Sunday Stroll

Stroll is probably not the right word, but I was looking for alliteration.  I tried finding a word that began with "S" that meant travel or journey or adventure, but came up empty.  So, you get "Stroll".

I started out the day by yanking the baffles on the new mufflers.  My intent had been to drill a few extra holes in them, as well as enlarge the existing ones, in the hopes of deepening the sound they produce.

First, I loosened the retaining bolts for the baffles...

Gotta lose the end cap before the baffles come out - so out come the end cap bolts...

Voila' - an exposed baffle!

These things are seated fairly tightly so I rigged up a couple of vice grips and then tapped on the outer one with a hammer to slowly work the baffle out...

It's slowly making its way out, exposing the fiberglass packing...

The packing was pretty thick, and also seemed to be wrapped in...well...the best way to descibe it was "a bag".  Meaning that I can't just take some of it out if I wanted to.  It's either; take it all (and face having to remap the power commander) or leave it alone.  I opted to leave it alone...for now.

The baffle.  It left me...baffled. (Har har har!!)  Rather than a pipe with a few holes in it, I was met with what basically looked like a thick mesh screen.  Huh.  Well what the hell do I do with this thing??

I opted to stuff it back in, bolt everything back up, and seek the advice of folks more-smartier than myself.  Once I get some feedback, I'll go ahead and proceed with the modifications.

So there I was; my project on hold, and a beautiful day all around me.  Might as well go riding!

I had no destination in mind...hell, it even took me a few minutes at the end of my driveway to even pick a direction to go in.  I finally settled on "Southward", and off I went.

I took 495 down to 24 toward Fall River and picked up 140 through Lakeville and the surrounding towns.  I got myself lost a couple times and then refound my way again, eventually making a big loop.  Well, I didn't want to head back home yet, so I broke for further south along some decent looking roadways and byways.

Before too long, I was on completely unfamiliar roads, heading further and further south.  No problem; if I run out of land and reach the ocean, I'll just turn around.

While I never actually reached the end of land, I did graze the edge of it quite a bit as I meandered through Fall River (some parts are scenic, others are quite dumpy) and down toward Little Compton.  I snapped a few pics along the way which I'll get to in a moment.

Eventually, I was getting hungry and I had a couple pounds of steak tips in the fridge that had been marinating for two days.  Yum!  Time to blast home and get those things cooked up!

I took highways home to speed up the return trip and before long, I was rolling her back into the garage, exchanging two wheels for two wheels (the grille).  A few short minutes later and the tantalyzing aroma of steak tips sizzling over open flames was wafting across my neighborhood.

Now to the pics...

I had to turn around to snap a pic of this shed.  I don't know where the folks got all of those license plates, but I thought this was pretty cool...

I apparently found myself in Battleship Cove at one point.  No idea how that happened - I was cruising along some odd streets when I suddenly made a turn and there was the ocean, and a sign saying Battleship Cove.  And look - battleships!

Back onto the road and quite a bit further south, I saw this house going up.  I felt very badly for the folks that will wind up living here.  Can you imagine having to live with that view right outside your window?

A bit further along; another great view of the ocean - with a tiny little pond in front of it.

Here was where my journey ended.  I was cruising along, just about to hit the edge of the ocean when I spotted this sign.  What the?

I had to turn around and snap a pic of that, as well as of the next message to flash up.  WTF?

Needless to say I didn't feel like bothering with any locale which feels the need to post signage like this.  If you look to the right side of the second to last pic, you'll see a couple of bikes coming toward me.  They'd been going in the other direction (away from the sign) when they spotted me taking a pic of the sign.  I don't know if they'd missed seeing what it said, or if they also wanted a pic of it.  By the time they'd pulled up and dismounted, I'd already rolled off, headed back to my house, and the steak tips that lay in wait.

Overall, not a bad way to spend a sunny Sunday.  Hopefully everyone else was able to get out there and get some miles on.  Summer is flying by all too quickly!

Ride Hard, Take Chances