cowpuc

Speechless.. THANK YOU to all who have served and to those who continue to serve the great cause of FREEDOM!! Thanks for posting this amazing story Unc!

keeping it alive TJ!!

Now that there is one PURDY scoot !! A job well done Rick - YOU DA MAN BROTHER :clap2:!!

Good thread Don, I think this thread should be "pinned" (my opinion ) so people who are not members here can read this stuff and get a feel for the deeper side of what VR is all about. Might also be handy for us regulars to have instant access to for a quick re-read when it becomes our turn to feel hurt by comments that sting a little because sooner or later, someone will say something that will challenge the thickness of our own skin (still thinking suffering from CABIN FEVER can easily produce thin skinenitus and make us jittery). Thanks Kat,, you took the words right out of my mouth - it is my opinion that there is some very deep wisdom in your statement sister.. You may not know this but I am one who, like a number of other folks around here, truly does enjoy and even a little bit of . Admittedly, I am even one of those lop eared varmints who have harrassed Freebird about his Harley, not as much as much as YammerDan though:stirthepot:. Spring boarding off that and in an effort to make this short winded, last year I was with another member and he noticed me admiring a gorgeous Ultra Limited. While I was over that Harley and making comments to Tippy about buying another salvaged Harley (don't wanna put all my eggs in one basket) to restore and tour on, my buddy said "I thought you really disliked Harleys", to which I replied "what ever gave you that idea:confused24:". He reminded me of all the teasing I had done on the site about HD. IMHO, the greater part of who we are as a person can never be realized by the little bit of or the opinion's we share on the internet - it's just to easy to misread intent and to misjudge a person's real quality thru reading comments on an open forum. To much of the fine art of communicating is missed with misjudgement usually the result when body language is not part of communicating..

ANother thing you could try is touching the shim with the tip of good soldering gun (make sure you clean the slobber off it before you do thought), getting it hot should help release it.

You betcha Bill - you are more than welcome my friend! I was so excited about it when I saw that Ebay ad that Tippy thought I won the lottery or something I have looked at em for a longgg time but could never find em with a small enough end that you could get em inside the plug hole of small Honda ("C" plugs are tiny) + the prices always made it hard to justify owning one.. I noticed we can get these with 5.5 mm scopes and WOW are they affordable!! Also, the choice of cable length = wayy cool!! Hope they work half way decently, definitely worth a try IMHO.. Another something I just noticed was a Harbor Freight ad in the recent Auto Trader mag.. They have that 1/2 inch drive electric impact gun for 40 bucks (think its usually over a hundred bucks) with the coupon!! I have a 1/2 Drive air impact but I gotta hunch the electric would be just as powerful and probably more handy for quick use.. A HAPPY TO TOOL IS THE ONE LIVING IN OUR TOOL BOXES!

Stay on em Kat,, don't let em weasel out of it this time sister - StormRaven,, you listen to that precious wife of yours - get it fixed brother!! Think of alllll the pain free fun you two will have once you get away from all the knee pain!! A very dear friend of mine (and fellow VR Member) messed around with a painful knee last summer - I knew he was hurting last year when we rode with him.. Last I heard, he had successfully endured the hassle of knee surgery and is now back to playing Hockey and is ready for the AWESOME pain free riding of 2016 - fully recovered!! Our thoughts and prayers are with you two - get er done Mike!!

OH MY GOSH - now THAT is one bling'd out to the max ol Harley!!:dancefool:Talk about a rolling story book of places been, people met and missions accomplished - wayyyy cool!! I LOVE it!! Matter of fact, if that were my scoot I would name him "Benny", short for "Beentheredonethat".. Certainly a high quality testament to the potential of the ol Cone side Shovelhead and just how much fun a person can have with a properly adjusted set of ignition points, a finely tuned S&S Super "E" Carb and a fifty five gallon drum of 50 weight Wolf's Head motor oil!!! BEAUUUTIFUL!! Certainly looks like a rider to me Indian,, I for one can clearly see that.. If ya'll would check on the left side of the scoot and notice the Pull Starter assembly from an early Ski-Doo Snowmobile mounted right behind the Primary Cover (between the engine and the left saddle bag - to the rear of the passenger peg). Notice the pull cord leading up toward the top of the Primary? Now look right above that and you can clearly see that the cover for the starter is missing and the cable terminals for the starter are exposed.. Those old Shovels had issues with their Starters (solenoid usually) that, if not monitored - would destroy a starter.. It was a common occurrence to not trust the solenoid but instead - short a screw driver (some jokers actually wired a high amp switch in to do this ) across the terminals to start you scoot.. Looking at this picture I can almost picture the old school owner of this bike reaching down to the end of that cord, pulling the cord out and bumping the starter with a screw driver shank that is attached to the pull rope. Then, after that sweet sounding Shovel starts makin taters, ya just relax the pull rope back into the Ski-Doo starter and its stored for the next time:thumbsup: The look on the guy's face in picture #1 tells a story in itself,, talk about PRICELESS and a look I am very familiar with:big-grin-emoticon:!!! Nice 's Indian!! REAL NICE!!! THANKS!!

and some music to listen to while are heading that a way brother!! your sub zero winds will NEVER, touch me again,,,, suthern folks caint live on snow and ice!!!!

You betcha my friend - you are more than welcome! And THANK YOU for sharing your amazing family times with us Stache - just AWESOME!!

And on a whole nuther note,, we are PROUD of our Military people here on VR (and everywhere in the free world) Huked and HONORED to have each one you Veterans in our midst! THANK YOU for your service in keeping us all free!! It's because of folks like you that the rest of us have the Liberty and Freedom to be able to enjoy our way of life and YOU are appreciated!! Gonna put in a reminder here to assist in you getting your Military emblem - just another way to say THANK YOU.. Lets see if we can wake the Boss or one of the Moderators up and get that accomplished!! BECAUSE OF FOLKS LIKE YOU OLD GLORY STILL PROUDLY WAVES!:usa::usa:

While I am VERY sorry to hear you also suffer with this nasty stuff Eckster I REALLY appreciate the info!! The way the Hand Specialist talked I am thinking he is planning on using the injection thing on my left hand (wont be working on it until the surgery on my right hand is completely healed though). He did say that the injection stuff is pretty painful. You can problably relate to this thought, I actually told him that I am ready for amputation if that's what it takes to get some use back of my hands. This not being able to use my hands is getting old!! I will DEFINITELY keep you posted as we work thru all this and let you know first hand (pun fully intended) how it all shakes out! One thing we need to keep reminding our fellow man of Eckster, better be taking heed to that old cliche about "seizing the day" because the time clock of life sure seems like it speeds up the further we get into life doesn't it my "brother"?

Heyyy,, Hi B2Mom! GREAT to hear from you on again!! Thank you for the well wishing on the upcoming surgery - really appreciate it Patti. Please tell that hubby of yours we will be thinking of and praying for his FULL recovery on the knee replacement. My father went thru that, not fun or easy but in the end - WOW was he better - pretty amazing really!! Tell that lop eared B2 lovin varmint all the best on the leg and start eating right!! I get my hands fixed, he and I are gonna talk your son out of his B2 for a day and go buzz Don's Maintenance Day this spring!! Love ya both! Puc n Tip

What a GORGEOUS biking family you have Stache!! JUST BEAUTIFUL - you are truly blest!! :clap2::thumbsup: Took a shot a straightening that pic out for you (hope you dont mind brother),, lets see if it works... FYI - if it does I did the rotating in "Paint"..

ALLLLLLLLLLRIGGHHHHT:dancefool:!!!! Now we're cookin with hot possum grease:225:!!!!!!!! Gooooo get em Bobby and Becky!!:clap2::dancefool: May your roads be warm - welcoming and safe, may the folks you meet along the trail be kind and courteous, may your trip be forever free of the long arm of the Wisconsin White Washer and may the batteries in your camera stay charged because everyone KNOWS - :big-grin-emoticon::big-grin-emoticon: We patiently and steadfastly wait upon your daily trip reports Bongo! PS - please bring back some warm Texas breezes for us!! HAVE FUN! Puc

Chasing The Front Wheel

1st thing James,, and on the new scoot - she's a DANDY!! 2nd thing = a HUGE to VR!!!! Sorry to read about the mishap with the bars folding down and the binged up tank as a result,, not a fun thing THAT is for sure - might go down to Harbor Freight and grab a set of cheapy suction cups and see if you can get the smaller cup to pull enough to get the dent out - worth a shot.. Also make sure you don't just lift the bars back up into position, take a minute - loosen them in their saddles, move the bars up and tighten em down.. I have never owned a 2nd Gen like yours personally but I believe the 99's were the year that had some issues with the rear shock. Thinking the problem begins with shock oil appearing at the base of the shock, easy to check and keep an eye on. Might not be a bad idea to take a peek. My understanding is that the ultimate permanent fix is an aftermarket shock. If that gorgeous scoot were mine I would start watching for a good deal on a replacement shock if it appears the one on the bike is OEM. No idea if one of the later 2nd Gen shocks would be interchangeable, have a hunch one of our buddies here on VR will know. Another item to consider has to do with the contact points in the fuel pump - they have been known to cause problems. I have been riding the older MK1 1st Gens for a while now and have carried a spare pump on my journeys. I did have one incident over the course of wearing out 5 of those early scoots where the spare pump got me out of a jam. I have heard that the 2nd Gen pumps are not quite as durable as the 1st Gens were so I would also keep an eye out for a spare pump to carry in the bikes Maintenance Dept (right saddle bag).. IMHO you did real well on your purchase!!:clap2::thumbsup: That is one GORGEOUS scoot you found there my friend at a VERY reasonable price. The mileage is fairly low (these are 200k bikes all day long) and it sure looks like someone took good care of it, I can certainly see why you were attracted to it:173:!! A little tweekin, small amount of maintenance prep work, short introductory learning curve and here's hoping to see you and your new scoot out enjoying the ribbon of highways that HAVE to tugging at both of your heart strings!! GREAT deal James, CONGRATS!! Puc PS - Also a GREAT introductory story AND 's!!

Yaaaa,, THANK YOU Mr. Freebird Don:clap2::clap2:!! Hope you know YOU are on our hero's list brother,, YOU DA MAN BROTHER!!:thumbsup: And we don't wanna hear none of that,, ohhhh - twernt nothing folks - just doing my thing nonsense either:no-no-no:! If it were not for you and allllllll your hard work in putting this place together and keeping it going like you do how on earth would us VR members have ever had such wonderful times together? Hope you realize that EVERY VR related MeetnGreet, Maintenance Day, International, Regional Rally, helping Kids at St. Judes, supporting one another at times of personal needs, VR members helping VR members in bike repair and on and on has a piece of you involved and most, if not ALL of us KNOW it!! I know we tease you a lot but I hope you always remember that 99.9999 percent of that teasing comes out of a deep love and respect for who you are and what you have done my friend.. THANK YOU for taking our teasing in stride and knowing that it is all done in love! I also deeply appreciate your input into VR family struggles. You have a gift when it comes to peace keeping brother and I admire you for it. It always breaks my heart when we as members forget that, as good as a site that you have developed here (and it is THE BEST SITE ON THE NET!!!!), there is no way that full communications can happen in an internet forum. Things like body language in communicating are totally missing and sometimes that hurts us.. It makes me sad sometimes when I read someone putting down another person OR, someone reading more into something that someone else wrote and having things go sour. The most painful part of that is when it involves two people that I have personally met and I KNOW if the two folks who are struggling thru it all would have met in person and got to know each other a little they would have been laughing about their discussion instead of having hard feelings.. Your counsel and advice in such circumstances are absolutely appreciated Don,, want you to know THAT has not gone unnoticed! Man,, there I go again,, another one.. Sorry Mama,,,,

Freedom

TWEEKS LONG LOST SISTER:dancefool::dancefool:!!!:clap2: How cool is that!! Hey Or, thinking I aint never did see no tail lights like those,, from what I can see,, I LIKE em!!! When you get a second and if ya don't mind,, would cha have Moe snap a shot or two of your new scoots back side - would REALLY like to see what those lights look like from the rear.. Any idea if she's gotta a good second gear in er brother? GREAT BARN FIND THERE MY FRIEND!!

:dancefool::dancefool::dancefool::dancefool: We're RELATED!!!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup: Who'd of ever thunk it!!

Crazy as this may sound Steve,, nope,, I was told it's not "Trigger Finger".. Guess TF is extremely painful, this is not.. TF is inflammation, was told this is actually a build up of stuff around the tendons that has to be opened up and removed.. Started out with a tiny BB like nodule on the first joint of the first knuckle on the pinky of my right hand a few years and progressed from there..

"""Jeeze puc. I don't like the looks of that. I do suppose though you should be able to operate the throttle, just no brakes though?""" Funny you mention this Cha,, I been bike shoppin and looking at Harley's - Tippy shakin her head,, saying things like what cha want one of those for - was telling her that with my hands in the condition they are in I reckon I should still be able to hang on with just a thumb and a finger when I wick it up .. gonna get that gorgeous Heritage Springer I always wanted ONE WAY OR THE OTHER:178: """Best of luck to you buddy. What causes the disease?""" THANK YOU for the well wish my friend!! The Doc says,, what da heck did you do to your hands?? A little and I started going thru my own diagnosis with Tip nodding her head... Years of riding and racing a KX500 with its bone shattering viberations, pull starting 165 horse triple cylinder Arctic Cat Thundercat Snowmobiles when it was so cold out that - at times - the pull start handle would rip between my fingers, 34 years of cutting and hand splitting my own firewood and on and on.. The Doc was shaking his head in a "NOPE" fashion with every comment I made.. Got all done and he says one simple word "Hereditary".. He asked if anyone else in my family had suffered with it.. You know what, they did.. When my Grandmother passed away a number of years ago she had the stuff so bad that all but her thumbs and pointer fingers had been totally unusable for over 15 years.

well,, actually three of em.. Somewhere along the trail I managed to pick up this disease called Dupuytrens.. Its a diabolically anti-pulchritude of an ailment in that, all though it's pretty much pain free, it can totally interfere with a bikers longing to ride a motorcycle so it probably isn't something that I would advise any of you lop eared varmints to go looking for.. Also,, if you are a touch typist like your ol buddy Puc, you dont want Dupy either cause learning to one one finger type after years of touch typing is not as easy as it sounds.. Tip, Tweeks and I have been waiting patiently for an opening to shake out with a Hand Specialist and we FINALLY got the call.. If all goes well, in less than two weeks my right hand will be on its way to being functional again, then after it gets all sorted out we will be working on the ol left side.. Long range outlook is, well,,,, is glowing bright considering that at this time only my pointer fingers and thumbs are usable commodities. Here are some pics of my right hand as of today. Dupy usually only affects the pinky and ringer finger but I managed to attract the attention of a very aggressive type of the stuff that has also decided it liked my middle finger too.. What you see in the pics is as far open as I can go with my right hand, pretty weird eh.. Today we (Tip and I, Tweeks stayed in bed) met with the surgeon who I will be giving the fingers to and he explained the process. Gonna be kinda different cause I swear on a stack of Bibles that he said that the skin around my pinky region is not gonna be able to stretch out and be stitched up so he is gonna have to leave it open and let the skin heal back together to cover the area again.. He asked if I would be good with changing my bandages on a daily basis and that I would literally be looking inside my hand when I did... I told him I thought that would make some pretty awesome pictures to share with my biker buddies on VR if they dont get censored for being to heteromorphic. As always and forever,, we appreciate any and all prayers, thoughts, love and concerns that any of our family and friends here dare to muster up on our behalf and will thank you right here, right now for doing so!! THANK YOU!! Puc n Tip

,,,,,,,,,, ever did ya hear of fool's Gold Lar?? That there be Fool's White Wash!!