| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
 ... Crusticle- I've had good results with a product called "Oscillococcinum", also found at health stores but more often now at even your local Wallyworld... it's a homeopathic flu remedy that you start taking ideally right when you first feel a bug coming on. It works by pretty much minimizing the symptoms and crappy aches- you'll still know the bug is with you, but the medicine beats it back to where you avoid being miserable, and can remain closer to 100%. I've tried to keep a box in the pantry over the years (long shelf life too), just in case the flu bug comes after me or my honey. IIRC about $15 for the regular box, check it out. 'Tis the season after all...  | ||
| Crusty |
Writer’s Block I’m having a hard time writing Snippets, lately. I get ideas, but I just can’t seem to put them down. Either that, or I get partway through a new essay, then my brain goes on strike. I wanted to write about going to Big Ws BBQ last Saturday.I had a very enjoyable time with Steve, Sue, Jaime and Frank and the Brisket was very good; it was certainly worth writing about. However, I made three aborted tries, then gave up. The ride itself was worthy of a Snippet; I took the long way home and saw measurable amounts of snow in western Massachusetts, and it was overcast with a couple of frigid, light showers. I certainly was cold and took a hot shower as soon as I got home to get the chill out. In one way, it was a miserable ride, but I also loved it. I wanted to write about it in detail, but I’ll be damned if I could. I’ve been prepping the Roadster for the ride to Suches. Yesterday, I went over to The Shop and got the Ear Cannon mounted.I didn’t get the Powerlet socket installed. I had put the socket in the pocket of the Darien, but I wore my FirstGear jacket instead of my Aerostich and forgot to bring the socket with me. I changed the oil and the filter for the engine and tranny while I was there; it easier for me to do it there, they have a waste oil drum. I have to save my waste oil and bring it someplace for recycling if I do it at the storage garage. Today, I’m headed over to Fitchburg and I’ll wire up the new horn. Then, maybe I’ll just cruise the highway looking for idiots who are texting, so I can pull up beside them and give them a blast of the horn. Naw; I won’t, but it is a fantasy of mine. As someone once said, “Do you really want to startle some brain dead idiot in a car so that she drives where she looks; and she’s looking at you?” Another thing I want to do while I’m at the garage is to lube the new cables I picked up for Kathryn’s Yamaha. I’ve got a can of Tri-Flow and a Cable Luber that are easily accessible. Then, all I have to do is get the cables to her so she can put them on. Both her throttle and clutch cables are frayed and need replacement. There’s another story there that’s worth a Snippet of its own, but I haven’t been able to write about it. Well, in spite of having Writer’s Block, I managed to hack out this little epistle. maybe I’m getting over it. | ||
| Damnut |
Hey Crusty...... what did you do with the Connie? | ||
| Crusty |
Nothing. It's sitting in the back of the shop collecting dust. Why? Do you want a parts bike? | ||
| Damnut |
No just wondering. Hmmmm do I need a Connie? Hey I have the day off tomorrow and was thinking of going for a ride to P-Town for lunch. Any interest? I'm taking the SX. | ||
| Crusty |
I can't go tomorrow. I have prior obligations. Sorry. | ||
| Ourdee |
May be the cold is finally clearing up. I can't think when I get sick. I'm heading to Indianapolis on Lil Red tomorrow evening. (Message edited by Ourdee on November 03, 2016) | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'm putting a clutch cable in the Z this weekend... it's sat for so long, the GPS tracker drained the battery down to 5 volts and I started getting low voltage alerts on my cell phone. | ||
| Crusty |
Slow Progress I’m getting things accomplished, but it feels like it’s taking a long time to get anything done. The Ear Cannon is on the bike, and wired in. It’s nice and loud. I brought Kathryn’s cables down to her yesterday, so she can get her Yamaha back up and running. I took the left side cover from the Roadster to a machine shop and it’s getting the right size hole drilled for the Powerlet socket. I pick it up tomorrow, then all I have to do is make a couple of wires and I’ll be in business. I took my sleeping bag to the Laundromat the other day, so it’s clean and ready to go. I guess I’m about as ready as I need to be for now. I figure I’ll head out on Wednesday morning and take two days to get to Suches. I’ll probably arrive on Thursday Evening. I still have that worry in the back of my head that the motor might go south. I wish I could get over it, but no matter how many times I go someplace on the Roadster, it’s always there. I mean; I’ve put almost 8,000 mikes on the bike since the engine transplant, and the bike is running fine, with no undue problems. Still, any slight difference in sound or any new or different vibration, and I’m hyper alert for trouble. In spite of the fear, I’m riding it, though. Eventually, I’ll get over it. I was supposed to go do a bunch of stuff today, like get my hair cut, but at the last minute, (Literally) I changed my mind. It’s raining, and I just don’t feel like getting wet. I had three small errands that I wanted to accomplish, and I waited until the Weather Radar showed a 1/2 hour break in precipitation. I jumped on the bike and hit the bank, found a mail box and found a machine shop and made it back home before the sky opened up. That’s enough for today. The rest of today is going to be dedicated to R&R. Tomorrow, I’ll wash the bike and pick up the side cover. If there’s time, I’ll bring it over to the garage and make up wires for the socket. If not, well, there’s always Saturday. | ||
| Crusty |
If I Only Had a Million Back in the 80s, My wife at the time and I used to frequent a Family restaurant that had fairly good food. One of the gimmicks they used to make folks linger longer and buy more food and beverages was to play silent movies. They had several that starred the masters of Silent comedy. One of the films was titled, If I Only Had A Million and it starred W.C. Fields. The plot was that Fields hated the various “Road Hogs” that inhabited the roads of the day. One day, he inherited a million dollars, so he bought a fleet of cars and hired drivers to follow him around in a procession. Each time he came across a Road Hog, he took appropriate action. He got behind the car that was traveling extremely slowly, and pushed it until the speed was too fast for the driver and he crashed. WC then got into the next car in the procession and went in search of another Road Hog. The guy who took up the whole road and wouldn’t let people pass got pushed off the road, the clown who ran Stop signs got T-boned, etc. Fields destroyed his fleet of cars but he cleared the roads of Road Hogs. I know that it is a very unrealistic fantasy, but it sometimes looks pretty attractive; especially with some of the jackasses who inhabit the highways. I often wish I had some sort of Jammer that worked on the frequencies used by cell phones and text messaging. I know it probably wouldn’t help, but It might give me a bit of satisfaction to know that when a car passes me going 20 MPH faster than I am, then slows down to 20 MPH slower than I am because the driver is engrossed with playing with his phone, I can abort his all important messaging about last night’s Game and possibly get him to pay more attention to his driving. I do understand that his driving would probably get worse as he scrambled to figure out what went wrong with his all important link to life, but I’m talking Fantasy here. I also would feel bad if my jamming a phone call caused the driver to run off the road and get hurt. I hate that they’re a threat to me, but I really don’t want my actions causing injury or possibly death on my conscience. So I’ll just have to put up with idiots and hope that I’m nowhere near them when they do pull that inevitable bonehead move. Still, if I were to win the Lottery… Maybe I’ll buy a ticket, you never know. | ||
| 86129squids |
I like the way you think, John. I travel Alcoa/AhllKillya highway, then get on Pellissippi Pky/Autobahn, then, West Knoxville roads, AKA F*CKtard Freeway. I've discovered that my favorite LOUD music keeps me focused- Yes' 90125 is a great driving soundtrack. Watch out for the F*cktards on the freeway... they're multiplying. | ||
| Court |
I've always had a fantasy of buying something like a Hummer and putting a 3" concrete filled pipe bumper around the thing and going in search of those rude drivers . . . Ahhhhh . . . someday. :-) | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Cars are getting safer and drivers are getting worse. We need these people to be culled from the herd by horrific injuries. Remember a time when totaling a car meant you were in the hospital? Nowadays, they smash into each other like nerf bumpercars and walk right up to a dealership and get a new one. | ||
| Crusty |
Today's PSA Instead of my usual Snippet, today I have two Public Service Announcements. First, Don't Forget to Change Your Clocks Tonight. Daylight Savings Time ends at 2:00 AM. You get an extra hour to sleep before you get up in the morning. Second, Tuesday is Election Day. Get off your ass and go vote. I realize that this year we have the worst Presidential election I've yet to experience in my lifetime and the choices are not so hot; but if there's nobody to vote for, there's always someone to vote against. If you don't vote, you're effectively giving away your right to choose who governs you. I love to bitch about politicians and government. If I don't vote, then I have no right to cry when the jackass I don't like gets elected. Now that I've said this, I'm going back to bed. It's 5:00 AM and I want another couple of hours of sleep | ||
| Crusty |
Southbound Again I’m running out of titles for my Snippets. I just came up with three different titles for this one and I used all of them on previous essays. I suppose I could write a Snippet about how I come up with titles, but I won’t. It would be boring, and it has nothing to do with what I want to write about. Ha! I just came up with one! And what I want to write about is getting ready to go to Buellvemberfest (Novembuellfest?). I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve been following the extended weather forecast on Intellicast every day. I don’t care for the fact that the predicted high temps have dropped to high 50s, but I do like the 0% chance of rain and clear sky. I have a few things that need to get accomplished today and tomorrow. I have to go by the Registry of Motor Vehicles and renew my Registration for 2017, and I have to go by the Library and print out the directions of the routes I’m taking. One’s from here to TWoS and the other’s from TWoS to Fayetteville, NC. I need to swing by Target and pick up a script and I want to hit the Loonie Noonie for a little while before I go to the cheap theater and see Dr. Strange this afternoon. That’s today’s errands. The RMV is the stop that could screw everything else up, but if it’s too crazy, I can put it off until I get back from Carolina. Tomorrow, I have to do some Laundry and pack the saddlebags. I don’t think I’ll pack the tent and sleeping pad. I’ll motel it on the way down and the way home from Steve and Grace’s and I’m splitting a cabin with Froggy at TWoS. I am bringing the sleeping bag, though. I don’t know how warm those cabins will be and I’m really sensitive to the cold. Now that I’m thinking about it, I might just pack the tent and pad, anyway. If I get down to TWoS early, It would be cheaper to camp in the tent. Plus, I’m used to traveling with all the gear; it wouldn’t be a problem. I’ll keep weighing the pros and cons and make a decision tomorrow. Wednesday morning, I’ll be on the road nice and early. I’ll be wearing my long underwear and my electric jacket will be plugged in to the bike and once more, I’ll be Southbound Again. (Message edited by Crusty on November 07, 2016) | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
To the best of my memory, the cabin I stayed in at TWO had a little electric space heater. | ||
| Pwnzor |
John, do you know if Froggy had already booked that cabin? If not, you might be staying somewhere else because from what I can tell, everything is full besides the camp ground. If necessary, I can bring a large tent you could both share. | ||
| Tootal |
I split a cabin with Chad and that little heater about ran us out of there! I had to get up in the middle of the night and turn it way down! It might have been the de-toxing too!  | ||
| Crusty |
Cold. Wet. Tired I’m in a Motel 6 in Hagerstown, Maryland. 475 miles is all I could do today for mileage. I had wanted to get to Roanoke, Virginia for tonight, but I was getting close to hypothermia and I really don’t want to push that hard. I looked at the radar and the hourly forecast on Intellicast before I left this morning. Supposedly, the rain was going to be over in Scranton by 1:00 this afternoon. Instead, the exact opposite happened. I hit Scranton at one, and the sky opened up. It freakin’ poured for the next 100 miles. The rain overmitts leaked and my winter gloves and hands got soaked; the rain overboots leaked and my Chippewas and feet got soaked. My Darien jacket and pants leaked as well, so I got good and wet all over. I was shivering from the cold and it took all my resolve to make it to Hagerstown. I first hit the rain in Connecticut, and that’s where I put the mitts and boots on. The rain stayed light to moderate until just a few miles before Scranton; then things deteriorated really quickly. Dense fog and heavy rain and drivers who acted like they’d never had to drive in wet conditions made riding down I-81 a challenge. Once I got past Harrisburg, the rain stopped, the clouds started breaking up and the sun even came out; but by then, the damage was done. I just gritted my teeth and forced myself to not stop until I got here. Tomorrow’s supposed to be sunny, so hopefully I’ll be able to push hard enough to make it into TWoS. I think it’s going to be close to 600 miles, so I’m hoping to hit the road early; like right around Sunrise. All my gear is spread out all over the room and I’ve got the heat turned up, so hopefully it will all be dry in the morning. I don’t think the Chippewas will be, but I’m hopeful about the rest. I’m trying to be philosophical about it; because the weather sucked so bad, the trip will be all the more memorable. Or somethin’. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Man I have been in your position before. I have never found a way to successfully dry stuff in a hotel room. | ||
| 86129squids |
Hair dryer? | ||
| Ocbueller |
Nah! Microwave. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Microwave + wet socks = Burnt wet socks. I have tried it once. I have no idea how cotton/polyester walmart socks can burn and still be wet. | ||
| Zac4mac |
All motels have washers and dryers. beer or cash to use the dryer...... | ||
| Crusty |
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes Yesterday was a long day. I left the Motel 6 in Hagerstown feeling optimistic about making it to TWoS by Sunset or just after. The first part of the day went well. I was halfway here by early afternoon and the weather warmed up enough that I was able to shuck my Gerbings jacket. I was in that zone where I was one with the Roadster and we were just flowing with that happiness that comes when everything’s Right. The roads were good, traffic wasn’t especially bad and we were able to run at our “Happy” speed (80 - 85 MPH). It’s the feeling that I always hope to get when I go for a Long Ride. Yesterday, it was there. Until… Google had routed me through Asheville, NC on I-26. I was supposed to get on I-40 there, but I mis-read the directions and stayed on 26 About a half hour later, I realized that something was wrong, so I stopped in a Macca’s and checked out Google. I found my mistake, and the best route was to just go back to Asheville and pick up I-40. When I got to I-40, traffic was stopped. At first, I thought it was Rush Hour traffic. Then, I thought it was a bad wreck. it turned out to be a Wild Fire on the north side of the road. It took me two hours to cover 10 miles. The worst part of it all was that I was holding the clutch almost the whole time. My hand started cramping up pretty bad. I seldom got to release the clutch. Traffic was moving, but at less than a walking pace, so it was slip the clutch, then pull it in, then out a little, then in. The relief I got when I was on a downhill portion of the road was a necessary thing. I put the bike in Neutral and shut it off, and would just roll for a little while at a slow pace. When the gap between me and the truck in front of me got too big, I’d fire up the engine and close it up. Once the sun went down, the temperature dropped rapidly. So I put the Electric jacket and the winter gloves back on and continued on my way. This whole part of the country is being plagued with Wild Fires and there are some areas where the smoke is as bad as a heavy fog. It’s tough riding through the mountains on secondary highways with little or no traffic at night when you can’t see more than 100 yards in front of you. The moon was orange and brown depending on the smoke. And it lasted for miles. Eventually, I rode out of it, but it just added to my fatigue level. I was so tired that I missed the turn for Rt. 180 when I was almost here, so I took the long way around over Blood Mountain and came to Rt. 60 near Dahlonega and took that up to TWoS. I arrived at something like 9:45. Froggy was already here, and he had turned on the little electric heater to get the cabin warmed up. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep. My left hand kept cramping up all night long and woke me up a couple of times, but it seems to be recovering now. But I’m in Suches, Georgia, the sun is shining and people will begin showing up soon. I’m happy. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Welcome, John. I'll be bailing from work around 11:00. I need to wash my car so Gretchen will have a clean ride when she comes up, then I will head home, pack and get on up there. What's for dinner at TWoS tonight? Are they serving dinner today? If not, maybe I just shoot straight up to Jim's Smokin BBQ and bring us back a bunch of brisket and pulled pork... | ||
| 86129squids |
... just had my first cuppa joe, getting going slowly. Woke about an hour and a half ago, drank some juice, went back to bed- temp was 34 out! BRRR... Hoping to be rolling by 10AM, might stop at Benton's Hams for some supplies in a bit. Cyall soon! | ||
| Ourdee |
John drink extra water today! | ||
| Crusty |
Colorful Thoughts We went for a fairly fast ride today enjoying the curvaceous roads in the area. We rode over Blood Mountain, Wolf Pen Gap, the Richard Russell Scenic Byway and some others whose names I don’t know. They were all nice roads with good, smooth pavement and light traffic. I found out just how far I can lean the Roadster before hard parts touch down. On the right side, the front muffler touches the pavement first (and I have a nice new ground area to show exactly where). On the left side, I thought it was the kickstand, but then I felt the footpeg kick my foot up; so I’m not sure. I know that I can’t keep up with the Buells, though. Maybe if I got better suspension, I could… When we were in the twisties, I was concentrating on my riding, but when we hit less challenging areas, my mind drifted to what color I’d like to paint the bike next. She looks really pretty in black when she’s clean, but I keep thinking about what color would suit her better. I saw a Jeep on the ride down that was painted a dark candy red. It was a magnificent color, and The Roadster would look really good in that particular Red. I also saw a Dodge that was painted a shade of blue that was very reminiscent of Banzai Blue (that’s the color that the Iron Motor was painted). That red on the Jeep is the color that’s really speaking to me, though. I keep thinking about what improvements I want to do to the bike. I want to make a few changes to the bag mounts to make them more rigid and I want to get an LED headlight. I’m looking at an Eagle Lights Gen. 3 Daymaker. More light at night would be a good thing. Oh; I’d like to find a set of 30 Liter Hepco&Becker Junior bags. They’d look a lot better on the Roadster than the 40 Liter bags that I’m using and would be big enough for most of the times I'd use them. A set of 30s would have worked just fine for this trip. And don’t forget Improving the suspension; and some better brakes wouldn’t hurt, either… Then again, is any bike ever completely done? There are always some sort of changes to make the Roadster better for my wants and needs. My wants and needs keep changing, though. That’s one of the fun parts of really getting into making a motorcycle mine. I enjoy planning and dreaming, though. And, like Froggy observed, once I get the Roadster set up, I’ll probably go buy an EBR and have to personalize it. It’ll be fun. (Message edited by Crusty on November 12, 2016) (Message edited by Crusty on November 12, 2016) (Message edited by Crusty on November 12, 2016) | ||
| Crusty |
You’d Think I’d Learn Weather Forecasts and Google Maps; you’d think I’d learn to not believe them. Before I left Massachusetts, I printed out directions from home to TWoS on one sheet of paper and directions from TWoS to Fayetteville on another. So when I left on Sunday morning to head for Grace and Steve’s house, I thought I was all set. Well; after I rode in circles over some beautiful North Georgia roads, I had to stop and ask directions at a gas station. It turned out that I was almost back to TWoS. The nice lady in the store told me where to go to find my way to I-85. Once I was heading right, I figured out that I’d lost something like an hour and a half to two hours following that route. I mean, Google had me doing things like going left on east Podunk Road for 1.3 miles. then turning left on East Bumfart Road for .3 miles then taking a right into US Route 441. Except that there was no Rt. 441; it was State Route 115. I eventually made my way to I-85 and the route became simpler. The ride didn’t become easier, though. While I was still heading south on US 129, the rain started. I had checked with Intellicast on Saturday night, and the rain wasn’t supposed to start until about 4:00 PM. Intellects was off by a few hours. Matt had looked at the weather radar while we were eating breakfast at the Lodge and showed me the rain I was likely to encounter, so when it started raining, I wasn’t too surprised; I just pulled over to the side of the road and put on my over boots and glove covers. Traffic was heavy on I-85, and the rain was intermittent, but it was heavy enough that it caused several accidents, which did nothing for my travel time. Eventually, the rain got so heavy and the sky was darkening enough to indicate that it was going to really pour soon, that I chickened out. I got a room at the Stupid 8 just east of Columbia, SC. I just didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to put up with another ride like I’d had between Scranton and Harrisburg, PA. Once in the room, I called Steve and Grace and told them I wasn’t going to roll in until the next day. I spread all my wet gear around the room and turned the heat way up. Monday, the weather improved and the trip in to Fayetteville was uneventful. We kicked around the house yesterday and Grace fixed Spaghetti and Meatballs for dinner. I ate way too much (how unusual!) and went to bed last night feeling both warm and well fed. This morning, I did my laundry and Steve and I watched The Fugitive on some cable channel. I’m heading out for Hudson in the morning. I don’t need to print out any directions from Google, but I did look at Intellicast to see what the weather’s supposed to do. Supposedly, it’s going to be clear and relatively warm all the way home. I don’t have a lot of faith in the forecast, but I still want to hope they’ll be right this time. We’ll see. |
