Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Um... NO... You WILL Take a Break!

Saw an Ad pop up on another site... I couldn't believe I really saw what I thought I think I saw...

I had to go investigate it... just had to...

Tell me it ain't so? You weren't really hoping for something like this were you? Sorry... but if this is a marketable product for the reasons stated? SOMEBODY has Truly Screwed up Priorities!

When you are riding up the Alcan... or over Beartooth... or down the Pacific Coast Highway...

Or whistling across Hwy 50 in Nevada... think and prepare... Please! :)

Because... NO... You Can't just Pee Anywhere!

This is how do they say it? ... WRONG, on sooooo many levels...

I'm seldom at a loss for words... but I gotta tell you, if these folks actually succeed at sellin' this stuff... profitably... 'cause someone at a football game or leaning through the twisties can't take the time to go find an outhouse? ... it says something 'bout the society I live in...

... That I don't want to know about...

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Sunday, March 11, 2012

The IBA... It's Capturing My Imagination

In contrast to the past where sheer miles was never a goal... something is tickling me...

I don't know. Maybe I just need a challenge that combines tests of mind and body that I can get my teeth into. Maybe it's just that the lust for a Ribbon of Highway has finally made my brain go soft! :)

But the Iron Butt Association is rumbling its way into my thoughts more and more these days...

There's a rally coming in June in Colorado... The Ultimate Coast to Coast... "Florida to Alaska", every two year, marathon in 2013... a 48 states in 10 days asphalt burner, 50 National Parks in 25 States within one year... and all sorts of other rides and ideas for rides that test man, machine and inject a bit of adventure into life on two wheels.

I've had some of those rides, or rides awful close to 'em listed on my Motorcycle "Bucket List" for quite a while... maybe this is the jab I needed to start dingin' 'em off... one... or three... at a time!

Whatever. It's got my imagination lit up... in a way that it hasn't in quite a while. Awesome... though... now it also takes me back to the Sketch Pad... to tinker with the remodeling I want to do on the Raider. I need to tweak a few things... I wonder how many other Factory Choppers there are on the Iron Butt rides? :)

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

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Friday, March 9, 2012

In Pursuit of a Major Motorcycle Rebuild

I don't suppose the Raider is a quarter of the way through it's likely life span. She's carried me on a lot of roads in the dress she wore when she rolled off the Star Motorcycle Assembly line back in 2008.

I have a hunger to tailor her to better fit the current "Me" that has evolved ... or some might claim "De-Volved" the past few years.

While I haven't solved the big question yet; "Where's the dinero for her Makeover gonna come from?", I am zeroing in on what the makeover is going to look like. :)

... and some of it just might mean I've got another meal of crow feathers coming! :)

There's a few issues I'm looking to address. After many miles, all sorts of weather and the changes of thinking that life carries, I've decided I want to change from Leather Saddlebags to Fiberglass Hard bags. The Tsukayu Coners are currently standing at the head of the line, and will most likely be the Vinyl Wrapped variety.

To do that though, I must first swap exhaust pipes to make room... and here I'm waffling between Vance and Hines and going a bit different direction with Hard Chrome Black Ceramic 3" Res-Tec drag pipes...(their websites is dinged up so I can't show the link)

Then... up on the front end... the possible source of the Crow Feathers meal... another Tsukayu product...

Yeah... I know... Naked Motorcycle... It's pretty much been my Mantra... What can I say... maybe it's time for a change! :) I want the tunes and a few of the niceties in my old age!

The other major thing I would really LIKE to do... is custom paint... I'm still working on that... I've had a sketch I drew up, for a long time, of what I would like to do... time will only tell if I manage to pull the trigger on that...


This is... sort of... the color... I'm thinking a deep, metalic, burnt umber sort of Orange... hard to find in a colored pen! ;)

... and then the smiling Skull... and "Flames" that are sort of a hybrid between fire and dreadlocks :)... sure to offend some... :) ah well, If I quit offending it likely means I've died... so I'll live with it.

The base paint is the most likely... and then possibly as a "Phase II" the airbrush work... if somebody feels the need to read enough of my "westerns" to permit all that anyway! :) not to mention the grips, mirrors, shift linkage, tail light (making the turn signals integral) and a few other odds and ends...

The hardest part after finding the cash to shine her up... is the taking her off the road for the amount of time it will require to get it all done! :( ...

Ah well... if you're gonna own horses... there's a lot of shoveling that has to be done.

Grab Your Handles and Ride!
Brian

Return to the Home page of Motorcycle Touring on Freedom Road
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Share your stories and opinions;
*Tell us Which you think is the... The Best Touring Motorcycle
*Share...  Your Personal Motorcycle Philosophy with us!
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