Four years

Four years ago today I married the woman that is now my pillion. Four years that have been far from smooth. Four years that has demanded change from a person that resists change like a brick wall resists wind.

I'm not sure if you can tell, but I never thought I would end up married. I always thought the expense was silly for a simple piece of paper that says we are together. But regardless of my thoughts and beliefs here I am, four years later, bound by a piece of paper and all manner of things that I don't believe in.

Saying that things haven't been smooth is a bit of an understatement. It's been pretty damn rough and for the most part, I've been the root cause of it all. My nature is to be resistant, hard headed, and solitary. I am an only child and while not spoiled, I certainly was able to have my way and spent a lot of my time alone doing things that I wanted to do. I detest having people relying and being dependant on me and I hate being proded into making decisions.

Can you get a hint of what I'm like to live with?

Well, my fellow rider through this pot hole laden life, has held onto that pillion and weathered through it all. She has put up with every storm that I've thrown her way and even made a few of her own which have changed me and my views.

At one point we had almost taken separate roads, but the introduction of a rather sleek mistress changed that. Selene glided into the picture on a rather mundane trip to the local dealership. Oh, and get this...it wasn't my idea. How many men can actually say their wife encouraged them, nigh pushed them into getting a motorcycle? If you can be counted among those, consider yourself lucky...as I'm sure you do.

Selene was originally going to be my transportation as I went my separate way, but she seemed to steer me in another direction. She gave me the ability to disappear and dwell in my own little world. The chance to get away from everything and make it not exist if only for a few hours. She became my decompression tank and I left many a mile of stress behind while riding.

After that, things got better. A long distance ride that was supposed to be solo ended up being two up. She braved a stock seat and miserable weather on a ride to Ontario and back not being able to talk to anyone while moving and thoroughly enjoyed it. That ride put a link between us again and harkened back to the days when the only transportation we had was a motorcycle.

Mind you, things aren't perfect. We still have our problems and I still have my times, but I'm working on it. I'm happy to be where I am and I'm happy to be with her. Believe me, that's a long way from where I was not too long ago.

Looks like one loud, well designed machine did more than one over paid shrink could ever do.

Here's to us! And here is to the mistress that showed me the way.

What the?

I just looked at the calendar... Did anyone else realize that we are already into July? Ugh, summer is too short and there just isn't enough nice days that correspond with my days off.

Speaking of rides...

Have you ever been out riding and realized that you probably shouldn't be? I went out for a spin yesterday to snap some pictures and found that Selene and I were meshing really well. A little too well. I found I was taking chances that I usual don't and had way too much attitude. I was easily doing double the speed limit in some areas and weaving around traffic in other areas. While I'll admit that it was quite fun and my invincibility seemed to be holding out quite well, there would come a time when reality would smush my little shield and then I would have more repairs to pay for...among other things.

So I cruised home, parked Selene and relaxed for the rest of the day. If I get too many of those day, I'll have to get a track bike.

Still alive

I've taken a little break from blogging, nothing too serious.  All is well in the riding world and otherwise.

The saddle bags are fixed and look as good as new.  The place that fixed the gouges also fixed up the "extra" holes that we drilled into them.  You wouldn't know they ever existed.  I'm not completely pleased with the job, but it's much better then having several glaring scratches on the side.  I also picked up a wrench that fits the bolts for the bags and they are now quite snug with very little vibration.  All I had originally was a very small thumb wrench that I couldn't fit in between the bags and the fender.

The pipes are once again spotless.

Cleaning done with the help of my good friend Autosol.

The shifter is also, dare I say, bent into a better position.  Before the spill I couldn't fit the toe of my boot under the shifter to push up.  Now I can do it with ease.  The only thing remaining is the fender, but that will have to hold off for a bit until we get some extra money.  For some reason you can't just order the front piece.  You have to buy the set of two, with one for the front and one for the back.  Just plain silly and expensive.  Double the price to cover up one scratch.

I also seem to have really messed up my wrist.  On a ride back from my parents house the other weekend, we encountered some inclement weather.  It was cold, raining occasionally and very very windy.  Without a windshield, I'm literally hanging onto the bike for dear life.  For some reason I wasn't using my throttle lock as much as I should have and now I'm suffering for it.  I can't even pick up a cup of tea without getting agonizing pain in my wrist.  Actually typing this hurts.  So it looks like I'm going to have to be a lefty for a while and give my wrist a bit of a break.  It's not going to stop me from riding, of course...  ;)

I still haven't gone out to practice my turns, but then again time hasn't exactly been on my side...or the weather for that matter.  My last three days off were a mess of thunder storms.  Very entertaining to watch, but not so entertaining to ride in.  Won't get much of a chance on my next few days either.  A CMC member will be in town to visit, so we're hoping for a good few days of riding weather.  Here's hoping Mother Nature agrees with us.

I thank all of you for the support.  It's good to have people that understand what it's like to drop a piece of machinery that is "almost" a part of the family.  And to Allen; I hope Autumn gets back to new soon and it's good to know that only the your pride took the real beating.  Best wishes to you.

And with that update, I leave you with a nice HDR shot of Selene and Joey.

Beginners Part II

Well, she did it. Joey officially has her beginners permit. She passed the car part of the test (ugh) early this morning and now has a little slip of paper that doesn't really do anything...

Yup, a little piece of yellow paper that isn't even laminated or made of card stock. It says that she can ride a bike, but not on the road or anywhere else... Pretty cool, eh?

She did get things straightened out as to what the permit entitles though. I am allowed to drive her and the bike to the testing lot so she can practice, but it has to be after hours. Also, if someone comes there to do parallel parking, we have to stop until they leave. That's what we will be doing until we can scrounge up the cash to pay for the course. Without taking the course, her insurance would be astronomical, so it's definitely in our best interest.

It's going to be interesting giving her the basics and making sure she can handle Selene, although I'm not sure how Selene is going to take being handled by someone else... ;) The reason for Selene being in the mix is the fact that Joey needs a large bike for the test or she will have to go back again to get the higher grade license. Aw, graduated licensing...you gotta love it. Oh, and here's to my patience...may I have a lot of it...hehe.

In other news, Selene has her saddle bags on and she is looking pretty good with her big behind. ;) I'll post the pictures in the next couple of days along with the ordeal that me and my dad went through to get them mounted. Ugh, what a day.

Beginners

So, Joey went out for her beginners test today. My wife is finally stepping out to get her motorcycle license.

I remember the first time I went for mine. It was pretty simplistic with a few multiple choice questions, sign recognition and a vision test. After that you could ride as long as you had a licensed driver following you, not on the highway and not at night. It was the perfect situation and it wasn't long before I had my license. Of course, this was also long before the graded licenses and quite some time before I got my car license. As a matter of fact, once I got my bike license I had no intentions on learning to drive a car. I didn't see the point.

I got a call at 10:20am, it was joey, she had just finished the test and ace'd the motorcycle section. Here is the funny part and the part that makes me wonder about the validity of the beginners test. There were ten questions for the motorcycle section and 20 questions for the car section. The CAR section! There were questions on there about passengers in a car,seat belts and even when studs are allowed on tires for the winter! What in the blazes do these questions have to do with a motorcycle and why are there so many more car questions than motorcycle questions? It blows my mind that she failed a motorcycle test due to irrelevant questions about operating a car!

The fact that there are twice as many questions about operating a car then operating a motorcycle just goes to show how relevant they think motorcycles are. The only saving grace is that they offer a motorcycle training course, but that will run you around 400 bucks and it's not mandatory! If the New Brunswick DOT can't be bothered with creating a test that fully covers motorcycle operation how can they expect the riders to take motorcycles seriously?

Even when she gets the beginners license, she can't go anywhere. I can't follow behind her in the car so she can get used to riding and I can't take her to a parking lot to practice. She has to practice on our own property with no other vehicles around. What good is that? We live in an apartment and have no property to speak of which only leaves us with paying 400 for the course. Now don't get me wrong I really want her to take it, but we can't afford it quite yet and I would like to get her used to the bike before enrolling.

Needless to say, I'm a little miffed and more then a little disgusted with how all this works. At least when I took my test the booklet was all about motorcycles and so were the questions. The booklet they gave her is 134 pages long and had a whole 11 pages devoted to motorcycles...that's really sad.

I'm not sure what things are like where you are, but I'm sure they are a damn sight better than this...

Divided attention

There are some days that I think I shouldn't be on bike. Days where it seems like I'm not paying attention enough and that my mind seems to be wandering too much. But they have all been minor things and it really didn't bother me too much.

That changed on my last ride home from work on April 16th.

The whole ride home my mind is constantly wandering from one thought to another. Cars passing me on our multi lane main street are actually taking me by surprise because I'm not paying attention to my mirrors. My mask and goggles weren't seated correctly and wind kept making my eyes water.

I could handle that stuff. It was only a short ride and I knew it wouldn't be long before I would be home. There was one last thing though and it really bothered me. Actually, it's still bothering me now.

I was approaching an intersection and I was preparing to turn right. The light was green and I didn't have to worry about oncoming traffic. I took the turn and did so many things wrong that I'm surprised I made it home that night.

First, I looked down, saw dirt in the turn and proceeding to drive through it.

Second, I powered through the turn which caused my rear wheel to slip on the dirt that I had been watching.

Third (and this is the one that really gets me), I put my foot down. I PUT MY FOOT DOWN! The bike wasn't going down and my foot hitting the road actually made the bike even more unstable. All I could hear after that was my foot loudly slapping the road. Aside from falling asleep and blowing through an intersection years ago on my Kawasaki, it's probably one of the dumbest things I've done.

You'll have to forgive me, I tend to dwell a lot and I still haven't forgiven myself for slapping that road. It all boils down to inattention and not having a clear enough head to be riding.

So how about you? Got anything motorcycle related that you beat yourself up for? Or are you a little more forgiving of yourself then I am?

What is it

There are days that I have to wonder what the draw is to me. Days that I wake up, look out the window and a sudden debate starts up inside me. One side of me says "ride!", the other says "that car would be really warm."

That was this morning in a nutshell.

I booted up my computer and started up my internet browser. One of my home pages happens to be the local weather. -3C (26F) and a quick look out the window shows a layer of frost on everything. Add to that the fact that we are supposed to get another snow storm overnight (I work until 9pm) and you've got a perfect recipe for an internal debate.

I could see that it was getting sunny and it's supposed to hit 8C (46F) today. Not that I would be able to enjoy the warmth with me having to work 12 hours, but at least I knew there was some hope for the day.

So I putter around the house, slowly getting ready for work, while my mind goes into a steady debate over the pros and cons: it might be icy, but it's fun, it's going to be cold, but it's fun... On and on it goes.

I don't want to give you the impression that I'm crazy...well, at least not certifiably crazy. The whole time I'm thinking this, I already know what side will win, I already know what form of transportation I will be taking. There is only one resounding thought that blankets it all: if I have a chance to ride, I'll ride.

Summer is too short, life is too short. Do what you enjoy, do what you love to do. Experience everything you can. When I left this morning, I could feel myself getting colder, but it didn't matter. It was something I could easily deal with and it would soon pass. The fact that I could ride was all that mattered. It didn't matter that I was going to work because this would make my work day all the more bearable, knowing that Selene is in the parking garage waiting for the ride home.

So I guess that's it. That's the draw. That's why I will ride every time I get a chance. That's why I'm glued to weather reports. That's why I'll get miffed every time it snows. That's why the internal debate will only go in one direction...

Let's ride.

A very important interview

I have a lot of strong feelings towards what Billy Lane has done, I'm sure we all do. Mike Odom has a very important interview on his site with Byron Morelock, the brother of the Gerald Morelock. I'm not going to get into it here, but please...take the time to go over and give it a read.

Click

Today I rode...

and it was rather unexpected.

The day started with what was supposed to happen yesterday. Had everything gone the way it was planned, Selene would have had her new tires on and I would have had the rims polished. Of course, we all know what happens to the best laid plans.

Me and Joey went down yesterday with full intentions on removing the wheels, but that changed once I realized that I didn't have the proper tools. For the first time ever, Selene was up on her jack and fully stabilized. That entire ordeal took about an hour and a half and a whole lot of creativity, but nothing more then a forceful shove would knock that bike over.

With that done, I pulled out my socket set and quickly realized that all my sockets were too small for the nut holding the axle in place. Also, none of my adjustable wrenches would fit. Dejected, we took Selene off the jack and vowed to return the next day with the proper tools. That meant a shopping trip and a full day delay to my plans.

Flip to today and us browsing Sears and Canadian Tire auto centers which taught me a lesson: tools are really expensive. You see, I don't skimp. I refuse to buy cheap tools because I fully believe that you get what you pay for and if something is going to fail on you, it will do it when you need it most.

A quick bout of frustration and a phone call later; I find out that taking Selene to the dealership and getting the tires done there is actually cheaper then me buying the tools. Done deal. I can always ask for more tools for my birthday or Christmas.

Half an hour later we are at the storage place with Selene's battery and are quickly putting her back together. It took a few pushes of the start button and some nice words, but she sleepily came to life and was more then happy to navigate the hallways to the garage. I quickly gear up and hit the road.

-9 C (16 F) with the wind in mid March, I'm riding and it felt good. Free once again. It was hard to believe that the night before it had been snowing enough to cover everything. I got Strange looks from everyone, but at least they were looking. I guess it's hard not to notice the only bike on the road.

At the dealership I got the usual comments: Hardcore, crazy, committed. It was all in good fun and I love seeing the looks on their faces when I ride up and walk in.

So, there you have it. My last couple of days all summed up nicely. I don't have any pictures because I quite simply forgot to take any...oops. Brand new camera and I don't get any shots of my first ride of the season...heh. I promise to get pictures when I pick her up. I'm sure Selene will be more then happy to show off her new set of shoes.

Let Them Ride

you know, there isn't much that will really set me off. i have my moods and i have things that i get mad about, but this kind of thing really irks me. i have a real problem with society's belief that we need to be protected by everything and that the government needs to govern that.

in New Brunswick they (meaning our political leaders) are trying to amend our off road vehicle act. this amendment would do the following:

all children under 14 years of age are banned from riding off-road vehicles if this new legislation unveiled by the provincial Liberal government, is passed.

personally, i think this is utterly ridiculous. i'm all for staying safe and if we didn't have a helmet law, i would still wear my helmet, but enforcing a law that forces me to stay safe? come on... i dread the day we become a dumbed down bubble wrap wearing society...

more maintenance

last sunday blessed me with some spare time to spend with Selene. this is only the second trip i've been able to make to her storage area in order to do the maintenance that i need/want to do. i packed up my usual stuff (coffee, munchies, music and tools) and headed off.

this trip was a test of how anal i can get when i'm cleaning something. as i was sitting next to Selene grooving to Deadbolt on my mp3 player i noticed how dirty the cooling fins on the engine were. knowing that these fins were mostly for looks (liquid cooled engine and all) it struck me that they should at least look clean. after poking around a bit, i noticed that there were several allen bolts holding the fins in place. i pulled out the bike's tool kit (yes, mine actually came with one) and removed the bolts. the fins came off rather easily and gave me this odd look at the engine.





so i sat there and cleaned and cleaned. i found out how difficult it is to get clean those damn little fins and realized that it was too late to stop. in the several hours that i was there i only got the right upper rear fins and most of the lower half cleaned. it was a real pain to get between the fins and getting the corrosion off the exposed aluminum was killing my fingers. to be fair, i really didn't have the right tools to clean between the fins. a screw driver and cloth have to be used very carefully...you really don't want to scratch anything. so yeah, i think new cleaning tools are in order.

the unfortunate thing is, that's all i got done. i spent an entire evening there and it felt like i got no where and there's so much more to do! not to mention the fact that i still haven't got my jack from my parents to remove the wheels for cleaning and new rubber. i want winter gone so much that i'm not thinking about how much time i need to clean...lol. of course, life always throws you a curve ball or two, like last week with joey in the hospital. no details here, but she is now doing well and back to her complaining self ;) i'm gonna get smacked for that one...

i know most people wouldn't even try to clean that hard and others would call me nuts for doing it, but i really care for the bike and want it to look as good as possible. i don't do it for anyone else but myself. it bugs me when she is dirty and it really irks me when i see rust, corrosion or chips. i've already turned one bike into a fixer-upper due to my own stupidity and i won't allow it to happen to this one.

yeah... so storage...

it was 6 C ( 43 F), a perfect day to get out and clean Selene up to get her ready. the plan was to clean, head down to the storage area, leave the car and both of us would take one last ride. this would give joey a relatively "warm" ride and give me a chance to test out the new leather over pants i got for xmas.

it was windy, really windy. i ended up cleaning Selene while tucked underneath the veranda. not the first time i've done that, but it is a bit cramped. i knew i couldn't get everything cleaned up today, but once she was in storage i could work away at my leisure without worries of weather getting in my way.

once i was finished up, joey grabbed her gear and i pulled out some old flannel sheets for Selene to snuggle into while she was in storage.

the first stop was gas. i was already on reserve and i would still need more for friday. i have a maintenance appointment for friday, weather permitting. i get wide eyes and smiles whenever i tell the guys at the Harley shop that i'm still riding.

from the gas station it was a short hop to the storage place. i figured we would park the car behind the gates and then joey could gear up. well, that was not meant to be. i pulled up to the code box and punched in the numbers. a little green light flashed telling me to try again...so i tried again. *flash flash* and again... *flash flash* after about the sixth time i swearing i could hear that little green light laughing at me. there was no way that gate was going to open. joey checked the sheet that listed our code and it was identical to what i was punching in. by this time i was fuming and i really hoped there was a hammer in the trunk of the car to assist me in my final try.

with the code not working and the main office closed, we resolved to go home. there was a whole lot of cursing going on under my face mask on the ride back. i was not a happy biker. what really irked me is the fact that they tested the code and said it worked.

with my swearing done and most of my ire revved out on the way home, we decided to go for a ride anyway. no sense in loosing a good day to ride.

it was rather chilly, but for the most part you could ignore it. the sun was out so whenever we made a stop it was easy enough to warm up. sticking my gloved hands on the engine also helped out.

it was nice, but i really would have liked to get Selene into her new home.

well, wish me some weather luck for friday. as it stands, it's the only day i have coming up that will give me a chance to get out again.

the year's past

wow, another year gone and so much has changed. this year has seen it's fair share of ups and downs, believe me.

the year started in the middle of my marrige spiraling downhill. i was in a slump, a bad one. one of my worst by far. it happens to me every now and then and most times i can squash it, but that time...i needed a change and if i didn't get it, all hell was going to break loose. i shunned the people closest to me, i took so many days off work that i ran out of sick time before the end of january and i was generally self destructive. it wasn't a good time for all involved as you can well guess. this was all carried over from last year and joey can attest to the type of ass i was being. i guess the experts would have called it a "mid life crisis", but i'm not much into the experts. i refused to see anyone (that's normal for me) and vowed to figure things out myself.

things that didn't help me out were:

living in an apartment that was below ground
joey had a depressed time and clung to me

the two of these issues made me feel trapped and i don't like feeling trapped (not like anyone does, really). i couldn't really go outside because we had no back yard and going out in car meant that joey wanted to go as well. yeah, it was a bad time for me. so i found other escapes...one of them being world of warcraft. i won't say i got addicted to that game (i'm a gamer, i love games), but i will say that it was the perfect escape for me. so everything else got ignored.

near the end of february i started coming out of my slump and thoughts of divorce were in my mind a bit less. around that time, joey started pushing me to get a bike for my own transportation. so i guess my "mid life crisis" was squashed by a little out doors time. after that, things got steadily better.

in the summer, we moved and the new apartment was great. we got a veranda, a view, and a really quiet area. it was pretty much perfect.

after that, things steadily got better. i invited joey to a trip that i had intended to take myself and it ended up being quite a bonding experience. there's really nothing like taking a motorcycle trip. just two riders and two wheels. i really don't think i could have made it without her. having her share the experience of almost running out of gas, riding with a nail in the rear tire, riding in the rain, freezing to death trying to find a hotel...any hotel. an experience that i would have traded for nothing and hope to do again.

keep in mind that was a short synopsis and i haven't gone into detail about everything, but it covers most of the bases.

thank you 2006 for bringing so much change into my life and giving me the guts to do what is right.

here's to changes, good or bad and the company of people who love you.
Happy New Year to you all.

the ordeal

so, before we go on our trip i decide to put the bike in for it's regular maintenance. i thought it would be a good idea to get the shop guys to give Selene a thumbs up and get the 6500 Km maintenance out of the way. i knew they would give me a loaner, so it didn't matter how long it took. i figured i would get a Harley or a Buell. either would have been fine, i just needed something to ride. what follows is my account of yesterday and what has become my hatred of a certain motorcycle made by Honda.

i set up an appointment for friday, august the 11th. i had to do my usual 12 hour shift at work, so i would be dropping it off during a scheduled two hour break and grabbing a loaner. i was kind of excited to get to ride a different bike and also glad to be out of work on a gorgeous day.

so i drop the bike off and get the loaner. well, it wasn't a Harley or a Buell, but a Honda VTX1300. not bad, i thought. i had some regrets about buying the Sabre once i saw the VTX1300. it's a much bigger bike and has a very retro look. i take the key and hop out to showroom floor to wait for Joey. she had to come over to pick up her new bike jacket (review to follow).

she gets there, we get the jacket and hop on the bike to get some food.

well, let's just say it was different. it's obvious that the VTX hadn't been taken care of and that it was rode hard. i found it very awkward to control the bike due to it's swept back handle bars. it also had floorboards (i had been debating about getting floorboards for Selene) which i was definitely not used to.

it was interesting getting to KFC and i had my share of "oops, almost dropped it." we sat by the bike to eat and studied the bike. it was nice looking and had a good sound, but there was a lot i was already not liking. i didn't like the stance of the bike or the riding stance, or the handle bars. there was something about the bike overall that just didn't speak right to me. not to mention the fact that the bike would barely stay going and that every bump rattled something. i know that is because it wasn't taken care of, but it doesn't speak well for the dealership. especially if they use loaners to entice customers.

i drop joey back at the car and take a quick spin before i go back to work. i started appreciating the low stance of the bike. with such a low center of gravity i could come to a complete stop and not worry about having to put my foot down. the problem with the low stance was the floorboards. i was used to the Sabre, taking low sweeping turns with high foward controls. the VTX didn't like that. floorboards make a lot of noise when they strike pavement. not to mention that the floorboards made it feel like i was sitting in a chair and not on a bike. in that moment i vowed that Selene would never have floorboards.

off i went to work.

later, i get my call. Selene was ready and it was only going to cost about 40 bucks. excellent, i couldn't wait to get my baby back. off i went.

about five minutes from work, the bike shut off. great, reserve time. they should really fill these things up...wait, it's already on reserve. my spirits are high and i laugh at myself and the shop for there not being gas in the bike. i call them up and they couldn't believe there was no gas. they said they would send someone by to pick me up. they have a truck and trailer, so i know what to look for.

so i wait, and i wait.

keep in mind that i'm using one of my lunch times (30 minutes) to go get Selene.

45 minutes later, i'm still waiting. i call work and advise them as to what is going on and then call the dealership back. the guy is on his way, he just had to go pick up someone else as well.

no big deal. it's a beautiful day and i'm away from work. just as long as i get my bike back, i'm cool. see? i'm a pretty easy going guy.

30 minutes later, i'm still waiting. i'm hot, i'm thirsty and i just want to go back to work. this is starting to make me look bad. i call them again. apparently, the guy didn't see me. let me translate this for you. i have been sitting by the side of the road watching for a truck and trailer covered with H-D stickers to come pick me up. if couldn't see that, i'm blind. no such truck passed me by, which means that he didn't go to the right spot. the big problem is, they are closing and there is no one around to come get me. i now have to walk to a gas station. i'm very hot. very tired. very thirsty. i'm not happy.

off i go.

joey calls.

"did they come get you?"

"nope."

"ok, i'll come get you.."

"um, joey. i gave you a ride to work."

"oh...yeah...you did. let me see what i can do."

ten minutes later an old friend (and supervisor) from where i work drives by and picks me up. he had already checked one station and they didn't have any spare jerry cans. off we go to another.

surprise, no jerry cans there either! i'm loving this day with a passion. i look at the guy and say, "listen, do you have anything? a two litre bottle, anything?"

he fishes an empty windshield washer bottle out of the garbage and fills it with five bucks worth of gas. he also fishes out half of another bottle to use as a funnel. i pay and we are on our way.

back at the bike, we dump the gas in. it's pouring over the gas tank and making a general mess. at this point, i didn't care if the bike actually caught on fire. i start it up and i'm off to work the last two hours of my shift.

i left work at 4:15pm and got back at 7:00pm. i was exhausted, sun burnt and dehydrated. i was not pleased. at this point, the VTX was not a machine to me, but something to be punished.

i rode home that night and found something else annoying. the speedometer is located on the gas tank. i'm not keen on taking my eyes off the road to look all the way down to see my speed. i was also not used to an arc shaped speedometer, so i had some difficulty checking my speed which meant more time not looking at the road. oh, and the high beam indicator light? that's on the tank with the speedometer. that bright blue light shines right in your eyes at night. who designed this damn thing?!

i parked the bike and left it in the ensuing rain storm. there is no way it deserved to be parked in Selene's cubby hole. i was pissed and didn't sleep well.

long winded hey? sorry about that, but i need to get all this out. therapy..ya know?

next morning (today) i go out to the VTX. it's covered in dew and water. off we go to get more gas...just in case.

got gas, off to work.

at 10:30am i run down to pick up joey and we both go to the shop. i gladly park the VTX and head in. at this point, i don't care about anything else, i just want my baby back. i want to ride a real bike again.

we pay and he asks if i like the VTX.

"no!"

he looks at me wierd.

"man, i hate that thing. i'll never buy one now."

i promptly list off all my complaints about the bike. it's obvious that the Shadow is the last of the good bikes made by Honda. i will be sad to see them go.

he gives us extra punches on the discount card (i see chaps in my future) and we are on our way.

it took me a little while to get used to Selene again. the build of the Sabre compared to the VTX is vastly different. it was great to sweep those turns nice and low though and it was great to get back into a real riding position.

if nothing else, that day made me appreciate my purchase of a Sabre even more. i do not regret my purchase one little bit now and i will never NEVER buy a VTX. the next bike will most likely be a Roadstar or Harley.

oh, here are two things i did like about the VTX. the seat was comfortable for both driver and passenger and i like the shape of the headlight. Selene will have that headlight.

thank you for listening to my long long tirade and i apologize for yapping your ear off.

good journies to you and keep the wind at your back.

embarassing moment #1

okay, let me set this up first...

joey is at work, so i end up bringing supper to her on the bike. i get there and we sit down to eat. we are still hammering out details about the upcoming trip and joey is asking me how far i can go on a tank of gas. i tell her that today i got 200 km racked up before i hit reserve. that also reminded me that i was on reserve and needed to fill up. at that time, i was into reserve by about 38 km.

we finish up and she hands me her debit card so i can get gas. there is a Shell station up the street and across the causeway that i always go to, so i get going.

i'm feeling particularly frisky, so as i'm going up the street i gun it. Selene gets all growlly and we cruise up to the lights just before the causeway. i'm smiling, knowing that the people having a smoke across the street heard me. as i'm sitting at the lights, Selene coughs. i'm thinking, oh no...you didn't. i sit, hoping that it was just a normal cough and try to ignore it. she coughs again, a couple of more times and then dies. i shake my head.

traffic was light, so i managed to get her pushed across the street and onto the sidewalk. i hit the starter a couple of times, knowing full well that she wasn't going to start. i wasn't quite sure what to do. the Shell station is still quite a distance away and pushing her there would be out of the question. i would have to cross four lanes of traffic, go up a steep hill, go through another lighted intersection and across four more lanes of traffic.

then it dawns on me, behind me and down the street is another gas station. i never go there, due to the fact that i hate the company that runs it, but hey...gas is gas right now.

i turn around, give a good hard push and off i go. it's a pretty steep hill, so i'm actually keeping up to the speed limit. i once again pass the smokers, but this time...i'm a little more quiet. i laugh to myself and keep on rolling.

the hill ends just past another intersection (all greens all the way...hehe) so i have to start pushing. Selene is a beautiful thing, but damn she's heavy! with a dry weight of 573.2 lbs, you are not going to push her around without breaking a sweat. and sweating was exactly what i was doing. leather gloves, leather jacket, bulky leather motorcycle boots and a big black helmet...damn i was hot.

i finally pull (read: push) into the gas station and almost drop from exhaustion. i couldn't help but think of the hell i would have gone through if i went to the Shell station. i take off the gloves and the helmet, unzip the jacket and take a deep breath. a guy, just finishing his transaction, says, "i hope you didn't have to go too far."

i look at him and say, "i'm just glad this place is downhill!"

we both laughed and i filled up the bike.

it took a bit to get her started. i guess i had completely drained the lines (or else she was mad at me...lol). i was actually getting worried about killing the battery, but after a bit of coaxing she started up.

on the way home, all i could do was laugh. i was laughing so hard there were tears rolling down my cheeks.

so there you have it. a lesson well learned and i now know exactly how far i can go on a tank of gas. please feel free to laugh. as a matter of fact, i encourage it! :)

events of june 21

my aunt and uncle dropped by my parents house for a visit. problem one: i was working on the night they arrived (plus it was raining), problem two: they were leaving the next day at noon. of course, this led to other problems, such as will i wake up in time to ride up and visit before they leave, will the weather be cooperative and give me a window to get up there.

there was no way i was taking the cage. for one, Joey needed it for work; and two...i wanted to show off Selene to my relatives! can't have family drop by and not see my new baby. that would just be wrong. pictures just don't do her justice...hehe.

so, i end up going to bed way too late and waking up an hour later then what i should have. i now had two hours to get ready, run an errand and make it to my parents place...a one hour drive.

the errand took longer then it should have. combine that with not getting ready fast enough and i figured out that i had to take the highway. don't get me wrong, i'm not afraid of the highway or anything, i just rather the backroads. it's a much calmer ride that is more enjoyable.

i finally hit the road and gunned it for the highway. it's overcast and not looking the nicest in St. John so i'm hoping for the usual "get out of St. John and you'll find the nice weather" thing. for the most part, it works out. once i'm five minutes outside of the city, i see reasonably clear skies with huge black clouds high up. the weather is calling for thunderstorms and i thouroughly believe them.

so i'm on the highway and i'm loving it. the wind is next to nothing, it's very warm and traffic is minimal. i'm seeing beautifully threatening skies that would make for some fantastic pictures, but i can't stop. i actually remember to bring my camera and i can't stop. i would have lost way too much time. i sigh and blip the speed up to 120 Kph.

about halfway into my journey, i see three bikes pull onto the highway. i add on a bit more speed to catch up and slowly pull into formation behind them. two H-Ds and a beemer, the beemer looks brand new. they are averaging a good speed, so i stick with them.

it's a great ride all the way into town and i throw them a wave as they pull into a gas station. i continue my cruise into town. normally, if i'm in a rush, i'll bypass Sussex completely and take the highway straight to mom and dads. but today i felt like treating myself and taking the last part of my trip slow. i'm glad i did. there is a slow turn in town that passes by an old train station turned ice-cream shop. as i glance up, i see that the sit down area is filled with kids. they all start yelling and waving. i give them a wave as i pass by and the whole group of them errupts in hoots and yells. gotta tell ya...that made my day.

i make my way to my parents house and meet up with my uncle, aunt and mom as i enter the park. they are all out for a walk and are just heading back to the house. i pass by them and perform a flawless u-turn on the small backroad. i applauded myself (in my head of course) and continued on to the house to wait.

dad was there, relaxing on the patio. as i dismounted, i noted that it had to be 10 or 12 degrees hotter here then it was in St. John. the clouds were still big and ugly, but no rain.

the walkers arrive and we all sit around chatting for a while and admiring Selene. i found out that they had waited for me. i can't thank them enough for that. it's been over a year since i last saw them, so i'll take any time i can get.

about 45 minutes later, they are on thier merry way. apparently they are taking a nice little vacation with camping trips along the way. they still have other people to visit, so the visit to mom and dads was short

i pester mom into making me pancakes for breakfast, with maple syrup, before she heads off to work. YUM!! the rest of the afternoon is spent jabbering and helping dad install the air conditioner.

the day is holding out well, so i decide to take a trip to St. Martin's on my way back to St. John.

i say bye to dad, get Selene a drink and hit the backroads for a wonderful drive.

and wonderful it was.

on the way down, i snapped this pick by a lovely little lake. it was just off the main road and provided a secluded spot to relax and stretch my legs. next is a picture of the lake itself. very quaint.



St. Martin's itself is a small town that is spread along the coast and is very touristy (new word... ;p) lots of little restaurants and shops. it's a cozy little spot where you can experience the drastic Fundy tides.

this shot is on the beach showing a huge cave across the way. come to think of it...the depth on this shot is way off. Selene looks gigantic! attack of the 50 foot cycle?

one last shot of the area. in this one i managed to get Selene, the New Brunswick Flag, the Canadian Flag and an old covered bridge. these bridges are famous around here. i just like riding through them. the acoustics are great!

it was finally getting late, so i shoved off and made my final ride home. all in all it was a great day. the weather held up the whole way, seeing my relatives was great, visiting mom and dad is always good (so are the pancakes...hehe), and spending the whole day riding was great!

on a side note, when i got home Joey was hungry and so was i. so i hopped on Selene and went to Wendy's! i got the take out (minus the drinks) and made it home without a hitch!

one last picture. this is Selene nestled in her cubby underneath our veranda. ain't she cute?

apologies

i apologize for the look of my site. the power supply in my home server burned out which leaves a bunch of my graphics without a home. this means that my background image is gone and so are many of my avatars that i use. i would host the image on another site, but it's saved on the server which, as i said, is dead. yeah...it was a fun weekend. i install a new operating system on the server and the power supply promptly dies...ugh. oh well, that's what i get for running 300 watts of equipment on a 250 watt power supply *smiles sheepishly*

in other news...

me, Selene and music do not mix. a friend of mine gave me a new Muse cd to listen yesterday. so i ripped the cd and dumped the music to my mp3 player. the weather was good, so i figured i would listen to it on the way home. you know the deal...take the long way and enjoy trip. so i crank the tunes and start moving out of the underground parking. the music is making me particularly frisky, so as i pull out onto the road, i tweak the throttle a bit...ok...a lot. i roar down the street, totally lost in the music and promptly streak past a cop car...yeah...a cop car. i look in the rear view, see his brakes coming on and think, "i'm so dead."

i suddenly realize that my long way home is going to be cut really short. i hit a right and zipped my way across the causeway, watching my mirrors all the way. all i could think of was, "never again."

i made it home and he never found me. the only thing that saved me (at least i think) is the traffic on the small road where i passed him. otherwise, he simply didn't want to bother with hunting me down. i'm fine with either reason and i will not stick those earbuds in my ears again. i'll be happy listening to the subtle growl of Selene as we make our way along. Oh...and we'll be safer for it as well.

i'm good.

Selene has her maintenence done and i can finally ride again. for the last three or four days i've been extremely dizzy and for one day, very nauseous. i couldn't walk straight, couldn't drive and sure as hell didn't feel like eating. a trip to the hospital gave me a diagnosis of benign vertigo. in the middle of all that, i got to enjoy an Alice Cooper concert! my nausea subsided (with the help of gravol) long enough for me to have a blast there. i was seated maybe nine rows back from the stage and it was awesome! that man sure knows how to put on a show. for the whole night i was stumbling around and losing my balance...funny thing is...i was the only one NOT drinking...LOL. everyone had a good laugh and a good time.

after that, it was out to a local club to catch another band called Crash Kelly. they were either crappy or we were spoiled by Alice...in short...they sucked. i didn't even get through their whole set before my stomach went tits up again. barely made it home for another shot of gravol. with that in me, i was face down in the bed.

all in all, quite an eventful three days off. today i'm at work and feeling much better. i'm only slightly off balance and i'm able to drive the bike with no issues at all. weather is great for it too. too bad i have to work...blah.