| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Here's a few pictures. Just up the road from the Weedsport Speedway is an old lock from the Erie Canal.    The Niagara Mohawk Power Building   Iron Mike  | ||
| Buellish |
John,that is one really neat building!Joe and I are thinking about riding up to Iron Horse Saturday. | ||
| Crusty |
My photographs don't do it justice. As I said, I wish I had the skills of Court or Mike R so I could take some good shots of it. It takes on a whole different dimension in the moonlight with bats flying around. It's truly impressive! | ||
| Crusty |
I wrote this a couple of days ago, but the WiFi at the lodge was so bad, I couldn't post it until now: At The Meet & Greet. I left Cheviot yesterday morning and immediately hit stopped traffic as soon as I got on I 75. Once I got through town, speeds picked up to normal, even though the traffic remained pretty heavy. I only missed turns a couple of times; once in Murvil (Maryville), TN and once on Rt. 28. The second mistake wasn’t all bad; I wound up riding over the top of the Fontana Dam. It’s impressively large, and there are lots of high tension power lines leading away from it. I eventually found the Iron Horse Lodge and was immediately met by a member of the XL forum who recognized me. Actually, he recognized the Roadster with its Hepco & Becker bags and concluded that I must be Crusty. That started the introductions. Since I have that weird memory condition where I have a lot of trouble remembering people’s names (sometimes I’ll blank out on someone’s name who I’ve known for years), I’m not even going to try to list everyone. However, by the time I went to bed, there were 18 of us. I think. This morning, a large group of us went and rode the Cherohala Skyway to Tellico Plains for lunch. Brad on Badweb raves about some bakery in Tellico Plains, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. Still, we found a good quality restaurant and increased their business for a day. I got a roast beef sandwich with grilled onions and peppers and it was both huge and very tasty. It was big enough that I’m going to skip dinner this evening. After we left the restaurant, the large group split up into smaller segments. Some folks were going north to ride the Foothills Parkway and some were going to ride back on the Cherohala, and I don’t know where the rest were heading. I really don’t enjoy riding in a group any more. I used to; and I had a few friends that I’d travel with almost every week, but as time passed, I’ve come to prefer to ride alone. Once the group of Sportsters started breaking up, I decided to do likewise and rode back to the campground by myself. There has been a 60% chance of rain here, and I rode over some patches of wet pavement, but it never rained on me. It was interesting; the road would be completely wet for a couple of hundred yards, then it would be bone dry for a stretch, then wet again. I zipped the tent fly before I left this morning, so all my sleeping gear should be dry. There are still clouds of variable density overhead, so it still might cut loose at any time. The Roadster is parked under a roofed motorcycle parking area, so it should be OK. I have to say that it’s exceptionally beautiful around here. The roads are very twisty and the pavement is good. It’s a magnificent place to ride a motorcycle. Anyhow, I took a few pictures, but I won’t be able to share them until I get back home. One reason is that I can’t download them from the camera to this computer. The other reason is that the WiFi here keeps going away. I doubt that I’ll be able to post this Snippet until it sorts itself out. I hope it starts working right soon. | ||
| Crusty |
Uberdog, the Border Bus and a Knucklehead Trike I’m at a bit of a loss. I don’t know how to write about this past weekend. It was a great time with good people in a beautiful location, but I can’t quite figure how to describe it and do the event justice. Make no mistake; it was an event. One that I’ve left with new friends and some great memories. I don’t think I could have had more fun. And, like all great events, it wasn’t the motorcycles that made it great, but the people. I got to meet many of the people who were only forum names before the rally, and I liked everyone I met. For some reason, I can remember people by their Forum names easier than their real names. Gravydog, Cotton and Miz Cotton (not Mrs.), Rokytnji, MikeLI, Sportster Paul, Flame_, Screw Loose Dan; aw hell, everybody was fun to be with. I did a good amount of riding. I rode the Tail of the Dragon three times, the Cherohala Skyway twice, the Foothills Parkway, a little bit of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a lot of other roads. I rode through the Great Smoky Mountain National park at a snail’s pace in heavy traffic, but most of the riding was at a comfortable speed just a little above the speed limit (Well, sometimes a bit faster than that). I finally made it to the Wheels Through Time Museum, and it turned out to be much better than I was expecting. They had bikes I didn’t know existed, like a 1941 Knucklehead Trike with shaft drive and tractor – ish tires designed for the military. I got to watch one of the employees start several Fours from the teens and 20s. The 1924 Henderson four started with one kick! All the bikes in the museum are runners. I guess Dale Walker (the owner) likes to do burnouts with the Crocker inside the building! At least, that’s what I was told by one employee, and I saw the skidmarks on the floor. I got to go out for Mexican in the Border Bus with a bunch of people. Somehow, we wound up at a brew pub instead of a Mexican Restaurant, but the food was good and we all had a good time. The Border Bus is how Gravydog’s name got changed to Uberdog. This might sound bizarre to most of the folks reading this, but those who were there know what I’m saying. I’ve been to rallies put on by Buell people and rallies put on by Moto Guzzi people. All of them have been good, but different from each other. This was my first Sportster rally. Someone asked me how it compared to the others. I answered, it’s different. After thinking about it a bit, it reminds me a bit of the American Thunderbike Club’s Family Reunions when Jay and Donna Hawley were running the club. It definitely was a good time, and I hope to attend more in the future. From what I understand, the rally moves from one location to another each year. I hope next year’s rally is as good as this one was. The Meet & Greet was well worth attending. | ||
| 86129squids |
"The Museum That Runs"!! LOVE that place, and just riding through Maggie Valley is a hoot. I got to see Dale Walksler fire up the Henderson and do a burnout- what fun! Bought a couple of his DVD's, I guess I loaned them out and lost them... Didja make it upstairs? He's got LOADS of MC literature and stuff, and a prototype electric HD on the stairs going up. When I visited he was selling his GF's pottery- bought a coffee mug with various old H-D internal parts impressed into the clay. Fun place fo sho. How was Iron Horse? I've not made it there yet, heard good things. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
I'm still butthurt over the wheels through time. The one time I was in the area, it was Tuesday. It was closed on Tuesdays!!! Fuuuu!!!! | ||
| 86129squids |
 !!! You were right to be butthurt. That place is amazing, especially when Dale or one of his kids fires up one or several of those precious old bikes. My only criticism is they should work on their lighting here and there. Hell, they'll even take a bike out to raise hell around the property, kind of a high dollar hare scramble!! I said hare scramble. Where's Glitch???  | ||
| Ourdee |
What are you doing this week Crusty? | ||
| Crusty |
Paying bills, buying groceries; just the usual day to day stuff. Why? Wassup? Need some tires changed? Wanna eat some good ribs? I'm thinking that I might go see The Incredibles 2 one day, but that's pretty flexible. | ||
| Ourdee |
I went back to being retired. I have to wear out this set first. RIBS! Got a good spot? Of course I want to eat some good ribs. What day is best for rib hunting? | ||
| Crusty |
Woot's has Prize Winning quality ribs. Unfortunately, they're closed Sundays and Mondays. They're open every other day, though. I've brought several people there and every one has really liked the food there. Just let me know when you feel like coming down and we can do a bit of bull slinging and inhaling great food. Check out their website: http://www.wootsbbq.com/ | ||
| Ourdee |
TUESDAY =] | ||
| Crusty |
Tuesday sounds good. See you then. | ||
| Ltbuell |
Love that art deco era architecture....just something way way cool about it.Way cool Niagara Mohawk Power Building.....LT | ||
| Crusty |
Wet Weather It’s raining again. It’s been raining for a few days now and I’m tired of it. The humidity is at 97% and has been in the oppressive range for days. My clothes feel damp when I first put them on in the morning. I have to keep the fan on because the humidity makes me sweat even though the temperature is at a very comfortable level. One thing that got to me was the other night when I was watching the evening news. The newscaster was complaining because it hadn’t rained in a couple of weeks and her lawn was looking brown. Personally, I like brown lawns. That means that they aren’t growing and I won’t have to mow the grass for a while longer. I also really enjoy being able to take the Roadster out on a daily basis and have it stay clean for a while. Before someone suggests wearing rain gear, I just want to say that I have a few sets. I also have an Aerostich Darien jacket that’s supposed to be waterproof. It used to be; but that was 100,000 miles ago. It’s long overdue for some Scotchgard. However; the problem with raingear in hot humid weather is that while the rain doesn’t get in, the heat and sweat also don’t get out, so you get almost as wet as if you hadn’t put it on. Plus, putting the gear on is a royal PITA. Then, if you’re at the Supermarket, people look at you as if you’re some kind of nut case. (Well; that’s a valid line of thought in my case) A couple of years ago, when I started thinking about buying a house, there were three areas I was considering. Western Colorado, Central Massachusetts and Cincinnati. Cincinnati was at the bottom of the list strictly because of the high humidity. However, I bought a house here because it was so much more affordable than either of the other two locations. Now, I like my neighborhood and my little house is slowly getting transformed into a Home that reflects my personality and values. If I had it to do all over again, I’d still go with what I’ve done. But I was hoping that I’d get used to the humidity levels and the amount and frequency of rain. I’m still hoping that, but sometimes, it seems like it’ll never happen. In the meantime, I probably won’t take the Roadster out today. Maybe today would be a good day to put some more wax on the sheet metal. And maybe the rain will quit long enough for the streets to dry out. | ||
| Shoggin |
No central A/C? I can tell you from experience living in those places where it's hot and humid enough to be uncomfortable, but not too hot to make every place prepare with A/C (like PHX) that it is worth every. stinking. penny. to add A/C to your home. I know that it's expensive, I know you only need it 5-10 weeks a year. Still worth it. YOU'RE worth it  Even if you just spend $400 for a big window unit for your bedroom. You'll get some sleep and your mood and attitude with increase immensely! Window A/C is the gateway drug to central air  | ||
| 86129squids |
 Shog's 100% right- I much prefer leaving my windows open, no A/C, UNTIL it gets to this time of year. My little shoebox of a house seems to have a bit more A/C unit than it needs, but hey- I've got things cooling ASAP once I turn it on. If you have no good or inadequate A/C, check in with your Habitat ReStores around town, keep your window measurements in your wallet. Sooner or later a good window unit will show up. Heck, my local Habitat even got a huge central unit, too big for my house, but that just shows what people donate- you never know! Craigslist too. | ||
| Tootal |
+1 on WOOTS BBQ! | ||
| Crusty |
Ourdee Comes To Visit Yesterday, RD rode his Lightning down from Indianapolis to Cheviot to visit and it turned out to be a memorable day, for several reasons. I like RD. He’s a Good Guy. When I brought all my worldly possessions down from Massachusetts in a U-Haul, he showed up and helped me unload everything and get it all into the house. I had thought it would take all day, but we got it all done pretty quickly, and were done in time to get lunch. He also gave me a lot of stuff like a queen sized bed and a comfortable living room chair, end tables and a coffee table, lamps, rugs, sheets, etc. He also came down after that and we sat and talked about varied subjects. He made it down to TWoS for April Buells and had a good time. He fell in love with the ribs at Jim’s Smokin’ Que which is something I can relate to. So I was looking forward to seeing him again. I was planning to take him to Woot’s for lunch. I figured he’d like the ribs there. I was also looking forward to a good bull session. We wound up with all that and more. He arrived around mid-morning, and we sat and talked until a bit after noon, then we rode over to Woot’s. Woot’s is a really great BBQ place that I discovered by chance. Last fall, when Greg and his friend brought me the washer and drier, I was planning to take them out for ribs at a well-known local restaurant. However, that place was closed on the day they arrived, so I Googled BBQ and Woot’s was the closest place and it had a 5 star rating, so we went there. It’s a little hole in the wall type of rib joint, and Greg (who has been a judge at BBQ cook offs) said that the ribs were Top Prize Quality. I’m not any kind of judge, but I really liked the ribs, and so has everybody that I’ve brought there. I was hoping that RD would like the food as much as I do. Well, he did. We stuffed ourselves and brought home enough each for another meal. We got back to the house and talked until about 5:30, then RD decided to head out. His bike wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t even crank over. When he hit the button, the solenoid would just make a ratcheting sound. When we put the meter on it, the battery was indicating 10 volts. We put a charger on it. Nope. We tried jumper cables. Eventually, we got the bike to start, but it wasn’t charging. So he called his wife and had her come down in a pickup. In the meantime, we put the battery on the charger after it was out of the bike. After about an hour and a half, we checked the battery and the voltage was at 14.10 volts, but as we watched, the voltage was slowly dropping. We put it in the bike, and it wouldn’t start the bike and the voltage plummeted again. To quote the doctor on Star Trek, “It’s dead, Jim.” So we sat on the front porch and watched fireflies blinking on and off and eventually his wife arrived. We loaded up the poor dead XB12 SCG and the three of them, (Mr & Mrs RD and the Lightning) headed back to Indianapolis. It was definitely an interesting day. I hope that the whole problem is the battery (it had an Oct. 13 date on it), and not the charging system as well. One other thing the visit did was rekindle my attraction for Buells. I sat on RDs Red Translucid Lightning Low, and it awakened the itch to get a Lightning Long. My Ex had an XB12Ss, and I always liked that bike. I fabricated a couple of pieces to put Hepco & Becker bags on it for her, and she had over 50,000 miles on it when we split up. I still want a new Roadster, but if I could find a cheap Ss, it would be a fun bike to take to places like Suches or the Dragon. Well; I hope RD gets his bike up and running quickly and cheaply. I enjoyed his visit and would have only a pleasant memory if his battery hadn’t picked yesterday to kick the bucket. When RD comes down to have me mount his tires, I think I’ll take him to Skyline Chili. That’s another place everybody likes. (Message edited by Crusty on July 25, 2018) | ||
| 86129squids |
+1, RD is a kewl cat. To a person, all the BW folks I've met have become friends. That's a rare thing. Dang but you've got me thinking about smoking some pork this evening instead of my planned burger dinner... | ||
| H0gwash |
+1 on the AC. I would only have it only in 1 room so installation is cheap and the summer cooling bill is cheap. On the muggiest of days you'll be camped out in that 1 room but it's so much less expensive than doing the whole house, and maybe doing the whole house is unnecessary. | ||
| Ourdee |
Fired Lil Red up this afternoon. After going to get my wife a new fridge and a new battery for Lil Red. All the no charge left with the old battery. New battery installed with yellow on the voltage light. Bike lit right off and went green in under a minute. Let it idle till the fan came on. I replaced it with new harley battery. I've had good luck with them. This is Lil Red's third battery. We've been getting five years out of them. The old battery reads over 13 volts after sitting in the bike all night (not on charge). It's got speed but no torque.=] Now I have to clean up the extra wiring looms from some of the hidden goodies in Lil Red. That will take a few hours. I did enjoy Johns company yesterday. And the ribs were good. I couldn't believe how all the sides were right. John likes Pepsi and I like Coca Cola. No problem for Woot's. He carries both. Now to go look at the wiring mess I've made. | ||
| Crusty |
Keep It Simple, Stupid I’ve had my primary chaincase cover off three times this week. The Roadster’s had oil weeping from the shifter shaft for a while, and I pretty much ignored it, but oil leaks bother me. I want my bikes to be oil tight. All my Harleys have been oil tight; from my Shovelhead right up until recently with my Roadster. I let the leak go on for way too long. So, Monday I went to the Harley shop and bought a quart of Formula + and a shift shaft seal. I got home and pulled the primary cover, popped the old seal out and pressed the new seal into place. I replaced everything and thought that was that. R.D. came down from Indianapolis on Tuesday and we rode our bikes to Woot’s for Ribs. On Wednesday, I saw that the oil on the garage floor was worse than before the seal replacement, so I was back at the Harley shop for another quart of Formula + and a Primary gasket. Since I’d reused the old gasket, and the oil was leaking worse than before, I assumed it was the gasket leaking. Got home and pulled the cover again and replaced the gasket and buttoned things up again. Friday was a wasted day, and I didn’t take the bike out; but yesterday, I went to the car wash, then ran a few errands. I could see oil on the Primary cover, and the lower edge of the cover was dripping oil. I decided that the bushing in the cover must be worn enough that it was allowing the shifter shaft to move around and oil was getting past the seal. So I went back to Cincy Harley and bought yet another quart of Formula + and another seal. I got home and pulled the primary cover off the dead engine and replaced the seal. Then I pulled the cover off the bike’s engine and swapped them out. It was after I was done that I noticed that the seal in the replaced cover was defective. The seal I’d just put in a few days before. Either it had been bad all along, or I’d been a ham fisted oaf when I put it in. In other words, I don’t think I needed to replace the primary gasket, nor do I think I needed to swap out the covers. I just went to the car wash where I Gunked everything and gave it a good rinse. I don’t see any sign of leakage. There’s no trace of oil running down the cover from the shifter. If it remains leak free, I’ll leave everything alone. If it starts leaking again, I’ll get serious about finding and curing the leak. I’ll clean everything, then spray the underside of the bike with Athletes Foot powder. That way, I’ll find the source of the leak quickly. If I see oil on the cover of the Primary cover, then I’ll replace the shifter shaft. My bike will be oil leak free. One thing the oil leak has done is had me thinking about a new Roadster quite a bit. Yesterday morning, I was looking at Cycle Trader and I found a brand new 2016 Roadster for 9 Grand with a Lifetime Warranty in Florida and another for $9100.00 with the factory warranty in Upper State New York. I’m sorely tempted. I’d have to keep it stock for a while, but I could save up my pennies and buy parts as I can afford them. A rear fender, gas tank, seat and handlebars all need to be replaced and I’d need to get things painted. I think that red that the factory used on the 2016 would be a good color. Well; I’ll see how things develop. | ||
| Zac4mac |
John, a trick I learned in my early, broke-sailor days on my Ironhead. Lay a couple of car tires on the right side of the bike and lay it over to rest on. The primary oil stays in the cases when you pull the cover so you don't have to replace it, just the gasket. p.s. good idea to drain the gas tank first. Z | ||
| Crusty |
Just in case anybody is curious, here's the bike I'm presently lusting after:  | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Yeah. That sporty does it for me too. The black shields really make the Chrome pop. I wish they weren't so heavy though. I could still go for a pre-rubbermount Evo 1200. | ||
| Damnut |
John.......thanks for the post card! mucho appreciated. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Still the peanut tank though. YARDS of fuel range before you have to stop and fill up! I traded a '16 here a bit ago, on a Scout. Riding position is...funky. Bars are in a weird spot relative to the pegs. Decent looking bike, but not something I was able to get comfortable on. | ||
| Hughlysses |
John- you do know the trick to make sure the splines on the shifter shaft don't damage the new seal when installing it, right? Just in case you don't... Install the primary cover without the seal. Take a sandwich bag and cut a corner out of it leaving 2-3 inches of extra plastic. Put the plastic bag corner over the shaft, coat with oil, then slide the new seal over it, and remove the bag when the seal is past the shaft splines and up against the side of the primary. Tap the seal in place with a deep well socket or similar. Tip courtesy of Al Lighton. |
