| Author | Message | ||
     86129squids |
Heaps of heebie-jeebies from that Wiki article, thanks Matthew.  | ||
| Tootal |
John, don't be afraid of the brick. I had one for many years and it was dependable as a brick! Great on long sweepers but a little work in the tight twisties. It's a long bike so direction changes are not as quick but they are smooth. I cruised through the pan handle of Texas at 120 mph for 20 minutes before I realized I was still in 4th gear! If you need to go long distances quickly it truly is an Autobahn Burner! | ||
| Crusty |
The Iron Motor I not only send these Snippets out to friends via e-mail, I post them on three different forums. I’ve had a number of people asking why I don’t just get the Sportster running and ride that, instead of buying another bike. There are a few reasons, and I’ll try to explain them here. First, I suggest you go back and take a close look at the pictures I posted when I first picked up the bike. It was a rusted, corroded hulk. I spent weeks using WD 40 and a wire wheel removing the rust from surfaces. Basically, everything that had been polished or chromed was rusted or corroded. There was sand inside the Primary Cover, which had obviously been sitting out in the elements. There was so much sand that I had to use a pressure washer to get most of it out. it was fused and encrusted to the aluminum of the cover, and there is still probably some still in there. Also, there was rust on the starter ring gear and primary chain. The brake lines were disconnected from the master cylinders, and the Reservoirs were full of rusty looking gel that was (I think) once brake fluid (DOT 5, of course). The Drive chain is rusted so bad that I was amazed that the bike would even roll. The fork legs were rusted so bad that once the rust was removed, they look like a rolled up topographical map of the surface of the Moon, and the rear shocks are complete junk. If there’s any fluid in them, it will be outside as soon as the bike goes on a shake down run. Along with the bike, I’d gotten a few conflicting stories about what problems the bike had that caused it to be parked. I heard that it was impossible to get the clutch adjusted. I heard that the generator was bad and it wouldn’t charge the battery and I heard that the starter was bad. Now, you have to understand that I built this bike from a rolling basket case to be a beautiful traveling bike. I took my time over a year and a half and created my vision of what constituted a beautiful and functional Roadster. I’m going to restore it. It won’t get done on this trip. it needs too much. I could spend the money on it that I’m going to spend on another bike, but it still wouldn’t be trustworthy for any distance, and it wouldn’t be done. Plus, finding parts for a 37 year old Harley in Australia is not like finding parts in the U.S. And even in the States, finding parts for a ’79 is difficult. There are a lot of one year only items. I can buy parts on eBay, but shipping will cost more than the price of the parts themselves. Fork legs that cost $119 to buy were $140 to ship. The same holds true for most other items. I plan to gradually buy all the pieces I need over the summer (in the US), then, when I come back to Australia next year, I’ll just bring an extra suitcase. The price of an extra bag will be a lot less than the price of shipping individual parts. The bikes I’m looking at buying are all in good shape. I don’t consider 75 to 100 thousand Kilometers to be high mileage if the bike has been maintained properly. I have no transportation of my own here (yes, I can borrow the car, but I can’t just decide to take it on a trip to, say, Ayers Rock) Even if I spent all my savings and my entire monthly check on the Iron Motor, it wouldn’t be ready to just up and go. Plus, it would still be but a shadow of it’s former self. I want her to be the bike I dreamed of back in the mid ‘90s when I built her. One other thing that factors in is that Melia doesn’t have a bike, either. She had to sell her Softail a few years back, and has been bikeless for a good while. She’ll be able to ride whatever I get when I’m not riding it. The Iron Motor will live; it’s just going to take a good bit of time and a lot of money. When I’m done, however, she’ll be absolutely gorgeous, and will be what I think a Touring Iron Motor Sportster should be.} | ||
| Pwnzor |
The man has a plan! Stay the course, do it your way... we'll be watching. | ||
| Crusty |
Musings It’s warm. At 5:00 AM, I’m sitting here drinking my first coffee of the day in a T shirt and I’m comfortable. I’ve found the Endless Summer. So why do I want to move on? I’m feeling the Urge pretty strongly this morning. It’s probably a good thing that bandwidth is so restricted right now. If I listened to Tom Rush, it might push me over the edge. Then again, if it wasn’t such a pain in the butt, I’d probably be looking at Expedia and other cheap air fare sites to see prices and that might be enough to push me over the edge. I have reasons to not go yet. The race is next week, and I haven’t seen Ron yet. Well; not seeing Ron might be part of why I want to go. He hasn’t been here since I arrived. I was talking to him on the phone one night, and suggested that I might come visit him up in Guadalcanal, and he was doing his best to talk me out of going. I’m starting to get the feeling that he doesn’t want to see me.I’ve become very sensitive about overstaying my welcome, and if I’m not welcome, then I’m happy to move on. Maybe I should think about where I want to settle down? Back to Fitchburg is at the top of my list, even though I hate winter. I have friends there. Western Colorado has the climate I prefer, though. Then again, Cincinnati has cheap rent and friendly people. Sometimes, I really feel like I should just park and settle. Then again, I get restless pretty easy, and want to see what’s over the Horizon one more time. In any event, I’ve got the Itch. Hawaii would be interesting. I could rent a Sportster, then I could chalk off state # 49. I could also go to Pearl Harbor and visit the USS Arizona Memorial. That would be a worthwhile thing to do. On my first trip to Australia, the 747 I was on had to stop in Fiji and take on fuel. They wouldn’t let any passengers off the plane, and they even refueled at the edge of the airport away from any buildings. I wonder what Fiji looks like? It looked pretty green from my seat on the plane. When I was Logging, one of the Woods Crew talked about going to Tahiti to get work. he was going to get away from the cold Northwest. It was just talk, I think; but what is Tahiti like? Is it really a Magical Place? I wonder if you can rent a motorcycle there? Hmmm; something to investigate, maybe. (excuse me while I make another cup of coffee) I think what started this urge was the chest pain I felt yesterday. It wasn’t much; I think it was just my stomach, but any chest pain is a red light for me. I’ve had major heart surgery and my oldest friend died of heart trouble. If I’m going to go, I want to have seen as much as I can. Hunter Thompson put it succinctly, ”It’s better to be shot from a cannon than to be squeezed from a tube”. I won’t eat a 12 gauge like he did, but I also don’t want to just sit and wait to die. There’s an entire Planet out there, and I’ve only seen a very small part of it. I hope I get to see lots more. | ||
| Zac4mac |
I saw Fiji from a Navy Gator Freighter as we left Singapore in 1981. 50 or 60 miles away we saw the top.. lush green. I'd love to skin/SCUBA there someday.. Z | ||
| Alfau |
Don't forget the $1000 Au limit before you start paying import duty on any parts you want to carry through customs into Oz, and they are talking about lowering that. Keep your purchase receipts for proof of value when you return. That old bike is worth a fair bit of money here, unless you are planning to use it for a head stone, I'd sell it and use the money more wisely. You could buy a bike that will get you there and go curl up under a tree by a billabong and sing Once a jolly swag-man. Or, NZ is close and extremely Beautiful and for a bike rider the twisty roads are to die for. Most Kiwis come to Oz only for the work. You can't eat scenery they say. http://www.southlandnz.com/ | ||
| Alfau |
http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-view-details.html?adId =1100262105 low k'S See photo of speedo pH# IS 0403067058 RWC is $50 Can Register for 3 months about $150? | ||
| Greg_e |
I have a feeling that the Sporty is now more about the journey to greatness than about just having a cycle to ride. The journey is fixing it, then the epic ride comes later. It's all part of the bigger story, and the stories should almost always start with the sweat and tears of rebuilding, it makes the journey that much more magnificent. I'm working on my own with my Ultra Classic, but it isn't much of a story so I'm not really telling it. | ||
| Buellish |
Zen and the art of Iron Motor maintenance. | ||
| Crusty |
Am I a Luddite? The term has since developed a secondary meaning: a "Luddite" is one opposed to industrialisation, automation, computerisation or new technologies in general… More recently, the term Neo-Luddism has emerged to describe opposition to many forms of technology.[27] According to a manifesto drawn up by the Second Luddite Congress (April 1996; Barnesville, Ohio), Neo-Luddism is "a leaderless movement of passive resistance to consumerism and the increasingly bizarre and frightening technologies of the Computer Age." - from Wikipedia I’m sitting here this morning contemplating new laptops. I’d like to get something smaller and lighter and easier to pack on a bike. But if I do, then I’ll probably have to keep all my files somewhere in the Cloud. I don’t hate Technology , but I don’t trust people (Corporations are People, too. Just ask any politician who’s had contributions from them). Everything can be twisted so that somebody will make a buck. The cartoon, Porky In Wackyland is no longer available for viewing on Youtube. Copyright infringement, or something. You can download all the songs you want onto your iPod for a buck apiece, but if your iPod dies, and you have to get another, then you have to buy them all over again. CDs are getting harder to find. DVDs are going the same way. I used to get my e-mail at a Verizon.com address. Now that I no longer have Verizon, I can’t even see old saved messages. Anyway, if I get a new laptop, I want to get one that I can play movies and music on. I like having my own stash of music and videos. So; back to the Cloud. I don’t trust it. how long will it be before I have to pay to see my old Snippets? If I want to hear Forever Changes again, or if I want to watch Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times how much will it cost me? I guess I’m a Neo - Luddite. I enjoy some technological advances, but I’m kind of paranoid about where they’re taking all of us. Maybe I’m just Anti-Consumeristic? Oh; none of the above has anything to do with being in Australia, per se. It’s just where my head is at this morning. BTW, it’s another Fabulous morning. Temps are currently around 21ºC (70º F) and heading for around 34º C (90º F) today. Melia has taken Tylana and Juniper off to a Great Dane gathering on a beach. Since I’m not enamored with slobbering, clumsy large canines, I’ve elected to stay here with the “little” Rottweiler, Titan; who’s still recovering from being Neutered. Poor bastard. | ||
| Crusty |
Why the posts had to be replaced:  The view from the road on Balaam Hill:  | ||
| Buellish |
This is for you John...... "Taking a trip?" "Sorta." "Man, I wish I was you." "Well, hang in there." Going down that long lonesome highway Bound for the mountains and the plains Sure ain't nothing here gonna tie me And I got some friends I'd like to see One of these days I'm gonna settle down But till I do I won't be hanging round Going down that long lonesome highway Gonna live life my way (Message edited by buellish on January 09, 2016) | ||
| Crusty |
The Grass Is Always Greener I wrote a Snippet a couple of days ago, and got this in return: And it's the musings like this that make me feel I've been wasting my life away. I'm envious, and nervous for you at the same time. Enjoy what life is handing you, for you never know when the debt must be paid, and there will be no more. What’s striking to me is that I got it from someone who has his own business, doing what he enjoys and is in a stable, loving relationship (they’ve been together for over 20 years). Now, the way I see things is that I’m a Tramp who has no home, has failed in all my romantic relationships and I can only chase around the World to find Purpose. I would love to settle down find a woman who loves me and live comfortably ever after, but I don’t believe it’ll ever happen. Plus, I don’t think I will ever let anyone get that close to me ever again. I’ve been hurt too deeply too many times. I am living exactly the life I want to live. While it would be nice to have a bit more money, I’m able to (sometimes barely) get by. The only way I’ll ever have money is if I win the Lottery. Even then, I’d just spend my winnings on Family and friends. Still, I’m pretty amazed at how many people enjoy reading my little Snippets. While they’ve got the stability I wish I could have, I’ve given into my Wanderlust, and they get to live vicariously through my prattling. To put it in very simple terms, I’m jealous of what they have, and they’re jealous of what I’ve got. When I write my Snippets, I try to accentuate the positives and minimize the negatives. That’s kind of the way I like to look at life. I really like to see the glass as half full. There are lots of negatives in life. I’d rather see the good. (If I really want to feel bad, all I have to do is look at a newspaper or go online to the main page of MSN.com.) There are a lot of good things happening out there, it’s a shame they’re not newsworthy. Anyway, to get back to my subject, I try to show the good and interesting things I’m experiencing. I don’t want to wallow in the things that aren’t going the way I’d like them to. No matter how dark the situation is, there’s always something good that I can focus on. I’m not saying that I ignore the bad things, I’m saying that I’d rather find something positive and look in that direction. For example, when it was hot and humid and the bugs were thick in Florida, and I had to retreat to my tent to keep from being eaten alive, I could look at the fact that I wasn’t freezing to keep it in perspective. I could also admire the great design and construction of my Marine Corps surplus tent. (Best tent I’ve ever owned!) There is a price to pay for being a Tramp. I’m trying to show the positive side of living on the road. Nobody but the most miserable nay-sayer would read my Snippets if all I did was whine and complain about the difficulties. There’s a whole exciting World out there; I’m trying to show the neatest parts of it as I see them. | ||
| 86129squids |
"A rolling stone gathers no moss." Sometimes the best life truly comes from breathing with one's eye's open, silent and still... and others, WFO, eyes tearing, mouth gaping, flinching like a fly dodging the swatter, trying to keep the rubber on the road and knees in the breeze, aiming to catch a friend or two whose taillight's ahead of you. | ||
| Alfau |
Why not piss it up the wall as we say here? https://youtu.be/0btt1PO2c94 | ||
| Alfau |
The Australian vernacular can sometimes need explaining. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/piss_money_up_the_w all | ||
| Crusty |
Changes in Attitudes Sometimes I change and don’t even notice it until one day I do something completely different from the way I used to do it. Sometimes, I’ll discover that I like something that I previously hated. I’ve noticed that especially in songs over the years. Back in 1977, Heart made their appearance on the music scene and their song, Magic Man was being played on the radio quite a bit. I hated it. then suddenly, for no apparent reason, I liked it a lot. I don’t know why my opinion changed, but it definitely did. My changes in likes and dislikes haven’t been confined to only music; there are foods that I once loved that I now dislike and vice versa. For many years, I did not like cauliflower. now I enjoy it. I used to passionately love Egg Nog now, while I don’t hate it, I can only enjoy about one glass per Christmas season. I was talking to Melia, and she was telling me that Ron really enjoys having chickens, and he likes eggs for breakfast. 30 years ago, Ron had nothing good to say about chickens and wouldn’t touch eggs. He’d spent some time on a Chicken Farm while growing up, and hated everything about those birds. I remember driving around for miles so Ron could find something to eat for breakfast that didn’t involve eggs in one form or another. When I grew up, we always had dogs around the house. Mostly beagles, but also a German Shepherd and various hounds. I liked dogs. When I was grown, I had a few different dogs of my own, and enjoyed having them. At the same time, I wasn’t into cats. I didn’t hate cats, but they did nothing for me. Now, I’m finding that I prefer cats to dogs. I don’t hate dogs, but I don’t feel the same way about them that I used to. I’m also finding that I don’t feel the same way about motorcycles as I did back in the early ‘70s. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, I preferred British bikes. I had a plethora of Britbikes. BSA, Triumph, Matchless, Norton, I had many, and I loved them for their handling. Them I got a Moto Guzzi V7 Sport, and I learned to love having both handling and reliability. I went from Guzzis to a Harley Superglide in the early ‘80s. It was down a bit on horsepower and it didn’t handle very well, but it sure felt good. I went from the Superglide to a Sportster to an FLHS, and loved each of them in their turn. By the mid ‘90s, I was pretty burned out on big, heavy bikes, but I didn’t know what I wanted for a new bike. Then I rode an S2-T Buell in 1996 and fell in love. It took a while to come up with the money to buy one, and by the time I had the cash, the S2 had been replaced by the S3; so I bought a nice, new S3-T in 1998. That began my love affair with Buells. I owned four of my own, and inspired a number of people to buy them. I became a true believer. However, that jackass, Wandell killed Buell. (wasn’t he also at the helm when H-D bought Cagiva for something like $109 million, then sold it back for a buck? Boy, they sure picked a winner for a CEO, didn’t they?) Anyway, I got away from Buells. I’d been wanting a Sport-Tourer for a while, and when Guzzi came out with the Norge, I fell in love with it. But I’d been spoiled. The suspension was lacking (on an Italian bike!). The bike was heavy and tall. It was beautiful and sexy in appearance, but it didn’t feel as good as it looked. Sometimes, you change, but after a while, you change back. My oldest friend Bill was a Sportster fanatic. In his opinion all motorcycle evolution peaked with the 1985 Sportster. He and I had been talking about riding across the US on Sportsters when he died unexpectedly. A year after he passed, I hit the road on a 2005 XL1200R, and I’ve been traveling since. I find that I’m becoming a bigger fan of the Sportster than I previously was. I’ve owned a few over the years, but the more I ride one, the more I’m liking them. With a few modifications (like better suspension), I think I might be onto something something really good. Then again, my attitude might just change again, and I might just fall in love with a Honda Pacific Coast. Um, no. I might change some, but not that much. | ||
| Alfau |
Bike auction. Check out the others also. https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/23131/lot/140/ | ||
| Crusty |
I’m a Slob I try to be a neat freak. I fold my laundry, I dispose of my trash properly, I recycle whenever possible, I even fold my dirty laundry (but that’s so it’ll fit in my bags without causing problems). At home, I wash my dishes immediately after I eat. So why is it that whenever I change my motor oil at somebody’s house, I manage to spill some on the concrete and leave a stain? When I changed my oil at Susan’s house in Montrose, I had a bad oil filter and it peed a bunch of oil all over her brand new garage floor. I bought a couple of different chemicals that were supposed to remove the oil, but in spite of scrubbing with a push broom, the stain remained. I also left a stain on the concrete entrance to my brother David’s garage when I changed the oil there. (I went to a quarter car wash to change the filter. I figured that nobody would notice any stains if I made any, plus, I could clean the bike immediately after I changed the filter) However, when I changed the oil in Florida at a Wally World in the parking lot, I didn’t spill a drop. Go figure. I just changed the oil in the Suzuki Swift. I was careful and all of the oil that fell was into a drain pan. Unfortunately, the drain pan was cracked and it left a nice Africa shaped stain on the concrete apron leading into the shed. I feel like a complete slob. However, the car is now ready to go to Taree this weekend. It has fresh oil, a new oil filter and a new air filter. It should be happy. Oh boy! I’m starting to get psyched! We’re going to see the Troy Bayliss Classic. It’ll be me, Melia, Tylana and Coby. Coby has the little Yamaha dirt bike that he bought from Jeremy Burgess. He has Anthony West’s racing number on the plates, and Ant West is going to be racing. I think Coby’ll be excited. I know I will be. It’s funny; an Adult ticket is $35.00. A Family ticket which includes two adults and two kids (age 15 and under) is $80.00. So even if it’s two adults and just one kid, it’s cheaper to buy a Family ticket. Here’s a secret; Even if there was no discount, I’d gladly pay the full amount. This is going to be Fun! | ||
| Crusty |
What Am I Doing? I’m running out of ideas of what to write about. Every time I think I should take a break from writing these Snippets, somebody tells me how much they enjoy them. This morning, I’m wracking my brain trying to come up with something to write about. Yesterday, it was hot. It got pretty close to 38º C (100º F). We went into town early and got an air filter for the weed whacker and bought a couple of steaks for dinner. I laid out in the sun for an hour or so during the afternoon, fixed dinner (Melia cooked the steaks, I made fried Potatoes and I also fried an onion in butter) then I watched The Flash on the idiot box. (Some shows from the US are available here). It’s nothing really worth writing about. We’ll be heading out for the race tomorrow. We’re going to drive down to Ocean Shores and stay at Kristyn’s tomorrow night. Then get up early and drive down to Taree for the race. There’s a shop in Mullumbimby (the next town over) that sells pretty decent Ravioli. I strongly suspect that I’m going to be cooking that for dinner for everyone. Maybe I should throw a curve ball at them and fix spaghetti and Meatballs? We’ll see. I’ve never been to a major Motorcycle Race in Australia. When I was here in 1994, I was going to go to the Moto GP race, but I returned to the US before it took place. Then in 1997, Ron, Melia and I were going to see the World Superbike races at Phillips Island, but we got held up a couple of days and made a late start and were hundreds of miles away by race day, so we didn’t get to see them. (We did make it to the National HOG Rally in Tasmania on time, though; which was out main objective.) I don’t expect the Troy Bayliss Classic to be quite on the order of either a Moto GP or WSBK event; For that matter, I don’t expect it to be of Springfield Mile caliber, either. If it can be as good as one of the lesser known Half Mile Nationals, I’ll be impressed. The racing should be good. There are some really fast racers that will be on the track. According to the press release, Champions from five different Disciplines of motorcycle racing. We’ll see soon enough. There are a lot of wasps here. They’re Mud Wasps, and they build their little nests everywhere. They don’t bite or sting, though. It took me a little while to get used to them (I was bitten on the back of the neck by a wasp when I was a kid, and have been paranoid about them ever since). They grow pretty big, for wasps, but since they don’t bite, they’re harmless. I’m learning to ignore them, but it’s a slow process. Today, I’m going to do my Laundry and pack for the weekend. I was hoping to be able to spend a couple of days down at the beach, but we’ll have to be back by Monday morning at the latest. Animals have to be fed and watered. Oh, well; there will be many other opportunities to go to the beach. | ||
| Buellish |
Did I mention how much I like to read your Snippets?I just don't remember if I mentioned it before,well I do. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Yes, no matter how mundane they might seem to you, the snippets are appreciated. I'm not allowed in Australia, so I doubt I'll ever get to see it. | ||
| Alfau |
I'm not allowed in Australia tell us about it? | ||
| Pwnzor |
It's pretty common knowledge on BadWeB that I'm a felon. I don't hide it, and I use my experience in these matters to educate others about the pitfalls of "easy money". I'm about to go through the process of having my passport returned to me so I can travel in 2017. At that time, I will go to the Australian Consulate and see if there is anything that can be done so I can be allowed to visit the land of kangaroos. Canada too. | ||
| 86129squids |
Good on ya, buddy... if you get to roll through Canada, it's a dang beautiful country. Went to Toronto years ago for Spring Break with a girlfriend, driving my 280Z- everyone else I knew was on the beach, we were watching the snow fall. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I used to drive all the way across the southern parts of Canada about 3 to 4 times per year... which is part of the reason I'm a felon now.  Easy money, like I said. I'm just lucky some local cop basically tripped over my untied shoelaces in California and they never really put the whole thing together. | ||
| Fb1 |
Crusty, guess what I just noticed in my Spring 1999 issue of BRAG's "The Road Ahead"?  You!   You haven't changed a bit!   | ||
| 86129squids |
How cool is that! | ||
| 1313 |
How cool is that! Cooler than that snow in the background of the Sporty pic, if you ask me... Damn cool! 1313 |
