| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
RoadCrust- just got off the phone with Alan, real nice guy. Said he'd holler back in a day or so, let me know what he's got. I told him you were doing well, to check in here to see what you're up to. Thanks again good buddy. Hoping to swap into a healthy gearbox soon. FWIW, looks like Glitch stumbled into a barn find R100RS, he posted up on "Just Because" a bit ago. How cool would it be to see Mr. Hare roll up to TWoS on a vintage Beemer...  | ||
| Crusty |
It will be cool to see Glitch pull up on a motorcycle, but I don't want him to rush things and have it come back and bite him. He just got his car license back; hopefully, all will go well with driving. Then, when he's comfortable with that, he might start thinking about trying two wheels. In the meantime, I'm really happy he can drive again! | ||
| 1313 |
^ What he said! CONGRATS on the milestone Dave!!! | ||
| 86129squids |
 X2!!! Hey- wonder if they'd allow some Fiddy racing around the TWoS compound?!?! How cool would that be. I'm hoping the Old Hare can hop on at least a fiddy, ideally that barn find. At the very least, Dave's got the time and talent to restore an R100RS. Yay! | ||
| Crusty |
Lunch Break A McDouble & a Senior Coffee costs $3.07 at the Golden Starches in Honesdale, PA. Gas around here is $2.99 for Regular and $3.59 for Premium. US Rt. 6 around Lake Wallenpaupak is loaded with very slippery tar snakes. I had a couple of heart accelerating moments just riding at a steady speed. Also, there were a couple of road construction projects where I had to wait for traffic coming east to go by before the flag (wo)man let the westbound traffic go. And I’m heading towards Scranton. This is a tourist area, and the traffic is heavy; I’m very tempted to just jump on I-81 when I get to it and go down to I-80. The weather is almost perfect; mid to upper 70s and a few fluffy clouds. I’m hacking this Snippet out because I need to recharge mentally. I’m hoping that the coffee and burger do the trick and I’ll be recharged and ready to ride soon. I really enjoyed being back in Massachusetts, but now, I really want to get home and just relax in my own bed and recliner. I’d better keep this short; this Mickey’s doesn’t have any outlets and I don’t want to run the batteries down in my laptop. This Tramp is in his element and I’m having fun! | ||
| Ourdee |
Enjoy the adventure. There will be plenty of snow days to hide in the house. Savor. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Route 6 is great in PA. Reminder: the speedtrap 40 mile per hour spots! | ||
| Zac4mac |
Safe ride home Crusticle. | ||
| Crusty |
It is a military axiom that no battle plan survives contact with the enemy. Crusty's Corollary is that no travel plans survives getting out on the road. I'll write more tomorrow. | ||
| Crusty |
There And Back Again So; while I was in Massachusetts, I plotted my route home to Cheviot. It was going to take two days and mostly be on secondary roads. Ha! It started out as planned. I left Hudson at 6:30 AM. I was going to take mostly Interstate until I got into Pennsylvania, then get on Route 6 at Milford and take that across the state until I reached the Allegheny National Forest; then I was going to camp in the Red Bridge Campground. I made it into Penn, and got off of I-84 and onto US Rt. 6. The road looked good for a while, but then I ran into construction projects that had one lane closed, so I had to stop and wait for flagmen (and flagwomen). Then, there was a stretch that had so many tar snakes that my front wheel kept washing out and I was busy not falling down each time there was a curve in the road. I don’t think that whoever poured the emulsion to fill the cracks used any Black Beauty or sand in the mix. The snakes were extremely slick. While the road was scenic, it also led through a high tourist area with all the traffic and tourist traps that go along with that. It destroyed most of the enthusiasm I had for staying on Rt. 6. Then, RT.6 turned into a divided highway and dropped down into Scranton, where it joined with I-81. I don’t know if I just missed the signs when Rt.6 broke away from I-81, of if the right exit just wasn’t marked properly, but once I got to Wilkes-Barre, I knew I’d missed it. So I decided I’d take I-81 to I-80, then get off at Clarion and go north to the campground. A couple of times, traffic came to a screeching stop on the Interstate for no reason that I ever discovered. Everything came to a full panic stop, sat still for a minute or two, then slowly started moving again. Eventually, speeds would increase until we were back up to 70 MPH or so, but there was never any sign of what had caused the stoppage. As I started getting close to Clarion, the sky darkened, then I got hit by a deluge. Within a minute, I was completely soaked. That was when my old programming took over. I decided that I was going to ride all the way home ASAP. So at my next gas stop, I bought a little bottle of 5 Hour Energy and a bottle of Gatorade. I drank the vile tasting stuff and washed it down with the Gatorade and pretty much rode to Cincinnati, stopping only for gas. Somewhere around sunset, I stopped at a Taco Hell and ate a gut bomb and let my body recharge a little, then I pushed on for home. I got home at 1:00 AM. While I was cursing myself for not sticking to my original plan, I felt pretty good that I was able to ride all the way through. I just felt that everything was conspiring against me and my original plan. It sure seemed that way as I was sitting in traffic up by Lake Wallenpaupak. The fact that it took me over six hours to get from Hudson to Scranton really gnawed on my spirit. Especially since I had taken Interstates until I was in Pennsylvania. The cloudburst when I was getting close to my exit from I-80 just cemented the feeling that I should just push for home. So; while I didn’t do everything the way I planned, I can still look back and feel that the trip was a success. I saw the race, I met with friends for lunch at the Troy Dinosaur, I ate some really enjoyable pizza and saw a lot of friends in Massachusetts, I had some wonderful conversations. I didn’t get to send Kayem Natural Casing Frankfurters back to Cincinnati but I was successful in sending three big jars of Cains relish and five cans of B&M Bacon & Onion Baked Beans back. I was unable to put the new black hand levers on the Roadster, but I did change the oil at the shop. And I spent time with friends. That’s the most important part. I got back last night, and today, I put a check in the mail to the Greater Cincinnati Water Works to have my lead water pipe replaced. I also talked with the billing Department at Mercy Health about the bill they finally got around to sending me for my ER visit when I crashed in March. They were happy to make arrangements so that I can pay it in installments starting at the end of August. Money’s going to be tight this month, but I’m going to get by and all my bills will be paid on time. In spite of all the bullshit, I’ve got a pretty good life. | ||
| Tootal |
Glad you're home safe John! Now go wash the road snot off that Sporty!  | ||
| Crusty |
Different Tastes Many years ago, I played guitar. I never got anywhere close to being good at it, but I had Teen age enthusiasm. I even came up with my own composition. I only played it for a very small audience once, but when I did, I put my heart and soul into it and it sounded Good. Not just to my own ears, but to the people who were in the room. I still remember Zyke asking incredulously, “Did you do that?” It was the pinnacle of my musical career. I’m sitting here listening to a relatively unknown New Age pianist by the name of Randall Leonard. To my knowledge, he only produced five albums before cancer took him at an early age. Two of those albums are at the top of my favorites list. I’m not sure why; he doesn’t have anywhere near the skill of, say, George Winston, but there’s something in his music that really grabs me. I listen to those two albums more than nearly anything else. Years ago, my friend Wally fell in love with the album Brain Salad Surgery by Emerson, Lake and Palmer. He thought it was the pinnacle of musical progression. I thought it was lame. I thought Rick Wakeman alone could out play the entire group, even if he was blind drunk. My opinion didn’t dim Wally’s enthusiasm for it, though. I guess that’s what’s going on with me. I know that there are more talented or skillful musicians, but both albums, Angels in the Rain and Flutterbys hit me where I live. I don’t think I’m alone in this trait; I bet there are a lot of people who like a particular piece of music or artist and don’t know why. I’m well aware that I march to the beat of a Different Drummer, but I think we all have that secret place that we don’t often share with others. Anyhow; to get back to my original train of thought about that one night when I truly Played; a few months ago, I found myself holding a guitar. There was nobody near me and I tried to play that piece again. I couldn’t remember how. The chords didn’t sound right; hell, I probably had my fingers on the wrong strings. The tune is gone. But I still have my memory and I know that for that one time, I merged with the guitar and we spoke to the people in the room. And they heard us. | ||
| Ourdee |
I had what I called the freaky episode once. I don't play drums. Can't really keep a beat. But one time there was a friend of mine practicing on the piano While singing a Spanish song. She sounded great. I was sitting at the electric drum set. They were turned on and ran through a couple of channels on the mixer. I had watched the drummer and thought that it looked like he was dancing when he played. So, I danced with the piano. I don't know how, but it came out right. I left them alone after that. I don't know how to play them. | ||
| 86129squids |
I have a great passion for music, almost all genres, but no talent with an instrument. Always wanted to become a jazz drummer. Been told my hands would cover an octave and a half if I played keyboards. I do have a couple of harmonicas I noodle around with sometimes. Saw the Steel Woods at the Shed last night, very good show. Gobs of redneck H-D riders, saw a couple of good friends from the dealership, spent most of the evening talking to one, reminiscing about years gone by there. My BMW was the oldest and likely the 2nd cheapest ride there (a chopped GZ250 wins that). I was parked between a HD trike and a chopper with twice my wheelbase. I was highly amused. It's likely my bike was the only one there that appreciates in value.  | ||
| Crusty |
I never posted the pictures I took. I didn't take many, but here's what I did take: The Niagara Mohawk Power building.  Iron Mike  The Roadster parked across the street  A little more of the building  | ||
| Crusty |
The Syracuse Dinosaur BBQ     | ||
| Ourdee |
very nice. | ||
| Crusty |
At the Troy, NY Dinosaur: In the parking lot:    Jim's borrowed bike  Steve's and my Roadsters.  | ||
| Crusty |
Inside the Dinosaur: Jim, Steve and Sue:  Frank, Nate and George:  The hats that Jim brought:  One last image from the parking lot. Nate, Frank, George and a few bikes: | ||
| Crusty |
I Just Gotta Go Somewhere It's mid-summer and the weather is beautiful. High temp today is supposed to be in the mid 80s (29 – 30 C) and the humidity is supposed to be "Comfortable". It's the weather I dream about in January and February. I can't just stay home. I need to get out and ride a bit. I just looked in the washer jar and there was a $20.00 bill in there that I forgot to take when I went to Massachusetts. So I'm going to Ride to Eat today. I flip flopped about where to go. At first, I thought about riding up to exit 1 on I-74 and checking out the restaurant location of Velvet Smoke; but that's not far enough away. Then I thought about riding up to Rudy's Smokehouse in Springfield. That would be a safe bet; I like the food there. But then I put a little more thought into it and I decided that I should check out the Red State BBQ in Lexington, Kentucky. I did a quick search on Google and it looks like a little hole in the wall that would serve killer food. Their prices are very reasonable and their 2019 Sandwich Showdown Winner looks tasty. I can probably get out of there for well under my twenty bucks. I've plotted a kind of circular route that's mostly (but not completely) secondary roads. I learned that secondary roads near Cincinnati means lots of traffic and stoplights. Once I get away from the urban sprawl, I'll hit the US and State roads. I'll probably take the Anderson Ferry on the way back. I really enjoy crossing the River on it and it only costs two bucks for a motorcycle. I’ve gotten pretty lousy at taking pictures lately; Hopefully, I’ll remember to take the camera and actually USE it. If the food is good, I’ll report back. If it sucks, I’ll report that, too. | ||
| Ourdee |
Sounds like the plan. Shiny side up. | ||
| Tootal |
Great idea Crusty! I did the same thing last Sunday. I just headed South and stopped by a couple of breweries that are in the middle of nowhere! I just took the Harley since I counted three curves the whole day! I ended up near an old friends new house so I stopped by to check it out and he's done well. All in all a great riding day. Now it's your turn, enjoy! See you in a couple of weeks! | ||
| 86129squids |
I'm with ya, RoadCrust. Between work and honeydo's my riding time is about nil. Plus I've still gotta find a good gearbox, plus the $$$ to throw at it. Might have to do a local Foothills Parkway loop for a half-day's fun. There's one or two new restaurants in Townsend, one does Cuban cuisine, yum! Have a great Saturday ride, friend. | ||
| Crusty |
Red State BBQ Ride So I rode to the Red State BBQ. I pretty much followed my plan on the way down. I rode over to the Anderson Ferry and took it across the Ohio River Here’s the Roadster waiting for the Ferry:  Here’s a view of the opposite bank from the ferry:  I worked my way around Northern Kentucky until I got on US Rt. 25, then I stayed on 25 until I got to the BBQ joint. Rt. 25 was beautiful. Traffic was light and the road twists and turns and rises and falls in a wonderful way. I took one photo of the road, but it really doesn’t do justice to it. It’s a great ride and well worth riding on:  It took me about an hour and a half to get there, but I found the place.  I tried to take a picture of the inside, but it was too dark for my cheap point&shoot to get anything worthwhile. The place is popular; there was a line 15 or 20 people long waiting to order the whole time I was there. I ordered the Sandwich Showdown winner when I finally got to the counter. The lady taking down orders did’t know what I was talking about, but one of the cooks heard me and told her how to price it. I got the sandwich and baked beans and lemonade to drink. There were seven different sauces at the table. I tried four of them, I didn’t try the North Carolina spicy vinegar, the South Carolina Mustard or the Horseradish sauce. The Texas Spicy was OK, the Memphis sweet was good, The Taproom Fire was really good and had a strong smokey flavor, but the one I liked best on the pulled pork was the Small Batch Kentucky sauce. The baked beans were pretty tasty, as well. All in all, I give the place an 8.5 out of 10. The food was pretty tasty, and I’d give it a 9.5, but there were a couple of things that brought my experience down a little. First was the lady taking orders. She was nice enough, but she didn’t know anything about the Sandwich Showdown winner and I’m pretty sure she overcharged me. Second; there are no restrooms, or even a sink where I could wash my hands. Neither negative would stop me from eating there (unless I really had to pee), but they are negatives. After I left, I first went to the BP station up the road, saw that they wanted $.88 more per gallon for Premium than for regular, so I kept on going until I got to a Shell station who only wanted $.60 more for premium. I also got to wash my sticky hands and go pee. However; I had three different people cut me off in town (Georgetown), so I copped an attitude and said screw it and rode over to I-75 and took it North. That didn’t end my traffic woes, though; a woman in an SUV decided to change lanes while she was beside me. When I saw her moving into my lane, I sped up and when she saw me she freaked and almost caused a bad accident from overcorrecting. She was fishtailing something fierce. At that point, I decided that I would be safer at home and not out on the roads today. I retraced my route to the Anderson Ferry, took it across the river, then rode by David’s shop for a few minutes then came home. In all, I went about 200 miles. Here’s a view of the River from the ferry on the way back:  | ||
| 86129squids |
Glad you didn't need an adult life jacket.  SO glad you had a 200 mile day. A day in your life, well spent, work the average, despite the less than average service. Sounds like a great place for 'cue, with some handy wipes and a bush nearby. Those, generally are the best. | ||
| Crusty |
Clickbait, FleaBay and Other Irritants The other day, I clicked on an ad that was clickbait. I see then all the time; usually when I’m either playing a free game online or looking at the weather. It wasn’t one of those that want to show me Ellen Degenerate’s plush mansion in Atlantis, or that Doctors the World over are Pissed because of this simple, amazing discovery that will cure cancer. It was the one that tells you to type in your name and wait 30 seconds, and you’ll be flabbergasted. Now; I’ve got a very common name. There are several thousand people with the name John Jackson. Still, even though I knew I would see a lot of garbage that didn’t apply to me, I got suckered in. I gave them answers to their questions about relatives, places I’ve lived in the past, etc. and watched as a little green bar moved from left to right. At times, it would drop a bit of a teaser. From those teasers, I discovered that I was having multiple online affairs, I was on a Government Watch List and I had criminal convictions. Wow. I really shouldn’t trust myself. I thought I was pretty much celibate and the closest I’ve been to a criminal conviction was when I served on a jury (We found the defendant Not Guilty). I have no idea why the Government would want to watch me, but they do weird sh*t like that sometimes for no apparent reason. I was actually starting to look forward to seeing the dossier on me, when I was hit with the price tag. They wanted me to give them $28.99 to read all that misinformation. I was so overcome with anticipation that I slid my cursor up to the little red X in the upper corner of my screen and clicked on it and the whole site went away. I wonder if they give you a free can of worms if you do shell out the dough? They were right, though. After I waited through all the bullshit, I was amazed. At their audacity. ************************************************** ***************** I surf fleaBay fairly often. I’ve been doing it for many years. Sometimes, I find a bargain, but usually I’m looking for a way to save a few bucks when I need an item. Usually something for my bike. It’s more convenient than having to wait for a Swap Meet and I’ve even found a few items that were almost invaluable. When Moto Guzzi wanted $125.00 for a (non-adjustable) front brake lever, I found a pair of adjustable brake and clutch levers for under $24.00 with free shipping from China. Lately, however; it seems that the boneyards have taken over. Prices are much higher and they’re pawning off junk (literally). Would anybody really pay $350.00 for a gas tank that has multiple dents and the paint is scuffed and scratched? I guess their thinking is that people will see that crumpled up piece of scrap and won’t think $500.00 for a tank that looks like it’s been through a sandstorm is a rip off. The thing that really gets me is the people (or businesses) who want more for a used part than the price of a new part at a dealership. There’s a small plate that fits on the air cleaner of my bike. New, it cost me $19.00 from H-D of Cincinnati. On fleaBay, some people are asking $39.00 plus $10.99 for shipping for a used plate. And then there are the ones who put up the exact same item 142 times changing only 1 small thing in the description. Sometimes I can go through an entire page of the same ad posted 50 times. That’s really annoying. When I was looking at TCX Fuel boots, the same dealer would post the same ad changing only the size for each ad. So I would see 14 ads from the same dealer for brown boots interspersed with another 14 ads for black boots. And there were multiple dealers doing this. Caveat Emptor definitely applies with fleaBay. ************************************************** ***************** Something that particularly bugs me is the games gas stations play with prices for gas. First off, while almost all of them have a sign that advertises the price of Regular, very few advertise the price of Premium. And while some may have the lowest price for regular, they rape you on the price of Premium. I stopped in a station in Kentucky, last Saturday that wanted $.88/ gallon more for Premium. It was $2.56 for Reg and they wanted $3.44 for “Ultimate”. I just kept on going. I found Premium at a Shell station for “only” $3.14 a few yards up the road. A few years ago, when I was living on the road, I found that regular often worked quite well in the Roadster. That led me to wonder if the Oil Companies were actually only making one batch of gas to Premium specs and putting it in both tanks. Occasionally, I’d get a tankful that didn’t burn so well, but that wasn’t very often and I’d top off with Super in short order. Then the bike would be happy again. These are a few things that bug me and I just wanted to get them off my chest. | ||
| Ourdee |
The front roof on the BBQ shop has had a few hits. | ||
| Pwnzor |
From what little I know about it, 87-88 octane should burn just fine in a Sporty, as your compression ration is somewhere between 9 to 10. I have no idea what those numbers really mean, but my old friend Pinner Dave tells me that higher octane fuels are for higher compression engines from 11 on up. I used to run regular in the XB12R all the time, and never had any issues with it. Got 50+MPG and had plenty of power. I burned some 93 in it from time to time, and didn't notice any real difference. Some times, there's just bad gas in the ground and that could be any octane. Again, I'm just a dummy who takes the advice of real mechanics, but Pinner Dave is the real deal and I trust him. If you're ever stranded in Durango, Colorado - he will help you out. Just holler at me and I'll get him for you. | ||
| Tootal |
There's all kinds of factors. Temperature, elevation, throttle position, cam timing, compression and cranking pressure, which is a combination of cam timing and compression ratio. If it's a hot day at the beach and you grab a handful at low rpm it's gonna PING! Mine even pings with premium on a hot day! Do what you can get away with! | ||
| Crusty |
Good News I wasn’t going to write anything today, but I just got a bit of good news and I want to share it with everybody. I just got a call from the contractor who’s going to replace my lead water line. They’re going to come on Wednesday, September 4th and it will take less than a day. That means that it won’t interfere with my ability to go to the West Virginia Buell Reunion, nor will it screw with my trip to see the Springfield Miles. I’m Happy! (Message edited by Crusty on August 08, 2019) |
