Only in the city

We went to Sierra Blanca Sat. and to the Guadalupes on Monday. No incidents on the bikes outside the city limits. The 42 miles north of Sierra Blanca we exceeded the 55 mph speed limit some. 42 miles turned into 20-25 minutes. My Red Suzuki 1100 still got 44 mpg! Monday I drove the entire 200 miles at 70 mph, got 48 mpg 2 up, headwind, and saddlebags (more drag). We picniced on the long hill overlooking El Capitan and Guadalupe Peak. From about a 1000 ft up we could see out 75 miles. It was a nice clear day. Hot and windy coming home.

Sunday I visited Cle who had the accident, see previous blog. He was in the left lane on Montwood, a lady was in the right lane, did not look, and pulled into the left lane where Cle was. He could not avoid her and dropped the bike. He was operated on Monday, broke his left leg 2" above the ankle. He comes home today, Tuesday.

Monday's I have been going to lunch with Sam and Charlie T. Elmer's food on Montana has improved. $6 for buffet.

This weekend we go after a 1984 Yamaha Venture touring bike with only 14.5k miles. The gas will be the expense part of the trip. Will see my older sister and brother in law. See pic.

The following weekend we go to our daughter's, Victoria, to take her our HDTV, a exercise treadmill, air compressor, and stuff she left here 10 years ago.

Accident and potential bad incidents

One of my riding friends, Cle Fitzpatrick, was hit today by a female left hand turner. Not him in the pic. All M/C riders must drive with your bright lights "ON" all the time. I know for sure I'm still here because of it. I have gone to putting bright reflective material on the windshields. Left hand turners are the number #1 reason for motorcycle accidents.

Slow down, turn your head, look at them, anticipate, look for a way to avoid, keep fingers/feet near the brake levers, know they're idiots and blind.

Every one of my siblings who have driven here says we have the WORST drivers (in El Paso)they've ever seen.

I'm paranoid every time I go out. I rarely have problems as soon as I get out of the city limits. My worst incidents are tail-gaters. Linda had a good idea, Turn around look at them, then I wave then off and slow down slowly until they get off my ass.

Please be careful, We all know the definition of ASSUME ("Assuming" they see you).

What a weekend!

Friday Mark Al... brought over his 93 Suzuki 1100 over to work on, to try and get better MPG. I tore off the carbs, checked the valves, timing, cams, intake and cam chain. Are were ok. Checked the carbs one more time. Still no problem. About 10 hours of work later I put it all back together. Started right up and has great power. The spark plugs carboned up right away. Still not fixed. Really nothing else to do. Very frustrated. This is the only bike I can't fix.

Sat. Larry, Carlos, Sam and I went to Ruidoso to the rally. Got rained on just outside Ruidoso. Got to the Convention Center, stayed 1.5 hours, had lunch prior and left just before a second rain storm started. Benny, and Carlos left 10 minutes behind us and really caught it with mud rain. I went to Thomas' house in N.E. EP. We went to look at at M/C trailer in the lower valley.

The mud rain caught up with us, REALLY BAD WIND. We decided to put my Red 1100 on the trailer because of the dirt flying. The wind blew me and the bike off the trailer. Got about $250 damage and a sore rib. It could have been much worse. Thomas did not buy the trailer, it's too far off the ground.

Working on the Red 1100, lots of super glue, epoxy filler and paint will fix many cracked instruments. The windshield is badly scratched but not broken.

No good dead goes unpunished, when will I learn? But look it's keeping me busy!

What do you do next?

I'm working on Mark Albertson's Suzuki 1100 he bought from me (in the pic). He's only getting 29 mpg. My 2 get a minimum of 45 up to 55. Avg. of 49. I used to get low to mid 40's with his.

So far I've rebuilt the carbs 6 times, checked the ignition advance, looked for leaks, checked the float levels and lowered for economy, dropped the jet needles down to lean it out too. Also checked the air filter, it is clean. No obstructions in the intake. The throttle valves and internal vacuum system system seems to be working ok.

The spark plugs are very black, he says is runs worse now at low speeds. He's slowed down to 70 on IH-10 from 80. But his gas is red??

Yet to do. Check valve clearances and valve timing. See if exhaust system is plugged. See if tires rotate freely, and brakes are not dragging.

If this doesn't do it, what do I do next?

Right now Mark has my 91 with 97,600 miles that runs better than his.

Got Any Ideas how to get back at the gas companies?

So far I've spent $165 this month on gas. That's only in my bikes. And they get 47-70 mpg. Gas went up another nickel today. It's over $3.60 now. 6 weeks ago I was at Walmart Gas station and the previous fillup was $200, 53 gallons of diesel. It had to be a big truck.

I can get $14-16 in a tank in my bikes, now. That's only 4-5 gallons. Our car is usually 10-12 gallons ( only 1/2-3/4 empty) and $40! Linda fills up a couple times a month.

My little 400 gets 65-75 mpg in the pic. I should drive it more but it's not a road bike for hi-way speeds. It usually takes 2 gallons (125 miles) $7 now was $3.50

Diesels costs $4.15 here. A friends Chevy diesel pick up takes over $100, not empty.

I really feel sorry for the poor. Just trying to get to work and shopping could break them. I saw a $5 fillup, They got 1.4 gallons is all. In the city that's maybe 2o miles?

Jim mentioned a friend of his that drives over 30,000 miles a year, thats $5000 per year for work. Why isn't he using his phone more?

SUV's: Saw one last weekend pulling a 20 ft trailer. It was an Excursion, probably gets 8 mpg and a 40 gallon tank. Even at 30 gallons x $3.60= >$100 every 240 miles! Our old RV did this too. I used to bitch when we put in 25 gallons at $1.79= $45

And the gas companies are making billions in profits, and our President (who owns a petrol co.) is doing nothing!

Crude oil was over $125 a barrel. Could go to $200, gas will be $5-6-7 per gallon then! But my 5% rebates keep going up too on my Credit Card, gee thanks.

Counting

I counted at least 19 motorcycles have been bought since we start our riding group in 2 1/2 years. 5 were mine. Sam's had 2, Thomas 4, Benny 1, Ken 2, Lowell 1, JD 1, Cle 1, Mark Ai 1. Mark Al 1. Reasons: Better gas mileage, want bigger bike, an accident, want more nostalgic bike, want to go riding again after raising family and more.

Me, I just want something to keep me busy, looking for something better, more comfortable, lighter.

I'm trying to get better gas mileage for most of them. Most get 45-50. The warm weather helps MPG too. Before gas went up when someone wanted more power so they added bigger carbs and aftermarket exhaust. This almost always decreases MPG, unless they get them tuned correctly. Sam was getting 35 in town and now gets 44, Thomas was getting 40 now gets 50 with his HD. I leaned both out and both run better now. Going to try 1 more time with Mark's 1100 Suzuki Friday. He only gets 29.

Oh ya, we did get a new bike for Charlie G. He has a beautiful 07 Yamaha 1100 V-Star Classic full dresser. Rides, handles, looks better and has more power. A pretty silver. He can ride 2 up now. Congrats! His is the one on the left.

Next week is the Ruidoso rally. I know 6 going.

Pic is Greenlee, Thomas and me on our Cruisers.

Wow!

Went for a ride yesterday, about 137.45 miles! 2.87 gallons or 47.89 mpg. Not bad for an old gal. Got the Inspection sticker. It ran better than before I put it down. I need a throttle rocker to help my weak right wrist and a back rest is all to be my main bike again.
Going with friends to several bike dealers for Charlie Greenlee to buy a bike. He wants a larger cruiser to go riding with us.
Still more winds, for May it is not hot, yet. No rain since Jan. The Rio Grande is full, Colorado got a lot of snow this year.

Looking for another bike. The only one I want is a 86-96 Yamaha Venture Royale. It's a 1200 or 1300cc touring bike with front fairing and saddle bags. Should be less expensive, more reliable, less top heavy, easier to work on, less to break and maybe more room for Linda. Older Goldwings are hot riding.

Pic is of all the States we've been in, on a motorcycle.

It's just like me.

With my expensive BMW gone, & nothing to do today, my old Brown '91 Suzuki 1100 came out today. It had a new battery, oil change and servicing in the fall before put it in the shed for 4 months in Jan.

Today it got a new front tire on it, changed to fork seals and fixed another oil leak. Put some fresh gas in it, primed the carbs and it started right up. Drove around the block and it's still has a kick in the pants.

Like me it's getting old but doesn't want to be 6 feet under yet. It's not pretty, my friends say when are you going to give up that "Old Piece Of ____" But it's reliable, fast, nearly vibrationless, economical, comfortable, easy to work on, I've got many spare parts, and most parts are still available from Suzuki.

Reliable: Just needs batteries, tires and oil changes, very really breaks down. Little to break.

Fast: 12 second quarter miles, 115 mph (used to be 135)

Vibrationless: Does not cause hand and body fatigue, good size windshield.

Economical: $.16/mile, 46 mpg, parts less than 1/2 of the BMW. BMW was $.36/mile, most cars are .50

Comfortable: Sit up seating, everything positioned ergonomically.

Easy to work on: Air filter changes 1/2 hour vs. 3+ on the BMW where most parts were inaccessible without removing body parts with 50 screws.

Parts: Got about $500

Happy days are here again!! We're back!

It's gone, hurray!

Like 29 cars and 17 motorcycles, the BMW is gone! Sorry I probably won't miss it, either. By far I've spent more on vehicles, 2-3 times as much as housing. Maybe only spent more on food. Bought it for $7500, put another $1900 including TTL and got $8000 for it. Not one of my better moves. Put 4,000 miles on it. Linda never liked it. It was top heavy, bulky and 835#'s empty. Really bad at slow speeds. Not reliable. Too many gadgets and parts to break.

I'm sticking with Japanese vehicles. The Honda Accord after 17 months still has no problems. My old 91 Suzuki 1100 is coming back out of retirement. Only needs a front tire and fix a couple of small leaks. It has current plates but I will have to re-insure it, costing $1 to transfer from the BMW.

Down to only 4 bikes. Poor me. But I've got $8000 to play with! Got any ideas? No more cars and luxury vehicles. KISS. (Keep It Simple Stupid).

Don't know what I'm going to say....

Except my Son can make fun out of pain. Read his blog. A gift he got from someone other than his parents. Linda says he's ours....

His knee is bad. Let's see maybe it's revenge for when we went motorcycling one time... To this day several M/C accidents have my right knee hurting, anti-inflamitories work good. Actually hurts most bent, least standing.

Well the crazies are really out to get me, had only 8 tailgators this week. Me, paranoid?

Went to a friends today he has thousands of CD's, LP's and the best Stereo equipment I've ever seen . But he doesn't have a Blu-ray or 1080p HDTV. Or 5 current motorcycles (23 total). And lots of tools, 300,000 miles on motorcycles and no debts. Depending on your Status Symbol determines "he who with the most toys wins" (& can't take it with him/her).

Then again it's not how much you make, it's how much you DON'T spend.

Going to the appraisal board tomorrow to try reduce our house taxes. Pray for me! They went up $400 this year.

Pic is Spider canyon in Australia. Taken by NASA