[Windwalker]

I don't know how many of you remember me, or read some of my old posts, but I'm not dead yet. And, trying to give George Burns a run for his money. I decided to take my retirement shortly after DOT came out with "CSA-2010". I did not think it was just then, and I don't think it's just now.

I've really been enjoying myself. But of all the things I've done and learned, there's one thing I've never learned to do.... "NOTHING." I've taught a few people to work on small engines, and they turned out to be pretty good at it. However, now I have about the very best thing to do that I've ever done. I'm working on motorcycles for a school that teaches motorcycle safety. I get to ride my own bike every day, and work on some very interesting ones. Retirement was certainly not a mistake in any sense.

I still think about you guys out there, but between that and doing courses from MIT, I don't get a lot of time to come on here any more. I just turned 70, and thought I'd give you a look at life after trucking. Not bad. Not too bad at all.

I'd like to post some pictures of the things I do now, but it looks like I'm going to have to "re-learn" how to put pictures on here.

There's a 1937 Indian Scout that's all original except for the rubber and the belt that drives the generator, one very minor scratch on the front fender, otherwise the paint is original. There had been an offer of $10,000 just for the electric horn above the headlight... It's still on the bike, so I guess that was not enough. It's been bringing home blue ribbons from antique shows. This is the same year and model that, on the salt flats, held the motorcycle speed record for 40 years.

Suzuki GSXR-1000, 2006, with 6,000 original miles on it. Two weeks ago, it was a frame with two wheels and handlebars. Today, it's complete, weighs just under 400 pounds, and cranks almost 200 horsepower, with ram-air induction. Capable of 180 miles an hour, but I would not recommend going over 100. Even crouched as low as you can get, the wind resistance of your body sitting on the seat is enough to start bringing the front off the ground. We may have to come up with "spoilers" to keep the front end down.

Kawasaki ZX9R, 1998. Not fuel injected, but don't let that fool you. Don't respect the throttle, and it will climb out from under you. We've got one more "tweek" to do on the carbs, and that should get max performance out of it. I can tell you from personal experience, it doesn't take a lot of throttle to bring the front off the ground. I've done it a couple of times.

Kawasaki ZX12R, 2003. There's just one thought that has to go through your mind as you sit on it, getting ready to ride. "Crack that throttle too far, and you'll be sliding your butt on the asphalt, while the bike is on it's way over the moon."

And, then there's my bike. I'm kind of proud of it. I keep up with the big boys on poker runs, and I've had it up to 85 mph, but I get 70 mpg, and my insurance is just $70 for a whole year. Yeah, I'm smiling all the way to the bank. The "bad boys" on their big bikes put the nozzle in the gas tank about every hundred miles. and I've got 300 mile range before I even start looking for a nozzle. When I figure out how to put pictures on here, I'll post them to give you a look at them

In the mean time, take care out there. Winter will be over before long, and you'll find yourselves back in "road construction season".

This thing is trying to tell me there are two images that are coming along, but I'm thinking it's not working right. Let me know one way or the other.

[Roadhog]

Hey hey! Missed you Windy!

I bought a '91 Fat Boy last April to make a bucket list trip with one of my oldest friends. He ended up dying on me, before we could do the road trip together. Dammut.

[mitchno1]

you could take ur fat friend Donald trump for a spin haha or miss palin look beta on it aye,get her dress flying

[Roadhog]

I could see Sarah in a swimsuit polishing my bike, and Shania stops by and gets jealous and some how it turns into a sudsy cat fight with sponges of sudsy foam and a hose spraying wildly all aboot.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz (Hog falls asleep)

[Windwalker]

Hog, you ain't changed a bit, have you.

Nice bike, and being a '91, the parts are still made here. For the newer ones (fuel injected), the parts are now made in Zhongshen, China. That makes them "rice-burners" just like so many others. And, carbs are easier to work on than fuel injection. The guy in charge of the school has spent more than a grand on PCMs for bikes, and they still can't get them to run right. I get to clean spark plugs on a daily basis because there's not much point in putting in new ones only to get them full of black carbon trying to set the injection. A couple of hours with the carbs, and I've got them running like new. Even have special drills for the jets, down to 0.005 inches.

I kind of have to chuckle because the new guys on the block do not understand the carbs and can't get the PCMs set up either. I believe they need a few instruments they don't have, so it's "hit or miss" in setting them. And, so far, they don't have any "hits". And, the "misses" mean the plugs get fouled out in one trip around the block.

I've got a friend that I've wanted to visit, too. We spent a lot of time aboard ship in the Navy. He did live in S. Carolina, about a day's ride from here. Had a pretty serious stroke a few years ago. It was one thing for his wife to deal with him after the stroke, but when she was diagnosed with cancer, it became too much and he moved to Texas with his son. Now, he's more than a thousand miles away, and it would be a three-day ride. Then, considering the weather, lately, it might be three days riding and two or three days holed up in a motel along the way to keep out of the rain. Then, there's the wild-card... A tornado to take off the roof of the motel and I'll still be sleeping in foul weather gear.

The other thing on my bucket list is a trip to Key West on the bike. One of the chiefs from aboard ship, in the Navy, is supposed to be a "street musician" down there and I hear he's pretty good at it. Haven't seen him in 40 years either.

I keep telling everyone I'm doing just fine, but the doctors at the VA seem determined to correct me. A couple weeks ago, they did a "bone biopsy" on my spine. A 20 minute procedure went over 90 minutes because the doctor could not get into the bone to get a sample. Anything that calls for a bone biopsy weakens the bones, yet I've got some of the hardest bones he's ever come up against. He said I should "never, ever suffer a broken bone". I'm thinking that may have to do with all the milk I drink every day. I can go through a gallon a day by myself. That generally raises eyebrows.

My eye doctor spent nearly 20 minutes comparing pictures of my retina on my right eye, and scratching his head. The oldest picture they took shows more damage to my retina than the most recent one. He says it's impossible, it looks like the retina is not healing, but "re-generating". There's no scar tissue there. In all his years of practice, he's never seen that before. He also teaches other eye doctors at the university, and had me there for his students to look at. In one day, I had more drops put in my eyes than a normal person gets in 5 years.

And, I've also found out that when the VA takes blood samples from me, one vial goes straight to the university for study. It seems I have a "flawed gene" that should make me immune to HIV. Okay, fine, says I, but we're not going to test that one out.

I'm waiting for someone over there to ask me just what planet I'm from. At 70, it seems that I have the bodily functions of a 40-year-old. And, not long ago, I got the chance to prove I can outrun a 15 year old kid... Much to his surprise. That was about the last thing he expected from someone my age.

Yup. I think I'm going to give George Burns a run for his money.

[Roadhog]

Men just ain't men anymore Windy. Even as messed up as my body is, I bet I could still kick any youngsters *****. (crack neck, blow snot outta one nostril...bob & weave)

True story, I wanted a fence put in my back yard, and hired a crew, with the notion I would help. Turns out that fence would have been dragged out for days, if it were left up to them. I out worked all three of those worthless bastards, and we got that fence done in one day, like I expected it to be. I even had an abdominal hernia bulging out of my guts, that I had tied up with wrapping, and they had no idea. One stiffdick was on his cell phone aboot every hour, and I finally ran him off. I couldn't gauge any of them as what i expect a man to be. Just boys and soft too.

Hey... I went to AMI (American Motorcycle Institute) in Daytona, and got my cert way back in the mid-70's. I bet they are still there. They were on the backside of the Daytona 500 track.
I spent a winter there, and lived in a campground, and rode my hog everywhere at that time. I mainly took the class to know what I was doing to wrench on my own. I tried to work at a repair shop, but that lasted only a few months, and I went back to construction work. I still like to do all my own mechanic work. It just takes me 3x longer now.... but I have the time.

I know what you mean about the new HD motors and such. When I picked out my new sled, it had to be a carbureted EVO motor. Those were Harleys best motors ever built. I bought it with 16k miles on it. I put a new carb and throttle cables on it, with new tires right away. I'll be getting it out around mid-April.

Hey, one answer to your long distance friend in Texas. Trailer your bike out to his place, and stage from there. I had to consider this for myself. I can't ride any great distances any more. If i was going to go to Sturgis this summer, I'd trailer out, and then ride my bike around the area. At my age, I can bring a better mattress to sleep on too. I have a full size Ford pickup to make the jump. Otherwise, i just ride around my own County, and where I live, it's all country roads and small towns. Very scenic area, too.

I know what you mean aboot the doctors. I try to diagnose myself, because for one thing, after all the fish I have cleaned, and Deer I've cut up, I know more about blood and guts than any of them. Hell, my doctor use to tell my my back/hip problem was arthritis.
Meh.... I figured it out for myself, after I started seeing bits of my spine in my stool. I do have a very cute and young pretty doctor. That's why I still go in for my shots and worming.

[freebirdrfd]

Welcome back Windy

[JewelsnTools]

It's good to know you're still kicking! Missed you!!!
Jewels

[Roadhog]

Hope you figure out how to post the photos. We can't view them.

I download photos off my computer to a web host called photobucket. Photo and image hosting, free photo galleries, photo editing
Then you can easily post them to a website like CAD.



(potato-patato-patato-patato-patato-patato)

[wot i life]

Seems to me that your 'retirement' is one hell of a demanding schedule :-)

Best wishes

K