Feeling zen-ish!

So for a while now, I have been trying to ride with a guy who established a group once-upon-a-time called Country Roads Riding Club, but since the word "Club" has such a negative connotation in our PC world, he was coerced into changing it to Country Roads Riding Group (CRGR). Dan, who started this "club" (it's what I still call it, because I don't have to please ANYone), is an awesome dude!

I have always enjoyed his company. A real salt-of-the-Earth, pleasant guy to be around! The members or riders of the club have always been pleasant company as well. While it is not my typical pace, the ride with the CRGR has always been good times.

However, for waaaayyy too long, our schedules have not meshed to allow me to tag along on their rides. Well, today, was a different day. Or so I thought as I headed out to the bike shed this AM with my newly charged battery for the big sabre. It's not a new battery, just that I knew it was dead from the last time I tried it early February.

So I set it on charge ALL day yesterday to be sure it would be fresh in the morning. Grabbed it off the charger, took it to the bike shed, hooked it up, and attempted to fire it off. I got three full starter revolutions and it got weak. DAMMIT! I replaced this sealed gel battery a year and a half ago! GRRR!

Okay, I can dick around with it, or just try out the KLR  okay so I try the Kawi, and it fires right up like a good bike should.

It's not that I woke up late, as much as I ASS-u-MEd the Sabre would start up. I mean it's a gel-battery and ONLY a year and a half old. So much for assumptions (again -- ONE of these days, maybe I'll learn).

So anyway, I jump on the KLR (well not ... jump ... but you get the idea). I get to the nearest gas station and top off. Their card reader at the pump ... doesn't. *SIGH* I go in, hand over my card, go out, pump gas, back in and sign, back out on the bike. According to their clock I will be 10 minutes late to the rendezvous point. Not a big deal for anyone who knows me, but I haven't rode with Dan in waaayy too long and haven't confirmed I was going to make it.

Sooo I haul ass on the interstate to try to make up some time. Doggone it the cops are out! I saw 4 on the way to Knox-vegas! FOUR! some busy, some rolling. None were interested in me and that just broke my heart (NOT).

I got to the meeting point with 5 minutes to spare. WHEW! I had no plan "B" in place. I would've figured it out, but I wanted to see Dan, and whomever was riding along this day for that matter.

It was funny. I haven't seen this man in nearly 4 years, yet, as I pulled in, I seen that grin on his face as he said, "whatcha riding young man?" He KNEW who I was -- through the full-faced helmet and full gear! Cracked me up.

After a few introductions (there were two other bikes and three others I hadn't previously met (including his wife)). After introductions and a brief bit of conversation we were off. The riding with this group, while good, is not near as good as the company. Don't take it that the riding is bad, because I live in east Tennessee -- there aren't many BAD roads to be found! It's just that the company is that good.

here is the route I took (with and without the group) .....  

http://g.co/maps/w9q8t

So we head down US11 southbound which is a nice, enjoyably sedate ride through the countryside. Nothing less than I would expect from a Dan-led ride!  ;) I have been here before (as with most of the ride), but it is nice to see a rural side of "metro"-Knoxville. The scenery yielded green grasses and rolling hills with slight curves to keep your attention on the road, should it be absolved by surrounding scenery.

We arrived at one of the proposed destinations, a museum designated to the Swift Airplane Museum at the McMinn County Airport in TN. link here ....

http://www.swiftmuseumfoundation.org/

There are a half dozen airplanes on display and many artifacts between the hangar that is stocked with fully restored and functional  (albeit customized) Swift airplanes that date pre-war (barely) to the evolution that happened post-war.

Here are a few snapshots of some of them ....

The red one is the very first Swift built. It has a wood frame and has fabric stretched over the wood. I can imagine what a rough ride this thing must be. It is all original too.


Here are a few shots of some different cockpits. You can see the customization that has occurred. Apparently there are a ton of aftermarket goodies that can be bolted right on these planes.

During WW II these were used as fighters and after the war the military still used them as trainers. At some point Saudi Arabia purchased about 10 of these planes and eventually they were left in the desert. Some Swift enthusiast found them and made arrangements with the government to get back whatever they could salvage. This is one of those planes ....

There is the wing-mounted machine gun. The hinged lid on the left was where the bullets were loaded. Another cockpit view to the left. Slightly more involved than the civilian models were.

After learning about the Swift planes heritage, we mounted back up and headed on to lunch at a little place called Michael's in Etowah. It was lunch time so it was a bit busy, but that just gave us all more face time. As much as I love riding, sometimes it is good to just sit down and visit and we all had a great lunch. Good food with good people ... it doesn't get much better than that!

After lunch is where I consider the ride to have really started. We headed towards Reliance, TN along TN-30  which borders the windy Hiawasee River. It was a great twisty little road. It winds and wends its way across the scenic countryside. We ran a very sedate pace, but it seemed to be perfect for that road. Not that it was technically demanding, but more that it allowed you to take in more of the scenery.

From there we hit TN-315. I hadn't ever been on that before. One of the riders had split off here and the pace seemed to pick up a bit and that suited me fine. I need to make a point to hit that again. That was fun. 

When we got to Tellico Plains, I split off from the remaining two bikes and intended to visit Mrs. Lori if she happened to be at Hunt's Campground and Lodge. If she wasn't I was going to hit the Cherahola Skyway (LOVE that road), then the Dragon, Foothills Parkway, Little River Road, then 321 back into Newport. Not a bad route -- AT ALL!

Unfortunately, Lori wasn't there and Jack is working third shift, so I didn't stop by their house to visit as I didn't wish to interfere with his sleep. So that means on with the rest of the ride -- what a bummer eh?  ;)

Since I had the KLR I was hoping to scout some trails that may be along the Skyway, but each time I saw one it was gated off. Hopefully they aren't closed for good, just for winter. 

You can't give us off-roaders enough rope, we may hang our fool selves, I guess. Big brother sure is watching out for us! Yeesh!

I tried to enjoy the Skyway, but that poor little single cylinder was near red line at 85 mph and I didn't want to blow up the bike so took a calmer approach to the Skyway than I ever have. 

Then, I shot up through Santeelah Road over to 129. I stopped to try and capture a shot of the Santeelah dam in full discharge but this was all I could muster. Not the best of pics, but oh well. 

Then it was onto 129. I have done the Dragon many, many times. It is a fun road when not crowded. I have hit it quite a few times when it isn't. 

Even then, I usually come across someone that slows me down, at least briefly. Today, NO one was on it. 

The first few turns I was unable to find the torque range and finally figured it was going to be "work" to go fast through this. By work I mean I wouldn't be able to leave it in a single gear and run but constantly switch back and forth between first and second. If I didn't it would lug out of some of the turns sounding like a Singer sewing machine.

However, it wasn't as laborious as I had expected. I got into a groove with that bike shifting when I should, braking when I should, not braking when I shouldn't. ALL these things that i HAVEN'T been doing lately were clicking all of a sudden.

I have gone through the Dragon *faster* before but not sure I ever had as much fun as when I was on that KLR. WOW! That was a hoot! there's an old saying about how much fun it is making a slow bike go fast ... it's true I tell ya!

And I needed that. I have been so full of self-doubt because I haven't been able to attack corners like I used to for a long time. Tim Schwab told me a couple months ago it sounded to him as if I didn't have confidence in that big Sabre. I think he is onto something! That is where the doubting began and aside from one run on that bike I never have felt comfortable attacking the turns. Not sure why, the old Magna never affected me like this. 

Meh! whatever! THIS was what I needed. It was quite therapeutic for me. I now know I haven't lost or forgotten how to ride. I just lost some confidence, until today! Yay me!  ;)

Hit the Foothills next and a guy on a Harley had pulled out in front of me just before I got there. That was fine I was happy with where I was and ready to just cool my heels and cruise along behind him. However, he acted like it was a race or something.

I noticed him pushing a bit and in one right hander, I saw his eyes in his mirror watching *me* instead of the road. His bike then drifted a bit to the left and that big ass rear tire of his hit the yellow paint and the bike wiggled a bit. 

It scared him, but he collected it, and then shook his head at his own stupidity. After that, this idiot starts forcibly wiggling the bike. My guess was that he must've thought he had a flat and was trying to see if he could get it to lose traction again.

He had a helmet strapped onto his sissy bar and each time he would wiggle around that thing would move. It was quite unnerving. Finally I had enough and blew past him. I didn't want to hit this idiot's helmet when it come off. I pointed to my helmet and then to the seat behind me as I passed him, but he didn't seem to get it. Oh well, not my problem. Things in the rear view mirror get progressively smaller.   ; )

A few more spirited turns landed me on US 321. From there I was going to take Little River Road (TN-73). I have done this one many times as well, but always get caught up in a slow moving traffic jam as it is always seems to be crowded. 

It's a shame too, because that is a fun little road. Today, though Lady Luck was with me. Not only did I get an uninhibted run of the Dragon, but also had a mostly traffic-free go at Little River Road. Sweet! More 1st and 2nd gear shifting, heart-pumping fun ensued.

I got home with a little over 300 blissful miles logged, 11 hours of daylit seat time, a new-found love for that little KLR, and a renewed sense of confidence. It was great to see Dan again, and meet his lovely wife, Janet, as well as Lynn and Keith -- the other two riders. 

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day. I finished it off a great day with a few Kashmir IPAs. 

It was an epic day because a little later in the evening I found that I won the auction I had been bidding on. The Sabre's replacement ...

an 07 Suzuki Bandit 1250 w/ ABS. I have wanted one of these since they come out. I am not much for new bikes, but these appealed to me when they were first released. Now, well soon, there will be one in my garage. I could not script a better day (well maybe if some of those trails would have been open) but it was a zen day outside of that.

sometimes it turns out that way

I have been able to spend a lot more time in the garage lately. After building the bar, I had room to work on the Bandit that has been parked in the garage and has been worked on at various points throughout the winter. Most of the work done so far was basically cleaning up the carburetors.

That didn't take but a day and a half or so, but when I went to re-install them I hit a wall. I had been totally fighting trying to get the throttle cables installed. Earlier last week a buddy showed up and he is a better wrench than I, and I asked him if he wouldn't mind seeing if he could slip the cables into place.

He fiddled with it for less than a minute and then snaked the carbs up *through* the frame. All along I been trying to put them in with the carbs IN the bike rather than ON it. Within 5 minutes he had the cables on. I have been working at this for many HOURS by now ... literally ... and got nowhere.

FIVE MINUTES ... VOILA! It was unbelievable. I was glad they were now in place, but disheartened that it NEVER occurred to me to bring the carbs up on top of the bike where it would be easier to work on.

Anyway, so I finally got back into bike mode and got the carbs on and the vacuum lines routed properly (it had been so long I had forgotten where they all went. I actually had to consult with a friend of mine who owns the same bike to verify where two hoses went). Filled the tank with some fuel and tried to get her running.

After about 10 minutes of trying, it fired up. It runs rough, but I was floating on a cloud. It's been at least 3 years since I last heard it run. Exhaust can had vibrated loose, so it was LOUD. However, it was waaayy too hot to mess with at the time.

So I got back out there the other night and was going to re-secure the can. Nope! the pipe itself has rusted in half and where it is I don't believe a weld will hold it as it is right at the joint of the can and pipe.

Oh well. So I turned my attention to a tap handle I had turned a while back and just needed to drill the hole for the threaded insert and apply a finish to it.

Well I managed to botch that. I made the hole a bit too big for the insert. DAMMIT!

I started scrounging through some bins of odds and ends looking for a "spacer" so that I may still use it for a tap handle. Luckily, a spare spark plug boot was just about the right diameter to take up the gap. I glued it in place,  slathered some glue on the insert and put it in the boot. It is not centered right, but it does work.

After that I picked up a scrap piece of black walnut I had lying around. It is very green wood as it has only been cut for about a week now. The guy who brings us firewood told me that he had just cut down a black walnut tree that he had no use for and knowing that I like to turn, asked if I wanted any of it. I figured he meant a few sticks, but no, I netted a whole truckload of it.

Sweet! Black walnut is such beautiful wood. I have been itching to turn something out of it.

I had tried to turn a goblet out of it the other night, but it has already started cracking. So back to the scrap piece (which was an end of the goblet that cracked on me). I chucked it into the lathe and began roughing the piece. This is what I wound up with ...



I never turned a mushroom before and I think the dark color of the black walnut is a perfect candidate for my first one.

I know it hasn't finished drying ... by any stretch, but figured I would go ahead and sand it down and slap a finish on it. If it cracks, it would have anyway, so why not?

Ed's BruHaus is officially open ....

I got to spend most of last week out in the garage since Melissa didn't have the gas money to make it over to Knoxville. Luckily, early in the week Dad and I had *finally* gotten over to Lowe's -- we've been talking about getting materials for me to build a bar "forever".

So now I had the materials, had the plans, and ... the time! Friggin' weather though. Yes, I was out in the garage but with three days of temperatures in the low 30s as a high, the stain took much longer to dry. I planned on doing a two-tone type setup with some dark (colored) wood as the base and a lighter color to edge it with.

Two coats of stain and three coats of shellac on the baseboard took 3 days to prep. I also was using liquid nails to hold the laminate on the bar top and shelf tops which also took a couple days. This friggin' bar is only 4' long but yet it will take the better part of a week to construct. Yeesh!

So after the front, sides, top, and shelves were "ready", I could finally start putting it all together. However, the laminate didn't really adhere as consistently as it should have and there are air pockets.

I am unsure if that was partly due to the weather or maybe that I didn't put enough weight on the full surface to keep the surface of the wood in touch with the surface of the laminate and allow the adhesive to do its job. However, there was little that could be done about it now.

I trimmed the excess laminate off, and did so somewhat haphazardly. Had I been thinking, I would've minimized the waste. Hindsight is 20-20 though.

After the laminate was cut I could start securing the shelves and bartop. This went pretty smoothly. Then it was time to cut the edge boards. I decided I wanted to utilize some of the tools to make it look better than just slapping butt joints together, so I used the router to cut a profile on the inside edge of the boards and mitered the corners to give it a better 'look".

The mitering came out pretty well. I was pretty impressed since I have never really tried doing that before. All the pieces came out really close, so I was pretty happy with that.

However, the routing didn't go as smoothly. I'm not sure if the router wasn't powerful enough, the boards were too hardwood for it or the bit, or maybe it was just  a "cheap" bit. I cut a 5/8" ogee profile and had to fight each board through the router as it would constantly bog down.

Well, all but the first piece anyway. I learned to turn that variable speed down after the router ripped the first board out of my hands and slung it across the shop. Luckily, I didn't get hurt and the piece was still usable, but  it was interesting for a second there. I swear when that board took off it looked like a scene out of "Home Improvement".    ; )

So now with my speed adjusted down where it's not wanting to rip the piece out of my hands, it keeps trying to bog down. There was no happy medium. So I slowly fed the pieces in and I swear my hands were tingling from vibration by the time I finished with the longer pieces.

I finally got all the edging pieces cut and routed, nailed in place, stained, and applied two coats of polyurethane. Luckily, the cold spell had moved on and by now it is in the 60s so it didn't take near as long for these to dry and cure.

Well again if I had thought about it, I could have used the laminate on the serving side of the bar. Originally I was thinking I would just tack a sheet over it so that I could keep my beer that I am storing protected from light, but when I started noticing some of the pieces of laminate that I would just be throwing away, it hit me (now that they are cut up in "too small" pieces) that I could use that on the serving side.

Belly up to the bar ...

Cheers!

Good friends = good times!

So I went out Friday evening and tried to start the Sabre. I wanted to make sure the battery was charged and if it wasn't that I would have time to charge it up before leaving Saturday morning.

Hit the key and it turned and turned and sloowwlllyyyy started exhibiting less energy. Okay, I half-expected it as it has been nearly a month since I last run it.

I pulled the battery and put it on charge then poked around in the garage for a while. Since it wasn't totally dead to start with, it didn't take long for the charger to indicate it had a full charge. I shut the charger off and figured on installing it in the bike in the morning prior to departure.

I had been up late that night talking on the phone. First to my Mom, whom I hadn't spoke with in way too long, then to a good friend which I also hadn't spoke with for a while. When the alarm went off, I grunted at it and rolled back over. I got up about a half hour later and started getting ready to go out the door.

I got the battery installed, loaded up the side bags with some homebrews I was delivering, wheeled the bike out of the bike shed, and hit start only to hear a weak battery. DAMMIT! either my battery is that dead or the battery charger is indicating it has full charge when it could use a bit more.

Ah well, I rolled it back into the shed and pulled the KLR out and put the beer in the KLR bags instead. The KLR started right up, but it had been run a couple weeks ago and has no clock to put a drain on the battery.

I geared up and swung my leg over. A quick stop to fill up for gas and I would soon be on my way. Or so I thought.

I had to unzip my suit to get into my pocket to get the CC out. When I went to zip it back up, it grabbed a piece of fabric and got stuck. I went inside and borrowed a pair of pliers and futzed with it for about 20 minutes before finally freeing the zipper. Zipped up, mounted up and hit the slab.

The ride over was rather uneventful. It was raining, but not hard and not causing visibility nor traction problems -- just a steady, nagging rain. I arrived at Mo's with no issues and MaryAnn informed me that everyone was already down in the mancave hard at work.

I went down to join the fun and slowly made my rounds to say hello to everyone. There were 6 bikes being worked on and another that had been "fixed" the previous day. Linda was getting fork seals done on her big Magna; Mo was getting a light installed on his VFR; Big John was doing a few different tasks on his 'Wing; Ron and Jill were also doing a fork seal job on their big Sabre; CMac was getting a long-time oil leak fixed on his baby Sabre; and Rich was installing a carbon-fiber exhaust and fixing a fork bolt on his SV650.

I bounced around and hung out and pretended to help as was needed. Of course, with me manning a wrench, not really sure that can be construed as help.  ; )  

The day passed by rather quickly and all the bikes got done what was needed with varying problems that arose, but none weren't conquered except for Rick's cafe'd Yamaha -- which turned out to be a part that may or may not be available to find.

Once Christopher's bike was done, he was planning to take it home. I asked if I could come along, so I could say hello to his wife and then pick up some beer  (for me). He had no problem with that.

He told me when he was getting ready and I went upstairs to gear up and hop on the bike. As I was zipping the suit up, once again, I found I had zipper problems. Somehow the zipper jumped a track or something and there is now a gap between the two that would extend all the way up as soon as I would move.

SUNUVA ....... oh! I ... was ... MAD! I just got this to replace another suit (I have had for years) that had a zipper problem. I cannot believe this! Yes I got it used, but damn! It was close to dinner and Christopher would be pressed for time to make it back if he had to wait on me, so I told him to go ahead.

I played with it for about 20 minutes getting more frustrated by the minute. I needed to get it fixed as my hall pass was only for the day. Heh, I didn't know I brought something to be fixed. I just came to visit.

I had to be home that night, because Melissa had to teach Sunday School class in the morning. The rain was supposed to continue on through the night and the temps would be in the 40-ish range. I did NOT want to ride home with an open suit.

My playing with this zipper seemed to provide entertainment for folks that were wandering around the mancave, as I fielded the "what are you doing?" question more than once. Linda and Chris were nice enough to offer help, but everyone else quickly ran away.

Dan tried to once, but Chris cornered him into trying to help. Ron also being the curious gentleman he is, came over to offer assistance, but only Chris and Linda were persistent enough to stay and continue to help after the initial attempt failed to net any positive results. Thanks, ladies, I appreciate your efforts and patience.

It was soon dinnertime and the food was fantastic. Mo had been smoking 4 huge pork roasts all day long. MaryAnn and helpers had setup some green beans, and something called panty mac (a heart-debilitating, but amazing mac-n-cheese). It was all awesome and I filled my belly. I was told to get seconds by our wonderful hosts but was too stuffed.

Then Chris had to come around with that decadent dessert of hers. I typically don't do sweets with beer, but we were talking about that earlier, so I *had* to have a square of it. I felt bad though, telling MaryAnn I was stuffed, but then proceeding to eat a dessert bar.

I am at a quandry now as it's getting late, I did not get a good sleep the night before, and knowing I have a cool, wet ride in front of me. In addition to that, due to rock slides, the interstate headed westbound was closed in two areas that would force me to go through deer country in the dark. I am NOT a fan of that seeing as I have hit one in the daylight.

I called the wife and asked her if she could get Isaac to come by and sit at the house until she got home from church. She says she can make the arrangements. This allows me to stay put for the night and head home Sunday during daylight and warmer temperatures -- and hopefully drier weather.

Still, I tried to get the suit zipper fixed and did make it so there was no gap between the zippers but am unsure if it is going to hold as a tooth has now been ripped out in the effort to get it fixed as that material managed to get caught in the zipper a FEW times.

Well, once the zippers were together I put the suit down to join in the "fireside" lies with everyone else. We had no fire, but sitting on Mo's (newly) roofed deck and listening to the rain dance on the tin roof was as entertaining as listening to embers pop. Of course, the stories take the center stage, but there was background noise, albeit a different variety than what is typical of a maggot gathering.

The night passed quickly as many laughs were had, stories told, and toasts made to fallen maggots. The lateness of the hour had us all scuttling off to our beds.

Sunday morning, and MaryAnn is busy upstairs fixing breakfast for everyone. No moss on her heels! she keeps on rolling along.

More lies are told and slowly people begin packing up and heading out in different directions. I held off to leave as I was a short two hours (the short way) from home -- but considering the weather it would likely be closer to a 4 hour ride. I threw together a backroads route and Christopher had agreed to lead me to US 178. He and I were the last to vacate the Draper household.

It was a beautiful day -- it was nearly 65* and the sun was shining brightly against a backdrop of cloudless, blue skies. I made the right decision to stay the night and travel home on Sunday. Besides, I got to hang out with fellow maggots a bit longer!

Now was the moment of truth. I slipped my suit on and as soon as I did the zippers opened up. Damn, damn, damn! I bummed some duct tape from Mo, taped myself together, then we took off.

My little KLR struggled to keep up with CMac's VW GTi. We hit a few fun roads at a spirited pace before reaching 178, which is an absolute blast! One of those was SC-238 that is full of "roller-coaster whoops". You know -- those hills that when you time the throttle right you can feel your stomach come up into your throat -- good times!

Then we hit 178 and it was "go" time. Again, my KLR couldn't keep pace with him. That little single cylinder 650 was screaming but just not producing much of anything. Of course, that's not what it's designed for, and as it turns out all I was doing was wasting gas. I would soon find out to what extent..

I had 150? miles on this tank upon leaving Mo's. I knew I had enough to make it to Brevard, NC. I just knew it! Or not!

Apparently, that spirited pace killed my gas mileage. With 150 miles slab time and 30 miles play time, the gas ran out about 3 miles outside of Brevard with 180 logged on the trip meter. I switched over to reserve and hit the first gas station I found. A quick calculation showed that I had gotten a whopping 37 mpg. Yikes! that KLR should do better than that!

Anyway, a quick fill up, a drink, and a candy bar had the wheels rolling again. I maintained a rather sedate pace the rest of the way home going up US 276 and planning to connect with NC-209 then US 25/70 on home since I-40 was closed.

I had forgotten that 276 does not connect (directly) with 209 but that I had to take US 19/23 to meetup with 209. As I soon was reminded, 276 dead-ends onto I-40. Crap! well, when I get forced off, I will improvise.

I never had to exit. The workers had done enough to have one lane open at the rockslide on the TN side and the NC workers had cleared it enough that both lanes of traffic were open.

Since the clouds were setting in and I was ready to get home, I just stayed on 40. I arrived home in time to give Megan a hug before she headed off to church bells practice (and then off to the dorm for the week). Nice!

Thanks Mo and MaryAnn for being such wonderful hosts and opening up your home to such a diverse bunch of hooligans. It is so great to see old friends/"family" again and yet again, make new ones. EVERY ... SINGLE ... SME I have attended I have met someone new.