2018

Number one highlight of the year has to be the Alaskan trip. Great time, even better because I had the opportunity to go with my two cousins. Only three more states to see until I've been in all 50. Hoping to get two more this coming year.

Bike trip on the Cowboy trail was a fun one. That's the self-service pool hall in the photo. Definitely an unexpected surprise. Maybe do a motorcycle tour in 2019. I wouldn't mind another bicycle trip, however.

Photo taken from the B-25. I've now been up in all three of the bombers of the Collings Foundation. They've added a Skyraider to the fleet. Maybe see about going up in that one next year.

They can take up to three people at a time. If you sit in front it's $900.00 - too much for me. They've got a couple of other seats for half that. I'm not sure where you would sit or if you could even look out but I'll look into it and see if my buddy wants to give it a go. If he's in, I'm in.

And when I'm ranking the big events, can't forget the big pork tenderloin sandwich. Biggest damn sandwich I've ever seen, let alone eaten. Cuzzin Ricky and I enjoyed these immensely - vegan kryptonite. Rick and I had a good year at the races. We went to several open wheel events - champ cars, sprints and midgets. Even made a couple of pavement races. We're already making plans for next year.

Took another CNC class and read a few books. I decided at the beginning of the year not to worry about trying to read 50 on the year but I did manage to read 22. Not too shabby, considering in this day and age there are a lot of people who don't read even one.

Did a couple of 5K race walks and did a bicycle race which helped me pass my stress test with flying colors. Health-wise, doing pretty well for an old guy.

Not exactly a red letter year for the projects but I did finish the motor bike, the sidecar and got the barn veranda erected. Made a good start on the Rickati/trials bike and the 900. Probably would have gotten a bit more done on those if I hadn't of gotten the slant six motor and started to fiddle with that.

Got a new pickup this year. Nothing much to that other than I needed new wheels. I do miss driving the little Veloster, though. Fun little car to drive, good mileage and heated seats. I really do miss the heated seats, especially with all the colder than usual weather we've had this fall and winter so far. At least I don't need to be commuting any more this winter.

Got the new motorbike just in time to make the highlight reel for the year. First time in my life I've ever gotten two new vehicles in the same year. Technically, the truck isn't new since it's a 2016 but close enough. Also, this is only the second new bike I've ever had. The last new one I bought was a little Sprint when I was a senior in high school and now I get a new one when I'm a senior citizen. Quite possibly these will be the last new vehicles I ever buy. I had my old Dodge for fifteen years. If I keep the truck and bike for fifteen I'll be 83 if I'm lucky enough to make it that far.

Most everything has been in the plus column for the year. Had to deal with some health issues with the Missus and it doesn't look like those are going to go away. I wouldn't put falling off the SV and banging it and myself up in the plus column either, but otherwise, I consider myself luckier than most. Health, family, friends and a few bucks in my pocket. Can't really ask for much more. Especially when you look at how many others have suffered this year with the fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and all the rest life can throw at you.

Here's hoping to a good 2019 for all of us.

Old Soul

Here's something I stumbled across that I found interesting:

Here are 5 things that only old souls can really understand:

1. Civilization vs. Nature

Being an old soul usually means a love of the natural world. You have a special connection with nature because all in all, Earth is unchanging and feels like the only reliable constant truth.

You are comfortable in and can understand the beauty of a forest, the crisp night sky full of stars, or the soothing sound of rolling ocean waves lapping at the beach.

These things make you feel safe and grounded, while the bustling cities, with bright lights and constant over stimulation feel tense and unnecessary.

You don’t really get the point of having 3 Starbucks’ within two blocks of your house or going out to a club where everything real and natural is drowned out by electronics.

You feel no affinity with the concrete jungle and you struggle to find any beauty or purpose there.


2. You see the big picture.

You are well aware of how temporary this human life is in the grand scheme of things.

You know you are a tiny speck in the face of a vast universe, a grain of sand in the endless shoreline, but this is neither sad nor bothersome to you.

Seeing and understanding the big picture, global or cosmic, doesn’t mean you don’t know how important even this impermanent short human life is.

You know that every tiny action can affect great things, every speck can change the picture. This is why you take great care to live your life in a way that aligns with your principles and beliefs.

You want whatever legacy you leave behind to be noble, no matter how insignificant it may seem. 

3. Solitude is important to you.

You enjoy other people and their company, but being an old soul tends to make you feel like a bit of a misfit at times. You spend a lot of time in your own head, and social interaction can be exhausting for you after a while.

You need regular time to yourself to look inward and gather your thoughts, rest and recuperate your mind and recharge for the new day. 

4. People in your age group are frustrating/tiring.

People who are old souls are more intuitive than others who are the same age.

They tend to have a deeper understanding of mature concepts, and this causes a disconnect between them and their typical peers.

Social interaction with others your age might be frustrating, as you end up feeling the need to explain things that seem simple or straight forward to you, sometimes repeatedly.

It can also be plain tiresome, being surrounded by what feels like children.

Don’t despair though, you can always find your tribe, it just may take a little extra searching. You may not make many friends in your year at school, but you’ll make them elsewhere. 

5. You have an innate thirst for knowledge.

As an old soul you know that material things have no real value, money is meaningless and even people come and go, but there is one thing you value more than anything else.

That is knowledge. This is one thing that cannot be stolen or removed, it is timeless and ageless, in many ways just like you.

You have a need to learn as much as you can about anything and everything that peaks your curiosity. There is no subject that is off limits or too mundane, it all has value and importance for you.

This is a great thing and one of your best qualities. It’s also one of the reasons that old souls excel in teaching positions.

You have so much to teach others as you are always learning yourself and are naturally inclined toward patience with an eager student.

Definitely a lot of me in there. I found it here.

Buon Natale

Merry Christmas everyone.

Tool Box & A PSA

The tool box job is pert near finished. I've got just a wee bit left to weld and then I can turn it over to the neighbor. He's going to put the latches and hinges on. I didn't want to put the hinges on in case I needed to weld something on the inside of the box or modify the frame of the door when he installs whatever he's planning on using. I'm glad this one is done. It's been more work than I wanted to tackle but he's always taken good care of me if I needed something done.

I'll finish up the high mileage piece and the two little gizmos for the panniers on the Himalayan next. Probably get back on the trials bike after that. Maybe push the 900 up front again and do the wiring on that one. I should probably get the slant six buttoned up before too much longer also. No shortage of things to do. Like wrap a few presents.

I got my replacement fire extinguishers the other day. Pretty fast service. I've got the old ones all boxed up and ready to return to Kidde but because they are pressurized, I've got to call Fed Ex and arrange a pick up. I'll wait until after the new year when things have calmed down a bit in the package delivery game. I did notice the small extinguishers have a recommended twelve year life span. There's a date stamped in the bottom of them, so if you've got an extinguisher that's been hanging on the wall for awhile, you might want to check it to see if it needs to be replaced. I also checked the nozzles on my other extinguishers and found another one that had a nest of some sort in it. I'm going to start checking them spring and fall like I do the smoke alarms and the dryer vent. 

Things With Wheels

In the photo above is a new "bogie" wheel for my lawn mower. I ran into a post at speed last year and broke one. I hit it hard enough that it bent the deck a bit as well. I stopped by the dealer the other day and picked up a replacement - $16.00 including the grade 8 bolt, the two lock nuts and a flat washer. Other than blades and filters, this is only the second time I've had to buy parts for this thing and both times the parts have been very reasonable. Really happy with the Bad Boy. Also, this is the last thing I needed to do in order to have the mower ready for spring. Ahead of the game on this one!

The parts in the bottom of the photo are for the high school's high mileage vehicle. I'm making a bushing to fit the bore to modify things a bit. Left hand thread on the bushing that will screw in to the sprocket carrier. After it's threaded in I'll pin it to the carrier and then broach a keyway in it. I was going to work on it yesterday but I went into a sneezing jag while welding up the tool box job and then my ribs started hurting again so I called it quits for the day. Maybe finish up the tool box today if the argon holds out and then get the high mileage job indicated and clamped down on the mill.

I did come up with a way to hold the panniers on the new motorcycle. Real simple little piece for each side of the bike that's easy to machine. I do need to get one stainless socket head bolt to complete the job on the bike itself. I'll probably go ahead and make some new clips for the panniers. The opening on the clips now are made to fit over a thinner piece of material than what's on the bike. Since the clips bolt on, I can swap the clips out depending on which bike I'm going to be using them on in less than five minutes.

New Blog & New Bike

I came across an interesting blog via the Vulgar Curmudgeon. I've only perused it briefly but it looks like the guy does a lot of the same type of things that I do. That is, a bit of everything. He seems to have a much better understanding of things electrical than I do, so maybe I can increase my knowledge by checking out what he does. I've added a link in the sidebar to So Many Hobbies.

I do like the tap wrench he has in the photo above - looks to be a pair of file handles added to the wrench to make it easier to use. I might have to rig one of those up myself.

The weather was warm enough to get the new bike out for a little shakedown ride the other day. Even though the bike is fuel injected it has an enrichening lever on the handlebar for cold starting. The manual says to use it for the first start of the day or when the temps are low. It doesn't want to idle like you would expect a fuel injected bike to until it's warmed up well. It acts more like a carbureted bike in that regard. However, after it's warmed up it ticks over nicely and will pull from way down low and has the nice torque spread that you would want from an "adventure" bike.

I adjusted the mirrors to my liking, cleaned off a shelf in the cabinet for the saddle bags, hooked up the battery tender and then put the cover on it. I did check out what it would take to mount up my bicycle panniers on the tank guard. I think I've come up with a pretty simple solution. I've got a couple of other jobs I want to finish first, and then I'll see about tackling that. With the bags front and rear I'll have enough room to pack all my gear for a week's camping. Plus, the hard bags have clips on the lids to tie things down. I'll see about picking up some nylon straps with the plastic snap locks to use and then I'll be set. I've done quite a bit of bicycle touring, maybe a bit of motorcycle touring in the future.

Indy Again

Cuzzin Ricky and I went back down to Indy yesterday - this time just to pick up my new motorcycle. Things went smoothly. It was a nice day to travel with temps in the 50s, plenty of sunshine and decent traffic on I-65. Instead of trying to load a bike in the back of my pickup, I rented a trailer for the trip. I should have done that the first time and saved myself some pain and money. The enclosed trailer was less than $50.00 and it had a wheel chock and "D" rings in the floor to tie the bike down securely. Lesson learned. 

Looks like the weather will be much more like normal coming up in the future so I don't know when I'll be able to get out on this thing, but it should be a fun little bike to play with.

Indy Trip

Here's a couple more shots from the Indy trip. These old cars, whether midgets, sprints or champ cars really grab me. The only problem with these old dogs is they were man-killers. You'll notice #7 has no roll over protection whatsoever and #8 has only a small hoop to protect the driver. No arm restraints or HANS device for these guys either. You look at the old photos and the driver may be wearing a tee shirt and an open faced bump cap. Tough way to make a living - still is as far as that's concerned - but at least the risk to life and limb is not near as great.

While we were walking around in the museum we bumped into Donald Davidson, the official historian of the Speedway. We had a little chat about cars, of course, but when he noticed my jacket from the boxing club he related a couple of boxing stories to us. Seems Mr. Davidson was the announcer of the Golden Gloves in Indy way back when for a couple of years. He also did a broadcast with Keith Jackson for a televised international event - US versus Poland. He also said he had a couple of fights himself years ago back in England but he told us he wasn't much of a fighter. He is one hell of an historian. I think he's seven years older than I am and still knows more about the Indy 500 and the drivers than any man alive or probably ever will.

Indy Trip

We made the trip to Indy the other day - Cuzzin Ricky, one of the guys I did the Cowboy Trail with this summer and myself. We stopped at the bike shop first off. It looks like I can make a deal on the Himalayan even though the Suzuki took a beating when I dropped it. I'll have to take one as well as far as the trade in price goes, but I've got no one to blame there but myself.

The open wheel exhibit at the Speedway was pretty cool. Lots of cars on display small to large. TQ midgets, early and current midgets, sprint cars, and champ cars. Mostly of the exhibit focused on dirt cars but there were a few pavement cars and in another room there were a bunch of former Indy winners. If you're a fan of open wheel racing, I'd plan a trip to the Speedway to check it out.

The car in the photos above is pretty much what I've got in mind for my build. It appears to be built real close to the plans I posted a few posts back. Looks like it could be a fun project. I picked up a front axle with the wishbone and spring, so I've got a start. As soon as I finish my Christmas shopping and pay off the bills, I'll order the remaining parts for the slant six so I can get it put together and then start searching for a transmission that'll fit it. Once I get that, I should be able to figure out where everything will go, determine the wheelbase and finalize the blueprint.  

Water Trough

I made a water trough to sit on top of the fin tube in the bedroom out of a leftover piece of the stain- less sheet from the toolbox cover I've been working on. These work well to keep some humidity in the house. This was tough enough to weld. I can't wait to start finish welding the toolbox cover. I'm glad I bought the .040" tungsten set-up. It seems to make things go a bit easier. I don't do much stainless work at all and this .030" stuff is a bit of a test of my skill level.

I finish school today. All that's left is to administer the cert tests and then finish up the grading. I won't be going back until March, so I shouldn't have to commute through the winter weather - like I did today. Temperatures have been below average most of the month and I'm thinking that trend will continue and we'll probably get a few good snowfalls as well. It'll be nice if I don't have to drive through it.

Johnny

At the Moto GP a few years ago. Johnny trying on the adventure bike for size. Wished we would've been able to do an adventure ride together. He would've been 64 today if the cancer hadn't have got him.

Fire Extinguishers & Bazooka Power

Surly passed this one along to me. Not quite what I've got in mind but pretty darn close, especially as far as chassis and suspension goes. I'm going to get out in the shop today and try to get a little bit done. Since it's been rather cold and I'm still a bit sore I haven't done much on the projects the last few days but I've gotten a bunch of little piddly things done around the place. 

I checked all the fire extinguishers for the Kidde recall. I have three of them that have been recalled, so I got that taken care of. I've got a bunch of extinguishers around the place. Three in the house, four in the shop, two in the new barn, and one in each of the daily drivers. I should probably get one and keep it on the tractor or someplace handy in the big barn as well. As a guy who has done some dumb things over the years, my last post being a fine example, I'd rather be prepared for a fire than scrambling around trying to figure out how to put it out once I started it.

I sharpened up the blades on the lawn mower and finished preparing it so it'll be ready for spring. I fired it up and let it idle in the shop while I was opening the up the big barn. About the time I pulled it out the carbon monoxide alarm went off. So in addition to having the fire extinguisher situation well in hand, I know the CO alarm works and it has a fresh battery. The one in the house had an error message showing when I checked it recently. I installed a new battery but still no go. Apparently they only have a 10 year life span and then they self destruct. I've got it replaced already, however. So I'm up to snuff on the smoke and CO alarms and I'm good on the fire extinguishers, or will be as soon as the replacements arrive.

Went to the fights last night - Bazooka Joe's pro debut. His opponent has had a bunch of MMA but not much actual boxing experience and it showed. He threw a lot of "haymakers" and tried to get inside on Joe and then tie up. Joe missed a few opportunities to counter but stung him with some decent jabs in the first round. The second round Joe connected with a big right hand and wobbled the guy. Joe continued to put pressure on him from that point forward, his opponent went down, both myself and the referee calling it a slip, but the guy stayed down. Joe won the bout by TKO late in the second round. I'm not sure what he's going to do next. There aren't a lot of pro fights in the area but he definitely wants to fight again. It's good to see his hard work and persistence paying off. Congrats to Joe and his bazooka power.

Stupid Hurts

Didn't make it to Indy the other day. I managed to drop the SV while loading it into the back of my truck and beat it and myself up a bit.

I have a retaining wall not quite 2' high where I park my truck, so I backed in and put the ramp on the tailgate. I left a little gap so I could get a little bit of a run up the ramp, making the ramp a bridge spanning about 18". With the trucked parked in front of the wall the tailgate was only about a foot off the ground. However, the ground there is still a bit soft from the well drilling job and there was a bit of icy/snow on the ground. No way I could push it up the ramp easily so I figured I'd just hop on and ride it up. Not like I haven't done that plenty of times. All was going well until I goosed the throttle a bit, the rear wheel spun and slipped off the ramp. The front wheel was in the truck already but the bike tipped sideways when I was trying to find something solid to put my foot on. I went down on my back like a sack of potatoes and the bike hit hard enough to break off the front turn signal and crack some plastic. I called Cuzzin Rick and had him come over to give me a hand getting the bike off the truck. We went out to breakfast instead of Indy and then I went to get checked out since I was sore as all hell and I felt something pop in my chest when I went down. Bad deal all the way around.

Other than I'm still a bit sore, the doc said nothing was broken. I was lucky I didn't hit my head on anything at least - I've done that way more times than I should have over the years. I got the you're getting too old for that stuff speech from the Missus, actually a bit more than that, and that hurt also.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the bike now. I probably lost half the trade in value when it went down. I'll check it over real well in a few days and then see about what it would cost to get it fixed versus trading it in as is, if that's even an option. Maybe make some side rails for the ramp also.

Today Might Be the Day

Cuzzin Ricky and I are heading to Indy today to see about buying a Royal Enfield. The dealer told me when he called the other day the one he had on the floor had the hard bags and they had mounted a wider handlebar. It's the same color as the one in the photo, should look just about like this. We're planning on going to the Speedway Museum after the bike shop to check out the Hoosier Thunder exhibit after that. New bike or not, should be a good day.

Carb Adaptor

I finished the carb adaptor by installing three 8-32 set screws to secure it to the carb. Really pleased with how it came out. Actually, I like the photo as well. If I had cleaned up the background first it would be a pretty neat photo. Might be a good subject for black & white. Maybe I should keep a record of this project with a film camera with some thought given to composure and lighting instead of just the quickie shots I take with my little digital.

I usually keep my zip ties on top of the socket tray in my top box. Since they're in a plastic container I can easily move them out of the way if need be and the rest of the time they're real handy - until the plastic container gives it up and I've got a couple hundred zip ties on top of all my sockets. I had a short shipping tube I was getting ready to toss out when it occurred to me I could make a little rack for the zip ties out of it. I cut down into a scrap 1x4 with two hole saws - one a bit larger than the OD and one a bit smaller than the ID of the tube and I ended up with the tubes fitting in the pockets nice and snug. I cut the board off after the photo and plugged the hole from the pilot bit and there we are. I haven't decided yet whether to hang it on the wall or off the side of the tool box yet but I'll make something up in the next day or so.

This was what I was referring to in my last post - having the time to tinker around out in the shop with no real deadline or pressure. Just do things as I please and finally have the shop fixed up where all the tools are readily at hand so I can just do the work rather than doing work before I can do the work. Pretty happy of late. I've been jumping from woodworking, machining, welding and some mechanical work and it's all easy to do. The hardest thing now is walking between a couple of buildings. Life is good.

Speaking of which, I got a call from the bike shop in Indy the other day about the Royal Enfield Himalayan. I'm going to run down there this week with my SV in the back of the truck and see about making a deal. Sounded pretty promising price-wise over the phone. I've been riding for over 50 years and I've only had one new bike in my life and that was 50 years ago. I'm thinking it's about time. I'll post the outcome of the trip later in the week.