My first Close Encounter of the golfhos kind

I spent all morning with the bike, but oddly I haven't actually ridden it yet. Gave it a good wash, tuned the shifters/brakes, put new grips (of the locking variety- the only way to go) and tires on it (Panaracer Smoke/Dart combo- Old school bitches). I'll probably take it for a short spin later, but I'm afeared of damaging the shocks by riding them before I get a chance to rebuild them (should have the wipers/seals tomorrow or tuesday).

Well, it was only the middle of the afternoon. I was on my way back to Salt Lake by 5:30, so anything could have happened after I left.

 

I finally got the forks rebuilt and took it for a spin last night. I discovered a few things that I needed to give some attention, so I spent some time this evening tweaking the brakes and fine tuning the shifters a bit. I also took the rear suspension apart and replaced and lubricated the seals. I'm still getting the suspension dialed in, but at this point I'm probably over-analyzing it.

You have no idea how nice this bike is. Honestly, I had no idea how nice this bike is. Super plush, climbs like a rigid tail. It's almost as light as a roadie and handles like a sports car but feels as solid as a tank. I've never had XTR components, but I'm beginning to understand what all the fuss is about. I could go on but I have to go "spend some quality time" looking at the bike. Be assured that I'm extremely pleased, in spite of being way overdrawn at the International Bank of Karma.