AKRefugee

And he cried, Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Quick healing Dan. If Mini does send the whips I hope for your sake she sends the Nurses outfits with them ;-) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I have been using these lights for several years now and they have been working fine for me. I have replaced them once because they were getting rusty. Once I tried the replacement bulbs but that really didn't work out well at all and for the price of these it really wasn't worth it to me. The one thing I learned was to put a touch of Loctite on the outer ring or they will shake loose. Mine are mounted through one of the bolts on the lower deflectors on the forks. It gives it more of a triangle pattern, the same as a train, which helps oncoming traffic in judging your speed. Here is a previous post of how I mounted them

Oh don't worry about it. Just shove it back in there wrap a bit of duct tape around it and flush it with Seafoam and you'll be good to go. What's the worse that can happen? Ok you could be driving down the road and it COULD come flying out spewing fuel all over your engine and legs just as someone in front of you tosses a lit cigarette out the window causing your bike to light off in a huge fireball distracting the driver of the fuel truck next to you causing them to slam on the brakes, jackknife the rig causing the tanker to rupture and send gasoline over 8 freeway lanes and closing a major thru fare for several weeks because that also lite off and destroyed the bridge you were on. But I really don't think you have ANYTHING to worry about. ;-) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I've used Haul Bikes and would never use them again. Everything goes thru Milwaukee and gets off loaded and reloaded there plus it takes forever (read weeks not days) Another one I've used is EVT (enclosed vehicle transport) thing I paid $800 for San Diego to Charlotte and transit time was 6 days. Class operation and they kept me well informed the whole time. They haul classic and speciality cars so vehicle is their whole business. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Glad to hear you all made it back with all your fingers toes and noses. Guess that heated gear worked good for you. Experiencing that arctic cold is something everyone should do at least once. Hard ti complain about it being cold if its not at least -20 after that lol. How you like the Fairbanks ice fogs? Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Rick that has to be the funniest Christmas remembrance I ever heard. Thanks man I really needed a good laugh today. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I have a friend of mine who when ever he was in a bar and seen a girl that caught his eye would go over to the waitress and have a drink sent to her. Right after the drink arrived he would walk over to her table, lean over, and ask her "do you know how to run a Husqvarna?". Of course they would always say "what is a Husqvarna?" or something along that line and he would say "nope your not the one I'm looking for" reach over take her drink, chug it down and then say "I paid for that" and walk away. He always got away with that until the day that the girl answered "not only do I know how to run one, I own two of them myself". He sat down and started talking to her. 6 weeks later they got married. That was over 30 years ago and Jim and Barbara are still married. I guess when you have standards you have standards. And no, I do not know if she still has her Husqvarna's. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

The construction engineering must have been quite a feat. I would love to find out more about the actual construction and the timing it took to build that. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Oh great now we even have moderators using that horrible four letter word here. Tsk Tsk Tsk Ride Happy, Ride Safe

The only thing missing was "here hold my beer and watch this". Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Famous Last Words???

Even if it's not true it's good to know that Harley's might actually be good for something. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Many people forget that there have always been brave men and women from our neighbor to the north willing to do what ever had to be done where ever it need to be done to preserve the peace. Sadly many have lost their lives performing this sacred duty. Thank you for sharing this poignant reminder of that with us. Tiffany did a wonderful job with that. The only thing I could not figure out is why she made is so "bleary" almost like looking thru water. Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Yeah we did miss you (wink wink nod nod) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I was waiting for him to do something I couldn't do ( if I wanted to that is). Finally seen it at the end. Don't know if I could do the jump over the barrier thing but other than that . . . Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Don't know how far south you are but I would expect snow on I81 through Virginia. Seen pictures of snow on the ground in Tazewell which is not to far north of I81 Ride Happy, Ride Safe

The air cleaners are covered by the black rounded plastic at the top of the lower fairings[ATTACH]72522[/ATTACH] Ride Happy, Ride Safe

SNOW!!! Hey, where are the moderators? I thought there was some control over the use of "obscene" language. I am offended by such talk! ;-) Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Thanks Mini at this time I plan on being there Ride Happy, Ride Safe

I can not seem to find it through my iPhone can someone please provide the particulars? Ride Happy, Ride Safe

Ok, if this is acceptable then I will change it to you, your bike, and a street sign.

Well lets see. I did change the target to ANY "entering state" sign and I changed it to at least 100 miles from your home. I did keep the passenger instead of you and I explained that this was to encourage you to take your sweetie, wife, friend or maybe even a relative out for a ride to share the wonderful experience. There have been many targets I did not stand a chance of getting such as a lighthouse since I am half a day from a shore or the wild cactus since I live in the eastern US not the western US or the snowman since I live in the south. I didn't expect them to be changed just because I could not get them. Some I will have a chance of getting and some I will not. We have riders from all over the place and in some areas of the US they are just coming in to riding season i.e. the Southwest US. I did not think this was intended to be a competition but rather a way to encourage others to get out a ride and then share back with us their "discovery". That being said if you want to change it go ahead and change it. I'm just here for the fun.

FORTY!!! FORTY!!! Yeah right!!! (as I head off to look for the supersized fire extinguisher) Happy Birthday Brad

I almost had to learn the hard way that knowing when to stop is probably the most important part of ANY ride. I have ridden my Venture cross country between San Diego CA and Charlotte NC several times. It usually has taken me 4 days. That is averages out to about 630 miles a day. Some days I did 750 miles and some day I only did 450 miles I have had no problem doing that ride in that time because I always made sure I was eating properly, staying hydrated and getting a good nights sleep of at least 8 hours or more every night. I never felt stressed or fatigued. Now lets take a different trip I made of 500 miles. I did not sleep well at all the night before (maybe 4 hrs), wasn't eating right (fast food for several days) and was not properly hydrating. . I had been gone from home for 5 days so I had the "gethomeittis" disease, there were Thunder Storms approaching my route I wanted to beat and my ego said "you've done 750 mile days so you can do this measly amount". (can anyone say three strikes). At about the 400 mile mark I "woke up" while riding and realized that I could not recall the last ten miles. None of it! Let me tell you when that happened it scared the crap out of me. I realized that while I was still functioning I was not "awake" during that ten miles. I knew I was tired before hand but had put pressure on myself to keep going. It could have easily cost me my life, but even more important it could have cost my family the lose of a husband and father. When I realized all this (which was amazingly fast considering my condition) I got off the highway at the next exit and went looking for a place to take a good nap. It was in the middle of nowhere and there were no stores, restaurants or motels. I finally found an old church with a covered porch area, threw my sleeping bag in the corner, called the wife to tell her I would be much later getting home and got a few hours of sleep. When I finally woke up the Thunder Storms had moved through, the traffic was lighter and I figured out I was only 50 miles from home. I was well rested and easily able to make the remaining miles quite safely. Let me tell you I learned a lot of lessons from that trip. 1 - "Better late than never". I am 100% convinced that had I continued riding that day I probable would have run off the road or into someone else and seriously hurt, if not killed myself. My family might get irritated if I am late but what would they feel if I never got home. 2 - "Just because I did it before doesn't mean I can do it today". The conditions were vastly different. The weather was different, my physical and mental condition were different and my pre-ride planning was different. 3 - Make darn sure you are taking care of yourself, both before and during the ride. You are the weakest link here. Get enough rest before the ride, if you can't or don't then plan a rest stop for a nap. Eat properly before and during the ride. Your body and mind need those all important nutrients to operate at their best capability. Hydrate well before the ride and make sure you are properly hydrating during the ride. The wind around your body is removing a lot of fluids from you and you have to assure you are replenishing them or you will get fatigued much quicker if you do not. 4 - Whether the distance is 2500 miles or 500 miles before you throw your leg over that bike take a moment to pre-plan your ride. Think about all the things mentioned above. Just because it is a "short" trip doesn't mean it is not creating a demand on your mind and body. 5- I think this one was the most important lesson. "a plan is just that a plan" and "always be ready to change your plan". A plan is the place from which you start, it is not the end all. If you find yourself not meeting the goals of your plan because your not making the speed you expected or maybe you didn't plan for bad weather and you are trying to get ahead of your plan to beat incoming weather or maybe you are finding out you are more tired than you planned then it is time for a new plan. Think of it this way, if you change the end time for your plan and decide to slow down or stop for that extra meal or find a place to rest for a while you will have actually completed your planned ride because your "new" plan is now your ride plan. The "old" plan is just that the old plan. You didn't fail to meet your "old" plan you just used it to start your "new" plan. Just a few things I learned the hard way. Hope this helps someone else.