KIC

I was driving down the road today and had to flip a u-turn and follow this rig until he pulled in to a auto store. It is a Boss Hoss with a Chevy 350. The side car is how you ride?/drive? this rig. The driver/rider was the builder. He built it for a paraplegic friend. Took him 2 years. It is all custom made and he said only two exist since he has built one other with a Honda. A friend skinned it with the fiberglass. You actually drive/ride from the side car with all controls in the custom sidecar. The passenger rides on the bike. He had incredible suspension, disc brakes, shifting etc. He said he can disconnect the sidecar with 4 bolts ( they were big bolts) and all the bikes controls can be moved back t the bike. The bike only had 550+ miles on it. Unfortunately his friend passed away and the "rig" has been sitting. He decided to get it back on the road. The wheel chair ramp is electric. Just thought I would pass it on:

Our Blessed CHRISTmas: My special CHRISTmas was in 2009. My daughter was deployed in Afghanistan as a Military Police Officer with her Airborne Unit out of Ft Bragg NC. Deployed in May of 2009, she was stationed at a Combat Out Post with her squad. Her mid tour leave was to be in November of 09. We knew that during the time she was there she was in several fire fights with the Taliban. On the morning of October 30, 2009, we spoke to our daughter on the phone. There was an 11 ½ hour variance in the time zones so it was already her night. She wasn’t feeling well but was supposed to go on a mission but was given the evening off by her Sergeant and she was going to bed. Anytime when we knew she was safe for the night, we could have a better day. At 10:30AM while driving to complete some interviews at the State Law Enforcement Training Academy, I received a phone call from a number similar to, but not my daughter’s phone. When I answered it, it was the call in every parent’s nightmare. All I heard was loud noises and yelling in the background when my daughter’s voice came on and said “ Daddy…they blew us up daddy…they blew us up.” I kept asking her if she was alright or if she was hurt. She finally answered with “ It really hurts Daddy.. they blew us up” I asked her where she was and where they were taking her. She said she had to go… I asked again several times …”where are they taking you ? “ as I knew that if she said Germany, it was very serious. Her response sounded like “ “Kosovo” I blurted out that we didn’t have bases in Kosovo..and again asked her where she was going. She answered with “I have to go Daddy..I have to go.. I love you…” Then the line went dead. I sat at the side of the road stunned. I had to call my wife at her work and tell her. That didn’t go well either. I had to go finish with my scheduled interviews of some of the instructors at the academy, then raced home. I spent hours on the phone Googling every Army base name that even remotely sounded like “Kosovo” . I called a friend who is an Army recruiter in Washington State and had him working with me on locating a number at Ft. Bragg that I could call. During this time my wife’s cell phone rings with a Ft. Bragg area code. When she answered it, a Lt. Colonel asked if we had talked to our daughter “today”. My wife handed me the phone and he asked me the same question. Not knowing if she was supposed to have called us I refused to answer and then, not using the nicest language I told the Lt. Colonel he “better f-ing quit playing word games and asking questions and tell me what was going on” He explained that my daughter and 3 other soldiers hit an IED in their MRAP while on a mission. All four survived, but 2 were seriously injured. My daughter was one of the two, but he didn’t know to what degree her injuries were. We then lived through the longest 48 hours of our life… waiting for the phone to ring with information. I kept looking outside praying that a white sedan would not pull up to the front of the house. When my daughter called she was in the hospital in Kabul. She laughed and said that she was wearing “civies” for the first time in 6 months. They had cut her BDU’s off her at the site before airlifting her to the hospital, and the nurses there had found some sweats and a T-shirt for her to wear. She had a Traumatic Brain Injury and back injuries from the 220lb gunner falling on top of her when the MRAP went over. Found out that she was knocked unconscious and they originally thought she was dead. When she first came through she had no feeling or use of her legs. After they dragged her out of the MRAP, her legs came back and from what her fellow soldiers told me, she “sprang”’ into action with the other soldiers on setting the perimeter and securing the arms and “stuff” in the MRAP before collapsing again. EOD said that their IED was approximately 200 lbs of explosives, and that most IED’s were 50 - 60 lbs. If they hadn’t swerved at the last minute and had taken the full impact of the explosion, nobody would have survived. The explosion was so big, instead of flipping the MRAP over, it lifted it up and sucked it back into the crater. Anyway, about CHRISTmas, she was able to come home on December 27th, 2009. When she walked down the walk way at the airport, the applause from family and friends made everybody else in the area stop and look to see what was going on. We held CHRISTmas over two days and celebrated it like we never had before. She was still recovering from her injuries, but we asked her what she wanted to do. She said she wanted to go to Disneyland. The next day we were there. She really enjoyed the fun and “fantasy” even though she had been there before. It was just a chance to forget about where she had been. That was until on a ride at California Adventure, where it was one of those 3-D rides. You know when you are inside but it feels like you are flying around the Grand Canyon and Vegas etc. Well at one point the Blue Angels jets fly close over head from behind. The sound of jets whining so close and so unexpected, well had a scary effect on her. She was visibly shaken as we left the ride. Only to walk outside as the fireworks were started and the explosions vibrated and echoed from above. Again, the timing was unexpected as she reactively dropped to the ground behind a pillar. Her reaction stunned me, only to make me realize what my little Princess had been through. Still suffering from headaches and related dizziness, we called it a night. The next day we drove her to her favorite of all places…the beach. She sat in the sand, walked in the surf, drew pictures of hearts and wrote her name in the sand. Had to make an unexpected stop at SeaWorld too. Those two weeks went by so fast. The night before she was to board a plane to return to Afghanistan we had a family dinner at a local restaurant . After dinner she left to drive my father ( her grandfather) home. Minutes later she called crying hysterically. She kept saying “she’s dead daddy, she’s dead” . After calming her down I found out that she had received a call that her battle buddy Kayla, whom she had gone through boot camp, Military Police School, and was stationed at Ft Bragg and deployed together, had been killed in an IED hit on their MRAP. We did find out the next day just as we were taking her to the airport, that Kayla had actually survived, but was very seriously injured. Two of the other soldiers from their unit in the MRAP, were killed. I can tell you that it was another VERY long 6 months until my Princess came home. That little trooper finished her deployment then succumbed to the on going injuries in which she is still recovering. But that my friends, was the best CHRISTmas ever, having my family together and knowing how close it came to not happening.

Here are the pictures of my 89. I took this Markland off of my 87. I was able to keep my mudflap by drilling a few holes and mounting under the hitch.

Even 2nd Gen contests are slooooowww to take off....just saying....

My bad. I usually check things out before passing them on, which is why I put the link to the article that was posted on another site. The article website looked real and authentic. I wish it was true though... P - People E - Eating T - Tasty A - Animals

WARNING: Do not read while drinking beverages !! PETA Crashes Biker Gathering… Not to be missed… Posted on August 29, 2012 Try to read this without laughing out loud… H/T Mike Hoy What a wonderful coming together of two diverse groups! We need more gatherings where the idiot activists are given warm, moist, aromatic welcomes like this one. This is why PETA usually protests women wearing fur rather than bikers wearing leather. Sounds to me like the old saying, “you mess with the bull, and you get the horns”. Gee, I guess these characters thought that Bikers where going to be politically correct like the rest of the wimpy world. HERE’S HOW POLICE FOUND ONE OF THEM. file:///C:\Users\KICMAI~1\AppData\Local\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image001.jpg Johnstown, PA (GlossyNews) – Local and state police scoured the hills outside rural Johnstown, Pennsylvania, after reports of three animal rights activists going missing after attempting to protest the wearing of leather at a large motorcycle gang rally this weekend. Two others, previously reported missing, were discovered by fast food workers “duct taped inside fast food restaurant dumpsters,” according to police officials. “Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly, wrong.”The organizer said a group of concerned animal rights activists, “growing tired of throwing fake blood and shouting profanities at older women wearing leather or fur coats,” decided to protest the annual motorcycle club event “in a hope to show them our outrage at their wanton use of leather in their clothing and motor bike seats.” “In fact,” said the organizer, “motorcycle gangs are one of the biggest abusers of wearing leather, and we decided it was high time that we let them know that we disagree with them using it, ergo, they should stop.” According to witnesses, protesters arrived at the event in a vintage 1960′s era Volkswagen van and began to pelt the gang members with balloons filled with red colored water, simulating blood, and shouting “you’re murderers” to passersby. This, evidently, is when the brouhaha began. “They peed on me!!!” charged one activist. “They grabbed me, said I looked like I was French, started calling me ‘La Trene’ and duct taped me to a tree so they could pee on me all day!” Still others claimed they were forced to eat hamburgers and hot dogs under duress. Those who resisted were allegedly held down while several bikers “farted on their heads.” Police officials declined comments on any leads or arrests due to the ongoing nature of the investigation; however, organizers for the motorcycle club rally expressed “surprise” at the allegations. “That’s preposterous,”said one high-ranking member of the biker organizing committee. “We were having a party, and these people showed up and were very rude to us. They threw things at us, called us names, and tried to ruin the entire event. So, what did we do? We invited them to the party! What could be more friendly than that? You know, just because we are all members of motorcycle clubs does not mean we do not care about inclusiveness. Personally, I think it shows a lack of character for them to be saying such nasty things about us after we bent over backwards to make them feel welcome.” When confronted with the allegations of force-feeding the activist’s meat, using them as ad hoc latrines, leaving them incapacitated in fast food restaurant dumpsters, and ‘farting on their heads,’ the organizer declined to comment in detail. “That’s just our secret hand shake,” assured the organizer. “Something just went wrong,” said a still visibly shaken organizer of the protest. “Something just went horribly, horribly, wrong.” Yes, it did. What went wrong is that, at some point in your life, you became horribly, horribly stupid. Link to article below: http://rightlinksblog.com/2012/08/29/peta-crashes-biker-gathering-not-to-be-missed/

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I object !!!! The last contest was for a 2nd Gen windshield ( which I haven't seen the ride report(s) on)... I think it's time for the 1st Gens to demand unequal justice. I know we are faster and better looking ( the bikes too) .. but we like free fancy stuff like everybody else !

I think all are good ideas and advice. It might be easier to figure out if there was more information as to what " not starting " entails...

Just a guess..but would a fuel pump going out, be affected by the ambient (cold) outside temperature ? Have you tried using starter fluid ? That could tell if it is a fuel delivery/choke problem.

It's Baaaack.. I have put off repairing the leak since last year. It hasn't been around. We have had such nice weather, it hasn't been cold enough to start leaking...until last night. Rode her all day yesterday.. 85ish...clear skies.. beautiful ride/day. This morning walked out to the garage...and puddle... So... guess it's time to finally fix it.

But then they come back from the dead and get revenge....

Hey... it was 85 with clear skies here to day... so let's keep the cold stuff back there where it belongs..

I think I read in a scientific journal that SNOW was nature's way of making enough natural flavored ice cream for Big Tom...

NEVER MIND... I just realized yours is a 96 ..not an 86... read the year wrong... I just rebuilt my slave cylinder a week ago. It is working fine, but I agree with the others, that since you are so far out in the middle of nowhere, do it once with a new one. The removal can be a real Pain In The Outback, re-installation goes much, much faster. I also got several months of life out of mine by bleeding it and changing the fluid, but I think that is the first sign that your slave is going. Mine eventually started to leak worse and at first I didn't have any drips, but lost fluid from the master. I have attached a copy of the clutch diagram and a "how to" I used on my 89. I know this one says 83-85, but it is the same. The only information I can add is that you have to beat the wire/line holder on the left side way down ( after removing wires) to get the slave cylinder out. This will make sense when you are looking at it and cursing the Yamaha engineer that put it there. Good luck and have fun. It's not a job.... it's an adventure....

He just started a restoration on a 1973 Mudlark ..

Got a new picture of my friend's Penton collection..

Leave it to the "other type" to condense 7 posts down to the basics...

We are having great weather down here. Hitting 80 today.. going into the freezing high 70's tomorrow...

No..that was straight from my phone. Had to upload it to Picasa to post here. But no touching the picture. We have great sunsets here ! :happy65:

I used my Harbor Freight jack but then had a couple of bricks with a board across under the front portion of the engine. to give more stabilization. I also had a friend handy to help so I could balance the bike and put the bricks and board under it. That is a heavy puppy, I don't recommend doing it alone.

Got to ride again today...the end result ....

Sorry about the loss of sleep and the stress associated with my problem. I will try to be more accurate in the future, and less over reactive with my fluid losses..

First of all guys, I want to THANK YOU for all the input and diagrams. But, it looks like I jumped the gun on the leak. When I fixed the bike, it was on the center stand. After a test ride late Friday night after I re-installed the slave cylinder and parked it on the side stand. Saturday I saw a leak on the floor and thought it was still leaking. I checked the level Sunday and everything was alright and I took it for a 30 mile ride through town. After parking it Sunday night, I placed a white clean paper towel under it. No drips on Monday morning. Rode it 30+ miles today and just checked, no leaks or drips. I think it was all the residual oil from the side cover removal and some clutch fluid from disconnecting the line that dripped once it was on the side stand. It is clean and drip-less now!