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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 17, 2017 19:37:58 GMT -5
Hey boyz n' gurlz...
Just a quick reminder to be sure to keep your tire-pressure up.This season, I've had a lot of health issues and rode very little at all. Last week, I was able to run some errands on "Minnie Mouse" and simply did the "tire-kick" to see if the rubber was aired-up. I also regularly watch the appearance of the tires with the scoot on the side-stand. If either tire is very soft, it shows slightly when weight is on the wheels by the tires exhibiting a slight "soft" look. So, yesterday I took time to go over the whole scoot just to be sure all was in order, as I had to get a state inspection and plates renewed.
Both tires were down to 22 pounds... Not soft enough to show, but too low for proper riding. Past experience proved my particular scoot runs best with 34 pounds of air in both tires. So... I aired them up. The difference in performance was VERY noticeable. Much greater than expected... Acceleration was downright frisky, and she'd spool up to 70+ in no time at all. I mean like RIGHT NOW!!! AMAZING! I'd actually forgotten how much difference tire pressure makes.
No exaggeration, the old scoot felt like she had 3 or 4 more hp! How fast we forget things we should take for granted... At least at my age... We all know proper tire pressure makes a difference in safety and performance, but going from the marginal 22 pounds to 34 pounds made so much difference in acceleration and reaching freeway speed that I'm still amazed! My rear tire is a real PIA to check and inflate, and, my tires don't lose much air but left alone a whole season does bring them down to below 25 pounds. So you can be sure I'll be much more attentive to proper inflation... That recent "fill up" made the old Mouse feel like she had a turbocharger slapped on... LOL! 
Ride safe one and all!Leo in Texas
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 17, 2017 19:11:26 GMT -5
Lostforawhile,
I do commensurate with your observation on a new generation of riders... In fact, there's a whole new generation of people in-general who pride themselves on being world-class jerks.
That being said, there ARE a few distinctly separate classes of Harley riders... The hard-core organized outlaw chopper boys who are not going to be friendly to anyone... Stay clear of them. Then there's the old geezers like me who still don't have enough arthritis to keep them off the big bikes... THEY are likely to be very friendly and accepting of anyone on any ride... And the younger affluent guys (and gals) who ride Hogs simply "because they can afford a $50K bagger..." Those are a crap-shoot. Some may be nice, some may not.
Sadly, I'm old enough to remember when driving a Japanese (or German) car would keep you from getting a job, and even get you beaten or killed... Driving your car "built by the enemy" was akin to a Black guy in KKK territory... OR, a white guy on Black Panther turf.
I'm at the age where I just enjoy it when someone treats me with respect, and try to forgive and forget when somebody acts the fool...
I see that Harley Davidson is now offering some smaller V-twins at affordable prices. Could be that will change the landscape by getting a whole new genre of HD bikers craving that "potato-potato-potato" loping engine throb and V-twin styling at a price that doesn't surpass the sticker on a new family sedan...
I guess that if I woke up tomorrow free of arthritis and with plenty of money, I'd end up riding a new Indian Chief... They ARE sweet!!! And I'm sure even THAT choice would tick-off some Harley riders...
Like they say: "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you'll never please everybody..." Or something like that. If someone is not helping you pay your bills, don't worry what they think of you.
Ride safe, and DO enjoy WHATEVER you ride, from a bicycle to a crotch-rocket!
Leo (still happy ridin' "Minnie Mouse") in Texas
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 16, 2017 18:07:54 GMT -5
the image that people on Harleys project, or try to act like is not winning over riders either, I was on the scooter the other day, and two guys on a Harley pulled up next to me and started yelling insults, fag,queer, pussy etc, if I could have afforded to go to jail, I would have removed at least one of them from that bike, I'm out here having fun riding my little scooter, I'm out here in the freezing cold, and wind, the same as they are, I have to deal with the same idiots on the road they do, why can't people enjoy riding and worry about the cagers, instead of each other?
I'm really sorry you had that happen... Probably the result of too much party smoke and drink... LOL!
I'll always have a soft spot in my old heart for Hog jockeys, having been one for a half-century... Fortunately, I have not had a single negative experience with either chopper-jockeys, baggers or crotch-rocket boys in ten years of riding scooters here. Sometimes I'll fall in with some bikers and be invited to ride with them. Generally a pretty friendly bunch, although I do stay well clear of the organized hard-core gangs in colors. They don't welcome any outside contact whatsoever. I was an outlaw for many years, and respect their code of autonomy... Not to do so these days can get you killed in a New York minute.My friendly reception could be the friendly attitudes are due to my gray hair and arthritis, making it obvious why I'm on a step-through scoot instead of a chopper... LOL! Just ignore the idiots, and enjoy the ride... ANYTHING on two wheels is more fun than a car... Except of course in bad weather... LOL! Ride safe!Leo in Texas |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 14, 2017 22:56:17 GMT -5
Great post! Have a bone on the Old Chopper Guy!  |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 12, 2017 19:28:02 GMT -5
A dead tie with me too... Both were over-the-top badazzes...
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 11, 2017 0:30:44 GMT -5
I wonder if he was the basis for the song--
Ah, I think this one came out (no pun intended... LOL!) before the blue guy appeared... Being from that folk-song era, I imagine that song was inspired more by "smoking materials" than anything else... PP&M may have just been puffin' that magic dragon while watching civil rights commentaries. It might have fit in with such classics as... "I'm in Love with Mary Jane" "Fergit the 6-Pack, Pass Me a Can-A-Bis" and "Gimmie a Sacky Wacky Tobacky"... LOLOLOL! Leo (thinkin' I may have me a medicinal cana-beer!) in Texas... |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 11, 2017 0:08:58 GMT -5
Chewbaca, No thanks...  I'll happily stick with my old white self, and red neck... LOL! |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 9, 2017 23:43:34 GMT -5
Spandi,
Good idea! The resolve exhibited by Churchill and all the allied leaders during WWII is monumental. One of my FAVORITE tales of the Battle of Britain concerned Hermann Goering... As commander of the Luftwaffe during that brutal campaign, Hitler visited the scene on Germany's side and bluntly demanded of Goering "What do you NEED to win this battle?" Goering replied: "Give me a squadron of Spitfires!".He must have been on VERY good terms with der Fuhrer to have kept from being immediately executed...  I'm sure Sir Winston had his day made when he learned of that conversation! 
Ride safe, and watch out for the Hun in the Sun!Leo
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 8, 2017 22:08:21 GMT -5
If more states made lane splitting legal, I have no doubt that sales of two wheeled motorized transportation would increase significantly. Lane splitting, though hazardous, would slice my commute time in half.
You definitely ARE right... Believe it or not, my old Kymco Grandvista 250 has electric folding mirrors which the manual explains are for lane-splitting! Sorta sobering, since they don't extend more than a few inches wider than my arthritic old knees... LOL!
However, that practice is too "adventurous" for this old geezer. In fifty+ years of riding, I've seen TOO many bikers squashed like a grape between two vehicles (sometimes accidental, and sometimes intentional)... sometimes fatal, and always with serious injury. Lane-splitting is common in countries where 2-wheel rides are plentiful, and FILL the roads. It's just "expected" for riders to take advantage of their narrow size, and it's legal in many places. Problem is, in America, people are sorta "nose-blind" to bikes.
American drivers have a long-term hatred for ANYTHING on 2 wheels... And when a rider uses his/her narrow profile advantage to get AHEAD of them, they go ballistic... Squashing a biker seldom generates any remorse... Only an attitude of "the jerk deserved what I gave him 'cause he's riding a bike"... That sorry attitude even goes for hapless BICYCLE riders... It's the old movie mantra "the only GOOD 'whatever' is a DEAD 'whatever'..." Insert your own race, gender, occupation, etc.  If your reflexes are very quick, and your peripheral vision is good, lane-splitting WILL save a LOT of time on a drive... But keep in mind it might take a decade of American roads being inundated by scooters and cycles (like Asia, Europe, etc.) before a new generation of U.S. drivers will tolerate us sneaking between them at stoplights and getting ahead of their 2-ton behemoths... LO not so L... Even where legal, be VERY cautious, absolutely knowing you'll be ticking-off two drivers who may have you in their sights at the NEXT traffic light... or even worse, get behind you on the freeway where you top out at 70, and they can do over 100... EEEWWW!
Sometimes you're the fly, and THEY are the fly-swatter... Ride safe, Leo (leaving "Minnie Mouse's folding mirrors open except when parking in narrow places) in Texas |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 8, 2017 21:43:18 GMT -5
I bet that blue guy gets tired of the Smurf jokes.
HOO-HAA... I'll bet he does too!!! He may have missed his calling as front man for "The Blue Man Group"... LOL  It was MANY years ago that I saw him on a TV talk-show, and he garnered some national attention... Sadly he apparently passed away a while back, at the age of 62, thus making extinct, a whole race... Such is life!  Think I'll find a music site and listen to "Am I Blue?" in tribute... Yup! Leo (blue from 22 degree weather!) in Texas |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 6, 2017 22:49:06 GMT -5
Yeah, the Grinch...
Pretty macho to be GREEN too... Reminds me of that ONE blue guy out there. Talk about a MINORITY! There MUST be another blue person somewhere... LOL!
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 6, 2017 22:24:29 GMT -5
Sorry, no video... That was many years before I had any kind of video camera.
We had a shooting get together at a ranch belonging to an associate of my stepson, a Lockheed exec. He had a thousand-yard range and there were a lot of us there with whatever toys we had. We placed 100 water-filled milk jugs at the hundred-yard mark... The little AK underfolder in .223 Rem. was such a hit that it got passed around among a dozen guys. The property owner had a pretty much "unlimited" (many THOUSANDS of rounds) supply of .223, 7.62x39 and .308 ammo free to all to use.
My AK got shot semi-auto as fast as mags could be loaded and passed around, and somewhere around 1,000 rounds it got passed back to me, wood smoking, barrel glowing dull red, from the forward chamber area, to about 2-inches down the bore. I set it down to cool and the top wood started to flame up. Believe me, you CAN light up the wood firing semi-auto at around 300 rpm...
"Why do this to my rifle?" Didn't do it intentionally... Guys just kept shooting... When you're having fun, on somebody else's nickel, who wants to stop? LOL! Please note in the AK meltdown video, even after the stock was BLAZING it never did cook-off rounds. The action finally seized. I'll bet even after THAT torture the AK will still operate fine once cooled off.
I tossed a range towel on it, smothering the fire and let it finish cooling.
No cook-offs. Only cook-off I ever experienced was in the Army firing a select-fire M14 in 7.62 Nato (.308 Win.). We were on range maintenance detail and had to expend all ammo left from training sessions. It was not brought back to the armory for re-use. That cook-off happened after around 700 rounds full-auto, so we took a break to let it cool.
The most upsetting "happening" back then was with early M16 rifles and bad ammo. The 16 was just being first issued and trouble-prone... Not uncommon for a trigger pull with no report... Not a dud, not a squib, but round FIRED and bullet stuck in the barrel. All pressure (55K psi) remaining sealed inside barrel and chamber. When the bolt was pulled open, EVERYTHING exited out the ejection port; fragmented brass, and high-velocity gases... Very, VERY dangerous.
I still have that .223 AK, and it still functions 100%. It's my last resort "go to" gun. AK enthusiasts tell me no cook-off because of the generous tolerances, air-flow, etc. I'm no AK expert, so I'll take their word for it. Nothing short of the 1911 .45 is as reliable as the AK.
And yes, ON the record, I served my entire hitch in Psywar in GERMANY coordinating combat operations. OFF the record, neither you, nor anyone else except my men will ever know.
So... You can shove the "pogue" insult along with the "squid"... I've been MORE than tolerant with you. Give it a rest. Mission Support Systems was headquartered in Karlsruhe, at Gerzewski Kacern. There were no facilities in-country yet (1967-1970). We had to work out of Germany since the early computer systems were there. You serve where you're sent. We also coordinated operations from there that can't be talked about even now. That's why I needed a COSMIC clearance. I have NO problem with armed combat, in OR out of the military. Have a Merry Christmas (and I mean that). I'm focusing on spending my time with friends and family who KNOW me, and therefore RESPECT me.
I won't be handing out insults and disrespect for Christmas, only prayers and best wishes...
Leo (signing off) in Texas
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 6, 2017 22:00:19 GMT -5
Very interesting!
If the US economy gets WORSE, this phenomenon will likely grow. If the job market gets better, Americans will still probably cling to cars and trucks for daily driving. Americans are pretty creative... In my case, I drive a $7,000 used Honda Accord that is like new. Still, when possible I ride my scooter for daily errands. It is cheap to insure and drive, and fun too.
My Wife's health just will not allow her to ride on the scooter anymore, so a car is a must for her monthly trips to doctors, and any trips to see family, etc.
Thanks for posting! Have a bone!
Leo in Texas
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 4, 2017 23:38:16 GMT -5
I think the big deal here is OPPOSABLE thumbs... 
Of course, our monkey pals' TAILS are sorta like a FIFTH arm... LOL!
Then, there ARE those of us who missed out on evolution altogether... Sorta lends new meaning to "Gimmie five, bro" 
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Post by oldchopperguy on Dec 4, 2017 23:12:36 GMT -5
the replacement pins for my cdi box plug are supposed to be here in the morning, I had the scooter running for a little while, before the ground pin gave up for good. Vega helmets also sent me replacement vents, after one of my vents blew off, before all my scooter parts started self destructing at one time. I had kept forgetting to call them, they had never heard of losing a vent, but it was on there before I left, and gone when I got home. Hope you do get all the bugs out of your scoot! Once they're "right" they are a joy! Ride safe...Leo in Texas |
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