I've Been Punked!

TAZ just punked me. I was running some errands when a loud PUNK came from the engine. It sputtered loudly, then stopped. What every biker should know to do in this situation:

1. Swear very loudly (I forgot to do that)
2. Engage clutch
3. Coast to the side of the road
4. Swear some more (Didn't do it. For some reason I was mellow.)
5. Park the bike
6. Start assessing the situation

A grizzled white haired man with mutton chops and a mustache driving a construction truck immediately pulled over and asked if I needed to borrow any of his tools. Knowing that a problem that sounded like PUNK would almost certainly require parts, I thanked him but said I was fairly close to home and I had all the tools I needed there. I ended up pushing TAZ a quarter mile home. My first impressions are that I blew a gasket. When kicking over there is still about the same level of engine compression, so piston rings are not likely to be the cause (not ruling it out, though). To investigate further I need to tear into the engine. Damn I wish I had a garage.

What this all means:

1. My errands didn't get run
2. I have to take the bus to work
3. To do this I have to stop by the ATM
4. To get exact change (or a close proximity thereof) I need to stop by the Kwik-E-Mart
5. The guys won't be able to talk me into going to the nudey bar after work
6. Hopefully my lovely will pick me up from work
7. Sera, the chopper, is less of a mystery so will be fixed up and put back on the road pronto
8. TAZ will be dug into and fixed ASAP

Both of these bikes are older than I am. I need to remember that and keep both of them working at all times. That way I always have a backup when one of them goes PUNK! What fascinated me was how calm I remained through the ordeal.

"Huh. That's not a good noise. Is it a random occurence? Nope. Clutch is in and I'm coasting. Anyone in the side land? There they go. Okay, get over. Blown head gasket? Blown piston rings? Whatever it was, I bet I'm pushing this bike home. Hey, the rain is picking up. Oh well."