Notes About Things…
…that I didn’t know – and didn’t *know* that I didn’t know until recently! Now I know that I didn’t know those things, and I know the things themselves, too!
First thing: It’s usually a good idea to pay attention when something comes from the Motor Vehicle Department. I’m enrolled in a “Confident Rider Course” that will be given tomorrow morning, so this afternoon I printed out all the forms I have to take with me in the morning. Two of them are waivers of liability, so that if I die nobody will be sued. The third one is a “use your own motorcycle” form that requires such things as the VIN, the license number and its expiration date, and the insurance company / policy number / policy expiration date. Since I have not yet memorized the Honda’s plate number, I went out to make sure I wrote it down correctly. At the same time, I filled in the expiration-date blank – June, 2015.
Wait, what? June of THIS YEAR???? Ruh-roh! I better get it renewed! [Never mind why it didn’t get renewed before, GET IT RENEWED NOW!] But when I logged in to Service Arizona to renew, they said it was “too soon to renew.” ‘Scuse me? <think think think> Okay, I’ll check Quicken to see when I last renewed the Honda’s plate. I did that, and found out it was last month. So where’s the new registration tab? <think think think> Hmmm, I must have put it out with the other registration stuff for the JeepMonster. [Since that isn’t running, or even *built*, I’ve just been stacking stuff in piles, and I guess when I got the Honda’s sticker I just assumed it was for the JeepMonster.] Off I go to the garage, which is a worse mess than usual because I’m *painting* it, and try to remember where the JeepMonster’s registration stuff might be. Well, I found it after a short search, but the sticker for the Honda wasn’t there. Drat. Now I have to look through ALL the piles of Jeepmonster stuff.
Fortunately, I found the relevant envelope without too much trouble, and with only a little stretching and grunting, I was able to retrieve it without knocking anything over. By golly, it was the Honda’s sticker! I quickly cleaned off the plate (it’s 48MC7W, by the way) and applied the new sticker, so now I’m good through June 15, 2016. One potential crisis averted! (If I hadn’t had to get the expiration date for my class, I wouldn’t have looked at the plate, and I would have been riding with an expired registration on my whole adventure – which could have led to other types of adventures that I’d rather not get involved with, thankyouverymuch!)
Second thing: Battery-tender leads won’t handle the current from a jump-start battery. When I went to the Overland Expo last month, the folks from Antigravity Batteries (who make the Micro-Start jump starters I have) were there. Because I had carelessly left the accessory kit / carrying case of my jump starter on a saddlebag and then lost it when I went riding, I asked about getting a replacement. I said I still had the battery itself and just wanted all the other stuff. The rep told me to contact [name forgotten] at Antigravity and they could probably work something out.
I asked them about it via their website “contact us” form last month, but never heard anything. This past Thursday I finally got around to following up, but this time I called them. I guess I ended up talking to the same guy I had spoken with at the Expo, because he said he sort of remembered my story. While we were discussing things, and then while I was on hold, I browsed the accessories page on the Antigravity website and found a battery lead set that would not only work for the jump starter (so I wouldn’t have to unbolt the seat to get to the battery), but also comes with an adapter that fits most / all / some battery tenders. The copy on the website says that battery-tender leads aren’t robust enough to handle the current from the jump starter.
So now, instead of potentially frying the battery-tender leads if/when I have to jump-start the Honda, I’ll have a robust pair of leads that will handle the jump starter *and* can be used for the battery tender if/when I use it.
So two potential problems (possibly quite major ones, at that!) were averted when I learned there were two new things I hadn’t known, and then rectified the situations so I knew them, and then acted upon that knowledge. Yay me!
(I wonder what *else* is out there that I don’t know….. *shudder*)
The Peripatetic Traveler 
LOL dad. You are too funny. But that’s cool about the battery packs. You didn’t say if you got all the accessories back, though…
The accessories and their case all fell off somewhere between home and … elsewhere. I tried retracing my ride (it wasn’t a long one that day) but I didn’t see the case anywhere.