I have been complaining since I bought my bike in 2005 that I can't seam to find any accessories for my bike. Now that I have found this site I am as close to accessories heaven as I possibly can be.
I have been spending the last few days getting to know my way around this fantastic site, and I only get happier every minute. One of the great things about this site is to be able to look at the members accessories list and to read their comments. To be able to find bikes like mine and see how people have customized their rides is fantastic.
The down side to all this, if I can call it a down side, is that only few days before I found this site I had ordered some chrome on ebay, so now I have to wait at leat for few days before I can do it to my wife to order all the goodies I have found here :) I am fishing for Mackerel off the coast of Africa at the moment, and because I work for 12 hours and get 12 hours off every day I have too much free time on my hands browsing on the internet looking for some shiny parts. A part from all the little chrome accessories I just ordered I ordered Tsukayu Jumbo Hard bags with Luggage racks and Bag guards. The bags will be painted in the colors of my bike so I cant wait to see it.
I will be here until the beginning of January so it will be my wife's job to find a place in the garrage for all my new stuff. Oh I cant wait to get home to put everything on my bike :)
I have to thank all of you for making this site so interesting :)
Ride safe,
Gunnsteinn.
Recording by the Covenant Four Quartet's All Glory to Jesus CD - www.covenant4.com
Defininitely not meant toward my wife or anybody elses wife.
I was just passing it on and thought most people would find this very funny. LOL
if i see a bike stoped i'll pull of to help .as i'am sure we all do . but i do it for cars and trucks too . i pull in front of them to keep my bike from being hit .but the best part is the look on they faces now you all know i'have a small bike but to them hey it a biker stop to kick my butt . i pull my helmet off and ask can i help you . and they smile and say sure . sometime i have to use my tools or just chang a flat for a lady or some one up in years that needs some help . but after i stop to help it funny how many cars and trucks stop to see if there ok . the drive tells them no we are ok he is got it fixted for me some offer money but i never take it i figer some day i be there and need help . some times i ask being hrer long yes .i never would think a biker would stop . i just say hey i drive a car too . but we have a lot of help stop now they just look at be puzzed on till the cars and truck stop to see if the big bad crilped bike is robbing him or her . but i dont care just one time did a tropper stop he ask you need and thing if so call this no# for road help but i see you got it fixed i did have one ask me could i buy you beakfest up ahead i said ok he was happy to get help and found at odd a biker of all to stop after all the cars passed him by then they all were stoping to see if he was ok when they show a biker stop with him life is odd and you may find help in some one you never would think of
A Come to Jesus Meeting
There has obviously been a mistake, God seems to think I am to be a modern day Job. Lest you think I exaggerate, in the last 3 years I have been stricken/blessed with: vulvar cancer, Meniere's disease, uterine fibroids the size of North Dakota, diverticulosis, psoriasis - not on my elbows like most people, but on my scalp, ears, and nose. FYI - When you get psoriasis on your scalp, it takes out your hair. You could say I'm irked, but that really doesn't do my current emotional state justice. Speaking of my emotional state, I seem to be fighting a never ending uphill battle against major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.
Did I mention that dad's Parkinson's has kicked into overdrive, seemingly overnight. Mom's doctor says she is in the early stages of dementia. Which means that I am now a caregiver to my adult parents. It SUCKS for all of us in different ways, at different times. For me it's like living with 80 year old toddlers. Willfull, spoiled, adult size toddlers. Occassionally I worry that I will get some great job in Atlanta and have to hire people to chauffer and care for my parents. However, with the economy in the crapper, and double digit unemployment rates, not just in Carroll County but in the entire state of Georgia, it seems I am putting the cart before the horse.
This is not how my life was supposed to be. I was supposed to be married with a few kids, a dog, and a house in the burbs by now.
well had a job, well not really a job had to help a m8 with something yesterday and as i had to travel out of town decided to roll the magna out of the shed, weather was perfect, i had the afternoon. uneventful story so if yr bored already yr gunna stay that way...lol, made my way out, dodging grain trucks and the occasional header not to mention the dust from headers stripping grain. we had to head into sth oz with a load, lost part of it on the way so had to turn round to find it. thats all boring as well, made it back home, had a beer just one then fired the Magna and headed home....the long way, pretty uneventful like i said, the highlight of the trip home was a field bin being towed down the road, damn i could have taken a photo...lol, next time...stay upright len
Sunday 1 November 2009
Day 1: Road Trip - Werribee to Albury
Our bags pre-packed from the night before, we strapped them onto the bikes in the morning and headed off to fuel up on day one of our riding adventure. 
We're ready!!
We headed off towards Hurstbridge on a typical Melbourne spring morning - lovely drizzling misty rain which started just as we got on the bikes! Stuck on the freeway until we got out of Hursbridge, where the road started to improve. But as we headed up to Kinglake, we rode into a massive fog bank so thick that it engulfed us and you couldn't see the bike in front of you. We crawled up the hill averaging 15-20km the whole way. It was very spooky with blackened trees looming through the fog like burned match sticks standing on either side of the road.
Scariest ride I've ever had (at this stage of the trip), with hairpin bends and steep cliffs dropping away on one
side of the road, the road was barely two lanes wide and because of the fires there earlier this year, there were no armco or marker posts showing the edge of the road.
Stopped at Kinglake for breakfast (or really to change underpants), and met some other riders out front and had a chat.
As we headed out of Kinglake, through Kinglake West and towards Flowerdale, the fog got thicker and thicker. As we passed through Flowerdale, the weather changed. All of a sudden we were looking into massive sunshine and incredibly hot weather! The ride through to Yea was beautiful fast flowing roads and let us make up some time from our slow trip up the hill earlier.
Stopped in Yea for lunch and caught up with Adam's (aka "Rent-A-Hubby's") parents (pic right), then headed up the Maroondah Highway through Merton & Eildon. Crossed over Lake Eildon, but it's almost nonexistent (no water to be seen), then on to Mansfield. Found a brilliant road from Mansfield through Tolmie to Whitfield. That put a smile on the dial. Up and down the mountain, very twisty & enjoyable riding. Dozens of "high risk area for motorcycles" signs to put the fear into you. But we did good.
Continued on through King Valley to Wangaratta (pic of King Valley on left). Stopped for drink and to check out a local street festival, and within 5 minutes of being there, the heavens opened, a massive heavy thunderstorm downpour hit us and drenched everything. Talk about 4 seasons in one day! After this weather, not much could surprise us now.
Found another brilliant riding road, hilly and twisty, through Beechworth and then on to Albury where we stayed for the night (actually two nights).
After breakfast we cruised out to the Ettamogah Pub (Table Top, NSW). It was a nice, warm 32c day. Didn't realise we were there so early, and nothing was open yet, so we got to look around outside the place with no distractions. The Ettamogah Pub is based on an Aussie cartoon strip, by Aussie artist Ken Maynard. It's basically the comic come to life, with lots of Aussie outback humour.
After enjoying a drink at the pub (when it finally opened), we headed back to Albury and found a nice park on the banks of the Murray River and relaxed on the grass in the shade of a Coolabah tree. (singing...)Then down came a Jumbuck to drink at the Billabong... (oh wait, that's another story)
Well Adam relaxed, because I was being stalked by a pack of vicious killer ducks. One of which was faking a limp to try and get close to me with sympathy. It didn't work! (My fear of ducks is a LOONNNGGG story!!!)
Had a late lunch in Albury at The Burger Bar (on Dean Street) and the burgers were great, highly recommended (and the best crunchy beer battered chips we've had anywhere). Took a walk around Albury after lunch and explored the Albury Art Gallery (quite interesting & it was free).
Stay tuned for the next episode in our travels... Will Dimitra make it down the mountain to the Janolan Caves? Only one way to find out... LOL
Dim & Adam
When I was 14, I hoped that one day I would have a girlfriend.
When I was 16, I got a girlfriend, but there was no passion,
so I decided I needed a passionate girl with a zest for life.
In university I dated a passionate girl, but she was too emotional.
Everything was an emergency; she was a drama queen, cried all the time
and threatened suicide. So I decided I needed a girl with stability.
When I was 25, I found a very stable girl, but she was boring.
She was totally predictable and never got excited about anything.
Life became so dull that I decided I needed a girl with some excitement.
When I was 28, I found an exciting girl, but I couldn't keep up with her.
She rushed from one thing to another, never settling on anything.
She did mad impetuous things and made me miserable as often as happy.
She was great fun initially and very energetic, but directionless.
So I decided to find a girl with some real ambition.
When I turned 31, I found a smart, ambitious girl with her feet planted
firmly on the ground and married her. She was so ambitious, that she
divorced me and took everything I owned.
I am older and wiser now and am looking for a girl with big tits.
My older brother Jim's best friend when he was a Junior in High School was a guy named Thomas M. Thomas owned the Honda Super 90, and my brother and him would pop all over Las Vegas, (where we lived at the time), to do different errands and just run around town and be teenagers. Many times my brother would head off by himself on the small Honda, and I was TRULY envious! I was a year behind him … a sophomore in high school … and the year was 1968. At that time in Nevada, a minor could own and operate a motorcycle at 14 years of age providing the cycle was less than 100 CC. Once the kid reached 16 years of age, he could purchase any bike regardless of the size of the engine. Because the regular Honda 90 had a square tank rather than the more streamlined tank of the “Super 90”, I thought it made the bike look bigger ... and I wanted one with all of my heart. My dad was dead-set against any of us owning a motorcycle for he had almost been killed on an Indian just prior to WWII. (He was in a gang at the time before he was drafted and, (more or less), he was kind of wild and crazy at the time.) He was absolutely ADAMENT that no child of his would follow in his wild ways ... and to him the way to protect us was to refuse to ever let us own motorcycles. The only argument I ever had in my life where I caused my father to cry was over that desired Honda 90 when I was in my early teens. The day I purchased my first motorcycle, I was a grown man with children of my own, and owned my own photography lab and one hour photo. My Pop was retired at that time, and “worked” at my little place of business helping customers and flirting with my female employees. I pulled up on my “new” motorcycle and proudly showed it off to my employees and my dad … but he just looked at it, quietly took his car keys from his pocket, got in his vehicle and drove away. I understood his fear and disapproval … but it still hurt. My Dad passed away about thirty years ago … my Son Christopher was killed in an auto accident in 1995 six weeks before his 19th birthday … my Mom died almost ten years ago … and my brother Jim passed away almost three years ago. I miss all of them with all my heart, and loosing most of my personal family has been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with. Over the years being a “biker” has evolved from just being a “cool” thing for me to be to being a very important part of my life. I would have never believed that this “sport” could, (and did), become all consuming at times. Like Cruiser Customizing founder Uwe, for several years I didn’t even own a car at all. If it was raining, I wore a rain suit. It was freezing, I layered my clothing. (I never felt the “need” to purchase the electrically heated garments.) If it was storming with wind and lightning, I just “hunkered down” and kept on going. I even drove through a hurricane once … a wild and crazy ride to be sure! As I’ve grown older, I’ve hopefully matured a little, and now at least own a sweet 2005 Trail Blazer that I bought brand new out-of-the-box with all the buzzers and bells. I enjoy my car, and find myself driving it more and more as my health continues to deteriorate … but my first and greatest love and choice for transportation will always be motorcycles. As I was riding through yesterday’s beautiful weather, I found myself feeling sorry for the “cage trapped” people riding along around me … for they don’t even have a clue of the constant rush of “freedom” and joy I feel every time I ride. There is so much sadness in this old world. Loved ones die and are gone forever. In a very real way, “escaping” on one of my motorbikes or the other is the one “bestest” way to keep me sane sometimes. I have a sticker on one of my brain-buckets … (stickers’ are one or two line truths that we sometimes plaster on our helmets) … and one of my favorite stickers states simply, “You will never see a motorcycle parked outside a psychiatrists’ office”. That is so true! We are coming up on the Thanksgiving holiday. Perhaps it would be a good thing to add this thing we are grateful for ... this simple little thing … to the list that we are thankful for. “Dear God, thank you so much for this sport that enables me to keep a modicum of my sanity … and to in small little way to help me deal with my life.”
I recently bought a brand new 2009 VMAX 1700. The person that ordered it last year didn't collect, however I did and am now the proud owner of the VMAX. I used to hate the old VMAX because it could beat my old bike, the 1985 Honda V65 Magna. These two bikes are very different, however. Honestly, the old Honda ran out of guts down the 1/4 mile. The VMAX does not. The guy I bought it from said it would spin the back tire in 3rd gear. The first three gears take some getting used to though. You don't know whether to go all out or keep the throttle back. What I mean is that I was concerned about spinning the wheel at 60 mph and popping a wheelie. But, looking back, I guess I never got on it enough to raise the front. That is until now. I have had the front end off the ground now. Incidentaly, I have made it past the 1000 mile mark and it is almost ready for a good drag with someone. I still haven't went balls out from a dead stop to the end of a quarter. I have a good place to do the quarter, but we'll see.
I put a small windshield on it, but haven't ridden it since. I will tomorrow. Stay tuned to see if the windshield is sturdy enough to take the wind. I think I'll put a smoke tint on the windshiled once I find out if I like it or not. It will match the black body better. Keeps the heavy rain off and also gives me a break from the wind on my 40 mile commute to work. I can take it off really easy if I want to. The only drawback after the initial setup on the windshield is that I had to rotate the clutch lever and reservoir downward. That means to pull the clutch I have to chase it over the top, rather than reaching up for it. It shouldn't be a problem when I'm riding upright, but when I'm trying to lean forward and keep the front end down in the quarter it will be a chore to reach the clutch without having carpal tunnel syndrome set in by the end of the day.
I hope to someday get a video of the bike going down the road in all 5 gears. But, nothing can demonstrate the amount of torque and power this thing has. You just have to be on it. It just keeps pulliing. The pro rider that works for Yamaha said it best, "any more power and this thing would not be street legal".
I find myself looking in my rearview alot. What I mean is I think it's fun to get out on the interestate and get in front of a car and the car thinks he's going to go right up my tail end. Of course, I don't let that happen. A quick flick of the wrist and a gear change and I've left the scene. Or, as I'm getting on the onramp I let the vehicle pass me doing 70. I'm barely going 20 getting ready to get onto the interstate. By the time we hit the end of the onramp I'm already ahead of him. I know they must think I'm crazy, thinking "what some of these bikers do nowadays. It's really dangerous", but in reality they don't know how much power the bike has and therefore think I'm riding crazy. I'm actually just using acceleration just like they do when they jump on the interstate. It's just that they've never seen something move so fast. Anyway, it's entertaining for me and that's what counts.
Got to go. More from "V-Sting" later.
As anyone who read my first blog would know ... I was going to go to Sydney to be a marshall at the last ever motorbike race to be run at Oran Park. Because of a few unexpected bills I was sort of humming and harring about wether or not to go, but that decision has been taking out of my hands.
I was getting ready to go ... had the trailer all packed ... route planned out ... all needed to do was do a bit of food shopping and I would be on my way on Monday 16th Nov. Seeing as all was ready and I had a bit of time I decided to do a job I had been meaning to do for a while and that was wire up a cigarette lighter through the tralier plug wiring so that I could run a gps,charge a phone ...you know all those sort of things.
Well the wiring part went well but I couldn't find my soldering iron so I thought I would just plug it in and check to see if I had it right ... which I did untill I put it down on the groung to go get something. when I got back to the bike ... all within about 30 seconds ... there was smoke coming from the wiring loom on the bike. Seeing this I quikly pulled the plug out but it was too late. The whole thing was burnt out back up to the battery.
Had some fun trying to get the battery disconected .. a few sparks flying ...but once done .. started the bike and tested lights ect. and all seemed to be working ...lucky. The bike is now in having the trailer wiring redone and won't have it back till Wed so there is that trip gone.
As I said in the title .. I think someone was trying to tell me not to go.
Ray.