| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
A Plumbing We Will Go I wrote about my plugged up sewer line in my last Snippet. The Plumber arrived on Thursday afternoon and started rooting the line. Then the cable from the rooter snapped. He had a smaller rooter and used that to open a small hole (maybe an inch in diameter) through the clogged area so that the backed up sewage could drain. He told me that I could use the water in the house and even flush the toilet, but no toilet paper or it would plug up again. He said that the office would send out somebody first thing in the morning to finish the job. He also warned me about the likelihood that the pipe might be (probably was) broken and would need to be replaced. So, yesterday morning, I waited until 9:45, then called the plumber’s office to see if anyone was coming out. The secretary/receptionist/dispatcher said that they had an emergency and that somebody would be here at 1:00. She had said that the day before, and the plumber showed up at 2:15, so I expected more of the same. I had spent the night dwelling on how expensive it was going to be to dig up and replace the old pipe, and the delay didn’t help my negative attitude. So I gathered up my dirty laundry and went to the laundromat. Even though Greg had brought me a washer and dryer, the dryer wasn’t hooked up, and I wasn’t too sure about using the washer with the pipe in the condition it was in. When I got to the Laundromat, Vanessa was working and I asked her out to dinner. I think the Titanic got a warmer reception from the iceberg than I got from her. Oh, well. Then, as I was folding my clothes, I got the urge to pee, but a kid beat me to the bathroom. Once his mother found him and dragged him out of there, I could see that he had been playing in the toilet, and the handle of a cleaning brush was standing tall in the middle of the bowl. Of course, the woman didn’t bother to straighten up the mess her kid had made, and so I just finished folding my clothes and went over to David’s shop which was nearby and used the bathroom there. After I left, I got about halfway home, and the Roadster died without warning. It just stopped running. It would crank OK but it wouldn’t run I turned the petcock to reserve, opened the gas cap; nothing. Then I turned the key off, then turned it on again and the bike fired right up and ran fine. So I got home and waited for the plumber to show up; which he did around 2:00 He worked on the clog for about an hour without success, then called for another plumber with a camera. He was convinced that the pipe was collapsed, and I would have to replace at least one section. I was looking at how close to the surface the sewer line was and had just decided that I’d just get a shovel and dig is out myself, when the other plumber arrived with the camera. He looked at the clog and decided that it wasn’t a collapsed pipe, just a big assed root ball and used a special tool that chewed away at it. When he pulled the rooter out of the clean out, the end looked like a black cat. He got that clog cleared, and another that was farther up the line. Then he ran the camera all the way up the line into the house. The pipe was clear. I don’t need to replace any of it, but I do need to run some RootX through the pipe twice a year, and that will prevent a recurrence. Knowing that I won’t have to go seriously in debt, and I can use the water in the house without worry made up for all the negativity of the day. I ordered a 2 pound tub of RootX online, and I’ll run it through the pipes this week. It turned out to be a pretty good day. | ||
| Buellish |
Yea! | ||
| Tootal |
Great news John!! What a relief! The Sportster is strange though. Hope it's a cheap and easy fix too! Just a warning, there are more than one type of four prong sockets for the dryer. Make sure the one you get has the two round holes in it. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Glad that root ball won't be weighing on your mind so you can enjoy your ribs next week! | ||
| Crusty |
Nah! Instead of a root ball to occupy my mind, I'll just have to figure out how I'm going to pay the Plumber's bill.  Boy; I'm sure glad I became a home owner! I'll still enjoy the BBQ, the people, and the Rally though!  (Message edited by Crusty on October 28, 2017) | ||
| Crusty |
The Indian Scout I’m going to be honest right from the start. I’m looking for reasons to not like the Indian Scout. And I’ve found several. When Polaris first announced the Scout in 2014, I went up to Manchester Hew Hampshire to test ride one. The Demo fleet was going to be there and I wasn’t working at the time, so I wanted to see what they were like to ride. It wasn’t a bad bike, but I didn’t like the seating ergos. I felt locked into one position and I could see that it would become painful after a little bit of time in the saddle. I don’t like forward controls, and there was no provision for mid controls at all. My impression got worse rapidly because Erik Buell Racing had a Demo day in Springfield, Massachusetts a couple of weeks afterwards. I rode there on my Guzzi Norge and took an 1190 SX out and fell in love. The SX engine made a LOT(almost double) more power, the seating position was much more comfortable and the bike handled like a Buell. Which is to say better than damned near anything else. There might be better handling bikes out there, but I’ve never ridden one. Another thing that annoyed me was how the motorcycle press at the time was gushing about how the Scout engine was modern and how much of an improvement it was over the Sportster. After all, it was water cooled and it had overhead cams. Almost nothing was said about the EBRs engine, which really impressed me a lot. I was just reading a test on the Indian Scout at motousa.com. They put the Scout on a dyno and it made (rounded up to the nearest whole #) 85 Horsepower and 64 lb-ft of torque. When I had my 1998 Buell S3-T Thunderbolt, I had it dyno’d at Lancaster H-D and it made 85 HP and 75 lb-ft. The EBR made 161 HP and 74 lb-ft according to Cycle World. The test also mentioned, It’s the type of engine that wants riders to be on the throttle, wants to run hard and fast, because it can be a little herky-jerky… My Roadster does not feel like that. It may make a bit less horsepower, but it’s much more comfortable and a lot more enjoyable to ride. The SX didn’t feel like that, either; but, to be honest, I only took it on a Demo ride. Something like that might surface if I was riding it on a daily basis. But I doubt it. I know a few SX owners, and none of them have mentioned it. As I said, I was looking for things to be wrong with the Scout. I didn’t have to look very hard. It’s not a bad bike, but it isn’t nearly as good as the hype would have you believe. My Roadster is a much better all around motorcycle, and it looks better, too. And if I really want more power, ways to get it abound. | ||
| Ourdee |
I had a co-worker that rode a scout. 20 to 25 thousand in about a year. He was shorter than us and seamed as though he could probably put up with some discomfort. His complaint was about customer service on a paint defect. He compared them to HD and HD won. I liked the look of the Scout but I do not like a bike that weighs so much, never have. He sure did ride that bike, even in the weather I rode in. One of a couple of bikers I respected up there. | ||
| Crusty |
Dream Bikes Back in the winter of 1969-70 , I bought a Buyer’s Guide to Motorcycles at the local news stand. I was still fairly new to motorcycles, and this magazine had pictures and descriptions of nearly every bike being sold in the USA. I studied that magazine and had bikes that I wanted and bikes that I had no interest in. It fed my interest for months. I remember seeing an Egli-Vincent, and thinking it was an Ugly-Vincent until Joe Hardy told me about Vincents. I looked at bikes of all types and sizes from all over the world, and my knowledge of motorcycles began to grow. I looked at that Buyer’s Guide daily for months. There was one bike that really grabbed me, though. I fell in love with the Royal Enfield Mark 2 Interceptor. I read how one mechanic would assemble an entire engine (sound familiar?); the assembly line wasn’t like that of one of the Japanese giants. I saw the bike as extremely beautiful and the nadir of British Motorcycle Design. I lusted after one, and even went so far as to call the Boston area dealer, Sam Avellino (aka Sam the Bandit) and ask the price of one. I was broke at the time, like most 19 year olds, but I sure dreamed about that Interceptor. Enfield quit making motorcycles in England soon after, but my feelings for that bike remained. There have been a few bikes that I’ve lusted after over the years, but never got. H-D’s XLCR was one in the 70s, and so was the XR 1000 when that hit the market in the 80s. I had a real thing for a Caribbean Blue S2 with T handlebars, foot pegs and hard bags, but then Buell came out with the S3-T and the Thunderstorm engine. And it’s no secret that I’m still lusting for an EBR 1190 SX. The never released Black Lightning spoke to me like no bike has in decades, and I could possibly build one, if I had enough money, but I’d build it as my personal “Gentleman’s Express” to use the old Cycle magazine term. A sport tourer that’s both fast, and capable of being ridden for long spells comfortably. Maybe some freakish miracle will occur and I’ll come into a large chunk of money and I’ll be able to do that, but I’m not about to hold my breath waiting for it to happen. In my dream world, I’d have all the above mentioned bikes in pristine condition in my large, climate controlled garage, along with a few more. In reality, though I think they’ll all just have to reside in my dreams. I have a good bike, and the Roadster is one that I really enjoy riding. It’s the only bike that I’ve owned that I’ve ridden through all 48 contiguous States and I have a pretty strong bond with it. It’s good to have dreams, though. You never know what might happen. I might just buy a lottery ticket and win a chunk of change. Hey; it might happen! | ||
| Pwnzor |
There's a lot of bikes I'd love to have... But Wakan is the only one that I've felt calling to me in a long time... other than a mint condition 1976 CB750F1...  Other than this... if I could just get a new seat and lower foot pegs, I'll be happy with the Z1000 for another 10 years. | ||
| Tootal |
Crusty, I'll keep an eye out for any neighbors wanting to get rid of an Enfield Interceptor. I need another excuse to have some Woot's BBQ! | ||
| Crusty |
Greg, I was out with my brother doing some bulk item shopping today, and he and I ate there for lunch. I told the owner/cook that you were a Judge at BBQ contests and that you said his ribs could win, and he was really pleased. Since it was lunch, I got a Brisket sandwich w/Baked Beans, and David got a Pulled Pork sandwich with Mac&Cheese. I recommend the Brisket and David recommends the Pulled Pork. It's really nice to have good BBQ nearby. | ||
| 86129squids |
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| Crusty |
K.I.S.S. I don’t trust Google Maps when it comes to North Georgia. Actually, that’s not true; I trust the maps, but I don’t trust the directions. When I was here last year, I used Google’s directions to head for North Carolina. The directions had me taking every little side road and lesser State Routes, and after an hour of riding over some beautiful roads, those directions had me stuck in the middle of nowhere. I wound up finding a gas station and buying a road map so I could figure out where I was, and it turned out that I was ten minutes away from Two Wheels, where I started. So now, when I’m planning a trip, I’ll use Google, but I’ll go over every last detail and make a lot of changes. When I started planning my route from Cincinnati to Suches, I used Google for the preliminary route. Then I started looking at some of the little roads they wanted to send me down to save .01 mile. When I got into the examination of the area, I wound up with a very different route altogether. My route was going to make me ride 3 miles longer and take me something like 17 minutes more than their suggested route. The real advantage of my route was that it was very simple. I got on I-75 in Cincinnati and got off at exit 60 in Tennessee. That exit put me on to Tenn. Rt. 68 South which turned into Georgia Rt.60 at the border. Rt. 60 leads right to Two Wheels of Suches. The bonus is that parts of Rt.68 and nearly all of Rt.60 are a motorcyclist’s dream. The countryside is absolutely beautiful. it’s all low mountains and it’s heavily forested. The roads are well paved and as twisty as you could hope for and traffic is light. Today, everybody but Frank (Froggy) and I will be arriving for Buellvemberfest. I was the first to arrive, which surprised me, and Frank pulled in an hour or so later. Mike (Bullish) is the Rallymeister, Matthew (Pwnzer) is very excited (at least his posts on Badweb indicate a high level of anticipation) Ourdee and Brad (86129Squids) will be arriving from Indianapolis and Tennessee; I don’t know who else is coming, but they will be welcome and I bet they’ll have a good time. The weather forecast is very favorable with high temps around the 70º mark. And there’s all kinds of BBQ close by. Last night, Frank and I went to Jim’s Smoking’ Que for dinner. The plan is to go there for lunch both today and tomorrow, but we figured, “What the hell!” and we weren’t disappointed. Their Pulled Pork sandwich is still a glutton’s delight as far as quantity, and the quality is really good. I also really like their baked beans. I figure I should eat there a lot because I won’t be able to eat there again until next Spring at the soonest. Of course, now that I’ve found Woot’s near home, I can have good BBQ whenever the urge strikes, but I won’t have the bonus of dining with a bunch of Badwebbers. Buellvemberfest is on and I’m here! Life is Good! (Message edited by Crusty on November 03, 2017) | ||
| Tootal |
Good to hear you had an excellent ride down Crusty. 68 is how we get to Tellico Plains and the Cherohala Skyway. Great ride indeed. Have fun down there! | ||
| Crusty |
ZZZIPPP…BEEP! I’ve got writer’s block. I know what I want to write about, but I can’t seem to get it down so that it makes any sense. I’ll try again later. | ||
| Tootal |
Go take a ride in the cool air, that will clean out the cobwebs!! Or at least it will make you appreciate that warm home of yours! Awaiting your words of wisdom... | ||
| Ourdee |
I have a thought fueled by Granola nibbling and coffee sipping. I've slowed my response time to trolls. I still work on my smoothness to engage threats. But after watching old men's reactions to what goes on around them I don't think of them as slow any more. Wise people: keep their mouth shut longer, their eyes open while they pray, concentrating on weaknesses. I marvel at old people. They got that way by doing something I am only beginning to understand. | ||
| Crusty |
A Grey November Day It’s November. It looks and feels like November. The temperature is in the low 40s (approx. 5º C) and the sky is a dull grey and it’s supposed to start raining any time now. It’s a good day to just hole up and keep warm and dry. Two years ago, I was getting ready to head for Australia I left on the 17th, if I remember right. I’ve been thinking about that a bit today. There’s an Australian member of the XL Forum who rode his Sportster to Cameron Corner from Canberra. Cameron Corner is where the Australian States of Queensland, New South Wales and South Australia meet. The pictures he posted really make me wish I could afford to go back and this time, buy a bike to travel on. I’ve got this itch to ride across the Nullarbor Plain to Perth. I also want to ride to Ayers Rock. I’d like to get a Steak Sandwich in Ferndale and get a breakfast sandwich with a cup of Flat White coffee at the Cafe 33 in the morning, then attend the Christmas Festivities that evening in Gatton and buy tickets for the Meat Raffle and generally just enjoy being in the Southern Hemisphere during the holidays. I called Melia in Spring Creek a few nights ago. Among other things, we talked about the Iron Motor. I’ve been thinking about buying parts to get it up and going, and ran a few ideas by her. She pointed out that for what it would cost to do that, I could buy a newer bike in better shape. Plus, there’s a guy who wants to buy the ’79; he doesn’t want to pay market value, but he’s looked at it a few times and each time, his offering price comes up. The ’79 is worth about half of what a good Evo Sportster is going for there, so that would be a real help toward getting a bike. To be honest, that money would go towards a bike for Melia. I’d still need to save up enough to buy a bike for myself. I wouldn’t feel right if I did anything else. Before I go back to Australia though, I want to ride to Tuktoyaktuk and Alaska. I’m hoping to make that trip next June. I’m thinking that I should ride up to Tuk, then hit Dawson City for the Dust 2 Dawson Non-Rally and then take the Top Of The World Highway to Alaska. That will be a ride of a lifetime as will be the ride to Perth. I don’t know if I’ll have my debt whittled down by next summer (I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever have my debt whittled down), but riding down to Buellvemberfest and sleeping in my tent really whetted my appetite for camping and Tramping again. Enough that I blew five and a half bucks on a new camping pillow on FleaBay yesterday. I’m going to have to get a new sleeping pad; the one I have has a valve that’s going bad. I think I’ll get the same pad from REI. This one is thick enough and, other than the bad valve, has been really reliable and durable. I’m thinking about the military modular sleeping bag system a good bit. My Marine Corps Surplus tent is undoubtedly the best tent I have ever owned. If something should happen to it, I’d get another in a heartbeat. My sleeping bag is warm, but as my tent has proven, Milspec gear is designed to take abuse and still be durable. I may get a different portable stove. The Etekcity stove that I’ve been using is pretty fragile, but it cost peanuts, has piezoelectric ignition and it’s very compact. I might just continue using it, or I might just buy another one of the same. Still, a Jet Boil would be nice, even if they do cost a hundred bucks. I don’t think I need to make any other changes to my camping gear. Well; that’s where my head is at today. We’ll see how everything shakes out as the seasons progress. | ||
| Ourdee |
I’m thinking about the military modular sleeping bag system a good bit. Whoa! John, You may want to rethink that one. I can let you try mine out. I don't think you will like how snug it is inside the modular bags. | ||
| Crusty |
I was playing around online this morning and came up with this map of the places I've ridden the Roadster in:  Hopefully, next year will add a bit more color to that map. | ||
| Tootal |
I have that same map sewed on the back of the vest I used to wear. It looks just like yours with a four more Canadian provinces. We need to plan a trip to Newfoundland!  | ||
| Daddio |
Crusty-- Do you have Puerto Rico colored in. in blue, in your map? | ||
| Crusty |
Yes. I don't know why; I didn't check Puerto Rico on the list of visited states. I didn't even notice it until you posted about it. Needless to say, I haven't ridden the Roadster there. Yet. | ||
| Daddio |
I did ride, while in Maui, but because of an issue with gas stops, I had to trailer it there... | ||
| Crusty |
Just Screwin’ Around Last month, for no intelligent reason, I pulled out a board that was supporting a shelf holding over a hundred pounds of steel fasteners. The predictable happened; one of the bin cabinets fell over onto the floor scattering (literally) tens of thousands of flat head and button head screws, nuts and washers in assorted sizes all over the floor of the garage. I got out the push broom and swept then all into a big pile, and began sorting them out. I’ve been working at sorting out everything and getting things back into their proper drawers since that time. Now, the plastic cabinet has 60 drawers, and most of those drawers have plastic dividers, so each drawer can hold two different sized items. I figure it’s safe to assume that there were well over 100 different items that needed to be sorted out. I think I’m about 2/3 done. First, I sorted out the different sized nuts into regular nuts and Keps nuts (with integral lock washers), then I sorted them into their various sizes from 4-40 up to 3/8-16. Then came the washers. flat or lock, inside diameter, outside diameter and thickness. then came the flat head screws. Now, I’m working on the button head screws. I’m hoping to have them done by the first of December, but I wouldn’t place any money on that being a certainty. The good news about this minor catastrophe is that on cold, rainy days, I have something to do inside, where it’s warm and dry. I figure that I’ve put in something like 60 hours so far with a ways to go; but it IS getting done. First, I had to sort the pile into bolts, nuts and washers and put each category into large containers. That alone took a few part time days. Then, sorting each general category into types, then sizes. After that, getting them into their respective drawers and compartments. These little pieces of Stainless have become very valuable. Stainless hardware is expensive, to begin with. If I add in my time in sorting everything out, they become exorbitantly expensive. The sad part is that I probably will never need most of them. But if I do, I’ve got them. The day will come when I’ll need a 10-32 button head that’s 3/4” long, and I’ll be able to go right to the bin and pull one (or more) out, along with washers, lock washers and nuts. Here are a few photos that I took of the cabinet and some of the hardware on my dining room table. The plastic cabinet  some of the button head bolts  8-32 Flat head screws being sorted  | ||
| 04buell |
Crusty; What do the different colors signify? | ||
| Crusty |
No significance. They're just random colors picked out by the site's software. I'm hoping that by this time next year, I'll have added Alaska, and the canadian Provinces of Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon and Northwest Territory to the map. (Message edited by Crusty on November 15, 2017) | ||
| Buellish |
John,when I was moving out of my storage unit in Canton,GA to transport the contents to Dahlonega the same thing happened,three different plastic bin cabinets fell and spilled all over the unit floor,I didn't have the luxury of sorting any thing as I had a rented truck and hired help to pay,so just crammed it all in where ever it would fit.I'm somewhat ashamed to say that I haven't sorted it all yet in a year and a half of living here.I've been a bit busy with riding and making sure the mountain roads are safe for innocent law abiding motorcyclists.  | ||
| Tootal |
When your done PLEASE ride on over and do my nut and bolt drawer! When I need something I just rake through the pile until I find it, if it's there!! | ||
| 86129squids |
...always knew you had a screw loose, Crusticle. |
