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Viewing 1 - 13 out of 13 Blogs.
Can you guys stand one more poetry kind of thing? I promise not to post a lot of em. Cuz this is all I have. Written several years ago after someone asked me why I ride. I got kinda introspective, and came up with this.
Long Highway
Astride her iron horse hugging broken, dashed lines.
Wind singing through her wheels, can this be a crime?
Running away? No she’s just on the move.
She’s searching for her own perfect groove.
It’s been said, “She will ride till she’s dead,
The asphalt will be her last hard bed.”
The wind speaks to her, the lines rush by.
Her mind cracks open, the sky begins to cry.
Onward she rides, no looking back,
The throttle she twists, there can be no slack.
Her future lies ahead, her past is dead,
What lies in her belly that must be fed?
She’s known to say her life is static…
Why must she live life as an addict?
The miles rush by, past deserts, past lakes.
Past all the posers and the fakes.
The ride continues, she’s on the move.
She’s still searching for her own perfect groove.
I can't get my blogs to show the paragraphs I insert into my writing. It's annoying as hell to spend so much time writing something, only to have it ruined by the way it posts to the blog. It keeps posting everything as if I wrote it in one long sentence. Which I didn't. I'm a professional writer, and this kind of stuff drives me crazy. It makes the blog hard to read...and in fact causes eye strain. Now I see that others are able to have paragraphs in their blogs...I'm mean Look at Fiddle Mike's stuff...beautiful...I want mine to look like that. I posted this question in the forums help section during the past week, but it has only been read three times, and I'll bet two of those times were by me. So, what's the answer? How come, I can't get paragraphs to stick when I post my blog? Help ADMIN... Chessie
Off I go again...I left out of the house for Johnson City to do some work at the library. Got it done in an hour and twenty mins. and realized, it was still early. So I head back toward Elizibethton and jump on 91 North.
This road will take you through the little borough of Stony Creek and beyond. God, I can't remember all the little unincorporated little towns you pass...but after about 12 miles, you come into the hills and the Cherokee National Forest.
91 winds up the hills with the cool twists and turns, switchbacks, steep drops to the edge of the road...and forest all around. It's late in the year for the greenery of the forests, the trees are wearing their finery, but it is becoming faded and worn. Ahhh but the aromas of the forest is still fresh and new, with honey suckle and other late blooming vines and flowers wafting their fragrance past my nose. It's a nice ride through the Cherokee National Forest.
Up to the pinnacle of the little mountain...back down once more into the valley...it's another three miles or so to Shady Valley General Store, and US421 and onto the section of The Snake.  Stopping at the General Store, I order a burger and onion rings, a Mountain Dew...and watch the parade of bikers going in and out...some watching me as I watch them...yes, we bikers are generally a watchful bunch.
Finishing my meal, I go out to the bike...light a smoke, drag on that till it's to the butt, then knock the cherry off it and deposit the butt in my pocket.
Insert the key, hit the switch and she jumps alive once more. Leaving out of the parking lot...turning west toward Mountain City, I'm off.
Before I left, a large group of riders pulled out. I gave them about five minutes before heading out, as I knew they would be moving a tad bit slower than I like to ride. I guess, I didn't give them enough time, because I came upon them in about ten minutes time. Sigh...so I ride behind the group...and yawn...brake and yawn... I have never taken The Snake on the weekend...and I won't again. Too much traffic, and while I am not a knee dragger...I do enjoy just a little more speed than I got behind the bagger draggers! (No, I'm not giving you guys a bunch of shit...I like baggers, and if I was riding one on the Snake...I would be slowing down a bit too...)
On the other side of the Mountain, the state troopers were in action, they had pulled over a speed junkie from the group who left just before my bagger dragger group had...guess the little metric biker didn't know where the trooper Sits...he's there often, at any day of the week...Everyone slows down at that turn...sigh, bet he knows now!
Getting into Mountain City I decide to take US 421 toward Boone. The Bagger Draggers were from VA. and turned North onto CR 167 from US421...that is when I decided "heck, time to get lost again." I make a right, south onto CR167. This turned out to be a real good thing. I followed the Doe River to and fro...up and down little hills around rock bluffs, and down this holler and up that dale...it was a very good road.
CR 167 dumps out right into SR 67 and Watuga Lake. The lake is up from the last time I saw it, but not enough for it to look beautiful. That would take another twenty feet of bank to give it the natural beauty of a healthy lake. But all the same at the altitude of this lake...it's amazing it holds any water at all, dam or no dam.
Now that I am on SR 67...I am back in familiar territory...it junctions into SR 321 and home to Elizibethton. It was a three hour ride, and only fifty five miles. But again, it was a good meandering path...used to take my mind away from the crap of daily living. Another good day down. Chessie
I had another good day on the bike yesterday. I really like the fact, here in NE TN. I can ride for years and not discover all the cool little roads leading to nowhere, but eventually will take me home again. Yesterday, while riding a favorite route, and knowing I had less than an hour to get home, I decided to take a side road that looked promising. It was. Coming off of US 107, heading north on a road whose name escapes me, but one that I have ridden many times before...I decide I still have time to do some slight exploring. I see a few roads that look inviting, but I was actually traveling too fast to take advantage of them. So I slow down, and say to myself... "The next road to the right is gonna be the one." All righty then, here it comes... I make the turn, notice the name of the road and promptly forget it, as I wind my way down this small street with lots of gravel from washed out driveways. I can feel my front wheel break from the road surface as I take some of the little twisties, and I'm not even going more than 35 mph. As I continue down this road, it becomes more narrow, and less populated, but looking in my rear view mirror...I notice I have two vehicles behind me. One is a mini van, and I wonder what the hell that thing is doing here on this road, as it is reminding more and more of some of the roads that will take you to your local still maker, than to the few homes that dotted the hills on both sides of the narrow little path that was still dubbed a road, as beneath all the gravel from washouts...it was still paved! The mini van and it's companion car behind it turned off ...and I was left alone on this little back woods road to meander along side a little stream...and the wonderful woods all around me. I still kept hearing the banjo strumming... da da dum dum dum dum dum dum dum, and the replying guitar picking right behind that damn banjo. Damn my imagination anyway! I was so far back in the hills and the woods, I actually came across a small family saw mill still in operation. That was comforting...since the little stream was too small to actually hide a large body in...these people could now take my body to the saw mill and gut it up as fish bait...you never know...cuz there is "Stills in these Hills" folks! Of course my imagination was working over time...the road went up and down lil paths that once were goat paths...or perhaps the occasional bull traversed this place at some time...LOL But it was a damn nice place of natural beauty...and it was only six miles long. It looped right back onto the road I left...but sure made for an interesting jaunt with my imagination. Did I tell you? I really like these small roads out here, they lead to nowhere, then back home again...leaving me feeling as if I had taken a 300 mile ride, when actually...it was only fifty!
OK, I'm done with the effort. I have been around the web in search of busy blogs, motorcycle related, with like minded people. I found quite a few, some not so busy...while others were a maze of talk...some of it quite good. But...for what I have found in most of them, I would rather sit in my room, with myself, by myself, than to continue to read the back stabbing bullshit that goes on in those places. So, I'm back here, where the company is decent, the blogging is intelligent, and the mob attacks, back stabbing, garbage pits of the world are still held at bay. I am enjoying the civility of Motorcycle Syndicate...once again, and shall not wonder far looking for what is already in my "backyard" again. I think I'm just gonna leave the blog wheels alone, I found the one that works for me... Chessie
Wow, this was an awesome time this time around!
Weather was perfect, not too hot, not too wet...not too cold!
Day one of the journey concluded with 530 miles under the wheels, and my ass. That's a good ride on a Sportster. I landed in Anderson Indiana around 9.15 PM. I was to go directly to Kenny's house, but I had wind roar so bad in my ears, that getting directions there was damn near impossible. I had called for directions to Kenny's town from outside of Indie, and I thought I was talking to Kenny the whole time. I was cussing up a storm with the "F" word coming up frequently...only to find out, once I arrived in town and had taken a motel, that the person I was speaking to was Kenny's Grand dad! LOL I guess the ol gent got an ear full. I talked to him again the next morning on the phone...and he just laughed and laughed at my embarrassment...Kenny has one cool Grand-Dad...He's a very lucky man...in fact, I would say they both are lucky to have one another!
On my way to the Indie area, I crossed over many of the rivers that are swollen and over their banks, causing destruction and havoc all over the Mid West. The Kansas River, The Mo. River, The White river, the Ohio river...wow...I've not seen such high waters...ever. For those who are affected by the waters, I hope all is not lost, and that you can recover from FEMA the losses you have experienced and get your lives moving again.
Here's a funny sight I saw on my way to Kenny's....I was in the heart of farm country, and passing the corn fields, most of the land nearest to the roadsides were under water. I saw two Mallard ducks swimming in a corn field...not funny, but when the female went ass up with her head under water to fish....now that was funny. Fishing in a corn field! Life's better moments pass by without a camera handy!
I got lost coming into "Moon Cricket" as our dear Kenny calls his home town...and gave up the ghost at an Indian run cheap motel on the strip....the bed was firm, the room "smelled" clean...the water was hot, and the guy running the place told me I could ride my bike into the room! Now that was a first!
Kenny came over and we shot the shit for a few hours, then he headed home and I headed for the showers....with plans to ride the next day. I forgot, Jeff was to be in Atlanta for a three day business meeting... home again part 2 So with Jeff's admonition in mind, I called Kenny and told his Grand Dad...I had to get the hell outta Dodge...That's when I found out what a real ladies man the senior Kenny was! LOL, I should have made the three mile ride over to their home to meet this guy! He is quite the card to be sure!
Day two of the ride home was also quite uneventful...EXCEPT...
I have a new phone...Verizon Navigator....I decided to use it to get my ass outta of Moon Cricket USA. I hadn't really used it yet...and did all the settings, expecting it to make my route for me...which it did...unfortunetly...while I was exploring all the options, I had reset the thing to route me the shortest distance...using less than 50 miles of Interstate at a stretch! LOL...Kenny...I bet I know more about how to get around your state through the cornfields and county roads than you do! This thing took me on roads that were large enough of a cow to pass unmolested by a pedestrian...but if there were two vehicles on the same road...one had to go off road to get by! I saw places I never knew I would or could see in Indiana...and still get out alive! I loved it, but it did take 2 hours to cover less than fifty miles! I wasn't bored though! (And I don't think I even got out of the county "Moon Cricket" resided in! When I finally hit US 27 South...I grabbed it, and put the damn Navigator away! I rode US 27 South through detours around washed out bridges from the flooding...and no GAS STATIONS....for about sixty miles. When a gas station did finally appear, I put 1.89 gallons into a two gallon tank. I was sweating the small stuff by then!
A few miles down the road from the station, I hit Ohio...then the by pass around Cinci...and then onto I-75. I was done exploring, stick a fork in me...I'm sticking to the Interstate for a long while home!
Gettin around Cinci was fun...no, I am not kidding you at all! It's been a while since I had ridden around a large city...Kansas City not included...this one reminded me more of getting around Miami...and was quite good, except for the buckled road portions where it was like hitting a speed bump at 70 miles per hour...guess that's why they have the speed limit at 55?
Once onto 75 South...everything went smoothly. No problems with traffic, drivers, or cows! I got down around the KY TN boarder and took US 25E south to I-81. Another good road I just love! (US 25E...not I-81.)
I pulled into the driveway at 8.25 PM...sat and smoked a cig. looking at the bike...noticed a drip coming from the carb...yeah newly rebuilt carb...and it didn't last the trip. Have to take it back to the shop and have them check it out and repair...I wondered why my gas mileage had dropped down from 50 miles to the gallon to 35. I blamed it on the speeds of 75-90 mph while on the Interstates...by the way...Weds was a day of lots of cops...on every road, secondary and Interstate...the silver bell on my bike must of saved me a ticket or two!
Done for now folks...after 2200 miles, and a really good tan on my face and arms...I'm a happy camper!
Chessie
NOOOO, I don't mean it sucks....I just mean there is a lot of wind around here!
My son in law took his bike out, got my grandson dressed in his gear, and the two of them rode the Buel, while I rode the Sportster. The skies were clear, temps were startin' to cook, and this was to be my grandson's first "long distance" ride! We headed north out of KC up towards Leavenworth into KS. But as we rode further north...the clouds became dark and menacing, lots of lighting and just wasn't one of those great "cool us down and go away" type of showers. Fact is, the front of the system coming towards us had high headers....and it was black as coal and was moving very quickly.
We got to Leavenworth, pulled over to discuss our course of action...and my grandson is watching the storm system come at us...he's not real happy with the prospect of getting wet...and was starting to get real unhappy about us sitting there discussing the weather instead of trying to get out ahead of it. I Could see, there would be no out running it, and suggested we at least wait till the front passed over...I, am not a fond lover of the high winds that I experienced coming into KC when I got here a week ago. Turns out to have been a very good and wise choice. The winds were very turbulent...and even after waiting front of the clouds to pass, going back over the MO. River still sucked...cross winds were heavy, and the rain was coming down large as marbles. Now of course, every one else had jackets and full helmets with face shields. Me with my pipes not heat shielded elected not to bring rain gear, I don't wear but a 1/2 helmet...actually less than a 1/2...and I didn't wear a jacket because it got blown off the bike somewhere in Indiana, and got picked up by a semi that was on my ass...I let him keep it on his grill...figured he would need it in case he hit freezing weather once he got to ID. or something.... So these huge arsed rain drops are bustin down around me, I have my t shirt up around my nose and cheeks, my son in law on his fricken Buel is riding at sixty mph on these two lane roads with pot holes as large as a taxi....and I am lost as hell...no idea of what direction I'm heading in as the sun is obliterated by the storm....I just keep on keepin on... It was a really good ride for my grandson to experience the kind of weather and what to expect or not expect when it comes to the elements and motorcycle riding...we got around the worst of the weather...and pulled into the garage at the home twenty just as the heavy stuff started coming down...we all were laughing and having a great time...pulling off our clothes in the garage...as my son in law is a real pain in the ass about allowing drippage and such on his carpets...LOL anyway...it was a good ride all the same...didn't get the couple of hours in as we wanted...but my grandson got to experience motorcycling at it's finest...and he loved it!
Chessie
The Ride..so far... Riding from Johnson City Tn. to Kansas City MO.
The ride was fairly uneventful, of course there are some Small adjustments that had to be made, but...after a thousand miles, I can honestly say I hadn't had any problems with inattentive drivers, or with drivers who just didn't give a rats ass. I rarely do though once on the road proper. In fact, it's rare I have problems with bad drivers....once in a blue moon. How often do they come around anyway?
Jumping on I-81 and heading west towards Nashville....by the time I got to Knoxville I was bored out of my mind. I stopped and consulted the map for an alternate route north for my foray into KY. It was the interstate I-75 turn to bore me to death now....that continued until I got to the state line of KY.
I pulled off the road into a truck stop in KY, sat down to consult the map once more, when I realized the weather channel was on TV. I heard them talking about Indiana. WHAT was that about FLOODING? OH yeah they were talking about the INDY area...that's where I was heading to get to 2-Guns and Clem and Peaches....I-70 Closed...I-65 closed...due to flooding. Both roads were instrumental to me getting to and away from the INDY area. I look at my cell phone, and there was a call from Peaches...yuppers, she verifies the storms in that area and suggests I try getting there another time...GOOD IDEA! I go to call 2GUNS, and realize, I must have had another blonde moment before I left, because when I programed his phone number into my phone, it didn't take...no 2Guns in my phone book. OPPS...sorry guy!
SOOOO....I go back to the atlas...and check out other routes for Kansas City MO. I'm bored off my rocker with the Interstate systems...looking for some good local twisty roads that will get me off the four lanes and onto some good state and county maintained roads. I found em! I jumped on 25 North for about 18 miles until it intersected with KY-92 West. Cool move there slick...nice road, two lane, well maintained, a few nice twists...nothing drastic....it even came with a few farm tractors, taking to the road as they moved from one field to another...LOL I loved it! The ride part II Most all the farmers were out cutting hay that Sat. morning, and the smell of freshly cut grass, (much different than lawn mowing cut grass smell) was in the air...I loved the small farming towns I pass through, and in KY...it appears to be legal to smoke in some public buildings! LOL it was 94 digress out, I was dehydrating quickly...and I wanted a smoke and some Ice Tea....I was looking desperately for a bar...so I could smoke and enjoy my ice tea with air conditioning....none to be had in small town KY....so I stopped at a little country store that had a gas station went inside and my nostrils were assaulted with that ghastly smell of stale cigarette smoke! How wonderful? There was a small dining area there and there were ASHTRAYS at every table! YEAH! LOL so i got me a tall water from the coolers, paid for it and sat at a table lit up a smoke and watched a small Boy watch me. After a time, his Dad noticed and started talking to me...LOL good guy...not real talkative, but just enough to break up the boredom for both of us. I was wearing my leather chaps...they are oil soaked on the left leg....and bug encrusted on both legs...the kid was fascinated with the bugs...he kept telling me about this dragon fly or that small unidentifiable mess that was on this leg or the other...LOL I love traveling!
Well time to move on....KY-92 eventually joined up with KY-90 West, and I moved on that road for about 15 miles until I found the Cumberland Highway...again heading west. This turned out to be another interstate type road, but....time was getting on and I needed to make some tracks towards I-65 North.
It was all quite uneventful...nothing of particular interest to stop and photograph...so I just kept heading north from Bowling Green on I-65 until I hit Louisville in KY. There I picked up I-64 West...taking that into ST. LOUIS.
I stopped and stayed the night after crossing into Indiana. I was beat up by the sun, the heat, and the road. It was 7.30 PM and I was just looking for that air conditioned comfort and a gallon of Ice Tea. I found both at the Super Eight that night...my room even had a Jacuzzi in it. I had a good night, and sleep fitfully until 2 am....where I wondered through the halls looking for the stupid snack machine...I found it on the main floor, in my PJ's....where one could buy a regular sized candy bar for 1.50 cents....YOUR SHITTIN me right? I needed a chocolate fix...I paid for the fricken candy bar...stupid!
Finally fell asleep at five am...woke again at 7.30. Went down stairs for continental breakfast...went back upstairs and grabbed all my gear. Got packed and back on the road by 9.15.
Another uneventful day on the road, I hit ST.LOUIS in a bored way...I couldn't believe it...there was no fricken traffic on the highway...none! It was heaven...if I wasn't;t on an interstate in ST. LOUIS....it runs through the poorest parts of that town, and ya really don't wanna stop there for a breakdown or anything...so keep on truckin though old girl...keep on trucking through.
I've spent some time in ST.LOUIS before, so stopping there didn't quite blow my dress up...moving along the interstate 64 You can watch the great ARCH of the Gateway to the West come into sharp focus on your left...it's a true wonder of the modern world. I recommend stopping in to visit if you've never seen it up close before. Yes It's worth braving downtown ST. Louis for...better at night though!
After leaving ST. Louis, the Interstate merges with I-70 west and you travel the rest of the trip into Kansas City in that Interstate...again moving along that road wasn't bad, light traffic all the way....and I could see the Missouri River flooding over it's banks as I passed above it and around it in several areas....as well as all the other local and smaller waterways...glad I don't live here...I hate floods. The ride part III I'm now 50 miles east of Kansas City, and I call my daughter for directions into her house. No I've never been here before. She hands the phone over to her husband...my daughter gets lost trying to get her hand out of a paper bag....good thing she has this good man to get her around KC.
I get the directions, then I get a warning...more rain. Severe threats they say...I look in the general direction....I don't see nuthin....keep on moving on!
OK in Kansas and the skies look real bad...nasty black roiling clouds above me, the temps have dipped a bit...just crossing fingers hoping I will get to my daughters house before the rain comes down....
NOPE...get on the 435 by pass and down comes the rain, the temps dropped even more...it was cold as shit. No problem...really, I like riding in the rain. Oh no....how come the winds, I'm riding on grooved cement....rain, wind, and grooved cement make for lethal combinations. I kept riding...then I came across a bridge...and the crosswinds were the nastiest things I have ever encountered...and I have encountered cross winds before....I could feel the tires of my bike losing contact with the slippery road surface as the bike and I drifted over towards the wall of the bridge...we drifted over a full lane and a half! 2 Feet from the wall...I was shitting myself by that time...couldn't wait to get off the bridge, and find an exit....whew...there''s one...hey, it says there are casinos here! Whoo hoo! I don't gamble, but I know they have good security in their garages, I can unpack my shit, call my daughter to come get me...lock the bike, and leave it there for the evening, which is what I did.
I slept like a baby that night...felt good to lie down....
Now I wonder what's gonna happen next?
Headin' OUT Just got the word today. The trip I have been planning for months is ON! After a top end rebuild on my Sportsters engine, a rebuilt engine for Jeff's truck...the funds have grown large enough to allow me to make the ride to Kansas City MO. to visit my daughter and grandson.
I hoping to leave Sat. morning, since I would love to be able to stop in and visit with Dixie in KY, and Clem and Peach in IL. as well as Crazy in St. Louis. Arrive in Kansas City on Monday. BUT...all ready I am being asked to delay until Sunday morning...sigh...My heart is pounding, it's been 18 months since I made a road trip, at least like this...and I already have my bag packed...in my head, cuz right now, I'm doing laundry for the ol man, so he will have clothes to wear for wrok, I have to make out a list for my sister and my mom as to what Mom needs in order to make it on a day to day basis...(Sis will be looking in on Mom,) I have to rescudule the doctor appointment for my dog Jock, so Jeff can take him in on Thursday....he needs blood work done...
It don't take but about ten mins to pack my bags and strap everything on...tent, sleeping bag, tool bag, and clothes. Then off to see the wizard. LOL I'm a real lucky gal to have a man who understands that I have to get my riding fix in...very lucky indeed!
Anyway...gonna stop and smell the roses on this trip...side roads, and sight seeing, meeting up with old and new friends as I go...then spending a few days with my family out in the midwest...then on with more sightseeing on the way home. Gonna do a write up on the roads and stuff I do and see...look for it on Bikernet.com.
Chessie
Finally, I got a chance to put the first 50 miles on the bike after the new top end was installed a week ago. After almost four days of solid rain, then a day of rest, which did not include rest, but a lot of garden work, I was able to throw a leg over the saddle, plop my ass down, turn the key, prime the carb and fire her to life for something more than a ride to the store and back.
This time after a top end, I am taking my mechanic's advice, and breaking her in easy. Not hard here in the hills of NE TN. All the back roads are hilly, curvy, and marked at 45 mph or less. This makes for the "Don't drive at a constant, have the MPH and the RPMs up and down, allowing for the seating of the rings to go smoother for the first 50 miles." OK, so I put 68 miles on the bike yesterday, all on the back roads, all at 45 MPH or less, until I hit the magic 50 miles. Then I pumped her up to 55 MPH for a mile or two in between curves. While the ride was only about two hours long, I still had a great ride. I took hiway 107...one of my favorite rides in the area and headed east for a while before jumping on a west bound road and heading for home. The roads were quiet, not much traffic coming or going, they were mostly clear of debris, except for where people had gravel driveways that headed up a grade...allowing for wash out gravel in the road...of course these were mostly on or going into and out of curves...but damn...it was good!
I'm not real happy with the performance of the bike at this juncture, at any time the bike is running under 2k RPMs, she dogs. Real bad. As soon as she hits the magic 2 grand or above...it's like riding a rocket. Kinda sucks when that happens just before a curve or while whipping out of it. So once I get the 250 miles of suggested break in for the engine...she goes back in for the dyna tune...They will know about it then. Till that time, I will be aware of the "sling shot affect" and will react accordingly.
The pipes are another small disappointment. I didn't order the heat shields to go with em...it was an added expense, that while badly needed, were left for another time due to the expense of the total rebuild. In other words, they were something I wanted, but could live without...for now. I've learned to cock my boot away from the forward pipe while my foot is extended in the forward position, I have learned to make sure my leg is not resting near the pipe when the left leg is down at a stop...I have learned that I DO WANT HALF CHAPS! (I can get them for half the price of the heat shields!) But most of all, I learned that I really like heat shields.
Other than that, break in time was perfect. The weather was perfect for the new cylinders, pistons and rings...low 70's...so the heat of the day was not overwhelming for them. The roads, as I said earlier were empty, the rains had brought out the trees in fine young greens, or in their brilliant colors of whites, yellows, pinks, reds, and the rainbow of spring colors that simply make ya glad to be alive and experiencing it on a bike! The air was crisp and clean, and the aromas of the day were vibrant and bursting all around me! What an excellent day!
Gonna do it all again today....hoping to be done with the Garden of Good and Evil this morning...(That's what a friend of mine has decided to name the project I am building for my mom...a three tiered garden surrounding a 8x8 stone patio.) Today I add the cow shit to the soil I put in yesterday...and leave Mom to happily toil away at her new garden, adding tomato plants, potato's, onions, Cokes, and what ever else suits her...I'm very proud of the effort we (my man and I,) have made for Mom...it looks great, and she just loves it!
OK, done for the ride log now...I'll give more details of today's ride...tomorrow...maybe some pictures, that's if I don't get too eager to ride and take off without the camera again today!
Chessie
 Went to visit my bike yesterday at the shop. Seems I am sooo very bad on my engines. I had a top end done in '06 on this bike...it needs another one...new cylinders, pistons, lapped valves, new valve guide seals, the lifters were still good after all. (Have Jim's lifters in there...best thing I ever did...) The front wheel now sports the Metzler I so love...(and can afford, Avons are my first love...) The new speedo gear is installed...that is gonna be strange...knowing how fast I am going for sure...rather than a general acknowledgement by RPM's and gear I'm in. The carb has been rebuilt, the pipes are on order, as is the bracket that holds them on, the guy is gonna get me a "take off" to replace the mirror that has the stripped screw that holds the mirror in one place...whhhooo-hooo! oh...AND THE REAR BRAKE LIGHT SWITCH NOW WORKS!
Tech Report... As with everything...there is a good side and a bad side to good news.
I talked to Shannon today...good news! It was what I suspected at first...(see one of the previous blogs.) The lower end does not have any problems in it. Lifters good, cam bearings as it should be...)
The noise? Coming from a broken bracket...the one that attaches to the frame down near the cam case. The bracket was cracked...and broken. The pipes were rattling like a bitch...and not attached well to the frame..
I was gonna get new pipes anyway...cuz I need more horsepower...I have Hooker Straight Pipes on now. What we have to do is figure out how to bring my pipes up higher for a better leaning radius...and how to attach them...and where.
The push rods are leaking from the O-Rings...both of them. There is a leak in one of the base gaskets...yeah, I knew that already...I cracked them open about a year ago...they been seeping ever since.
So now, I have told him to go ahead and break the torque on the heads...and do what needs to be done to stem the flow of oil from there...we were gonna get into the rocker boxes anyway to replace the umbrella valves and to re-route the breather from the air filter...OK that's good.
That's the news so far...let y'all know what we find from here. I don't expect too much...the engine work was done by Barry Wardlaw...I still expect everything on the internals to be just as it should be. (Barry was not the one who allowed the base gaskets to leak the way they are...I know what happened there.) So...Looks like my laundry list is gonna get done...no skimping...everything will be a happy happening...yuppers...that's it.
At least it is for those of us south of the Mason Dixon Line!
Here in TN, we have been receiving tremendous amounts of rain, much more than last year at this time. That's a good thing for us. Last year, it was gray and dreary, but not enough rain to fill up our lakes for the summer. Maybe this year will be better? One can only hope!
I'm not really a big fan of spring rains...it's at this time of year, the warmer temps get me itching to ride...not because I have to, but because I can smell fresh life in the air...and I want to experience it all. The rains are cold, bitingly cold, and while the air temps say ride without a care...the rain makes the bones still creak. (I'm 52 and did little in my younger years to insure maximum bone contentment for my "senior" years.") Yesterday, was a beautiful day, I rolled the bike out from under the cover of the carport...changed out the license plate from Florida to TN...looked her over with a critical eye and decided I should do what someone recommended I do...listen to the engine cases and heads with a screwdriver to my ear...I wish (almost) that I had not. I would rather have gone on "thinking" the noises I had been hearing for the last 80 miles or so were from some kind of weld that had let loose in the exhaust pipes. No such luck. With this old fashioned listening device pressed against a bone behind my ear, I listened to the rockers. They sounded like a sewing machine...as they should...I listened to the jugs, nothing sounded amiss there. Then I placed the screwdriver down near the rear of the cam case on the right side...ouch...the noises I had been hearing...thinking it was a rattle type of vibration from the front exhaust pipe was indeed coming from the cam case...not the exhaust pipe. Talk about hopes dashed like a Spanish Gold ship being crushed beneath the pounding waves and driving wind of a category 3 hurricane in open water! My heart is wounded...very wounded. Fortunately, I am able to swim from the wreckage...I've saved all winter and I am able to get her to a good wrench to put her back to rights...but the disappointment is daunting to say the least. I am taking myself over to someone who comes highly recommended to me...I'm not from this area, haven't needed a mechanic who was familiar not only with HD...but with the different animal that is the Sportster. Just cuz a guy is really good with the big V-Twin, don't make him good with the internal parts of a Sportster. The animal is not the same. Besides that, I have run across many a wrench who detested working on Sportsters...and the work showed it. My contact tells me this guy is proud of all the work he puts out...and not to worry about his character when it comes to R&R work in my cam case. I have complete faith in his recommendation, so I will seek this warrior of the V-Twin combustion engine out...and pray he will take my bike on Monday...and return her to me in good time! I've noticed the daffodils are out now...the tulips have poked their greenery out of the ground...the creek in my back yard has risen by almost two feet, and the days are not only getting a tad warmer, but a tweaking bit longer too! Soon the mountains will be in their budding stages...and the aromas of spring will be all around me...and I want to experience the mountains in this state...not from the car window, but from behind the lenses of my sunglasses! I'm ready for spring...but the old girl who is my constant companion is not...she needs so much attention...May the warrior surgeon who opens her up...have his ears, fingers, and knowledge given to him as a gift from God...that my girl will be home again and ready to roll the open roads of the hilly South East! OK...done for now. Guess I will get outta here and go count my change...
Chessie
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