Snippets

[ChinCactus]

My younger brother ate 3 day old pizza that sat out on the counter. Kid has a cast iron stomach!

[Steve9]

Sounds good! (pizzax3)

[Crusty]

On A Foggy Wednesday


A friend has bought a chain conversion kit for me to put on the Gentleman’s Express when I head out for the Arctic this June. I tend to prefer Belt drive over Chain drive, but I’ll be riding over dirt roads for more than 1,000 miles. Chains can take that kind of abuse better than a belt can, and when I get back home, I’ll switch back.

The Trip to Tuktoyaktuk is becoming more real to me. It feels the same way that my hitting the road in 2015 felt before I did that. The whole winter before, I knew I was going to go, in spite of the many obstacles that I had to overcome. I have that same amount of positive attitude toward the trip. This is the year it’s going to happen.

I wrote that I had tried to get away from the expense of eating BLTs for breakfast by buying “Breakfast Sandwich Size” sausage patties. This morning, I decided to try an SLT for breakfast. The only difference between my usual BLT and the SLT (besides the meat) was that I put a slice of sharp White Cheddar on the patty. It wasn’t bad; but it isn’t in the same league as a BLT. Still; I have the patties and I’m a cheap bastard, so I have to use them up. I won’t throw away perfectly good food just because it isn’t as tasty as I would prefer. I’ll alternate between a BLT and some sort of sausage sandwich for the next week. Then; I hope that Wright’s bacon is on sale again. If it isn’t, then my breakfast will be a little more expensive. Just like almost everything else. Ain’t inflation grand?

It’s foggy again this morning. It was really foggy yesterday morning. I couldn't see three houses up the side street. When I was down in the garage putting handguards on the Express, I opened the outside door and the fog was a very light mist. That mist turned into a real deluge last night, but I think the rain is over for today. It’s warm, but with a dark overcast. I looked at the daily forecast for the next two weeks and I don’t think we’ll be getting much sun. On the days when it may show through the overcast, the temps are supposed to drop 20º F or more. Oh well; it’s Winter. There was snow in the forecast for a couple of days, so maybe we’ll have a White Christmas. Then again; if snow’s in the forecast, it’ll probably be sunny and 85º. I wouldn’t complain if that was the case.

I talked with Melia yesterday. It was 38º C (100.4º F) there. She was going to go to the University of Queensland Pool to cool off. That pool is the absolute nicest pool that I have ever gone swimming in. I would love to swim there again. She e-mailed me this morning that at the pool, the temp was 42º C (107.6º F). She said that temp’s too hot. I agree, but I bet the pool was as nice as I remember. I miss my Australian family and the pool, the Steak sandwiches in Fernvale with the Lorikeets and many other things. If I could afford it, I’d go back for another visit. Well; maybe in another couple of years. Christmas at summer temps is a very nice thing.

Well; I need to get a start on my day.

[Crusty]

Breaking In The Express


In a little while, I’m going to ride over to Blue Ash; another suburb of Cincinnati. The Post office there is open on Sunday from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM and I have a package to mail. I’ve mapped out a route that will avoid highways. While I’m out, I’ll hit a couple of other places to pick up some small items. In all; I’ll be out for a couple of hours.

I could make the trip in half the time if I took the Interstate, but the engine only has 250 miles on it since the rebuild and I want to keep RPMs reasonably low and varied. It’s going to be a brisk ride; the temp will only be in the low 40s F (5 - 6 C), but I won’t have to worry about the engine overheating.

I guess I should wire in the harness for the heated jacket liner. I’ve been able to not use it, but the daily temps are dropping and I’ll be wanting it pretty soon. I also should put the windshield on. It helps a lot in cold weather and it is quite a help when traveling. I just prefer a motorcycle without a windshield as a general rule. Still; the windshield is quickly attachable and detachable. I did put handguards on the other day. They’re a cheap pair that I got From China! a few years ago for very short money, but have never used. I liked the hand guards that were on my Buell Ulysses, and I think these’ll be a welcome addition to the bike. I was thinking about maybe getting some heated grips, but they’re all too thick and too expensive. As soon as it’s for a Harley, the price triples. I also prefer a smaller diameter grip.

After I went down on the Roadster a few years ago, I replaced the mustache bar with one that wasn’t bent. The bent bar wasn’t very bent, though, so I put it on the Cussed’em. I had the straight bar powder coated, along with the windshield pieces and I was going to put it back on the Express. Lately though, I’ve been thinking that I should get a real crash bar. The chances of me going down are much higher as I’m going to be traveling on dirt roads and I think a full crash bar would be more protective. I haven’t come to a decision, but it’s definitely something to think about.

I just looked on Google and the current Temperature in Tuktoyaktuk is -12º F (-24º C). It's supposed to be around 52º F (11º C) in June. I hope they’re having an unusually hot June when I’m up there. Having said that, it’ll probably be running way below average. I have a way of jinxing myself when I say things like that. I’m not even going to mention precipitation.

Well; the Postal Orifice is open; I’d better get ready and head over that way.

[Andy56]

What handguards have you fitted please?

[Crusty]

And The Sky Is…


… A hazy shade of Winter. It’s grey and overcast and the temperature is 34º F (1º C). That’s as warm as it’s going to get today. I should be grateful; Weather Underground is calling for snow showers, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Another reason I should be grateful is because next Friday, the forecast high temp is 11º F (-12º C). I should enjoy the good things while they’re here. 34º is a good thing; compared to 11º. It’s going to warm up to 22º F on Christmas Day. I really wish I was in Australia, getting ready to go swimming in the pool at the U of Queensland.

I’ve been putting in easy miles on the Express. Each time I take it out, I try to put 50 miles or more on it. In another 150 miles or so, I’ll be able to gradually start increasing the RPM and giving it more throttle before I shift. I’m already easing things up a bit. I took it out on the Interstate for 3 whole miles on Thursday. I kept the speed down to 70 MPH. The bike wanted to go faster; I could feel it. But I’m being careful; I want this engine to last a long time.

While I was on the Interstate, I was thinking that it would be easier if I had a tach. Then it hit me. I could swap the ECM, TSM and Speedos from both bikes. That would leave the Cussed’em without a tach; but I’m used to not having one on it and I’ve wanted a tach on the Express all along. It’s a PITA to pull the TSM, especially twice (once for each bike) and it’s a royal PITA to plug in the connector, once it’s reinstalled, but it’s a way that would get me a tach on the Express.

My hesitation to make the swap is rooted in a few different things. The biggest is that once I start the job, I’ll have no transportation until it’s done. I was thinking that I can wait until the temps plummet this week; but then it’ll be so cold in the garage that even a brass monkey would avoid it. Plus, it’s the week before Christmas. I’ll be running errands almost every day. I’ll probably do it right after Christmas. I think I’ll be using the Cussed’em for errands until the weather warms up enough to be out on the bike for at least an hour. Something that just occurred to me is that since I’ll have the batteries out of the bikes when I swap the TSMs, I’ll hook up the wiring for the electric jacket liner at that time.

To be honest; I’m tired of working on bikes for the present. I just want to enjoy riding them for a while. However; I know how my dysfunctional mind works. I’ll tell myself that I don’t want to work on the bike while I assemble the tools for the job and start doing the work and even while I wrap things up. I’ll get the job done in spite of myself. I’m not sure if that’s a character defect or an attribute, but it’s definitely me.

The Christmas gifts I was hoping to send to people are scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. That may be in time for everyone to get them before Christmas. I sure hope so.

I’ve had a strong resistance to writing, this past week. I don’t know if this is a trend, or if I’ll write another Snippet before Christmas. If I don’t write this week, then I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Oh; the scattered Snow Showers are here. Fortunately, it's just flurries.

I hate Winter.

[Crusty]

Killing Time


It’s the week before Christmas and I need to do a lot of running around before the holiday. Today is just an example of what I hope to accomplish.

I’m stalling a bit before I head out. I’m hoping that the temp will be up to 30º F (-1º C) shortly. I’m getting soft in my old age. Now, I don’t feel like riding when it’s below freezing. I will; but I’d rather it was at least above 30º. Today’s supposed to be nearly identical to yesterday. I was out & about yesterday and it wasn’t that bad. I need to hit the Post Office, then ride over to Whole Foods to pick up some coffee. After that, I need to hit Meijer (a Supermarket/Dept. store. Think Walmart, only a bit nicer) to get a Rib Roast, a cake mix and frosting.

I don’t know why; but I have a real desire to bake a Prime Rib Roast for Christmas dinner. I plan to fix a cake as well. I’ve never done either and I really want to do both of those things this year. Hey; a couple of years ago, I fixed a good Blueberry Pie and I’d never done that before, so I think I can do a roast and a cake.

Besides the roast and cake, I’ll fix the Italian Green Bean skillet casserole, mashed potatoes, gravy, and biscuits (Flaky Layers, not traditional). The cake will go really well with the freshly ground coffee I’ll be buying at Whole Foods. A friend suggested I get some Vanilla Ice Cream to go with the cake. I haven’t decided for certain, yet.

I’m going to try and lose some weight after Christmas. I haven’t had good luck doing that lately, but I think I can drop a good 10 to 15 pounds this time. I want to fit into my riding gear more comfortably when I head out for Tuk in June. That should be motivating enough.

If tomorrow goes as I hope, I’ll be pretty busy as well. I need to get everything accomplished early in the week because we may be getting hit with a major snow storm, followed by a serious drop in temperature and winds as high as 60 MPH on Thursday night and Friday. The temp at Sunrise is forecast to be -1º F (-18.3º C) on Saturday with a high of 11º F (-11.6º C). Folks up along the Canadian border can laugh if they want, but that’s too cold for Cincinnati, in my book.

One thing’s for certain; I won’t be out joy riding the Gentleman’s Express this weekend.

Well; yesterday, when I was out, I realized that the cold wasn’t as hard to take as I had expected. I hope that realization hits me again, today.

Have a Wonderful Christmas!

[BKB]

Merry Christmas, John. Stay warm, eat well & may God bless you & your weight loss.

[sportsterpaul]

John, wishing you a healthy and happy holiday season. Cold weather riding, yup, been there done that. No longer at -20F as arthritis is kicking my sorry ass. Seems that 0F-10F are my new limits. It helps to have a warm heart!!

[Steve9]

Prime rib is easy-and addictng