6 – 8 – 6 – 6 – 9 - 9

…was the winning number in the 50/50 at the hog meeting tonight… there was anticipation as everyone checked their tickets, waiting for someone to claim the prize. i quickly scan my tickets for the last three numbers – no luck… i’m out another ten bucks.

soon no one is claiming the booty… the number is read again – still no winner. some genius in the crowd wonders out loud if the number being read is upside down. the new number, 6 – 6 – 9 – 9 – 8 – 9, is read. bingo!! i’m one hundred sixty some odd dollars richer (minus the wife’s share).

drinks are on me tonight…

flame thrower v2...

a while ago i posted about a road king modified to throw flames. turns out the guy has a newer version that throws bigger flames. enjoy...

lake ride

looks like the year is ending about the same way it started, with a ride up to the kerr lake... i needed to close up the trailer at the lake and decided to make it part of the ride.

can't believe the temps we're having this time of year - in the seventies. and this is december!!!

i called up my neighbor to see if he wanted to tag along for the ride. he got a sporty about couple months ago and he's been riding quite a bit. i figured it'd be a lot of fun riding with him.

after a quick stop at the gas station, we headed for the kerr lake. as always, it was a beautiful day for a ride. we took rt. 1 north to rt. 158 east, then north on lee avenue in middleburg. after winding our way through back roads, we finally crossed the dam and made it to the trailer.

i got to work opening all the spigots, putting antifreeze in the drains and wiring the windows shut. while i was doing that, bill checked out the property and the lake. took me about an hour to get everything done. once i finished and got the place locked up, we headed back out on the bikes.

i offered to let bill lead... he didn't want to since he wasn't sure where we were going. i confessed and told him that i didn't either - i was just going to look for road signs and hope we didn't miss any. but the beauty of being on a bike is if you do miss any turns, it only makes for a new adventure!!!

one the way out, i stopped at the mailbox to see what might be in there. i pulled over to the side of the gravel road without actually pulling off. bill pulled up behind me. i jumped off the bike and looked into the empty mailbox. i hopped onto the bike and lifted it off the kickstand. as i lifted the bike up, it just kept going to the right... i planted my right foot solid onto the ground - as i did, i realized it was in a shallow ditch. between the weight of the bike leaning to the right, and my right foot being lower than i expected, the bike just kept going over - until it was laying on the ground. yup - i tipped my bike over!!! for the first time!!! it must have been pretty funny for bill to watch. the bike just seemed to slowly fall over. thankfully he was there to help me pick it back up as it was laying partway in the ditch. i told him i'd buy him lunch if the story didn't go any further. he upped it to a beer. done deal!!!

we hopped on to rt. 58 west in boydton and took that to clarksville. we decided to grab some food in clarksville before heading back home. after downing our meals, we headed on rt. 49 to virgilina where we picked up rt. 96 for the last leg home...

even though we were gone for over five hours, we only put 130 miles on the bikes. still, great day for a great ride. was nice to get out again - especially considering this may be the last real ride of the year. maybe if the weather holds the week of christmas, i'll be able to get a few more miles in...

until then, ride safe...

why motorcycling is so much fun...

so i was trying to help a female with her bike. she had been running the engine on with the choke, which kinda fouled the plugs, and she was having problems getting it started again.

i went over to her, made a couple adjustments to the bike and got it started. i decided to try to clean the crap out of the engine, so i revved the engine - high and long... next thing i know, she's got a startled/surprised look on her face. didn't take me long to figure out what was going on - especially since she was still sitting on the bike. as i rolled off the throttle, she gets a grin on her face and says, "now i know why motorcycling is so much fun." not quite knowing what to say, i just kind of smiled and walked away...

doh!!!

long story short: my neighbor is (planning on) riding to sturgis with us... he is also planning on going to myrtle beach this spring. i'm not going to myrtle but my brother and his crew are. i figured since my neighbor and brother are both going to be in sturgis, the two groups could hook up and meet each other in sturgis...

at the beginning of this week, i sent an introduction e-mail to my brother and frank telling them to add my neighbor to the e-mail list of anything regarding sturgis. i also explained everyone would be in myrtle and they might try to hook up. my brother sends a nice e-mail response welcoming my neighbor. frank does the same, including his contact number as well. then frank sends an e-mail to the larger biker group telling them my neighbor is now in the mix. well, knowing the biker group as i do and not knowing my neighbor tooooo well, that could be a recipe for disaster. as it was!!! it didn't take long for someone to start slinging the mud. and of course it gets pretty crude...

at first i was a little shocked. but then it started to settle in, this is the way the group normally acts - it's going to get to this point sooner or later... and if people don't like it, they don't have to hang around...

well, i hadn't seen my neighbor all week and he didn't respond to any of the e-mails... so now i'm thinking he was offended and that will be the end of that...

i was sitting on the front porch tonight when i hear my neighbor call my name... i wave, get up and head over to talk to him... we meet in the street, shake hands and exchange pleasantries... then he brings up the e-mails - i'm waiting for his reaction... he laughs at it and says that he just hasn't had time to respond to them yet. he thought it was funny and is looking forward to meeting them in myrtle next month...

i tell you, these guys may act like assholes sometimes, but you couldn't find a better bunch of guys to be on your side...

flame thrower...

was cruising around the web and came across roscoe's flame thrower. pretty cool video - the guy turned his pipes into flame throwers. looks like it would be fun to do... i guess i have a fondness for it because it's a road king classic with a leather tour-pak. don't see many of those. at least not as many as the orange screaming eagles, huh frank??

after watching the video, read the comment. it really is a shame that today's society doesn't take more responsibility for their own actions. roscoe's right, if he told someone how to do this and they hurt themselves, who do you think they'd turn to. quicker than roscoe could say "flame on," he'd be in court. probably along with harley davidson and everyone else that made the parts to enable the flame thrower. of course if roscoe hurts himself with it, who do you think he'll blame?? no one. well, maybe himself... it is too bad that as a society we don't take more responsibility for our own actions. we're always looking for a quick out - someone else to blame for our stupidity... come on people, grow up - have some courage to admit when we screw up and not try to blame everyone else in sight...

okay, enough about that - i need to get out on the bike and relax...

enjoy the video...

horny brothers...

got an e-mail the other day titled horny brothers. opened it up and found these two pics... they were taken at myrtle beach last year... we had a lot of fun... i'm sure i'll be getting some e-mails and phone calls from the guys while they're at myrtle beach.

stupid motorcycle tricks...

and now for something a little different... when motorcycle stunts go bad... i don't know why this makes me laugh...

in the video, you'll see a guy doing a burn out. but he's not the one to watch. look to the back of the video. there's another guy attempting to do a burnout while sitting on the front guard. he gets too much traction, can't hit the rear brake and forgets to hit the clutch...

check it out