New nameless cat in da house

Since last Wednesday I have 2 black cats at home. The little one was just staying outside in the rain, so I took her home. I wonder how should I call her. Suggestions? Honda is all that comes to my mind :))

The 31st annual Wing Ding will be in Tulsa Oklahoma

The Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) is pleased to announce its 31st annual Wing Ding will be in Tulsa Oklahoma, this year. The international convention opens Thursday, July 2, and runs through Sunday, July 5, 2009, at Tulsa’s Expo Square. Here is the schedule for the remaining 2 days (sorry got this too late): Saturday, July [...]

Hot summer offers from Honda Motorcycles

Honda (UK) Motorcycles’ competitive 0% APR and affordable finance offers, available across a range of its sportsbike, naked, scooter, touring and custom machines, are continuing until the end of September 2009, enabling customers to make the most of the summer months on two-wheels. 0% APR finance continues to be offered on the UK’s best selling sports [...]

CBF 600 S versus XJ6 Diversion (french)

A quite long article about CBF600S versis the Yahama XJ6 Diversion - well documented. I thought I should add it here even if it’s in French. From the original article: “Cette année, la nouvelle Yamaha XJ6 Diversion rejoint la discrète mais néanmoins excellente Honda CBF 600 S sur le marché des petites motos routières. La [...]

Honda CB 750 resources

If you are looking for information for your Honda CB750, here is a list of sites you should be looking for: Honda CB750 Choppers Honda CB750 on WIkipedia Honda CB750 (Four) Owners Club Australia Honda CB750 Sandcast Only Owner’s Club The Adopted CB-Sevenfifty (RC42) web site cb750cafe.com - custom cafe racers Cyclemaintenance.com - Project Honda CB750 CB 750 Four Club (German)

Do It Now, Before It’s Too Late!

It’s often been said that while laying on your death bed, it’s the things you didn’t do that you will regret. Assuming that you aren’t so reckless that you ran over a little kid while you were drunk, I’d say that’s true. As a matter of fact it’s a tenet that myself and my closest friends hold dear. I’m writing about this today in part because a dear friend shared a video with me that brings this philosophy home in a big way. This video got me thinking. What have I done or not done that I would look back on and feel regret? Honestly I have to tell you, not much. I can’t think of one single thing that I will wish I had done/accomplished before I die. Don’t get me wrong, I have goals and aspirations. If I don’t reach them before I die, it’s not for a lack of trying. I won’t regret that. It’s the failure in not trying that I would regret. This video ironically reminded me of Margaret Smith, my high school Latin teacher. She used to tell us to wait to get married and have children until we’ve traveled the world and experienced foreign culture. Her argument was that once you get married and have children, you won’t have the time or money to travel. You’ll be stuck in Middle Tennessee your whole life and will never have experienced anything outside of the southeast. Oh, how right she was. I can’t count the number of people I went to high school with that fell into that trap. I’m sad for those people. I fear that they will take their last breathe and regret what they never did. But this goes deeper than hopping on a plane and flying to Europe. I’m talking about taking real risk here. Those are the things we didn’t do that real regret is made from. It’s also a byproduct of fear. Too many of us find comfort in routine and do not embrace change, challenge, or risk. We’re scared of failure, of what others will think of us, of having to do without, of having to start fresh. Let me tell you friends that I have been there, done that, and have a few t-shirts. Each time I have come out better in the end emotionally, intellectually, culturally, and financially. The initial setback of falling on your face may sting a little, but in time it is replaced with the pride in your efforts. I also have great respect for those people that take risk too. I think that’s one of the underlying reasons why I get along with my best friend so well. Loving whiskey has a little bit to do with it I’m sure. Brian is a risk taker. He’s dropped everything in his life to go to a foreign land and pursue his passion, music. He moved to Morocco and knew pretty much no one when he got there. I know, I know, you’re saying that people do that all the time. Yes, that is true. I’ve done it on several occasions. That’s one of the occupational hazards of being a service member. We had the support of the service though. That makes it easier. Try going to a foreign land where you don’t speak the language and the majority of people you come in contact with don’t speak yours. Tourist areas don’t count. Most of those people have some rudimentary knowledge of English. I’m talking about functioning on a daily basis, buying groceries, earning a living in the real deal of what that country is all about. I respect that. I have no desire to do it, but I respect it. I’m sure he’ll say that it’s made him a better person and that he’s glad he did it. So, what risk have you taken? What are going to regret never trying or doing on your death bed? What’s on your bucket list? You don’t have to sell everything and move to Australia. It can be as simple as reigniting a romance with a long lost love or even just professing your affection, starting that small business you’ve always dreamed of, riding a motorcycle, racing a car, skydiving, public speaking. The choice is yours. There’s still time to fix it you know!

Humble Pie is Best Served with a Scoop of In Your Face

These last few blogs of mine have been about other peoples’ mistakes and/or egregious conduct. This one, however, is a little more about a lesson I forgot and the faux pas I committed. I definitely don’t think it will get me the results I wanted or at least will be very hard to recover from. I have no problem in text saying that I’m a badass or that I’m kickass. It’s usually tongue in cheek when I write it. Dropping those statements in my blogs still display a level of confidence that is borderline cockiness, but it’s not anything near saying it. Verbally professing “I’m a badass” is something I try to avoid. Actions speak louder than words. Besides, if I have to convince someone of something, they’re never going to believe me anyway. I’ve even called people out on it in the past. Well this past weekend, I forgot that little rule. I don’t know why I forgot it, but I did. There were people that had been telling me that all week, and I guess it went to my head. I will say that Jack has been known to be a bad influence on me in the past and he may have contributed to this display of chumpiness of epic proportions. Let me set the scene for you. I was out with Brian (again!) and we were hanging out at Claddagh’s at Newport on the Levee. I was off my game the day before something fierce, but tonight I was on fire. We were having so much fun. I was bouncing all over the place making all kinds of new friends and having the time of my life with my old ones. Then this one girl with sex appeal oozing from her pores joins us. She wasn’t dressed up all sexy in thigh highs or a short miniskirt. It was her personality. I was immediately enamored. She wasn’t immediately impressed with my charm. It’s been pretty rare for me, but it does happen. Usually the girl will just ignore me or be aloof, which can be fixed if I really want to work at it. Instead, this one kept delivering these little jabs kinda like I would expect from an alpha male. It really threw me off kilter. More than once I was speechless. She was doing what I do, dropping little playful insults that didn’t really piss you off or hurt your feelings, but made you stop. It was like she was in my house playing my game and beating me at it. I was getting my ass whooped! You know how in a last desperate attempt to salvage a football game, the team that’s behind will start to make desperate plays. They’ll go no huddle, throw long balls with little chance of being caught, and basically play panicked. That’s what I was doing. I was getting desperate. It was a mind fuck. And that’s when I threw the long ball into the endzone hoping that my lone receiver would catch it around a sea of defenders. Not only did that attempt fail, but my pass was run back for a touchdown. Oh and for shits and giggles, the guy that made the interception ran over me on his way to the opposite endzone. I felt it slipping. I don’t know how I worked it in, but I verbally professed myself a badass. It cost me. Right in front of Brian and another good friend, Andy, she said, “See if you really were a badass, you wouldn’t have to tell me.” And the crowd went silent. I thought I heard crickets until I realized it was my ass on fire. Nobody gave me a Kelso style burn, but was nonetheless effective. All I could do was acknowledge how right she was while I cowered in the corner and licked my wounds. Now, I am all healed up. I won’t forget the humiliation, though. I also hope that I don’t forget that lesson again. Badasses don’t announce their baddassery!

Motorcycle Quotes

Here's a list of motorcycle quotes I came across. I added some of my own and pulled a few more from the interweb. Enjoy. Oh, and if you would like to add some of your own, please do! Never pick a fight with an old timer. If you win ther is not glory and if you lose, there is only shame.Bikers are better than real peopleA bad day in the saddle is better than a good day doing damn near anything else.If a motorcycle rally were a family event, there'd be fuckin swingsets!It's not the speed that kills. It's the sudden stops.If I have to explain, I don't want you to understand.It's a friggen motorcycle, it's not supposed to be comfortable, quiet, or safe. The wind noise is supposed to hurt your ears, the seat should be hard, and riding it should terrify you now and then. Suck it up. Go as far as you can see...THEN YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE FURTHER. Ride hard or stay home. If everything seems under control you're just not going fast enough. As the writer inscribes paper with ink and words, so the motorcyclist cuts a line through sheer space using angles and velocity as letters and punctuation. -- Mark C. Taylor and Jose Marquez When you're riding lead, don't spit. One bike on the road is worth two in the garage. Never twist the throttle with your ego. If you don't make it the first time, back up and try again, only faster!! You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze. Well, sister, the time has come for me to ride hard and fast. - Rooster CogburnSometimes the fastest way to get there is to stop for the night. Sometimes you end up going down the wrong road. That's an adventure. Live every day as though it was your last, but ride to make sure it's not! If you ride for the rush don't rush for the ride! When you feel like playing hooky, play it. When the sun is shining, go for a ride. If you need a motorcycle, just buy it. Sooner is better than later. Don't choose a destination -- pick a direction and go. Ride, Eat, Sleep, Repeat, Repeat, Repeat........... Fun is not a straight line.

Debriefing: Motorcycle performance

From Sojourn Chronicles - I had no doubts about the Suzuki V-Strom 650?s ability to ride to California and back. It is a very strong bike capable of more than I asked of it. The bike?s adjustable suspension was cranked up to handle the extra payload, and it rode just fine. There were no issues with the extra weight, although [...]

Video: Future GPS - Funny

From Bikes in the Fast Lane - Funny video clip about what might happen to our GPS if they become more human. Scary... ...

Sucker Punch Sally?s custom bike giveaway at the Buffalo Chip

From Rippin Kitten - Legendary Buffalo Chip to Give Away Sucker Punch Sally’s Custom Bike at 2009 Sturgis Rally. One lucky winner will take home more than just fond memories from this year’s Sturgis Rally. The Legendary Buffalo Chip, in conjunction with American Cycle and American Bagger magazines, will be giving away a custom Sucker Punch Sally’s old-school motorcycle built [...]

Real McCoy 1970’s Dirt Bike racing film

If you watch one film today, this has to be the one. It’s converted from real 8mm recorded in 1970 of a dirt bike event at Carlsbad Raceway in Carlsbad, CA. The film is bound to make you in a good mood. They just had lots of fun back then. Notice the riding gear and [...]

DVD Review: Chopperhead Vol III

Chopperhead Vol. III is easily the best one yet. If you haven’t heard of Chopperhead here’s a brief description. If you haven’t seen the first two, here’s the deal: This series documents and pays homage to the home-builder and the underground chopper/custom motorcycle scene – the true essence of Kustom Kulture. You won’t find any network-cry [...]

Crazy custom Panhead seen at Bottrop Kustom Kulture show

I saw this crazy custom Panhead last weekend. It’s still in the swing arm frame, which is a rare sight on custom bikes these days. It’s a good example of how you can build something relatively extreme but still rideable. Here’s a few photos of some of the sweet details on this bike.

HOLY CRAP!

Mother Nature is a bitch! Tuesday she tried to flood us out and yesterday she sent a super cell thunderstorm after me! This storm came barreling down the Rt 495 corridor. I knew the shit was going to hit the fan. The sky was churning and everything got real quiet and still.

Framingham and Hopkington MA got hit the hardest. Parts of Rt9 had to be shut down. The first thing I though of was that I hoped there were no bikes caught out in this!

Its been a long time since I saw rain being blown side ways with hail the size of marbles! They call it a "Micro Burst" when the wind explodes in a massive down draft. What ever you call it, I am glad I was not out on my bike when this thing hit our area!

June was shitty because of the rain. July is starting out on the weird side. I do have to say that the 4th of July weekend was FANTASTIC! We spent time in Worcester, MA. Every year the city of Worcester ( it's pronounced "wor-ster"...NOT "wor-chest-er") pretty much turns the city over to the gear-head auto clubs. It reminds me of what Laconia was back in the 70s and 80s. The best way to describe it is "organized chaos". The local city officials MUST be car nuts. If we as bikers ever tried to pull something like that off, they would call in the National Guard!

The lack of safety procedures was amazing! I was walking around with my jaw open in disbelief most of the day on Saturday. To be honest, I was in heaven! It took me back to the old days when us Bikers could actually have fun. Its to bad life has changed so much for us.

Today the sun is out and I can see patches of blue sky . Thank you Mother Nature for a beautiful day.......but your still a bitch!