RickkciR

Historically, I've always waited until the last moment.   It seems like the day before I leave, I'm washing the bike, packing my bags, getting the jackets and rain gear out.   I swear, whether its the Ozarks, Sturgis, MN, you name it... I wait until the last day.  Hell, we did Durango last month and there I was the night before changing the oil and washing the bike.   Nuts! Not this year.  This weekend, I'll begin the preparations.  I'll get it washed, check the tire pressures and tires themselves ( now there's a thought!), and ....  park it.  Off in the corner with a battery tender on it.   And then, begin the packing process.  Leather jacket, rain gear, various misc tools.   Get the GPS mounted and put in some way points. Print the maps and get them in the map pouch , in place.  All pretty obvious, but when you do all this the day before, one ALWAYS forgets something.  Always.  Not this ti...

I'd planned on attending California Superbike School, this past February out in Vegas , but I had a back injury and had to postpone.   Good news is, I've got a business trip later this year that ties into one of the many weekends they have around the country at various tracks.   I got lucky and they parked my funds, even though I was within the forfeiture window.  I've got the date locked in and all registered.  Hell, I even save on the airfare this time around, so technically I'm making money.  Okay , not really but it sounded good. Have to admit, as it got closer and closer in late January, I suddenly found myself getting pretty nervous.  I didn't expect that.  Guessing I really need to put some more miles on the Ninja this year to get my self confidence up.   I meet all the requirements for the course, yet......... you know you'll be pushing the edge. Few months to go!

I've been on Internet Forums for .. what seems like decades.   You pick the subject, and they exist.   I think the first ones I ever got on were back in the early '90s. My first exposure was via Bulletin Boards , dialing up with a modem. Damned that was awhile back. I remember the 2400 baud rate standard ones, then the big upgrade was the 14400 ones.. and then.... the screaming 28k ones.   After that, you were in ADSL territory.. screaming fast!   Whoops, back on track.  Well, back then I had thin skin, and figured out quickly what true Keyboard Warriors were. My first opponent? I still remember fantasizing about ripping the first lil bastard through the screen and explaining life to him.  Boggled my mind that someone would act that way, and not know who the person on the other end was.  But, that's the beauty of the 'net.  They hide there.  But, I digress.. Forums. At least on a forum, they subcategory to some degree.  ...

This damned thing has taken on a life of it's own.   It started out as a few of us deciding to do a week of riding, instead of attending a dealer event in there  in the Twin Cities, as I have the previous five years.   In our situation, people had time off, plans had been made, but we'd decided not to attend due to personal reasons. Game on!  But, then the dealer claimed we were part of another bike week event, posting it out there which created a hoopla' with folks reaching out to us asking about it. My answer was "what other bike week?" Told them I hoped to get a chance to see them in August and pressed on. However, after an event last month in Colorado, over some cold ones, we decided to take it to the next level from the original concept; original concept being just a few guys riding Indians! The local Iron Indian Riders Association (IIRA) Chapter is going to put together a week of rides, an overnight trip, some great dinners; basically an old schoo...

Not sure when it began........ I used to love the Sunday comics.  Lived for that morning, laughing at most of them.  Had a lot of favorites.   Can't remember when I stopped reading them.  At some point in my 40s...... I used to feel like I'd live forever.  I was 100% carefree.  Then, I lost my older sis.  My mom.  A few friends.   When I had my 50th birthday, I 'knew' i was past the 1/2 point in life.   Sobering experience that b'day was ....... I've watched 'friendships' go by the way side the last several years.   Some were mere acquaintances, some a lil more.  One was a good friend whom lives near me; we are still cordial.  My give a shit factor has changed over time, and I put up with less, overlook less.  Question more.   Cherish the real, true, friendships..... I 'bark' more.  I love great service, and outwardly reward it.  I hate bad service, and brutally honest about it.  I don't ha...

Iron Butt .. a phrase thrown around in the motorcycle community loosely. I've done it myself.  Heard the term for years.  But , what does it "really mean?" Well, for most of us, Iron Butt refers to simply knocking out a 1000 mile trip within 24 hours (not everyone understands the time frame restriction).  Until the last year or so, I thought that was all it was about.  I knew their was an organization out there ( IBA ).  I know you could get a patch.  But to be honest, I thought ... that was it.  I never gave it much thought, never thought it was that big of a deal.  I mean I'd done a bunch of 300+ mile days.   I'd done a few 400+ mile days back in the 80's on my Kawi' LTD1000.   And coming back from Sturgis back in '11 and 13, I'd done a a pair of 600 mile days.    I remember thinking "who in their right mind would intentionally do a 1000 mile day??"    I had zero desire to do so.  I still believe the 'perf...

 Sounds good, but this is about anything but that!   Several days ago a buddy of mine wrote on social media “True friends don't make friends choose friends.”   I chimed in with some sarcasm and others joined in.   I’m not sure anyone really knew what the others were discussing or what the original poster was getting at.   I busted his balls privately and he told me … “ Just a random thought for the day.”    He may have had a random thought, but it sure got a few fired up and …. Got me to thinking.  The next day another buddy posts on his Social media outlet: “I read this before, and I have thought about it for a while. If you make me choose my friends, you will probably lose me as yours. Just saying!”     Followed by another friend on theirs: “To echo what a couple others have said.... If you make me choose my friends, you will probably lose me as yours. If I never listened to Momma (sorry Ma!), I'm pretty damned sure I'm not...