| Author | Message | ||
     Tootal |
I heard nearly the same growing up. Idle hands are the devils workshop. Same difference and very true! I'd say you got off pretty easy considering!  | ||
| Crusty |
Wet Weather When I woke up this morning. it was pouring. A stream of water was flowing rapidly down the hill over the new pavement. The rain stopped a while ago, but nothing has dried out. I think the humidity is well over 90%, but I haven’t checked. When It was pouring, I checked the channel 12 Weather and it said it the current conditions were cloudy. I honestly think that they’d have trouble accurately predicting a Sunrise. I think that’s true of all weather forecasters, not just Channel 12. Back in 1996, I had the chance to see two Miles. The Indy Mile was on Saturday Night and the rescheduled DuQuoin Mile was on Sunday. I rode out from Massachusetts, saw the Indy Mile, then headed for DuQuoin. I stopped in a rest area around midnight and threw my sleeping bag out, but I was awakened by rain around 6:00 AM. I went inside the building and the Weather Channel was on a TV showing the local forecast. It gave a 0% chance of rain. The rain quit and I continued toward DuQuoin. It rained on me once more about a half hour later. I got to the Fairgrounds and another downpour started. It passed after soaking the track and surrounding area. That slowed things down, but they did manage to get the races in. But the forecasts never wavered. There was a 0% chance of rain. Back in the early 80s, I woke up one morning and it was pouring. The radio said it was going to be sunny and mild. A half hour later, the forecast said that although it was raining now, it was about to stop and it would be sunny for the rest of the day. Half an hour after that, the forecast was for rain all day. That last forecast got it right. Then again, I’ve been to races where the forecast was for rain and it never happened. I remember one Springfield Mile that was exciting and we never got a single drop of water, while the Indy 500 got rained out, less than 200 miles away. And there was the Hagerstown 1/2 Mile that I didn’t go to because the forecast was for severe storms, and not only was it sunny all day long, but Larry Pegram scored his first National win. The reason I bring it up is that on Friday, I’m heading for Springfield, Illinois to watch a weekend full of the closest and most exciting motorcycle racing anywhere. The weather forecast is for perfect weather. High temps in the low 80s, Low temps in the 60s and a 0% probability of rain. I’m hoping that the forecast is spot on, but my past experience says they could be way off. I guess I’ll always have that bit of doubt, but I also have that bit of hope. I guess I’ll find out this weekend. | ||
| Ourdee |
 HEY!Crusty, We're at Springfield! WooHoo! | ||
| Crusty |
Real Quick This has to be quick. R.D. and I are at the Red Roach Inn in Springfield. Points for a lengthier Snippet: - I lost another gas cap on my way to R.D.s. I rode here with duct tape over my filler, then bought yet another gas cap from the local H-D shop. Stupid hurts. -The Short Track races were very enjoyable. -The Rib Eye sandwiches at the races were tastier than they have been in years, and the price didn't go up this year. All they had for condiments were little packets of A1 sauce, ketchup and mustard; no BBQ sauce. -The weather was flawless, yesterday. It just hit 80 F during the afternoon. It felt pretty brisk last night as the temps dropped toward 60 F. When you're used to 90s, 60 feels frigid! Today it's supposed to get up to 85. -We're about to head for the Parkway Cafe for breakfast, then on to the Mile! More later... | ||
| Ourdee |
A whole weekend without getting rained on. It was McPerfect! The more exspensive rib eye sandwiches that Crusty said were like shoe leather were tender and tasty this year. We found out a big surprise fact. The rib eye sandwich place that makes the better sandwich for a dollar less gets their meat from the other rib eye place. Hmmmm.  I got an almost free shop rag. I had to make a motorcycle noise to match the bike they picked. I think I did an imitation of the sound of a 1967 Norton. | ||
| Crusty |
A Night At The Opera… and two days at the Races! I’m not sure where to begin and what to write about. It was a good weekend. The weather was good, the races were good and the food was good. However; like life usually is, there’s a lot more to it. I guess I’ll try to do it chronologically. I rolled out of Cheviot around 9:30 on Friday morning, heading for Indianapolis and RDs house. I stopped and got gas in Batesville, (Indiana) and once more, forgot to tighten my gas cap. I have a habit of trying to put every last ounce of gas in the tank; then I don’t tighten the cap until I’m ready to hit the road. That way, the gas doesn’t build up pressure and escape through the overflow. I forgot to tighten the cap after I filled up. I didn’t notice it until I got to R.D.s house. As soon as I got off the bike, I saw the cap was missing. Rather than go out of our way to get another gas cap, I put duct tape over the opening and decided to buy another cap in Springfield, after we arrived. The sad part is that I have gas caps here in Cheviot, but I was going to have to buy one at the Harley shop, which I did as soon as we got into town. The people at Hall’s H-D were as decent as usual; they had a stock cap, which I purchased, and they also had some goo-gone to remove the residue for the tape adhesive. After getting the new cap, we went and checked into our room. I had booked and paid for the room last March, before the world went nuts. It was supposed to be a room with two queen beds. They had me down for a handicap room with one king bed. Fortunately, they weren’t booked up and the change was no problem. We threw our stuff into the room and rode over to the Fairgrounds to watch the Short Track races. Supposedly, only 20% of the seats were allowed to be sold. It looked like there were more folks than that in the stands, and I hope there were, also. I hope the promoter made money. The same holds true for the two Miles, as well. There was one pleasant surprise, the Rib Eye sandwiches were much better than they’ve been for a few years, and the price didn’t go up. The bad news was that they had no BBQ sauce. The only condiments were ketchup, mustard and A-1 Sauce. So I had A-1. The weather was cooler than is usual for Springfield and the ride back to the Red Roach was, um, Invigorating. R.D. wanted to get a real breakfast on Saturday, so we went to the Parkway Cafe. They weren’t doing inside seating, but they had two picnic tables out front, so we sat there and had breakfast. We invited two couples to share our table, and the six of us had a good breakfast. R.D. and I then headed over to the Mile. It was warmer on Saturday than on Friday. On Friday, it high barely touched 80 F which fell brisk after a summer of mostly 90+ degree high temps (the low in the upper 50s felt like a taste of winter). The high was in the mid-80s, which felt about right. The races were good, as usual with Sammy Halbert winning. (I like it when anybody beats the Factory Indians). After the races were over, we rode down to Taylorville to Bill’s Toasty Shop and had two truly wonderful Cheeseburgers with fries and soft drink. It’s the Saturday Special, and the total with tax for the two of us was under $15.00. The ride down to Taylorville is something like 45 minutes each way and it was idyllic. Not a cloud in the sky, low 80s, light traffic; a very pleasant way to end a day of racing. Sunday was cloudy in the morning changing to mostly, then partly cloudy as the day went on. Instead of getting a big breakfast, R.D. and I ate at McDonald’s. We each had my usual Tramp’s special - a sausage McMuffin and a Senior coffee. It cost a whopping $4.00 for the two of us. We spent the day at the track. Royal Enfield had a big display outside of the grandstand and we spent a bit of time looking at the bikes. I have taken a fancy to both the 650 Interceptor and the 400 Himalayan. I look at the Himalayan and think it would be a good bike to ride to Tuktoyaktuk. It’s inexpensive to buy and, while it’s down on power, compared to Japanese singles, it easy to maintain. I bet it would be fun. If I stay off the slab and just ride secondary roads, the ride to the Arctic Ocean looks quite possible… It would also make a good city bike for winter riding (or even Summer riding). They also had a flat tracker with an engine that has an S&S plate riveted to the fins on the head. I’m pretty sure they’re going flat tracking next year. I hope they do well and they sell a lot of bikes. The guy I talked to said that S&S has kits to boost the 650 to 750 and even 850 cc. Machine work and serious mods would be necessary for the 850, but the 750 would be doable with a lot less work. That has me thinking. The races were good, but disappointing. Jeffrey Carver was looking like he might take the win, but his bike took a dump with a couple of laps to go and Jared Mees won. After the races, we went to Culver’s for dinner. They were allowing inside seating and the place was very clean and neat. I had a double burger with mushrooms and onions and ketchup and onion rings as a side, and it was very tasty. R.D. had a Cod sandwich and some pretzel bites with cheese dipping sauce. I liked the burger a lot and I even enjoyed the onion rings. I tried one of the pretzel bites and I can see how they could be addicting. I’d never eaten in a Culver’s before then, but after the meal I had, I will make it a point to in the future. The ride home on Monday was pretty uneventful and I arrived back in Cheviot just after 2:00 or so. I kicked back and got a good night’s sleep. My laundry is in the dryer, and I’m just keeping a low profile for today. In a little bit, I’m going to go out and get some Half & Half for my coffee and I’ll probably stop by David’s shop and visit for a couple of minutes. One thing this trip did was reinforce my desire to get the sheet metal painted so I can put the hard bags on the 16. The Dry Bags are waterproof, but I really prefer the hard bags. They’re easier to load and unload and they look better. Another couple of months, and I’ll have the money to buy the paint. Once the new rear fender is on the bike, Then I’ll be able to put the sissy bar on and move the turn signals. I’ll be able to put the bag mounting brackets on and I’ll have hard bags! That will be so sweet! It’s all coming together. | ||
| Tootal |
For YouTube fans that also want to see what a Himalayan will do check out Itchy Boots. She's a Dutch woman who has traveled all over including Iran! She's all alone, speaks five languages, has degrees in biology, and has only been riding for around 5 years. She kind of makes most of us look like wimps! One tough lady! | ||
| Ourdee |
(Message edited by ourdee on September 08, 2020) | ||
| Ourdee |
Crusty, Itchy Boots said Royal Enfield is supposed to be coming out with a 650 Himalayan. | ||
| Crusty |
Fenders, Tail Lights and Such Last night, I was talking to a friend about the changes I’m making to the 16 and I had a very small epiphany about how I might be able to speed things up a little. This morning, I was in the garage pulling off the seat and dry bags. I had the fender that I bought a while ago and I was trying to figure our how to wire the tail light and turn signals. If I could have figured out how to wire the tail light, I would have swapped the fender, which means I could have swapped the hard bags over from the 05 to the 16. Unfortunately, I need to get the circuit board that goes in the tail light. After looking a little closer, I think I also need the wiring harness that fits up inside the fender, as well. So after looking at the tail light on the 05 several times and looking at the wiring on the 16 and also looking at the wiring diagram in the Service manual, I called Ronnie’s H-D. I use their parts finder online quite a bit, so I think it’s only fair that I buy parts from them. Their prices seem considerably cheaper than the local stealership; but they charge shipping, so the prices are about the same, in the end. But their parts finder has given me a large amount of help in this continuing project, so they deserve my business. So I called and the circuit board is on its way. I also ordered the fender brace. I figured that I’m going to need it, so I may as well get it now. One thing I’m trying to do with the Gentleman’s Express is eliminate as much chrome as I can. One of the things that I haven’t been able to find on the Hardly - Ableson website is a black tail light base. Today, I found one on the Drag Specialties site. So I called Sandra at the shop and gave her the part #. That put the skids on my parts ordering. When those parts arrive, I’ll probably buy the wire harness for the tail light and maybe I’ll be able to mount the full fender. That means I could put the saddlebag mounts on. The fender I presently have is white, so the bike wouldn’t look so pretty until I have the money for paint saved up, but it would be that much closer to what I want and the hard bags would make things like shopping nicer. If I could hit the Lottery, I’d have the money to do everything; but I’m too cheap to buy a ticket. My luck doesn’t run to winning lotteries; especially when the odds are something like 300,000,000 to 1. Something else that I need to do is buy a POR-15 gas tank prep and sealer kit for the custom tank. I doubt I’ll put that tank on the bike before it gets painted; but you never know. One thing that’s continually being driven home is that it’s a lot more expensive making the modifications I want than I expected. I’m going to have a few thousand dollars invested in making the changes, by the time I’m done. But when it is done and I’m riding it to some distant place, I’ll forget the cost. I’ll just be happy to be riding my idea of the ideal bike. And I’ll be wearing a silly grin. | ||
| 86129squids |
Great Snippet, good buddy. I dropped off the PC800 for tires and a tune-up, et cetera. Hope to see you down the road, most likely in the new year. | ||
| Two_seasons |
She is one tough chick. Probably 75% of her riding is on gravel, dirt, or packed roadways. Currently riding in Iceland (their summer). She carries around two sources for GPS nav. She hasn't admitted it, but I think she doesn't miss the low power (26hp?) of the Royal Enfield Himalayan. Currently riding a 500cc Honda. She has listed a lot of the gear she uses on her treks in her utube channel header. Itchy Boots aka Noraly is in Season 3. Has ridden the Middle East, Western Europe, South America...started in Patagonia through to Bolivia (or was it Peru) when covid struck. She domiciles in Amsterdam. Her degree(s) are in Geology. Did a pretty awesome trek into a Peruvian mine with a couple of the miners there. Tough indeed!  | ||
| Tootal |
Her degree(s) are in Geology. Thanks for the correction, I knew that and wrote Biology instead!  I watched the first few in Iceland but then started season 2 with her South American ride. I'd like to know how you ride and control a drone at the same time! Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled Crusty! | ||
| Two_seasons |
I think a drone can "home in" on any device you attach it's home cookie, so to speak. As your location changes (GPS speaking) it follows it. Kinda of like a Roomba vacuum cleaner knows where home is. Man I'm tired of drinking alone, this Bogus-19 must end soon!  | ||
| Ourdee |
On some drones you put the drone in the air and on the screen picture (sent from it's on board camera) yo just tap what you want it to latch onto and follow/track. Then just keep your speed under 45 mph. | ||
| Tootal |
Great technology, something I'm totally ignorant of. Never even been around a drone let alone fly one. I always considered them target practice for a 12 gauge!  | ||
| Ourdee |
My drones were reporting all my flight parameters to DJI. I quit flying them. | ||
| Crusty |
The sound a boxermotor makes is definitely a drone. It's almost guaranteed to cure insomnia. | ||
| Ourdee |
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| Tootal |
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| Crusty |
Two Jokes (Sort Of) There’s an old joke about a guy who has every kind of disaster possible happening to him. Finally, he cries out, “Why me, oh Lord?” and a booming voice answers, “Because you piss me off.” One of the Three Stooges films involves them inadvertently joining the Army. The Drill Sargent keeps giving them orders which they naturally screw up. After a succession of these, the Sargent just stops and cries out in frustration, “Everything always happens to me!” Sometimes, I can fully relate to that sentiment. Sometimes, life can be overwhelming and it seems like everything just piles up on me. It doesn’t last a long time and it’s seldom as bad as it seems, but the feeling is real. Right now, I’m pretty focused on putting the bigger rear fender on the 16. I have one that I bought off fleaBay a couple of years ago. It’s white and has a couple of chips in the paint, along with a small dent, and there’s rust appearing in places. There are enough things wrong with it that I’m going to buy a new fender from the MoFoCo. A new one is less than $200 in primer, which makes it a much better deal than most of the used fenders on the Bay. I’m thinking that I might just put the white fender on for the time being. That way, I can swap the hard bags over from the 05. Putting the fender on seemed pretty overwhelming, once I got into it. It looked pretty basic until I started looking at things like how to wire in a tail light and move the turn signals and get everything done right. When I pulled the fender and the stock tail light from the 05 off the shelf and started putting the tail light on, I discovered that I needed a circuit board that lives in the tail light, I also found that the wiring in the fender has different connectors than what the 16 has. I think I’ve found how to get around that, though. That led to trying to figure out how to move the turn signals. I have two solutions for that. The cheaper solution is what I’ll use on the temp fender, while the better looking (and more expensive) solution will go on the Soul Red fender. I had a $20.00 Rewards credit due to me from Ronnie’s H-D, so I called them. While I had them on the phone, I ordered the brace that supports the fender from beneath. Then, I called the shop (GP Motorcycle Supply) and ordered the black tail light base. Between the two orders, I spent almost a hundred bucks, but I saved 20 by using that credit, and I have a line of credit with the shop. In fact, I think I overpaid last spring, so I shouldn’t be too far in the hole. But, I’ve called a halt to making any more purchases until I get my next check (SS deposit) Then I’ll get the turn signal stalks, the relocating bracket and the wiring harness for under the fender. Oh; an LED tail light, too. Hopefully, that will be all I need, but I’m sure there will be more $urprises. That’s all just a prelude, though. Life is, after all, what happens while you’re busy making plans. My washing machine is dying. Now that I’ve had it for a couple of years, it’s giving up the ghost. So I’ve been looking on Craigslist for a cheap washer. Once I find one, then I have to figure out how to get it home. David’s car isn’t big enough to carry one and I sure can’t strap it to the bike. I really hate the idea of having to start using the laundromat again. The washer isn’t dead yet, but the end is in sight. Hey, I’m not complaining about the washer. It was a free gift and it has been a lot of help and made my life a lot smoother. So that’s on my mind. This morning, my Macbook Pro died. It’s been getting progressively slower and it started acting funny yesterday. It would shut itself off without warning and now it won’t even boot up at all. Considering that it was built in 2009, that’s a pretty long life, but it still saddens me. It saddens me even more when I price replacement Macbooks. The good news is that I have this Dell laptop. It seems to be working OK. I really liked that Macbook and this Dell does some funny things sometimes, but it does work. You know; after writing all this down, I don’t feel so bad. The 16 is well on its way to becoming the Gentleman’s Express, the washer is still working and I have a good laptop. I haven’t come down with the Wuhoo Flu and I had a BLT made with Wright’s bacon for dinner to commemorate 9/11 last night while watching the ½ Mile race from Williams Grove, PA. Everything does always happen to me; but most of that everything is good sh*t. I just have a hard time seeing it sometimes. My life really is pretty freakin’ good! | ||
| Crusty |
Be Careful What You Ask For… …You might just get it. I wrote about my dying washer, the other morning and today, Ourdee brought a washer down from Indianapolis. It’s an expensive Maytag with all the bells and whistles. I think it cost something like a grand when new. And I got it for free. It’s new (to me) and spiffy and it has a bunch of settings and options ranging from what I’m washing to how many rinses, how big a load and there are buttons I haven’t figured out yet. But… It has a bad bearing. It’s working, but it’s noisy as all hell. I’m going to have to pull it apart and replace the bearing. I won’t be able to do that for a while. I don’t think it’s beyond my capabilities, but it will be a bit of work. In the meantime, I still have the old washer. It’s old and tired and needs parts, but it still works. If the new washer dies, I can use the old one until I have the time and money to fix the new. I also said in my last Snippet that my Macbook died. I was wrong. It’s still working, but it ain’t right. I let it sit for a couple of days and it booted up like nothing had happened. But it’s taking a lot longer to do things. I don’t think it has much longer to go. Now, the reason it’s going to take a while to fix the washer is because I’m obsessed with putting the fender on the 16. I had ordered some parts for it the other day and I said “no more” until I get my next deposit, but that’s only a week away, so I’m running the card balance up a bit more. If it goes as I expect (and hope), I’ll have the white fender and hard bags on for Buelltoberfest. I just got a call from Joe, who’s doing the paint. One of the suppliers he deals with has a huge discount on the clear coat he used on his 06 Roadster. He said it’ll save me about a hundred bucks, so I gave him a green light to get it. Looking at the job he did on his bike, I have no reservations about him using the same quality paint on mine. he also told me about a trick to clean the rust out of my tank that won’t involve having to buy a POR 15 kit. And I got my custom made belt pouch on Saturday. It’s beautiful. the craftsman who made it also repaired the cordura pouch that I’ve been using. I won’t use the leather pouch until my birthday, but I am using the clapped out cordura pouch for the time being. Once my birthday rolls around, It’ll be just the leather pouch. So life is smiling at me right now. I guess I’ll just have to roll with it! | ||
| Cupcake_mike |
Crusty, I have one of those fancy maytag washers with a bearing going out too. Its noisy but if I keep the laundry room door closed you don't really notice it. Hopefully yours isn't as big of a PIA as mine is supposed to be to fix...to the tune of $250 in parts and having to take the whole thing down completely to get to the bearing, I decided to bite the bullet and save myself the aggravation and buy a new one for $650. I got 10 years out of the old one so I feel like I got my money's worth. | ||
| Ourdee |
Mike, About as hard as changing XB wheel bearings. A kit with bearings, shaft, seal. glue, lube, and new spacer can be had for about $55. From the videos I've watched you could probably get off with just buying 2 common bearings. Crusty has time and skills. If he wants when the time comes, I'll change them for him, just for the fellowship. | ||
| Tootal |
10 years? My Maytag's are over 20 years old and working great! I bought the basic ones with dials, no electronic boards to go bad. Also Made in USA! They're made in Mexico now I think. Crusty, if you change that bearing let us know where the bearing was made. Inquiring minds want to know! | ||
| Crusty |
For the record; my mother had a Maytag washer that she got in the early 60s. When I bought the house in Waltham in 1987, the washer came to me. all the paint had been worn off the dial and there was a mark scratched into the plastic to indicate where to start a cycle. I last saw that washer in 1995 and it was still working just fine. It might use more water and more electricity than one of the new super whizbang modern clothes cleaning systems, but I bet it will outlast them by a large factor. However; beggars can't be choosers. I got the new washer for free. I'm running a load right now and I won't bitch if it cleans my clothes. And if the price is that I have to switch out a bearing or two; well, then, I guess I'll learn a little bit about appliance repair. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I'm about to replace the motor in our Maytag Commercial (Centennial model) washer... it's about 6 years old. I've previously replaced the belt. It most recently got a new clutch. The parts I put in were of better quality than the ones I took out... I got them from Amazon for about $15. Bought the washer for $450 brand new from one of those places that sells dents and scratches. I mean, Queen Elizabeth isn't going to visit my laundry so who cares if there's a scratch on the unpainted sheet metal on the rear panel? Yeah, the part right up against the wall. Was scratched. 30% off. Anyway, it has cost me about $60 in parts over the 6 years, so $10 per year. This motor is going to be $180 and I'm seriously just considering a newer, more powerful front loader. Don't take this in any way as a slam on Maytag... I believe if it were just me using it, the machine would never malfunction, ever. I've got wife and daughter overloading it and not bothering to balance the load when they do. The washer tries to walk across the room by itself when it's in the spin cycle. The machine has been abused constantly. This is what I'm up against. I could start my own epic-length snippet thread about it... but I digress. | ||
| Tootal |
Appliances are all designed to last 10 years now. My 1976 Refrigerator died last year. 44 years it lasted which is impressive, however, my grandmother's old Hot Point fridge from the early 60's is still keeping the beer cold in the basement!! I was told when I got my new fridge that it would last 10 years, the same amount of time as the compressor is warranty'd for. Go figure! | ||
| Ratbuell |
Yeah, I hated to replace my water heater 5 years ago because I know new ones are "disposable", but...I walked down the basement steps one morning...step..step...step...splash. It rusted out. Damn. At the time, I didn't have the cash for tankless (3 baths, 1 kitchen, 1 washer/dryer) but now...I don't know. I might go that route. | ||
| Ourdee |
Matthew, Secrets to front loaders: 1. Always leave the door open when done using it! 2. Do not drag the clothes across the door seal! It will wear and leak. 3. Do not put the same amount of soap you are used to using in the old washer in it. |
