Just so you know...

I have not died, fallen from the face of the earth or even abandoned my friends and family. I have been away looking for work, finding work, finding better work and then making as much time as possible for the wife and kids.

3 weeks and counting

Yes you read it right. Three weeks and counting until Peewee, Wooley, Billy, and I leave Greensboro for a ride lasting throughout the weekend. The Blistered Bottoms ride and camping trip will take us into and out of Virginia, Tennessee and of course North Carolina. In this inaugural year, I expect the road tripping to be very casual and informal. Much less organized than many big rides out there and that is at least part of the draw for me. It would be nice to see it turn into something bigger every year to a point but once you start having a large group of people things start to loose their intimacy. Comraderie and relaxation are the two biggest things this trip has the potential to give and I think as long as all major surprises are avoided we should find both of them.

Packing for the trip had already started many weeks ago but I had to unpack the tool roll to fix my generator. I still haven't decided what all to take but I do know both my saddle bags and my backpack will all be lined with plastic trash bags to ensure that all my clothes and belongings stay dry. As I repack the tool roll (ammo box really) I will inventory the tools with my checklist that I made the first time I did it. That way I don't leave out the one thing I will need should something go awry. I still need to acquire some sort of rain gear but finding something that won't melt to my pipes is proving to be a challenge. I think also I may just pack the clothing needed for the two days but throw in my sneakers in case the boots get a rain storm in them. Pants, T-shirts, socks, under garments will be the wardrobe I think since I want to be comfortable and T-shirts and jeans are where I live. I'm still considering throwing in a hoodie since we will be sleeping under the stars in the mountains even though it will be late June. Mountain weather, ya never know. The bed roll, sleeping bag or blanket? Probably the bag. If it gets cool I can get inside and if not I'll sleep on top of it. The pillow will probably not make the trip though. I can use my pack for that. Even though this trip will be about getting away, I still have to stay connected to the family because of the kids so the Blackberry will go as well. Good thing I installed that 12v power outlet under the seat.

Well that's enough dribble for now. 3 weeks and counting!!!!!

Stupid software incompatability issues

They say that computers are only as smart as the programmers. If that's true then the guy that wrote the software for this blog must be a "C" student. I finally figured out how to post comments again. For the last two weeks or more I just couldn't get my comments to post. I would type out what I wanted to say, hit post and it would just take me to the log in screen. I would log in again and the whole process would just start over. Well tonight, thanks to "Bacon" my daughter's pet Vietnamese potbellied pig, I had to sign back into my account instead of just clicking on the favorites link I had saved. Viola, I can now post comments. Apparently the "Remember me" option at sign in was causing a problem that was keeping the program from doing just that. Now if I could just remember my Photobucket password.

Q&A

Well for some reason I can't seem to respond to comments made on my blog.

So.....

Yes I fixed the generator. I just cleaned it up REAL good.

The motorcycle that you gave me the link to was one of three that were there. The only one not on a truck.

Yeah "Big Ticket" is a 77. If 35 years makes it antique then I can also be an "antique on an antique" LOL. 38 in December.

So Wooley, since we are doing Q&A, what is the confirmed head count on the ride now?

Some pics for the ones that missed it. (The Antique Motorcycles)

I didn't take many but here are the ones I did take. Don't ask 'cause I have no idea what they are now.

Here's a mid 60's Triumph you could ride home for $2500. (If you were completely clueless)

An old shovelhead with LOTS of moulding on the frame and tins. Kind of dated but still not a bad looking bike over all.

Sweet little BSA

U.S. Army Harleys

...and my favorite...

And "Big Ticket" just before I left and the rain started. Not quite an antique just yet but old enough.

What's in a name?

Shakespeare posed this question and though it has been repeated many time, how often do we really consider it?

What really is in a name? When I named my kids I had specific reasons for each of them. All of them different and all of them fitting, even now. I guess it could be luck that my children have somehow grown into the names they were given but it could be that my wife and I chose those names by some unspoken communication with our kids personalities, even before they were born. It depends on who you talk to I guess. Either way the names they have, now fit them the way they are. I couldn't imagine them being called anything else.

Anyway all that garbage was written to lead into this. I think I have finally decided on a name for my 77 Sportster. "Big Ticket". I chose that name because this thing is always costing me money or time, not that I mind it much but I have less money than time and here lately all she wants is money. So that's it, "Big Ticket" it is.

The powers that be.

Well the rapture didn't come this past weekend as predicted but there was some unexplained favors done. What really happened was the nut in Oakland is exactly that and I tore my generator apart AGAIN, and this time I took some 1500 grit sandpaper to the commutator to clean it up and then cleaned out the grooves real good so none of the copper dust or paper grit was stuck between them. Then I sprayed it all off with electrical contact cleaner and put it back together. Viola, it started working. Now if we can just keep things together at least until I get back from the BBR. 4 weeks, 3 days to go.

Oh and just for the record, the Rev. Camping says the rapture has now been rescheduled for Oct. 21st 2011.

Piece of crap

Well the short, and I do mean short, trip down the interstate last weekend on my way to Kernersville my generator light came on. I then went ahead and rode out my ride plan for the day and the bike did great. When I got home I tried to start it back up after shutting it down and it did start but was hesitant to turn over. The battery was almost dead. So I figured it was the regulator since it was not a true motorcycle part. I ordered a new solid state regulator and once it got here I put it on, rewired the entire charging system and fired up the bike. Nothing. The damn light is still on. So now what? I checked out the generator as best I could (I'm not very good at electrical crap) and it seems to be the generator gone bad. Just in time for my trip too. 5 weeks to go and I'm broke down, and flat busted at the bank. No money for repairs and less for riding around on. The bills and kids come first. Well I guess all is not lost, I DO have 5 weeks to get things right. Cross your fingers for me, mine will be covered in grease.

Antique Motorcycles

So today I got up at 6 after going to bed at 1. I was making a new points cover. Anyway, I got ready and left the house headed to Kernersville to meet some folks for breakfast and a ride to a motorcycle show/swap meet in Denton. As I left the house I realized I wouldn't need my chaps on the ride up cause the road was dry even though it had rained last night. I stopped and took them off. I rode 25 miles to where we were to meet only to find out that no one else showed up. Oh well, I ride alone a lot anyhow. Off to Denton. The weather was great for riding, I made it to the Denton Farm Park and went in the gates. WOW what a show. Old bikes of every type and lots and lots of parts. It's amazing how much money some of these people want for their JUNK. And I do mean junk, some of it rusted and rotted so bad you can't even tell what it is. All in all a great time and a fairly nice ride. Just as I was putting on my lid to leave the rain came. It only rained about 10 minuets though so not too bad.  I did a little over a 100 miles today, warming up the backside for the ride in June.

Yay!!! New Parts!!

Well as soon as the US mail gets the lead out I will have wrenching to do. I won a complete set of forks for my Ironhead on eBay this week. Not perfect but much better than the leaky POS that is on my bike now. I also bought a set of used 14.5" shocks for the rear since mine have broken springs. They look like they belong to a 1978 Suzuki GS1000E but what the hell, if they fit I'm running them. They have full chrome covers but they are not weird looking like the Harley big twin covered shocks. All total including shipping? How about an astounding $125.95. I can't wait to get them and get'em mounted. Maybe I can get this thing ready for my trip, before my trip LOL.
 Maybe I can pick up a few odds and ends at the antique motorcycle show in Denton next weekend, maybe not. We'll see. There are a few things I would like to pick up but money is tight and what is available is being squirreled away for Tonya's trip to the beach and my road trip so it's mainly the necessities.
 Anyway, I guess I will be going over my bike between now and June 24 fixing what HAS to be fixed and trying to make it comfy. Man I can't wait!

Osama Bin Laden

Well we finally got the bastard. Thank you Navy SEALs for a job well done. And my favorite part? The coward used an unarmed woman as a human shield when the SEALs came knocking on the door. May your body rot at the bottom of the ocean you chicken shit little worm.

PeeWee

One of my very best friends, no scratch that, my brother Peewee came by the house Saturday so I could do a little fabricating on his Rebel. He had another guy weld a couple of trumpet mufflers off of a 450 Rebel onto his head pipes and he needed to have some mounts fabricated and installed to keep them from just hanging out and bouncing causing the welds to break. So that's what we did. Nothing fancy but with a little MAPP gas, the drill press, grinder, and the vise we had him fixed up in about an hour. Not bad for a couple of old ditch diggers huh?
 Peewee has been my closest friend since somewhere around 1990. We've been through everything together. 3 Marriages, 1 divorce, 5 kids, the deaths of friends and family, cancer, everything. We don't hang out like we used too, life getting in the way I guess, but the friendship is still there and as strong as ever.  A lot of times friends are taken for granted and we only remember to thank them when tragedy occurs. Luckily, those kinds of friends don't have to hear it to know how you feel.
 This post started out to be nothing more than a recap of the motorcycle related stuff I did this weekend but I guess there was something that needed to be said. Something to relate to you, the reader. Something important. Thank your friends. Thank them for just being there, for holding your head out of the toilet when you drink too much. Thank them for loosing sleep to be at your house working on your crap at 2 a.m. Not the beer fridge, or the riding mower, the crap that doesn't benefit him. The crap they help you fix just because you called them and they would rather be there helping you than at home resting up for work tomorrow. Thank your friends for accepting you when you're an ass. Accepting you because you're an ass, not in spite of it. In this world that we live in today, with all the shallow people with their "me first " attitudes, the true "friend" is becoming harder and harder to come by. I guess that's why my very best friend has been holding that position for the last 21+ years.
 Friends, all my friends, cherish the ones you hold dear. They are taken from us all too quickly and replacements are impossible to find. :^)




P.S. 7 weeks, 5 days till the ride.

My baby girl

Well, today she is 14. Mercedes (Sadie) was born on this day at 8:55pm in 1997. What a ride so far. Only four more years and she will be an adult and gone before I know it. I love you Sadie.

Blistered Bottom ride

Begines in 8 weeks, 2 days. C'mon.

Hmmm.....

Another day has gone and I only have a few things to talk about.

This blogging thing is new to me and I haven't quite decided weather or not I enjoy it. It's nice to reflect back on the things that affect my life and make me the person I am, always changing and growing. It's also nice to be able to share those things with friends and family, not all of them able to swing by the house at any time they want. The down side to this is that I have to stop by and give everyone something to read. I don't mind, really I don't. I just get so busy with life I forget about it until late at night. Oh well, maybe I'll get used to it.

My Sportster is constantly coming up with new ways to annoy me. Nothing to cause a fire sale or anything, just annoy me. Today I finaly found the leak at the top of my oil tank and hopefully fixed it. We'll see tomorrow. I also found a place on the inside of the rear fender that has been rubbing on the rear tire. I assume the POS rear shocks are shot and not leveling the bike correctly. I didn't see anything broken or bent. Nothing other than the springs on the rear shocks, but I already knew they were broke. I did fix my foot pegs today though. No more saggy pegs trying to slide my feet off onto the road. :^)

The wife and kids had the day off today for Easter. If I could have and gotten paid, I would have as well, but alas, the debts take no holiday so neither do I.

Gas prices, ughhh. What can I say? They suck. Oil is up, the dollar is down, and neither look to be changing direction anytime soon. I guess we all will be getting back to basics at home much like the 50's. The movies are out, dining out is going that direction as well, and if Sadie's ball wasn't already paid for that would have to stop as well. We are still crossing our fingers for Tonya's job. Randolph county is so damn slow to tell anyone anything. What's the hold up?

Ok I'm done for the night, off to bed so I can start all over again tomorrow.

The three "B"s

The three "B"s.
Bored. I rode a bit today, about 50 miles I guess. I met a couple of guys from Randelman down at the Pisgah covered bridge in southern Randolph county. One was riding a pretty nice 76 Ironhead. Not my cup-o-tea but nice enough. I talked to them for about a half hour and then we went on our way. Now that may not sound like I was bored and you're right, however, that was what I did to remedy the boring part. I guess staying so busy with Sadie playing ball all the time, when we have a weekend free we all just kind of seem lost. I'm sure if I had more than one day to kill I would have things to do, lord knows there is plenty I should do.

Broke. Every time I get straightened out something else comes along. I know, that's they way it is for everybody, but everybody isn't me.

Bewildered. Every day I am amazed at the life of my children. My youngest is growing up so fast. Much faster it seems than the other two. In little more than a month he will be 10. Ten years, eight more and he's grown. How quickly the time goes. My daughter, 14 in a week. Already she sees herself as an adult and in many ways she isn't too far from it. Extremely bright and afraid of nothing. I'm already missing her and she hasn't even reached the stage in her life where she hates me yet. And Matthew, 16, driving, and knows it all. Oh I remember those days. It was a great time in my life. I wouldn't really want to go back and change anything but it would be nice to have been able to look ahead then and see the now. Of course I probably wouldn't have believed it to be true, teenagers believe nothing until they are slapped in the mouth by it. The children my wife and I have are the greatest joy in my life and everyday they amaze me more by just being themselves.

The beginning

So this is where it starts. The very first post to the random blog.

Today I had breakfast with some new friends. Nothing fancy just bacon and eggs, coffee of course, and good conversation.

The wife (Tonya) is great as usual. Thanks babe. The kids? Yeah they are good to. The bike is running good (at the moment) and all is good in the world that is my life.