Rain, rain, go away!

Enough is enough. We must be over our rainfall average by now. Very limited in what we can do.

Hurricane Dolly has been sitting over us for 3 days. Winds are very low, but the clouds are low and just keep feeding themselves more moisture.

Pool is almost overflowing and cold. Rain and no sunshine did that. Might just give up for this year going swimming anymore.

Wanted to go to Hatch Sat., but the streets are wet continuously.

Linda is home thankfully safe, she is doing better. Been 5 weeks now since her surgery.

I walk out into the garage just staring at the bikes, looking for something to do or thinking when can I get out on one of them.

Maybe going to Garland soon to take Tori's TV, assorted stuff and treadmill.

Crude oil maybe going down, (so they can go back up?) Gas prices dropping slightly. Hurray!

Linda said Europe is paying $10-12 per Gallon, guess we should not bitch. Hope the greedy buttholes get it for price fixing. They are under investigation.

I spend $100-15o a month on bike gas. The car gets used less and less. 8000 miles in the last year.

Pic is of ice crystals in northern sky.

Not much new News

Linda's been gone a week and half now. Lonely days, lonely nights, where is my honey?

Been riding longer distances though. Been to Van Horn, and Pecos. And YES Pecos is even more depressing. The desert s green, much rain everywhere.

Finished Edger's 96 Suzuki Sport 600cc bike today. Made some money. Is hadn't run since 2002. Carbs and tank were extremely dirty. Needed, mirrors, turn signals and a front tire also. Now it needs painting. He took it home in the rain tonight.

I'm eating well. Salads and/or fruit every day. Trying not to eat or eat out too much. Except when I'm with the guys then... mostly salads.

Raining most every day. We're still .25" below average. Pool is very full, over the edge between the 2 pools.

Tomorrow think I'll go to Cloudcroft then on to Carlsbad, back to El Paso. Love the Venture, in the pic above, it's so comfortable. 380 miles to Pecos and was only tired because it was 95 out. Lowell my conductor, Air Force Corneal, and Utep administrator liked it so much he bought an 1988.

Was out 140 miles when the speedometer stopped working. It came loose on the bottom side this time and lost the inner cable. $7 at Pepboys. It gets 46+ mpg too. Was in Van Horn and a Pruis owner asked me what kind of mileage I get. His car gets the same!! We both agreed, many people are stupid having gas guzzlers, several SUV owners were present.

Something Different

Ok, weather. Average winter, low 30's at night, 50's late afternoon. Spring winds came in early March, lasted until Late May. Usual hot June 100's worst was 106. Now rains, started late June usually starts about mid July. If this is a trend, fall will start early too. My favorite time, cooler, drier, low humidity.

Linda is improving daily. Can do most things except pick over 10#'s and bend far over, but she is not exercising enough. She will be able to go on her trip. Her appetite is back, and weight down.

Out of projects on my bikes right now. I'm waiting on parts for a Suzuki 600 crotch rocket I'm getting going for a friend of Peter Faraone's.

Been in pool 4 times only. Rains really cools it and makes it hard to control chlorine levels.

Was going to Tori's and Dorothy's but with $4 gas it would be $300 in gas even at 45+ MPG.

Decided to do more long distance day trips around here on my new to me Yamaha Venture touring bike.

Sat. rides vary a lot in the number that go. Sometimes 3-4 then we might get 10, always different people. One husband and wife, she has her own Harley have gone 3 times this year.

No changes in neighborhood except on both sides of us they don't take care of their yards, called city several times.

TV is worse this summer than ever! Watching more PBS. Several good concerts with older groups from 60's-70's have been on and our TV broadcasts in HD and 5.1 audio.

Going to be way too quiet after Friday when Linda leaves for 2+ weeks.

Still want to fill in more states we've been in on a motorcycle above, but....

700 Miles and counting

The Yamaha Venture is running better with every mile. The engine now slows down between gear shifts, it's idling better, has more power, gets 49 MPG, and is riding smoother/softer. The 2 leaks of oil and antifreeze have nearly stopped.

The seat is the best I've ever ridden on. After 200 miles my butt did not hurt at all.

It has forward hi-way pegs so I can stretch my legs. My right knee hurts if I leave it bent too long. The handle bars at the perfect level and bend back.

I'm using the backrest off the Suzuki 1100. It is a cooler from Walmart and foam pad we made. It is at the perfect angle and fore/aft position on the Venture.

The Saddlebags and Trunk hold plenty. They are like suitcases, they key release from the bike. The BMW liners I got for my birthday, fit in the Ventures.

The only things it needs is a cruise control and the radio AM/FM tuner does not work. It uses Cassettes, which are really outdated. They unwind when not in the player or in their storage case.

Even in 84 they had computers. It monitors the kickstand, the brake fluid levels, engine oil level, battery acid level, headlight and taillights if they burn out, gas low level, has a digital bar gas gauge. If any are wrong, a red LED flashes. The engine water temperature, voltmeter speedometer and tachometer are analog.

If either headlight filament burns out it automatically switches to the other and a white light on the dash comes on indicating so. And it has a digital gear position indicator, dash lights dimmer, a stop watch, clock and headlight up and down adjuster when a passenger is on/off the bike.

AND the turn signals self cancel. After moving a certain speed and distance they turn off automatically.

Did I say I really like this bike?

Comparison

Got to ride my "NEW" 1984 Yamaha 1200cc Venture to Sierra Blanca. It is about 190 miles round trip. Been on this road maybe 100 times. I always take my newest vehicle out there because it's isolated and can think about it without worrying about the crazies in El Paso.

Anyways I was thinking about this bike and the 2000 BMW K12ooLT I sold about 2 months ago.

The Yamaha is 75# lighter, feels like 150# less top heavy, is just as comfortable, $5000 cheaper, is red so it stands out better for safety, has more low end torque, once I get the bugs all worked out will be more reliable, Linda thinks the passenger seat maybe more comfortable, I know she won't be afraid to drive it, is more stable in winds, handles well and got 45 mpg at 60 mph.

OK, the BMW got high 40's mpg at anything under 75 mpg, had Cruise Control, a little better wind protection, was cooler riding when over 90 degrees.

Now for $5000 less the Yamaha is by far a better deal, I can get a bigger windshield for more wind protection, looking at Ebay for cruise controls, leaned out the carbs today for better gas mileage, and I'm looking into making it cooler. Soooo.....

Oh ya, the Yamaha rattles going over bad bumps, but the BMW rattled all the time at idle, hummm....