| Author | Message | ||
     Etennuly |
and still have to do the work yourself. Your brother may need corrected there. With all things considered in what you are doing, it is more that you WANT to do the work yourself. It works that way for me too. As far as HF for some tools, sometimes you need a simple tool to do the job for those "once in a while" things. I have their POS tire machine and matching motorcycle tire machine, I use a No Mar bar with it. I get good results with no 50 mile round trip to town, wait for the tire change, or double trip, and spend that $75.00 to have someone else do it with a better than 50% chance of screwing things up, possibly facilitating another 50 mile round trip. If I did tires for a living I would have to pony up to the good stuff because you cannot risk a failure in mid job with customers on hand , and you just cannot work these machines hard and fast. I may not be proud of my tire machine, but I am glad to have it.  | ||
| Pwnzor |
John, I have the same HF wheel stand. I found it to be of good quality, and I adapted it into the back of my van so when I roll a bike in there, I can let go of it while I strap it down. I pulled it out of the van when I sold it, and it rests in the garage waiting for it's next job. You did well with that purchase. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
I have had the HF Motorcycle Tire Changer for over 8 years. Changed many a tire... my bikes and a few friends too. The Jeep top hoist came in handy for the Green Machine tire change.  | ||
| Buellish |
I have the HF wheel chock mounted on my trailer and their tire machine mounted on a 2x4 and plywood platform.They both work for me and are good value for the dollar. | ||
| Crusty |
Deja Vu All Over Again I’m sitting here eating cold pizza on a Thursday morning while writing a Snippet. It feels like I just did this last week. The pizza’s from the same place (The Chateau), and just like last week, Tammy bought it for me. She told me that she was buying it, and that I was going to accept it. Period. Now, I’m trying to figure out if she was trying to be nice to me, or if she was screwing with my head. Probably a little of both. The pizza is every bit as delicious, whatever her motivation. Actually, I think she was just making me realize that I have friends that care about me. That’s a really nice feeling. I’m thinking a bit about money this morning. I got my SS deposit yesterday. The first thing I did was write out a couple of checks for the procedures I had done . Medicare only covers a portion of them,and I’m responsible for the Co-pay. The next thing I did was figure out how much money I need to get through the month. (this month is a 5 week month). Then I threw the rest on the plastic. I want to get Capital One paid off as fast as I can; they’re raping me in interest charges. Next month, I’ll be able to throw a little more at them. Last Saturday was the 1/2 Mile in New York, and I couldn’t go. I sat in front of my laptop and watched it in real time, but it just isn’t the same as being there. Even so, it was a good race; the guy I didn’t want to see win didn’t win. But now I have the bug to go to Springfield for the Mile on Labor Day weekend. I’ve figured every way I can, but it would cost too much. I’ll just have to stay home and watch it on my laptop. Maybe I’ll get some thin cut Rib Eye steaks and make a couple of sandwiches and eat them while I’m watching the race. I also am thinking that maybe I should do my Vermont Ride sometime soon. It’s a two day ride that I usually take every summer. I head out to western Massachusetts and head north on Rt.8 into Vermont where I pick up Rt. 100. Rt. 100 runs north through the Green Mountain National Forest and the road is very twisty and has lots of changes in elevation. When I get to the town of Stowe, I take Rt. 108 over Smuggler’s Notch (I’ll probably camp at the State Campground there) then down into Enosburg Falls then Swanton to see the swans. From Swanton, it’s over the top of Lake Champlain and into New York state. I pick up Rt.22 and head south. Rt. 22 runs pretty much parallel with the VT/NY border, but it isn’t boring in the least. From Rt.22, my options are open. I can take it down to Rt.2 and go west into Troy and eat at the Dinosaur, or I could take Rt. 2 east over the Taconic Trail into Massachusetts. Or I could continue south until I reach US Rt.20 and take that back. It depends on my mood when I get there. If I do it right, it won’t cost a lot, and I’ll get a nice two day ride in. We’ll see how everything shakes out. | ||
| Crusty |
Flawless Weather The weather has been nearly perfect for the past couple of weeks and it’s supposed to stay magnificent for a while. Highs in the 80s (26 - 32º C) and only a couple of days where showers are possible. It’s perfect for this time of year, in my opinion. I’ve used the weather to put a nice spit shine on the Roadster. The bags and windshield are off, for the time being. They can go on in less than a minute, so that’s not a big deal. I just don’t need them on for local riding in sunny weather, which is all I’m doing right now. However, this perfect weather is really making me want to GO somewhere. I’ve decided to do the Vermont Ride, but I don’t have enough cash on hand right now. However, on the 1st, I get another couple of hundred bucks of unbudgeted cash, so I’ll take the ride after Labor Day. The weather is supposed to remain beautiful, according to the ten day forecast on Intellicast, and the maddening crowds will all be back home, so it should be a nice ride. I had the available cash to do this ride set aside when I got my SS money, but I had an inspiration on what to get my daughter for her birthday, and I spent the money on her gift. (I can’t say what it is because she gets these Snippets) Priorities, you know. I still have to find a welder to repair the cracked weld on my saddlebag mounts. Hopefully, I’ll find one soon. The shop that did the original welds won’t accept walk-ins, and they won’t return my calls. It’s pretty obvious that they don’t want my business and don’t stand behind their work. Well; I’m off to the Quarter Car Wash. I changed the oil on the Roadster, and some always dribbles down the crankcase when the old filter is removed. | ||
| Ourdee |
I'm g erring Lil Red out and riding to Indianapolis this morning. It's a little foggy but I should be out of it in about an hour. I hear ya on the credit card rape. As serious as you are on paying them off, you may look into a consolidation bank loan or an interest free debt transfer to a new card that you knock out before the interest kicks in. There is always the risk of using the new found credit limit though. Be careful of that slavery they let you sign up for. | ||
| Ourdee |
I made it to naptown. Not bad except for the road construction in town and people trying to reach me on my cell. I need to just go back to leaving it in the tail bag. | ||
| Crusty |
It’s Humid And I’m Cranky My headlight has been aimed too low ever since I got the bike. It’s also been pointing a bit to the right. It was so low that when I was alongside a car with its low beams on, my high beam reached almost as far as the car’s headlights. So, the other day, I got out a 3/4” inch socket and re adjusted it. Since I did the adjustment in the middle of the day, of course, I got it wrong. Last night, I learned how wrong. My low beam was reaching the tops of telephone poles and the high beam didn’t even light up the road. It sure did a nice job on the tree limbs over the road, though. So, I grabbed my ratchet and socket and went out to a dark street and now I think I’ve got it adjusted right. The thing about last night was that it was foggy. Not a heavy fog, but there was moisture in the air. This morning, the temperature was almost ideal; mid 70s (23-26º C) but my clothes were clinging to my skin. The humidity was right around 85%. To be fair, it dried out to a low of 54% by this afternoon, but it’s been climbing since. I’m not quite sweating, but I could start pretty easily. When it’s humid like it is, and I feel as sticky as I do, I start to get an attitude. I could tell the Pope to piss off. Numerous times on various jobs, I told my boss to chase after a rolling donut. And a couple of times I quit and walked off. To be fair, I was getting ready to quit anyhow, the humidity just helped to give me that extra little nudge. I should not make major decisions when the weather is humid. I’m on an E-mail list from a Realtor who mainly deals with cheap houses. Most of the houses I get listings for are real dumps. Windows that are boarded up and/or in bad neighborhoods. I got an e-mail this morning on a little house, and it piqued my interest. It looked pretty good. So I noted the address and did a ride by. It’s right on the edge of a good/bad neighborhood. The bad isn’t that bad. (I grew up in a bad neighborhood, so I can usually judge just how bad it is). It’s a small house with very little yard. There’s no place to build a garage. I’d have trouble putting a shed on the property. Still, it’s a house. Even with a 15 year mortgage, I could afford it. It was pretty much dominating my thoughts for most of the day. I really want a house. But, if I went for this one, I’d be settling for less. I swore that if I bought another house, it would have a garage. This house not only doesn’t have a garage, it doesn’t have room to build one. As good as it looks, I’m going to give it a miss. I have to get off my ass and find someone to weld the saddlebag mount that broke. Maybe I’ll do that tomorrow. It won’t take much; one bead about an inch long. I was going to take a night welding class at the local trade school, but I can’t afford the cost this semester. Maybe by next semester, I’ll be able to do it. This Sunday’s the Springfield Mile. I’m going to get a couple of thin cut Rib Eye steaks and eat Rib Eye sandwiches while watching the race on my laptop. I hope anybody other than Smith wins. I really don’t care for him. I have my reasons, but I won’t go into them right now. Next week, I’m going to do my Vermont ride. This keeping a low profile may be good for paying down my debt, but it sure can get boring. | ||
| 04xl1200c |
Crusty, not sure how this would work up there where you are, but around here if you took that bracket by a local community college you could get it welded up. Good instructors are usually very helpful in getting small jobs done to give the students more experience. The instructor might even do it their-self to help sell you on taking that course. | ||
| Tootal |
 That's a good idea. I remember back in high school machine shop, we would do jobs for outside folks once in a while. I remember when we cut triple lead threads on some lug studs for a car. They used it for pit stop competition. They had to change tires and make one lap as fast as possible. With triple lead threads the lug nuts went on really fast! Oh, we made the nuts too. Pretty cool job for high school! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Gotta stand the bike up straight, and point the headlight at a wall so you can see where the beam is going. Hold out for the garage, sir. The right place will appear in front of you when the time is right. | ||
| Froggy |
If only you had a device that would hold a bike upright while you adjusted the headlight  | ||
| Two_seasons |
You have to mark a line on a wall so far up, can't remember the instructions (at work now), but it's in the service manual. Then you put your bike, upright, 25 ft. back from the wall and adjust the low-beam headlight to the marked line you made on the wall. Works great! | ||
| Crusty |
I do. it's in the storage garage, and the garage is situated on a hill, so I can't use it. Sitting on the bike on the side of the road with the ratchet, extension and socket works pretty well. I've got both beams just about where they should be. The headlight adjustment has been bothering me ever since I first got the bike, but for some unfathomable reason, I just didn't want to bother adjusting it. Damned if I can figure out why. I finally just did it. Once I did it wrong and had it pointing up at the trees, I got off my duff and adjusted it properly. | ||
| Pwnzor |
We're just busting your chops sir! | ||
| Ourdee |
Single man's house with a wheelchair ramp for the bike. I'd park in the house. | ||
| Crusty |
House Hunting In yesterday’s Snippet, I mentioned that I’d checked out a house locally that I was going to give a miss to. I got a few replies from several sources saying that I should wait until the right house came along ; not just jump at the first interesting offering. That’s good advice. I also got a question from Samoanrich on the Motocampers forum asking if I was still looking at houses in Colorado. I am, but since Cedaredge is a small town, there aren’t that many houses that are available. Nevertheless, I look every so often. Thinking about houses in Colorado made me think about houses in the Cincinnati area, so I went to Realtor.com and put in a price ceiling of $120,000 and specified that the house had to have at least a 1 car garage. Realtor came up with 1097 properties that match. I can find a house in a “not bad” area for a very affordable price. I get the distinct impression that people are leaving Cincinnati in droves, or they’re very underpaid; possibly both. The humidity in Cincinnati is the big negative. It’s on the Ohio River, and it can be pretty oppressive in the summer. I spent a bit of time in Louisville, Kentucky back in the late ‘70s and I remember just how hot and humid it got. Louavul is only 100 miles downriver, so the weather would be pretty much the same. But… My own house for a price that would let me travel… that calls for serious consideration. When I started this bout of Tramping last year, I was thinking that I’d just remain a homeless Tramp. However, I’ve found that I really want a Home Base as well as being able to Tramp about. If the mortgage payments are low enough, I can “Have my Cake and Eat it too”. There’s a real appeal in that. I’m not just going to jump, however. I’m going to take my time and think things through. There are probably things that haven’t occurred to me that could seriously affect how things go. One thing’s certain; I’ve got plenty to think about. | ||
| Ourdee |
I know of a house in indianapolis with a garage that will be coming onto the market for between 40 and 50 thousand. 2 possibly 3 bed. One bath. | ||
| Ourdee |
Taxes are five hundred a year. | ||
| 86129squids |
John, are you looking with Zillo? My sweetie's daughter and her fiancée found a nice place that way. Take your time, sir. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Summer in Ohio can get pretty hot and humid, this one in particular. You just kind of adapt to it, and its only really bad for maybe 3 months, and not every day at that. Unless you are sitting out on a lacrosse field for 10 hours straight for a tournament, it's not too miserable. Cincinnati is a nice town. I lived in a few different areas there. I'm in Lebanon now, right by Kings Island on 71, about 20 miles out. It's a lovely little town. Ohio is nice. Good cost of living, reasonable access to everything, a few traffic black holes but in general still room to be a proper human being. Indiana is similar. If you are retired, you have a lot more options, as you don't have to plan housing around a commute to work. Really close to the Ohio river, it's kind of an odd personality. A lot of it is kind of rough. Kind of river rat petty criminal kind of rough. But if you get a mile or two away out of the floodplain, it's normal again. Kentucky has some lovely places as well, the whole tri state area is nice. And towards Columbus has a lot of cheap open areas. | ||
| Etennuly |
John, have you ever considered an RV for a home? Put a 6x12 enclosed trailer behind it and you have a garage. Big comfortable used RV's in great condition(better than mine) can be found quite reasonably priced, and you can lock in lot rents cheaper than property tax on a house with a little research. Sure they suck a lot of fuel but the coolest part is you don't have to move it unless you want to(easy to eradicate bad neighbors to..... just move). It is quite cool to wake up in the morning to different views out the bedroom window. A couple of weeks ago Charlotte Motor Speedway was in my yard. A couple months before that it was the Motor Sports Park at the National Corvette Museum. Once in a while I get an awesome view of the local lakes. Moving around to off season camping is easy to do on the cheap. | ||
| 86129squids |
... My best buddy has lived on a houseboat for the better part of the last 20 years- he's now playing with a decent camper, set up out in Walland TN, next to the river. He's noticing the cost advantages already compared to the houseboat... Every time I go visit him at the houseboat, I get jealous. The dock is down on good water between Greenback and Vonore, very nice dock, nice boats, cool peeps. He has one slip for the main houseboat, another directly across dedicated to his "living room", a nice pontoon... and I get to go home and mow grass, weedeat, cuss at speeders going down the street, yadda yadda... Heck- if you're motor-homing, any given WallyWorld is free parking, IIRC. Not that that would be "prime real estate", but it'd get you from A to B like Vern says. | ||
| Ourdee |
John, There are a lot of options out there. | ||
| Ourdee |
It was a cool ride this morning from Indianapolis to Rockford. I actually turned on the heated grips for a few miles. My low fuel indicator started working again. I had a 1/2 gallon in the tail bag this time. | ||
| Reepicheep |
I have a new low fuel sensor on the way. When it gets here, I'm going to put it in and take the old one apart. I think it's just a 1k thermistor packaged in a fuel proof setup. If so, it will be a $2 part to homebrew. FWIW. | ||
| Crusty |
A Ride For Today I need to get my head straight. With all that’s gone on in the past two months, it’s a wonder that I can function at all. I hurt my toe on July 1st. That made things painfully interesting for a few days. Then the Roadster’s engine let go. Then came the Relay. Once I was home, I ran out and bought that POS Kumensukmi. I discovered just how bad the damage to the Roadster’s engine was, so I bought another ’05 engine from a boneyard in New Hampshire and put it in the bike. I spent myself broke and maxed out my MasterCard, but I now have a running Roadster. This past week, I’ve become obsessed with buying a house (probably in Cincinnati), even though I’m flat broke and will remain that way for months. It doesn’t look that complicated when I put it down in writing, but it’s only a synopsis; there’s a whole lot that didn’t get mentioned in there; the mental processes, the help I got from friends and family, all the details that needed to get sorted out. It all adds up to my head has been running at Redline for the summer, and if I don’t throttle it back, the destruction will make the damage to the Roadster look trivial. Back in my “recreational” drug ingesting days, I saw a phrase on a men’s room wall, LSD - Removes 47 times its weight in excess Reality. Well, I don’t do recreational drugs any more, but I know something that has helped me to get centered a few times in the past. I’m going to ride up to East Dorset, Vermont and attend a Meeting at the Wilson House. On a few separate occasions, I did that, and I left feeling much more stable. I don’t know why it works like that for me, but it does. People come from all over the world to visit the place, and they bring an energy that is amazing and pervasive. The first time I went there, I was in a state of mind that could only be described as savage. I had recently split up with my second wife who took our daughter and left. I booked a room for Friday and Saturday Nights (The Wilson House is an Inn). I talked to people who were also visiting about myself and my problems, listened to them as they talked about themselves and their problems and when I left, I was calm and had a handle on my troubles. I don’t need to stay for any great length of time, just attending a meeting there helps me out. It centers me and gives me a much better perspective on whatever my problems are. And I really need to get Centered right now. So that’s what I’m going to do today. I’m going to ride over to Bennington and have lunch at the Blue Benn Diner (a GREAT Greasy Spoon), Stop at the cemetery in East Dorset and visit the graves of Bill and Lois Wilson and catch the 2:00 meeting at the Wilson House. If I get nothing else, It should be a magnificent ride and a good meal. If I find what I’m hoping for, it will be a Monumental Day. | ||
| Crusty |
Labor Day Well; today is Labor Day.I’m going to celebrate it by broiling a Rib Eye Steak in an hour or so from now. I’m also going to bake a potato (Yukon Gold) to go with it and I think I’ll steam some asparagus. I’m supposed to avoid green vegetables, but my Cardiologist said I could have some on occasion, as long as I was sensible about it. That’s my favorite meal and I’m in a bit of a frivolous mood, so I stopped at the supermarket and bought what I need to fix it. It cost me about the same price as a fast food dinner, and it will taste tons better. The ride I took to the Wilson House was pleasant enough. Considering that I was riding back roads in Vermont on Labor Day Weekend, it could have been a lot worse. I didn’t get what I was hoping for; I was hoping to be blinded by the Pure White Light of Stupidity. Instead, I saw a Dim Yellow Light at the End of the Tunnel. (It’s probably an oncoming train) In any event, I left there feeling a bit calmer. I stopped at the graves of Bill and Lois Wilson and paid my respects, then set off for the Blue Benn Diner. When I got there, I found that they had closed for the day 15 minutes earlier. Oh, well. I took a different route back home, so I was traveling in a circle. I got lucky in that whenever I got to the nice twisty parts of the road, there was no traffic in front of me. Maybe I wasn’t flooded with Inner Peace, but I did feel more serene that I had been feeling by the time I got home. Yesterday was the Springfield Mile. I sat in my room and watched it live on my laptop at Fans Choice TV. I had bought a couple of thin cut Rib Eye steaks, and during one of the Intermissions, I broiled them and made Rib Eye sandwiches. I usually eat Rib Eye sandwiches when I go to Springfield, so it helped to make up for the fact that I couldn’t make it this time. The racing was good, but it looked like Bryan Smith was going to win again. He set fast time in qualifying, ran away with his heat race and smoked everybody in the Dash For Cash. He led the mile for 24 laps, then Kenny Coolbeth passed him going into turn 3 on the last lap. Coolbeth beat Smith at the finish line by .009 of a second. I was jumping up and down in my seat watching it. I thoroughly enjoyed that finish. I’m hoping to find a welder this week. I have two suggestions on where I can get the rack repaired. One is in my home town (Waltham) and about 2 blocks from where I grew up. I think I’ll take a ride over there and talk to them. I wouldn’t think it would cost a lot to run a bead about an inch and a quarter long, but we’ll see what they say. Well; it’s time to go throw the potato in the oven. | ||
| Hughlysses |
I’m supposed to avoid green vegetables, but my Cardiologist said I could have some on occasion, as long as I was sensible about it. I'm guessing you were being facetious? |
