Venturous Randy

The 20 year old guy in the duelly pickup in Texas that crashed into the church van and killed 13 people and left another critically injured admitted he was texting and was sorry. What an idiot. Randy

Linda and I sure hope you can work it out. Randy

Just figured out why Vogel is full the weekend and first of the week before you scheduled Aug 23-27. On Aug 21, 2017 there will be a solar eclipse and Vogal will be in the viewing area. Take a look at this: https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEgoogle/SEgoogle2001/SE2017Aug21Tgoogle.html Randy

He was another good one that is now gone, but not forgotten. Randy

Google is your friend. Randy http://www.gastateparks.org/Vogel

Let me add a few things to the great write up; I also remove the headlight as it makes it a lot easier to get to connections. Put a plastic wire tie around speedometer cable so it does not drop down thru the hole. On the big connection that plugs into the CMS, after I plug it back up, I use a plastic wire tie wrapped over the frame above it to take the weight off the connection. This can be part of the reason these connections break. Randy

If you need my input, it don't matter as I am retired and will be camping, so no cabin for me. Randy

When planning time on the BRP, it is a good idea to check to see if there are any closures in the area you will be in. Right now the area between Asheville and Mt Mitchell is closed due to a rock slide. It should be open by the end of the month, but this kind of stuff can happen at any time. https://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm I guess I am pretty lucky as I am only about an hour from the BRP and it is a very special place for me, a place I don't think will ever happen again, given the cost for a Federal Park. There is also some neat places to camp on the BRP and a couple of restaurants that I have enjoyed several times. They are a tad pricy, but not much above most places to eat around Asheville. As far as camping, if you are old enough to get the senior card, which is $10 for a lifetime, camping can be as low as $8 a night with hot showers. We like the Mt Pisgah campground in the summer as it is 5,000 feet up and always cool nights. Instead of going to Knoxville for a room, if it is a weekday, prices are very competitive in Pigeon Forge and there are several good places to eat. Randy

If I had been with my now girlfriend, it may have been fun, but with the ex....not so much. Randy

Did you know that pure water does not conduct electricity? Did you know that bottle water has now passed sales numbers of cola type drinks? If someone had told me twenty years ago that I would be buying as much bottled water as I do, I would have told them they were crazy. We take used water bottles and run them thru the dish washer and then use the filtered water(new filter) from the refrigerator and put some in the freezer. When we go somewhere, whether it was on the bike or the Miata, we try to have water with us as I feel we get more dehydrated in the wind. Randy

I remember very clearly 24 years ago when we had the Storm of the Century in 93. We had over two feet of snow and drifts up to 14 feet due to the wind and it started on March, 13th. I was with my ex in Nashville as she was taking a real estate exam and we had struggled to get a room on that Thursday night as her exam was on Friday. We had decided that if she passed that we would try to find a room and at least spend one more night. After dropping her off, I spent the morning bumming around going to pawn shops and watching it snow. It was still too warm to be laying, but the snow flakes were so big that I swear you could hear them hit the ground. When I went back to the exam site, I sat there and watched 13 people in a row come out to where it was graded and all failed one or the other of the two parts. Well, my ex also failed one part. I asked her if she was hungry and she said no so I told her we needed to hit the road. As we were heading east, it was snowing hard, but the traffic was flying. It did not show any laying until we hit the Clinch Mountain range, but the roads were still clear. As we dropped off the mountain going closer to Knoxville, it was not laying again. We made the mistake of not going thru a drive thru to get something to eat, but went in a Chili's Restaurant and it seemed to take forever. When we got back to the car, there was about 5 inches of snow and we had a bad time getting the 100 miles back to Johnson City. We woke up Saturday morning with about a foot and a half of snow and it still snowing and no electricity. There was some roads that had been scraped so I dug out my driveway so I could get my Maxima out and we were able to make it across town where my parents lived as they had a Warm Morning Stove that my dad had installed just for this reason. Before it was over with, we had over two feet of snow. Yep, I still remember it clearly. Randy

You need to think about tongue weights. How much do you have now and what would installing a ramp and then adding 800+ pounds behind the rear axles change things? You do not want negative tongue weight, ever. Randy

Just saying. Randy

I think it is the 4th weekend that is supposed to be rainy. Randy

I hauled my 83 several times on my 4X8 trailer and it worked fine, but I may not have had the hitch on it. The way I tied mine down is up under the fairing there are some bars where the hook on a tie down works great. With the side stand down, I snugged the strap on the left side of the bike and then moved to the other side and as I pulled the strap tight, it pulled the bike upright. I then hooked the side straps to the bars that ran around the side bags and to the sides of my trailer. Once this was all snugged down, I used another strap from a front corner to the front tire and wrapped it around the wheel a couple times and then to the other front corner. This kept the front wheel from twisting sideways from any bumping. I have attached some pictures where we brought my grandson's bike to the house and as you can see, it is strapped down very secure. Randy

Is this the 87 or are you picking up another bike? You did not tell us how old your lady is. Randy

Here is an old thread about who is now my ex and her involvement with raccoons. At one time I counted 21 on our carport and we live in the city limits. She would buy big bags of catfood and cheap cookies and sit there and hand feed them. When we were out and came home in the evenings, many times we had raccoons waiting for us. After we separated, every time I would go out, I was running off raccoons. It took a long time to get rid of them, I say get rid of them, but I still have to bungee cord my trash can lid down.g Randy http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?34854-Got-Raccoons&highlight=racoons

Can I get these pictures back? Thanks, Randy http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?34854-Got-Raccoons&highlight=racoons

Phil is only right less than 40% of the time, so I always want him to see his shadow and predict six more weeks of winter, as has been the case this year. But, for those on the eastern part of the country, the Blizzard of 93 was in March and in east Tennessee, we got over two feet of snow. Randy

Randy

I have had this signature for a long time and now that I am in a Miata, it is not much better. I installed bright LED lights I use as daytime running lights just to be seen a little better. Randy

A rookie police officer pulled a biker over for speeding and had the following exchange: • Officer: May I see your driver's license? • Biker: I don't have one. I had it suspended when I got my 5th DUI. • Officer: May I see the owner's card for this vehicle? • Biker: It's not my bike. I stole it. • Officer: The motorcycle is stolen? • Biker: That's right. But come to think of it, I think I saw the owner's card in the tool bag when I was putting my gun in there. Officer: There's a gun in the tool bag? • Biker: Yes sir. That's where I put it after I shot and killed the dude who owns this bike and stuffed his dope in the saddle bags. • Officer: There's drugs in the saddle bags too?!?!? • Biker: Yes, sir. Hearing this, the rookie immediately called his captain. The biker was quickly surrounded by police, and the captain approached the biker to handle the tense situation: • Captain: Sir, can I see your license? • Biker: Sure. Here it is. It was valid. • Captain: Who's motorcycle is this? • Biker: It's mine, officer. Here's the registration. • Captain: Could you slowly open your tool bag so I can see if there's a gun in it? • Biker: Yes, sir, but there's no gun in it. Sure enough, there was nothing in the tool bag. • Captain: Would you mind opening your saddle bags? I was told you said there's drugs in them. • Biker: No problem. The saddle bags were opened; no drugs. • Captain: I don't understand it. The officer who stopped you said you told him you didn't have a license, stole this motorcycle, had a gun in the tool bag, and that there were drugs in the saddle bags. • Biker: Yeah, I'll bet he told you I was speeding, too. __________________

We kept our great granddaughter twice this past week during the day and it is amazing how much they can change from one week to another. She is now about eight months old and has two bottom teeth and two more coming in. She now crawls about 90mph and stands a lot, as long as she can touch something. The best thing is she is a happy baby. It is rare that she is whiny and is always smiling. Randy

It seems like every time we have some warm weather this time of the year, we have a local biker killed, either from someone pulling out in front of them, or loosing control. We are going to be in the 70's here Monday and warm for the week and it seems like every time this happens, we have a local biker hurt or killed. Sometimes it is from new riders on bikes purchased during the winter, or people just not accustomed for seeing motorcycles out on the road. Either way, let's be careful out there. Randy

My 83 will click for a few seconds when I turn the key on and I will then flip the kill switch off and on and it will again click for a few seconds. If I will keep repeating this, mine will start to click less and less until it stops. So, if what you say is correct and I understand it right, my 83 works like an 84 and up. Randy