Should have done this in the first place

Well, Annie is now equipped with Kuryakyn forward controls, which I should have bought from the get-go instead of screwing around with that bargain-basement crap.  Still decent on the price, but much better quality.

 

It was also time for the 5K service, so while I was changing the fluids, I took the opportunity to replace the chrome primary cover with a wrinkle black one($150 on eBay.  Good deal).

I just didn't like the black inner primary coupled with a chrome outer.  Go all chrome or all black, but not half-and-half.  (I feel the same way about chromed Softail swingarms.)  For that reason, I also replaced the raw aluminum clamp that rests on a black riser...

...and the aluminum levers protruding from black control perches.

(Yes, my garage is a mess.  First World Problems.)

It may seem like a contradiction to leave the chrome access plate and derby cover, but it's not.  Those are accent pieces, not one half of a unit.  Once I get around to installing a belt primary, I'll probably do something interesting with those bits, but one thing at a time.

You get what you pay for...

So, as I posted a while back, I got myself a Harley.  She was beautiful when I bought her...

...but I wanted to make a few changes.  The turn signals are gone, replaced by integrated mirror LED lights...

...the barn-door windshield has been replaced by something sportier, the bars are now black T-bars with Avon grips...

...the wimpy Fox shocks were ditched in favor of stouter (and lower) Progressive Suspension units...

...the taillight is now a smoked LED box and the rear signals are smoked red LEDs at the ends of the fender struts...

...and I have forward controls.  Or, I should say, I had forward controls.

I figured they were a great deal.  About $280, and they'd bolt right up to my Dyna.  Yeah, well, they did bolt right up, but that was the best thing about them.

A couple of weeks after I put them on, I was riding to work, went to downshift and...nothing.  The lever went right down and stayed there.  Oh, crap.  I nursed it into the Maverick station with much swearing and clutch abuse, parked it and tried to figure out what happened.

OK, the pinch bolt on the lever worked loose.  No big, I'll just get that sucker tightened up.  I had a set of 4" grip pliers, so I clamped them on the bolt and gave it some muscle.  They did nothing but chew the bolt up.  I couldn't get enough grip to close up the gap properly.  I'd find out why later.

First things first, I had to get to work.  So I grabbed the linkage, put it in second and headed for the hardware store, powershifting by hand all the way and getting there seven minutes before they closed.  My tool bag now has a complete set of allen keys, which I should have had in the first place.  I cranked the bolt down, finally getting enough purchase, and headed to work.

So now the pinch bolt looks like the north end of a southbound dog.  I figured I'd get a new one and replace it.  This was the point where I should have left well enough alone.  Here's what these cheap Chinese pieces of junk ended up looking like.  Not only did the threads inside the lever strip out, but the splines rounded right off the inner lever!!

See all those dents?  That happened when I was desperately trying to close the gap by smacking the lever with the only tool I had:  a cheapo 4" monkey wrench.  I could see scratching the chrome, but flat-out denting the thickest part of the lever??  And now, looking at those splines, it's small wonder I couldn't get the freakin' thing to grip.

This is not metal.  This is chrome-plated cheese.  Until the Chinese get a handle on how to make actual steel, I'm buying American, thanks.  New forwards are on the way, and I'll post an update when they're on.

'Tis the season

I'm not arachnophobic.  I generally leave most spiders alone, outside of Black Widows, Brown Recluses and Wolf Spiders.  I don't really have an issue with tarantulas--in fact, I kind of like the creepy little hairballs.


However, when one crawls up out of the defroster and starts running around on my dashboard at 70mph, I don't like 'em that much.  Yes, a bit of a freakout occurred, I pulled over and commenced swatting at him, and he lost a leg before disappearing down the vents again.  Hopefully he left the premises, or at least died quickly.  It was only an adolescent, and I kind of feel bad, but you scare the humans at your own peril, dude.


Funny how this has never happened to me before, and now, right around Halloween?  Try and tell me I didn't just get punked by God.  :)

Enjoy the Silence

Depeche Mode taken to a whole new level.  Have some tissues handy.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-5yXA6jiCZg

A dose of truth

Guys, are you desperately trying to get laid, without success?  Or, maybe you're successful in your endeavors, but it just doesn't seem to be satisfying?  Heed the words of this gentleman:

If you want to get laid, reverse this concept and instead, choose to be a gentleman. It pays dividends in the long haul. Everyone is trying to get laid. In fact, most girls are completely aware of this stereotype. Do you know what will throw her for a loop? Well, I believe a guy who genuinely desires building a connection, as opposed to getting laid will be different. 

I know, I know. I completely get it. To have sex with 1,000 women sounds like winning the sexual lottery, ten times over. In case you have never heard the saying, pardon my French, but I cannot count the number of times I have heard that new p**** is better than old p****. However, I will tell you from personal experience something many will have difficulty understanding, unless they have discovered a love such as mine: the mere sight of my wife’s hand gliding through her hair is an act, which eclipses all of the body exploration experiences from my past. Her hair stroke drives me that crazy. 

How is that possible? Every gesture she makes and her very presence triggers a positive memory. With this memory, I enter a sense of euphoria and while in this state, I am always in a mental realm of arousal. In this state, there is no other sexier, more beautiful and able to trigger a similar reaction. In summary, I will agree that having sex with 1,000 women sounds epic, but it pales in comparison to being in love with my wife.

I am no gentleman.  I've been around the block...let's just say, a lot.  So I can tell you from experience that this guy is spot on.  Being with one woman whom you truly love more than anything, beats banging a thousand women that you really didn't care much about when all was said and done.

When Gleeks go off

Yes, Jen's a Gleek.  But the way the show's gone downhill lately has her about to give it up.  Especially tonight's episode.  I'm sitting at the computer and I suddenly hear:

"Omigod!  You didn't just jump the shark...you jumped a whole mess of sharks!  And then got torn apart and eaten!"

Is it possible to actually sprain something laughing?

Playing with fire

So I got a birthday present from my wife...something I've wanted for years.

 

Yep, it's a welder.  It won't build a battleship or anything, but it's pretty good for anything I'd need to do.  Once I got everything set up, I decided to take a couple of lengths of scrap rebar and an old washer and make my first project.

 

It now hangs on my garage wall.  Thank You, Lord, for all the blessings You've bestowed upon me.  Please help me never to take them for granted.

Remember these names.

Andrew Ashcraft

Anthony Rose

Christopher MacKenzie

Clayton Whitted

Dustin DeFord

Garret Zuppiger

Grant McKee

Jesse Steed

Joe Thurston

John Percin Jr.

Kevin Woyjeck

Eric Marsh

Robert Caldwell

Scott Norris

Sean Misner

Travis Carter

Travis Turbyfill

Wade Parker

William "Billy" Warneke

These are the 19 men who died fighting the Yarnell Fire.  Every one of them died a hero's death.

Take a moment to remember and pray for those who stride boldly into hell on behalf of the rest of us.

May the Lord bless and keep your souls, gentlemen, and may He watch over your families and friends in this their time of grief.

Bach in an entirely new context

This is absolutely epic.

Restaurant find: San Diego

Well, my wife and I decided to take a weekend jaunt to San Diego(pictures to follow), and we found a truly wonderful sushi joint right off the beach.  Since I love good food in general and sushi in particular, I had to share this with all my nonexistent readers.

We entered Sushi Kuchi and were greeted and seated pleasantly and promptly.  Edamame with sea salt was provided as an appetizer.  For beverages, my wife had a Coke and water and I had an Asahi.

Dinner was the Salmon & Shrimp Roll for Jen and the Rose Roll for me.  Both were fantastic, in presentation and flavor.  The Salmon and Shrimp Roll came on a square plate with a lemon topped with literally flaming pink sugar. 

It had a subtle, delicate interplay of flavor and texture that kept every bite interesting.  You can see some of the Rose Roll in the background.  Its presentation was a bit more understated, but that certainly didn't harm the experience at all.  The Rose Roll has a spicy kick which--while authoritative--never crosses over the line into being overpowering. 

As we finished, we were treated to a deep-fried dumpling of lobster and crab, cut in half, sort of like an after-dinner mint for two.  Jen decided to have the Green Tea Ice Cream, which came in a just-right portion, topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup.

And the whole experience came to less than thirty-four bucks.  (You'd better believe we tipped well!)  The night before, we'd eaten at our hotel restaurant, which was about ten bucks more expensive and consisted of preprocessed frozen crap.  Thank heavens we discovered this gem of a place, to end our vacation on a high note.

If you're in San Diego for any reason, I cannot recommend SushiKuchi enough.  For quality, presentation, taste, service and value, I give them five 'Forks Up!'
 

Dang, I'm old.

I remember when the only modifications I cared about involved vehicles that went very very fast...now I'm concerned with modifying a sprinkler system.  Yep, I'm officially an Old Fart.  I'm still not rocking the black socks and garters with bermuda shorts, though...yet.

So I've got four sprinkler systems on this house.  The previous owner set them up on two different timers, for reasons I will never comprehend.  Here's the timer he had operating the lower two sets:

Yep, it's an old mechanical timer, which you actually had to screw pins into, in order to set.  On the back, it's engraved "Property of Fred Flintstone," which gives you an idea of what I was dealing with.  A while back, I was wandering around the local Ace and found a timer on clearance that didn't involve screw-pins, wheels or pterodactyl spit.  So I replaced Timer Number One.

OK, that worked well, but the upper sprinklers were still:

a)  On another timer

b)  On a timer that had been beaten to hell by the wind and wasn't working great anymore. 

So, time to get rid of this thing that had been unceremoniously tacked to the phone pole out back.

When I opened it up, it just got me more curious about the mental capacity of the previous owner.  This thing has 12 terminals.

He could have run every sprinkler in town off this one box, yet he went with the Stone Age POS pictured earlier, for the lower system.  Apparently, it was easier than running 100' of wire.  Maybe in his world.

It took me a while to get it all set up.  I tore apart the old wiring, put it together using the new input wires to the Orbit timer, ran the ground to the old ground in the upper system and couldn't understand why it wouldn't work.  I ran around in circles, both physically and mentally, until I realized:  "Common Ground" means COMMON, you jackass!!  So I ran another ground wire from the lower system ground and it worked like a charm. 

And so now all the sprinklers run off one timer.  A more pathetic thing to be proud of, you will probably never find, but I'm happy about it.

For my next trick, I'm going to do something about this...

At least I know my way around bikes better than household electrics.

Six. Years. Old.

No, I'm not talking about a young Scotch, an old tequila or that McFry I found under the seat of my truck that still hasn't decomposed.  I'm talking about the drummer in this amazing video.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g1qg9myFCqw?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 

I am dumbfounded.  Rock on, Avery!!

(HT iOTW)

UPDATE:  OK, I don't know why the embed won't work.  Try THIS.

A new immigrant

One of our soldiers repays a feline friend for his kindness...

"I'd lost hope in myself. I'd lost faith. Then all of a sudden this cat came over, and it was like ‘hey, you are you,'" he said.

But that same act of kindness made it clear to Knott that if he wanted to do what was best for Koshka, then he had to get his beloved cat out of Afghanistan and to his family home in Oregon.

"He pulled me out of one of my darkest times, so I had to pull him out of one of his darkest places," he told the station.

And people wonder why I love cats...because this is what they can do for us, if we let them.  God bless you, Sgt. Knott, and little Koshka as well.

Relationship Danger Signs

This is an article I should have read and memorized at the age of 13.  Unfortunately, it wasn't written yet, so I had to learn the hard way.

Read and pass on to any youngsters in your life.  Many of these tips work for both genders.

Knowing that your judgment is clouded, it’s important to enter any serious relationship with both your head and your heart. You need be able to distance yourself from the powerful emotions you’re likely feeling in a new relationship so that you can notice any red flags that might indicate that you’re destined for a relationship from hell. This is doubly important if you’re considering marriage.

But what sort of red flags should you be on the lookout for? While every man has his own personal relationship red flags or deal breakers, psychologists and marriage experts have found there are a few general red flags you should be aware of. Most of these are patterns of behavior in your partner that will likely (not definitely) result in a troubled relationship down the road.

Because people are usually on their best behavior at the beginning of a relationship, some of these red flags won’t appear for awhile. According to Dr. Van Epp, it’s usually around the three-month mark that deep-seated patterns start to manifest themselves. This delay is why he and other relationship experts recommend that you take romantic relationships nice and slow.

RTWT.