WRIDR

With a little Luck, we hit #55 on Boxing Day this year. Remember it well. Folks figured the best Gift would be a Honeymoon Trip to the Caribbean, so we ended up flying* to The Bahamas and staying at the Biggest Hotel there... in the cheapest, tiny little Room that obviously hadn't been used in months... possibly years. Bellhop opens Door, and whoomp - nine million HUGE centipedes began scattering into hidey holes. Some didn't even bother. The Bellhop saw the look on our faces, and said: "Come back to the Desk with me". Brief chat with desk clerk, and we end up in an Executive Suite suitable for Ministers of State. Think that Guy got a Tip? You betcha. *How long ago is "55 yrs"??? Flight back was on a Propeller-driver Plane. Cheezus, after all this Blather, we overlooked the BIG Thang: Happy 50th, you Guys! Rgds, WRIDR

Quote: "If it started to lean..." Dear "Mama"... PLEASE do NOT try that again! Those Things are so top-heavy you'll never stop it from going over... (yeah, we have the T-shirt.) Also... it normally requires TWO good-sized Folks to get upright again. If it IS going over, guess you could TRY to soften the impact, but make sure you're clear of the landing area. Hugs, WRIDR

Buy a buncha Lottery Tickets fast. Whatever you have going for you is obviously working well; take advantage as quickly as possible. Rgds, WRIDR

Some weird Socio-Eco-Demographic stuff is going on here in Belleville Ontario. We have two very large Grocery Stores in town; one is higher level/more expensive; the other boasts cheaper prices. Both are good stores. We sit in the truck and observe, while our dear Wife risks entering, wearing Mask and Gloves. BTW: both stores spray and wipe carts after each user leaves it outside the store. Here's the interesting part: in the high-end one, most shoppers enter the store already wearing gloves and masks. (Staffers spray the gloves in lieu of hands!) In the other, we'd guess half the Shoppers - including supposedly much more vulnerable older Folks - enter with zero protection! One wonders about The Thinking. At this Stage, AWARENESS can't be an issue? From what we understand about Covid Effect, Death is slow and horrible; you basically cannot breathe! So... howcum everybody isn't playing it SAFE??? Rgds, WRIDR

Hate to bring this up when you're already getting great advice. However... our local Dealer here in Eastern Ontario, Canada - after serious grilling - confessed Ma Yammy deliberately rigs their Speedos to read 6-10% high. Not sure why, but suspect it's related to lawsuits from Folks driving too fast? Maybe that's playing a part of the issue you're experiencing? Rgds, WRIDR

Cheeses; maybe we're having a BAD night, but that weapon does NOT appear very good looking? Also guessing it may feel top heavy, but again judging on a single foto is pretty much useless. Still not a good looking gun, in our opinion. Rgds, WRIDR

Apparently they DID take off this morning. My Wife heard them go, but neither of us saw them. Pity. The Takeoff would have been something to see, but with the prevailing wind they probably headed straight West toward Toronto. Hugs, WRIDR

Sorry Guys, only time for a quickie on this topic. However... those of us who actually OWNED one of these Death Rides will nod their Toppers at these words... The Corvair was the WORST car we ever owned. Hands down. Driving that PIG in any kind of slippery conditions was nothing short of LIFE threatening. They looked pretty for The Time, but not much thought went into reliability, or handling. Headache coming just thinking about that B*tch. Sounded cool under acceleration, we recall. There, said something flattering about the damned thing. Wasn't easy.~ Hugs, WRIDR

Ya gotta give The Guy HUGE credit for keeping on keeping on. Whutta Fighter, he'll always our most favourite Artist, and we'll miss him horribly. God speed, Johnny Boy. Hugs, WRIDR

Sorry we didn't pick up on Your Post earlier, Steve. Wife 'n yours truly did a buncha stuff with Her singing, and us quietly backing up on a beat-up old 12 String, back in the 60s 'n 70s. Mostly 'covering' Roger Miller... and John Prine. LOVED Prine's lyrics - no better way to get a picture of North America 'back then'. Best of all, the music was simple; most easy enough for a bush-league picker to follow, and our dear Wife was/is such a Singer we had invitations to 'Bring the gitbox... AND your Wife' to many gatherings. Miller is awesome, no denying that. But... for our money John Prine laid out Lyrics better than anybody. A Gift from The Big Guy himself; for ALL to enjoy, and Learn about Life. Just spent three full days replaying his songs non-stop. Can't keep 'em out of our head, even after turning off the 'Google Player'. RIP, Johnny-boy. Cannot thank you enough for so many Decades of beautiful Lyrics, and toe-tapping Tunes. Sadly, WRIDR

DAMMIT!! Wish we'd read THIS earlier in the afternoon. Forgot to go git the recycling boxes, so (hopefully) they're still sitting up at the road! We're NOT going up there at 8:40 pm, with Coyotes wandering all over the place these days. We might infect THEM with the Covid thang!~ At least it's not windy yet... if the freak'n WIND will hold off until we get up there in the morning. Here in Prince Edward County (Ont) we have Volunteer Groups picking up Grocery Orders and delivering them to the door. God bless them; hope none pick it up while doing such a vital service for us Old Fartes. Creepy stuff here in Belleville Ont., you could fire a cannon down main street and hit ZIPPO. Hugs to all of them, WRIDR.

DAMMIT!! Wish we'd read THIS earlier in the afternoon. Forgot to go git the recycling boxes, so (hopefully) they're still sitting up at the road! We're NOT going up there at 8:40 pm, with Coyotes wandering all over the place these days. We might infect THEM with the Covid thang!~ At least it's not windy yet... if the freak'n WIND will hold off until we get up there in the morning. Here in Prince Edward County (Ont) we have Volunteer Groups picking up Grocery Orders and delivering them to the door. God bless them; hope none pick it up while doing such a vital service for us Old Fartes. Creepy stuff here in Belleville Ont., you could fire a cannon down main street and hit ZIPPO. Hugs to all of them, WRIDR.

We're running 7, at 77 yrs old, and will stick with it. Chances are good we'll go before it does.~ Wish we HAD Time and Tolerance to go 10, BUT Learning Curves are not something we handle well at this point. Rgds. Wordpecker

We also have that T-Shirt where the Medics say: 'Only five years tops to live'. That was 2006, and we were 64. Smartest thing we did was ignore them. Now it's 2020. We're 77. Started with PSA @ 12,679. Last month it was 1.2, up from previous 0.9. At first we were the Poster Boy for "N/A Prostate Clinical Trial PR 78". Now we're an embarrassment. We continue ignoring it. Rgds, WRIDR

Yup, in SPADES! First of all, we apologize to Don for missing our renewal date in November. Had to ask howcum we couldn't interact as usual to get The Reminder. Wish that happened automatically...? Anyway, after 20 odd bikes over 60 odd years, we finally had to bite the bullet and dump our '09 RSTD for... a 400 cc Yamaha Majesty - can't lift a leg enough to climb aboard anything. 'Madge' solved the problem, and cost us nothing 'cept a little Image thang - younger Brother wouldn't even climb aboard The Scoot for fear he might be seen!!! HOWEVER... Madge STILL lets us cruise The Slab at 70-80 mph all day long, with a LOT more protection and comfort, AND still gives us The Lean In Corners et al. If you're worried about how you 'look', fuhgeddaboutit. But at 77, there aren't many Folks WE are trying to impress. It's a great BIKE, and we LOVE it. Rgds, WRIDR

Got a wicked Flashback decades back while stopped at an early Walmart on I-75 between Cinci and Atlanta. Here's a young Kid on a naked 650-ish Yammy, so cold he's leaning over a coffee held with both hands, and couldn't stop shivering. We didn't have much extra US cash left, but slipped him $20 and said: "Buy a rubberized rain jacket 'n pants." Wasn't gonna help heat, BUT at least stop the wind. Can't remember destination, but it was a long way to go, and the poor Kid had to be at work the next day. By the time he got home, that bike's tank would have knee dents on both sides of the tank.~ Rgds, WRIDR

LOVE the color! Not so sure about the quote "almost as big...", the standard 150 is - in our opinion - freak'n HUGE!~ Awesome looking machine, Dude. Rgds, WRIDR

Yep, and we're 6 or 7 miles from Town. Rgds, WRIDR

Hi Don: We also haven't been around lately, and for a pretty lousy reason. Our dear Wife fell on Sept. 17th, and broke her hip in three places. She spent a couple weeks in the bigger of our local hospitals (Belleville, Ont), then got transferred to our other local hospital in Trenton, Ont. for slow rehab. She's progressing well... ...BUT the rotten b-tards pulled OUR licence during a routine check on the home to see what's needed for her to move back in comfortably. There was NO reason for pulling OUR licence except age (76), but we're grounded until the first available time for a full TEST on OUR ability to move comfortably in the home!!! Here's the kicker: retest cost is $680 CAD, and first available date is NOV. 21st!!! Honest, we are NOT making this up!~ Rgds, WRIDR

Yup, BUT... For any Noobs: You need to know when riding at highway speeds, sticking an arm out into the Wind will instantly, significantly affect Handling. Potentially to an alarming degree. Wave LOW, slanted a bit behind, so Wind Force slides along the arm, instead of inducing instant buffeting. Rgds, WRIDR

Absolutely DELIGHTED to see you hitting The Road, AND commenting at length on the 'new' Bike, Don. Great for ALL of us to see you back in The Saddle, Bud. Warmest Rgds, WRIDR

A lot of us Canuckians with Friends/Relatives in the Maritimes are ALSO watching closely. Bpate's #20 link above shows it landing directly on top of dear Friends living in Yarmouth, N.S. Assuming it undoubtedly picks up strength again over warm, unobstructed water between the U.S. and Yarmouth, our Pals could be in for a very dangerous Sunday. This damned Thing is pure, undiluted Evil. Rgds, WRIDR

Thanks for the correct Info DJH3 - that sounds 'better' than what we heard, but still... At age 76, several of our Friends live full time in Florida. Many are inland, due to housing prices. BUT one Couple lives bayside, roughly 200 yards from the Inter-coastal outlet at Stuart (think that's the correct name?). Any kind of significant Surge would create MAJOR problems for them. Rgds, WRIDR

The Winds are horrible. BUT... if we heard correctly earlier this evening, they're talking 'Storm Surges' of 20'-30'!! Many out-lying Islands - with thousands of folks living on them - are less than 20' tops - total obliteration. We could be watching horrific property destruction - and loss of Life for the Unfortunate - some completely wiped off the map. Is this the first catastrophic impact from Global Warming, or 'just' The Storm of Centuries? We fear the worst. Rgds, WRIDR

Gotta add something to what both Puc's and Vid/Zona's excellent route suggestions entail. Believe it or not, THAT'S late in The Season.* IF you get more than a few miles inland on HIGHER elevations enroute to Baja, you can encounter SNOW from September onward. Stay on The Coast along higher elevations. You'll also save Time, and enjoy better roads. *For example, even starting out up North, we recall selling ski-related advts. on Calgary broadcast outlets from early September onward. (Mind you, with The Rockies only a few miles West.) We strongly urge getting to The Coast as soon as possible, and staying near it - except to bypass BIG cities. South of 'Frisco, there MAY be some interesting inland roads, BUT not much beats the Pacific Coast Highway, especially if The Whales are goofing around just off shore...~ Rgds, WRIDR