Well, a scant few minutes ago, anyhoo. Long-time readers may remember how excited I was upon Miss Zukiko's arrival at El Casa Móvil De Pennington; those same long-time readers who are also bikers might have also wondered at the dearth of bike posts over the course of the last year. Simple answer: I quit riding for various and sundry reasons, but mostly because I just wasn't in good shape... mentally and physically.
Well, no more:
We put Miss Zukiko back on the road today; all it took was a new battery, a quick wash and subsequent safety walk-around. So now we're just back from a quick ride out and about the countryside and are almost ready to call Happy Hour.. but first, just for SN1, proof:
We have ignition... we have Lift-OFF!
Looks like a fun ride!
ReplyDelete(Dude, we gotta get you some cheezburgers. Way to skinny!)
Ride safe and see you soon.
Wow that's FANTASTIC!
ReplyDeleteAh yes, the return to sanity.
ReplyDeleteDarryl: She IS a fun ride... most definitely. As for the "too skinny" bit... that seems to be my fate, and I'm resigned to it.
ReplyDelete"See you soon?" Does this mean you'll be dropping by in the near future?
Alison: Yeah... it really felt GOOD to get out on the road today.
Dan: And a return to better health, as well, which is the biggest piece of this.
I'm glad you are back in the saddle. And I love your boots.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. Good to see it. More pix from remote ghost-intersections, please. That (and I said at the time) was Lileksian.
ReplyDeleteBy the way (BTW), the deciliter you saw me with is running much better forward of the pegs. Had my mixture off and the external adjusters were actually worn out and therefore disengaged. Got inside there to really turn the screws just so and now it runs like a dream. Easy to start, too.
My recent two nighter in the Jemez on it ended when the improvised cargo container buckled under the weight of a bag of ice and a twelve pack. (Hit a rut just so.) (Yes, I had canned and dry food, too.) Caused a flat tire in a VERY remote part of NM required ride home from fellow camper.
New tire and repaired cargo apparatus portend a return to the remote week after next. But the bike will be cargo on the back of my pickup.
Yes, I like the word "remote."
I see you have that bowlegged post-ride stance!
ReplyDeleteA propos of Hollywood and given that im in such a political frame of mind this week - i thought you would really enjoy this article about the history of Commies in Hollywood in today's Times.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/daniel_finkelstein/article6817669.ece
I found it fascinating. I honestly thought that whole Joe McCarthy thing was a crock. I learned a bunch today. Love it when that happens!
You're a baaaaddd influence on us married men, Buck.
ReplyDeleteA good article, Alison. And oh, so true. McCarthy was right; there were communists in the State department. He just lied about who they were and how many.
ReplyDeleteWatergate reporter Carl Bernstein wrote a book about his parents, who were persecuted for being communists. They begged him not to publish it, mainly because the charges against them and others were true (even though the FBI failed to find enough evidence at the time).
I was thinking about you in the past few weeks with regard to the mo'sickle. Wondering why you hadn't posted and what was up with that?!
ReplyDeleteGlad to read all is well in the land of speed, adrenaline and 2-wheels.
"See you soon?" Does this mean you'll be dropping by in the near future?
ReplyDeleteThat's right Buck. I will be there in an hour, so you better have some beer ready.
Not really.
I meant it in a blog way. Snicker.
I will be in California in a month. But look for me at the Claremont Hotel on the 10th through 12th.
By the way; I expected to get a comment about the hotties I photographed at the beach!
Lou sez: And I love your boots.
ReplyDeleteThe boots might be the second coolest thing in the pic, Miss Z. being first. But the jacket is pretty danged cool, too... even if I say so myself. :D
Bob sez: Got inside there to really turn the screws just so and now it runs like a dream. Easy to start, too.
I hear that. Two-strokes are pretty picky about carburetor adjustments, but when ya get 'em dialed-in you can't beat 'em. I just wish they still make two-stroke road burners.
I'm glad ya got the luggage rack fixed... and it sounds like you're having a blast in the Jemez!
Gordon: re: bowlegged. Ah, it's just camera angle, dontcha know. :D
Alison: Thanks for that link. Ol' Joe McCarthy DOES have a lot to answer for, it's true, even if there were a few needles in his haystack. I'm familiar with the ol' "ya gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet" saying, but McCarthy went too far. And since I'm invoking clichés this morning... "nothing succeeds like excess." :D
Virgil: But only if'n ya wanna be influenced, ya know!
Gordon: Thanks for your tid-bit about Bernstein, as well. Another good read I have to chase up.
Kris: Thank ya... and all IS well in the two-wheeled world now!
Darryl: I knew about your California plans and thought you might be driving out. As such... I'm just an hour or so south of I-40/Tucumcari. I've had a few drop-ins who were en route to CA.
I haven't made the blog rounds yet... seeing as how I slept in this morning... but I 'll be by your place shortly (in blog-speak). :D
Buck sez, "Two-strokes are pretty picky about carburetor adjustments, but when ya get 'em dialed-in you can't beat 'em. I just wish they still make two-stroke road burners."
ReplyDeleteI hear that, too. Test drove a used 'Zuki (GS?)550 triple cylinder two-stroke while shopping around back in the very early '80s. So this would have a been a mid to late '70s model. Scary thing. Power way outpaced the chassis.
Ended up buying a '78 KZ650 (inline four) for my post-high-school-pre-Navy-spend-every-penny North American tour. Physically it resembled what Prince used in Purple Rain (though there were several bikes used in that movie). Anyway, been on rather tame bikes since.
You are SO cool.
ReplyDeleteAnd you just made my day, Crysti! Thank you. :D
ReplyDeleteBob sez: So this would have a been a mid to late '70s model. Scary thing. Power way outpaced the chassis.
ReplyDeleteA LOT of rice-rockets were otherwise known as Flexi-Flyers, back in the day. I think the worst of the bunch was the original Kowalski 500cc two-stroke triple... which was the quickest road bike in the world for a time, and only in a straight line. Cornering that thing at speed would give ya religion in a heartbeat. There were exceptions, of course... chief among them being My Old Love... the RD-350/400/350LC series. More memories. (sigh)