My phone beeped...a text had come in...it was from Lynner...and she was claiming to have an email address now? How could this be? She's one of the last holdouts. But sure enough; she asked me for my email address and after I'd given it to her...^ding!^...an email from her popped in. Hey, how about that - Lynner has email!
Now I can sign her up for all kinds of email nonsense... :-D
Friday, January 31, 2014
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Nothing's Brewing
Wasn't it just last week that I said I would try and do a better job with posting things? And here it is, a week later, and nothing has changed. I'm afraid I don't have any pics for you, but in the interest of getting something up here, here's a little of what the last week has been like.
Saturday I had a Legion Riders fundraiser at the Post. The turnout wasn't enormous, but we still had a lot of laughs and managed to raise a good chunk of change for our chapter.
Sunday was very low key. There was no football on (the Pro Bowl does not count as football!), and I was sick with that headcold that's going around so I just stayed in and got cozy with my couch.
Monday - worked late...
Tuesday - worked late...
Yesterday - was gonna work late, but one of my coworkers has been hounding me to take her to that local brewery that's one town over. I've blogged about it before; Jack's Abby Brewery. A couple other coworkers wanted to go as well, so we'd tentatively talked about going tonight (Thursday). Well, the coworker who's been bugging me said she couldn't make it tonight, so we shifted our plans and went last night.
Why is any of this worth mentioning? Because that little brewery I blogged about a little over a year ago...with its 3 brothers who are the owners and were the sole employees at the time...is booming now. BOOMING! They've totally redone their tasting room, and now have a bar-like atmosphere in a room that's about three times as big as what they had before. They've also secured a "pour" license, meaning they can sell beers there, and are now officially open from noon to 8, Wednesday - Saturday. Last night was their first official night with the new hours, and the place was packed! And...they've apparently exploded with employees. I saw over new 20 people there last night milling around either helping customers, or out back in the brewing area. And as I stood there enjoying such flavorful offerings such as vanilla porter, as well as smoky dark ales, it ocurred to me that I probably should have asked the 3 brothers a year ago if they needed any help around the place.
Because being an analyst for a software company during the day certainly pays the bills...but getting in on the ground floor and being a part of an up and coming brewery...well that would have kicked ass.
Oh well...time to go look at some more spreadsheets...
Saturday I had a Legion Riders fundraiser at the Post. The turnout wasn't enormous, but we still had a lot of laughs and managed to raise a good chunk of change for our chapter.
Sunday was very low key. There was no football on (the Pro Bowl does not count as football!), and I was sick with that headcold that's going around so I just stayed in and got cozy with my couch.
Monday - worked late...
Tuesday - worked late...
Yesterday - was gonna work late, but one of my coworkers has been hounding me to take her to that local brewery that's one town over. I've blogged about it before; Jack's Abby Brewery. A couple other coworkers wanted to go as well, so we'd tentatively talked about going tonight (Thursday). Well, the coworker who's been bugging me said she couldn't make it tonight, so we shifted our plans and went last night.
Why is any of this worth mentioning? Because that little brewery I blogged about a little over a year ago...with its 3 brothers who are the owners and were the sole employees at the time...is booming now. BOOMING! They've totally redone their tasting room, and now have a bar-like atmosphere in a room that's about three times as big as what they had before. They've also secured a "pour" license, meaning they can sell beers there, and are now officially open from noon to 8, Wednesday - Saturday. Last night was their first official night with the new hours, and the place was packed! And...they've apparently exploded with employees. I saw over new 20 people there last night milling around either helping customers, or out back in the brewing area. And as I stood there enjoying such flavorful offerings such as vanilla porter, as well as smoky dark ales, it ocurred to me that I probably should have asked the 3 brothers a year ago if they needed any help around the place.
Because being an analyst for a software company during the day certainly pays the bills...but getting in on the ground floor and being a part of an up and coming brewery...well that would have kicked ass.
Oh well...time to go look at some more spreadsheets...
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Sucking, and Cemeteries
Wow, I'm sucking the big one lately, aren't I? Averaging one post per week? That's pretty lame. I would love to say things will improve but truth be told; there's not a lot going on in the dead of winter to blog about. But, I will do some digging and see if I can find some leftovers from the past summer or fall.
Ahh, here we go; I stumbled upon a cemetery a few months ago and never got the pics/writeup done. It was in early November, the air was quite chilly but the sky was clear and the roads were beckoning. I did my usual "pick a direction and see where I wind up" thing and after about an hour, I saw an old beat-up sign for a cemetery entrance coming up. Nice - I like checking out cemeteries, let's see what this one holds.
Pulling in, I was surprised to see how expansive it was. Situated atop a large hill, it sat right next to a main thoroughfare, yet due to its elevation; passers-by would be hard pressed to even know it was there.
There was a gigantic oak tree perched almost dead-center on the peak of the hill. It was almost completely bereft of leaves, yet its branches swept outwards over the gravestones like large protective arms.
Setting the kickstand, I began by heading over to a small plot off by its own, against the back fence. The stones here were far too old to make out any distinguishing markings, but whomever was here, they'd apparently served their country, as indicated by the diligent placement of a small flag in the Veteran's marker.
From here, I ambled about, trying to make out dates and writings on some of the stones. This was indeed a very old cemetery; most of the markers were the old sandstone style, and had worn tremendously...
...or delaminated completely. (If you click on the picture and look closely, you can still see markings of some sort of circular design at the top.)
I wasn't sure what to make of this one. From the enormous lettering and dates, it appears this is only the left side of a full stone, yet the round, centered peak on top seems to indicate it's the stone in its entirety.
This stone is well under way toward being overrun with fungus. If you look closely, you can still make out a couple of "A"s, maybe a "K", and what could possibly be the top half of an "S".
This appeared to be a family section. The headstones, despite being quite old marble, were still the newest ones around. The square granite posts surrounding them used to support an iron rail of some sort, and you can see the remains of an iron pinning embedded in the top of the post closest in the pic.
Now this stone wound up bringing me a surprise, but I didn't realize it when I took the pic. I didn't realize it until just now, as I'm writing this post... I tried reading the inscription and wasn't sure if it was a personal message, or maybe a poem used for graves. I figured what the heck, I'll try Googling it and seeing if it's on-line somewhere. Turns out it was, but not because the poem is well known, but because there's a website out there that posts about historic gravestones...and they'd done a post about this particular stone - very cool!
Here's the link, check it out; http://symbolicpast.blogspot.com/2011/10/deacon-joseph-holbrook-bellingham-ma.html
This monument stood quite tall amongst the other markers, and seemed picture-worthy.
This guy has seen some long days and years. The death date is noted as November 17, 1922, for a 30 year old Miss Polly Hill. There appeared to be glue residue on the bottom of the split so perhaps this stone has been repaired before.
The sun was fading in the distance and the chill was getting deeper. I had a number of miles between myself and home, so I decided to take my leave...
...but not before one more picture.
The cemetery was in shade, the setting sun was emblazoning the surrounding trees with one last burst of light before dropping away for the evening...it was time to call it a day.
I wrapped myself back up in my cold weather trappings, eased the kickstand back up to it's resting spot against the primary, and with one last look at the scenery around me, I pointed my tire for home.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Ahh, here we go; I stumbled upon a cemetery a few months ago and never got the pics/writeup done. It was in early November, the air was quite chilly but the sky was clear and the roads were beckoning. I did my usual "pick a direction and see where I wind up" thing and after about an hour, I saw an old beat-up sign for a cemetery entrance coming up. Nice - I like checking out cemeteries, let's see what this one holds.
Pulling in, I was surprised to see how expansive it was. Situated atop a large hill, it sat right next to a main thoroughfare, yet due to its elevation; passers-by would be hard pressed to even know it was there.
There was a gigantic oak tree perched almost dead-center on the peak of the hill. It was almost completely bereft of leaves, yet its branches swept outwards over the gravestones like large protective arms.
Setting the kickstand, I began by heading over to a small plot off by its own, against the back fence. The stones here were far too old to make out any distinguishing markings, but whomever was here, they'd apparently served their country, as indicated by the diligent placement of a small flag in the Veteran's marker.
From here, I ambled about, trying to make out dates and writings on some of the stones. This was indeed a very old cemetery; most of the markers were the old sandstone style, and had worn tremendously...
...or delaminated completely. (If you click on the picture and look closely, you can still see markings of some sort of circular design at the top.)
I wasn't sure what to make of this one. From the enormous lettering and dates, it appears this is only the left side of a full stone, yet the round, centered peak on top seems to indicate it's the stone in its entirety.
This stone is well under way toward being overrun with fungus. If you look closely, you can still make out a couple of "A"s, maybe a "K", and what could possibly be the top half of an "S".
This appeared to be a family section. The headstones, despite being quite old marble, were still the newest ones around. The square granite posts surrounding them used to support an iron rail of some sort, and you can see the remains of an iron pinning embedded in the top of the post closest in the pic.
Now this stone wound up bringing me a surprise, but I didn't realize it when I took the pic. I didn't realize it until just now, as I'm writing this post... I tried reading the inscription and wasn't sure if it was a personal message, or maybe a poem used for graves. I figured what the heck, I'll try Googling it and seeing if it's on-line somewhere. Turns out it was, but not because the poem is well known, but because there's a website out there that posts about historic gravestones...and they'd done a post about this particular stone - very cool!
Here's the link, check it out; http://symbolicpast.blogspot.com/2011/10/deacon-joseph-holbrook-bellingham-ma.html
This monument stood quite tall amongst the other markers, and seemed picture-worthy.
This guy has seen some long days and years. The death date is noted as November 17, 1922, for a 30 year old Miss Polly Hill. There appeared to be glue residue on the bottom of the split so perhaps this stone has been repaired before.
The sun was fading in the distance and the chill was getting deeper. I had a number of miles between myself and home, so I decided to take my leave...
...but not before one more picture.
The cemetery was in shade, the setting sun was emblazoning the surrounding trees with one last burst of light before dropping away for the evening...it was time to call it a day.
I wrapped myself back up in my cold weather trappings, eased the kickstand back up to it's resting spot against the primary, and with one last look at the scenery around me, I pointed my tire for home.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
2014 Motorcycle Expo
This past weekend, a number of us got together and headed into Boston for the (?) annual Northeast Motorcycle Expo. Doesn't seem like a whole year has gone by since the last time we checked this thing out, but yep; it's been a full 12 months.
I'd heard through the grapevine that radio commercials were touting a biker build-off this year, so my hopes were high for a more-interesting show than what's been presented for the past (too many) years. After paying the entrance fee (fifteen bones), we all split into our own directions and headed off into the noise.
Alas; there was no build-off going on. They did have the "Axe Girls Of Maine" there, which was kinda interesting...for a short time. A number of women tour the country doing chainsaw and axe competitions (hot saw, standing log split, etc.). [shrug]
Ok, enough rambling, let's see some pics of the bikes.
I was hoping for some awesome bobbers, but I didn't see anything that blew my socks off. There were, however, a number of interesting ones there (if you click on the pics, they should open up larger). I apologize for the blurriness - I guess I should have made sure my lens was clean.
Here was a nice old Harley...
This thing is lean as hell...but where are you going to go to? Around the block? I don't know what the fuel capacity is, but it sure can't be much.
Again with the huge front tires. There was a bike here last year that had a giant front tire, and I think this one is even bigger. I overheard one of the owners talking to a patron about handling and he was saying it didn't handle any differently than any other bike. I'm not buying that.
A nice chopped bobber. I love the seat and hardtail rear end on this. I'm not much of a fan of the chopped frame, but still; I did like this one, overall.
A standard, stretched chopper. Nothing special about this one. Hey wai,t it says Budweiser on it! That must make it awesome, right? Nah...
Hold on there a minute...this one actually has a six-pack worked into the mix. You probably can't make it out because of the blurriness, but it looks like at least one of the cans is plumbed in with the fuel line. Maybe a fuel filter is tucked in there? I'm not sure, but it did a bit of 'interesting' to the bike.
This is more my style. A bit small for my liking, but a mean, stripped bobber (even if it does have a Springer front end). Low and lean - very nice!
These next two bikes were obviously old-school themed. Wrapped pipes, chopped and stretched hardtail frames. For me it was more the rear ends that caught my eye, especially on the second one. Nothing there but pure necessity.
This next bike was built in memory of a guy nicknamed "Crispy". Whoever built this tribute bike went to a lot of work, coming up with some really unique customizations to honor their friend.
First; a pic of the bike in it's entirety...
Then, a pic of some of the special mods done by the builder (again; click on the pic to enlarge it).
A close-up of the ceramic knife switch for the headlight...
The candlestick footpegs and clawfoot kickstand...
The skeleton key switch (located inside the gas tank? Very slick!) and the gas lantern petcocks on the fuel lines...
Here, you can see the grips which apparently were wrapped with sections of the straps they used to lower Crispy into the ground with. (Actually, now that I'm looking at the pics again, you can see the grips better in the pic above this one.)
Ok, moving along. And speaking of moving along - this bike would be just what you needed, if you needed to get someplace fast. (Yes, the tanks are not connected, and may even be empty, but something tells me that this bike is rigged up to take both tanks.)
A very cool idea, even if not very reliable. A frame made entirely of welded chain. The bike looked like it had been ridden, but I'm hoping no high/speedlong-distance trips were made on this thing. I can just picture hitting a pothole at 80 on the highway...
Certainly a very clean bike, even if not exactly sure what it wants to be. A bobber? Seems to have too much going on to be a legit bobber. The frame isn't stretched, either. Maybe raked a little? [shrug]
There were some respectable old Indians in attendance...
This is probably the closes I came to finding a bike that really speaks to me. Stripped to the bone, no front fender, bare minimum mechanics, and nice fat tires. And no Springer front end! The only two things that jump out at me that I'd change if this were my bike is the handlebars and the rims. Spokes = too much maintenance for me, thanks. But overall, I really liked this bike.
This was a replica Harley Davidson Land Speed Streamliner. Click on the "information" picture, below this one, to get the full story on it.
A labor of love by the sounds of it, and by a talented guy with a ton of time on his hand. Too bad he never got to see his creation in action.
This struck me as funny. I don't know if the owner is making a statement by using a fine silver serving tray as his oil pan or not...
I'm not much of a fan of the peanut tanks on top of the frames, but I did like the look of this bike. Bare rear end, wrapped pipes...and while it does look like the front end has been raked, the frame itself seems to have been left alone. And let's face it; that is a sharp color.
Another sharp bike, although I don't care for the front end at all. Raked, and just too thin. Too wimpy. But I love the hardtail style and the bobbed rear end. Another sharp color, too.
Ok, enough of the bikes that were worth paying attention to. Unfortunately, here's what many of the bikes at the show look like. Rice rockets, flamboyant paint jobs, under-carriage lighting (not necessarily bad by itself), but put all this together and it strikes me as a circus wagon. Does anything about this bike say "Let's take off for the weekend and enjoy some cool roads"?
One disclaimer; I did like the paint job on this bike. The pic doesn't do it justice, but when the light hit it, the paing kept shimmering in different shades of bluish-green.
That was it. After we'd rounded each other up and made for the exit, the consensus was unanimous; we wouldn't be back next year. In fact, we'll probably take a number of years off before we come again. It would be great if there were more old bikes and more old-school customs, but that's apparently not what this show caters to. Hell, I can't blame them; they've got a huge money-maker going - when we first arrived, the line to get in was two blocks long. And when we left, there was still a line outside. That - is - a - lot - of - money. And if a money-maker ain't broke, it ain't gonna be fixed.
And there you have it; the 2014 Motorcycle Expo.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
I'd heard through the grapevine that radio commercials were touting a biker build-off this year, so my hopes were high for a more-interesting show than what's been presented for the past (too many) years. After paying the entrance fee (fifteen bones), we all split into our own directions and headed off into the noise.
Alas; there was no build-off going on. They did have the "Axe Girls Of Maine" there, which was kinda interesting...for a short time. A number of women tour the country doing chainsaw and axe competitions (hot saw, standing log split, etc.). [shrug]
Ok, enough rambling, let's see some pics of the bikes.
I was hoping for some awesome bobbers, but I didn't see anything that blew my socks off. There were, however, a number of interesting ones there (if you click on the pics, they should open up larger). I apologize for the blurriness - I guess I should have made sure my lens was clean.
Here was a nice old Harley...
This thing is lean as hell...but where are you going to go to? Around the block? I don't know what the fuel capacity is, but it sure can't be much.
Again with the huge front tires. There was a bike here last year that had a giant front tire, and I think this one is even bigger. I overheard one of the owners talking to a patron about handling and he was saying it didn't handle any differently than any other bike. I'm not buying that.
A nice chopped bobber. I love the seat and hardtail rear end on this. I'm not much of a fan of the chopped frame, but still; I did like this one, overall.
A standard, stretched chopper. Nothing special about this one. Hey wai,t it says Budweiser on it! That must make it awesome, right? Nah...
Hold on there a minute...this one actually has a six-pack worked into the mix. You probably can't make it out because of the blurriness, but it looks like at least one of the cans is plumbed in with the fuel line. Maybe a fuel filter is tucked in there? I'm not sure, but it did a bit of 'interesting' to the bike.
This is more my style. A bit small for my liking, but a mean, stripped bobber (even if it does have a Springer front end). Low and lean - very nice!
These next two bikes were obviously old-school themed. Wrapped pipes, chopped and stretched hardtail frames. For me it was more the rear ends that caught my eye, especially on the second one. Nothing there but pure necessity.
This next bike was built in memory of a guy nicknamed "Crispy". Whoever built this tribute bike went to a lot of work, coming up with some really unique customizations to honor their friend.
First; a pic of the bike in it's entirety...
Then, a pic of some of the special mods done by the builder (again; click on the pic to enlarge it).
A close-up of the ceramic knife switch for the headlight...
The candlestick footpegs and clawfoot kickstand...
The skeleton key switch (located inside the gas tank? Very slick!) and the gas lantern petcocks on the fuel lines...
Here, you can see the grips which apparently were wrapped with sections of the straps they used to lower Crispy into the ground with. (Actually, now that I'm looking at the pics again, you can see the grips better in the pic above this one.)
Ok, moving along. And speaking of moving along - this bike would be just what you needed, if you needed to get someplace fast. (Yes, the tanks are not connected, and may even be empty, but something tells me that this bike is rigged up to take both tanks.)
A very cool idea, even if not very reliable. A frame made entirely of welded chain. The bike looked like it had been ridden, but I'm hoping no high/speedlong-distance trips were made on this thing. I can just picture hitting a pothole at 80 on the highway...
Certainly a very clean bike, even if not exactly sure what it wants to be. A bobber? Seems to have too much going on to be a legit bobber. The frame isn't stretched, either. Maybe raked a little? [shrug]
There were some respectable old Indians in attendance...
This is probably the closes I came to finding a bike that really speaks to me. Stripped to the bone, no front fender, bare minimum mechanics, and nice fat tires. And no Springer front end! The only two things that jump out at me that I'd change if this were my bike is the handlebars and the rims. Spokes = too much maintenance for me, thanks. But overall, I really liked this bike.
This was a replica Harley Davidson Land Speed Streamliner. Click on the "information" picture, below this one, to get the full story on it.
A labor of love by the sounds of it, and by a talented guy with a ton of time on his hand. Too bad he never got to see his creation in action.
This struck me as funny. I don't know if the owner is making a statement by using a fine silver serving tray as his oil pan or not...
I'm not much of a fan of the peanut tanks on top of the frames, but I did like the look of this bike. Bare rear end, wrapped pipes...and while it does look like the front end has been raked, the frame itself seems to have been left alone. And let's face it; that is a sharp color.
Another sharp bike, although I don't care for the front end at all. Raked, and just too thin. Too wimpy. But I love the hardtail style and the bobbed rear end. Another sharp color, too.
Ok, enough of the bikes that were worth paying attention to. Unfortunately, here's what many of the bikes at the show look like. Rice rockets, flamboyant paint jobs, under-carriage lighting (not necessarily bad by itself), but put all this together and it strikes me as a circus wagon. Does anything about this bike say "Let's take off for the weekend and enjoy some cool roads"?
One disclaimer; I did like the paint job on this bike. The pic doesn't do it justice, but when the light hit it, the paing kept shimmering in different shades of bluish-green.
That was it. After we'd rounded each other up and made for the exit, the consensus was unanimous; we wouldn't be back next year. In fact, we'll probably take a number of years off before we come again. It would be great if there were more old bikes and more old-school customs, but that's apparently not what this show caters to. Hell, I can't blame them; they've got a huge money-maker going - when we first arrived, the line to get in was two blocks long. And when we left, there was still a line outside. That - is - a - lot - of - money. And if a money-maker ain't broke, it ain't gonna be fixed.
And there you have it; the 2014 Motorcycle Expo.
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Thursday, January 9, 2014
The Year Is Almost Over
Obviously the year is not almost over, but I can't believe it's been a week already since I posted last. You guys must be getting tired of me not posting very frequently.
Not much has been going on. The snowstorm I mentioned in my last post turned out to be a doozy. Thankfully, I took the day off and was able to take my time with the shoveling. I got about a foot, all told, and it took 4 shoveling sessions to get things done and done.
Then, promptly three days later, we had some tremendous rain which washed just about all of the snow away. That sounds great and all, but the same day that it poured, the temps then dropped into the single digits that night, so the towns dropped a ton of salt back down again. It's not too big a deal, though. I haven't had much free time anyway, so the fact that we've had black ice spots on the road, salt all over the place, and temps in the below-zero range, hasn't really impacted me much.
Well, except for the frozen pipe I did have over the weekend. Thankfully, nothing burst and a little time with a hairdryer and I was good to go again.
The next thing on the docket for the bike is to yank out the radio - which hasn't been working since last summer. I'll send that off to the place that repairs the Harmon Karden radios and I should be good to go soon. Oh yeah - I also picked up replacement speaker brackets for inside the fairing, which will reduce the wear and tear on the radio, so it'll hopefully last a long time, this time around.
So I guess that's it for this week. Big Patriots game on Saturday night, so GO PATS!!!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Not much has been going on. The snowstorm I mentioned in my last post turned out to be a doozy. Thankfully, I took the day off and was able to take my time with the shoveling. I got about a foot, all told, and it took 4 shoveling sessions to get things done and done.
Then, promptly three days later, we had some tremendous rain which washed just about all of the snow away. That sounds great and all, but the same day that it poured, the temps then dropped into the single digits that night, so the towns dropped a ton of salt back down again. It's not too big a deal, though. I haven't had much free time anyway, so the fact that we've had black ice spots on the road, salt all over the place, and temps in the below-zero range, hasn't really impacted me much.
Well, except for the frozen pipe I did have over the weekend. Thankfully, nothing burst and a little time with a hairdryer and I was good to go again.
The next thing on the docket for the bike is to yank out the radio - which hasn't been working since last summer. I'll send that off to the place that repairs the Harmon Karden radios and I should be good to go soon. Oh yeah - I also picked up replacement speaker brackets for inside the fairing, which will reduce the wear and tear on the radio, so it'll hopefully last a long time, this time around.
So I guess that's it for this week. Big Patriots game on Saturday night, so GO PATS!!!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Out With The Old (year), In With The New (year)
Those of you on Facebook have seen my posts already but for those that haven't; I was afforded the rare treat of being able to ride not only on the last day of the year, but also on the first day of the new year. I don't think the weather has evern cooperated like that before.
The temps on Tuesday were in the low 20's, and on Wednesday they were only a couple degrees warmer. Still, between the two days, I managed almost three hours of riding, so that's not bad at all.
I skipped out of work early on Tuesday (New Year's Eve) and shot home, grabbed the bike, a bunch of quarters and a towel, and hit the streets. The skipping/hesitation problem is definitely much, much better, with only a hint of it now and then. Oh yeah; I put a Santa hat onto my helmet and folks going in the opposite direction seemed to mostly get a kick out of it. Either that, or they were smiling because they thought I was mentally handicapped...which we all know that I am.
After about an hour and a half, it was time to wash the salt off, so I wrapped up my route in such a way as to hit the local outdoor car wash. I plopped in my quarters, selected high pressure soap wash, and off we went...
After that, it was home to the garage, then off for a very-long/late evening of celebration. The following day, I managed to make it home by early afternoon and proceeded to roll the bike out again. It's tradition! Gotta go riding on New Year's Day! (I'd tried to get others to go but the only one who expressed any interest was McCarthy, but his schedule was too busy and he wasn't able to make it.)
Rolling out to different streets than the ones I'd ridden the day before, I brought my cheerful and happy Santa hat/helmet with me to brighten the days of a whole new group of people. I even got some horn toots and waves - nice!
I managed to find a couple of nice twisty roadways I hadn't ridden before, and while I had to go a bit slowly this time around, due to the sand, once summertime gets here, I'll be sure to come back and really enjoy them.
And that's about it. Oh - the hesitation problem came back somewhat when I was out yesterday. Makes me wonder if my ECU is just bad. I may wind up putting a power commander on the bike and just bypassing the ECU altogher. *Sigh* More money (but it's still cheaper - so far - than buying a new bike.)
Anyway, the riding I managed to squeeze in is probably all I'll be able to do for a while. We're in the middle of a Nor'Easter right now...well, not quite in the middle of it yet...the worst is still to come. But it's been light-snowing all day long and I'm sure the commute is going to suck. Hopefully we'll get a ton of rain within the next week or so and I'll be able to get back out there (but I'm not holding my breath).
I hope everyone had a fantastic and safe New Year's!
Ride Hard, Take Chances...and wear silly hats on the bike!
After I'd finished with the soap and switched over to the high pressure rinse, I began to wonder how the water was going to react to such frigid temps on the pavememt around me, as well as on the bike itself. I got my answer soon enough; as I went to wipe the bike down, any surface that wasn't part of the engine, power train, or exhaust, was so cold that the water froze up almost instantly (when I was drying it). Equally as fast; the water which the towel did absorb, also froze, and soon I was wiping a frozen towel across frozen layers of water. Fun stuff!
After that, it was home to the garage, then off for a very-long/late evening of celebration. The following day, I managed to make it home by early afternoon and proceeded to roll the bike out again. It's tradition! Gotta go riding on New Year's Day! (I'd tried to get others to go but the only one who expressed any interest was McCarthy, but his schedule was too busy and he wasn't able to make it.)
Rolling out to different streets than the ones I'd ridden the day before, I brought my cheerful and happy Santa hat/helmet with me to brighten the days of a whole new group of people. I even got some horn toots and waves - nice!
I managed to find a couple of nice twisty roadways I hadn't ridden before, and while I had to go a bit slowly this time around, due to the sand, once summertime gets here, I'll be sure to come back and really enjoy them.
And that's about it. Oh - the hesitation problem came back somewhat when I was out yesterday. Makes me wonder if my ECU is just bad. I may wind up putting a power commander on the bike and just bypassing the ECU altogher. *Sigh* More money (but it's still cheaper - so far - than buying a new bike.)
Anyway, the riding I managed to squeeze in is probably all I'll be able to do for a while. We're in the middle of a Nor'Easter right now...well, not quite in the middle of it yet...the worst is still to come. But it's been light-snowing all day long and I'm sure the commute is going to suck. Hopefully we'll get a ton of rain within the next week or so and I'll be able to get back out there (but I'm not holding my breath).
I hope everyone had a fantastic and safe New Year's!
Ride Hard, Take Chances...and wear silly hats on the bike!
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