cowpuc

Jim,,,Not exactly sure if this fellow slept thru 9-11 but I didnt.. Have a daughter that lives in Manhatten (up on 69th so she was a few blocks away when we were declared war on).. Regardless of what the media is telling people over here - there are LOTS of us who know you guys are making a huge difference in bringing Democracy to that God aweful situation and keeping another 9-11 away from our shores!!!!!!!! THANKS again!! 'Puc

Hello Jim!! THanks for dropping a note to us here and a MERRY CHRISTMAS from Michigan to all you folks fighting for our freedom!! First,, here is short poem that I wrote for all you guys and girls over there.. Not the best but totally from my heart to yours!! Although I love my friends on here, my heart goes out to those not near. Across the sea our soldiers fight, so we can sleep in peace at night. They are protecting our way of life, so we can live in little strife. We take our freedom for granted a lot, and they are over there giving all they've got. I don't forget my brothers abroad, I am proud to cry this fact out load. Lord keep them safe throughout the year, and bring them all home to families dear. And Santa if your listening, out trying to get Rudolfs nose glistening. When you fly over those hills of sand, drop all my gifts on that foreign land!!! And now a short but true story.. Traveling to Sturgis this past year my riding bud and I stopped for dinner at a resturant in Murdo SD - riding over 16 hours that day brought us there at 9:58 pm and they were closing at 10. The waitress didnt want to serve us but I talked her into it.. 5 minutes later a guy walked by with a shirt on that said "HD - I got mine in Iraq"... He sat down behind my buddie and I told my friend there was no way he would get served.. He didnt.. As he walked past out table I inquired about his shirt.. He started telling us that he had just gotten home from 19 months in Iraq. He had ordered his new Harley while overseas and his family and towns people (he was from Pennsylvania) had met him at his base drop off and convoyed home to a hero's welcome.. His mom asked what he wanted to do shortly after a TV editorial was filmed about his homecoming.. He said I am gonna climb on my bike and get some lone time.. About this time the waitress came with my dinner... I told her to give it to him and I would pay for it.. He looked at me and said I cant eat your dinner bro.. I said I would throw it out before I would eat in front of my brother who had just gotten home from war fighting for my country.. He finally settled into eating and I enjoyed his conversation IMMENSLY!! I then invited him to ride with us,, told him my riding partner had only a few hours on his bike and that I was a bit crazy old school type that still practiced real biking habits like sleeping under the stars in the desert.. He laughed and said "SOUNDS LIKE A RIOT"!! That night we slept in an old Ghost town out in the prairie that I knew of - it was about 2 am before we pulled in.. We rode MANY miles of pavement - did Sturgis together, did Sturgeon Canyon and then went two-tracks all the way up into Wyoming to Devils Tower!! MILES of two-tracks and back sand roads and him fully loaded on his brand new Harley Heritage, my buddy on his Yam Virago and me on my fully packed 1st Gen!! We had a BLAST!! I recently recieved an email from him that told how much he relished our friendship - that he would never forget me and that I was considered one of his best friends in life.. Dont get much better then that... I tell you all this to let you and all of your buddies over there in that Hell know that YOU are loved and prayed for on a regular basis and that you all really are missed!!! PLEASE, NEVER let a day go by without remembering that!! Also know that the story I just told could be and would be anyone of you guys (and girls).. Gonna give you a pic of the three of us out in Indian country.. Please view it as if its you and know that YOU are appreciated!! THANKS for everything and Merry Christmas!!! Cowpuc

I gotta go with Predock on this one... Personally,,, newbie riders on big streetbikes riding in groups scare me wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more then a skilled rider on the back wheel... If a biker is doing 70 on the rear wheel for miles on end,, or going stop light to stop light and dropping the front end perfectly and in total control,, he is my kind of guy.. If a guy is pulling out of an intersection on his freshly polished scoot wearing gorgeous biker clothing and stalling every few feet and then I stop to help him and tell him to try a lower gear and he says STUPID BIKE,,, whatda mean different gear?? THAT is the one I stay away from!!! I have been asked by several relatives to help them get streetbikes.. My policy is that if I am involved you will ride with me on the woods for one year before we start looking at streetbikes.. Part of their "training" constists of controling your bike on one wheel, also low speed trials riding (if you cant crawl your bike at an idle speed while standing on your pegs fully loaded saddlebags and all and then come to a complete stop before stepping off your pegs you really are not able to control a bike).. I have two nephews that both took me up on the deal and they are both VERY good street riders,, DO NOT touch a drop of booze and extremely well versed at defensive driving,, including being able to raise the front wheel at anytime to jump a curb if necessary... Yea,, total control wheelieing is definitly a wonderful tool for the box and if you see it and dont realise it,, you are seeing many long hours of practice and a very skilled rider... If they werent they would have dropped their bike within a few feet......... Not that accidents still dont happen.. Bikes are the ONLY vehicle that this stuff applies to though,, any drunken fool can climb on a snowmobile, trike motorcycle, car, boat or what ever,, pull the trigger and kill people.. Little more difficult on a bike,,, in order to show off you have to have obtained a certain level of skill or ummmm you fall........ As usual,, different perspective but mine.... 'Puc

But,, please dont forget about the wonderful land of opportunity here in the USA.. For instance,,, last year I took a total of 45 days off and paid myself for it.. I am self employed, rode most of those 45 days, visited a number of bike dealerships and shows in the process, not only made over 16 grand during that time (Sturgis, Daytona, 4 Bike Blessings and then a couple dealer expo's) but had a BLAST of time. Our country is VERY condusive to doing your own thing and VERY encouraging on tax deductions and the like to help you make it,,,,, if your sincere... Personally,, I LOVE the opportunity here and wouldnt live anywhere else cause there is no where else that has it this good... Just thought I would cast my vote... 'Puc

Although I love my friends on here, my heart goes out to those not near. Across the sea our soldiers fight, so we can sleep in peace at night. They are protecting our way of life, so we can live in little strife. We take our freedom for granted a lot, and they are over there giving all they've got. I don't forget my brothers abroad, I am proud to cry this fact out load. Lord keep them safe throughout the year, and bring them all home to families dear. And Santa if your listening, out trying to get Rudolfs nose glistening. When you fly over those hills of sand, drop all my gifts on that foreign land!!!

I just got back from South Carolina and test drove one of the new Harleys while I was down yonder... While out testing it out I saw myself in the window of a large store and thought I was pretty cool but I didnt wave at myself cause I knew better... Nice bike though..... 'Puc

Years ago my sisters boyfriend went with me to pick up my brand new XS650 Yam.. When we got home I let him take it down the street and back to "taste" being on two wheels... She married the guy shortly after that and they have 5 children.. A few years ago he stopped by the shop with his youngests moped in the back of his truck and asked if I would take a look at it - he said the Honda shop told him the motor was ruined and it would cost over 1200 bucks to fix... I benched, motor was locked,, dug a little more and found out it was hydroed.. He stared blindly at me as I took his sons moped and tipped it up side down and proceeded to pump the oil out of the crankcase with the electric starter... THen watched in disbelief as I turned it back over and filled the case thru the plug hole with raw gas and turned it back over and dumped the gas out of it.. His disbelief went away shortly thereafter as I was pulling out of my driveway on his sons moped running like the day it was brand new... To my astonishment his reply when I returned was,,,,,,,,,, "something occured to me about you when you came back into your driveway on my sons Moped a moment ago" - I said whats that?? He said "you had that same look on your face riding his moped that you had on your face the day we went and got you new Yamaha up in Scotville - sheer delight.." Yep,, life is good when a man is being what he is suppose to be... 'Puc

HERE HERE --- ditto that for me Jeff and a Merry Christmas to all!! 'Puc

I have been in that same situation a number of times and I just take a comparable output charger (read on the back of the transformer pack) and wire it to the contacts on my stand - works great!! You can also charge off a 12v car battery (just the battery alone - NOT the car as that is 14.5 V) as long as your pack is 12v or more by doing the same thing.. Just always make sure your going neg to neg, pos to pos!! If you dont know how to check and make sure just ask.. 'Puc

Good question! Short analogy - guy owns a basket ball court, the only balls, shoes, shirts he allows on the court are ones he provides. He is also one of 5 courts in the world to play on.. YOu love to play ball but REALLY dont want to wear his shoes.. The next closest court is 600,000 miles away.. So you comprimise - wear his shoes and play ball cause you love the game that much.......... Get it?????? BE THANKFUL to get anything!! Few years back our home got busted into and we lost over 30 grand of stuff.. I had been with the same insurance company for over 24 years and NEVER filed a claim with them (always felt like I could replace broken windows and such and save MY insurance company money).. They beat us out of the claim - disgraceful!! Read some of the stuff from Hurricane Katrina!! THOUSANDS of people lost everything - some of the biggest insurance companies in the world sent agents in to tell people the damage was from flooding NOT from the hurricane and BINGO - raked em,, again disgraceful but,,, they own the court..... 'Puc

Ok Rod,, you asked so here ya go.. You are seeing it raw,,,, please remember that.. Also gonna try to include a shot of a couple chops I did... The white/green one sold to a guy in Fargo (personally delivered) and the blue one went to North Carolina (I delivered it personally to a guy on the big Marine base on the South/East corner of NC). I have been building since I was a kid (I remember drawing chops in Kindergarten - no kidding!!!) and have been full time since 97.. Anyway,,,, enjoy and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 'Puc

Wellllll,, I aint much of tv watcher of any sort.. I am more of gearhead type and extremly hardcore in the biker sense of the word.. Therefore, for my Christmas present this year I went and bought a 1961 Harley Softtail framed - Shovel engined - converted belt drive primary connected back to a 4 speed tranny.. Hot that AWESOME old school left over chrome swingarm on her --- even has one of those old school double striped white wall tires on the back!! Old fat bob twin tanks are in ok shape - need some repair but still there!! Its a total basket case and ready for the magic to take place... SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cool and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Cowpuc!! Drove all the way from Michigan to Fon du lac just for me to get my present... hahahahahahahahahh I am still on cloud nine as it hasnt been taking space in my garage for more then 36 hours yet!! Thats my story and I am sticking to it!! 'Puc As always, Pictures to come if anyone is interested,, if not I wont waste the bandwidth.....

Sometimes in life you run across a person who IS you and IS able to say what you want to say and just dont know how to say it..... THANK for this post,, it means alot to me!! And Don, YOU are da man and these Moderaterators are an awesome bunch of fellow contributors who make this board a very special and safe place to hang.. In the spirit of THumper1's quote - MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!! 'Puc

Just another little something to think about Dex,, how familiar are you with hot humid muggy summer days?? I have lived in Michigan all my life but have done lots of traveling.. I also have a daughter who lives in Greenville SC and have visited many times.. While having totally enjoyed the biking down yonder I cant say the same for the non-biking days.. Other then working in an air conditioned environment,, I simply cant imagine working down there in the summer time - that would be unbearable.. Cant breath..... If I were looking for heat I would Venture (had to get that in here somewhere) somewhere west of the Rockies - like western Colorado or Utah or Nevada or Arizona,, someplace where the humidity is below 50 percent,, like they say - its a dry heat.... Just a thought.. 'Puc

Oh my gosh,, do you really want to do this??? Are you sure you want to go here?? Here is sneak peak at my life.. I VIVIDLY remember drawing choppers when I was in Kindergarten. I started riding in 1963 on a 59 Sears Allstate Moped - I still have the frame to the old girl.. Between 63 and 73 (when I graduated High School) I had owned over 15 bikes. I worked VERY hard for my machines and purchase all of them with my own money except the Allstate - my dad spit that $50 purchase with me - it took a whole summer of paper route money to pay my half. Through the years I have raced trials, motocross, harescrambles, tt, cross country, hare and hound, poker runs, ice bikes, drag race, hill climbs and wheelie contests.. In 1973 I purchased the first brand new Honda CR250M and cleaned house with it.. I bought another brand new on in 74. I still have the worn out 73.. Also during that year I upgraded my street bikes to a XS650 Yam and I also bought a brand new Yam 250 Trials bike and owned a 250 Enduro too... I have owned Harleys, Maicos, Huskys, bought a new VOR MX400 with a gear driven top end and a cassette tranny in 2000 - I was 45 at the time - the bike was $10,000. Last year I rode my 83 Venture out to Sturgis.. On the way out, my riding buddie and I just made it into a resturant in Murdo SD - 2 minutes before closing.. Just as we sat down a brother walked in with a shirt that said "Harley Davidson - I got mine in Iraq".. As he sat down I told Chip (riding buddy) that the dude wasnt gonna get serven and he didnt.. He shook his head in disbelief as the waitress told him she couldnt serve him.. As the guy started to walk past my table I stopped him and inquired about his shirt.. He proceeded to tell me that he had gotten home from 19 MONTHS in Iraq 2 weeks ago and his family had delivered his brand new Heritage to him on base.. He followed them home to Pennsivania in a long convoy and got the heros welcome he deserved - he is a Major in the Rangers.. As he was telling me all this the waitress came with our dinners and I told her to give him mine.. He said I cant do that.. I said "yes you can and you will cause I aint gonna eat it!!!! I am NOT going to sit here and eat dinner in front of one of my brothers that just got home from Iraq NO WAY!!! As he ate my dinner we talked for a long time.. Then I invited him to ride with the two of us.. I explained how we traveled - ride till tired and sleep behind a barn, in a field, under a tree, in a cemetery what ever.. He said it sounded like just what he needed.. He followed me (this was my riding buddies second trip with me and his second trip ever on a bike so I was leading the whole trip) out across the prairie and we finally landed about 1 am in a Ghost Town out in the middle of no where.. During that trip the three of us rode sturgis, the black hills, down SPearfish Canyon and CROSS COUNTRY on two tracks into Wyoming and up to Devils Towers.. Anyway,, we became best friends on that trip and Ranger Major Smith from Pennsylvania and I are now the absoulute best of friends.... There,, there is a story.. you want more?? I dont have time and neither do you.. Current bikes,, if you look carefully there is a 1969 Factory Bultaco hill bike in here, there is a 84 Honda Magna, 71 Yamaha XS650 Hardtail chop, 69 Honda Mini Trail, 68 Honda Mini Trail, 71 Honda CT70, 72 Rupp Roadster, 69 Scat Cat, 84 Honda CR60, 81 Honda PC50, 70 CT70H (4 speed), 66 Honda CB77 305 Superhawk, 72 Suzy TC185 HI/Low e start, 1966 Yellow Honda CT90 that I ride daily as a moped (16 dollar sticker for 3 years - no insurance reguired and no helmet necessary).. Thats just one barn and part of the garage - I have 4 other outbuildings hahaha.. Total count of my collection right now is just over 130 bikes.. Its a disease but a gooooood one.......... 'Puc Oh yea,, here is a pic of the three of us riding cross country out on the backside of the Badland National Park - out in Indian Country in the middle of nowhere - 105 degrees and eatin up the highway!!! Dont get no better then this folks!!!!!!!! This is 6 days into a trip with no shower - ok,, went swimming in that river that flows through Chamberlain but that only counts as a bath,, not a shower.... OK,, looks like my files are to big.. Someone say they are interested in seeing pics and I will go thru the hassle of downsizing them,, otherwise forget it hahahaha

The reason we have sooooo much extra time is cause our Ventures produce it.. If we need a little extra time we just go for a ride,, these bikes a sooo freakin fast if you leave the house at 1pm you will arrive back home at 11am the same day...

Welllll,,, my Blonde 84 Royale has 192000 on her and she is fully retired and sitting outside dismantled under tarpage. She spent over 50000 miles of her ending life with no second gear and me short shifting her.. I bought her with 22k on her and crossed the country on her back MANY times, usually with a kid on the back.. Her carbs, seat, rear floor boards, low cut windshield, radio/intercom, engine guards, progressive fork springs, fork brace, mirrors and cruise are now on my 83.. It would take some digging to unbury her carcass from the snow and uncover her just to take a couple pics in the dark so you will just have to trust me.. Oh,, wait a minute,, just found some pics of the dismantle process.. Hey,, this sure brings back some awesome memories of an AWESOME scoot - THANKS FOR ASKING!!! 'Puc

Sheesh Ruff,, you really had me going for a second there.. Due to the title of this thread I actually thought you had eaten some light bulbs and was having a hard time passing them... On the same token,, if that would have been the case it would have explained your screen name... 'Puc

I love those kind of places,,, the ones like you are talking about that take anti-Christmas action are my favorite places this time of year.. I go out of my way to stop at those places - as I am walking in the front door I tape one of my ready made signs on their front door notifying their customers that the Management of the establishment is against Christianity and that everyone is encouraged to say Merry Christmas to all the employees in the store.. I then proceed inside, walk up tothe counter and tell them I didnt really need to purchase anything but just wanted to stop and tell them Merry Christmas... My wife get mad at me for my antaginistic ways sometimes but heyyyyy,, needling peoples what I do... hahahaha 'Puc

12 years ago I was shipping KZs, H1s and H2s back to Japan in shipping containers on a regular basis.. I had a buyer who was Japanese who said those bikes were not allowed in their country for many years... Sounds crazy but true...

Cut the windshield, stuck on the driving lights, lowered the frame, built the pipes AND run it 99% of the time with no trunk.. Here are some shots from a 6 week road trip this year.. Sorry I couldnt find any pics of just the bike....... Hope these help anyway.. Puc

Chabi,,,, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?? Did you take the pic and/or know the story behind it?? That is unreal!!!!!!! Almost looks like some kind of African species or something.. At first I thought Kangaroo but they dont have those big ol hooved toes on all their feet do they... Hmmmmmmmm....

Yea I know Ken but the old hog I have my eye on is a mint Duo Glide and the old guy that owns it wont take a dime less then 28 for it.... Its actually pretty amazing how new bike prices have gotten more reasonable, few years ago I bought a brand new left over Wide Glide from a shop in Indiana.. It was Concord Purple and they couldnt sell it.. I bought it wholesale and Ebayed it for 4k over MSRP.. Guy that bought it from me said he would have had to wait a year and half to get that specific color!!! Now its all changed and you can get some REALLY good deals if you want to shop a little... Which it sounds like you did.. By the way,, how much snow you guys got down there?? I am up on the lake shore in West Michigan and we have about 6 inches on the ground.. Keep that new Harley on ice (pun intended) till the weather warms up and then ride the rubber of er bro!!! Oh yea,, not sure what your dealer told you about riding in cooler weather but on my old Shovel I dropped to straight 30w below 45 degrees and it worked awesome.. YOu probably are on top of that but just a reminder to check with your dealer/owners manual...

Needs a set of pull backs, adjustable forward controls and a good backrest with a padded sissy bar to lean against.... Then a set of upward slanted "FISH TAILS" like Captain America and I would really like it... Oh well,, not bad for a first try at a custom bike I guess... I would like to know who started this idea of calling ergonomics that separate the riders shoulder blades while they ride cool in the first place?? The whole cruiser fade is stupid from that perspective.. I thought that back when I bought my Harley FX LowRider back in 78.. Gorgeous bike that came with straight drag bars that you couldnt ride more then an hour without stopping and putting your blades back in your shoulders.. First thing I did was put a good set of pull backs on er...

opppsss,, Sorry Ken,, I didnt realise you had already addressed the pics issue....