BBBQ 2009

Have I mentioned yet that I won't be attending the event this year. It just so happens that I work all four days of the BBQ and I won't have any vacation until January. I'll make up for it next year. Zach is in almost the same situation, he's going to make it there for one day though.
So have fun all of you that make it to the 10Th anniversary of BBBQ.

A new camera and reading glasses.

I finally bought a new camera. I opted for the small easily transportable Sony which is not even as big as a pack of cigarettes. It has 12.1 mp, which is awesome. It takes really good videos also.
It has a rechargable lithium battery which I hope will last a long time between charges. Until I figure out how long the battery lasts I'll take along my old camera as a backup. Which brings me to the reading glasses part of this post. Remember the ghosts I had on all the pics, which is the reason I bought the new camera? The other day my father in law was at the house, I was showing him my new camera. I told him about the old camera having the ghosts problem. He pulled out his reading classes, looked at the Pentax and told me that the smudge was on the outside of the lense. I borrowed his glasses and the rest is history. I used cleaning solution and the smudge came off fairly easy. So there you have it, stupid is as stupid does.

The end of the Telegraph Tree, Pottsville, Ar.

The last one. It's only a tree, I suppose that's why it hasn't made the news. I know how it is, these things stand around for ages, collecting dust and bugs, getting rained on, losing appendages, fighting off diseases, making it from one winter to another, soaking in the sun between naps, waking up without a complaint. Kids play around them, wagons stop, drivers have dinner beneath the towering branches. Lovers sit on blankets having picnics while the armies of ants and other insects crawl up the gnarly trunk. Year after year, home to thousands of birds, many calling it home. Squirrels, Raccoons and Opossums must have sit on the branches watching the world below. Possibly with old man Pott's hunting dog barking up the trunk.The Telegraph chattered for a time, the tree didn't care, they never do. A Civil War and World Wars have gone by and the tree stands solemnly, quietly, except for the wind through it's branches and the creaking of it's limbs. The road went from dirt with horses traveling by to asphalt and automobiles thundering past.


The tree is dead, there will be no burial, it will stand above the plaque, it's one recognition, waiting, rotting, until someone decides it time to move the corpse. Then in an instant in time, dust will be all there is, as it was and will always be.

The end of an era

The place where people that didn't have a lot of money could actually afford to take there kids once in awhile. I rode by to see what was playing and the old mans picture was on the window. Check out the website below.
http://valleycinematrio.org/default.aspx

The Tsubaki chain.

I've done it before, but this time it didn't work out the same. I bought a 39 tooth rear sprocket and a 120 link chain. The last time I did this, the chain stretched a little (wore out quickly is probably a better word for it) and it worked just fine. This time I bought a Tsubaki chain and it is obviously a very good chain. The old Honda model chain wore out with enough slack in it after about 50 miles. The Tsubaki was still as tight as new after 300 miles. So I decided it should come off until I get a 38 tooth rear sprocket.
I'm not the greatest or smartest mechanic in the universe but I know its not good to have a lot of pressure on the cam shaft, transmission or rear axle.
The 120 link would be great for a 37 to 38 tooth sprocket. For the 39 to 41 tooth, the 122 link will work great. Actually I probably could of used the 121 link chain but I'll not be cutting it that close again.
I'm back on the road again. Not that it will do me any good. It's really difficult getting used to not having a 7 day break every three weeks. It sucks really bad. Well, having a good job was good while it lasted.
I can remember when I was a kid watching tv (yes they had tv then). I remember watching news about how work is changing for the American family, how that soon instead of working 40 hours a week, it would be 20 hours a week. Plenty of time would be left over to use the camper and go on vacation. Higher wages and less time at work, what a dream, what a dream that was only that. Welcome to corporate america, the great American dream.
I think it's time for some "Northern Exposure", now thats the life.

I finally got out of town.

I got up early Saturday morning and went to the Mountains, Music and Motorcycle Rally in Mountain View, Ar. It was a perfect day, a cool morning turned into a lot of sunshine and a not too warm day. The last time I went to the MMM rally was in 2007, I was impressed with it, it was easy going not too crowded and had bike games, a fun rally. The rally t-shirt sucked bad that year but this year it was a good looking shirt with not even one advertisement. I wrote a letter to the guy in charge that year, maybe that helped. I know I've got lots of t-shirts but it's just a thing of mine, I always buy the shirt, patch and pin (ya never know when you might need them).

It was good to be back out among people that love to ride bikes. The crowd this year has grown, it seemed to be at least twice the size and maybe three times as big as the 2007 crowd. I look forward to going next year. Its going to be on my yearly calendar now.

I got some bad news the other day, I may not be going to the Bikes, Blues and BBQ this year. This job I have has pulled me around so much I think my joints are going bad. I was going to be off this year and now as of a few days ago, right here before the rally, I won't be off. Not one day of the rally will I be off. If I can't find someone to trade with I won't be going. My daughter has been bugging me for the last couple of years to take her to the BBBQ and this year we were going up on Saturday, she had already informed her boss that she wouldn't be working that day. Now its right back to the same ole thing, my job screwing with my family life. I guess I should be used to it. I'll never forget the time I was at deer camp about 22 years ago. My wife's aunt come into camp about 6pm and said she had a message for me that had gone to my wife and then to her to give to me. She said that my job scheduler told her that I was to come to work immediately or don't bother coming back to work except to pick up my personal stuff. Stupid me I left camp, went home, went to work and stayed up all night after having scouted for deer all day. That was really smart on the schedulers part, stupid on my part for showing up. I missed the first day of deer season got into it with the scheduler and my wife learned to not be answering phone calls intended for me.

That was probably a little too much to talk about that didn't have anything to do with motorcycles. Here's some pics from MMM. Oh yeah, the ghostly smudges have returned to my pictures, I guess it's time to get a new camera.

Above is a statue of a Bison, its along Hwy 95 just South of Clinton,Ar. Its out in a field with nothing else around except grass. A really nice bronze statue and if you weren't looking for it you might not see it. Its probably at least 100 yards off the highway.

Now this is something you don't see very often nowadays. The old 750Four Chopper. The one below is also a 750 but I wouldn't call it a chopper. I saw a third one but didn't catch a pic of it. More than I've seen at any other rally in recent years.

See you at Mountain View next year, I plan to get a room or take a tent and spend both days there. Cya then.

The Good, the Bad and the Idiots.

What shall I start with? The good news, the bad news or the idiots? How about the good news.

The good news is a couple of Saturdays ago I went for a ride. Turns out it was most definitely a good day for a ride in more ways than one.

I've been stewing over this posting since then. I decided I would not get on the blog and post immediately after my ride. I felt it would not be constructive in any way and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.

The family other than myself were camping at John F. Kennedy park on the Little Red River at Heber Springs. I couldn't leave with them initially due to work so I decided to ride up later. I know what your thinking....yeah right, he planned it that way so he could go for a ride. The truth is I honestly couldn't leave earlier.

I decided I would make a good ride of it and hit a few roads I hadn't ridden yet. I went to Morrilton and took Hwy 95 to Clinton (more on Hwy 95 later in the bad news). Hwy 95 is one of my favorite rides, its got its share of straight sections, but also has plenty of good curves and hills. The scenery is really nice and I've never been on it when the traffic was anything but sparse. I especially like the town of Scotland, I had intended to hang around Scotland for some good photo ops I knew the area had. As it turned out I didn't hang around due to the afore mentioned bad news.
When I reached Clinton I turned left onto 65, taking it to Botkinburg and made a right onto Hwy 110. This is one of the roads I hadn't ridden yet and it turned out to be an interesting ride, I wish I'd stopped and taken more pics, but my mind wasn't in the right place since I still hadn't recovered completely from the bad news. This road has some good views with beautiful hillside farm land. I caught myself wondered how the area had eluded me all these years. Maybe the reason why its still so nice is because it's off the beaten track.
I followed 110 until I reached Hwy 16, then rode on into Greer's Ferry on a section I hadn't been on until then. Afterwards I took 92 and 25 on into Heber Springs.
I'd wanted to take a detour off of Hwy 92 and hit a section of 225 to Prim, Ar. then 263 back to 92. That would of finished my roads in that area, but just after passing through Greer's Ferry, it started to rain hard so I bypassed those two roads.

I made it to camp on the Little Red River, had a meal, visited and made ready for the trip back home. I had intended to stay the night but something had come up as often happens.

Now for the bad news.
Just before reaching Scotland, traveling at 50-55 mph on an easy left hand curve, I noticed two motorcycles coming towards me. I can still picture what happened, I know exactly what I did and why I did it. There was a rapid thought process as usually happens in these type of situations. I know that the time involved could not have been more than two seconds at the most. It seemed like more and still does. I thought of a lot in that minuscule amount of time. One motorcycle was hugging the outside part of the lane, the other was in my lane and leaning as much as he could possibly lean and both were traveling at I would guess a minimum 75 mph, maybe more. When I saw the bike in my lane I remember thinking....do I take the left or the right....the other bike was left...I'll take the right...apply brakes...not too much....I don't wanna start a slide. There was no shoulder, only a drop off, I was on a hillside. I remember...thinking...you idiot (the other old fart), don't brake and slide!! I thought about my family at the camp. I hugged the white line, that and a few inches more was all that separated me between today and tomorrow. All this in possibly only a split second. I saw the look on the idiots face, a weird smile, a do rag around his head, the leather vest, the sound of the Harley's engine, the whoosh within two feet of me. Then I was out of it, my heart didn't have time to beat fast, I didn't have time to be afraid of what could happen. I thought for a second about chasing them down and telling them what I thought, then decided I wouldn't be able to catch them even if I wanted to.
I pulled over after the curve, took my helmet off. I thought to myself... out loud. You freaking idiot!!! A few more choice words and I got off Cindy, being careful, pulling the Mustang seat out of my arse. I walked around thinking how nice it was to still be in one piece with no broken bones and still having to wonder if there really was an afterlife.
I'm telling ya people, I was pissed. Another motorcycle almost caused me to buy the farm. That just isn't funny. I also got to thinking how I had saved the old farts life. That's right, I rode my bike, I could of driven, but I like to ride. If I'd been in a car, I'd have a new hood ornament. He for sure would of been killed and I may not of made it out any better.

Now its time for the idiots. Pretty simple, idiots come in all shapes and sizes and they can ride or drive anything. The guys on those bikes may have been new to riding but I doubt it. I think he was just an idiot, possibly a drunk idiot. I don't know that though, but I'm sure of one thing, he counted coo this time and made it, next time he may make it to that great motorcycle road in the sky.

Be careful out there people.

I have some pics, I just don't have them with me, I'll add a few later