| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Parrothead over on the XL Forum rides his Sportster in the Ironbutt Rally and he has an aux. tank mounted over the rear fender. Here's a link to his setup. It's about 1/2 way down the page: http://xlforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1200190 &highlight=Parrothead&page=526 | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
I’m giving his setup a 100 for function, but a zero for aesthetics. | ||
| 86129squids |
I'm envisioning a solo-seat tail section/buttrest fabricated out of aluminum, plumbed for about 2 gallons, and painted to match the rest of that bike. Slickness abides! Got a buddy who says he has a set of auxillary fuel cells that mount where my side panels go on the Beemer- my bike never side panels to start with. Hoping to grab them before too long...  | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Squids, that’s what I’m thinking too. | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
I intend to try a 4.5 gallon aftermarket tank. But that is couple of purchases down on the list. Next on the list is a $900 Thundermax Tuner. Maybe I can get my fuel mileage up above 33 mpg. I had no trouble getting 50 mpg on the Lightning Long, but the Roadster sucks fuel. I didn't get longer shocks, just shock extenders. I thought the stock shocks were pretty good, jut not long enough.  I have to disagree with Crusty on one issue, fuel injection. I'd rather be buying a few jets than a $900 tuner. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Nice! Love the scrambler look. The $600 ohlins HD146 in 14.25” was probably the best investment I’ve made in any bike. My motor is completely stock and I get an honest 43mpg pretty much all the time, unless I’m really on the gas. The aftermarket 4.5 gallon sounds interesting. You should have no clearance issues with your bars. | ||
| 86129squids |
"I have to disagree with Crusty on one issue, fuel injection. I'd rather be buying a few jets than a $900 tuner." LOL- I was still selling Buell/HD when they were phasing out carburetors, I had a lot of folks not wanting EFI on a H-D. Some have fun tinkering with carbs, EFI just works better. What was lost was that pure sound of listening to a Shovel/Pan, properly tuned. Edit- sorry, had to fix the sentence break. (Message edited by 86129squids on February 19, 2019) | ||
| 86129squids |
Well, here's where I surfed that thought- Hey Crusty.... | ||
| Crusty |
Weather and Toilets It’s cloudy. I watched the weather last night and the weatherman was projecting doom and gloom for today. Rains of Biblical proportions, more River flooding, the whole nine yards. I got up a little while ago and it wasn’t raining yet, so I looked at the radar. Then I looked at the Hourly forecast. I guess all the doom and gloom went south. I have to say that the weathermen here are about as good as the weathermen are everywhere else I’ve lived. They all suck. I think they’d have a hard time accurately predicting a Sunrise. As I’ve been known to say, if you believe the weather forecast, you deserve what you get. ********** My house has floor drains in the basement and it also has a toilet down there. Every so often, the water in the traps falls low enough that I can smell sewer odors. All I have to do is pour enough water into the drains and toilet to flush out and fill the traps and the smell goes away. I noticed a bit of sewer smell a few days ago and filled a couple of 5 gallon buckets and started pouring. When I got to the toilet, I was hit by a bit of curiosity. I never got that toilet working when I bought the house. I had enough other plumbing problems that I concentrated on the upstairs bathroom and replacing burst pipes. Plus, the toilet looked really bad. I figured that getting the basement toilet working was going to be both expensive and a lot of work. So after I poured a few gallons of water in the bowl, I decided to see just what it was going to need. I was mentally prepared for disaster; I made sure of the location of the shut offs in the line leading to the toilet; not just the one near the tank, but also the ball valve I’d put in the pipe back a couple of years ago. I turned on the water and the tank started to fill. There were no leaks, so I filled the tank. The flapper was pretty rotted and it was attached to the flush handle by some 18 or 20 gauge wire which broke, but otherwise, it looked like it was functioning like it should. So I went to Home Depot and bought a flapper for $3.50 and the cheapest handle they had. I spent about six or seven bucks, installed them and had a toilet that worked. Then came the cleaning. I used a gallon of bleach, half a large can of Comet cleanser, a heavy duty purple Scotchbrite pad and wore out a kitchen sponge, but I got it to the point where it’s clean. It took longer to get it clean than it took to fix it, but now, when I’m working on the bike, I don’t have to run upstairs to pee. I don’t have the bathroom in the cellar good enough for guests to use yet, but it’s a project and it will get there, eventually. I told David (my brother) about my success and he asked me if I’d be willing to try to fix one of the toilets in the shop that the customers don’t use. So I figured, “Why not?” Oh boy. It turned out that fixing it was one of those nightmares. You know the one where you’re running, but it feels like you’re running through a giant bowl of Jello? Maximum effort with little progress? To make a long story short, what I assumed would be a 20 minute job took close to five hours, three trips to home depot and a sh*tload of swearing. However, after all is said and done, the toilet works. After I finished and got cleaned up, I was enjoying a very tasty Roast Beef sandwich for a late lunch and David told me that I fixed the toilet that a professional Plumber refused to work on. I can understand why, but I did get a little bit of satisfaction from that statement. However, if the toilet malfunctions again, I recommend a new toilet. Installed by a professional Plumber. In the world of motorcycling, the temperatures are consistently up in the 40s lately. I don’t have to wear quite as many clothes when I go out. The sun is rising earlier and setting later every day. It’s now light enough to see at 7:30 in the morning and it stays light until 6:30 in the evening. The Roadster is looking beautiful, FedUp will deliver the new rear tire on Monday and in about 25 miles or so, my Roadster's going to turn 100,000 miles on the odometer. I guess I’d better start carrying the camera so I can get pictures of it showing both 99,999 and 100,000. | ||
| 86129squids |
Rumor has it that shiny thing that used to be in the sky will appear tomorrow and maybe the next day or so. East TN has had at least 8 days of rain. I40 in western NC is closed, along with several other mountain roads. Ducks are happy.  | ||
| Ourdee |
70 in Tenn. lost itself too.    | ||
| Ourdee |
My brother n law in East Tenn. sent me this.  | ||
| 86129squids |
Holleeee crap. I was thinking about the traffic diversion from I40- last time this happened the truckers piled on highway 70... I sure hope we see major infrastructure improvements, ASAP. WATCH OUT FOR POTHOLES. Yeesh. | ||
| Etennuly |
That slide took two vehicles with it. Killed one driver. The other critical in hospital. I'm really surprised with our geography there aren't more slides like this when we get these kind of record setting rains. | ||
| Ourdee |
I had and didn't post pics of the two vehicles. I didn't know about the fatality. I have kin very near this slide. There is a train track bed washed 5 miles north of McGhee Tyson airport in Louisville TN. Engineer got 146 cars stopped in time.   | ||
| Ourdee |
Vern, Are you going to book Carnival?  | ||
| 86129squids |
RECON. Thanks RD- we had a train derailment a few years ago, apparently to malfunctioning equipment... BOLO for giant potholes. T-CLOCS | ||
| Crusty |
It’s a Beautiful Day It’s sunny and the wind has died down, this morning. There isn’t a cloud in the sky. It was getting light before 7:00 AM. The temperature is cool, however. Today’s high is only supposed to hit 39 F (4 C) or so. That means that I won’t be washing the bike. The new rear tire got delivered on Saturday. I bought another Conti Tour, even though the first one didn’t last as long as I was hoping. It’s the old case of I can have a tire that sticks well, or I can have a tire that lasts. The Conti was so confidence inspiring I had to give it another chance. Maybe this one will last longer. I hope so. I’ve been thinking about trying a set of Shinkos. I’ve had a few people tell me that they really like them. Then again, I had a lot of people telling me they loved Bridgestones and the one set of those I tried sucked. Tires are the one thing that nobody agrees on. The tires that I like, somebody else will hate and vice versa. To make things more complicated, tires that I loved on one bike were horrible on another bike. I put a set of Avon Azaros on my Buell Cyclone and liked them, but I hated the Azaros on my Ulysses. I’ll probably put the tire on this week. The old tire is almost down to the wear bars. Supposedly, if you stick a penny in the tread and you can see the top of Abe’s head, it’s time to change the tire. It’s getting pretty close. The nice part is that I’ll have no trouble knowing just how long the tire lasts. The odometer is going to hit 100K in a day or so. Whatever the mileage is when I replace it will be plainly evident. There’ll be no, “Did I change it at 92,000 or 94,000?” I used to keep a maintenance log book for each of my bikes, but I haven’t done that for the Roadster. I was living off the bike and didn’t want to carry such a thing while I was traveling. There have been a few times I’ve regretted it. In fact, my maintenance log for my Buell S3-T Thunderbolt was invaluable when I sent a copy to the head of Customer Service; but that’s a story for another time. Supposedly, the temperature is supposed to be in the 50s on Wednesday, so if I change the tire tomorrow, I can hit the quarter car wash then and get the bike clean. Changing the tire will get hand prints and such on the bike (Never Seize spreads quicker than a rumor), so it’ll need a good washing. I should buy a good quality hose and nozzle. Then, whenever I wash the bike, I could put the money I normally spend at the car wash into a jar and let it build up. The hose will be paid for in less than a year. I think I might just do that. It works well with the laundry. Every week, I put half of what I used to spend at the Laundromat into a jar. That money has been used to do things like going to Daytona, or buying Christmas Presents this past year. I got my Social Security deposit in my bank account today, so I paid my bills and shortly, I’ll be heading to the supermarket to stock up for the month. That will take most of today. Between hitting the various stores, then getting things home and portioning them into servings, it’ll be a fairly busy day. By tonight, I’ll be flat broke again, but my bills will all be paid and I’ll have food to last me until next month. As I said, It’s a Beautiful Day! | ||
| Ourdee |
Now is the time to shop for a used washer and dryer on CraigsList. You will be looking for free or $50 sets. You have enough room to store the spares. A cleaned up running $50 set can be resold for $150. Just a thought. | ||
| 86129squids |
I've always had good luck at Habitat for really nice, really cheeeeep appliances. Even found a primo condition GE dishwasher that matches the fridge I got off CL! What RD said- you've got a nice shack now Crusticle, do your laundry at home! | ||
| Griffmeister |
If you file the edge of the penny down just above Lincoln’s head you can get more miles out of the tire. Just a thought. | ||
| Crusty |
Wow! That's a great idea! And if I should slide out in the rain and total the bike, then the tires will last even longer. I'd better run out and buy a file!  | ||
| Tootal |
} I should buy a good quality hose and nozzle. Then, whenever I wash the bike, I could put the money I normally spend at the car wash into a jar and let it build up. The hose will be paid for in less than a year. I think I might just do that. It works well with the laundry. Every week, I put half of what I used to spend at the Laundromat into a jar. | ||
| Ourdee |
I think the kid that got ran over by a tractor trailer while riding his bicycle in my neighborhood when I was a kid used some of the settlement money to buy a coin operated laundry. I wonder how that panned out in the long run? | ||
| Crusty |
Chili Today… Well, I still haven’t broached 100K. The odometer is reading 99,991 right now. I ought to take the Roadster out and run it for a few miles just to get it over the magic mark, but I’m kind of busy. At the moment, I’m cooking a pot of Cincinnati Style Chili. Yesterday and today, I did a sh*tload of shopping, mostly food and now the items that haven’t been portioned out and put in the freezer need to get cooked. Then, they’ll get portioned out and frozen. Like this Chili I’m trying. I saw a package of magic dust for making it, and I bought it. It’s pretty easy to make; 1.5 Lbs. lean ground beef, 1 six oz. can of tomato paste, 6 cups of water and one package of magic dust (herbs & spices) mix it all together and let it cook at a low simmer for 1 – 1.5 hours. It smells really good, so I think I’ll like it. Tonight, I’ll cut up the roast and mix it with Potatoes, onions, carrots and a very different magic dust in the crock pot and I’ll have several servings of Beef Stew. Once that’s done, I’ll make a bunch of pulled pork. I’ll have food for a month, at least. Probably more. I had planned to put the tire on the Roadster today, but I woke up feeling tired, this morning. I just couldn’t seem to wake up fully. I was having trouble doing even simple things, so I decided to put the tire change off for another day or so. February is almost over; today’s the 27th. Friday is the first of March; the Daytona TT is going to be two weeks from tomorrow. The new season begins! I hope everybody not on an Indian kicks butt. I have an attitude towards Indian. They posted a sizeable contingency, but to get it, you have to keep the paint job stock. That way, they all look the same. And the part that really frosts my ass is that if you ride any other bike besides an Indian at any of the races this season, you’re not eligible for any of the money. So if Henry Wiles, for example, rides his trick Kawasaki at Peoria, he won’t get a cent for good finishes at any other track on an Indian. He could win the Springfield Mile on an Indian, but he wouldn’t get a penny from the factory. It seems to me that Indian is trying to field a huge factory team that they don’t have to pay a salary to. I tend to be a rebellious cuss, and that crap flat pisses me off. For years, people bitched about Harley and they never tried anything so heavy handed. I could go on, but you get my drift. I hope Indian has the year they deserve; right down the toilet. I’m having a nice Rib Eye steak for dinner. I’m cooking chili and the house is full of the smell, but if I don’t cook the steak, it might go bad. It’s been a while since I fixed a steak and yesterday, as I was passing Wassler Meats I succumbed to temptation and stopped in. They’re a small butcher shop, but they have better meat than the big supermarkets and the price is a couple of bucks a pound lower. That makes them really hard to pass up. I’ll be firing up the charcoal grill shortly. The chili is just going to have to wait. But then, I’m fixing the beef stew. It will be ready by tomorrow morning. Hmmm. And there’s also the Pork Loin that’s going to become pulled pork overnight tomorrow night, and I’m going to have to make spaghetti sauce with meatballs… Well; the freezer will be full. I won’t go hungry this month. I took a picture of the odometer last night. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll take it out and break the ton. It really would be nice. | ||
| Blake |
For migraines. https://aculief.com/ | ||
| Ourdee |
Hey! That is where I pinch my hand when I have headaches. | ||
| Crusty |
98…99…100 I’ve been pretty focused on getting a photo of my odometer when it hits 100,000 miles. The Roadster is not the first bike I’ve owned to hit the magic number. My 88 FLHS had that distinction. I remember when it happened. I was coming back from the Hagerstown 1/2 Mile, and the odometer turned from 99,999 to 00000. The odometers didn’t count any higher than 99,999. I was on Interstate 84 in Newtown, CT. I didn’t have a camera with me, and I’ve always regretted it. The other night, I took a picture when the odometer was reading 99.991; just in case. Actually, I took a few pictures; just in case the camera didn’t focus correctly or somethin’. I’m glad I did. One came out well, but the others were very blurry Anyhow; today, I went over to Cincinnati Harley. I took all side streets so I could stop and take pictures when the numbers were right. When the odometer read 99,999, I pulled into a parking lot for JM Smuckers (Home of Crisco). Once again, I took several photos, and I was hoping that one would be clear. A mile later, I pulled into a cemetery and took a few pics of the odometer at 100,000. I lucked out. while there were several blurred photos, there was at least one clear shot at each mileage. The Roadster may have a few miles on her, but she’s still beautiful and loves eating miles.    | ||
| Adrenaline_junkie |
Congratulations! | ||
| Ourdee |
Oh Ya! |
