cowpuc

Thanks for letting me know that Randy,, could you try it again and see if it now works? Thanks!!! Puc

Here ya go Randy (and Tx too - he is speakin my lingo below!!)...I am out of breath in the Video,,, I just couldnt help attempting a kick starting,, three twists, choke at 1/4 pull,,, bring the piston up between the cam lobes,,, tryed and tryed,,, ending up using electric and it started right up... Oh well,, maybe when it warms up a little:rotf: Oh yea,, I left a little message on this U Tube link for all my VR friends! 100% in totaly agreement there Brian,,, dont know what it is but certainly have a tone of their own!! This one REALLY sounds good on the road!! May pull the idle down a little but I wanna wait till it gets warm enough here for the old oil pump to be pumping something besides molassis before is do!!! Heres a few more pics too...

Oh man Howard,, I wish we would have known,, DOG GONE IT!! So I dont miss another opportunity to stop and say HOW-DY (not much of pun but a little one),, give me some orientation of where you are.. We camped last year in the campground (very unusal for us - its usually behind a pine tree or something) on the Jackson Hole side of Tetons.. We rode thru the Tetons up to what is probably the South Gate to get into Yellowstone last year.. In the Tetons we rode up this mountain to view this lake that is shaped like a,,, something I cant put on here... So,,,,, give me an idea of where the building is located from those land markers.. Ohhhhhh man,,, I am sorry we missed you!!! Next time we will DEFINITLY stop and say HI!!! Puc

Heyyy ya Hammer,, sounds like a BLAST to me!!! Couple a quick points about tent camping out there,,, if you are at all like me and will drop that tent just about anywhere - check the ground carefully for pickers (never had a problems with the infamous rattlers out there but WOW the pickers!!).. There are these pickers out in Texas/New Mexico/Arizona that they call "Goat Heads",, and they are everywhere!! They are about the size of our "sand burrs" but way more potent!! They have 3 horns on them (probably why they call em Goat Heads) that are easily stiff enough to go right thru rubber on the tires!! Nasty little suckers!! A little south of Flagstaff AZ (I am going by memory here but I think its HWY 15,, maybe..) is this little town called Jerome,, I LOVE Jerome!!! To get there, instead of taking 15 (if thats what it is - its the main highway going south out of Flag toward Phoheenix!!) just a few miles out of Flag there is a Canyon Rd that runs parellal with the Highway, runs on the west side of the highway, RIDE IT down to Jerome!! You wont want to leave - I guarentee it!! Coming back toward Flag from Jerome (North of Flag this time) and heading toward the South Rim.. Just outside of Flag in that direction is also thier 3 mountains (cant remember their names, ask anyone in Flag they will tell ya) - outstanding exploring in those three mountains, one of them has an area that has, and STILL ALIVE,, the oldest trees alive on our planet, I think they are called "Joshua Trees".. There is a park that (I spent 3 days exploring it - its unreal) is laid out among these trees!! Dont wanna miss this bro!! ANother of these mountains has an Observatory on it,, the road leading up to the Observatory is OUTSTANDING biking!! Have no idea of the roads that I took to do this but on one of my trips out there on the way to Page I ended up in a National Park area that has HUGE Lava flows (cool place) and an Indian Ruins area.. Another place that is nothing short of AWESOME!!.. There is a GREAT food fest just on the other side of the river from Page - cant miss it,, its COWBOY food!! Dropping down to the North Rim,, GORGEOUS Pine Growths once ya get close to the rim, north side is much more unconjested then the south and the pine needles make good bedding LOL.. If you head out toward Zion NP from the North Rim you will ride thru a little town called Kanob UT,, I also love this place,, Holly Wood did a lot of shooting their - Gunsmoke stuff,, on the North West side of town is a little motel with a Museum beside it.. If you can pick it up the Museum is AMAZING!!! From there on up ALL the National Parks are absolutley amazing places!! I would strongly recommend buying the Year Pass for the parks,, lay out a map and just ride park to park.. Watch your fuel in Utah,, I have pushed a number of times.. Also,, watch the skys in the mountains,, bad weather comes out of no where.. I always try to come down out of the mountains,, if possible, before dark cause I have ended up waking to snow even in August!! Also have had the best luck riding the mountains from sunup to about 2 pm - always seems like after 2 they can get dicey.. Carry a gallon of water, an extra quart of fuel and lots of sunscreen.. Another GREAT ride is "the loneliest highway in America",, take it from Salina Utah to the new Top Gun Town out in Nevada,, what the heck was the name of that town,, arrrrgg... Anyway,, that Top Gun Town has some AWESOME free airshows (really not airshows - just the best of the best doing their thing) and a fantastic public pool!!! Loves truck stops have the best showers, Walmart has the best cheapest gallon jugs of water (Carry a gallon of water, an extra quart of fuel and lots of sunscreen..) , Walgreen sells the highest grade sunscreen for lips (I use it on my nose and ears too) - DONT FORGET THIS STUFF!!,, keep a close eye on the rear tire if you end up in heat - what looks like half way used up can go south REAL FAST.... Heyyy,, you guys gonna try and get out to that "Dalles" gathering?? There is a really good chance, especially if our snow is gone,, that Tippy and I are gonna make that.. We are hoping and planning to also ride down across the southern part of Texas (she has been begging me to see the Alamo) and then up to Sac to see the kids and than up to "Dalles" to say hi to all those yahoo's,,, might see you there,, ya never know with us.. Hope my lecture helped somehow.. Puc

Randy,,,, crazy as this may sound,,, that ol shovel runs great (not normal,, usually I at least gotta do carb work on em)!! I gotta go do just a little cleaning on it here,, gotta guy coming to look at it,, I will snap a few more shots of it and maybe a short vid of it running just to :stirthepot: around here.. There seems to be a number of others on VR that are into this stuff too that might enjoy the ... Funny though,, I thought Freebird, Annie and I were the only ones who really liked Harleys :rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf::rotf: Oooooppsss,, there goes my membership,,, right out the backdoor:stickinouttounge:

Me too Mike, me too!! I did a number of the shovels (AMF Cones) last year too, they have really been good sellers for me - I think its cause they are affordable (check out the values of an old Hydraglide like Ground Huggers brother is doing - WOW).. It is AMAZING to me though because it seems like only yesterday that NOBODY wanted those AMF bikes,,, "dat aint no Harley" and "it's a cross between a bowling pin and a motorcycle" were the comments back than,, sheesh,, seems like yesterday,, where does the time go.. Funny how now they sell like hot cakes,,, got a guy coming to look at this one today :rotf: Ya know doo,, I never really understood it but Suzuki never really caught on around here.. I was spinning wrenches in a Honda shop back then,, we had stellar business, guy who owned the Yam shop was a personal friend and he was pretty busy too BUT the Suzy shop,, slower than molasses... For every 100 Wings ya saw around you would see 5 Ventures and, if you were lucky,, 1 Cavalcade.. Same with the Madura's/V-Max's/Magna's.. Funny too cause the Suzy's were really neat bikes with way better instrumentations and they ran GREAT... OH WOW!!! THAT is gorgeous Ground Hugger!! I absolutly LOVE the Hydraglides!! I am sure you know this but others might not,,, its probably somewhere in the mid 50's bike, probably came originally with suicide clutch and tank shift and probably a panhead and probably worth a LOT of money just the way its shown in pic!!! Tell your brother :thumbsup:for me next time you see him.. Also tell him that if I EVER get a chance to ride with you I would LOVE to stop and see his project!! Telling ya,, it just does something to me to even be in the same room with those old bikes,,,, they got SOUL!!

Prayers up!!

Why do I feel like the nut that has the skeeter sitting on it,, why doesnt it just fly away, why do I see four skeeters sittin on peanuts when I cross my eyes,, Why does it take one to know one Annie?? :rotf:

BOOK EM DAN O'!!!!! Good thing I wasnt standing there cause I woulda ripped them puppys right out of your pea pickn fingers and RAN,, you and me rolling around in the isle over a blue lite special,, may the best bargin hunter win!!!! :rotf: I didnt even know K-Mart had batterys,,,, now I gotta stop and check em out next time I am in town!! Good on ya bro!!

I hear that Crusher,, aint nothin to be sorry about for sure!! That Madura had 4000 original miles on it,, hadnt been ridden since 1990!! The original tool kit was still in the box behind the passenger seat UNOPENED from new!! It was a really neat bike!! I actually would have kept it if it would have been the 1200,, it was the 700.. Been a CHEAP thrill (had less than 500 bucks in it) as the 1200 Madura's were Suzy's "answer" to the V-Max (yea right) and the V-65,, they ran pretty good too..

I am with Red Rider,, I would also double check the oil and make sure it aint contaminated with fuel just to be safe,, one little sniff in the crankcase will tell ya...

So,, had an old 85 Suzuki Madura (V-4,, we allll know what that is:cool10:) that I had freshened up.. Through the course some horse swapping I ended up with this 1981 Fat Bob.. Got to checking it out and noticed the motor had never been opened up,, still has the original clamps on the hoses feeding the oil pump - been a LONG time since I have seen an original shovel - untouched,, just like it came from HD,, these things weren't exactly known for reliability.. Ran the VIN - came out of the HD plant in Pennsylvania.. I didnt even know HD had a plant in PA back than.. The front rotors on this thing show NO sign of wear, chain and sprockets still look new... What a cool ol bike.. Thought some of you REAL bikers might enjoy this :rotf::rotf: Just another day in the life of Puc.....

WOW,, that sounds like a RIOT!! Have fun, take some pics and write your FREEZING Michigan brothers a ride report all about OCC,, pretty pleeeeezzzz

That was close,, almost missed it,, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KBRAN!!!!!!!

NICE!! Me too Annie,, me too!!:rotf::rotf:- GOOD EYE TOOCH!!

OUTSTANDING BARRY!! Thanks a gazillion for posting up the pics!! Melted another 2' of snow here with those!! Now, about those gorgeous new Indians... The bike in picture 5 (its a red one with you standing behind it) is the one I want - now THAT is gorgeous!!! Puc

Gonna sound like ol Pucster has gone off the deep end BUT,,, an old beater XR100 playing around in a field until shifting/throttle control/braking become second nature.. The skills aquired by riding a little bike in the safety of the off road environment are directly applicable to street riding on a big bike..

WOW Kat,, THAT is awesome!! Congrats to you both!! I always stand in amazement at people like Mike who have have not only overcome great physical obstructions but have gone on and done great things in life - that hubby of yours is a keeper!! Tippy and I are proud of him and happy for the both you!! Puc

Well SS,, I see no one chimed in here and I personally have never tried those lowers.. If I were you (and someone much more experienced than myself didnt answer this one) I would take a tape measure, a camera and a pad of paper.. Make some measurements on my bike - jot em down with some quick drawings, go down to a bike shop that has a few used HD's around and see what cha come up with. Take some shots with your camera if ya need to.. Like you said,, there are TONS of that stuff out there for HD's CHEAP (if you buy used).. Now if you were talking Tour Pacs,, might not be so cheap in the HD realm.. Also,, my buddy just picked up the COOLEST hard bags for his sporty - MADE IN CHINA STUFF but VERY NICE LOOKING!!! Came with blinkers mounted on the back (like the old HD FL's), black in color (matched his bike nicely).. Got em shipped to his door for 60 dollars.. Have NO idea if there is anything like that in lowers out there BUT,, might be worth a look,, never know nowadays.. Puc

Prayers up,, nite Neverland..

You can count on it Dan!!! Puc

Well now KICKSHOT,, you might change your tune after you hear the rest of the story about me and drinkin... After my son went thru all he did,, I entered this thing called "midlife crisis" .. After a SOLID 34 years of sobriety (both drinkin and smokin) and 32 years of marriage I hit this crazy wall - like a return to my teen years!! I had always rode hard, played hard, LOVED beer and VODKA when I was younger and during this "Midlife Crisis" stuff I started drinking and smoking again .. My wife, Tippy, spent many many nights in tears, got hooked up with a couple of Midlife Crisis groups, stood by me for 2 years thru that whole mess.. The tables turned and my SON started counseling ME about MY drinking and was ALWAYS here for his mom!! One day I came home, divorce papers (in a drunken stupor I asked for it - she really didnt want it) were on the table and I got booted.. These were VERY hard times!!! Few days later, after I had sobered up a little (I was drinking a LOT of Vodka at the time AND beer like it was water), I stared at the papers and thought - this is to big of a price to pay for my love for alcohol,, went home, knocked on the door, told her I wanted to make our marriage work and wanted to come home.. She had been praying for 2 years for that day, had her ducks in a row and was prepared to negotiate my return - did a bang up job too - because.. A HUGE part of our agreement was my agreeing to NO DRINKING at anytime (she learned the hard way that once I get started I cant stop,, I LOVE TO PARTY) - not even socially.. One drink and my marriage is over.. It has been 2 years and 1 month now of starting my second round of sobriety. Been hard cause I still ride hard, work hard, play hard and love good times, but its working!! I still love parties and hanging with bikers,, I just have to say no when those beer cans pop (makes my mouth water just typing it) at the gatherings we go to BUT, its easy when I think about what just one drink is gonna cost me this time, I love her (and my family) more than the bottle!! I am currently working on quitting smoking again, am down to 2 cigars a day.. Thats just as hard cause I LOVE cigars too!! All that said, I humbly say,, my wife - Tippy, is the real hero in all this,, not me... I am just a beat up ol bike loving Cowpuc that she fell in love with... Puc

Why do they stare back at me? Why do I sometimes still feel like a nut??

Now that cha mention it Silvr, you may be right on that,, the only reason I said that is cause when we went and test rode the Indians last fall the dealer, who is also a Victory Dealer, tried to sell us a left over Victory... At the end of his sales pitch he said "and this one comes with a 5 year warranty"...... Me too Blaine on both counts,,,, me too!! Fun aint it!!

Down right refreshing aint it Brian!!