Independence Day

Back to work after a very relaxing holiday weekend. No riding but plenty of relaxing and a bit of work around the house.
Things kicked off Friday with a neighborhood parade. Several families and kids had a parade in the neighborhood and had bikes, etc decorated. Was cute.



We went to the fireworks at Craig Ranch for Red, White and Boom, which was the name for the new annual July 4 celebration that Mckinney will be having. The location was good for watching the fireworks. We got there too late to check out the festivities, but I think the planners learned a few things about the traffic patterns. I thought we would be in and out, no doubt the planners did as well, but I think there was a lot more traffic that headed north out of the park instead of to the 121. I would like to think that next year, there will be better “action” on the departing traffic with much more assistance from the police. It didn’t take long to get home, especially considering other events like KaBoom Town in Addison, but was worse than I expected.

Saturday Darlene and I went to downtown Mckinney to partake in the festivities as the boys did not want to head out. It was packed! There was a homemade ice cream contest but there were just too many folks for us to stay in line, so we did the touristy thing and hit the antique stores, and the pub.

Police "trike" in downtown Mckinney.



We got home in time to pretty much turn around with the boys and head over to Devils Bowl Speedway in Mesquite to watch Brad Lasater race. It was a lot of fun, a dirt track with localized racing. They also had a great fireworks show.




Sunday was back to (house) work. A typical Texas summer day, so that means that one must consume lots of fluids when working out of doors. Actually we had a very productive day as I built some high shelves in the shed while everyone else was working in the garage. We are finally getting our garage back. Not that a car will ever share it again with two motorcycles in there, but at least there is now walking room.

I had a ride planned, but Darlene really didn’t want to ride in the heat and my planned destination was one I want her to be part of so will save that for another day. We got lots accomplished however.

Shed

We finally got our shed. Easier to buy than build, given the other projects we have on the go, like the fence, and the heat of the summer. Bought it from Tuff Shed, not inexpensive, compared to building one self, but it was up in 4 hours and is very sturdy and well built. Hard to beat that. We need to paint and put up shelves and that is it.

Work in progress



FIN



Ain't it cute!

Rodents and assorted pests

We've been having a minor rat problem of late. Between getting spattered in the AC unit, making a nest in Darlene's car and just being the pests they are, we decided to take action. I have seen them during the day and they are not mice, but pretty good sized rats. We put a sticky rat trap out, and the only thing we caught were feathers, perhaps a bird swooped up a rat that had been caught. After the last A/C incident I figured poison was the only way to go. Sure enough when Darlene got in her car this am, there was a very sick rat stuck in the fence, and it was a big one. With the tail it had to be at least 12-14 inches long. The others I have seen have been a bit smaller than that. The bait is all gone so I'm gonna put a bit more out there.


Shot with D's camera phone...


The next pest report is a bit more tragic. And while not everyone may consider a deer a pest, a lot do. Several of our AE Family are off riding the GCR, or Grand Canyon Rendezvous. We received word that one of them, Paul M, hit a deer earlier today. He is hurt, apparently at least a couple of broken bones, but other than that should be fine. From what I hear I think he is worse off than his motorcycle. No word on the deer. Our hearts and prayers go out for a speedy recovery and safe journey for the remainder of the group.

Happy Canada Day, eh?

Ah, its Canada Day... Hot dogs, Fireworks, officially the first day of summer in Canada... Screechh... Wait a minute, I'm in Texas, summer started weeks if not months ago! Still though, its an important day.



Down here, we are fortunate to wrangle a long weekend out to the deal as July 4 is on a Friday. Mckinney is starting an new celebration this year, Red, White and Boom, with festivities Friday and Saturday. They are having the bulk of the celebrations both downtown, and then at Craig Ranch, which should be easy for us to get in and out of.

Million Mile update - well I only contributed 15 miles but I did contribute. I checked this morning, there is still time for some more folks to contribute, but when I looked they was over 2.7 million miles on the odomoter. I don't know if they'll make it to 3 million or not but it sets a good bar.

Later this month, July 15, is national ride to work day.

Million Mile Monday

Today is Million Mile Monday, which is a National HOG "challenge" for all riders to ride and log their miles today, with the challenge of riding an accumulated milage of greater than 1 million miles.

I just checked the web site, its only 9:25 am CST and there is already over 183,000 miles logged. I am curious by the end of the day, just how many millions will be logged.

Our chapter will be fairly significant contributers. We have approx 35-40 bikes on the GCR ride and they will likely ride close to 500 miles today, certainly over 400 most likely. Additionally there is a ride for all the local chapters to ride to Arkansas, which should be over 300 miles. Not sure how many folks will be on that ride.

I am working from home today but will put some miles on at some point, although it won't be a lot, but will be a contribution. I'll update tomorrow.

Turtle Rescue

Yesterday monring I went out to the truck to go get some gas for the lawnmower and there was a turtle on the road next to Ryan's truck. It was a good size turtle, the shell was about 7-8 inches long and it had a lot of algae/moss on its shell. Not really sure where it came from, there is a small creek in the area, by the fire station but its about 300 yards away, and this turtle was quite a ways from that, and the wrong side of the road. Maybe one of the neighbors has a pond or something in their backyard.

Anyway the sun was up and it was already starting to warm up quite a bit. I can't imagine that that turtle was enjoying being on the pavement. So we decided to perform a rescue. I got a bucket to put the turtle in and took him down the pond at Winniford Park. It took a few moments but he eventually swam off.

Another Lost Weekend

Not really. Got my bike back. Friday night start on fence repair, Johnny shows up, helps out. We run out of daylight before we get the posts set. So Saturday ends up being a long day, get the fence repaired though by about 7:30 pm or so. Felt good to get it back. No state rally this weekend but we had lots going on that needed to be done.

Sunday Darlene wants to plan a lunch ride for her group at work. We took the long way to Stan's in the Colony, which should be good and not too far for her group to get to from work. After that we went down to Stroker's. Neither of us had been down there in a while, they've expanded and it was busier than I expected for a hot, do nothing Sunday afternoon. After that heading home we stopped to Dukes for a beverage as well. I guess we were playing urban biker today!

Hot day, pool time when we got home!

Almost forgot, fooled around with the Zumo a bit, works well, still have to use it more to get used to it. I don't have power hooked up yet so I didn't have any audio.

Does it get any better than this?

The answer is most definately yes. Further to my day yesterday, before we got home I got a call. The neighbor's jeep jumped out of gear, rolled down his driveway and smashed into our new fence. Basically destroyed 3 sections. So now, we have to pull and replace 5 steel posts, and all the work required. Some of the material we will be able to re-use, but certainly not all of it and some of the wood will have to be replaced as well.





Shed was supposed to be delivered and built today, but rain and thunderstorms put a damper on that. Has not been rescheduled as of yet.

On a positive note, its looks like progress is being made on my bike and may even be ready today! ~ a glimmer of hope!

Frustrated!!!

Aarrgghh!!
Just got a call from the dealership. I took my bike in for warranty repairs on May 31, knowing they would not get a chance to look at it till Monday June 2. Need to order a (numbered) transmission case from the factory, 10 day delivery.

Ok. No problem no trips scheduled till June 14th weekend. oh no, 10 business days... Cancel arrangement for June 14/15 as part won't arrive till June 16.

Part arrives June 16, bike put in line behind a couple of others that are all torn apart. Not likely to be ready before Wednesday.

Called Wednesday morning. Putting back together bike before mine, will work on mine in afternoon. Not likely to be ready today, when I have made arrangements to pick up.

Receive call this afternoon.... Transmission case is black, not silver.... 2 options are install black case, or order new silver case, wait another 10 business days, plus install time. Heads about to explode!!!!

Ask if they can install black case, order correct color and when it arrives I'll bring bike back in to swap it out. They need to check to make sure factory will cover labor....

Waiting on call back as clock is ticking away for this weekend.

Happy Father's Day to me!

And to all the other Fathers as well of course!

As my bike is still in the shop, we did some more work on the fence. It feels like we are finally making progress now that we have more finished than left to complete.

Great weather all weekend, got some sun and fun in the pool, and cooked a brisket to boot. Someday I'll get a true smoker though and see what I can really do.

For Father's Day, Darlene and the boys were very good to me, a couple of kitchen utensils, and the bad boy of GPSr's the Garmin Zumo 550! Talk about full featured. I consider myself a bit tech savvy and know a bit about GPS devices, but I think this thing even has an auto pilot. If it does, the next step will be how to figure out how to turn if off as I don't want to take all the fun out of riding!

Broke Bike Update 3 - just called the dealer, sounds like cases are in, on schedule for tomorrow afternoon so probably Wednesday.... I hope so! AR state rally this weekend we are scheduled to leave Friday morning. I still gotta figure out how to get over there and get the bike home once its complete.

Broke Bike update - part deux

Bike is still in the shop, expected delivery of part is Monday June 16, so we have had to cancel our plans to go to Caddo Lake. I was really looking forward to that trip and taking some pictures, hopefully there will be a similiar trip next year.

I have also requested them to inspect and repair as needed the cam chain tensioners. Its been bugging me and now I can take comfort in knowing they have been inspected at least.

So with no riding, have been working on the fence. Making progress, slowly but surely. Will likely put up 3 more panels this weekend then pretty much have to wait as we are getting a shed and they need access so will have to tear down a section of the old fence for that.

Kim and Glen are leaving Friday for Newfoundland by way of Bear Cove, NS. Good luck and have a safe trip and thanks to Mom and Dad for the hospitality.

Broke bike update

Only a day and a half in the shop and already going through withdrawals. Especially after the call. My leak is definately a leak. And its apparently a bit worse. Excessive wear shifter shaft, some other things. Was not in a convenient spot to ask detailed questions but in short requires stamped parts from the factory that will take 10 days shipping. Repair is not apparently that major, but the delay is due to the factory parts. Fortunately its covered under the extended warranty.

Was hoping to go on the dinner ride, and the Friday MNO ride, and ride to work a couple of days, and, and, and....

Hopefully it will be back on the road prior to June 14 as that was the planned ride to Caddo Lake. It will be tight.... I was looking forward to that trip for the photo opportunities. I've never been to Caddo lake and we had a boat ride planned.

Getting behind.

We've been quite busy, and I am a bit behind in posting some updated pictures. On Memorial Day weekend, we went to Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie. It was a fun day and I took quite a few pictures. There was a couple of new acts and some other changes. We watched the jousting. This weekend was a bit different, a fight to the death and a bit more theatrical that in some of the past ones we have watched.

That weekend we also did a lot of work in the back yard, working on the yard and the fence. Its hard putting in a full day in this heat, thank goodness for the pool break in the middle of days.

This past weekend, we spent Saturday on our annual primary fundraiser for AEHOG. This was the Pass-the-Pigs event. I think we were quite successful this year. Not sure how we made out overall, riders may have been down but I don't know. It was a much better day weather wise this year, and having the ending of the event at the dealership worked out very well. Long hot day, we were pretty much exhausted by the time we got home.

Sunday was more fence work and pool time!

I'll see if I can't post some pics from recent events over the next day or two.

Warranty work

Broken parts, uh oh. Nothing bad.
I changed the oil and transmission oil last night, 37K miles (for my reference) Stuck on another K&N filter. This one didn't seem to go on very well even backed it off and tried it again. so when I started the bike, quite a bit of oil leaked out around the filter. Tightened with a wrench, no more leak, hopefully I'll be able to take it off when the time comes.

But while I was checking for leaks I also tried to find out why my exhaust sounded different, and louder than normal. There is was, the rear header pipe, had a crack, almost a split, coming out of the rear head. I guess that explains why I though my bike sounded different. I was wondering if it was because I had been doing my long rides with earplugs (to reduce wind noise) and had gotten used to them or if my long trip had further "broken in" my slipons which really didn't make sense. I guess it also explains the recent increase in decel popping which I thought was due to the warmer temperatures as we are now well into the 90's.

I called the dealership, it should be covered under my extended warranty and I'm going to have them look at the small primary leak I have. From what I have been able to determine, and I could very easily be wrong, that leak may actaully be from the transmission drive seal.

The only other thing that has me concerned is the cam chain tensioner. Its one of those things that may or may not be a problem, but I don't know if I have a concern, or if its covered. Still trying to figure out how to proceed on that, maybe I'll just pick up a gasket and try to inspect it myself.

Assorted trip photos

Night shots on Las Vegas Strip. I have more but unfortunately most of the rest are blurry. double clicking on any of the images loads a higher resolution shot.






Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. Petroglyphs, critters and lots of cool rocks.









Highway 164 - Joshua Tree Highway - California / Arizona





Hoover Dam - Lake Mead





Kingman, Arizona - Route 66



Route 87 - Scottsdale to Payson, AZ




Route 260 Arizona, around McNary. Yes that white stuff is snow, I'm and 9100 ft. Especially considering that in 24 hours, the temp hits 110 in Scottsdale, just a couple of hundred miles away,




Pie Town, New Mexico - stopped for lunch.

Las Vegas Trip Report

Still sorting though pictures, will post several in the next day or two. Mileages listed below are approximate.

Day 1 – 435 miles, from home to Monahans, TX. I met everyone at the dealership and we were on the road just after 2 PM. Mini-T, Ray and Deb Caul, and Jerry and Dave Barnes. We started off in the rain and were under threat of rain most of the trip with periodic clearing. Rain gear came off after a couple of hours. It’s a good thing we stopped in Monahans, and not earlier as Midland had significant rain overnight.

Day 2 – 750 miles, from Monahans, TX to Glendale, AZ. This was a long one, my personal longest single day distance, previously was about 615 miles. While it was mostly interstate (including 80MPH limits in far west TX) we had a few stops. We did the two westernmost Lone Star Challenge Points, in Fort Stockton, and Horizon City. I have not ridden essentially all regions of Texas except for the farthest southern points. I also have no real desire to visit El Paso in the future. Just not a lot of comfort in that area. Close to the border, which unfortunately has a significant Mexican Drug war influence. The only relief was the time of day we went through, well under the light of the day! Long lunch as some small town Mexican restaurant as well.

Day 3 – 300 miles, from Glendale, AZ to Las Vegas NV. Very comfortable beds we had to get out of…. Took 60, then 93 out of Phoenix area, 93 is also called the Joshua Tree highway. Those things are pretty surrealistic for a foreigner. In fact on a lot of this trip I’m thinking no wonder they make “those” movies in these parts. Felt very Star Warsy. As well as all those bad horror movies, which are very easy to see the inspiration. You gotta be a different sort to live out it these climes. We also rode over the Hoover Dam which is very impressive, and apparently will not be an option in the future as they are building a bypass. Then…. Las Vegas Baby! It’s a much larger city than I expected, I guess I still think Dean Martin / Frank Sinatra when the city was smaller. We went to the Las Vegas HD dealership, very large place, picked up a couple of souvenirs then off to the Red Rock Resort and Spa. Its on the west end of the city and is a nice new facility. Darlene and the others arrived about 6:30 and we took a cab down to the strip to check it out.

Day 4 – 280 miles, Valley of Fire to Cali border loop. Day to myself as everyone is in class. Rode to the Valley of Fire State park. Even more surreal. Lots of critters too. Took lots of pics in the park. Then down to Searchlight and across to the California Border. Through another Joshua Tree “forest”? and over the border.. WTF, someone stole the California sign!!! Well at least I had to cross the border again so looped back on the interstate and got Cali. Oh yeah, 2 state signs, and I forgot my HOG tales book at the hotel. Oh well, I am sure I can make it work out.
We had the reception party, gambled a bit, neither of us were that interested in gambling, I don’t know if we even spent $20, then went to a bar and watched the nightclub act Zowie Bowie. They were pretty cool. Thought it was David Bowies son, but its not.

Day 5 – 325 miles, Las Vegas, NV to Scottsdale, AZ. Basically took the reverse route back from Las Vegas. Made a couple of stops including an old historic mining town in Chloride, AZ. Spent the night at Kris and Lindsey’s house. Thank you very much for the hospitality, food and margaritas! Phoenix metro area is pretty large, and not without traffic issues. Visited a couple of dealers.

Day 6 – 550 miles, Scottsdale, AZ to Roswell, NM. Early start, took 87 up to Payson, gorgeous highway. Then took a route along 60/260. Stopped to look at the snow… Elevation here was over 9100 feet. Into New Mexico, starting to need food and fuel. Had lunch in Pie Town and asked about gas. There was a power grid upgrade in the region, has been running over by about 3 hours, no electricity, next town has pumps but he wasn’t open today due to the upgrade… Uh oh. Next town after that also had pumps, and may have a generator to run…. Wrrrr, power comes on just before I finish up. Arrive in Magdalena at +180 miles on the odometer and no gas indicator light. Tempted to try to get to Socorro but didn’t want to push my luck. Wow, last 6 gallons at 45 mph, I’m impressed! Much better than the 37-38 we were getting pushing 80MPH on the first days. After this last stop the ride starts getting interesting again as finally there are big critters to watch out for. The antelope are crazy in these parts! First ones I see are on the shoulder and just about freaked me out, I went whizzing but and they barely even acknowledged me. Later one crosses the highway too close, in front of me. Also see lots, and lots of deer in the fields as well as more antelope, several turkeys and some Canada Geese.
Roswell on a Sunday night is dead, dead, dead…. Not that I needed any more excitement.

Day 7 - 550 miles, Roswell, NM to HOME! Took advantage of the bed, and took a detour to Clovis to check out the dealership, well, since it was on the way to Earth, another LSC point. Ah yes, the wonderful sights and smells of the panhandle plains of Texas…. Actually wasn’t bad at all. I have a state trooper give me a friendly reminder (warning) of the speed limit in these parts so I guess it will take me a tad longer to get home. Hit the highest temps of the trip, 102-103 F in a couple of small towns. Finally got home around 7pm and after 7 days in the saddle my butt was just beginning to get sore.

All in all it was a great ride. I really didn’t get tired riding at any point, except for one 45 minute period after lunch on Day 2. Saw lots of sights, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Bike Pics

Before I get into my trip report, I wanted to post some of the pictures of the motorcycles that were at the bike show at the 6th anniversary party at the dealership the other day. I always like taking shots of the bikes, including some detail shots.

States visited map

I've had time to update my map, added three additional states, Arizona, Nevada and California.



create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide

Later this summer we will get some additional states as we head to Milwaukee.

Sorry for the image, its wider than my column, but so far I haven't visited any of the easternmost state so I guess that's ok.

3250 miles...

In 7 days, what a trip. Too late to write up today, may take a couple of days as there was so much to remember. I rode the last three days by myself, 4 days if you count my trip around Las Vegas, and took quite a few pictures. This one below is one of my favorite but I haven't had a chance to look at all of them in detail yet, so this is a teaser.



I believe this was on AZ State Highway 87 somewhere between Scottsdale and Payson.

Motorcycle Stunt Team

At the dealership on Saturday, they had a stunt team performing. They had a Buell and a Sportster, and were going wheelies and assorted tricks and burnouts to the point of blowing up their tires.

The stunt team was Illconduct.

Here are some shots.

Mother's Day Weekend

It was a busy weekend, started off quite warm on Friday and into Saturday. The boys spent quite a bit of time in the pool.

Saturday was the dealerships 6th anniversary so there was a big party planned. I had to get my rear tire changes (note - 33,800 miles) and a state inspection, before my trip to Vegas. No way that tire would have made that round trip. I got there quite early and it was not very busy so I got that turned around and went out and finished the PTP location shots. By the time I got back, the girls were setting up for the bake sale and food.

We stayed there till about 3:30, with all the festivities, the chapter raised quite a bit of money for Cumberland as there were a lot of folks dropping by. There were some nice bikes in the bike show and the stunt riders were pretty cool. Mostly wheelies, but they beat the crap out of those bikes!

Sunday we had the Mother's Day dinner ride to Hanks in Mckinney. It was one of my training rides and although we had a relatively small turnout (17 bikes) it was a good ride of about 72 miles with some twisty and sweeping sections.

Since the destination was in Mckinney, it was a quick ride home. We went out and did a little garden landscaping before the boys got wet again.

I took a lot of pics at the show and will post some later today. Tonight am getting ready for my Vegas trip. It will be long riding days....