I've fallen victim to the curse of the shiny new bike. Now, everytime it rains, I feel obligated to wash the bike so it looks nice again. It rained straight for the past few days - so I washed it when I got home tonight. Looking ahead, there's chance of showers tomorrow...and Friday...and Saturday...and Sunday. It's going to be a long summer...
Oh, but I also have something else to look forward to; Frost! We had frost this morning and they're saying we can look forward to it tomorrow morning, too. Yay! It's almost May and we're still having freezing temps?
It'd better warm up in time for the pig roast...
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Holy Crap, I sure can ramble on and on...
Sorry for the lapse in posting. As mentioned previously; I had half of last week off and I used the time to put up a shed, as well as finish the framing in the cellar. Next will be the wiring and rough-plumbing, but that probably won't happen until after the party.
Cleaning up the cellar to make it presentable took me almost three hours - even I forget how much of a mess I can make sometimes. But things look not too shabby right now.
Speaking of the party, I need to build a couple of beer pong tables so that folks can play that activity OUTSIDE. Outside, where all the spilled beer will fall harmlessly onto the ground and not need to be cleaned up. Although, Brother Bill reminded me that I have no outside lights so once it gets dark, the games will wind up moving back inside. Not sure if I'm going to install any lights outside or not...
'Course, the ice luge will probably have to be inside, anyways, since it'll melt way-fast if it's outside. And that thing makes much more of a mess than any beer pong game, so maybe I should just accept the fact that the cellar floor will wind up a tad messy again...
What else. I've chatted with the NY crew and they've got their reservations made at the local no tell-motel, so that's cool. Looking forward to seeing those folks - and hoping like hell that they have good riding weather for the trip out and back.
Talked with Mike (pig roaster extraordinaire) and we'll be killing the pig on Friday afternoon (the 16th). Not sure what time that process will kick off, but I'm hoping to get that wrapped up by early evening so I can shoot back and catch up with the NY crew as they should be arriving sometime around then - barring any problems, knock on wood and all that.
Had the first backyard (chimenea) fire on Saturday night. I was beat from working all day and didn't feel like going to a bar, so I shot to the liquor store, picked up some fancy (IE: overpriced) beer and kicked back at the homestead. Lit the fire, cracked a beer and dove into an old Steven King novel. Not a bad way to pass the last couple hours of sunlight on a Saturday. Brother Bill joined me after a while, and then an hour or so after that, Flex came by and we proceeded to get a good buzz on.
Current weather? Ass, ass, and more ass. But the clouds are breaking up and it looks like I might have a dry ride home. (Or at least; not as damp as the commutes from the past day and a half have been.) 'Course, Michigan Paul and Joerg rode out to Niagara Falls for the weekend and I think they caught some rain, so I guess I shouldn't complain about 45 minute stretches of precipitation.
Got a memorial ride coming up on Saturday. I don't know what the overall turnout is going to be, but from what I've heard, it could be sizeable. I'll get some snapshots taken and get them posted.
Sunday is the annual (spring) Keene swap meet and I'll head up there. I'll see if anything catches my eyes for the Fatboy project that's coming up. Oh yeah; I couldn't find my title for that bike so I had to contact HD to obtain a lien-release from them. That just showed up in the mail, so now I gotta hit the registry to get a new title. Once that comes in, then I'll get that bike back on the road and do all the fun things to it that I've been wanting to. There'll be some posting about that, for sure.
Ok, I guess that's enough rambling for now. I hope everyone is doing well. Last week's weather was amazing - this week looks more seasonable (IE: cooler), but the good stuff is on it's way. Events and rides are popping up, and schedules are filling up. Take advantage of all chances to ride - you never know when they'll run out.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Cleaning up the cellar to make it presentable took me almost three hours - even I forget how much of a mess I can make sometimes. But things look not too shabby right now.
Speaking of the party, I need to build a couple of beer pong tables so that folks can play that activity OUTSIDE. Outside, where all the spilled beer will fall harmlessly onto the ground and not need to be cleaned up. Although, Brother Bill reminded me that I have no outside lights so once it gets dark, the games will wind up moving back inside. Not sure if I'm going to install any lights outside or not...
'Course, the ice luge will probably have to be inside, anyways, since it'll melt way-fast if it's outside. And that thing makes much more of a mess than any beer pong game, so maybe I should just accept the fact that the cellar floor will wind up a tad messy again...
What else. I've chatted with the NY crew and they've got their reservations made at the local no tell-motel, so that's cool. Looking forward to seeing those folks - and hoping like hell that they have good riding weather for the trip out and back.
Talked with Mike (pig roaster extraordinaire) and we'll be killing the pig on Friday afternoon (the 16th). Not sure what time that process will kick off, but I'm hoping to get that wrapped up by early evening so I can shoot back and catch up with the NY crew as they should be arriving sometime around then - barring any problems, knock on wood and all that.
Had the first backyard (chimenea) fire on Saturday night. I was beat from working all day and didn't feel like going to a bar, so I shot to the liquor store, picked up some fancy (IE: overpriced) beer and kicked back at the homestead. Lit the fire, cracked a beer and dove into an old Steven King novel. Not a bad way to pass the last couple hours of sunlight on a Saturday. Brother Bill joined me after a while, and then an hour or so after that, Flex came by and we proceeded to get a good buzz on.
Current weather? Ass, ass, and more ass. But the clouds are breaking up and it looks like I might have a dry ride home. (Or at least; not as damp as the commutes from the past day and a half have been.) 'Course, Michigan Paul and Joerg rode out to Niagara Falls for the weekend and I think they caught some rain, so I guess I shouldn't complain about 45 minute stretches of precipitation.
Got a memorial ride coming up on Saturday. I don't know what the overall turnout is going to be, but from what I've heard, it could be sizeable. I'll get some snapshots taken and get them posted.
Sunday is the annual (spring) Keene swap meet and I'll head up there. I'll see if anything catches my eyes for the Fatboy project that's coming up. Oh yeah; I couldn't find my title for that bike so I had to contact HD to obtain a lien-release from them. That just showed up in the mail, so now I gotta hit the registry to get a new title. Once that comes in, then I'll get that bike back on the road and do all the fun things to it that I've been wanting to. There'll be some posting about that, for sure.
Ok, I guess that's enough rambling for now. I hope everyone is doing well. Last week's weather was amazing - this week looks more seasonable (IE: cooler), but the good stuff is on it's way. Events and rides are popping up, and schedules are filling up. Take advantage of all chances to ride - you never know when they'll run out.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Social Commentary!
I just posted about the stop signs and turn signals and I’m all jacked up now! I need to toss out some more of my social commentary, so brace yourself.
The weather announcer this morning was talking about how dry our April has been so far. Our precipitation for this month is down 1.1 inches below average. She was mentioning that we could be seeing some water bans go into effect soon. And that was when I almost went through the roof.
Already we’re forgetting that we had the 2nd wettest winter on record? Every body of water, for miles and miles around, is higher than I’ve seen in ages. But because we’re ONE INCH below normal for ONE MONTH, now we’re talking water bans? Please.
I believe the need for water bans has less to do with precipitation levels and more to do with infrastructure issues. Water piping systems that were installed years ago, designed to handle X amount of service needs, are now faced with exponentially-increased demand, thanks to the housing explosion. Some communities have almost half-again their population of 20 years ago. Has the infrastructure been upgraded to handle this? Nope. Hmmmm…so if all the increased demand would accelerate the demise of the system, how can we get people to cut back on usage…hey, how about a water ban! Yeah yeah, that’s a great idea! And we can blame it on lack of precipitation!
And that, my friends, is my conspiracy theory for today.
What else. I’m out for the rest of this week, gonna spend some time working at the house. I’ve got a bunch of people coming over for a party in 3 ½ weeks. I gotta get some things done so they don’t think I’ve been sitting on my ass all winter. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous – maybe 80 degrees tomorrow. Yep; I figure it’ll be a good day to spend in the basement, finishing up the framing. Bleah.
Ok, I’m done for now. I hope everyone has a great week! Talk atcha later on…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
The weather announcer this morning was talking about how dry our April has been so far. Our precipitation for this month is down 1.1 inches below average. She was mentioning that we could be seeing some water bans go into effect soon. And that was when I almost went through the roof.
Already we’re forgetting that we had the 2nd wettest winter on record? Every body of water, for miles and miles around, is higher than I’ve seen in ages. But because we’re ONE INCH below normal for ONE MONTH, now we’re talking water bans? Please.
I believe the need for water bans has less to do with precipitation levels and more to do with infrastructure issues. Water piping systems that were installed years ago, designed to handle X amount of service needs, are now faced with exponentially-increased demand, thanks to the housing explosion. Some communities have almost half-again their population of 20 years ago. Has the infrastructure been upgraded to handle this? Nope. Hmmmm…so if all the increased demand would accelerate the demise of the system, how can we get people to cut back on usage…hey, how about a water ban! Yeah yeah, that’s a great idea! And we can blame it on lack of precipitation!
And that, my friends, is my conspiracy theory for today.
What else. I’m out for the rest of this week, gonna spend some time working at the house. I’ve got a bunch of people coming over for a party in 3 ½ weeks. I gotta get some things done so they don’t think I’ve been sitting on my ass all winter. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous – maybe 80 degrees tomorrow. Yep; I figure it’ll be a good day to spend in the basement, finishing up the framing. Bleah.
Ok, I’m done for now. I hope everyone has a great week! Talk atcha later on…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Broken?
I was taken aback once again on the ride in this morning. Cruising gently along, sun was shining strong, temps were beginning to climb the thermometer a bit…when LOOKOUT! Crazy driver flying out of a side street right in front of me – didn’t even slow down! Wow, there used to be a stop sign there, I wonder what happened to…nope, it’s still there. Huh, damn thing must be broken. Pity. It looks like a perfectly good stop sign, too (just looking at it, I would have thought it had years of service left in it). But I guess it’ll just have to be chalked up with all the other broken ones. Because all the stop signs that I see people flying through all the time…they must be broken, right?
And speaking of broken; I see all kinds of vehicles on the road nowadays that apparently have broken turn signals. It’s a damn shame – most of these vehicles are brand new, too! Why, I was behind a guy not too long ago and he looked like he’d driven his shiny 4 wheeled cage right off the lot. I was admiring this machine and thinking wow, what a nice ride that looks to be. We were approaching a side street that I was going to take, so I signaled my intentions, and began to slow down. Imagine my surprise when the guy in front of me also braked, but for no apparent reason. There was no indication why he was braking - was there something in the road? Nope, he was turning, also. Huh. Well now that just stinks. The poor guy obviously paid good money for that ride, and the damn thing doesn’t even have working turn signals? I felt very badly for him. And then it happened again! Another turn approaching for me…I signaled and slowed in preparation. Whoa, he’s slowing down again – I don’t see any reason for him to be braking…could it be…? Hey yeah, he’s turning also! And no signal again. Now by this time, I could just picture him, all upset and mad at himself for buying something that didn’t come with working signals. I opted to commiserate with him at the next light. Rolling up beside him, I gave him my most-sincere smile and said “That’s a nice ride you’ve got there!”, to which he happily replied “Thanks!” “Yeah”, I said, “It’s a damn shame the turn signals don’t work on it, huh?” at which point his face kind of glazed over with a look of confusion as his brain tried to sort out what had just happened. The light turned green and I smiled at him again. He rolled ahead of me and I pulled in behind him, happy to have made a new friend. (That’s a true story, too.)
So be careful out there. Broken stop signs…broken turn signals…
Wait…you don’t think…could it actually be the drivers that are broken?
Ride Hard, Take Chances
And speaking of broken; I see all kinds of vehicles on the road nowadays that apparently have broken turn signals. It’s a damn shame – most of these vehicles are brand new, too! Why, I was behind a guy not too long ago and he looked like he’d driven his shiny 4 wheeled cage right off the lot. I was admiring this machine and thinking wow, what a nice ride that looks to be. We were approaching a side street that I was going to take, so I signaled my intentions, and began to slow down. Imagine my surprise when the guy in front of me also braked, but for no apparent reason. There was no indication why he was braking - was there something in the road? Nope, he was turning, also. Huh. Well now that just stinks. The poor guy obviously paid good money for that ride, and the damn thing doesn’t even have working turn signals? I felt very badly for him. And then it happened again! Another turn approaching for me…I signaled and slowed in preparation. Whoa, he’s slowing down again – I don’t see any reason for him to be braking…could it be…? Hey yeah, he’s turning also! And no signal again. Now by this time, I could just picture him, all upset and mad at himself for buying something that didn’t come with working signals. I opted to commiserate with him at the next light. Rolling up beside him, I gave him my most-sincere smile and said “That’s a nice ride you’ve got there!”, to which he happily replied “Thanks!” “Yeah”, I said, “It’s a damn shame the turn signals don’t work on it, huh?” at which point his face kind of glazed over with a look of confusion as his brain tried to sort out what had just happened. The light turned green and I smiled at him again. He rolled ahead of me and I pulled in behind him, happy to have made a new friend. (That’s a true story, too.)
So be careful out there. Broken stop signs…broken turn signals…
Wait…you don’t think…could it actually be the drivers that are broken?
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Fore!!
A friend of mine from work (Marcie) convinced me to join her at a local driving range and whack some balls around. The forecasts had said today would be a good day so a plan was put into place.
I suppose I should mention that I’ve only golfed once in my lifetime – almost 25 years ago, and I sucked horribly. Since then, my only forte’ into the golfing lifestyle has been a round of mini-golf every few years.
So it should come as no surprise then, that I have a few issues with my form… (Apologies for the sideways clips, I’m intelligence-challenged)
Of course I was hamming it up to begin with, but I swear I was really trying to hit the ball each time.
Marcie has taken lessons and is an avid driving range aficionado, and she offered as many helpful suggestions as she could. But even she had to finally give up, commenting that it was unlikely I could come up with a more embarrassing approach than my current one.
Naturally, I took that as a challenge…
…so I opted for the Happy Gilmore approach…
(The curator of the range promptly approached us and asked that I not do this again.)
Settling into a bit of a rhythm, we managed to get through the rest of the balls without damage to either ourselves or anyone around us.
Returning the ‘house’ clubs to the counter, Marcie suggested we take a ride to the nearby Building 19 and see if they had any decent clubs for sale. Hell, we were only a couple of weekly warriors, we didn’t need any high-priced gear, just something slightly better than the ‘for public use’ (Translation; bent, dented and otherwise gently-used) clubs that are available at the range.
Strolling into the sports equipment aisle at the aforementioned Building 19, we were greeted with quite a selection. Although I’m not certain that everything on display was actually a club…
Is this thing for golfing or branding cattle?
And look; only $140 for it!
The white sticker on this one says “Includes torque wrench and owner’s manual”.
Torque wrench? Are you kidding me? What the hell needs torquing on a golf club??
Oh…
Wait, are those really bolts? On a golf club? This thing looks more like something out of War of the Worlds, than a golf club…
At any rate, I opted to pass on the new-clubs idea, but Marcie scored herself quite a deal; a three-pack of ladies clubs (different sizes), for a sweet price. Now she’s all excited to hit the range again. But I had fun so I’ll probably tag along, too.
Besides…where else can $10 get a guy all the balls he can whack? Don’t tell me I don’t know how to have a good time!
Drive Hard, Drive Long
I suppose I should mention that I’ve only golfed once in my lifetime – almost 25 years ago, and I sucked horribly. Since then, my only forte’ into the golfing lifestyle has been a round of mini-golf every few years.
So it should come as no surprise then, that I have a few issues with my form… (Apologies for the sideways clips, I’m intelligence-challenged)
Of course I was hamming it up to begin with, but I swear I was really trying to hit the ball each time.
Marcie has taken lessons and is an avid driving range aficionado, and she offered as many helpful suggestions as she could. But even she had to finally give up, commenting that it was unlikely I could come up with a more embarrassing approach than my current one.
Naturally, I took that as a challenge…
…so I opted for the Happy Gilmore approach…
(The curator of the range promptly approached us and asked that I not do this again.)
Settling into a bit of a rhythm, we managed to get through the rest of the balls without damage to either ourselves or anyone around us.
Returning the ‘house’ clubs to the counter, Marcie suggested we take a ride to the nearby Building 19 and see if they had any decent clubs for sale. Hell, we were only a couple of weekly warriors, we didn’t need any high-priced gear, just something slightly better than the ‘for public use’ (Translation; bent, dented and otherwise gently-used) clubs that are available at the range.
Strolling into the sports equipment aisle at the aforementioned Building 19, we were greeted with quite a selection. Although I’m not certain that everything on display was actually a club…
Is this thing for golfing or branding cattle?
And look; only $140 for it!
The white sticker on this one says “Includes torque wrench and owner’s manual”.
Torque wrench? Are you kidding me? What the hell needs torquing on a golf club??
Oh…
Wait, are those really bolts? On a golf club? This thing looks more like something out of War of the Worlds, than a golf club…At any rate, I opted to pass on the new-clubs idea, but Marcie scored herself quite a deal; a three-pack of ladies clubs (different sizes), for a sweet price. Now she’s all excited to hit the range again. But I had fun so I’ll probably tag along, too.
Besides…where else can $10 get a guy all the balls he can whack? Don’t tell me I don’t know how to have a good time!
Drive Hard, Drive Long
Monday, April 14, 2008
Time to Bitch!
Last week, I made mention of wanting to post a ‘bitch’ and since today is a Monday, it’s as good day as any. But I’ll make it brief;
Each day on my way in to work, I pass by house after house with kids waiting for the bus. Which is more than normal, hell most of us took the bus at some time or other in our childhoods. But the thing that runs up my ass sideways is that the parents of these kids that feel they have to drive their (SUV/sedan/truck) out to the end of the driveway to wait with them.
Now hear me out; I think it’s fantastic for parents to wait for the bus with their kids. You can talk about the day ahead, review homework assignments, generally spend some quality time together. It’s all great. But do you really need to sit in a car to do this?
Some of you might be thinking; “What if the driveway is like a mile long?” I’d say tough crap, deal with the exercise and enjoy the walk. Besides, I’m talking about driveways so short, that once the child has departed, the parent doesn’t even have enough room to turn the vehicle around before rolling it back into the heated garage. Driving 30 feet just so you can stay in your pajamas and slippers? Give me a break.
Ok, I’m done.
Or am I? Hmmm…I’ve got tons of things I could bitch about…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Each day on my way in to work, I pass by house after house with kids waiting for the bus. Which is more than normal, hell most of us took the bus at some time or other in our childhoods. But the thing that runs up my ass sideways is that the parents of these kids that feel they have to drive their (SUV/sedan/truck) out to the end of the driveway to wait with them.
Now hear me out; I think it’s fantastic for parents to wait for the bus with their kids. You can talk about the day ahead, review homework assignments, generally spend some quality time together. It’s all great. But do you really need to sit in a car to do this?
Some of you might be thinking; “What if the driveway is like a mile long?” I’d say tough crap, deal with the exercise and enjoy the walk. Besides, I’m talking about driveways so short, that once the child has departed, the parent doesn’t even have enough room to turn the vehicle around before rolling it back into the heated garage. Driving 30 feet just so you can stay in your pajamas and slippers? Give me a break.
Ok, I’m done.
Or am I? Hmmm…I’ve got tons of things I could bitch about…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Flex rolls again
Flex swung by the house on Tuesday night to pick up his bike. (I'm happy to say the new crash bars didn't wind up posing any fitment issues with the door frame.) He was happier'n a pig in...well...you know. Here's a pic of the guy, suiting up for the ride home...
Just look at that mile-wide...hey Flex, smile. C'mon, smile for the camera... Smile, dammit!
Switching gears; the Fatboy seat that I'd ordered showed up and it looks magnificent. Supposedly it came right off a brand new '02 bike and has been in storage since then. All I know is it looks perfect and doesn't even look like it's been sat on, once. So that'll be going on the Fatboy...eventually.
What else... I've got some bitching I want to post, but not today. It's almost the weekend, the morning rain clouds are breaking apart, temps are supposed to be high 60's for the ride home...today's not a day to bitch. Today's a day to enjoy the road with a smile on the face and a song in the ear.
Heading to Maine for the weekend, so that'll be some good riding. Weather looks like it'll be ass for the entire stretch, but oh well. Duck behind the windshield, kick up the tunes, and rock out. Hopefully you all have a good weekend in store and with any luck will be able to get the bikes out. Enjoy!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Monday, April 7, 2008
Tech Tips! Two-for-One, Today!
Tech Tip #1; how to apply your current registration sticker. I know many of you have often wondered how to tackle this daunting task and I hope this sheds some light on the process for you.
1) Clean off surface of old sticker (bloody fingers, optional).
2) Remove backings from new sticker and apply over prior year’s sticker.
3) Ta da!
1) Clean off surface of old sticker (bloody fingers, optional).
2) Remove backings from new sticker and apply over prior year’s sticker.
3) Ta da!
Tech Tip #2: installing crash bars
I’d taken the bike out for a bit of a spin yesterday and arrived back home to find Flex’s truck in my driveway. Hmmm, maybe he’s come to get his bike? (It resided in my basement for the winter.) Nope; he’s brought his new crash bars and we’re going to install them. Cool, we haven’t done anything tech-related for a while and this will be a simple one. Sweet!
First thing we gotta do is make some room to move. Hey look, it’s a convoy of motorcycles. And what’s that in the back? Why, it’s a Fatboy! And it’s still for sale!
I figured I’d offer it one more time to Flex, since he was there. Here’s how the conversation went;
Me: Flex, can I interest you in this lovely Fatboy?
Flex: Maybe…but it’d have to have 71,000 miles on it.
Me: Why, believe it or not, it does!
Flex: And it’d have to have been punched into a tree…
Me:– Yes, it has been!
Flex: And the front fender would need to have the paint all scuffed up…
Me: Holy crap, is this your lucky day!
He said he’d need some time to think about it, so we set to work on the crash bars.
Said crash bars; neat and clean in their wrapper…
Here’s our work area – notice the framing of the walls is still on-going…
First, we gotta remove the Gremlin bell, which is currently attached on the center down-tube brace. Flex took the opportunity to polish it up and I figured the little guy would like to see things from where the real action is. Setting him up on the seat, he was ready to hit the highways…
Here’s a shot of the highway pegs that are currently on the bike. Those have to come off to give us the clearance (Clarence) for the crash bars.
To remove those, the rubber floor mats on the floorboards need to come up, exposing the two mounting bolts.
Removed those bolts and the highway peg drops right off.
Flex broke the polish out again and cleaned the chrome up something fierce. Look at how nice and shiny that is!
Now we install the rubber back onto the floorboard, covering up the nice shiny chrome so that no one will see it (shhh, it’ll be our little secret). Then we did the same process on the other side, (again being sure to polish the chrome that no one will see).
Next, we lined up the new crash bars to see how they’d fit in; the top mounts against that down tube brace (1 bolt), and the bottoms mount on the insides of the floorboard brackets (1 bolt each).
Here’s an action photo! Flex; applying some loctite…
And that’s that! Crash bars are installed. Not bad at all – He'll have to pick up some mounting hardware to put the highway pegs up on the sides of the crash bar, but that’s a tech tip for another day.
After that, we reinstalled the Gremlin bell, and we were done.
Here’s the new profile, looking from the seat…
Here’s the happy owner. Hey, that’s a sharp lookin’ bike you got there, Mister…
After that, we turned the bike around (requiring a formidable 37 point turn), stuck its ass-end out the cellar door and fired her up. She came right to life, bringing an even bigger smile to Flex’s face. He’s hoping to come back for it this week sometime. The weather looks like it’ll be cooperating, so with any luck, he’ll be back on the road quite soon...and I’ll have a bit more working room in my cellar.
So we shut her down, rolled her back in and turned her around again (requiring yet another formidable turning process). When she cooled a bit, we threw the cover back on her, cleaned up the tools and headed for the stairs.
As Flex was walking out, he turned and said “Ya know…I sure hope that bike fits out the door now…”
Ride Hard, Take Chances
I’d taken the bike out for a bit of a spin yesterday and arrived back home to find Flex’s truck in my driveway. Hmmm, maybe he’s come to get his bike? (It resided in my basement for the winter.) Nope; he’s brought his new crash bars and we’re going to install them. Cool, we haven’t done anything tech-related for a while and this will be a simple one. Sweet!
First thing we gotta do is make some room to move. Hey look, it’s a convoy of motorcycles. And what’s that in the back? Why, it’s a Fatboy! And it’s still for sale!
I figured I’d offer it one more time to Flex, since he was there. Here’s how the conversation went;
Me: Flex, can I interest you in this lovely Fatboy?
Flex: Maybe…but it’d have to have 71,000 miles on it.
Me: Why, believe it or not, it does!
Flex: And it’d have to have been punched into a tree…
Me:– Yes, it has been!
Flex: And the front fender would need to have the paint all scuffed up…
Me: Holy crap, is this your lucky day!
He said he’d need some time to think about it, so we set to work on the crash bars.
Said crash bars; neat and clean in their wrapper…
Here’s our work area – notice the framing of the walls is still on-going…
First, we gotta remove the Gremlin bell, which is currently attached on the center down-tube brace. Flex took the opportunity to polish it up and I figured the little guy would like to see things from where the real action is. Setting him up on the seat, he was ready to hit the highways…
Here’s a shot of the highway pegs that are currently on the bike. Those have to come off to give us the clearance (Clarence) for the crash bars.
To remove those, the rubber floor mats on the floorboards need to come up, exposing the two mounting bolts.
Removed those bolts and the highway peg drops right off.
Flex broke the polish out again and cleaned the chrome up something fierce. Look at how nice and shiny that is!
Now we install the rubber back onto the floorboard, covering up the nice shiny chrome so that no one will see it (shhh, it’ll be our little secret). Then we did the same process on the other side, (again being sure to polish the chrome that no one will see).
Next, we lined up the new crash bars to see how they’d fit in; the top mounts against that down tube brace (1 bolt), and the bottoms mount on the insides of the floorboard brackets (1 bolt each).
Here’s an action photo! Flex; applying some loctite…
And that’s that! Crash bars are installed. Not bad at all – He'll have to pick up some mounting hardware to put the highway pegs up on the sides of the crash bar, but that’s a tech tip for another day.
After that, we reinstalled the Gremlin bell, and we were done.
Here’s the new profile, looking from the seat…
Here’s the happy owner. Hey, that’s a sharp lookin’ bike you got there, Mister…
After that, we turned the bike around (requiring a formidable 37 point turn), stuck its ass-end out the cellar door and fired her up. She came right to life, bringing an even bigger smile to Flex’s face. He’s hoping to come back for it this week sometime. The weather looks like it’ll be cooperating, so with any luck, he’ll be back on the road quite soon...and I’ll have a bit more working room in my cellar.
So we shut her down, rolled her back in and turned her around again (requiring yet another formidable turning process). When she cooled a bit, we threw the cover back on her, cleaned up the tools and headed for the stairs.
As Flex was walking out, he turned and said “Ya know…I sure hope that bike fits out the door now…”
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Dropped the new bike last night
Dropped it off at the dealership for it’s first service, that is. Heh heh heh.
But this means I have no wheels for 2 days (why two days? They did us a favor by squeezing us in on short notice, so we weren’t going to argue if they said they needed two days to get both bikes fit in).
So anyways, having a dead truck and a bike being serviced means I have no wheels. What to do? Well, I gotta get to work…so Brother Bill lent me his bike; ’02 Deuce…no windshield, no fairing, no radio. Jeez, it’s like I’m riding a real motorcycle again. None of this living room sofa crap that I’ve become far too accustomed to of late.
Temps this morning; 31 degrees. Hmmm…having a windshield allows for some exposed skin on mornings like this, but no windshield = no room for sloppiness. Damn…ok, I did this for years, I can certainly do it again. Wrapped up tight? Ok, let’s roll. Damn, missed a spot on my forehead, its freezing up pretty fast. Ok, tug the hat a little lower…that’s better. Now there’s a spot beside my right eye which is exposed. Adjust the face mask to cover that up. Crap! Too much - now there’s a spot on my left cheek that just became exposed. Where the hell is my windshield?!?
Ok, settle down. Actually, this is nice. Feet are splayed out in front of me, I’ve got that familiar “leaning-forward, arms locked, back-hunched” riding position going again...neck muscles are tightening up, wind is racing up my pant legs, fingers and toes are yelling at me, my head is wrapped up so tightly that I can’t move it more than 2 inches either way…yep, I’m a real biker again!
(Oh yeah; Bill’s bike is a lean, mean, street fighting machine, so it doesn’t have any of those sissy things on it. You know; like forward controls. You can imagine how many times I tried to shift by stepping my foot downwards…into thin air. Folks behind me must have been thinking “Why does this retard keep trying to pedal his motorcycle?”)
And no tunes! Holy crap, I actually have to talk to myself again?? I thought those days were gone!?!
Ok…ok…I’ll get through this…
Oh yeah; Zig and I scrapped the plans to ride to Jersey on Saturday. Weather wasn’t going to cooperate. Plus; considering the outlay we each just did, it’s not like we can easily justify throwing money around on bars, concerts and hotels. (At least not right away. Maybe in another month…)
Lastly; I need to clean up some things on the Fatboy before I try and sell it. One thing needing replacing is the seat. My ass has worn more than a few wrinkles in it, and some of those wrinkles have actually cracked. So a new seat is in order. I found one on Craigslist – the guy selling it was actually in Jersey and I was going to check it out when Zig and I rode down there. But now that we won’t be there, I’m having it shipped up. I’m buying it sight-unseen, which I recommend against, but I’ve been talking with the guy a few times and he seems pretty cool and legit. Famous last words? Time will tell…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
But this means I have no wheels for 2 days (why two days? They did us a favor by squeezing us in on short notice, so we weren’t going to argue if they said they needed two days to get both bikes fit in).
So anyways, having a dead truck and a bike being serviced means I have no wheels. What to do? Well, I gotta get to work…so Brother Bill lent me his bike; ’02 Deuce…no windshield, no fairing, no radio. Jeez, it’s like I’m riding a real motorcycle again. None of this living room sofa crap that I’ve become far too accustomed to of late.
Temps this morning; 31 degrees. Hmmm…having a windshield allows for some exposed skin on mornings like this, but no windshield = no room for sloppiness. Damn…ok, I did this for years, I can certainly do it again. Wrapped up tight? Ok, let’s roll. Damn, missed a spot on my forehead, its freezing up pretty fast. Ok, tug the hat a little lower…that’s better. Now there’s a spot beside my right eye which is exposed. Adjust the face mask to cover that up. Crap! Too much - now there’s a spot on my left cheek that just became exposed. Where the hell is my windshield?!?
Ok, settle down. Actually, this is nice. Feet are splayed out in front of me, I’ve got that familiar “leaning-forward, arms locked, back-hunched” riding position going again...neck muscles are tightening up, wind is racing up my pant legs, fingers and toes are yelling at me, my head is wrapped up so tightly that I can’t move it more than 2 inches either way…yep, I’m a real biker again!
(Oh yeah; Bill’s bike is a lean, mean, street fighting machine, so it doesn’t have any of those sissy things on it. You know; like forward controls. You can imagine how many times I tried to shift by stepping my foot downwards…into thin air. Folks behind me must have been thinking “Why does this retard keep trying to pedal his motorcycle?”)
And no tunes! Holy crap, I actually have to talk to myself again?? I thought those days were gone!?!
Ok…ok…I’ll get through this…
Oh yeah; Zig and I scrapped the plans to ride to Jersey on Saturday. Weather wasn’t going to cooperate. Plus; considering the outlay we each just did, it’s not like we can easily justify throwing money around on bars, concerts and hotels. (At least not right away. Maybe in another month…)
Lastly; I need to clean up some things on the Fatboy before I try and sell it. One thing needing replacing is the seat. My ass has worn more than a few wrinkles in it, and some of those wrinkles have actually cracked. So a new seat is in order. I found one on Craigslist – the guy selling it was actually in Jersey and I was going to check it out when Zig and I rode down there. But now that we won’t be there, I’m having it shipped up. I’m buying it sight-unseen, which I recommend against, but I’ve been talking with the guy a few times and he seems pretty cool and legit. Famous last words? Time will tell…
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I am the Fool
So I'm sitting here this morning, working diligently, when one of the girls here calls and says "Hey, there's a cruiser parked by your bike and the cop is over at it, writing something down." What the? So I jump up and look out my window....and I can hear her laughter coming out of the handset. Ahh yes; April Fools. And I am the fool.
And speaking of April Fool's jokes, I was donating blood this afternoon and the nurse and I had each other in stitches. I told her a great joke would be to bring in a turkey baster filled with red food coloring. When she goes to stick someone with the needle, give that baster a squeeze and send a stream of crimson gushing towards the ceiling. Scream out "WE'VE GOT A BLEEDER!" and watch the hilarity ensue. (As funny as it sounded, she didn't seem to be on board with actually trying it out. Can you believe that?)
So be careful today - there's many a fool out there...I know...because I am one of them...
And speaking of April Fool's jokes, I was donating blood this afternoon and the nurse and I had each other in stitches. I told her a great joke would be to bring in a turkey baster filled with red food coloring. When she goes to stick someone with the needle, give that baster a squeeze and send a stream of crimson gushing towards the ceiling. Scream out "WE'VE GOT A BLEEDER!" and watch the hilarity ensue. (As funny as it sounded, she didn't seem to be on board with actually trying it out. Can you believe that?)
So be careful today - there's many a fool out there...I know...because I am one of them...
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