway. All I need to do is change the oil, fix things as they break, and try not drive it like it is stolen
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/30/news/companies/gm/index.htm?postversion=2009043010

Spacer Mod Done!

The spacer modification is complete. The job took about an hour but I took my time cleaning and inspecting everything I removed. This included visually inspecting brake pads, caliper, drive cushions, chain (toast), rear sprocket (toast), spacers and axle. I cleaned the rear sprocket and all spacers for good measure. Surprisingly, everything internal still looked newish. As an added bonus, I appear to have sealed bearings so the commonly reported rust was nowhere to be seen. I did this alone, but it would be a little easier with another set of hands and a gopher so you would not be up and down so much. I could have done this in as little as 30 minutes if I was rushing. The greatest consumer of time was aligning the sprockets during the chain adjustment. The guides on the swing-arm are too far apart. Had they been closer it would have taken a fraction of the time.
Results? First impressions are positive. The wheel is now 2mm to the right. Handling changes should be negligible. I was told that the chain would ride centered on the sprocket. The “naked eye” measurement, not a micrometer mind you, looks like the offset may be over corrected. However, the chain and sprockets are toast. I will reevaluate this when the new chain is installed. The largest benefit I can see is that the 1st-2nd gear shift is much smoother. This comes from proper compression of the cush’s and proper loading of the carrier bearing (supposedly) causing less slop in the drive line. This should only get better with the new chain. Now, the offset chain / sprocket issue. I am not too concerned. If Suzuki shipped it over 2mm off and the stock chain lasted 16,000 miles I am not worried about a better chain lasting any less time. Chain replacement at 6000 miles is common. I’m fat, so the stock chain lasting 16K with poor alignment is miraculous. I do not expect less from the DID X-ring.

Maintenance & Stuff

I guess I am lazy when it comes to blogging. I recently read that travel & adventure bloggers should blog 3-5 times per week (or more!) or not bother. Really? First, I have a job, kid, wife, house, dogs, hobbies and a ton of yard work to deal with every day. When would someone have time to blog 3-5 times (or more) per week. I have a life. I guess.

Maybe I should take up twitter? That’s all the world needs is minute by minute updates of the minutiae of my life.
My first tweets….
10:02 AM – Hmmmm , seems clean enough
10:03 AM – checking the bottom of the seat
10:04 AM – evaluating paper supply
10:05 AM – double checking stall door lock
10:06 AM – cold seat
10:08 AM – Damn, single ply!

There are some things the TWAATFOG nation need not know.

On the Mule side there have been some maintenance issues to deal with. The mule is getting old, she is almost 4. I just ordered my first replacement chain this week. The stocker lasted 17K miles which I am told is quite good. From Sprocket Center dot com I purchased the DID gold X-ring VM2 chain with a stock set of steel AFAM & Drive Systems sprockets and rivet master link. All for the Princely sum of $185.00 incl. shipping. The identical chain alone at the Denton CC was $189.00 plus tax. Sprockets would have tacked another $100.00 plus on the bill. I will have an old neighbor over to help with the install. Another $50.00. This set-up I am told should go up to 20K miles if I treat it right.

While I am forking over the dough for the new chain I thought I would address the rear wheel misalignment issue. All Stroms (02-09) have the rear wheels offset by 2mm left. I purchased a spacer kit through the RichlandRick’s (VSRI forum) spacer replacement & exchange program. I get a fresh SS spacer -2mm and an outer spacer (like a washer) that goes on the axle at the left swing arm. I then send my spacer in to be machined for a future stromer in need. Cost = $40.00. Now 1 in 10 bikes will need a little extra tweeking but I am told any local machine shop can clean up Suzuki’s mess for about $15-40. I am told under strict authority that this is a truly necessary mod for optimum chain & carrier bearing life.

And that my friends is the difference between Suzuki AT bikes and let’s say BMW GS’s. BWW, upon finding that all wheels on all GS bikes are off 2mm would have sent a smallish Bavarian gentleman with a lathe, micrometer and a little steel lunch pail to my house to fix the problem in my driveway. Suzuki on the other hand, once acknowledging the engineering gaffe promptly said it was in our imagination, it was within “tolerances”, it was not worth re-engineering (even though a guy named Mike in Switzerland did it for them) and if we do this ourselves we will void our warrantee.

This is really a tribute to the V-Strom that the riding community sees such potential and value in this package that they elect to re-engineer manufacturer mistakes. There is almost an entire cottage industry build around replacement ECU’s for the V-Strom. I know it sucks a bit but I guess I will cry myself to sleep every night on the $10,000 I saved by buying the mule over the GS.