luvmy40

So, our oldest and her beau are living in a camper park in Clyde, OH while he is working a contract job on a pipeline. Kris and I decided to go spend a day or two with her and the grand kids. We loaded The Beast and set out for the short, 3 hour ride Wednesday around 1:30pm. This is the first time in a very long time we've been able to just take off and go on the bike. I miss week end trips but can never seem to make time for them anymore. The ride out was going to be in chancy weather but we never got any real rain. Just a few minutes here and there of light drops. In the interest of saving time, we took the Ohio Turnpike out. That was a mistake. The ride was uneventful and the traffic was minimal but that highway is one long, boring stretch of concrete slab. We had to stay a different campground as the RV park they're in doesn't allow tents. We arrived, got our camp site set up quickly and went off to find the kids. Man that area is flat and wide open. I'd forgotten how narrow the county roads could be in farm country! Lots of dirt roads too. At least they are well maintained. We had a nice dinner at Applebee's and planned the next day. Our campground had a prospecting schluss and the grand kids enjoyed panning for gems and fossils. They extracted seven arrowheads and about a pound of pretty rocks from their "Claim"(a couple bags of salted dirt purchased at the gift shop) and then we headed off to the Deer Park petting zoo where the kids were mobbed by pygmy goats and deer. We picked up one largish deer that would not leave my daughter alone. She followed us through the entire park and got the lion's share of a bag of feed. Then we were off to the RV park's swimming pond to lounge in the sunshine and let the kids splash. For the ride home, we stayed on secondary roads for the most part and it was a much more enjoyable ride. I picked up a couple used Kozee Keeper cup holders at Fox Cycles Works in Sandusky and mounted them for the ride home. There really isn't a good spot for a cup holder in either the driver's or passenger's positions on the Gen 1 bikes! Some pictures or it didn't happen.

Yeah I checked the member map and I think freebird is the closest to Sandusky and that's an hour or better away.

The wife and I are going to be camping for a night or two in the Sandusky area, Leaving home in an hour or so. If anyone in the area is interested in coffee and conversation and has the time, we'd love to meet up. I don't really know the area, so I'd leave the meeting location up to the natives. PM or respond to this thread, I'll check in when we get to the camp ground.

Talk to skydoc_17

I went out to pick up some steel round stock to finish the mods to my new HF, POS tire changer. I stopped at Home depot to check prices and then went to a local surplus type store called Star Supply. HD was cheaper for the same stock so I went back and picked up a piece of 1/2" and a piece of 3/8" round bar stock. On the way back to HD I stopped at the Harley Davidson dealership to see if they had any Kuryakyn wind deflector wings in stock. No luck but they should have a pair next week. I strapped the bar stock to the luggage rack and motored on to the local Yamaha dealership to pick up the last rubber grommet I had ordered a couple weeks ago and also got a locking nut for the rear suspension schrader valve that has been missing since I got The Beast. Then back home via the local Sparkle Market for a couple steaks and salad fixin's. About 80 miles round trip. Here's the tire changer:

OK, that's weird. The first time I clicked the link to ebay those caps were $6.95 + $23.00shipping. The second time I clicked in they were $7.95 + $30.00shipping.

$23.00 shipping? Wow! The factory caps are 10K ohm. Someone with more experience on these systems will have to weigh in on whether the 5K ohm caps would work. I'm not sure I'd want the 90deg caps either but that might not be an issue.

Kinda hard to load the mash ton, hot liquor tank and boil kettle on The Beast!

I've got the Blazer BH103h/l horns on The Beast. They are rated at 132 Db and they are LOUD. They blend in nice with the black plastics as well. I got mine as a pair at AZ but I don't see the pair listed anymore. http://www.blazer-international.com/productdetail.php?itemno=BH103FBL&cat=12

That flashlight was sitting there when I got there, about 11:00am Friday. Edited to reflect the actual day I arrived! I do suffer a bit from CRS syndrome. But, the flashlight is NOT mine.

I bottled my first batch and went to kegging immediately. Bottling is way too much work! I use Pepsi Kegs and made a six keg kegorator from a medium sized chest freezer. Once bitten by the brew bug, you'll probably want to go all grain. That is the way to get the most out of you money in brewing. Though there are some excellent extract kits out there. I actually haven't brewed anything in way too long. I'm going to have dust off and sanitize the mash ton and get to work!

My handle is in reference to the pistol caliber, .40 S&W I was the proud owner one of the very first Smith & Wesson, M&P Compact pistols chambered in .40sw and that was when I started perusing the shooting/gun related forums. So, luvmy40 was born. The irony is I haven't owned a .40sw caliber pistol for quite some time but I'm stuck with the name cause I'm too lazy to change all my forum accounts!

There aren't any "bearings" on the TC Bros. controls. They don't need any. I know exactly where they are but they are buried. I'll dig them out tomorrow.

If I didn't ride in the rain, The Beast would never get a bath! I'm afraid to actually wash her. The plastics might just disintegrate!

I'll dig them out and take a look to see if they are usable for sure. I know they will need one of the long grade 8 bolts that mount the peg to the bracket. I'm not sure how you'd mount them on the gen one, but I know my linkages will not be of any use to you.

That's a nice starter kit! What're ya gonna brew up first?

I'll be heading out in an hour or two. I think I'm going to take the scenic route out SR303 through Richfield and Peninsula rather than the Turn Pike. It's been a long time since I rode that route. I wonder if the Winking Lizard is still there? It was a favorite day trip mid point or destination back in the day.

I ran the TC Bros forward controls on my Seca 750. They work well but are not much to look at. I still have them and considered mounting them on my Maxim 750, which is the bike they were actually designed for, but I never got around to it. They're banged up a bit as My son decided he was going to drag a knee and snagged the pavement with one right about the time he decide he didn't like forward controls on "His" Seca. Well, I had given it to him for a graduation present so...

The Kuryakyn Universal mount highway peg works perfectly for me in this position; I'm 5'8" and have a 30" inseam. There is knock off, Kuryakyn style stuff out there that are rather well made and quite inexpensive. I got a good deal on the real McCoys on ebay quite some time ago. They have been mounted on 4 or five different bikes over the years.

I pulled the skirt, loosened the mufflers, pulled the caliper then the axle. With the rear tire flat, I just had to cock it a bit of an angle to drag it from under the fender. I had to have some help to reinstall. Me and the boy lifted the rear end a bit and the wife slipped the wheel/tire in under the fender.

Today I had a new Shinko rear tire mounted and balanced at Penn-Ohio Cycles(formerly Youngstown Cycle Supply) in Boardman, OH. They took great care of me and rushed the work as it is fairly long drive for me and a minor emergency on my part. A big thumbs up to them! Removing the rear tire on The Beast today made me vow to invest in a bike lift before I have to do it again. Oh my aching back! Got her all back together and installed weather proof bullet connectors to the electrical wiring on the rear skirt. I cant believe anyone would install that skirt without electrical connectors. The irony to this story is the fact that I bought a HF tire changer and MC attachment Sunday on their Memorial day sale and with a 25% off coupon. I ordered a nylon demount/mounting head but have not received it yet so I haven't set up the tire change station yet. I could have saved $25.00 on the mount and balance. The bad news is the only tire they had that would fit was a 130, not a 140. She had a 130 on the rear when I bought her so I figured it wouldn't hurt one more time. The good news is, Penn-Ohio's price on the Shinko was only $10.00 more than Dennis Kirk's price and no wait.

According to the date code, the front Shinko which has been on the bike since I bought it, was manufactured the 3rd week of 2015. It was brand new when I got her.

I highly doubt they were even close to 10 years old. I'm just saying I don't know how old they are/were. Like I said, when I bought the bike 3 years ago they still had the new tire stripes and nubbins. I just doubt they were actually brand new. They were probably laying around a shop somewhere for a few years before the PO put them on to sell the critter. I actually just wore the rear out without keeping an eye on it. I'd have sworn it looked OK about a month ago it was worn flat and had fibers showing in several spots. It was just my stupid complacency. Anyway, I got a new Shinko mounted, balanced and installed today, so I'll be at Freebird's Friday afternoon as planned.

It's not my favorite 2 wheeled activity either! I was very fortunate that I was only doing about 25 mph in a shallow turn when it popped. I've never had a high speed blowout on a bike on the road, I've had dirt bike tires blow many times. When it blew out last night I heard the pop and instantly thought I'd thrown a rod or fragged a valve then the rear end squirelled up on me and it felt like I was riding through deep sand. I limped her home as I was only 1000 yards from my driveway when it happened. Rolling about 1 mph and listening for metal scrapping. BTW, On the lighter side, I got to use the four way flashers for the first time! I still thinks it's cool that these bikes have hazard flashers. I'd never owned a scooter that did before.

They may be 10 years old, they just don't have 10 years of miles on them. I'll check the date code today when I pull the wheel.