How I spent my weekend

[BillJ]

Still trying to get myself back on that rigid shovel, so I rode The Banshee to the shop Friday and made a pile of mock-up parts - old, beat-to-hell stuff I can use to test my latest theory. Saturday morning (wet, miserable) I took the pickup and picked 'em all up. Last night I installed 'em all. After some household stuff this AM, and visits to two hospitalized friends, I threw some gas in the one-sided fatbob this afternoon and fired up The Bitch.

It's still not right - that pogo-stick is wore-out and has no cush left to it, and I'll need an old cop-style tractor seat instead of that old-time buddy saddle - but I think I'm on to something! Kinda liking that brilliant red tank, too! Might have to stick with that if this little project works.

[toad]

One time I called the Banshee old school........I was wrong (10th step 3 1/2 months late)...........The Bitch is almost old school, Thanks for sharing the picture, I see a work of art in progress.

What kind of back tire is that?


I pray all is well..........toad

[swmnkdinthervr]

My last scoot was a flat side shovel in a hardtail frame...I pounded up and down the road on that bike for almost 15 years...kinda like having kids, I couldn't wait 'til they were raised...now that they are gone I miss em a bunch!!!

[BillJ]

Originally Posted by toad

The Bitch is almost old school

Almost? Almost? Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis? :andy:

IMHO, that Bitch was one kidney-poundin', grease-slingin' "old school" rat long before the chopper 'zines and tattoo kids discovered the term! Let's see how many of them still riding rigid 30 years down the line, eh?

And Swimmer, I'm with you. I've missed every bike I ever sold (hell, I miss some I only worked on!), but The Bitch is most special because it's the first motorcycle I ever owned. We have a lot of miles and memories together. Letting it go would be like amputating some vital appendage - not sure which, but a vital one. That's why I've been working so hard to get back on it.

The clutch started slipping during my test-ride yesterday. If I'm up to working in that chilly garage today, I'm gonna bust open the primary and investigate. I'll also pull the buddy saddle, and see if I can get any adjustment on that punked-out pogo-stick. Then when the shop opens tomorrow I'll swing by and see about rounding up a tractor seat. The Bitch ain't going down without a fight!

[chris k]

Rats Rule!!!!!

[Jazzed_N_AZ]

These are mine currantly. The Kaw is still in AZ.

[Jazzed_N_AZ]

Originally Posted by Jazzed_N_MD

These are mine currantly. The Kaw is still in AZ.

Dang...pics are too big

[BillJ]

Originally Posted by toad

What kind of back tire is that?

I pray all is well..........toad

Was so busy being a smart-ass I forgot to respond! :andy:

First, the tire is an Avon Mileage Master Mark II. I've been running 'em for years, and I love 'em! Good wear, good handling (even though I run it low, for extra cush with that rigid frame), high profile (for better pipe clearance with that rigid frame), classic good looks, and a reasonable price. What's not to love?

As for "well"... some days are "weller" than others. Still waiting for approval on the spinal stimulator that's supposed to help with pain. This doctor's office staff are slower (and thicker) than molasses in winter! They've bungled the insurance company request four different times!

On the plus side, we're having good weather, and I've had a few days I felt good enough to ride. In fact, I replaced the buddy seat with the old softtail saddle I was running on the shovel, and ran it around for a half-hour or so this afternoon. I think I've found the magic formula to get me back on The Bitch!


And yourself?

[BillJ]

Originally Posted by Jazzed_N_MD

Dang...pics are too big

Yeah, I had to knock mine 'way down from original.

[toad]

Originally Posted by BillJ

And yourself?

Doing well, thanks for asking. Going to a lot of meetings. This time of year is always hard for me. I have a combat aniversary on the 24th that always seems to come to the front. I am speaking in KC this Saturday, that will help me some.......keep me somewhat humble I hope. My sponsor says that I don't have anything to worry about because I only have one story.

We had an inch of snow here but it melted in a couple of days....I will probably go for a short ride tomorrow.

93 days till spring

[BillJ]

Here's a pic from yesterday's test-ride. Going to the shop later today to scrounge for parts - tractor seat, good-condition pogo-stick, set of fat-bobs, etcetera - to make it permanent (and slightly more attractive ).

Still really liking that red paint!

Oh, and I solved the clutch slip. I'd pinched the clutch cable when I installed that fat-bob.

[BillJ]

Originally Posted by toad

This time of year is always hard for me.

As always, you're in my prayers, brother.

[chris k]

I think the red will be great!

[recoveringnky]

Ditto what Chris said...the red rocks! Love your work there Bill!!

[Rarly Harley]

Originally Posted by toad

Doing well, thanks for asking. Going to a lot of meetings. This time of year is always hard for me. 93 days till spring...

Toad: Hard time of year for me too Brother. I have clinical depression that is treated with medication, then the SAD kicks in around the first week of November. Been treating that with light therapy this year, helps a bit. I go to extra meetings and try to get out for walks in the fresh air. Excercise helps too. I must admit that there are days that come this time of year when I get through them hour by hour, with lots of prayer and when I get off my knees before bed, I'm glad to see the tail lights of that particular day. The good thing about those kind of days is that they pass and "all things are possible" through my HP, which strengthens me.....Here's a pic from RFL 07' to remind you how good life really is Brother....

[swmnkdinthervr]

Love the old school...'course I'm old but the old style shows in my new ride below...sadly somewhere along the line I lost my pics of my shovel, XLCH and all the Brit bikes I've had...I'm gonna start diggin' to try and find em!!! (several were lost during the hazy years)

Red really does rock on that ole rigid!!! I gotta get me another project...

This Time of year is prolly tough for sober folks too with the stresses of the holidays, doubly so for us...I regret the years I wasted drunk during the holidays, I'm very grateful my kids hung in there and still love me!!! (sadly their mother passed due to liver cancer a few years ago...she could never quite give in)

[recoveringnky]

Nice ride swmn!

[BillJ]

Originally Posted by swmnkdinthervr

Love the old school...'course I'm old but the old style shows in my new ride below...sadly somewhere along the line I lost my pics of my shovel, XLCH and all the Brit bikes I've had...I'm gonna start diggin' to try and find em!!! (several were lost during the hazy years)

Red really does rock on that ole rigid!!! I gotta get me another project...

This Time of year is prolly tough for sober folks too with the stresses of the holidays, doubly so for us...I regret the years I wasted drunk during the holidays, I'm very grateful my kids hung in there and still love me!!! (sadly their mother passed due to liver cancer a few years ago...she could never quite give in)

Thanks for the kind words Swimmer, and everybody. Y'all know I love my old school ride, and that red really does rock!

Look forward to seeing those pics when you find 'em, too. I love dat old stuff! :andy:

About regrets: having grown up in an alcoholic household, I can tell you what kind of damage a volatile, mean drunk can do to an impressionable child. My father could gut me with a look, or a word, and leave me in tatters. I still carry (and work on) some of those wounds today. However, a year and a half after I sobered up, my father stopped drinking. When I asked him why, he said "I wanted to be an example to my kids."

At the time I let it pass, but a few years later I reminded him of that conversation, and asked him what he meant. He told me he'd received my 9th Step letter, and an ACOA letter from my older brother, at about the same time. He said that double-barrel blast made him see just how much his drinking hurt his children. He hated knowing he'd caused us so much pain, and he made the decision not to be that guy anymore.

How's that for fatherly love? The habit of a lifetime - an ingrained part of his entire being - set aside in an effort to make amends to his fully-grown, already-out-on-their-own children. My Dad stayed sober the remaining 19 years of his life, and when he died there was no unfinished business between us. We were friends, and fully aware of and grateful for each other's love.

You've given (and are giving) your children that same gift. Yeah, there are things you could've done better (couldn't we all?), but I bet dollars to donuts you would have done better, if you'd been able.

Now you are. It doesn't make the hurt and regrets magically vanish, I know, but it's damn sure worth celebrating!

All IMHO, of course!

[toad]

There's a lot of healing in the posts on this thread today. I am grateful that I came here first before all the other internet stuff that I seem to find. Thanks Rarly for the kind uplifting words. It means alot when it comes from a heart that cares and speaks from experience. That picture made my day.

Please pray for my friend Jimmy W. who rode with me to RFL 07. His father passed away last night. He was elderly and has been having some heart problems the past few years. Jimmy is clean and sober and working his program. He is doing okay. He is a good son and is staying close to his mother.

Share this with me:

"The simplicity of the AA program teaches me that happiness isn't something I can "demand." It comes upon me quietly, while I serve others. In offering my hand to the newcomer or to someone who has relapsed, I find that my own sobriety has been recharged with indescribable gratitude and happiness."
Daily Reflections, page 25

92 days till spring

[Hurricane]

Speaking of "Old School"
Here's a link to a great clip someone made of David Mann's paintings with Bob Seger's " Roll me away" playing. Nice job, but as everyone knows what is in some of his work, it may not be an appropriate link for a recovery site. If not I apologize, but I really liked it and just wanted to share.
If paintings of some nudity and bars offends you, don't click it.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ideoid=5377078

[BillJ]

Always loved Mann's stuff, and Seger's just flat-out great!

As for inappropriateness: sure, Mann shows people drinking and smoking weed, but that's part of the life. Even when we're sober, we certainly see that stuff happening, right? At least I do, when I go to earthling biker events.

As for half-nekkid girls? Mann was a romantic (his painting of the girl curled up against her man's bike as he pilots his chopper home late at night is a personal fave, and just one of the tender moments he captured in his paintings), but he did present a very unrealistic, idealized image of women as hard-bellied, big-breasted, air-brushed beauties.

I'm sorry. I must have put on my "art critic" pants this morning! :andy: It's a really cool video, and I appreciate you sharing it with us.

[Rarly Harley]

Originally Posted by Hurricane

If paintings of some nudity and bars offends you, don't click it.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...ideoid=5377078

Hurricane: Thanks for the memories Bro...Easyriders and David Mann were a staple of mine throughout the 70's and early 80's. Back in the day, my previous Bros told me I looked like the dude ridin' out of the Blue Burro...LOL

[BillJ]

I'm an unhappy camper this afternoon, so I'm going to whine for a minute.

After two straight days of chasing parts, crawling around on my hands and knees searching for parts, de-rusting and cleaning old parts, etcetera, I got home and found that the one "good" pogo-stick I dug up at the shop is trash. Internal springs are broken, slider doesn't slide... The whole thing looks like it's been underwater for twenty years.

This was right after the rear mounting hole on the gas tank I borrowed stripped out, rendering that whole set-up worthless.

My scheme is still do-able. It's just not going to be quite as painless and bolt-up (and cheap) as I'd originally hoped.

On the plus side, once I'm done, I'll have a brand-new pogo-stick and saddle, a good genuine HD t-bracket, and late-model rubber-mounted fat-bob tanks, rather than leak-prone shovel-era or aftermarket tanks. The Bitch will once again be bulletproof and ready to rock!

I can live with that.

And thanks for letting me snivel.

[Hurricane]

Originally Posted by BillJ

On the plus side, once I'm done, I'll have a brand-new pogo-stick and saddle, a good genuine HD t-bracket, and late-model rubber-mounted fat-bob tanks, rather than leak-prone shovel-era or aftermarket tanks. The Bitch will once again be bulletproof and ready to rock!

Now that's what I'm talkin bout !
Looking forward to some pics.

[Jazzed_N_AZ]

Originally Posted by BillJ

I'm an unhappy camper this afternoon, so I'm going to whine for a minute.

After two straight days of chasing parts, crawling around on my hands and knees searching for parts, de-rusting and cleaning old parts, etcetera, I got home and found that the one "good" pogo-stick I dug up at the shop is trash. Internal springs are broken, slider doesn't slide... The whole thing looks like it's been underwater for twenty years.

This was right after the rear mounting hole on the gas tank I borrowed stripped out, rendering that whole set-up worthless.

My scheme is still do-able. It's just not going to be quite as painless and bolt-up (and cheap) as I'd originally hoped.

On the plus side, once I'm done, I'll have a brand-new pogo-stick and saddle, a good genuine HD t-bracket, and late-model rubber-mounted fat-bob tanks, rather than leak-prone shovel-era or aftermarket tanks. The Bitch will once again be bulletproof and ready to rock!

I can live with that.

And thanks for letting me snivel.

...So,...where's the snivle? This looks like a normal day at a (recovering) bikers house. Start a task, find a problem, figure an alternative and live with it. Probably happier, too.
This just looks like good recovery, ie; example. Ya kno what I mean?