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Thanks for the last 28 years. Can I come home now LOL See as usual I didnt forget the most important day of my life...... What did ya get me LOL

If you had to do something in your life all over again, would you?

The other day I was going through some old photos of me in another life and came accross one of me at 18 just made me wonder about life and how we go through it and never really stop and wonder how we got here. I thought I was worldly then but that was before Nam and a life time of work and relationship friends and family. The things we learn and experiance can never be fully communicated. Now at 60 there are medical issues that gives me pause about the future. One thing for sure I'll ride till I can't throw a leg over. Thanks all for listening and being in my life.

[font=Times New Roman]Ten Thoughts to Ponder[/font] Number 10 Life is sexually transmitted. Number 9 Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. Number 8 Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny. If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich . Number 7 Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day. Teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks. Number 6 Some people are like a Slinky----not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs. Number 5 Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals, dying of nothing. Number 4 All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism. Number 3 Why does a slight tax increase cost you $800.00, and a substantial tax cut saves you $30.00? Number 2 In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. And The Number 1 Thought Life is like a jar of Jalapeno peppers--what you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow. - - - and as someone recently said to me: "Don't worry about old age -- it doesn't last long."

To say home with the wife, it is our 37th anniversary..............dont know how she has put up with me for so long, but I am one lucky guy to have a wonderful woman like her in my life........ :big-grin-emoticon:

Advice please, 2009 Royal star venture. The audio control shows no sign of life. checked connections. Will clean and reconnect after reading threads here. Is there any other secret repair. I have also checked the fuse and voltage to the brown/white wire. If it doesn't come to life what are the alternatives. How do you tell if it's the brain box or the controller and display on the handlebar? Is there repair for them? Where? cost? or replacement? where? cost? Thanks for your help.

On this day, as I have for many years in the past, I'm wishing you, Jesus, a Happy Birthday. You, speaking for myself, have brought me many things to be thankful for. Walking away from an accident almost 3 years ago with my wife was one of the many blessings you bestowed upon me....and I Thank You. You have also made it possible in my life to have all my friends here. Many of them I love as much as life, and you continue to watch over us and keep us safe. While we celebrate your birth, and look for the goodness in mankind. I want to thank you for all the gifts you give myself and all of us. Just the fact that we are a family here, is more payment than I could ever hope for. To all my friends here, and you know who you are, Thank you for being a part of my life.....and Merry Christmas to all of you. May the spirit always be with you through out the coming year.....Amen

This is a wonderful story ... Be patient & please read it until the end .... I promise you'll enjoy it ....it was sent to me by ibents.... This is a story of an aging couple told by their son who was President of NBC NEWS. This is a wonderful piece by Michael Gartner, editor of newspapers large and small and president of NBC News. In 1997, he won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing. It is well worth reading, and a few good chuckles are guaranteed. Here goes ... My father never drove a car. Well, that's not quite right. I should say I never saw him drive a car. He quit driving in 1927, when he was 25 years old, and the last car he drove was a 1926 Whippet. "In those days," he told me when he was in his 90s, "to drive a car you had to do things with your hands, and do things with your feet, and look every which way, and I decided you could walk through life and enjoy it or drive through life and miss it." At which point my mother, a sometimes salty Irishwoman, chimed in: "Oh, bull ****!" she said. "He hit a horse." "Well," my father said, "there was that, too." So my brother and I grew up in a household without a car. The neighbors all had cars -- the Kollingses next door had a green 1941Dodge, the VanLaninghams across the street a gray 1936 Plymouth, the Hopsons two doors down a black 1941 Ford -- but we had none. My father, a newspaperman in Des Moines , would take the streetcar to work and, often as not, walk the 3 miles home. If he took the streetcar home, my mother and brother and I would walk the three blocks to the streetcar stop, meet him and walk home together. My brother, David, was born in 1935, and I was born in 1938, and sometimes, at dinner, we'd ask how come all the neighbors had cars but we had none. "No one in the family drives," my mother would explain, and that was that. But, sometimes, my father would say, "But as soon as one of you boys turns 16, we'll get one." It was as if he wasn't sure which one of us would turn 16 first. But, sure enough , my brother turned 16 before I did, so in 1951 my parents bought a used 1950 Chevrolet from a friend who ran the parts department at a Chevy dealership downtown. It was a four-door, white model, stick shift, fender skirts, loaded with everything, and, since my parents didn't drive, it more or less became my brother's car. Having a car but not being able to drive didn't bother my father, but it didn't make sense to my mother. So in 1952, when she was 43 years old, she asked a friend to teach her to drive. She learned in a nearby cemetery, the place where I learned to drive the following year and where, a generation later, I took my two sons to practice driving. The cemetery probably was my father's idea. "Who can your mother hurt in the cemetery?" I remember him saying more than once. For the next 45 years or so, until she was 90, my mother was the driver in the family. Neither she nor my father had any sense of direction, but he loaded up on maps -- though they seldom left the city limits -- and appointed himself navigator. It seemed to work. Still, they both continued to walk a lot. My mother was a devout Catholic, and my father an equally devout agnostic, an arrangement that didn't seem to bother either of them through their 75 years of marriage. (Yes, 75 years, and they were deeply in love the entire time.) He retired when he was 70, and nearly every morning for the next 20 years or so, he would walk with her the mile to St. Augustin's Church. She would walk down and sit in the front pew, and he would wait in the back until he saw which of the parish's two priests was on duty that morning. If it was the pastor, my father then would go out and take a 2-mile walk, meeting my mother at the end of the service and walking her home. If it was the assistant pastor, he'd take just a 1-mile walk and then head back to the church. He called the priests "Father Fast" and "Father Slow." After he retired, my father almost always accompanied my mother whenever she drove anywhere, even if he had no reason to go along. If she were going to the beauty parlor, he'd sit in the car and read, or go take a stroll or, if it was summer, have her keep the engine running so he could listen to the Cubs game on the radio. In the evening, then, when I'd stop by, he'd explain: "The Cubs lost again. The millionaire on second base made a bad throw to the millionaire on first base, so the multimillionaire on third base scored." If she were going to the grocery store, he would go along to carry the bags out -- and to make sure she loaded up on ice cream. As I said, he was always the navigator, and once, when he was 95 and she was 88 and still driving, he said to me, "Do you want to know the secret of a long life?" "I guess so," I said, knowing it probably would be something bizarre. "No left turns," he said. "What?" I asked. "No left turns," he repeated. "Several years ago, your mother and I read an article that said most accidents that old people are in happen when they turn left in front of oncoming traffic. As you get older, your eyesight worsens, and you can lose your depth perception, it said. So your mother and I decided never again to make a left turn." "What?" I said again. "No left turns," he said. "Think about it.. Three rights are the same as a left, and that's a lot safer. So we always make three rights." "You're kidding!" I said, and I turned to my mother for support. "No," she said, "your father is right. We make three rights. It works." But then she added: "Except when your father loses count." I was driving at the time, and I almost drove off the road as I started laughing. "Loses count?" I asked. "Yes," my father admitted, "that sometimes happens. But it's not a problem. You just make seven rights, and you're okay again." I couldn't resist. "Do you ever go for 11?" I asked. "No," he said " If we miss it at seven, we just come home and call it a bad day. Besides, nothing in life is so important it can't be put off another day or another week." My mother was never in an accident, but one evening she handed me her car keys and said she had decided to quit driving. That was in 1999, when she was 90. She lived four more years, until 2003. My father died the next year, at 102. They both died in the bungalow they had moved into in 1937 and bought a few years later for $3,000. (Sixty years later, my brother and I paid $8,000 to have a shower put in the tiny bathroom -- the house had never had one. My father would have died then and there if he knew the shower cost nearly three times what he paid for the house.) He continued to walk daily -- he had me get him a treadmill when he was 101 because he was afraid he'd fall on the icy sidewalks but wanted to keep exercising -- and he was of sound mind and sound body until the moment he died. One September afternoon in 2004, he and my son went with me when I had to give a talk in a neighboring town, and it was clear to all three of us that he was wearing out, though we had the usual wide-ranging conversation about politics and newspapers and things in the news. A few weeks earlier, he had told my son, "You know, Mike, the first hundred years are a lot easier than the second hundred." At one point in our drive that Saturday, he said, "You know, I'm probably not going to live much longer." "You're probably right," I said. "Why would you say that?" He countered, somewhat irritated. "Because you're 102 years old," I said.. "Yes," he said, "you're right." He stayed in bed all the next day. That night, I suggested to my son and daughter that we sit up with him through the night. He appreciated it, he said, though at one point, apparently seeing us look gloomy, he said: "I would like to make an announcement. No one in this room is dead yet" An hour or so later, he spoke his last words: "I want you to know," he said, clearly and lucidly, "that I am in no pain. I am very comfortable. And I have had as happy a life as anyone on this earth could ever have." A short time later, he died. I miss him a lot, and I think about him a lot. I've wondered now and then how it was that my family and I were so lucky that he lived so long. I can't figure out if it was because he walked through life, Or because he quit taking left turns. " Life is too short to wake up with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the one's who don't. Believe everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance,take it & if it changes your life, let it. Nobody said life would be easy, they just promised it wouldmost likely be worth it." ENJOY LIFE NOW - IT HAS AN EXPIRATION DATE! gunk:smile5:

Amazing facts I just learned about Penguins ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A little bit of natural history....... Amazing.............Penguins Did you ever wonder why there are no dead penguins on the ice in Antarctica - where do they go? Wonder no more!!! It is a known fact that the penguin is a very ritualistic bird which lives an extremely ordered and complex life. The penguin is very committed to its family and will mate for life, as well as maintaining a form of compassionate contact with its offspring throughout its life. If a penguin is found dead on the ice surface, other members of the family and social circle have been known to dig holes in the ice, using their vestigial wings and beaks, until the hole is deep enough for the dead bird to be rolled into and buried. The male penguins then gather in a circle around the fresh grave and sing: "Freeze a jolly good fellow" "Freeze a jolly good fellow." Then they kick him in the ice hole!!! You really didn't believe that I know anything about penguins, did you!

I want to thank you all both near and far for sticking by me and being patient~ It hasn't been an easy year for me...you all know that...I am just thankful to have you lend an ear and hear me out...you all mean a lot in my life! Hopefully 2011 will be better and I will be Stronger, Happier, and Enjoy life more better! God Bless You All Joanna

If I ever come back to this world in another life I plan on marrying a woman with only one tooth......... Must have spent close to 10 grand on her mouth already. Just found out that Jean needs another $5600.00 in dental repairs. Good grief!!

Can someone who rides daily share their experience of the life span of these lights. I understand that they do light up the path really good, but the life span varies.

After lunch today, 150 miles into a 250 mile ride, my riding buddy, Ron, informed me that since our last ride (about six weeks ago) he: A. Finally retired, last Friday. B. Divorced his wife of 40+ years C. Is selling his house and moving to Brazil in a couple of weeks D. His son is storing the bike for him and he will be back in March to see the doctor and wants to ride again then. And that was that. I just said, "Ok, cool." and we went outside to talk to a guy about the custom paint on his Harley night-train. Surreal, but I have then decided that rider friends are just lower maintenance than other friends and life is just the crap that happens between rides.

its been a real hard day for me today. im now the last man standing. when i joined the army back in 1977 5 of us hooked up and went in together. there was crazy bill anderson. born 1957 died 1988. outlaw john walker. born 1956 died 2008. alittle out there. dave olson. born 1958 died 2008. and today old wild cat. eugene (sonny) siltman. born 1957 died 2010. decide that life was not worth living any more. and decide he wanted to go home. and took his own life.. then my sisters verry best friend lost her battle with cancer. sometimes i wonder what goes through a persons mind to do this? how bad are the demons that tormented him. why did he fool all of us. he seemed all right last time i saw him? we all did one thing in life we wanted to do after our time with the service. we rode our honda 750.s from mn to az and back. what great memories. the 2 of us where hopeing that we could get our bikes in good enough shape for a long ride again. but at last he wont be there. thats why some how some way. i have to get the venture in great shape for next year. and i will get it done. i need one last long ride. they where my friends from my youth and past. i thank the lord for all of you. my new friends. in my middle years. just remember ride like it might be your last and enjoy gods world. peace my brothers and sisters

I looked at a web site posted by "Hunter 1500" about the Guardian bells and found this verse at the bottom of the page, I thought it put into perspective why each of us rides, not just Venture's but any motorcycle and should....for those who did not see it...be shared. We are all family Ian http://www.moccsplace.com/images/gif/twinkle.gif Our lives each touch a chord with all we encounter. That chord sounds out in a song that plays only a memory of times passed by. So sweet the passage of time, so bitter the memories of people passed by. We have but one life, and no matter how good or bad, we have the ability to shape the lives around us. In our own worlds we are miles apart, separated by our beliefs, our understandings, and our view on our world. The tides that bind us is friendship and common bonds that sweep forth and turn the tides that ravage human kind. We are connected in a single effort to belong together, and be a family of bikers. On our steeds we are set free, the problems of the world no longer apply. We find our peace, and each other. It is on the road we search, and our steeds take us far. We gather those who would accept us, and pass by those that will not. We share our love of riding, and our pain of loss. Each of us carries the scars left by a world not so understanding, but through all we endure we have each other. If you accomplish no more than this you have touched my life and made one person feel not so alone. You have given me a family that I never had, and welcomed me faithfully. I may be different from every one else, but truly on the road we are all brothers and sisters. Keep your rides safe, and let us meet and share a toast to new friendships, and better rides ahead. No one is the least in our band, no one, is rejected, when we are cruising together. --Mike Burnham "DrMikeRB"

hello im realy having a hard time with this. i just found out my neighbor who got married a few months ago. and has been living here next door for over a year has married a child molster. he beat and sexualy abused a 8 year old. his niece. he served just 3 years for this. but must register for life? my problem is i baby sit a 13 year old great niece and well she,s starting to fill out. i told her mom my niece about this and her grandma my sister. well it turns out she can no longer come here. and it breaks my heart. as she likes to walk along the railroad tracks and along the river with me. i know in a few years she will be grown up and do thing,s most teens do and that wont include her great uncle to much. i tould my landlord i been here going on 3 years and i dont think i should have to live with the fact that i now have to give up a part of my life. and she said. he did his time i cant refuse him or her the right to a place to live? and what he did just makes me want to punch the **** out of him. well i guess i ranted enough. thanks for letting me get this off my chest oldgoat

One of my co workers was T-boned on his bike (Honda 500) this morning on his way into work. Details are still a little sketchy. What I do know so far The cage that hit him ran a stop sign. He was transported by Flight for Life helicopter from the main hospital here in Racine to a major medical complex in Milwaukee. I know that he has multiple compound fractures of the leg and foot. I do know that he wears a helmet so I hope that end of him is OK.

Got the brake light fixed and time for "road test". Called RandyA and ask him if his purple beast didn't look lonely sitting out in the garage. So arrangements were made and I was out the door and gone. Great weather, no place to be and no time to be there. How much better can life be! Thanks Randy for leading the way. Wiping the grin from my face my take more than Plexus !! SGN Just had to share, now please somebody pass the biscuits ....

:thumbsup2:I want to thank Randy very much for using his carbtune on my RSTC. It made such a big difference already. So much smoother. Can't wait to see the long term benefits. Again thank you Randy for allowing me to disrupt your life for an hour.

Ron and I have been riding motorcycles for well over 30 years, like many of you. Motorcycling is what has kept us enthusiastic about life and has given us so many wonderful memories and experiences. It is what makes our relationship strong and keeps us with a very mutual interest. Have you ever given any thought as to, if you did not have motorcycling in your life, what would the alternative be? Everything I can think of in our life, other than our children and our granddaughter would be separate interests. Ron's interests are all technical, and mechanical. I am not that at all. Point of this whole post? Thank the Lord for Motorcycling in our lives, it makes all the difference. We are blessed. Yama Mama:ice_awesome-vi46644

Ok...so what is the purpose of a crotch rocket on the streets and highways? I've been passed once again in my lane on the highway by some crotch rockets, while I was doing 105km's in a 90 zone. What's with that? Are they sold at the dealerships to specifically race on he road? Are they for the dreamer that pretends he is part of the AMA? Is it so he can attract attention for everyone to see him speed? Is it the ultimate adrenaline rush, fun and need for speed? I suppose everyone has a reason and I'm glad that we have the freedom to buy these things, but what is the purpose? Endangering someone's life is not a rush. I would like to live a long life without someone's help to end it sooner. End of rant!

Hello everyone My wife found this sight and told me to let y'all know where I've been. For those who know me and the ones that don't. I'm doing as well as I can be. On 2-21-2010 I had a stroke. The side effects from this is that I have no life history memory from berth tell 2-23-2010 and now I am also having seizures. The worst thing about this is I have Six children and Ten grand-kids that I don't remember. This is very hard on me not remembering people and things and the Doctor won't let me drive either. I'm working on getting the seizures under control. Maybe then the doc will let me ride. Well all this typing in kind of hard for me to do right now with having to learn where all the keys are . So I'll stop for now. Thanks George C.

Lets all be careful out there even at stop lights. Watch those mirrors while you wait. ROSENBERG, Texas -- A Marine survived two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan only to lose his life in a crash at home. You always hope you wake up and it's a dream, but the reality is he's not gonna be back," father Dwanye Stidman said. Cpl. David Stidman, 23, returned home to Rosenberg about four months ago. Instead of spending quality time together, fishing and working at the family's manufacturing business, Dwayne Stidman is making arrangements for his only son's funeral. "It was very heart-wrenching when I got his belongings back," Stidman said. Police said the Marine was at the intersection of F.M. 762 and Brazos Center Boulevard at about 12:45 a.m. Monday when his motorcycle was rammed from behind by a pickup truck. Authorities said the driver, Sean McGuire, 33, was arrested shortly after the wreck and accused of driving under the influence. "Of course, you're angry and you have all of the emotions from guilt of why did I live and he had to die?" Dwayne Stidman said. This father's guilt comes after his son returned to help him recuperate after he, too, was hit by an alleged drunken driver and badly injured while riding his motorcycle. "He was willing to stop his life … to come back and help me out," Dwayne Stidman said. The father wants to repay the favor by pushing for tighter penalties for those who chose to drive drunk and drive. "Its just something ... we need to make sure it does not happen to someone else," he said. He said it's especially important because for the rest of his life he'll have to go on without his son, his best friend and proudest joy. "I lost my son and I will miss him beyond words," he said. "I hope to see him when I get there, too."

This is for all the dads here................. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZa7hU6tP_s&feature=player_embedded#]YouTube- COTM - Dad Life[/ame]!

I'm about to turn over 40,000 miles on my bike and I'll be leaving for a 4500 mile trip through the CO mountains in a few weeks. Is the clutch something that I should be concerned about? What is the normal life for a clutch. I do a lot of city riding so I may use the clutch more than some of you. I'll replace it before the trip if I'm getting close to the useful life of the clutch. Dennis