Thanks for the laugh Tim.

A friend posted this on a popular social website and made me laugh.



Happy New Year everyone!!!

Happy Solstice

The days start getting longer, at least for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, sorry Geoff and Raftnn, no sympathy from me as I read your blogs of you two riding, enjoying summer and posting pics of Pohutukawa - the NZ Christmas tree.

However, this day is of great significance to us motorcyclists North of the Equator, it means the clock has turned, we have rounded the corner and started our way towards Spring. The sun returns and stays with us just a little bit longer each day, warming the earth, melting the snow and ice.

Sure, it's the first day of winter and the beginning of a new season, but in Oregon we start every calendar year as cold and wettest, then Spring is warmer and wet, Summer is just plain hot and dry then in the Fall it is back to wet. With 7 months of the year being wet, the short dry season is all we have to look forward to.

I looked outside to the sky last night before heading to bed and it was too cloudy to bother staying up for the lunar eclipse. I did hear today that the sky in our area did clear up. Of course photos of last night's event are all over the interweb this morning, I stole these from Huffington Post





Sure hope you photographers got some great photos as I always look forward to all of your great work.

Wishing everyone a Happy Solstice, a Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings.

IMS Seattle 2010

We went to the International Motorcycle Show in Seattle last weekend. Same thing as last year, but we didn't take the train and drove up. We also had Tbolt with us, well, at least for as long as we could contain her. She was volunteering at the Women's Ride Booth at noon til 3:00 so as soon as we arrived at 11:30 she got her bearings and was gone.
We met a couple of friends that used to live around here, Eddy recently moved to Vancouver, Washington and Doug to the Dalles, Oregon.
Getting on the road early and driving directly to the show, we were hungry, so off we went in search of lunch; Rick suggested Pyramid Brewery Alehouse around the corner. After a bite to eat and visiting with the guys we were back at the show sitting on bikes.


Eddy



Doug



Then I had to go harass the Harley guys.





All in good fun,


until the Harley rep pulled a knife and offered to remove the logo from my shirt. Who would of thought Harley guys would get so jealous over a shirt.

So I went over and checked out a Victory...



then kicked it over and blamed the Harley guy.



We looked at some gear,



helmets,




Yamaha,






and Ducati.





While trying to locate BobSkoot and Mrs. Skoot, the stunt show started.



It was a lot of noise and very little stunting, these guys weren't half as good as the Ducati team was last year. We couldn't hear the announcer or understand him as he mumbled and had the personality of a wet noodle. The two riders tried but just couldn't get traction on the slippery floor and didn't know to use Coca-Cola and maple syrup on the floor the night before to make it sticky.



So we gave up, walked away and went in search of fellow Canadians. While we played phone tag with Bobskoot, we checked out Honda.




And messed with the Honda guys.



I didn't know SonjaM was at the show until it was too late and was headed home. Sorry we missed you.

We chatted with Daniel from PNWRiders as he was there taking pictures.



Then it was over to Suzuki.





I kid Bob and Josh about the Wee Strom,



but had I not found the Tiger, I was very close to buying this model in this color. A very nice bike.

We checked out a few more bikes, the camera was getting heavy and it was nearing the end of the day. The crowds were waning, we were tired from being up so early and the drive so we headed out.





We made it over to the hotel, checked in and met in the lobby before dinner. We lost Tbolt somewhere...too bad, because dinner was fantastico.



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What is a yute?

The question was asked by Judge Chamberlain Haller played by Fred Gwynne in the movie My Cousin Vinny.




There has been blogs of late showing pictures of the author as a yute. I believe it started with Geoff of Confessions of an Ageing Motorcyclist and (faint) hope that other bloggers will be stupid enough to follow suit.
Of the bloggers I follow, SonjaM was first to join in with Motorcycle pictures? Yes! Embarrassing? No (not yet)!


Bobskoot of Wet Coast Scootin quickly followed posting From the Past.



Before long Trobairitz was posting pics in her blog post Let's Do The Time Warp Again and then in Grubby Little Urchin



So now it is my turn with me on the tricycle, note the plastic motorcycle behind me, I started at an early age.

This is me on the first day of school; I don't remember if this was playschool or kindergarten but I was 5 or 6 years old. Wish my mom still had that little Ford Cortina.



My brother and I received our first bike from Santa in 1980 or '81, a little Yamaha Enduro 80. We dinked around on that for several years and learned to ride. I eventually rode friend's bikes too and was hooked. Sorry no photos, lost in too many moves.

Not a lot of me on bikes, but of me and my bikes. I think I was 13 or 14 years old on the quad with my cousin Landon up in Valleyview, Alberta one summer for my uncle's 50th birthday party.



My very first real street bike out of high school was a 1974 Honda CB750Four with full fairing and bags. My mother talked me into this over a little Honda 250, maybe she thought I wouldn't outgrow this one. It was a nice ride, although heavy to pick up after dropping it the carport one day when I forgot to put the kickstand down.



From there I moved onto an '81 Suzuki GS550 but got bored with that real quick and bought an '84 Honda Magna V45. This was a great bike and I loved it and rode it from Penticton, B.C. to Calgary and back one weekend.



But as Bobskoot can attest, ICBC isn't kind when it comes to insuring vehicles and it just became too expensive for a young man in his 20's to own two cars and a bike.


Yes, that was my Barracuda in the background. Eventually sold them both to move to the US.

In the meantime, I played around on Dad's trike.



Since then we've owned another Honda Magna V45, a Kawasaki KZ900LTD, Kawasaki Ninja 650R, Honda Nighthawk 250, a Triumph Sprint ST, Triumph America...




and the now the Triumph Tiger and Suzuki TU250.




So that's a yute.


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Pre-trip inspection

I am a procrastinator, I have admitted it in past posts, I also have a terrible memory or what I call CRAFT disease.

I have all the intent in the world to check my bike, do a pre-trip inspection but while walking to the garage I'm like a puppy, if something else grabs my attention along the way, I fetch the ball and completely forget what I was going to do in the garage.



So it should be no surprise when I felt something odd through my rear brake pedal last night on my ride home. A slight pulsating and... could that be a rock in my brakes causing that grinding? Meh, I'll favor the rear brakes and check it when I get home.

So it should be no surprise when I felt something odd through my rear brake pedal this morning on my ride to work. A slight pulsating and... could that be a rock in my brakes causing that grinding? Meh, I'll favor the rear brakes and check it when I get to work.

See what I mean? Welcome to my world, everyday is something new.

If I had only had four days off to work in the garage and check my bike, replace the worn brake pads, clean and lube the chain, replace the worn brake pads, change the tires and replace the worn brake pads.

I called the local parts store this morning, the new brake pads are on order and should be here tomorrow. I'll limp my bike home tonight, wonder what that pulsating is in my brake pedal and remember to favor the rear brakes. I do eventually learn through repetition.

The problem is I have to get myself into a routine of checking my bike at least once a week. I would say daily but I am also a realist and I know that isn't going to happen. I'm like a puppy, if something else grabs my attention along the way, I fetch the ball and completely forget what I was going to do in the garage.



I'll be caging it tomorrow and you'd think it would teach me for procrastinating, but it won't because I won't remember it.


"It's déjà vu all over again".
~ Yogi Berra




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Happy Thanksgiving

Okay guys, time to head out to the garage to find, clean and return to the kitchen drawer your wife's turkey baster before she sees it's missing. Although knowing that you used the baster for leveling acid in your batteries, emptying the float bowls in your carbs and transferring fuel from your bike to the lawn mower last spring or bleeding your brakes, do you really want it back in the kitchen?



I like Thanksgiving,


...it's everything Christmas should be.

I'm thankful that Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday each November so there isn't any guessing of what days the boss will give you off of work. A guaranteed four day weekend, none of this 25th of December falling on a Saturday, Sunday or mid-week scheduling crap, eating up your precious vacation days you've squirreled away for that trip you want to take next year. Sorry Canada, this is one holiday I give to the US for getting right.



I'm thankful there isn't the commercialism attached to Thanksgiving. I don't feel obligated to go out and spend hundreds of dollars on material things for others that they already have or didn't ask for. Although the grocery stores are busy with people pushing, shoving and going toe to toe for the last can of cranberry jelly log, I don't have to participate. Our cupboards are stocked, we don't eat a lot and we aren't working in the kitchen all day.




I'm thankful for the weather, although this year we had a brief dusting of snow and ice a bit early, today is looking to be clear and sunny. I may be able to sneak a ride in this afternoon. November is usually much better for weather than the end of December. I hope those who are traveling for Thanksgiving aren't taking this for granted because it's going to be much worse in another month.

I'm thankful for the one, simple holiday greeting "Happy Thanksgiving". There is only one way to say it and what's better than to wish someone a neutral greeting. No one can take offense because of their beliefs, you don't have to make sure to include or you accidentally exclude a certain group when offering a friendly salutation.

I'm thankful for not decorating. No climbing on the roof, precariously hanging over the edge or dragging out and climbing a 40' ladder with wet, slippery snow packed boots to string lights on the house, trees and shrubs in the yard. I'm not untangling 600 feet of twinkling lights only to find that I have to go through seventeen hundred and ninety four lights to find the one bulb that's burned out. No trees were killed in the making of this holiday only to be toss out on the street 3 months later with the trash. And best of all no tinsel, who thought of this little accessory anyway?



I'm thankful for the peace and quiet. Even though some radio stations and department stores insist on playing holiday music 18 weeks early, one can get through Thanksgiving without hearing Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer 42 times a day. The bell ringers have started but you can still avoid those stores and find what you need at another store that has at least held out allowing the incessant ringing until tomorrow.



I rant and joke with tongue in cheek, but in all seriousness, I am very thankful.

I am thankful to have such a loving and caring family.

My wife Brandy,



my Mom and Dad,



my brother Barrett, sister-in-law Lisa and my favorite niece Faith,



my mother-in law Carleta,



my brother-in-law Tiger and sister-in-law Tanisha.



I am thankful for all my friends, readers and fellow bloggers.







I can't forget little Basil kitteh.



I am thankful for my health and to hear how fortunate and healthy my family and friends are and that everyone is doing well.

I wish everyone and your families a Happy Thanksgiving.



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