The Coyote's Ramblings
- 2008D
Copyright
© 2000-2008 The Coyote's Den
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12/2/08
I'm being the proverbial candy-ass today and writing
this instead of going riding in that bracing, sunny, 48-degree weather
at noon. Maybe I'll work up to by this evening but, right now,
I'm warm and comfy! On Friday, I was entering the new pipes
in my service log and realized it'd been ages since I'd checked the
valves on the ol' scoot. Actually, 12,000 miles, but since it
looked like rain, it'd been sitting overnight, and I had no other
plans for the day...why not. Now, in the past, I'd had access
to the Motorcycle Emporium lifts and plenty of room to work so I didn't
really consider I would be working on ground level in my somewhat
cramped bike barn.
In order to even reach the valves on a VTX,
you must first remove the tank and airbox (which means removing the
seats), and remove the timing cover to turn the engine to TDC.
Just try THAT with bifocals with the scoot on ground level.
Even working with two layer of my rubber matting, concrete gets real
hard on the knees, and the strange body contortions required in the
process took their toll on this beat-up, 65-year-old bod! Some several
hours and skinned knuckles later, I finished the job and buttoned
her up. The rear valves were in spec and it was only minor adjustments
to the fronts, but a road test was seriously called for.
After
gearing up, I headed out to try her out on 98. Unfortunately,
I became a tad too enthusiastic on Fairfield and drew the attention
of a white Dodge Charger which seemed to have a variety of red and
blue lights hidden under its otherwise slick exterior. After
I had pulled over and taken the key from the switch, a rather tall
State Trooper started to emerge from the Charger...and kept emerging!
Now, I'm 6'2", and I had to look WAAAY up to look this gentleman
of the law in the eye. To keep a long story from getting any
longer, I got my first speeding ticket on a bike ($109 worth).
I can't really complain, though, considering the number I probably
should have gotten over the years. What really complained
is my body; by later that evening, and into Saturday, I could barely
move from a stove-up body and pain in places I forgot I had places.
I think I'll pay someone next time.
I'm sorry I missed the PMS
blanket run on Saturday despite the rain; it had a great work-up
on TV3. Sunday, I rode over into Alabama via Perdido Key.
It was kinda expected to be windy on the Gulf side but when I rode
up along Canal Road in Orange Beach, I was surprised to see whitecaps
on the Intercoastal. It was a great ride but I was worn out
by the time I got back to PMS, from battling the gusts. I'm
running out of room so I'll shut up but first; kudos to Mobile Hwy
Wallyworld for putting in motorcycle-only parking spaces. Thanks!
See y'all on the road.
12/13/08
Okay, I'm once again delinquent
in relieving your boredom by living your life for you. I can't
really think of a thing I've done lately that would even interest
you except riding to Chumukla for the bike show today. Even
THAT was an unevent! With the cooler (read "COLD") weather,
I've been indoors more than usual but I did find a toy I'd love to
have for Christmas. Check this out:
I
also found another place the purports to tell me how good
a driver I am. I did get a 90, despite my recent speeding ticket. Click To take Quiz .
I know it's a cop-out, but that's
all I really have for now. I'm just tired of complaining e-mails,
so can it! Have a Merry Christmas, and be careful out there.
11/27/08
For
those concerned...I'm still smoke-free...and thanks for asking!
In the pipes arena, neither of the two earlier Craigslist inquiries
I mentioned panned out, but another from right here in P'cola did!
They were installed yesterday and sound great (I'm not a "loud pipes
save lives" proponent, as some of you know.) In celebration,
I washed the scoot, so sorry about the rain; it never seems to fail.
These
latest patches of cool weather seem to have cut down on the other
scoots I see on the road, but I've been having fun. Once again,
Gallery Night was no sweat parking downtown but when I got to PMS
later, it was DEAD! What kinda bikers do we have when it wasn't even
freezing and nobody else's even riding? The weekend made up
for it though. Saturday was out 98 and the model jet meet at
Holley OLF, as well as Guilf Breeze Flea market. Sunday was
north to the Pow Wow in Floridatown and then circulating to the south.
Both days wound up at PMS with pretty good crowds.
I still have
that set of "C" pipes, so if you run across anybody looking for a
stock set, turn 'em on to me; they're just taking up space.
In the meantime, be safe out there on the road...especially around
shopping areas during this crazy shopping time. Hope y'all have
a great Thanksgiving and I'll seeya!
11/19/08
It looks like I let a little extra time
slip away this time but I have been busy. Some of you
may know I've been looking for some stock exhausts for my scoot.
There's a rattle developing in the baffles in one, and I don't want
to re-jet, and I sure as hell don't want to pay OEM price for one!
Well, I accidently won an E-Bay auction for a set in Oklahoma.
They were described as being for a VTX1300C/R and, at the time, I
wasn't aware the two models were NOT interchangable. I put in
a $100 bid and forgot about it ... until I got the e-mail saying I'd
won. Okay, I Pay-Pal'ed the moola and THEN looked in my shop
manual to see what had to be done. THAT'S when I discovered
my error (as well as the seller's). Anybody want to buy a nice
set of OEM pipes for a VTX1300C? In the process of looking around,
I was told about Craigslist.org, and put up a "Wanted" ad for
the "R" pipes and have already been contacted by two local(Navarre
and Crestview) sources. You ought to check it out.
I'll let you know later how this whole thing turns out.
In our
riding around the area, we've all come across road hazards such as
potholes and bad gravel. I just got informed over the weekend
that Escambia County Roads and Bridges Department wants you to let
them know as soon as they're discovered; they've got to have SOMETHING
for those road crew prisoners to work on. Here's the number
for those in Escambia County: 850-937-2021. Put it in your cell
phone now and call as soon as you can after you see a problem; I know
I have this tendency to forget if I wait until I get home. For
now, that's it so I'll seeya on the road somewhere. Ride safe!
11/9/08
...another week down and
almost 3 months smoke-free! I've been putting around town during
the week, doing the usual stops, but Saturday was too pretty to stay
home...but I get ahead of myself. Friday evening at PMS had a good
crowd, but the highlight was watching (and helping) all us juvenile
pyromaniacs trying to get the fire going with wet firewood.
I seriously think there's fire gene in the male makeup!
NOW,
to Saturday! First was a nice, leisurely, ride over to Foley
for the Heritage Festival. My interest there is primarily mechanical,
with a great antique tractor show and the wooden boat show.
I'm no expert on either but I really do appreciate fine craftsmanship.
There were a couple of Criscraft restorations and a totally gorgeous,
hand-built little motorized runabout, conplete with caned seats and
all the requisite brightwork. I'd almost hate to put it in the
water.
Next was a pop up 59 to Loxley to drop in on Keith Stokes'
second Victory dealership, which he just opened. It was funny
to see a shop with a ceiling high enough not to have to worry about
the lifts. I didn't take up too much time there as they were
all busy with customers...hopefully. From there, it was I-10
to get to the Wisteria for the "No Show". While on the slab,
I realized I finally had a locking cruise control, open, flat road,
and light traffic, along with a sweep second hand right on my handlebar.
I could actually get a true speedo check. For your information,
a 43 second mile computes to 83.7MPH which, since I was indicating
90, yields a 7.5% speedo error. Okay, so it was interesting
to ME.
Slowing considerably when I reached the state line, I
cruised down 110 to Fairfield, up 12 Avenue, and into a nice mess
of scoots at the Wisteria. Cold beer and good friends pretty
much made the rest of the day. Life is good. That's it
for now 'cause its pretty out. Y'all ride safe, now, and be
good to one another!
11/2/08
If you weren't there, you missed
a good'n! Halloween party, that is. Your's truly actually
went in character as Pcola Jones, Indiana's fat, retired, brother
from Florida. Of course, all it really took was my Stetson slouch
hat and a bullwhip, but some of the ladies really seemed to enjoy
it. I noticed Muff was taking video's but I don't know if they'll
make the web or not; you'll have to ask him about that.
Saturday's
open house at PMS also went well. I dropped in during the day,
and then came back in the evening, and there seemed to be at least
40 - 50+ there at any time until closing Saturday night. I wish
we could get Civilized Native (the band)there for every weekend, but
I doubt that is economically feasible. It WAS some of the best
live music I've heard in ages, and there was even dancing!
I've
been getting some riding in with this delicious fall weather, but
not as much as I'd like. Frankly, all this weight gain has been
a real pain, and I mean that quite literally...not complainin', just
'splainin'. Hopefully, the VA will decide to change my Sythroid
dosage and I can start getting back to normal...whatever the hell
that is, or was.
That's it for now since going off daylight savings
has messed up my internal clock. At least I don't have to go
to a job tomorrow. Yehaw, retirement!! Take care, ride
safely, and I'll seeya on the road!
12/27/08
Merry Christmas and all that stuff. Sometimes there's
a reason, OTHER than pure laziness, why I haven't updated in a while
and this is one of those times. At least, last week it was.
For about 5 days, I was dealing with some kind of stomach bug and
my output wasn't anything anybody would want to talk about.
Since then, though,when it wasn't raining, I was riding.
Mostly
it's been just running Baldwin back-roads but, today, I actually set
out with a destination in mind. It was just too pretty a day
NOT to ride to Stockton, AL for the Stagecoach Ride-in. I got
a little late start so I started via I-10 but it was so windy I got
off at Wilcox and headed up 64. That was a tad better, except
in the clear-cut areas, and I kept passing other scoots along the
way. I pulled into the Stagecoach parking lot around 11:15 and
the parking was chaotic! Damned good crowd...and parked everywhere.
There was still some standng water in spots but I thought I could
see the parking lines...until I dropped the front wheel into a nice
little pothole. Okay, there I am trying to push backward with
water trying to come into my boots and everybody waiting for me to
drop it. I finally drug it up on the mud and got the kickstand
down. I'm glad I got that out of the way; if that's the stupidest
thing I did on a bike today, I was in good shape.
After walking
around a bit, it was time to hit the road again. For no conceivable
reason, when I got to I-65, I headed west instead of staying
south on 225. Duh! Did you know there are no more exits
on 65 southbound until AFTER the Tensaw and Alabama River bridges.
Did you also know that when you're a couple hundred feet in the air,
the wind gusts that are just annoying at ground level can become terrifying?
No? Try it sometime. There was no way in hell I was going
to come back across that death-trap on a windy day like today.
I had really had enough Interstate for one day so this friendly guy
at the fast-food place I stopped said to just stay south on 43 (where
I was)and it would put me right out at the old 90/98 Mobile Bay crossing
instead of interstate.
What he FAILED to mention was 1. I would
go through parts of Mobile I really didn't want to and, 2. I would
have to cross an even higher bridge with even higher winds to get
back. All I can say at this late state is that the Ol' Coyote
has survived a couple more poor decisions and maybe learned a tad
more. That's my hope for y'all out there as well; survive your
bad decisions, try not to repeat 'em, and be good to your Brothers
and Sisters. Ride safe!