Home For Christmas

Nice having Wes, Kim and Victoria home for Christmas, Please note: Not "Holidays". We all got "Wonderful" Gifts, especially my Starry Nights software Linda got at McDonald Observatory a couple of months ago. Wes is loading it onto my computer and we can watch it on the Sony 55" HD TV. Carl is interested in astromony too. Mars, Venus and Saturn are out now. Linda and I have seen a star cluster, the Andromeda Nebula, the bursting comet, and the full Moon lately also. Software helps find and identify objects much easier. I have downloaded my stars, nebulas and interesting images so I can view them later and in my screen saver. Works with our telescope too.

I have really torn my BMW motorcycle apart this time. The reverse quit working, rear swing arm pivot bearings gone bad, transmission has a leak, Aux. lights quit working (bad ground), drilling a hole in the clutch system to prevent future problems and maybe found a fix for the ABS that doesn't work.

Wes and I are having fun with Radio Controlled Helicopters. The Starry Night software is better than I thought, many options, hundreds of objects to look at.

Crashed both helicopters, and broke them. Went to ToyRUs for another one and they were totally sold out.

Linda bought a wired Dune Buggy toy for me, that is boring, can't steer it.

Bubble Nebula above.

Ok, this is got to stop!

Looks like the 4th weekend in a row for bad weather to go riding. Of course it's nicer during the week, warmer and drier.


Linda is home HURRAAYYYY! Back to boring Chuck and Linda.


Boloraa and her family went to LV, LA and SF. Been there done that, but it will be new to them.


Holiday's are near, Wes, Kim, Victoria and all will be here. Looking forward to having male members in the house, sorry ladies but you still out number us. Wes, I cleaned to race track.


Coldest December I can remember. Hoping it warms up in Jan. It has before.


My friends sold their 3rd and final rental house. Saving them $4000 a month WoW, congratulations! Maybe now we can get back to playing on bikes, rebuilding, BS'ng, laughing.


Teaching Benny more about Spreadsheets, yes computers are addictive. I only have about 250 now!

Picture is a NASA graphic taken by different types of cameras. We have been watching Mars Venus, Saturn, exploding meteor, star cluster and meteor shower lately. Mars is very bright with a reddish glow in the early evening low eastern sky, Saturn and Venus are now seen in early morning sky directly overhead and to the west. We're talking about a used much more powerful telescope. I did see a Saturn Moon recently.

Mongolian's

I really do like Boloraa's parents. Dumaa (her mother) and Ganbold (father). He rides on the back of my BMW very well. So far we have gone on 3 rides. 1st to Barnett's Harley-Davidson, The Academy Sports and out to Ft. Hancock. The 2nd was to Hueco Tanks. Today our 3rd ride was to 3 M/C dealers and a tool store, yes all guy things. Thursday I want to take him to LC, Columbus or Cornudas.

I still want to get him on my older Suzuki 1100 to see if he can touch the ground. His legs are very short. Also I only found 1 helmet that would fit him at Mr. Motorcycle today. XL 1/2 helmet.

They are bored so I loaned them 10 DVD's (Star War's, 2 M/C movies, and Top Gun) They can't understand the words but they mostly understand what's going on.

Sunday I took them and their son, Erdene, out horse back riding. No, I did not get on. Erdene could not stop talking about it when they got home, Boloraa said. I want to do it again for him.

Raining or windy about 3-4 days a week lately. Over 10" rain this year, avg, is 6-8"

The picture is real, not copied in digitally. Under Golden Gate Bridge.

Suffering Again

Had to go riding again, in the high 60's. Tuff job but, you know the rest... Suppose to cool down into the low 60's and rain, but at least it's not that white stuff. OR in the TEENS, you know who I'm talking about.

Mom's leaving me again, BOOOOO.

Windy today, ride tomorrow, life's a B____.

No new projects. Haven't even worked on my bikes much except to make sure they are serviced.

Taking Ganbold and Dumaa for bike rides, they really like them especially since it's 50 degrees warmer here. Went to Heuco Tanks today, they have closed off 3/4 of the park except to guided tours. Sunday, Benny's friends with horses are going to let Ganbold and Irdene ride them.

Yippy tomorrow's Date Day! I like it more than when we first started it, something to look forward to and get out of the house.

Picture is a BBQ made to look like a V-8 engine

TUFF JOB being retarded, No retired.

Sure wish I lived North! Or anywhere but here right now

Well 4-5 days bad last week and now 3 days this week. Rain, Snow, go away, come again (never), go back to where you belong. But at least it's in the 50-60's this week.

Did go riding Thursday, one guy, Cle, bought a newer Cruiser bike when we were out. Then 3 of us visited the brand new Academy Sports stores. About 150,000 sq. ft. If they don't have it, it's not made for sports. WOW. Now we don't have to go to LC to their Sportman's Warehouse.

Tuesday night 6 from our riding group went to a M/C safety class. Even after 43 years riding I learned a couple new things. One very important lesson was releasing a locked rear brake after it swerves way out must be continued to stay locked up, if it is released it then gets traction and will cause to bike to flip and/or roll over. I've aways released it before it got out of control, so I've never experienced it. In this respect I'm better than I thought.

Another point. I can get on a bike I've never ridden before, go only 1/2 way down Ivanhoe return and tell you everything that's good and bad about that bike. Only Howard and I can do that. Both of us rebuild bikes, so we need to be aware of any dangerous problems very soon so we don't get hurt. Mike rebuilds too and didn't noticed his BMW 1200 wanders. But so does mine.

Linda and I are still doing the dating thing. Working out very well, NOW if she could only keep her temper down! Joking Dear.... My Anger management class really helped even after I got Mad in Class!

Snow and no go

In the 4 days of the Thanksgiving holiday we've gotten 5 -6 inches of snow on Sat and Sun. Sprinkled on Thur. Gee what fun! Cabin fever in El Paso? That means we haven't gone out except for videos and groceries. Got down to 29 last night. But there is hope, Monday may hit 60!

I was going to take the transmission off the BMW until I figured out I have to lower the engine by lifting up the entire frame to get the tranny out. That's tools I don't have,,,, YET!

Trying to figure out what and how to do it.

The tree is up, NO thanks to me! We only had to eat turkey 2 days, Hurray, gave much of it to Helen, Mom and Mongolians. Next year it's road kill, something different, please!

Don't miss my Vette Yet.

Watched "The Transformers" it was better than I thought. "Knocked Up" had a lot of bad language EVEN for me.

Closed up the house fully for the winter but that the cold still gets in here. At least Linda does not complain as much as before I added $650 insulation. Last year was the coldest ever in EP since 1988 and heating the house cost us $125, (all winter), the year before was $65. But with the other person who lives here wanting it warmer than last year....

Still Working On It

On my BMW K1200LT (Luxury Touring) bike, I'm still finding things to Fix Or Improve. So far over 40 projects! The gear box at the rear wheel and the transmission have me most concerned. On the BMWLT website every day there are postings of these problems. But I have to remember only bad things are posted, rarely how reliable most bikes are.

As with any Luxury vehicle it has more farkels to go wrong. Just like the Cadillac.

I'm trying to make it more reliable. Linda and I have ridden it several times without any problem while we are on it. When we went to the Davis Mt's, 4 weeks ago at 80 MPH it ran great both ways. But at those speeds gas mileage dropped off 5-10 mpg and with 2 up, the extra weight. (Don't read anything into that!) After fixing the speedo that was 10% optimistic (now 1%) the gas mileage went way down. If I had known the speedometer was so fast when we brought it home from CA, I would have sped up. It took us 12 or 13 hours when we do it in 10.5-11 normally.

It had/has several oil leaks, none serious, but one concerns me that it could get on the clutch making us non-mobile. A few other problems like a bearing going out unexpectedly on a long trip could end up costing $1000 or more, shortening our trip, and trucking it home.

But then again I can fix most problems, have bought several extra spare parts locally for a third of the cost than from BMW.

I'm really getting more used to it's top heaviness, and Linda and I have used it in town versus the car as part of our Dating plan. With Linda, myself and stuff for a trip we could be over 1325#'s. Yes, a very small car!

I have put it on Craigslist for several weeks, got a few hits, but no buyers. If I can fix a few more things, make it more long term reliable and if Linda will go with me more often I may keep it. One nice feature is it has a intercom, the other day it did not work and it was boring when she could not speak to me as easily. We both like how much more comfortable it is over my 1100cc Suzuki's, 2 up. It is too heavy for her to drive except in an emergency, with her bad wrists, etc.

Right now it keeping me busy. But those German engineers never heard of KISS.

Not much going on

Almost done painting the outside of the house. Next I want to change out all of the door screens. They are rusty after 27 years. Then I need to paint the laundry room and lastly the garage.

Linda and I are doing the Dating Thing, were are having fun going out the eat, movies, shopping, dinner theatre, and a drink. We are getting along the best ever!!!!!!!!! NO STRESS.

I'm helping Howard rebuild our 4th?Goldwing. This time from scratch again by tearing another down to the frame. He noticed my 400 was leaking oil, good thing, it was low on oil. An engine case worth mucho bucks was hit by a rock when I went to Cloudcroft on the dirt. Fixed it with JB Weld.

Got another new friend "Cle" he came up to my door after seeing me work on my bikes. We are riding Thursdays near EP. He has never ridden much outside the city limits.

Finally cooled down, in the 70's and high 40's at night, no rain or wind for several weeks. Fall is our best weather, but really can't bitch much about the rest of the year. Was too hot before to paint.

Carolyn's BP is still high, I've been calling her more, as well as Jim and Dorothy.

Picture above is Bill with San Diego Ole Town Cowboy. Taken a year ago.

Current Events

Sat. another friend & I rode our dual sport bikes 125 miles across the desert on dirt roads up to Cloudcroft. It was more fun with 2 bikes. In the middle of nowhere we came across 4 bikes like ours, one was leaking air from the front tire. I have a electric pump, their manual pump would not work, lucky for them we stopped. We got to Cloudcroft on time and 4 from our group were there on their street bikes. We had lunch together and returned via paved roads but slowly since my bike is only a 400cc. Benny told me Sam's bike would not start.

I had Sam bring it over yesterday and today it took me 5 hours to take the carbs off and clean them. It was popping badly and was hard starting. also the battery ran down too fast. Fixed both.

Painting the house for the fourth time, BORING!

When the new roof was put on the roofers cut my cables to my wind speed and direction indicators even with the roof line. 18 wires (Jerks!). Did not even ask me if I needed them. Linda & I spent 4 hours soldering and rehooking them up.

Helping Howard rebuild a fourth 80's Goldwing.

Picture is of a beautiful Mexican Pacific coastal town, (Zhanteneo? )

Not all about bikes

Linda and I have for 4 weeks been trying to go to the Tuesday events at McDonald Observatory near Fort Davis. The weather was finally not too cold, hot or windy or had some other committment. We left almost an hour later than we should, had to get a coat for Linda at her Mom's & needed gas. At almost 80 mph the entire way we made it in 2 1/2 hours. 200 miles. Was in the high 50's to 60's. Fun fast ride on the BMW. With cruise control and enough room it is a good bike. We got there just in time to get some food and for the first showing (description of the entire facility) and tour of 2 of the 3 large telescopes. They are on Central time so we had to watch our time closely all day.

We waited 1 1/2 hrs. till the next outdoor activity describing the solar system and then back into the auditorium on a demonstration of their new software on the Universe. Was so cool Linda bought it $160. Can't wait to try it and show it to Wes, Tori and the other Geeks.

The last show at 8:30, luckily 7:30 our time, they sat up several telescopes so we could see the Moon, Jupiter, a nebula, and a star cluster. Also had a 10 minute movie on powers of ten showing the Universe and then down to the smallest particle.

Well the trip home at 9:00 our time was a lot different. Was in the low 50's and very dark. I had put on 2 more driving lights re aimed the bright light and a higher wattage low beam. I had enough light but it got down into the low 40's in the mountains. The roads for the first 20 miles are very curvy and slow, not easy 2 up riding, on a bike at night. We were watching for Deer but only almost ran over several jack rabbits.

Linda's coat was not windproof so we switched about 40 miles down the road. Then I was cold too. Never got over 59 and most of the time it was in the high 40's to low 50's, at 70 mph that's a heck of a windchill. Got home a Midnight and was hyperthermic, shivering a lot.

Bike ran good but needs more wind protection. Need to take more warmer clothes next time.

But we had a great time. Took 3 hours to get home. Slept in today. All 4 shows for both of us was only $40. But with gas, food and the software spent $260!

Finished another 2 bikes

This last one was a 2 stroke, had to put in a new piston. They ran it without oil. Then just fixed up a lot of small problems. Previous bike was a 650 Suzuki cruiser, and it needed the carbs cleaned and general service.

This is getting to close to that "W" word. But there's no bosses and I can (work) play when I want. I can make a few bucks and do what I'm good at. So far everyone likes how I go beyond doing what they ask.

Been trying to ride dirt bikes to Cloudcroft for a month on Sat. You would not think the weather would effect us here but every Sat. it threatens rain or wind. On a 300# bike with only 30 hp it's no fun.

No takers on the BMW, it's fall, the second worst time of the year to sell bikes. But I do have everything fixed on it now, so if it doesn't sell I fell better about it. It's just way too top heavy, dropped it 20 miles from home and got it up by myself.

Bike above is a 79 Suzuki 1000 I rebuilt for Linda and sold (she was not using again) to get a Suzuki GSX1100's I like better. Ended up with 4, then sold 2 to buy the BMW.

Sell the BMW and get? No not a car!

Guess what I've been doing?

Your thinking motorcycles and your right. Had a Suzuki cruiser over here last week. Guy could not get it started. I found a bad vacuum line that opens the fuel petcock to let gas into the carb. And the carb was filthy too. Oil was pure black. $150 later it's running great.

Got a 2 stroke Yamaha 80cc dirt bike right now. Kids ran it without oil in the gas. Piston and rings broken. The chain and sprockets are 90+% gone too. Nothing like $300 for a bike worth $200 won't fix.

My oldest Suzuki 1100 (Wes you know the one) has been leaking final drive hypoid fluid for 14 years, maybe 2 ounces every 500 miles but lately is more like 50 miles, so I fixed it today. When it was under warranty 2 Suzuki dealers worked on it trying to stop the leak(s). I took it apart, after going for parts twice, found the seal was in backwards from the service dep'ts.

Been driving 1600 miles a month average this year, spent $1400 on gas, good thing all the bikes get 46-65 mpg. Imagine how much that would be if it was a car at 20 mpg.

Had a guy come by yesterday said he would buy the BMW. Please pray for me!

There's been a rash of motorcycle accidents in EP. Lately it been the bikers fault. Too much speed, drinking, and no helmet. Except Sat. 25 yr old had a helmet on but was going over 100 and T-bone a car running a red light. Yes, he's dead and both vehicles are totalled.

If we speed we do it in the middle of nowhere so no one else get's hurt. But 2 of our group refuses to wear a helmet. One of them is pictured above. I always do except going around the block testing bikes so I can hear for noises.

Some Bike Stats

Been riding since I was 16 or 17. That's 42 years now. My brother Jim got me started when he had a Lambetta scooter. I had my first bike at 17 as a senior in high school.

Owned 22 motorcycles so far. Built up over the years: 120cc, 250, 305, 500, 750 (2), 900 (2), 1000 (2), 1100 (6), 1200. Also had a 400, 550 & 650 Turbo. 2 Dual Sports (Semi-dirt) 200 & 400

I've had mostly Suzuki's, but also had Kawasaki's (4), Honda (2), Yamaha (1) and a BMW.

Worked on over 37 bikes. I have rebuilt about 8 non-working bikes and had them running good in about 2-4 weeks each.

Howard and I totally took a 1985 full dress Honda Goldwing Interstate down to the frame and put it back on another frame in 6 weeks, working 4 hours/day, 4 days a week. Biggest motorcycle project I've done.

I've driven about 300,000 miles. I've invested over $50,000 in motorcycles, but with trade-in and outright sales have really only spent about $32,000. When we traded in the Cadillac we lost $35,000, so $32k really isn't that much. Figure with gas & maintenence spent another $30K

The largest bike I've driven is Honda 1800 Goldwing. Only driven one Harley, a 1960's it was totally different than anything I've driven before.

I would rather ride than work on them, and I'm also the most experienced on all my 20-35 friends, (depending on how you count, who never show up the second time after riding with us)

I don't own a car anymore, but Linda and I do own one new HONDA ACCORD. Please note it is Japanese, not American.

There are always 4 bikes now in the garage, I do not miss my expensive 99 Corvette.

Best bike? No doubt, my current Suzuki GSX1100G. Bought in 93, is a 91 model, now has 95,000 miles, runs great. Is reliable, fast, economical, easy to work on, over 20 reasons actually.

Worst Bike: My current BMW. Heavy, unreliable, expensive, hard to work on, no dealers nearby, about 15 reason altogether. BUT it is very comfortable, smooth riding.

Hope to ride until the day I kick off... might be on a bike.

Picture is when I had 4 Suzuki 1100's like the 1991 I like best. Sold 2 to buy the BMW.

Beemer

Linda and I took the BMW touring bike to Las Cruces to the Enchilada Festival today. It's running good now. Not leaking oil from the final drive gear box anymore right now, maybe. We also used the intercom except for Linda's mic falling out several times it's really nice to communicate. Another set of eyes watching traffic I really appreciate especially in EP.

The best part of our day was getting there and back. The Festival is less than 1/2 of what it used to be and is now in the very large park near where Wes and Kim lived in LC before they moved to that cold place up North.

I came back and fixed her Intercom, and the wires to mine were too short. Had to take the seat off for the 3 time and proceeded to lose screws, hardware and tools in the process. This bike is a couple of #'s lighter now. I have a small bag of leftovers. Tomorrow I will do a couple more minor fixes. I may have to keep it. No takers so far. The more I fix it the better I like it. Now if I could get about 200 #'s off the top of it, I would really like it. It's scary at anything under 10 mph. 837# plus Linda and I make it over 1200. It's got the best Brembo brakes, Thank GOD!

At anything over 40 it's very easy to drive.

Still hit 91 today, but isolated showers until Wed. We want to take it the the Davis Mtns. to McDonald Observatory. We will be coming back at night. Tuesday they have a evening observation for families starting at 7:30.

Linda and I have not killed each other YET. She just finished her 3rd month of retirement. Actually we are doing better. Not enough to do or bitch about.

Here's the list of NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!

Get on a plane. (Got a list of 20 reasons) Waste money on K-Mart junk or even go shopping there. Buy things without Linda's input. Buy BMW motorcycles. Buy GM products (or American Engineered for that matter). Work on cars (what a pain!). Take synthetic pharmaceuticals. (ie. Statins). Avoid lazy people. (Very hard to do) No more pets or non-family live with us. Do Not visit family for more than a week, (they can't stand me either). Avoid poor drivers (impossible in EP). Not putting things away immediately, like many of my friends who can't find stuff. Do write down borrowings and do bitch at them for not returning my stuff. Stop helping outsiders who don't like paying for your help, when contracted even verbally.

Always say NO if you don't want to help or can't do something. Never help friends move from one house to another. (One time we did it after a Al-Auburn game in total darkness.) "Boy my shoulders hurt too much to do that", now.

Maybe I should write down the things I do like to do? Be with Linda, cuddling, holding hands, motorcycle riding, working on bikes, yep that's it, no more, no less. The END.

Oh ya, my once best friend in the picture above cut me off totally after he married his 2nd cousin. Friends come and go but family is best (and never go away, dang!)

My List Of Never Do That Again Keeps Growing!

Yesterday I helped my bike rebuilding buddy(Howard) ship out a mid 90's BMW via Forward Air. What a pain. Buy tiedowns, 2 Combo Locks, wait 2 weeks while they get a cargo metal box sent to EP. Take all fluids out, disconnect battery. Connect up trailer to truck. Load bike and all parts. Take to Air freight near airport. Get there, unload bike. Push up 20 foot steep ramp. Check bike won't go in box. Cargo Box very short. Bitch at Air frieght people. Take bike back home. Get lunch and try to cool down. In the 90's and high humidity yesterday. Take bike off trailer. Take Fairing and tallest parts off bike, put several parts in boxes. (I cut wires, I never told Howard because it would take another 1/2 hour). Reload bike 3rd time. Take back to airport. Push up ramp, workers never helped, but were good supervisors. Load bike in cargo box only 3 1/2 foot tall. Strap down, put all parts boxes in cargo box, next to bike. I did 75% of the work! Otherwise we would have been there another hour. Close badly bent doors, try to lock but clasps bent too. Yell at Howard "let's go quit BS'ing"

Thank them (for not helping jerks). Go home 5 hours later. Take shower because I'm totally sweaty and badly dehydrated. SAY to Howard " YOU OWE ME BIG TIME"

Moral is " DON'T do that again" Opposite of picture above.

Did something different

Benny, Erdene and I went to the El Paso Rodeo last Thursday. Erdene is very quiet and still only speaks a few words of English. Benny has friends who have hay eating animals, so he can ride an American Hay Burner. Erdene and Ganbold (his dad) only have 50 horses.

Took a few friends to the Metropolis of Dell City Sat. We drove about 20 miles north of this town of <1000>

Today Mark Albertson brought his Suzuki 1100 by he bought from me. The one in the picture above. He was only getting 35 mpg, my 2 get 46 & 48. We fully serviced it and found a few things it needed bad. He sold his car to buy this bike and drives it 35 miles each way to work. He teaches journalism and ? at Tornillo High School. Wait til winter when it's really cold, even here it can be in the low 20's at daybreak. Ran really good when he left.

Waiting for it to cool down into the 60-70's before I paint the outside, laundry room and garage. Still near 90 and humidity (30-50%) high for here this time of year.

Well I have to go back to retirement now.

Got it running finally

Yes my incredibly expensive, unreliable, over weight, hard to work on Beemer is running at last almost maybe without a problem. On my Suzuki 1100's it would have taken less than a hour to change to broken throttle cable. They wanted $188 from a BMW dealer. Found one on Ebay for $31. It took 8 hours on the Beemer! But in that time I check the air filter (under the gas tank-stupid place) and fixed the speedometer that was 10% too fast. Yes 80 mph was really only 72, 60 was 54, etc. Way off! Tomorrow Charlie Card and I are going for the third test run. Please pray, cross your fingers, knock on wood and break a leg when I go this time. I did make it 120 miles with only minor problems last time.

I went & got a free Prostate exam today. That's another wonderful delight. "Drop your drawers, bend over and wowwwww up the......."

Still in the 90's, my hay fever is acting up, in the middle of Sept. still!

Linda bought me a Larry the Cable Guy CD, extremely funny and the darkest chocolate double dip cone from B-R's. I was in heaven!

We're on a health kick, I still don't take any meds yet, except for Faxseed oil, St. John's Wort, Ginseng and 2-3 others. OH maybe these are meds in a way but better than prescription crap, hell of a lot less expensive. These don't kill your liver to help your heart like Statins (Lipator)

Where's my comments?

Same ole

Really nothing new. Weathers been crappy since last Sat. Lots of clouds since Henrietta went thru.

I've gone back to helping Howard rebuild bikes or getting his, he has not ridden enough lately running better. He has cleaned up his garage so now we don't have to trip over stuff just to move around. He has sold over $2000 worth of parts just laying around on Ebay. There is a floor in his garage now. He could sell some of his 5-8 bikes depending on how you count parts. His BMW M3 sports car is on it's third plastic rear window from sitting outside.

I've had no projects for 2-3 weeks so I started looking into my BMW M/C problems trying to figure out how to do them cheaper. The 6 CD player skips so bad I usually just shut it off. I found a fix on the internet of just changing out some long screws for some very short ones, that's suppose to fix it. May go out today for a ride on it to find out if it is better. I went down to a local bearing supply and found out the bearings I bought from BMW at $155 I could have gotten for $65. If I keep it I will buy a spare.

I've gotten 4 hits on selling it, but no lookers. The ABS lights are flashing (could be $1900) I think is chasing everyone off. I'm about to disconnect the ABS so they don't flash and not mention it at all. Only time you need it is wet or on grease/oil.

Bored lately

I have no projects right now and it has been too hot to do garage and outside painting. The stone fence needs more cement in places that's washed out.

Trying to sell my BMW. It's a lot like the '81 Goldwing we had. Too slow, too big, too heavy, too expensive to work on, too hard to work on. The air cleaner and throttle cable need replacing, it will take 4-8 hours to do, the cable is $50 and air cleaner $40. There's no dealers near, closiest is Albq. and Tucson. The ABS needs checking, to clear the codes with only a scanner available at the dealers.

Still riding Sat's but never no new place to go. Leaving at 8 am is too late for some, too early for others so I schedule as I Want, When, Where, Eat What, & Distance going, etc. Too many old fogies and opinions!?#%.

Jerk down the street spent 1.5 hours revving his engine today, what an idiot! Yes he did: waste gas, wear his engine out faster and pollute! Turned on the stereo real loud.....

Next door they are still working on the house. New A/C $13000, Enclosed the garage, $15000, New wood shed $8000, New tile roof $12000 and now they're digging up the front yard, bet the cement truck crushed the sewer pipe. Locals are soooooo duuummmmbbb.

Never let heavy trucks run over your driveway or lawn......

Roof done, now too quiet.

Picture is new to me BMW K1200LT.

Took only 4 days, instead of 5 last time, but there was a big crew here Wed. It's a 30 year Owens Corning Oakridge roof. Roofing company also gave us 10 year guarantee on labor for leaks. But it was twice as expensive as in 1991.

Real tired today, did not sleep good, & I'm sore from going up and down the ladder 30 times yesterday. The 20 year old cooler gave me fits for 3 days. I should not bitch they usually only last 10.

House is real cool today. Cooler working very good

Finished the Kawasaki 440 I was rebuilding today, Should make about $300. Ran good up and down the street.

Waiting on the parts for the BMW. Should be here next Wed. I have not driven it in the 3 weeks since we bought it.

Linda's gone to Madison, and no pounding on the roof.

Benny bought Sam a 1992 Yamaha 1100 cruiser, only needs a few adjustments and little service. Good deal and has lots of chrome. Only 7800 miles too.

2 days into the roof replacement and we are tired of the nail pounding already. 3 days to go. Yesterday they took the A/C off all day, but with our 18" insulation in the attic it only got up to 81 in here. They put it back on for us the use in the evening, but wired it wrong. I spent 2 very frustrating hours trying to figure out what they did. The idiots that originally wired it in used 2 white wires. Yesterday they had them reversed so it would not run.

The rust is so bad when they pick up the cooler it falls apart in their hands.

The shingles are not as white as I would have hoped but they are the best mfger'd, Owens Corning, 30 year warranty. I'm having a ridge vent (continuous opening) put in along the peak to let out more heat in the summer, but I don't know about in the winter if I'm going to lose more heat too.

Changed out a tire on one friend's bike and oil change on another.

Sam came by with his new bike. It is a 1992 Yamaha 1100 cruiser with only 7800 miles and lots of chrome, Paid only $2000 great low price.

Mom leaves me today, boo.

Too Much Fun

WORK, THIS IS WHY I DON'T DO IT. So I don't waste time at work, playing on bikes is a lot more fun.

After 42 years riding and the same working on bikes I can almost say "I've almost have had enough biking for now". Rode 15,000 miles this year. And I'm helping maintain about 20 bikes. 2 Suzuki 1100's I sold I'm doing it all, then people come by asking for restorations and servicing. My 4 bikes of course get the best servicing. It shows because the oldest one has 93,000 miles and runs like it's almost new.

Thank God for a good car, the Honda so far hasn't gone in once for service.

The roofers are working on our house. Will take all week. The house was getting hot mid day so I thought they had done something. Later when I went up they hadn't touched it and there was no water to soak the pads. But I had water in the house. Really wierd the float stopped up today when they were here.

I thought once Linda retires the car would get a rest, BOY was I wrong!

Linda's leaving me again, someone please help me!!!!!

Working on bikes as usual

Well after 1 1/2 weeks I'm finally getting some of the routine maintenance that should have been done for the last 7 years on my new bike. Bleeding brakes, fixing the CD player, putting in switches for the battery and headlights, changing the transmission and rear end fluids, working on the ABS anti lock brakes that still do not work, buying filters, changing coolant, trying to figure out how things work and where parts are. Everything is in a different place, since it's German and under layers of plastic covers. I have to buy a 2nd service manual (in paper) to find stuff and get a trouble shooting guide. I've got a hundred screws out now that need to go back somewhere!

While I was working on it in the garage I got 3 other projects. Benny's nephew bought 5 mini-choppers from China. They are 10-12" of the ground, are a lawsuit waiting to happen, and not street legal. They were expensive at $2000 but are really cheaply constructed. Screws in bad locations, cheap hardware, bent brackets, and worst of all a Radio Control (very small) 12v. battery that is suppose to start it. (HA). I couldn't even start it with the kick starter. It hurt my foot. No I'm not going to build the other 4.

Then a guy installing solar lights wants me to help him put his 1972 Ducati back together with special parts at his work place. Never worked on a Italian bike before.

Next door at the Anderson's they've got a crew there enclosing the garage for the older brother who got Polio and now is an invalid. The owner came over and wants me to get his Truimph running he forgot he had. Turns out it is a 2 cyl. Kawasaki. Gee, I could have worked an a British bike if he got it right.

Picture above is Jim's new T-bird, the black one (newer 02). The 57, white one, he worked on. He likes his better.

Very Busy

Second 700 mile trip on the bikes have me travel weary. 4700 miles in the last month. Takes 2 or more days to recoup after riding so far.
Any ways I have the new bike home and it's the nicest I've ever owned. It's a BMW K1200LT. 1200cc. 4 cylinder. LT=Luxury Tourer. 100 hp and 85# torque. Gray with a hit of blue. Paid $7500 for a $8-10,000 bike. The previous owner said and I hear this 90% of the time is that he don't have time to ride it. An other excuse. But their lose is my gain. Was over $17,000 new in 2000. It has AM/FM digital radio, cassette, 6 disc CD, cruise control, power windshield (adjusts about 10" up and down), 4 way flashers, auto shut off turn signals, ABS, large trunk, large saddlebags, adjustable rear suspension, intercom, passenger audio controls, 3 power outlets, heated grips, digital gear indicator, clock, temp., mpg, miles to empty, avg. speed, idiot lights for everything, it's fuel injected and gets over 50mpg!
It has room for Linda and I. The seats are semi-soft and wide enough. It is heavy especially getting started, but after 10-15 mph does not feel like the 837#'s. Today I was able to do a U-turn in the street without putting my feet down.
I only have to get the ABS working. The CD was not working but was a blown fuse only. I got 6 good CD's from the previous owner because he could not get them out.
Too bad I'm too tired to drive it now.

Tori House projects

She & I were very busy the first two days, Sat. and Sun. I also went back and spent another day Thur. on my return trip. We cut all the low branches and bushes all the way around the house, put in a new garage door opener, fixed the faucet in the spare bathroom tub, fixed the hole in this tubs wall, fixed leaks in both toilets, new batteries in the smoke detectors, chalked around the tub, finished the floor in the kitchen, cleaned under the refrigerator and coils, new filters on the air conditioner inside, I cleaned the outside A/C coils that were 75% plugged up, covered up her new sewer line the lawn mower person broke, sweped the back porch and driveway, fixed her glasses, put the molding up in her kitchen by the 4 x 8 paneling, fixed her drawer for her silverware so it rolled in instead of dropped down, adjusted several kitchen cabinet doors, changed out an outlet in the spare bedroom, put cover plates over exposed switches, cleaned the front gutters, patched the roof where the tree branches rubbed against the shingles, put
screening around the outside A/C coils to keep them cleaner, I caulked a long crack in the bricks, cleaned front windows, adjusted the garage door springs so the door weight was balanced so the new garage door opener would work. We painted the spare bathroom cabinet and walls where they were patched. The aluminum siding was rubbing on the garage door so I nailed it back on.
I did leave her projects to clean the screening on the A/C coils, change out the A/C filters with spares we bought yearly, caulk more bricks, showed her how to adjust the garage door opener.
Also she needs to buy lawn seeding that grows in the shade in the back yard. Also suggested she paint the neighbors fence posts a darker color. We bought paint the cover the kitchen counter tops. We still need to get rid of the old garage door opener and clean up the garage. We need to add an attic fan to reduce her A/C bill more.
She has 12-16" of insulation in the attic to reduce her heating and A/C bill now.
She needs tools for Christmas: open/box end wrenches, hack saw, better tree trimming saw, air compressor, channel locks, pliers, better screwdivers, prybars, more...

Gone 2 weeks

After 2500 miles I'm in Garland at Tori's house. Went thru all of Texas Arkansas Part of Missouri and too much IL farm country going to Dorothy's. She and I went on 2 rides but after riding 1450 moles to get there another ride was not as much fun as I expected. Dorothy is a very good passenger. I got poured on going there but so far only sprinkels getting back here.
Every lake and river is full.
Got over 25 projects done on Tori's house. Finishing 3 more today.
Looking forward to getting home and to be with Linda and her retirement.
I should be over 3200 miles before I get back to El Paso. Bike is running fine and getting 47 mpg, but it still will be over $200 in gas. Trying to hold my speed down to 70 mph. This bike's windshield is not as good as on my oldest bike, too much wind.
Highest gas was $3.35 in Kermit TX but IL and MO went up to $3.15 No real problems but a few stupid drivers not wanting to respect motorcycles.
WES and KIM thanks for coming to Dorothy's. Dorothy and Craig thank you for your hospitality. Tori took me to Papadauix's for dinner last night, Cajun food.
Sorry no picture is posting

Almost ready!

Well I was going to take my red 93 touring Suzuki 1100 to the left but I could not get the carbs right. It has a bad hesitation until it get's over 3500 rpm. This would be too aggravating at every start up. So I took all the touring stuff off the touring bike and put it on my sport bike to the right. The nice thing about my bikes are all the parts are interchangeable. But it still took me 11 hours to do it. Things I had to change: the 2 backrests, seat, supports for the hard saddlebags, battery, handlebars, windshield, engine guards with front footrests, lengthen the front brake hose and rebleed them, and front tire. Then I had to check everything again I've done for weeks getting the touring bike ready.

Sold my black 92 Suzuki 1100 for my $2750 asking price. He is coming for it today. Gee I'm back down to 4 bikes, and no car.

Sat., 4 of us drove to the Guadalupes Again! By the time we got back it was 100. They got 2" rain the night before and was only in the low 80's at 7000'. Bikes are still getting 50 mpg.

The desert is usually brown this time of year but is green.

Linda's home today, real surprise! Last 3 days.

Super Day!

I helped Benny work on his Pest Control sprayer and his Goldwing today. He invited us to his house Friday and is paying my way at cards.

Then I went to to roofer to pay the downpayment. She gave me a reciept/contract and a better deal. Really nice lady! Will hold price even with 2 more price increases coming.

Then I took the contract to my State Farm Insurance agent and he gave me the balance of the hail damage claim for our roof for $4850!

Then I got my switches in to fixed my wind direction gauge. And it's done.

Then the guy that looked at my newest Suzuki 1100 I have for sale came over and paid me for it, but will not pick it up until Monday.

Then I got a package from my son and daughter in law with Wisconsin sausage and cheese in it for Father's day.

And then Linda came home...... The love of my life!

June 19th Who's Birthday?

We went to dinner again, it's her season. Greek food was good. Finally a good restuarant on the east side. Thanks to my younger sister who gave me the idea for Linda's Earings. Happy Birthday dear!

Worked on Undarmaa's Saturn. We replaced the radiator, thermostat, water pump, and radiator cap. There's nothing else to replace except the engine! It still overheats. It is 102 outside.

Ready to go to Garland and Springfield. All packed and bike is prep'ed. Got 2 sets of saddle bags full. Tori's got plenty of work for me. Dorothy and I have plans for the 8 days I will be there. Bike trips, boating, Wes and Kim are coming, Matt should be coming, Lincoln play and....

Been trying to relax more, did not feel good Sat. About once a month I feel physically down. Part of it is the heat and not drinking enough water. I'm sodium deficiant too.

Friday the 15th!

Went to class, a new instructor let 2 students run their mouths off for an hour of our 2 hour class. I got pissed in my anger management class! I told her to stop and let's go on. Several other students nodded their head in agreement! I called the director to get this stopped or I would drop their class.

Went to EPEC to sign Linda's retirement papers. I had to buy LUNCH! My wife loves me so much....

It's 102 today hottest day so far. Engine on my bike was overheating. At a 3 stop light wait, I shut the engine off. The Pool is really green now.

Playing (hate that W word) on my wind direction indicator. It's turned so many times in 2 1/2 years since I put it on the roof it wore out the contacts, but only $4 at Radio Shack.

Have got 4 estimates on the roof. I called one that seemed reasonable but I think they left out many items we need. They probably won't get to it until Aug -Sept.

Yesterday 5 guys including myself were suppose to go riding. I was the only one who did show up, screw them, so I went by myself to Hatch, Deming, Columbus; 275 miles and got 53 mpg!

How's your week going?

Life's a dream at 59

Well retirement is better than that "W" thing. Sat. rode to Columbus for the 2nd time this week. It 's a great bike road. Smooth, flat, 60 miles, maybe 12 cars/truck, & 1 jerk cop waiting near Columbus for speeders. Normally I only see Borber Patrol and military. But now the military is gone too. Only once in the last 10 years have I seem illegals jumping into the back of an old pickup. Had to drive over 20 miles to report them.


Sun. went swimming. Pool is cold. Had it up to 92. It's either raining or cold evenings for June. Pool is only 84 now. And Green. Can't stop the algae.


At least 1/2 of the weekends for the last 6-8 months the weathermen say it will be crappy but we can ride at least for awhile. Most guys don't even show up. They MIGHT get wet!


Linda's officially retiring. We are ready to sleep in, every day.


The new car, the Accord, still needs no servicing, if it was an American product we would have had it in twice by now. 5 1/2 months old.


After working on the carbs of all my 1100's they are getting 50 mpg. I'm still putting in over $100 per month in gas, so that like 1500 miles per month.

The photo is the Road of Death, one lane road with trucks going in both directions!

Busy all week, but still doing the same, "working" on the house and bikes. I'm wanting to take my touring bike with the full windshield and saddlebags. Last week I took off the carbs, 4-5 hours work to clean them up and lean them out since gas is over $3.20 here. It ran fine. Thursday I started it up and it ran bad again, like mis-firing on one of the four cylinders. Found #1 was running rich, so I cleaned it again and still was mi-firing. I put in a new spark plug and it ran good for 4 miles then ran bad. I was so frustrated I stopped yesterday.

Today I took the brand new plug out, it was covered in black soot. Screw it, I leaned just that one cylinder carb, went out for a few miles and was ok. Have to ride it 20-30 miles to see if it will be OK long term.

Went to class today, it was one of the best I've gone to, I complemented the instructor, Jimmy. He does a good job of keeping us on track. A couple of guys try to dominate and joke around too much in class, which is annoying.

Wind 3 days this week, and Sat. is suppose to rain. Some wimps in our riding group are backing out already. Going to Alamagordo then down 70 to Cruses.

Tori needs to get me info to fix her garage door opener, but she never answers her phone or Emails. Very frustrating. I know she works a lot but I can't help her if she doesn't help me first.

Working on the House and Bikes

So far we've got a pool cover, ceiling primer/sealer, ceiling paint, drop cloths, ceiling popcorn repair, shed paint and some tools to work on all the ceiling water damage from the hail. We are ahead of budget. Painting the garage ceiling will be the worse job. Will have to cover everything. When you paint ceiling popcorn about 25% come down and plugs up the roller. What a mess. The stuff in a can for the popcorn really is messy, about 1/2 of it goes all over me and the floor.

The shed. We still have the momma cat and 3 kittens about 6-8 weeks old hiding behind the shed. I hope they come out soon and Wendy takes them. So I can paint it.

Still only got 2 quotes for the roof. Trying to get a 3rd so I don't get ripped off. No one calls back to set up appointments.

Got 3 1100's carbs done. Suzuki screwed up by putting in soft guide plastic. The slide that rubs against the guide wears it out, then wears out some jets and needles that cost $120. This can occur as soon as every 20,000 miles. If I don't fix them, gas mileage drops from 45 to 36. With gas at $3.25 and driving 1500 miles a month adds almost $30 a month to my $110 gas bill a month. You wouldn't think I would spend $110 a month but if I had an SUV it would be $350 a month! NO THANKS.

Gee Good Luck Today, Unbelievable!

Went to the mail box to put out a letter before I went to my Anger Management class and found more mail. I'm sure I got it yesterday. The check for the roof was in there. It was enough to cover the cost of the roof. When we sign a contract and give it to State Farm Ins. we get another large check. But wait, we still have to fix the ceilings in 5 rooms, buy a pool cover, pay ourselves back for damage already done, buy a shed, fix the fence and around the pool edging. But still this is good. Then more mail came today. 2 deliveries in 1 day, yesterday??

I was able to deposit the check, buy my 8th case of bike oil at 60% off and clean the pool.

The cleaning usually takes 4 hours, many cuss words, I get very dirty, wet, dried out hands from being in water for hours, get very tired, but none of this happened this year! Took only 1 1/2 hours, washed the pool cover off into the already dirty pool, then just vaccuumed & skimmed it. No leaks in the piping, it primed up right a way, had only 2 gallons of junk from the bottom, the heater came right on so we can get it up to 90 (was 83 already). No messes, no hassles, no cussing!

Let's see no one tailgated me today, class was good, I'm now in the cool house ready for a cold one. HONEY, I'M READY to do have more good days.

Picture taken in San Diego when Jim Dorothy & I went to Mexican Riveria.

Disappointed

Only 3 of us showed up Sat. to go riding. What's wrong? Then we only went to 3 M/C dealers and did not go anywhere really. Many "excuses" were made to not show up.


Later Linda and I went to China Wok. The food was dried out and not tasty as usual. We did see 2 good DVD's. Deja Vu and Night in a Musesum.


Sunday is better. I went by myself on my sport bike, to Sierra Blanca, except for a Semi tailgating me it was good. I drove Rte. 1111 from Sierra Blanca and Carlsbad Hiway, 42 miles, without seeing another car.


Today we are watching 2 more DVD's In Pursuit of Happiness and Rocky Balboa.


I still have not opened up the pool. Usually it is been in the 90's by now and low 70's at night, but not this year. Opening the pool would require heating the water from 80 to 90. Since natural gas prices are still at high winter rates that's going to be expensive.


El Paso gas prices are the highest in Texas. Took $13 to fill up the bike today. Linda spent over $40 to fill up the car. I do not fell sorry for the SUVs, trucks and pick ups spending over $100, they are the one's causing our high prices. At least my bikes get 45-70 mpg. The car gets 21-23 mpg.

The bike above is the sport bike, but is even better now. It has a really nice, newer, red tank now.

1st Quote on Roof

$5900 includes 30 year roofing, down tube for A/C, and new flashing.

Waited around for 6 hours that were late, typical for EP.

Got an email from a fellow Suzuki 1100 owner. Our carbs have a defect in them after 20,000 miles they wear out the internals prematurely, causing reduced performance and increased gas consumption. It can drop from the mid 40's to the high 20's if not fixed. His idea spurd me on the do a much cheaper fix. His cost to others $160, mine cost $10 but is 2-3 hours work.

Picture to the right is from a series sent to me. It is the "Road of Death" in S. America. It's a 1 lane road used by trucks going both directions. They all have scrape marks down both sides of the trucks. The mirrors are never turned out. Very scarey!

3rd Blog

Well today State Farm Adjusters came by for 2 hours to evaluate the roof, ceiling, fence, pool, and shed for Hail Damage. We are suppose to get a new roof and enough to have someone else fix the ceilings. They also gave us a new pool cover, the plastic seperators around the pool, a new shed, and the privacy slats on the fence in the back yard. I won't see a check for a few days. I will probably do most of the work inside so to help us pay for the $1500 deductible.

As to my other big duty I cleaned house today, I make the mess, I clean the mess and get paid, Linda is so good to me, I want to be so good to her, if she would let me!

As to my bikes. Yesterday I tried to wire up the turn signals so they act in conjunction with the brake lights, but it never worked right. I could get them to come on with the brake lights but could not figure how to make them over-ride the brake lights if the signals were on at the same time. Took me 6 hours to figure that out. Life is great in retirement, when something does not work, no time was really wasted, besides what day is it? I don't even wear a watch in the house.

2nd Posting- Accident

If you got my email you've already read this.
6 of us went to the Aspencash M/C rally in Ruidoso. 4 of us (Me, Card, Mel, & Mike Rhodes)met Benny and Sue & Sam Faraone up there. Sam had already gone to the Trade show so he decided to go home alone. It was 10:00 am. The other 5 went to the Convention Center about 8-10 miles further up Ruidoso. As we were leaving about 11:30 Benny got a phone call from Pam (Sam's wife) that he was in an accident but was OK. We jumped on our bikes and headed back to Tularosa. Sam was following a jeep, but a lady did not see him behind it and turned left in front of him. There was a bicycle rally taking up the entire right lane with 200 bikes, They were traveling on a 70 mph road obstructing traffic, but when Sam had the accident they were going the opposite direction but still very annoying and distracting to all car/trucks in both directions.
Sam is very sore, 2 small abrasions. He will be even sorer tomorrow. His bike's front end is totaled. If it bent the frame the entire bike is totaled. Peter's taking Sam to see a doctor.
We waited 2 hours for Sam's son Peter to bring a pick up truck so the 6 of us could put the bike in it. Sam was very quiet. It was very heavy loading it up in the truck.
3 things we must do.
1. Stay together. 2 or more bikes can be seen much easier.
2. Wear your helmet!!!!! If Sam had not had it on he would be much worse. It is scratched. You can not control your head in an accident, it is like lead shot, I know, I fell twice in one day, my face would have been so bloody without a helmet I probably would be dead. I was 125 miles out in the desert on a road where maybe 1 car comes by per day!
3. Always drive with your bright lights on DAY and night.
This is our 2nd accident in our group, every one of us has dropped our bikes, this is a message.
Thank God he is OK, Thank You Lord!

My first blog

I'm having so much fun blogging with my son so far far away, I'm hoping he will comment on my stupid things (oops sorry) important, creative and unique concepts and projects with far reaching social implications with down right fun repercussions.
Well today I went to my 6th anger management class. We BS'ed for 1 hour and 45 minutes and they taught for 10 minutes with 2 minutes of summarizing. Today I realized I have almost no problems compared to all the brown people. I'm the oldest, only Caucasian, only volunteer, paying half what the others are because they are all on criminal probation. But it is helping me realize nothing we get angry at is worth it, but we all get upset anyways.
Afterwards I bought Church's chicken and went to Charlie Thomas' house to eat and then we went for a ride to Edge of Texas. Charlie what's your doctor's name and phone #. He needs to know you went riding a week too early after surgery.
Then I came home to relax, it was way too hard riding and BS'ng all day.
Read my son's Blog and love to ridicule his weather. But he's lost 50+ lbs. WOW.
Linda showed me how to start this Blog, since it's free (spell that CHEAP) and if my life's got any worth while revelations they might get posted here.
Then Linda and I....ho I can't say that.
Called all my friends to see if they will go with us to Ruidoso for the bike rally, Aspencash.
Of 30 friends only 5 are going, they got no commitment or life compared to me!