| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Cold Pizza I love cold pizza for breakfast. Last night, I went out with a group of friends for pizza and conversation, and I wound up with half of a cheese pizza to take home. I’ll have finished it all before I finish writing out this Snippet. Last week, when I was trying to get everything together so I could make the West Virginia Rally, Tammy had offered to give me a sizable chunk of cash so I could make it. I couldn’t accept the money, so I responded that she could buy me a Pizza on Wednesday night. She not only bought me a pizza, but she also bought me a Pepsi and paid the tip,as well. Tammy and I have been friends for a long time; over 20 years. I’m a bit unsure when we first met. Anyhow, it was difficult for me to accept even the free meal. I don’t know why it’s so tough for me to let others do nice things for me, but it really is. I’m funny in that I’ll damned near kill myself to help out my friends, but it’s a tough thing to accept help from them. I’ve had huge amounts of help since I started Tramping around last year. Some help I’ve gotten was offers of places to stay and some, I accepted. Other help was in parts for my bike, the gift from “Sam” was way beyond what I would have accepted; but he knew me well enough that he made Sandra at the shop promise not to reveal who he was. Then there was the money I received to help me go to Australia. That was the most difficult thing for me to accept. When BadWeB took up a collection to help me with air fare, it was against my wishes. Damnut (Jim) knew that I would have trouble accepting money, and he left me with no room to back out without insulting a bunch of really good people. Then I received a gift from somebody whose identity I promised I wouldn’t reveal, which put me way over the top, financially. This year, things were moving along pretty smoothly until the engine in the Roadster self destructed. Then, I was thrown into a place where I had no choice but to accept the help that was offered. The Crusty Relay was organized without my knowledge in less than 12 hours. I had posted a Snippet in the morning; when I logged back on in the late afternoon, things were already well along the way. Jim (Damnut) had posted that he was willing to hook up his trailer and drive down to Cincinnati and bring me back. Then Court picked up the ball and got everybody organized into the relay. Nobody had to do the whole gig on his own. I was shuttled from Cincinnati to Hudson and even provided with a place to stay and free meals by a group who were happy to do it. Then, once I was back, the folks at the shop let me do the engine swap using their shop and tools to do the job. Accepting all this help has been against my nature, but I just want to let everyone of you know that it is appreciated. You all have enriched my life and I feel extremely fortunate to have encountered and befriended people like you. Thank You. | ||
| Damnut |
You're making me look like a nice person...... cut the shit •••••••. lol | ||
| Pwnzor |
John, You're a great guy. I think I speak for everybody here when I say we're all very glad for the opportunity to help out a brother. | ||
| 86129squids |
 We all do unto others as we wish done to ourselves- it only makes the world go round. | ||
| Fb1 |
What goes around, comes around. FB&D  | ||
| Court |
A wise man once said ......
From those of us who have "circled aimlessly" before .... Ride safe, soak up every moment and love folks just like they love you. Court | ||
| Court |
Of course ..... My post should have properly read "a wise man AND wiser woman" .... So wise, in fact, that even their punctuation was correct. :-) Getting old, slow and worn out .... Hahaha | ||
| Damnut |
Tonight I pulled in the driveway from work and my son was standing there with a package in his hand. I roll down the window and he hands me said package. I have only 2 things to say..... Thanks John. You're funny.   | ||
| Crusty |
I love it when a plan starts coming together. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I love the high visibility ink on that... Well done! | ||
| Crusty |
Where To Next? I’m broke. I have enough money to get by until my next SS check (Direct Deposit, actually), but I don’t have any extra. I’ve got plenty of food; I’ve got almost three week’s worth of frozen meat and Spaghetti sauce in the fridge, 5 pounds of potatoes and half a dozen cans of various types of beans. I can eat pretty well. I even have enough cash to buy a package of hamburger rolls and some gatorade. What I don’t have is enough money to go anywhere. It’s looking like my traveling for this season is at an end. I’ll still be able to do some day trips, but I don’t think I’ll be doing any serious riding for a while. I need to fall back into cash conservation mode. My credit card is maxed out. I need to pay that down. Hell, they charged me over sixty bucks in interest this month. That’s an expensive monkey on my back. I want to pay that off ASAP. So, I’m going to look for a part time job. My Tramping isn’t over, I just need to get my finances sorted out. I have two fairly large expenditures on the horizon, and I want to be able to go with them without worry. The first is an EBR. I really am hoping that a Sport Tourer is on the way. Not a Sport tourer in the Concours/FJR/ST1100 interpretation, but an 1190 SX with taller bars, lower footpegs, a windshield, a slightly more comfortable seat and hard bags. I saw the photo of the SX with the windshield and soft bags and I’ve seen Erik’s SX with the Adventure bars and Knight Design foot pegs. It wouldn’t take much effort to build my dream ST. I think it’s coming, and I want one. Nobody builds a bike like Erik Buell. They handle so much better than anything else I’ve ridden, that if EBR builds it, I’ll have to buy one. The next big expenditure on my horizon is that next year, I want to ride to Alaska. It’s been a dream of mine for decades to ride a motorcycle to the Arctic Circle. Next year is going to be the time I get to do it. I started seriously planning it when I was heading east from Jasper, Alberta on Rt. 16 and saw the sign Rt. 40 - Scenic Route To Alaska. I almost turned that way, but I knew my tires didn’t have enough tread left, and my cash was getting lower than I liked, so I continued toward Edmonton. I’ve been toying with which routes I’ll take in my mind, but I haven’t started to plan any serious details yet. I have a few months yet before I have to get into serious route planning mode. I’m pretty sure that I’ll be going back through Jasper and Banff National Parks on one leg. I’m just not sure if it will be on the way up or the way back. So, even though it’s only mid August, it looks like my Tramping has to be curtailed for this season. I need to focus on getting the Plastic paid down. If it all goes the way I’m hoping, I’ll be taking a selfie at the Arctic Circle while there are 24 hours of daylight each day. (note to self; learn how to take a selfie) And I’ll have ridden there on an EBR. (Message edited by Crusty on August 19, 2016) | ||
| Reepicheep |
That shirt is AWESOME!!! Crusty, your plan sounds lovely. | ||
| Tootal |
Good plan Crusty. Take a sabbatical and pay off that credit card. Get yourself debt free and start again. Sometimes we just need to recharge. | ||
| Nittanyxt |
Great shirt Crusty! I'll wear it with pride! | ||
| Crusty |
Things That Make Me Go Hmmm… There are a lot of things that make me scratch my head and wonder. For instance, Volkswagen is in big trouble because they fiddled with the engines to make them pass EPA regs. However, when the tuning isn’t aimed at the EPA, the cars make more horsepower and get better fuel mileage. If a car is using less fuel per mile traveled, then how is it polluting more? Ethanol is helping us to use less gasoline, right? So, for instance, if your bike gets 44 MPG on gasoline without ethanol, then you start using gas with 10% ethanol, your mileage drops to 40 MPG. That’s a 10% drop in fuel mileage. In other words, the ethanol is just filler. It burns OK, but it doesn’t cut down on your gas consumption. It still takes the same amount of gasoline to cover a specific amount of distance. How is that helping the environment? Lately, I’ve noticed a trend all over the country. Drivers who are in the first car to stop for a red light don’t pull up to the stop line. They’ll stop anywhere from 1/2 to a full car length before the stop line. Why? And Why do drivers pull over to the side of the lane opposite to the way they’re turning? If they’re taking a left, they’ll be all the way over to the right side of the lane before they even start turning. I don’t get it. Why do motorcycles have to pay the same toll as cars? they cause less wear on the roads and take up less room. While I think motorcycles should be exempt from having to pay tolls, if they have to pay, shouldn’t it be half of what a car pays? They make trucks pay a whole lot more than a car, Bikes should get a real break. If you tell a social drinker that you’re a sober alcoholic, why do they always feel they have to justify their consumption? When you tell someone that you don’t want to discuss politics because it ruins friendships, why do they feel they have to push their position on you? Why would somebody who is traveling on a Ducati be amazed that I’m traveling on a Sportster? Why is it that when I’m on the bike cruising along, I can think of all kinds of topics for Snippets, but as soon as I open the laptop, my mind goes blank? (Message edited by Crusty on August 19, 2016) | ||
| 86129squids |
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher Please tell me you've read Zen and The Art... Most of the answers to those questions- Idiocy. Why would a Ducati rider be amazed that you're a traveler on a Sportster? Ignorance. More miles have been traveled on one over the other. | ||
| Tootal |
But can you describe QUALITY!? | ||
| 86129squids |
Yes, Greg- that would be my friends here on BadWeb!  | ||
| Glitch |
I got a package from one Crusty Old Fart. Thanks so much John, its nice to know I'm still part of the team, even though I couldn't be there in person. | ||
| Crusty |
Once the Crusty Relay got me home, One of the first things I did was go to the T-shirt Printer and ordered the shirts. I knew I was going to be up against it financially in short order, so I wanted to spend the money on the shirts first, before I didn't have any money left. I priced getting the shirts done online, but they would have cost a whole lot more; it was cheaper to get them done locally, and the quality was top notch. I limited who I had shirts made for to the people directly involved with the relay. Jim (Damnut) kicked it off when he offered to drive to Cincinnati with his trailer. Court became the unofficial organizer and got it all sorted into a manageable event. Mark (Wolfridgerider) picked up the trailer in Columbus, drove down to Cincinnati to pick me and the up, then returned to Columbus on his way to Bedford, Pa to hand me and the trailer off to Jon. Jon (Nittanyxt) took me and the trailer to his house , then gave me a room for the night. The next morning, he drove me to meet up with Frank east of Scranton. Frank (Froggy) hauled us from there to HooDoo Brown's BBQ just south of Danbury, CT where we loaded the trailer onto Jim's car, then went inside to gorge ourselves on first class BBQ. Glitch was nowhere near any of the route, but he came up with the design that I stole to use on the shirts. All of the above epitomize the Spirit of BadWeB. They aren't the only ones; but they were directly involved in getting me and my dead bike home. If I were more solvent financially, I would have given them to a bunch more folks, like the people who wanted to help, but couldn't for various reasons. There are a lot of people who have helped me out along my way. I hope that someday I can do something worthwhile for them. It ain't much of a thank you, but it is heartfelt. I really do feel privileged to be part of this group. | ||
| Buellish |
"There are a lot of people who have helped me out along my way. I hope that someday I can do something worthwhile for them." Keep writing your Snippets,I think that will cover it nicely! | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'm with Mike. The brand of entertainment you provide is priceless. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Thanks for the T-Shirt John! Glad I could help you out. Hope our travels bring put us at the same place sooner rather than later. | ||
| Zac4mac |
hey John, might be about time to give Top Gear or Leno a call... | ||
| Crusty |
Pure Rationalization Today, I did something I’ve never done before. I went into a Harbor Freight store and bought something. To be specific, I bought a wheel stand. You know the front wheel stand that holds the bike upright. Condor makes a good one. The one I bought is a cheap imitation. Kinda like the Harbor Freight version of the NoMar tire changer. I can’t afford a Condor, so I went for the cheap Chinese copy. I bought it because I’m going to change my rear tire tomorrow. My storage garage is on a seldom used side street, and that’s where I have to work on the bike. It will help immensely if I can have the bike vertical when I remove/reinstall the wheel. I called the local Hon/Kaw/Suz dealership, and they charge $30.00 to remove the old tire and mount and balance a new one. If I can get the Nomar to break the bead, I can do the whole job without having to spend the money. The stand will help me change the wheel, so instead of it costing me $51.00 (after sales tax), it will only cost me $21.00 since it will save me the Thirty bucks I would have given to Central Mass. Power sports. Or somethin’. Actually, it won’t save me a cent, but it will make the job easier. I’m just trying to justify buying the damned stand after I swore I was going to focus on paying off my debt and I was going on an austerity program. So, what does this prove? I guess that it proves I’m a self centered, rationalizing Human being. I’m no saint; that’s certain. Still, there is some justification. It’s a pain in the ass pulling the rear wheel on a rubber mount Sportster. The first time I did it, it took me hours to get it all sorted out. Why in the hell are the engineers making it more difficult to perform basic maintenance? Shouldn’t they be making it easier? Changing tires every 10,000 miles or so is often enough to be considered basic maintenance in my book. I sure as hell don’t want to bring the bike into a stealership so it can cost upwards of $800.00 to change both tires. Anyhow; I blew fifty bucks on a tool to make things easier. Tomorrow, I’ll find out if I did a smart thing, or if I have my head stuck where the moon don’t shine. I just thought I’d share that with you all. | ||
| Ourdee |
Cut up some milk or oil jugs for plastic to protect the rims. | ||
| Crusty |
I have rim protectors. And Tire irons. And a NoMar tire stand (it isn't bolted to the floor, but it still is a help). I just hope I'll be able to break the bead on the tire with it. If not, then I'll have to have a shop do it for me. | ||
| Greg_e |
My HF tire machine bolts to a big piece of wood, unbolt it for storage. Just bought the motorcycle adapter for it, hope it really works on the tiny 12 inch wheels on my race bike. | ||
| Crusty |
You Want Pichahs? OK; I got to my storage garage this morning and put the bike on the stand   It worked pretty good. I jacked the bike up and removed the rear wheel  The NoMar worked OK, even though it isn't bolted down. I got the bead broken and took the old tire off and put the new tire on the wheel. (That's it leaning against the garage in the picture) Then my friend Dondi drove me to put air in the tire. (Actually, I drove her car. She was sitting in the passenger seat knitting)  One last shot of my baby with a new sneaker  The front tire is good for a few thousand more miles. The tread isn't even worn close to the wear bars. | ||
| Crusty |
2 Steps Below Wally I wrote the Snippet on rationalization and my brother David sent me this response: Well, (in no particular order) you are my brother, so yes, your head is firmly implanted. You shopped at Harbor Freight, the "2 steps below Wally" as far as longevity and quality of the items you purchase there. You could have spent 30, instead spent 51 and still have to do the work yourself. Yeah, you're a Jackson............. I feel that I should respond. I like quality. Given a choice, most of my tools would be from Snap-On. However, the really good stuff is expensive, and I don’t have a lot of disposable income. When I needed a 1-1/16 Combination wrench, years ago, for a specific job, I could have bought a Snap-on for $39.00 or a Craftsman for $13.00. I bought the Craftsman. I didn’t have the extra $26.00, so I got the best I could afford. I’ve had similar situations all through my life; Sometimes, I’d find a way to get the Better tool (like my NoMar, instead of a Harbor Freight). Sometimes, I had no choice but to get the lower quality tool. The Wheel stand is one of those situations. Having even the “2 steps below Wally” is so much better than nothing, that it was worth getting. If I use it one more time for a tire change, it will have paid for itself. When I bought my NoMar, I spent over $800.00 for the tire changer and balancer. The Harley shop I was doing business with at the time was charging $75.00/wheel (off bike) to mount & balance a new tire. Between my bike, my Ex wife’s bike and my step daughter’s bike, that would have been $450.00. Considering that many shops won’t mount tires if you didn’t buy them there, then I would have paid more than double for tires than they would cost me online. By the time everything was added up, the NoMar paid for itself in savings the first year I owned it. Now, I’m retired. I’m a cranky old fart and I don’t move around like I used to. Having to get down on my knees to work on a bike hurts. Trying to install a rear wheel on a bike that’s at an angle is difficult. By having the HF stand, the bike stayed vertical and it was a lot easier to get the job done. As the photo of the bike with the wheel removed shows, I could put a hydraulic jack under the frame and raise and lower the bike as needed. The job went a lot smoother and faster. As a result, I wasn’t nearly as stiff and sore as I expected when I woke up this morning. Also, by doing the job myself, I know it was done right. I saw my friend Leigh get his S3 Buell back from a dealership, and the jackass who did the tire change hammered the axle to the point that the opening for the wheel stand was peened over and the pin on the stand wouldn’t fit. There are some prize morons working in Service Departments of some dealerships. The conclusion to all this gibbering is that, Yes, the Harbor Freight stand was worth the money. It saved me a lot of work and frustration and pain. Some day, I hope to get a Condor stand; right now, though, the “2 below Wally” is all that I could come up with the dough for. |
