RickkciR

Wrote about this the other day; a situation that occurred due to my procrastination .  Few years back I purchased a '47 Chief Indian Motorcycle. I always thought it'd be 'cool' to own an 'original' one but never got serious about it.  But, after meeting Mike and Carolyn Tomas of Kiwi Indian Motorcycles a half decade ago, I started thinking about it again.  Mike not only restores them, but also creates replicas that are downright beautiful and to the average person, you can't tell the difference between new and old.  Those that are up to speed will pick out a few things such as modern disc brakes, etc.  But not only does Mike build the replica, he produces many of the parts such as the motors.  So, when you get one, it's basically a brand new bike!  No headaches of the old days, but all the beni's of new and he's taken it to the next level.  Case in point is starting them.  He produces starters for them, that didn't exist back in the day; a

Finally finished up some work today ..... its 80 and sunny out... so had to do it.  Pulled the Big Dog out, headed to Quinlan to get it inspected by my buddy Rusty , and I'm off to get tags. The custom plates I had expired and I've got to renew them online, but .. f* it... no one ever seemed to notice them anyways, and it's cheaper this way with a new set they are handing me.  About $54 later, I'm back on it and taking the long way home via curvy two laners.  Only put on about 40 miles today, but I'm starting to get the feel for the Big Dog again.   I'm stretched out and comfortable on it, but the turning of it is a learned skill set.  About the time I pull up to the house, I'm feeling really comfortable on it.  I had made a pit stop for some home plumbing parts, which are tucked up under my shirt so its time to call it a day.  But tomorrow .. is looking promising! 2009 Big Dog Motorcycle Ridgeback with 117ci, 330 rear

Over the years, I've come to a realization and embraced.  I'm awful at procrastinating.  Or .. did I mean.. good at it? Point being, I've been this way all my life. Now, ultra important things (ie JOB / WORK!), get done.  But many other things, tend to ... fall by the wayside.  Its one of my dark sides that piss me off about myself... but...  hey .. is what it is For Thanksgiving, we had a few folks over to share the day with.  One of them is a long time buddy of mine, Glenn Prosek whom drives a beautiful '68 Camaro. Seeing how it was forecasted to be a nice day, he mentioned he'd be driving over his car. Well, the problem is ....  Glenn has never seen my car.  Most people haven't .  Why?  Well, we bought it a few years ago and .. I never take it out.  It's a really nice restored black '67 Camaro, but .....  it's been .. parked too long.  I start it up once in awhile, move it around.. but.. I haven't done it justice.  But now, my ego is a

Been riding since '83.  Early on, I didn't formulate an opinion....  but over the years, that opinion has molded  via incidents ... things I've heard..   things I've seen .. things I've experienced. In the early days it was around the HD mindset.  You know... how HD riders felt other brands were a POS.  Now, not all owner/riders felt that way, but that was the common conception.   I saw that mindset . Experienced that mindset from the other side.  Still, I didn't get butt hurt about any of it; I was just aware.  Hell, my take on it all was that my bike was equal or better, and cost a fraction.  Didn't need repairs.  Didn't leak oil.  And, it was a beauty.   Yet....   deep down, I did appreciate custom built bikes  and certain HD models.  And, I remember rolling up on my bike and folks nodding.. smiling...   well, until they realized eventually I was on a Jap bike and .. suddenly .. it all changed.  Still, you have to see the humor in it all.

Saw this pop up on FB a few weeks ago; drag racing out at Texas Motorplex .  A lot of bike runs are happening this time of year, but Jim is down for the count until he gets a clean bill of health on his neck .. so...  opted to head out to Ennis yesterday instead of a Toy Run. Lil Chilly as the sun dropped Guess I should have payed a lil' better attention to the weatherman before I headed out.  It was sunny and breezy, in the upper 60s headed to 70.  I'm pretty warm blooded so shorts, tee shirt .. and I'm off.  My first clue was Jim was in long pants and had a light jacket with him.  My second clue is the JKU was a bitch to drive on the shitty two lane  I took coupled with a crazy wind coming in from the NW.   Still, when we got there, was sunny and .. felt like it was about 72 or so.  By the time we left six hours later, it'd be 59 before I threw in the towel.  Now, in all fairness I only expected to be there several hours.. but...  as the day wore on, the rac

When the 4th Gen Indian Motorcycles came out, they hit the streets with a Torquey 111 cubic inches.  Indian had just one upped HD, and many of the new owners loved it and pointed it out.  HD was using 103's in most everything, with CVO's getting a 110.  But, the 111 had more torque than a $40k CVO and folks were quick to point that fact out. Motor sizes are an interesting one.   Usually, the manufacturers eventually produce a big bore kit that allows folks to get a bump and then sometimes, that motor size finds it's way into the lineup.  HD not too long ago was delivering bikes with  Twin Cams with 88ci, and a big bore kit took that up to 95ci.   Then a 96" came out .. and ..  a 103ci kit was available.   Sure enough , 103ci was a new standard baseline with CVO's getting the 110" bump or .. you could do a big bore kit on the 103s to get them to 110".  Last year, HD shelved the Twin Cam for the new M8 V Twin.  Base size was 107", CVO got a 1

Headed out this past weekend for my  Dad's B'day in AR .... we had a great time together. But as the weekend approached, Do I Ride(?) .. or .. Do I Drive(?)... .. that was the big question.  I kept checking weather multiple times a day during the week ...and finally decided .. it was a 2 wheel weekend!  Temps were forecast to be low; I can handle that.  Lil' Rain was forecast.  I can handle that.  But, I had zero desire to deal with both .. on Day 1 and 2 and 3 all together!  I own a vehicle with 4 wheels for a reason; comfort!  Something about being in a near freezing environment .. that 's also wet outside... makes me opt for 'fair weather rider' title as necessary? . Two years ago I rode into Sturgis unprepared for a temp drop and froze my ass off; almost stopped for the night vs finishing the trip that day.  Last year I rode back from the Hill Country when it was 34 that morning, not quite prepared.  My legs, hands and body tem

Ummm.. we've got a problem _____________________________  As normal, about 0500 hrs I’m up.   Work my way to the coffee maker to kick out a big mug of hot java.   Grab the smart phone off the charger and work my way back to the office.   Sipping my java at the laptop, opening up my email to check my work info.   Nothing.   That’s weird.   Must have been a quiet ten hours since I pulled the plug.   Check my personal email.   Nothing. The server times out.. oh well… so I press on to opening my browser.   Server Timeout.   Open up my Network/Internet Settings on the laptop: “No Internet, Secured”.   Great.   Open a window via “command prompt” .. you know.. that archaic DOS command that still resides in the windows OS .. and reset the IP address via the IPCONFIG command. No Go.    Open up my DSL Router Interface.   No Broadband.   No go with a soft reset.   Okay… more coffee.    Drag my butt over to the DSL Router and a manual reset…    a second reset.   A third.. as i