Tuesday May 19, 2009, a day that shall live in infamy. My beau Tex, purchased a 1994 Honda Shadow VLX 600. He had been mentioning to me for months about needing to get another motorcycle. I, never having been into the biker scene said, "no one needs a motorcycle."
To say he was happy doesn't begin to describe his joy when he bought this motorcycle. I could hear the ear to ear smile in his voice, when he called me and he sounded positivly ebullient. First of all it's in darn near mint condition. The previous and only owner took really good care of it. Second it's blue, his favorite color. Third, and maybe I'm biased; but he looks darned fine sitting astride that bike. Did I mention it didn't need any work? He spent half the next morning polishing chrome that was already shining. He changed the spark plugs but apparently they didn't really need it. He mentioned maybe adjusting the idle.
I had to apologize to him the next day for not showing the proper amount of enthusiasm when he called. Though to be fair it was 1:30 AM and I had been asleep for 2 hours already. Wednesday night I surprised him by meeting him outside the local Target, and he was still smiling. He gave me a ride around the parking lot and I have to say I liked it. I'm not sure what I was expecting; but it was a pleasurable experience that reminded me a little bit of the freedom I feel when skiing, added bonus: being close to my man. So there we sat, in the Waffle House, grinning at each other like fools because we had fallen in love with a motorcycle. I can honestly say I felt blissful even the next day, he could hear it in my voice on the phone twelve hours later.
Just what is it about motorcycles that produces that blissed out feeling?
FWIW: Never tell your beau that his dimples make him look too cute to be a bad a## biker dude. LOL
The twelve inch windshield made a difference. Went for a short ride yesterday and the high was 50 degrees. Lowers work better than the oem windshield and it was bearable w/o the leather chaps, any cooler and the chaps are on. Keeps the wind off my hands so when it does get cold the heavy gloves should be great.
I am enjoying this bike, more than any I have had so I don't want the riding to end. Next add either a crash bar or a new rider seat w/backrest. Posting a profile picture with the Memphis Shades Batwing Fairing on the bike.
Recently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen nuggets. 'We don't have half dozen nuggets,' said the teenager at the counter. 'You don't?' I replied. 'We only have six, nine, or twelve,' was the reply. 'So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?' 'That's right.' So I shook my head and ordered six McNuggets
(Unbelievable but sadly true...)
TWO
I was checking out at the local Woolworths with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those 'dividers' that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the 'divider', looking it all over for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code, she said to me, 'Do you know how much this is?' I said to her 'I've changed my mind; I don't think I'll buy that today.' She said 'OK,' and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue to what had just happened.
THREE
A woman at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing, she said she was shopping on the Internet and they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the ATM 'thingy.'
(keep shuddering!!)
FOUR
I recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car. 'Do you need some help?' I asked. She replied, 'I knew I should have replaced the battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can't get into my car. Do you think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a battery to fit this?' 'Hmmm, I don't know. Do you have an alarm, too?' I asked. 'No, just this remote thingy,' she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manually unlocked the door, I replied, 'Why don't you drive over there and check about the batteries. It's a long walk....'
{PLEASE just lay down before you hurt yourself !!!}
FIVE
Several years ago, we had an Intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, 'I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?' 'Just use paper from the photocopier', the secretary told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five 'blank' copies.
{A Brunette, by the way!!}
SIX
A mother calls 000 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid had eaten ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and he should be fine, the mother says, 'I just gave him some ant killer....' Dispatcher: 'Rush him in to emergency!'
Well, I'm very excited, I had my first Skype call today, and it was with nothing less that Mister Kyle Bradshaw. Thank you very much for you patience Kyle, I guess everybody knows my english is horrible!, don't ask me how, but we had a chat (I want to believe that) for twelve minutes!, it was really fun!... LOL!
ONERecently, when I went to McDonald's I saw on the menu that you could have an order of 6, 9 or 12 Chicken McNuggets. I asked for a half dozen nuggets. "We don't have half dozen nuggets," said the teenager at the counter. "You don't?" I replied. "We only have six, nine, or twelve," was the reply. "So I can't order a half dozen nuggets, but I can order six?" "That's right." So I shook my head and ordered six ! McNuggets
TWOI was checking out at the local Wal-Mart with just a few items and the lady behind me put her things on the belt close to mine. I picked up one of those "dividers" that they keep by the cash register and placed it between our things so they wouldn't get mixed. After the girl had scanned all of my items, she picked up the "divider", looking it all over for the bar code so she could scan it. Not finding the bar code she said to me, "Do you know how much this is?" I said to her "I've changed my mind, I don't think I'll buy that today." She said "OK," and I paid her for the things and left. She had no clue to what had just happened.
THREEA lady at work was seen putting a credit card into her floppy drive and pulling it out very quickly. When I inquired as to what she was doing, she said she was shopping on the Internet and they kept asking for a credit card number, so she was using the ATM "thingy."
FOURI recently saw a distraught young lady weeping beside her car. "Do you need some help?" I asked. She replied, "I knew I should have replaced the battery to this remote door unlocker. Now I can't get into my car. Do you think they (pointing to a distant convenience store) would have a battery to fit this?" "Hmmm, I dunno. Do you have an alarm, too?" I asked. "No, just this remote thingy," she answered, handing it and the car keys to me. As I took the key and manually unlocked the door, I replied, "Why don't you drive over there and check about the batteries. It's a long walk."
FIVESeveral years ago, we had an Intern who was none too swift. One day she was typing and turned to a secretary and said, "I'm almost out of typing paper. What do I do?" "Just use copier machine paper," the secretary told her. With that, the intern took her last remaining blank piece of paper, put it on the photocopier and proceeded to make five "blank" copies.
SIXI was in a car dealership a while ago, when a large motor home was towed into the garage. The front of the vehicle was in dire need of repair and the whole thing generally looked like an extra in "Twister." I asked the manager what had happened. He told me that the driver had set the "cruise control" and then went in the back to make a sandwich.
SEVENMy neighbor works in the operations department in the central office of a large bank. Employees in the field call him when they have problems with their computers. One night he got a call from a woman in one of the branch banks who had this question: "I've got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire downtown?"
EIGHTPolice in Ra dnor, Pa. interrogated a suspect by placing a metal colander on his head and connecting it with wires to a photocopy ! machine. The message "He's lying" was placed in the copier, and police pressed the copy button each time they thought the suspect wasn't telling the truth. Believing the "lie detector" was working, the suspect confessed.
NINEA mother calls 911 very worried asking the dispatcher if she needs to take her kid to the emergency room, the kid was eating ants. The dispatcher tells her to give the kid some Benadryl and it should be fine. The mother says, I just gave him some ant killer..... Dispatcher: Rush him in to emergency room!
Kyle Bradshaw (manybikes) of Cruiser Customizing shows three great ways to access the power from your battery by the use of a 12 volt accessory socket.
All 5 of the accessory sockets below attach to the positive lead on the battery for power. Please see the features and benefits of each displayed above the photos!
Here are some of our favorites:
BBP-52-748 Show Chrome Accessories (Big Bike Parts) Accessory Socket
FOR-PW-20000 Formotion Products The Power Pod™ 2.0 - Chrome Finish
This unit will power just about anything! (See border of the photo!!!)
Positive lead to the battery - self grounding
Mounts to just about any accessible bolt
Big difference between this unit and the Kuryakyn Unit: The power lead for the Kuryakyn unit is a Battery Tender Lead - the Formotion unit requires direct battery connection or a T-tap.
Kyle Bradshaw (manybikes) of Cruiser Customizing shows three great ways to access the power from your battery by the use of a 12 volt accessory socket.
After retiring, Al went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked him for his driver's license to verify his age. Al looked in his pockets and realized he had left his wallet at home.
Al told the woman that he was very sorry, but he would have to go home and come back later.
Arkansas (/ˈɑrkənsɔː/(help·info); AR-kən-saw)[3] is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U.S. Interior Highlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. The capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state.
HISTORY
The first European to reach Arkansas was the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto at the end of the 16th century. Arkansas is one of several U.S. states formed from the territory purchased from Napoleon Bonaparte in the Louisiana Purchase. The early Spanish or French explorers of the state gave it its name, which is probably a phonetic spelling for the Illinois word for the Quapaw people, who lived downriver from them[14]. Other Native American nations that lived in Arkansas prior to westward movement were the Quapaw, Caddo, and Osage nations. In their forced move westward (under U.S. Indian removal policies), the Five Civilized Tribes inhabited Arkansas during its territorial period.
The Territory of Arkansaw[4] was organized on July 4, 1819, and on June 15, 1836, the State of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state and the 13th slave state. Planters settled in the Delta to cultivate cotton, and this was the area of the state where most enslaved African Americans were held. Other areas had more subsistence farmers and mixed farming.
Arkansas played a key role in aiding Texas in its war for independence with Mexico, sending troops and materials to Texas to help fight the war. The proximity of the city of Washington to the Texas border involved the town in the Texas Revolution of 1835-36. Some evidence suggests Sam Houston and his compatriots planned the revolt in a tavern at Washington in 1834.[15] When the fighting began, a stream of volunteers from Arkansas and the southeastern states flowed through the town toward the Texas battle fields.
When the Mexican-American War began in 1846, Washington became a rendezvous for volunteer troops. Governor Thomas S. Drew issued a proclamation calling on the state to furnish one regiment of cavalry and one battalion of infantry to join the United States Army. Ten companies of men assembled here where they were formed into the first Regiment of Arkansas Cavalry.
The state developed a cotton culture in the east in lands of the Mississippi Delta. This was where enslaved labor was used most extensively, as planters brought with them or imported slaves from the Upper South. On the eve of the Civil War in 1860, enslaved African Americans numbered 111,115 people, just over 25% of the state's population.[16]
Arkansas refused to join the Confederate States of America until after United States President Abraham Lincoln called for troops to respond to the attack on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, by Confederate forces. The State of Arkansas seceded from the Union on May 6, 1861. While not often cited in historical accounts, the state was the scene of numerous small-scale battles during the American Civil War. Arkansans of note during the Civil War included Confederate Major General Patrick Cleburne. Considered by many to be one of the most brilliant Confederate division commanders of the war, Cleburne was often referred to as "The Stonewall of the West." Also of note was Major General Thomas C. Hindman. A former United States Representative, Hindman commanded Confederate forces at the Battle of Cane Hill and Battle of Prairie Grove.
Under the Military Reconstruction Act, Congress readmitted Arkansas in June 1868. The Reconstruction legislature established universal male suffrage, a public education system, and other general issues to improve the state and help more of the population. Years later, as conservative Democrats began to regain political power, the legislature passed a new constitution in 1874.
In 1874, the Brooks-Baxter War, a political struggle between factions of the Republican Party shook Little Rock and the state governorship. It was settled only when President Ulysses S. Grant ordered Joseph Brooks to disperse his militant supporters.[17]
In 1881, the Arkansas state legislature enacted a bill that adopted an official pronunciation, to combat a controversy then raging around the proper pronunciation of the state's name. (See Law and Government below).
After Reconstruction the state began to receive more immigrants and migrants. Some were originally recruited to work as farm labor in the developing Delta region. Some immigration continued into the early decades of the 20th century. The state witnessed numbers of Chinese, Italian, Syrian and immigrants from eastern Europe who made the Delta more diverse than the rest of the state. In addition, some black migrants moved into the area because of opportunities to develop the bottomlands and own their own property. The Chinese and Italians moved quickly out of positions as farm labor. Many Chinese became such successful merchants in small towns that they were able to educate their children at college.[18]
Construction of railroads enabled more farmers to get their products to market. It also brought new development into different parts of the state, including the Ozarks. In a few years at the end of the 19th century, for instance, Eureka Springs in Carroll County grew to 10,000 people, having become a tourist destination and the fourth largest city of the state. It featured newly constructed, elegant resort hotels and spas planned around its springs. The town's attractions included horse racing and other entertainment. It appealed to a wide variety of classes, becoming almost as popular as Hot Springs.
In the late 1880s, the worsening agricultural depression catalyzed Populist and third party movements, leading to interracial coalitions. Struggling to stay in power, in the 1890s the Democrats in Arkansas followed other Southern states in passing legislation and constitutional amendments that disfranchised blacks and poor whites. Democrats wanted to prevent their alliance. In 1891 state legislators passed a requirement for a literacy test, knowing that many blacks and whites would be excluded, at a time when more than 25% of the population could neither read nor write. In 1892 the state constitution was amended to include a poll tax and related residency requirements, which adversely affected poor people and forced them from electoral rolls. By 1900 the Democratic Party expanded use of the white primary in county and state elections, further denying blacks a part in the political process, as only in the primary was there any competition. The state was one-party for decades.[19]
Between 1905 and 1911, Arkansas began to receive a small migration of German, Slovak, and Irish immigrants. The German and Slovak peoples settled in the eastern part of the state known as the Prairie, and the Irish founded small communities in the southeast part of the state. The Germans were mostly Catholic and the Slovaks were Lutheran. The Irish were mostly Protestant from Ulster, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
After the case of Brown v. Topeka Board of Education in 1954, the Little Rock Nine brought Arkansas to national attention when the Federal government intervened to protect African-American students trying to integrate a high school in the Arkansas capital. Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to aid segregationists in preventing nine African-American students from enrolling at Little Rock's Central High School. After attempting three times to contact Faubus, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent 1000 troops from the active-duty 101st Airborne Division to escort and protect the African-American students as they entered school on September 25, 1957. In defiance of federal court orders to integrate, the governor and city of Little Rock decided to close the high schools for the remainder of the school year. By the fall of 1959, the Little Rock high schools were completely integrated.[20]
Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was born in Hope, Arkansas. Before his presidency, Clinton served nearly twelve years as the 40th and 42nd Governor of Arkansas
For all of us there seems to be a golden era in our youth when our pay packets werebigger than our debts.A period when the demands on our time were pretty much limited to the hours per day it took to earn a wage.Our days offbelonged to us.If you were like me they were spent on a motorcycle.
Every Saturday morning, rain hail or shine I’d meet up with a mate. We’d take a brief look at the sky and head to the clear patch on the horizon.We were young and the destination didn’t really matter.Actually knowing where you were heading seemed to spoil the adventure.New roads, new towns, new people!But always there were others on bikes doing exactly what we were doing.
Before junk food chain stores dominated our nomadic diet there were road house diners offering exactly the same food, you just had to wait a little longer for it.While waiting, it was hard not to chat with the bloke on the Z9 who’d just pulled up beside you. Or the girl and the guy travelling around oz on an old CB 750 with everything they owned okky strapped to it.Then there were the hard core blokes on Harleys, Nortons and Triumphs who reckoned there was no need to replace engine seals as long as gas stations sold oil by the quart.
And what about the ‘electric set!’They rode Ducatis and Guzzi’s and had changed more globes and relays than a janitor in Vegas.The fact that they could ride an Italian machine over one hour from home qualified them to trouble shoot for NASA.
On a trip like this, at a servo outside Stawell, I heard the unmistakable rumble of a classic parallel twin.It burbled as the rider rolled off the throttle and coasted to a bowser.At idle its front wheel pounded the pavement.The bike had a classic look , but it definitely wasn’t English.On either side of its long slim tank it proudly identified itself as a ‘Yamaha’.
In conversation with its owner I quickly learnt that I was looking at the first four stroke motor cycle that Yamaha had produced.An XS1 in original condition right down to the front drum brake and fading two toned paint scheme.Manufactured in 1969,the bike was ageing well.The chrome was starting to pit and a little oil was seeping from the head gasket.Overall not too much to complain about on a bike that was already seventeen years old.
Yamahas XS 650 was obviously heavily influenced by the British bikes of its time.But to say that it was a just ‘copy’ does not do the machine justice.With the introduction of the XS, Yamaha had adopted and improved on what the Brits had to offer.Early XS models found it hard to match the handling of British bikes but they did exceed them in reliability while offering near equal engine performance.The combination of traditional styling, reliability and competitive pricing really did put the Brits on notice.Japan was coming!.
The owner of this particular bike had purchased it new.Although virtually worthless when I saw it I couldn’t help but share his belief that this was a bike that was destined to become a classic once people started to take early Japanese bikes seriously.So taken by the XS 650 was he that he had already started acquiring as many of them as he could get his hands on.And here was I only wanting one.The one that he was sitting on.But it was not to be.
Pretty soon a young family and mortgages took precedence over my carefree weekends.But the XS remained an eternal quest.I continued to ride a series of commuters to and from work and even managed to get away occasionally but I never got over that first encounter with an XS.
In 2003 I finally found an XS.It was laying under a dusty tarp in a farm shed near Wangaratta.Incredibly it had failed to attract a bid at the previous weeks clearing sale!
The bike was an XS 2, complete and in reasonable condition.A faulty clutch push rod seal had taken the bike off the road.As the previous owner explained, replacement of the seal meant that the engine had to be removed and the cases split.Fortuitously for me he had not been able to find the time.I bought the bike and a trailer load of spares to go with it.
Over the twelve months I set about rebuilding the bike.I wanted a bike that I could ride on a regular basis so reliability and handling were high priorities. The XS 650 club of Australia is an active organisation with a strong member base.Parts and expert advice are readily available through the club.
After discussing the aims of my project with club members I set about making some minor improvements to the chasis.The XS 1 and 2 shared a reputation for twitching and wallowing at speed.When new, most pundits attributed this problem to itsrather light weight frame.Little effort was put into rectifying the problem at the time as Yamaha concentrated on developing a more robust frame for later models.
In the interim owners of the XS 1 and 2 had to learn to live with the bike or develop a means to rectify the problem themselves.And rectify it they did!.Amongst the XS enthusiasts that I met, there seemed to be a consensus that the bikes handling could be dramatically improved through, Replacement of the original head stem bearings, the fitting of brass swing arm bushes, updating of the rear shocks and the inclusion of a single bolt and spacer on the front engine mount.Given that the bike was totally stripped none of these scenarios seemed to be extreme or difficult.
In 1972 Yamaha claimed that the xs2 in stock form was capable of 185 kilometres per hour.The bikes limited braking and cornering abilities made it hard to justify increasing the engines power out put.In standard form the XS compared favourably with its contemporary’s.When it came to rebuilding the engine I was quite happy to concentrate on keeping everything with in the manufacturers specifications.The only exceptions being the inclusion of a boyer electronic ignition system and the fitting of higher ratio cogs to the primary drive.
Having started with the best of intentions, they being to keep the XS as close to original as I could, I found myself starting to stray.Just how far could I stretch this idea of keeping changes limited to quickly replaceable cosmetics?Why not cafénate it a bit?
I dropped the tank, head light and side covers into the panel shop.In the spray booth was a metallic green Toyota landcruiser.When they asked what colours I wanted I just pointed at the cruiser and said, “use whats left from that.”Two days later the paint job was done.One of the apprentices had pin striped the tankwith gold trim which really lifted the paint.I had the local sign writer make up some matching ‘Yamaha’stickers and fixed them to the original tank badges.
A lowered seat, complete with matching cowell and a set of ace bars completed the café look.It couldn’t have been too bad cause when I finally got the roadworthy every one seemed happy to believe that the bike was original.
Since the rebuild it’s clocked up just under forty thousand kilometres.Although not my every day ride it is the bike I choose to ride.
The bike snarls.It vibrates at all revs.It growls when you throttle off and barks when you give a fistful.The constant vacuum mikuni carbs work well in most conditions but really start to hum when there’s a bit of humidity about.It’s a bike that demands to be ridden but one which rewards your efforts.Its hardly a benign friend like some modern bikes.The XS is more like a companion that’s heading in the same direction as you.Over time you grow accustomed to each other and accept it for what it is – a quick trip back in time.