(click on the pic to see it larger)

Mileage

On Dec 10, 2007, I bought an '03 Suzuki SV1000 naked with 21,555 miles. Today, I turned 71,000 and some miles on her. So, I'm around 500 miles, or about 4 tanks of gas from hitting 50,000 of MY miles on this beauty. In four years. That's an average of 12,500 miles per year.

Average, mind you. That 21,555 it already had on it? I doubled it in eleven months. She's taken me from Austin to Dallas, Del Rio, Lake Corpus Christi, Seguin, and on many rides through the Texas Hill Country, not to mention a lot of adventurous urban riding in Austin itself. Financial downturns stopped me from traveling as much  after that first year, but I still ride to work nearly every day. I don't need an excuse to ride to work, I need a damn good reason to drive the truck before I'll leave the bike at home.

Ride 'em, don't hide 'em!

Thanksgiving

I don't usually get into the idea of a contrived "I'm thankful for ..." speech/toast/post, but for whatever reason, inspiration took hold just now. So, in no particular order and not complete, here's a quick list just off the top of my head:

• My children; and their laughter, smiles, and hugs
• My Love and her embraces, laughter and smiles
• Voices of relatives on the phone
• Motorcycles
• Good coffee
• Tattoos
• Living in a cool city in a moderate climate
• Brothers and sisters who are related by choice, not by blood
• Both the right and the ability to speak my mind (even if I'm clearer with a keyboard than in person)
• This digital medium to stay in contact with so many people from all aspects and periods of my life

Whatever it is that triggers your gratitude, hang onto it and enjoy it and appreciate it every day, not just today. You never know when some or all of it will be whisked away from you.

How A Bike Motor Should Be

I keep thinking about my bike and her engine. Super reliable - five years, fifty thousand miles, and only routine maintenance so far. I put her on a dyno a couple years ago, and granted, she’s got a Yoshimura aftermarket exhaust, but that’s the only performance mod. 101 hp at the wheel. 71 ft lb peak torque. Just over 400 pounds. Kick ass high revving V twin growl. Nice neutral, comfortable riding position. Regular fucking gas, not premium. 42 miles for every gallon. Fifty mpg if I keep it at 55 mph (I only know that because I got caught in construction traffic on a holiday weekend for an hour or so once).

Reliable. Economical. Powerful. Cool sound. Everything a motorcycle engine should be. Why aren’t they all like this?

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Baggers

Photo taken from http://ww2.usca.edu/ResearchProjects/ProfessorGurr/gallery/Pictures-Robert-Pirsigs-original-1968-trip/aam

In the late 1960s, Robert M. Pirsig took a motorcycle trip. He told the story of that trip, and mingled in philosophy and a bit of autobiography in the book "Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance".


Here is a list, excerpted and compiled (and  paraphrased in places) from lists of his own in the book, telling what he carried on his trip:

1. Two changes of underwear
2.  Long underwear
3.  One change of shirt and pants for each of us. I use Army-surplus fatigues. They're cheap, tough, and don't show dirt.
4. One sweater and jacket each
5. Gloves
6. Cycle Boots
7. Rain Gear
8. Helmet and sunshade
9. Bubble (he refers to a snap on face shield available for the helmets of the day - full face helmets weren't around yet)
10. Goggles
11. Shop manual for his bike
12. Chilton's Motorcycle Troubleshooting Guide
13. A copy of Thoreau's Walden
14. Two sleeping bags
15. Two ponchos and one ground cloth. These convert to a tent and protect the luggage from rain
16. Rope
17. Maps
18. Machete
19. Compass
20. Canteen
21. Two Army surplus mess kits with knife, fork, and spoon
22. Collapsible Sterno stove
23. Aluminum screw top cans for food and condiment storage
24. Brillo
25. Two aluminum-frame backpacks

Toolkit containing:

1. Large adjustable wrench
2. Machinist's hammer
3. Cold Chisel
4. Taper Punch
5. Tire Irons
6. Tire patch kit
7. Bicycle pump
8. Chain lube
9. Impact Driver
10. Point File
11. Feeler Gauge
12. Test Lamp
    
    

Spare Parts:

1. Plugs
2. Throttle, Clutch, Brake cables
3. Points
4. Fuses
5. Headlight & Taillight Bulbs
6. Chain Master Link
7. Cotter Pins
8. Baling Wire
9. Spare Chain

Notice he had no cell phone, no rainsuit, was prepared to make major repairs including changing tires and/or the chain while on the side of the road. Also notice his tent was no lightweight, waterproof nylon thing with lightweight shock-corded aluminum poles that set up in five minutes.

Also notice he was traveling with his teenage son, and had all this stuff piled onto the bike. For seventeen days. No interstate travel, either - back roads and two lane highways as much as possible.

What kind of bike did he use? A Harley-Davidson Electra Glide? Nope. Indian? Nope. A Honda CB360. Including the passengers and gear, the bike was probably carrying its own weight.

And nowdays we feel we need fairings and windshields and radios and CBs and CD players and mp3 players and GPS and a big monster engine.

No. We just need two wheels and to get on 'em and RIDE.

Purpose

People like to talk about God's Plan For Them. That seems a bit narcissistic to me, and unrealistic, too.

As of last year, there are estimated to be over 6,840,000,000 people on the earth. Currently living. Add in all that have ever lived and all that ever will. Now, doesn't it seem a bit conceited to think God has a life plan all outlined for you?

Also, we're talking about a being who created all of reality, theoretically by saying a few words. You're saying that if he wanted you to do something, you'd really be able to do anything else? Calls into question either Free Will or Divine Omnipotence, eh?

Have you ever done something for absolutely no reason at all? Like absentmindedly peel the label off a beer bottle, or toss a rock into a pond? Well, don't you think it's possible that after God built everything and hit the "On" switch, that maybe he just sat back to watch the ripples spread out from that pebble he chucked into his fish pond?

Just some theological thoughts that ran through my mind today. I'm pretty sure God didn't plan for me to share them with you...

Work is the Curse of The Riding Class

The day before yesterday, it was just one of those days. In a good way, though. Sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The temp was chilly, but not outright cold, the bike just seemed to feel and sound right. I was wearing a combination of comfortable, familiar, broken-in jacket and gloves so old, they've conformed to the curvature of my fingers, and a new helmet that I'm loving. I was rolling up the road, coming to where I had to turn into the shopping center where I work.

I looked up at that deep blue, cloudless sky, listened to the roar of the V twin engine beneath me, and I swear I heard Matthew Broderick's voice in my head, from the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", saying: "How could I be expected to handle school on a day like this?" I really wanted to keep riding, and just ride. All. Day. However, I sadly remembered that we were scheduled for an unusually large shipment that day, and that there was really no one else who could be called in to replace me. So I exerted a herculean amount of willpower and made the turn and went to work. Damn that sense of personal and professional responsibility, no matter how small it may be...

More Words of Wisdom

A list of more aphorisms suggested to me by friends after yesterday's post:


Si vis pacem para bellum.
(If you wish for peace, prepare for war)

Res firma mitescere nescit
(A firm resolve does not weaken)

écrasez l'infâme
(Crush the infamous)

l'enfer, c'est les autres
(Hell is other people)

Ex tenebris lux
(from darkness, light)


Futue te ipsum et caballum tuum
(the gist: Screw you and the horse you rode in on. Literal translation: Fuck you and your horse.)


Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius.
(Kill them all. Let God sort them out)


Thanks Tony, Mark, and Gabrielle.

Getting Through The Day

C'est la vie

(That's Life)

Qué Será Será

(What Will Be, Will Be)


It is what it is

illegitimi non carborundum

(Don't Let The Bastards Grind You Down)

Mentsch Tracht, Gott Lacht

(Man Plans, God Laughs)

Occupy Movement's Disturbing Reaction to Rape - HUMAN EVENTS

Occupy Movement's Disturbing Reaction to Rape - HUMAN EVENTS

Thoughts On An Early Saturday Morning

This seems so unlike me. I've never been a morning person; always the night owl. Always one to stay up late and often to sleep the day away. I'd always wind up regretting losing most of the day to sleep, but usually couldn't bring myself to set an alarm on the weekend. On workdays, I always got up with just enough time to frantically get dressed and rush out the door and off to work.

In the last couple of years, though, I've been getting up much earlier. I've come to appreciate the time to drink coffee and have breakfast at a relaxed pace before heading off to work.

Apparently, it's spilled over into weekends now, too. Baby Girl woke us up at 6:00 a.m. We fed her, then I got up with her so my Other Half could go back to sleep. Later, Baby Girl decided to go back to sleep, too. Against what has been my nature most of my life, I decided to stay up. So, here I am, at 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and awake for no reason other than I just want to be awake. Just saying that feels odd to me.

Ah, well. People change. We all evolve, no matter how constant some of us want to think ourselves to be. I guess this is just another step in my personal evolution. Yes, I'm a little sleepy, but I also like that I'm not going to waste a day snoring away. I need the coffee for comfort right now, it's true, but I'm also appreciating being aware of this moment, right here, right now.

So.....

Good Morning. How's your day shaping up?

Motorcycle Wordplay

Please, please, please stop using the following terminology. It just makes you sound fucking stupid.

1. Front fork.
   Seriously. Where the hell else is there a fork? Sure, I know there are some internal pieces, but they’re specified (shifter fork). We know it’s not a rear fork, so just drop the “front” - it’s redundant and useless.
2. Rear swingarm.
   Same damn thing. Okay, a few months ago, I read an article on a Bimota that’s using a front swingarm, but it’s probably the only one in existence. Maybe some of BMW’s front suspensions are close, but even they don’t consider the telelever and paralever to be swingarms. So, until some rip in the space/time continuum happens and the Bimota design becomes standard, let’s just say “swingarm”, and leave the word “rear” out of it. Or else I’m going to start talking about my front headlight.
3. “Assless chaps”.
   Don’t. Just don’t say it. I don’t care if you wear them, hate them, laugh at them, think they’re only for leather-fetish gay men or for rodeo cowboys. It’s redundant. By definition, chaps ARE ASSLESS. If they had an ass, they’d be PANTS!! What, next you’re going to talk about sleeveless vests? Oh, I know: check out my new legless T shirt.
   

Okay, I’m done with my language related rant. For now. As always, I reserve the right to return to this topic and rant more when (not if) I encounter more dumb word usage.


… like saying “8:00 a.m. in the morning”. As if there’s an 8:00 a.m. in the evening? Oh, hell. Don’t get me started again…

Ride To Work, Work To Ride

It's a sad fact that most people commute in their cages cars, insulated from the world around them, listening to morning "Zoo" shows on the radio, trying in vain to find something humorous in their morning routine, all while subconsciously focusing on the dread they're feeling for their workday. They make disparaging comments about Monday, and spend all week willing Friday to hurry up and get here already.


Pitiful, really. These people are defining their lives by their work, and they wish 5/7 of Life away, eagerly anticipating those 2/7 where they then use at least part of their minds to dread the Return of Monday.


We Who Ride get to escape that. Other than knowing what time I need to leave and the route I'll follow, I hardly even think about work before arriving. After breakfast, coffee and computer time, I put on my riding gear, kiss My Girls (The Other Half, and Baby Girl), and head to the garage, where my mistress motorcycle waits. Honestly, other than your lover's or child's voice and laughter, there's not much better sound than the sound of a garage door rolling open followed by a motorcycle engine firing up.


You dread your "morning drive time" (in the jargon of radio programming). I enjoy my daily morning motorcycle ride. You fight traffic on the way home; I enjoy my daily evening motorcycle ride. Seriously - I feel sorry for those who don't ride motorcycles to work. I mean, I get to enjoy my hobby/lifestyle/obsession twice every workday. How freakin' cool is that?

Ride 'em Don't Hide 'em!

Two pieces in two separate motorcycle magazines, related only because they both referenced Vincent motorcycles got me thinking today.

One was all about the history of this one particular specimen. (Apparently, there are some avid Vincent enthusiasts out there who archive every detail they can about every bike the company made). It goes on about an American and his quest to own a Vincent, then the current owner's quest to obtain it. It was a pretty interesting article, but I won't go into details, mainly because I haven't bothered to get any authorization from the author or the magazine. Anyway, decades after the original owner parked the bike for his last time and covered it with a tarp, it was bought, and brought back to life. The decision was made to leave it as is, with the original tires and everything. Now, I respect not wanting to tart it up and try to make it look like it just rolled off the dealership floor. But the sad thing, which really upsets me, is that there is NO intention of riding it. Blah, blah, blah... need to preserve blah blah blah ... future generations ... yada yada yada...

Come on, by my estimate (which is based on absolutely no real information), approximately one quarter of all Vincents ever made are being "preserved for future generations to appreciate". Fuck that. It's a motorcycle! Ride the damn thing or sell it to someone who will. It wasn't designed and manufactured to be preserved. It's a machine, and taken out of its context, it loses its identity. It becomes statuary. If you want a sculpture of a motorcycle, hire a sculptor; it's probably cheaper than buying and restoring a Vincent anyway.


The other was a letter in another magazine, referring to a previous issue. This other magazine had run an article on Falcon Motorcycles, who created a sweet custom bike based on a Vincent. The letter writer was offended that the builders would desecrate what he considered to be some holy grail of motorcycle perfection by modifying it. Guess what, dude? People have been modifying motorcycles since the dawn of motorcycle time. Hell, the existence of motorcycles is owed to people modifying bicycles!

Again - a bike is not a relic, it's not a museum piece - there are plenty of those already. If you have an antique, ride the damn thing or sell or give it to someone who will. I can understand not making it a daily rider due to reliability, comfort or parts availability issues, but don't turn your garage or living room into a shrine.

I understand some folks want to hold things like antique motorcycles sacred, but let's be honest: sacred cows make the best burgers. Anyone hungry?

Bumper Sticker Stupidity

I passed a car today with a bumper sticker which read:




Socialism is for lovers.
Capitalism is for haters.



How freaking ironic can you get? The bumper sticker was designed, manufactured and sold to make money.
The car was designed, manufactured, and sold to make money.
It runs on fuel, and uses oil that are sold at a profit.
So……the entire existence of this bumper sticker, and the bumper it rides on, is owed to the capitalism which it so inanely derides.











Stupid should hurt…

Abbreviations vs Stupidity

“OMG”, as an acronym, was created to abbreviate “Oh My God”. In other words, to shorten the phrase. So lately, why the hell do I keep seeing people typing “Oh Em Gee”?

They're typing out phonetically an abbreviation that's as many letters long as the original phrase! What's the point? Why don't they just use that original phrase instead?

I don't get it.

Seriously, Double-u Tee Eff?

Don't Tell Me "It Could Be Worse"

I know. I understand. I get your point. To a degree, anyway. But seriously, lay off. When somebody’s down, sad, depressed, hurting, however you want to word it, it’s really no comfort to remind them how much worse off they could be. When you do that, you’re not comforting - you’re diminishing. You’re telling them they don’t have the right to how they feel. And that’s not right. You have no idea how much they’re being impacted at the moment. And whatever it is that’s bothering them may seem trivial to you, but obviously it’s not a small matter to them.

I’m not saying to have pity, necessarily. But don’t condescend, either.

Just because there are people with broken legs and soldiers who have lost their legs to wounds, doesn’t mean a sprained ankle hurts any less.

Navy Day

Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy!

Me, graduating from Basic Training in 1987.

Halloween Run

Seasonal Headscratcher

This thought recently occurred to me, and I honestly don't know what to do with it.

Toy Run season is about to be upon Those of Us Who Ride, so I guess that's why I thought about it.

Most bikers are politically conservative, and in all the online debating, postulating, and general talk, I've heard plenty of outrageous comments from both the Right and the Left. One of the comments I've heard more than once is in reference to public assistance for people who can't afford food and/or health care. At least two people have said the exact same thing, verbatim: "Not my problem." Okay, I get where you're coming from - it's not your responsibility to provide for anybody outside your own family.

What confuses me is the inconsistency in the coming months. Toy Runs are seen as nearly obligatory by people in the biker culture. The thought is "These poor kids won't have a Christmas without these benefits we do." And that's true.

So...... it's "not your problem" if they starve or die from an otherwise easily treatable ailment the other 365 days of the year, but by god, that one day, they'll have toys to unwrap.

If you don't care about kids starving, why do you care whether they have toys? Are Toy Runs just to make us as a subculture look a little better in the public eye? Dammit, I sure hope there's more to it than that.

I'll be participating in the Toy Runs, just like I always do, but I'm confused by what I see as inconsistent attitudes.