Dark Clouds Threatening... or ...

The clouds hung low shrouding the front range. A few drops of rain splattered on my helmet. I wondered if I was going to get wet.

I was only riding a few miles into town in search of a switch. As I wait for a new Yamaha tail rack to arrive, so I can install it on the back rest, I was working on re-installing my electronics charging power dock.

I had a single "Lighter socket" power point before. This time, when I reinstalled the repaired and modified saddle bags I decided to do a better and upgraded setup. I was about to fix the new socket in place when I realized it had a power indicator light. That hadn't been noticed before.

One little led won't draw much power. Maybe a .1 or an amp or less? ... but... 24/7 that would not be a good thing... So... I decided I needed to back up and wire in a switch to kill power to the unit when un-needed/wanted, and when the bike is parked... So I was riding to find that switch.

The days have been pretty slow and frustrating lately. Down hard with the flu... my next book stalled from that and a lethargy in my writing muscle... it's just been some of that "meh" kind of a time.

So I rolled along chewing over all that frustrates. Words came to me from many places that scolded me for being "down"... bleh... just all noise...my thoughts wandered off into the distance and I just rolled...

... and that's when it struck me; not like a hard attention getting slap, not like a gong ringing in my ears... just one of those simple, quiet revelations... I had very nearly sold his moment. That's what selling the bike would have been... selling all the moments like this one... for a few transient dollars.

I was smiling... looking at those low hanging clouds and thinking... without words...

Not an ear to ear, giggling, wicked happy sort of belly laughing grin... just that easy, soft, subtle upturn of the corners of your mouth when... you're just riding easy. When all is calm and quiet and Right.

One of those moments when all the troubles and useless trivia of this life fade away and you are just in the place you belong and there are no doubts or questions... A moment when priorities come clear and you just see and hear and breathe... and your heart slides along content.

And I thanked the Boss for that moment... and suggested that a few more of 'em from time to time would be much appreciated... and the bike just rumbled along

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian

Finally! She's Back Toghether and On The Road.

Got the Raider mostly put back together last Thursday... Took some bit of gymnastics since senility seems to be advancing at an alarming rate.

I drilled things out to give better relief for the wire that feeds the license plate late this time. That's what failed on the last one. The wire got pinched until it failed.

So then...

I hooked up all the wiring for the new signal/running lights from "Back Off" and the replacement illuminated license plate bracket from "Radiantz"... and had signal and break lights, but no running lights in either the factory tail light OR the new signal lights... and no illumination light on the plate...

So... tracing wires, rechecking connections, checking fuses... check check check and nothing. After several hours of frustration, and after having called Yamaha to see if there was a hidden fuse somewhere... I'm standing there scratching my head and wondering WTF!!!

While I'm scratching... my eyes come to rest on a small black box RIGHT BESIDE the main fuse box under the seat. A small black box I MUST have seen three dozen times in the past few hours...

Any idea what is in that lil' box? grrrrrrr... yup... THE tail light fuse that was causing all my gyrations... Hell, I'd taken half of the the back of that bike apart hunting for what was causing my troubles and there it sat... right there hidden in plain sight... just plain pathetic...

So... the bags are repaired, repainted and reinstalled.

The new lights are on and working.

The shift lever is repaired and straight.

The pipes are refinished and reinstalled.



The damaged wheel finish is polished up and they're looking good...

Sonja the Raider is back on the road.

I much like the new light and license plate layout better than before. It's a lot cleaner.

My only gripe is that when they're on, those signal/running lights aren't quite as bright in the daylight as I'd like them to be...

...soooo... I plan to add a second set right above the existing ones... just double 'em up. I think that'll work just fine.

So Friday I took a quick ride over to the carwash to clean off a few weeks of dust and stuff that had collected from sitting on the jack in the garage for so long.


... And of course... washing any sort of a vehicle makes it rain right?

This was no exception... just as soon as I pulled out of the carwash with a shiny squared up scooter... it started raining...

Well... if I'm gonna waste a wash might as well at least make it worth my while so instead of just goin' on home I turned west for Poudre Canyon.

The farther I rode west the darker the skies got... and the more frequent the rain squalls... The river up there was running bank full.

Fact is now today, it's really starting to flood roads and such again down here on the flat lands. Everyone is kinda nervous considering what happened last September... and repairs from all that aren't even close to being done yet...

With the skies looking ever more ominous to the west I chose to just turn 'round and head back through the lighter rain goin' east ;)

I don't mind the rain... hell I sort of enjoy it. I'm not what you might call a fair weather biker... but to be honest... I was starting to feel kinda puny...

So I turned back.

Saturday dawned bright and sunny but by mid day I was feeling kinda blah again. Thought maybe a ride up Big Thompson Canyon would lift my spirits some...

... That river, the next big canyon south, is running fairly full too, but not as heavy it seems as the Poudre.

Buuuuut... by the time I ran the Canyon and got home... I was feeling like I'd run a marathon with a 300 pound whore on my back... yup... that "puny" feeling was some sort of a flu coming on...

... which has been whuppin' my butt since Saturday afternoon... and continues today...

So I guess... for the next few days it's lay about waiting for this crud to run its course...

Grab Your Handles and Ride
Brian