| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Just A Quick Note I’m having my morning coffee and giving the rain time to go away. In a few minutes, I’ll take my shower, pack the bike and head out. I said goodbye to Grace a few minutes ago when she left for work. Steve’s loading and unloading his pickup for his next job. I’ll say goodbye to him in a couple of minutes. I think I’ll have good weather for my ride to Hudson. I’ve been watching the radar and it’s looking pretty hopeful. it’s warm enough that I shouldn’t need to wear the Electric jacket today. Tomorrow maybe, but not today The bike is really looking pretty, so I really hope it doesn’t rain on the way. I’d like it to look as pretty as possible when I roll in. Well; time to start moving. | ||
| Damnut |
Crusty, It is pouring here in Lowell but it is nice and warm. It is suppose to rain all day today and tomorrow. If you can hang a few days where you are then you probably should. | ||
| Crusty |
Meatballs When I last visited Steve and Grace in Fayetteville, Grace made three meatball sandwiches for me to take with me when I left. The first sandwich didn’t even make it out of Fayetteville. I stopped to gas up the bike, and ate the sandwich in the gas station. The other two sandwiches lasted longer, but none made it past Virginia. They dominated my thoughts until they were all gone. This morning, Grace made me another three meatball sandwiches for the road. This time I showed more fortitude. I didn’t touch one for over 60 miles. Then, I stopped at a McDonald’s and bought a $0.62 senior cup of coffee and ate one sandwich. When I got back out to the bike however, I was still hungry; so I ate half of the second sandwich. Needless to say, the other 1 1/2 sandwiches were gone just north of Richmond. I may have started eating them later, but I finished them off a good 40 miles sooner than last time. So what does this mean? I guess I just can’t say no to homemade meatball sandwiches. Those sandwiches aren’t the only meatballs I encountered today, unfortunately. The other meatballs were behind the wheels of assorted vehicles traveling north. I have noticed that Virginia drivers like to get in the left lane and stay there. They seldom move over to let a faster car or bike or even a semi go past. If you want to pass them, you’ll have to do it in the right lane. New England and New York drivers are supposed to be rude (and are), but they’re actively rude. They’ll intentionally cut you off, knowing that there’s room for you to lock up your brakes to avoid hitting them. Virginia Drivers are passively rude.. They bug the living s**t out of me. I hate riding up I 95. the traffic is very heavy and I have to be fully alert all the time. Then there are the tolls. I hate tolls. but the only way to avoid them is to take crowded secondary highways and deal with endless traffic lights. I can always go hundreds of miles out of my way, but that’s not always an acceptable alternative. Oh, well; what can’t be cured must be endured. I did get caught by a thundershower this afternoon. My pretty Roadster is now sullied by a coating of road phlegm. Such is life. I should roll into Hudson sometime tomorrow afternoon. I hope I don’t encounter any more rain and the traffic lightens up a bit. (Ha! Fat Chance!) | ||
| Ourdee |
I have gotten tired enough of the cold weather that I rode to work today. Dry on the way there and back, but it snowed on Lil Red while it was parked at work. I'm so glad I rode. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Meatball sandwich sounds good! I wonder where I can get one for lunch... | ||
| Crusty |
I Hate *&#! NY I don’t really hate New York; I don’t really hate any state. I don’t like riding through some states on my Roadster, though. I guess I could amend the title to say I hate the BosWash Corridor, but I’ll leave it as it stands. After leaving Fayetteville, I made it as far as Edgewood, MD before I got a room for the night. If it wasn’t for Rush Hour traffic, I probably would have made it into New Jersey, but I hit a lot of stop and go, and that, combined with the thunderstorm that passed through, left me feeling pretty beat. I hit the road yesterday morning after not filling up with gas. The price of Regular was $1.95, but they wanted $2.79 for Super. Eighty four cents more per gallon is blatant thievery, and I won’t be a willing victim to unbridled greed. I stopped at a Service area a few miles up the road and, although the prices were $0.21 higher for regular, they were $0.17 cheaper for Premium. I wish the Roadster burned Regular, but it needs 91 or better RON. Oh well. Tolls. I hate freakin’ Tolls. After the gas ripoff set my mood, it was further assaulted when I hit the Maryland Toll Gates. Eight Bucks! A few miles later, I hit the Delaware Toll Gates; they were “only” four bucks. What a Bargain! By the time I got on the Joisey Toinpike, I was well and truly annoyed. The annoyance was mitigated some by the gas prices. $2.33 for Sunoco Ultra looked pretty reasonable. I made it a point to gas up at the last Service Area in New Jersey before I hit New York. I had stopped at the first Service Area on the NJ Turnpike and plotted out my route. The toll to get to the GW Bridge was $13.85 The GW Bridge is $14.00 (for a Motorcycle!) It was costing more for tolls than for gas! So instead of going that way, I got off the Pike at exit 11 and took the Garden State Parkway to I 287 and I went over the Tappan Zee Bridge. By doing that, I saved $12.60. I took I 287 to the Cross county Parkway which took me to the Merritt Parkway then I rode North through Connecticut towards Massachusetts. Oh; they’re building a new and bigger bridge beside the Tappan Zee. I bet when it opens in a few years, it’ll require a mortgage to cross it. In my last Snippet I complained about the passive aggressive drivers in Virginia. Today, I’ll whine about the idiots being the wheel in Connecticut. Three times on the Parkways yesterday, Morons changed lanes into mine while I was beside them. Twice, I was able to accelerate ahead of them, and once I had to stand on my brakes. They didn’t even look in their mirrors or turn their heads even a little bit to the left to check if anything was there. The level of concentration necessary to survive was both extremely high and exhausting. Connecticut and Virginia are my least favorite states to ride the Slab through. I don’t know if it was the cold or the stress level which had me so tensed up, but my ankle was killing me. I forgot my cane when I set out, and by the time I stopped at the Truck stop on Ruby Rd. in CT to get a cup of coffee, I had real trouble walking. It hurt like a sonofab**ch. It eased up after sitting and slowly drinking a cup of Dunkie’s finest, but it never stopped hurting, and it’s still bothering me this morning. I’m going out to do some grocery shopping in a few, and I think it might be a good idea to use the cane. Monday, I’m going over to the Fab shop around the corner and talk to them about the hard bag mounts. (Message edited by Crusty on April 09, 2016) | ||
| Court |
>>>Tolls. I hate freakin’ Tolls. Tell me about it . . . .I run about $34 per day in tolls . . . callout $560 a month for a parking place and my 3 years old vehicle just turned over 103,000 on the way to work this morning. I cross the GWB twice a day. . . . $15.00 for a car. The Tappan Zee is presently $5.00 but you can bet your butt that the $5,000,000,000 (the opted for the cheaper project that eliminated the light rail tracks next to the bridge) project will see the Tap headed to see parity with all the other bridges and tunnels . . . . Welcome to NYC. The good news is you can still get a nice 1BR/1BA apt for only $3,500/mo | ||
| Ourdee |
Court, Where do the McDonalds workers live there? Are you going to make an appearance at HC2016? Crusty, My heart attack in 2000 had ankle pain. If you swell up in the feet, ankles, and lower legs (not like BBQ swelling) get to the hosp. | ||
| Crusty |
My ankle was crushed back in 1997. Most of the time, I can function normally, but sometimes it hurts like a toothache. I walked with a cane for a few years after I healed from the injury, but I got away from the cane, eventually. Sometimes though, it hurts enough that I have to use a cane to walk. Yesterday was one of those times. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack the cane when I loaded my saddlebags for this trip, and I paid the price. I won't forget it next trip, I guaranty. | ||
| Alfau |
My brother is a hypochondriac. I tell him to suck it up. | ||
| Griffmeister |
Crusty, if you're going to be doing so much slab riding, you should consider EZPass. There is no fee other than the money you load it with, doesn't matter if you use it a lot or a little and you get a discount on the toll. I think the tolls for the MC pass are cheaper than cars, too. I know that it works in NJ,NY,PA and MA. It might work in a couple of others but I haven't gone that far with one yet. Living in CT I can attest to the drivers here, but I think it's a contagious disease that's contracted at the borders. Once within the boundaries of the state even out of state drivers exhibit the same behavior. Hope you're still willing to venture to the Dino next week. | ||
| Crusty |
George, there are reasons I don't get an EZ Pass, but you're right about getting a discount for having one. I actually had one for a while a few years ago, but I gave it up. Not only am I willing to go to the Stamford Dinosaur, I'm really looking forward to it. I'll explain my reasons for not getting an EZ Pass there. Oh; remind me to tell you that story about my trip to Nashville and my friend who was attending the A&P school there. | ||
| Crusty |
Moving Forward This afternoon, I went out to the bike with the Hepco & Becker brackets. I wanted to see just what I’d have to change to make them fit on the Roadster. I spent a few hours fitting and shimming things, and it’s looking pretty positive. I have to go by the storage garage in Fitchburg and get a couple of tools that will make things go easier, and I have to find some bolts, nuts & washers. I’m pretty sure that everything’s going to go swimmingly. Or somethin’. I feel like I’ve won some sort of victory. The brackets fit better than I thought they would, and they won’t require a lot of modification. I was very pleasantly surprised at how well things lined up. If I had the right hardware here, I could mount them on the bike and ride around with them on, even with the lower mounting points not connected to anything. However, I’d just have to take them off so that I could disassemble them to be powdercoated. Hopefully, it will happen in a hurry. I’m trying to find a set of bags to test fit. I just want to make sure that everything will fit and have sufficient clearance. It would suck if the brackets were mounted nice and rigidly and I found that the bag itself was rubbing against the shock. Tomorrow, I’ll talk to the powder coater and find out if they will sandblast the chrome off the racks, or if they want me to do it on my own. I expect that they’ll want to do it, but I want to make sure. So; Tomorrow, I get the tools and hardware to put the racks on the bike. Then I install them and ride over to the fabrication shop and have them do their magic. Hopefully, I’ll have a set of bags that I can test fit to make sure that everything is copacetic. Then I take it all off and send the bracket parts to be coated black. In the meantime, once everything looks like a definite GO, I’ll order a pair of 40 Liter Junior bags. The Roadster is becoming a Reality! | ||
| Ourdee |
Oh yeah.... | ||
| Pwnzor |
Awesome, can't wait to see this come together. | ||
| 86129squids |
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| Crusty |
Two Small Steps Forward… …And one big step back. Ain’t that the story of Progress? I went by the Harley shop and picked up a couple of upper shock mount bolts. I also went by the garage in Fitchburg, yesterday and spent about an hour finding everything I thought I’d need to mount up the bag mounts. I was running a bit later than expected because I had other things that I needed to do as well, like mop the kitchen and bathroom floors, go to the Post Office and mail a package, etc. Anyhow, I eventually got back to Hudson and started on the bike. I ran into a problem as soon as I got going. The stock Shock bolts are Torx bolts, while the aftermarket bolts for the soft bag frames were Allen heads. I hadn’t looked closely at the bolts when I bought them, so I didn’t have a T-50 torx bit to put them on. So, I put the bag frames back on. Then I rode over to Advance Auto and bought a T-50 bit for five bucks. To go to Fitchburg and back would have taken an hour and a half and I didn’t want to waste the time and the gas for a round trip. Once I got back with the bit, things progressed fairly smoothly. I now have a pretty good idea of what needs to be changed to make it all line up properly. I did’t have all the right length bolts, but with a couple of spacers, I managed to get it all snug enough to ride the bike without having to remove the rack. One of my concerns in mounting the racks is I’m not sure how far the bags protrude inside the frame when mounted. I don’t want them to rub against the shocks. I had put Junior bags on my Ex’s Ss, so I figured I’d call her up and ask if I could just use her bags for a minute for a test fit. That was a mistake. I was subjected to a level of venom and hatred that I was totally unprepared for. (Funny; when she needed me to service her bike after we split up, she wasn’t so venomous. Oh, well.) That door is closed, so I’ll just have to Improvise, Adapt and Overcome. Of course it’s raining today, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to get over to the welding shop, but I think I’ll try anyhow. I’m torn between taking pictures of the bike with the rack as it sits, or waiting until it’s been modified and looks right. Maybe I’ll do both. (Message edited by Crusty on April 12, 2016) | ||
| Greg_e |
Need pictures of each step. | ||
| Crusty |
They're mounted on the bike, but they aren't quite right yet.  Here's the left side front brace that doesn't attach yet  I just got back from the Welder's shop. He seems like he knows what he's doing. We talked about what I want and how to go about it. It turns out that he rides a MZ Skorpion that has Hepco & Becker bag mounts on it. I don't know if he has the bags, but he wants to wait until I have the bags before he starts, so that everything will line up and look good. I'will be responsible for sandblasting the chrome off and getting the brackets powdercoated. He also quoted me a very reasonable price. I'm happy! | ||
| 1313 |
Crusty, I got 40 L Hepco Becker Outdoorsman/Junior bags on my XT-BOLT. If it will help, I'll take any pics that you need. Heck, for such a seasoned rider like yourself, I'll gladly take any needed measurements as well. There are, however, these pictures... Let me know if you need anything further, 1313 | ||
| Crusty |
Thanks, Brankin. I think everything's going to work beautifully. The bags are on their way from Germany and are due to be delivered sometime between April 19 and May 5. I was thinking about putting a set of 30 liter Juniors on the bike until I looked at the set of 40s on your Ulybolt. That's when I decided that the bigger bags just made more sense. The bigger tank is on, the cast wheels are ready to go on and the hard bags are becoming a reality. Some improved suspension is on the list; I just have to see how much money I have left after I'm done with the bags. Then, a visit to Traxxion Dynamics will hopefully make the Roadster the bike I think it should be. | ||
| Crusty |
That’s Life One of the lines in the song That’s Life by Frank Sinatra is “Some people get their kicks stomping’ on your dreams”. That sure is true. Some people just don’t like to see someone who’s happy. I’ve been living a dream for the past year. It’s been wonderful and magical and fascinating. However, it hasn’t been all sweetness and sunshine. I’ve tried to minimize the negative aspects of Tramping in these Snippets for a couple of reasons. Mainly because I feel that if I focus on the negative, I’ll miss the positive. I also want to share the fun and beauty that I’ve experienced. I feel that Life is one hell of a ride, and I want to enjoy as much of it as possible. I also get a kick out of sharing my thoughts and experiences in these Snippets. They help me to digest what I’ve been experiencing as well as (hopefully) letting others see what I’m seeing. But I’ve had a few experiences that kind of hit me hard. One was when I called my Ex to ask if I could use her saddlebags for a test fit. The amount of poisonous hatred that poured through the phone was totally unexpected by me. I thought that we were on reasonably good terms for a divorced couple. I had done her several favors since we had split, and she was cordial enough. I don’t know what pissed her off so bad, but she was almost rabid in her anger at my request and by the fact that I had called her. Another bummer was when I got into an argument with a long time friend. Without going into a lot of detail about the argument, he made it clear that he considers me a loser who is unable to sustain either a spouse or a friendship and that he feels that he’s the only one who contributed to the friendship. He was happy to point out the instances where he helped me out while ignoring all the things I did to help him out over the years. I’ve never been one to keep score, I just considered him to be a friend. Obviously, I was wrong. That was another instance when I was blindsided. There are a couple of other negative experiences with other people, but I’ll just shine them on. Of course, I don’t want to minimize the friends I’ve made over the past year. Some were friends I’d met previously like Matt and Lorraine in Iowa or Jim in Mass, Mark in W.Va or Vern in Tennessee. Some were new friends who I only knew by forum names previously; Matthew and Gretchen, Brad, Greg, Mike. And I don’t want to ignore friends like Frank, Innes and Don who have been good friends all along. You all are Class Acts and I'm proud to number such as you as friends. Robert Heinlein wrote that he’d rather be an Optimist than a Pessimist. A Pessimist is more often right, but an Optimist has a more enjoyable life. I believe that, and I’m doing my best to live as an Optimistic Tramp. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Thanks for sharing, John. Gretchen and I are both better off having made your acquaintance. We both appreciate your insights, so keep them coming... all you can do for those negative individuals is pray for them. | ||
| Froggy |
John, sorry to hear about your troubles. I have a pair of both types of the Uly bags should you need access to them. Also a set of Givi bags on my CR, but I don't think they use the same mounting system. | ||
| Damnut |
John, from the day I first met you I knew you were ok and considered you a friend. Hell I still remember the "who the f%ck is this?" look on your face when I visited you in the hospital. lol | ||
| Crusty |
Waiting For The Slow Boat The saddlebags are on their way from Germany. They’re scheduled to arrive promptly between April 20 and May 5. Since I want then to arrive here quickly, they probably won’t get here until mid June. Well; all I can do is hope and keep checking the tracking number to see if there’s any updates. I once bought a bunch of DVDs for Megan and Rocky for Christmas. I bought them from different sellers on eBay, and they were coming from all parts of the country. The one that was from right here in Massachusetts took over a month and a half to arrive. I ordered it the first week in December, and it was shipped the same day, but for some bizarre reason, it just didn’t get here until mid January. I hope DHL doesn’t do the same thing with my bags. Tomorrow is the Northeast Gathering of Badwebbers at the Dinosaur BBQ in Stamford, CT. It’s only 150 miles, but at least I’ll be going somewhere. I’m really looking forward to it; there are people going that I haven’t seen in a long time, as well as people who I have seen more recently and there will be people who I haven’t met yet. Good food, good people, good conversation and a day of riding; what could be better? I am a little bit anxious, though. The last two times there was a Gathering at the Stamford Dinosaur, I got really sick and couldn’t make it. Third time’s a charm, right? The Weather should be nice enough Temps around 70º F and 0% probability of rain. So today, I’m going to change the oil in the bike and give it a quick cleaning at the quarter car wash. I want it to look good for tomorrow. She looks pretty good even when she’s filthy from traveling, but I just want to show her off. This will be the last trip she’ll take before I put the new wheels and tires on (along with the belt and sprocket). I’ve been trying to wear down the tires on the spoke wheels and I also don’t want to put too many miles on the new tires before I head out next month. I want the tires to last until I get back to Massachusetts. If I put a couple of thousand miles on them before I head out, they might not. As far as what route I’m going to take, I think I’ll just take the slab down, then take secondary roads back. US Rt. 7 north to Williamstown,MA, then the Mohawk Trail east would be pleasant. Then again, I could skip the Mohawk Trail and get on Rt.116 instead. It’s a pretty sweet ride, as well. Hmmm; I’ll just have to see how my mood is after eating too much really good food and meeting with friends. | ||
| Pwnzor |
John, Email me your DHL tracking number. I have friends well placed at DHL, I might be able to speed this up for you. No promises, but I'll do what I can. | ||
| Rick_a |
They say that in your worst of times, you'll know who your true friends are. Some like to pick sides. The best listen to both sides of the story. The story is the often the same, but the perspectives can be very different. I try to live as a realist. It's too easy to get caught up in unnecessary drama. If my wife divorced me, I'd be all out of friends.  | ||
| Buellish |
John,when you head down to Traxxion Dynamics for suspension work,make sure to give me a shout.I just moved from Woodstock where they are located,but lived there for 18 years and am only 14 miles away now.I would be happy to offer any help I can while your in the area. (Message edited by buellish on April 16, 2016) | ||
| Pwnzor |
Your bags are being processed in Saulheim, and they will most likely fly out of Frankfurt to JFK. From what I can tell, they have been sitting where they are for about 50 hours. I can only assume it's because they are consolidating trailers to make the ride up to the airport. The part where I might be able to help is when they are actually in the air pointed towards American soil. Once that happens, there is an off chance that I can speed up customs by a day or so. After that, I might be able to get it out a bit quicker than what they normally offer. I'll keep my eye on this thing. |
