We're back home in Steung Kach now, and I've been busy repairing the Honda Cub and trapping rats for relocation and a new chance at life elsewhere.
The Cub Gets A New Throttle Cable 👨🔧
While in Phnom Penh I picked up a few parts for our Honda Cub, most importantly a new throttle cable because the previous was extremely worn and occasionally stuck, causing an unwelcome surprise full throttle.
In addition to the throttle cable I purchased some third passenger footpegs, basically some threaded aluminum bars that replace nuts that hold the rear shock to the swingarm. They only cost 50 cents and give the third passenger a place to put their feet. It's very common to see much more than three people sharing a motorbike in Cambodia, but usually additional passengers have nowhere to put their feet, and ultimately end up just dangling them above the road surface.
I've never replaced a throttle cable on a Cub or similar moto before, so I was quite shocked with how many parts had to be unbolted and removed just to replace a fairly simple part. On this day I really missed my Vespa back in the USA because I am much more familiar with working on older bikes. Well, at least I had Monkey-B as my bolt and nut organizer, and she also provided some much needed conversation.
As repairs go, once I had dove fully into this job, I discovered lots of other problems in the process. The most concerning was the slide in the carb was a little sticky, and this was partially causing the occasional surprise wide open throttles.
I didn't think to purchase a carb rebuild kit, so I really didn't want to do any disassembly, but I did unbolt the carb and turn it a bit to see what was causing the stickiness. Peering down inside showed me nothing, but I still took a few cotton swabs and tried to clean the hole where the needle slides through. Surprise, surprise, that fixed the problem somewhat, but the carb will need to rebuilt and cleaned in the near future.
Rat Relocation 🐀
Anytime we leave home for even a few days, it's an open invitation for all rodents to enter the house and take over. Sure enough I saw signs of rat-ivity, so a piece of al dente bowtie pasta proved irresistible, and this guy was caught in broad daylight while Srey-Yuu and I watched silently.
The timing was perfect, I had just finished the moto repairs and wanted to test the bike. I tossed my little rat homey in the front basket and we headed up the mountain to find a place where this little guy/girl can find rat homies that shun life in the houses of humans.
It's always a joyous moment setting a rat free, and I like to think the feeling is similar-ish to relocating wild animals like lions or wildcats. Well, in this case I certainly don't have to worry about being attacked when I open the door to freedom, but I did tell Stuart Little to enjoy the new forest life.
Nutsara Visits 👶
Nutsara now has two big front teeth and is eating solid foods. She can walk nearly anywhere, so she comes to visit much more often than before, and her presence always brings smiles.
Monkey-B fell down on the floor, and while trying to get up, Nutsara mistook this for time to lay down, so she joined Monkey-B on the floor, and her big brother quickly joined, not wanting to miss out on any action. Alright, that's all I got for today folks, nearly 3am now, guess my time management sucked today.
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