How was your day

[vintagehoarder]

^^^ Those look like big fun VH 

 Dusty

Thanks they are!

[Muzz]

The day turned out fine, and fairly late in the morning my wife suggested a bike ride seeing the bike is shortly coming off the road for four months over winter.

Always a nice ride to Akaroa so went there for coffee and muffin for lunch.  What wombles were on the road were quickly devoured by Guzzimodo and a pleasant ride ensued.  Akaroa is one of the many bays around the edge of a rather large extinct volcano, and there is a "tourist drive" which runs around the edge of the rim and from which a number of other bays can be accessed from.  I had never done this summit road so on the way home I decided that today was the day.

Well, what a beauty. Smallblock country indeed.   It was  all the way.  Dived in to two of the bays, and only limited it to two of the bays because it was a fair distance down to them and the sun was getting low in the sky.  Fantastic days riding.

If anyone decides to come to Christchurch and you have a bike you just have to do it!

[Huzo]

How was my day Dusty...?
I’ve had worse..

[Muzz]

How was my day Dusty...?
I’ve had worse..

Weather not treating you kindly huh?

[mechanicsavant]

Doing ok had my hip replacement teus. Home wed. Told pt my 30day goal was to ride again.as of Fri. Walking without crutches & incision is the worst pain about a 3-4  see ya on the road soon !

[Penderic]

Happy Joy Happy Joy Joy.

Summertime like weather for the next few days!

Gonna get in the mood. Shirt off. Wax On!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi8W93aJG_U

[oldbike54]

 Mostly good news 

 Dusty

[tcunnien]

So far so good. Just spent the morning wrangling 110 FFA and 4-H market pigs through the scales at the fairgrounds.

[Huzo]

Weather not treating you kindly huh?

Just rode up to Old  Bolingbroke in Lincolnshire.
Weather was squalls on and off, but eminently manageable.
Paul on his Bellagio, Serena on her Cali.
Nah, all in all pretty darn good. We’re parked up here tonight and tomorrow night, then I’m off down to Dover Monday and cross the channel on Tuesday morning for Paris.
Here at the moment.


image hosting

[Gliderjohn]

Didn't ride today but got current for the season in the glider today.












GliderJohn

[Kent in Upstate NY]

Not too sunny but not too cold. Rode to central Vermont and back on my Stelvio. No speeding tickets but I probably deserved one. I installed a Bluetooth receiver in my Nolan and it worked a treat.

[Huzo]

Didn't ride today but got current for the season in the glider today.












GliderJohn

Do you guys use high tow throughout the launch ?
ie, above the slipstream as in your photo ?
Was last year for me..

[Gliderjohn]

High tow throughout is pretty much standard in the USA.
GliderJohn

[Chuck in Indiana]

Yet another nasty rainy day in Indiana.  I've been thinking of taking over the Kid's homebuilt airplane project, and researched Corvair engine conversion stuff all day.
 2019-05-05_08-22-59 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr

[oldbike54]

 Great afternoon , we had an impromptu  block party , all of the kids and adults out playing in the really nice weather . Kinda cool when the adults and the kids all mention my presence and that is the reason everyone knows each other . Yeah , I'm patting my own back a bit 

 Anyway , it was fun , life is good , one of the guys asked about buying a Guzzi as a first bike 

 Dusty

[Muzz]

Ya done good Dusty.

Appreciate the what must be sometimes thankless task you do on WG.

[Penderic]

Sold my main ride today, 2003 Ram Laredo Diesel, best 4 wheel vehicle that I have ever owned so far. Hardly any problems that I couldn't take care myself. In great shape. Gave it to a good friend, at a great bargain price - who will use it a lot - I didnt have the need to drive it much - a few times yearly to pick a ton of gravel, lumber, appliances, propane ..... very handy for Mr. Fix It/Renovator/Farm hand. I had her for 14 years - the usual time for me to wear out a vehicle, but this is the only one car/truck came through a decade without needing a major thing.

Love it. But it is big. Big! Big in a world of small parking tight spaces and expensive fuel and my eyes aint what they used to be (next year - get new eyeballs) and I have trouble now seeing the trucks corners (until then). Sigh.
End of an era it feels like.
Just got my V7 Classic to get me through the next few days until I find a small personal car that is fun to drive, for a cheap price. I settled on the Abarth 500 Turbo 160 hp pocket-rocket, hot-hatch, instead of a electric wheelchair. Almost every Abarth reviewer I have seen driving it giggles when first shifting up the gears in sport mode.


 
Good review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F4C-BwLIjc (Describes similar feelings produced with my lil' Moto Guzzi!) 

Great feel in the twisties at legal speeds and cheap. Depreciation is very high. Used ones can be really great bargains. Anyone here has one? Other cars in the same field - Ford Fiesta ST, VW Jetta, a few others I cant remember right now - I will come back later and edit with the right model names .... later, I am pooped. Signing off ..... later... Penderic

Funny ad for Abarth: Seduction.... https://vimeo.com/32318970

[John A]

Pneumonia , and it looks like a good riding weather weekend.

[davedel44]

Never a dull moment on Galvetraz.





Typical day in the hood.

Dave
Galveston

[guzzisteve]

Just got back from my 1st ride since my 'Get-Off' Monday aft. Been trying to rush it but  right rib-cage says no. No sleep, no coughing, no sneezing, push or pulling. Still have blood in smokers mucus but it'll clear up. AND not a red cent went to the crooked medical shysters. I'll do my own, thanks.

[Ncdan]

Not a good weekend thus far. Coming down with another diverticulitis attack, first one in two years:(
I’m taking some of my antibiotics from the last attack two years ago. Maybe it’ll hold it off until Monday and I can see my DR.

[John A]

trying to stay positive. missed a killer deal on a '16 Eldo.  wife couldn't understand what it meant for me.  I would have quit the morphine and kept going no matter what. Now I don't give a damn for a while. When I shifted into third gear I couldn't even remember what she said

[balvenie]

Pneumonia , and it looks like a good riding weather weekend.

Commiserations John. Hope you are not allergic to Penicillin, like me but things have changed since then (1951) and the stuff will probably be a lot "friendlier"

[balvenie]

Forgot to mention that it's a Beautiful day in Paradise Everybody have a good one

[Lannis]

Had a great day; hot but beautiful, all the family came over to eat, play with the grandchildren, do some target shooting, bust a few tannerite targets (can't believe you can actually buy that stuff legally here), barbequed some great ribs and ate a huge smoked salmon, and finished out by setting off a pro-level fireworks show .....

Life is good.

Lannis

[Muzz]

Excellent Lannis.

Winter here, frosts but fine days.  Bike off the road for another three months yet.

[Testarossa]

Reviving this thread. Title this entry Dust at Dusk.

I spent a couple of hours rewiring the 850T to resolve the short circuit issue, then took a break for some overdue maintenance on the Mille. She'd began running a little lumpy after the sprint up Independence Pass last week, so it was time, after three years of ownership, to check the valve clearances. Three were very tight and the right exhaust valve floppy loose. So I retorqued the heads and reset the clearances. Went for a ride and it's nice and smooth. I found no advance marks on the flywheels so the next project will be to put a degree wheel on her and reset the ignition timing.

I'd just showered and got cleaned up for dinner when Mike Sr stopped on his KTM dirt bike to invite me on an evening ride -- so I changed back and put on my boots. The XR350 was up on the stand for tires, so I took the F650. Probably to punish me for the pace on Independence Pass, Mike rabbited off up Stevens Gulch on the Forest Service road -- pea gravel over packed clay. My bike, on Kenda K761 tires, which are really 90/10 road-oriented, did fine on packed smooth clay but was squirrely in the marbles and painful on washboard. I'm still learning about riding on dirt -- a lot of stuff is the reverse of my asphalt instincts. For instance the front brake on a road bike compresses the forks, tightening the turn, whereas on gravel the front brake just makes the front tire plow, straightening the turn -- oversteer vs understeer.  And where I put my head and shoulders into the turn on pavement, on dirt you stay upright, lean the bike over and weight the outside peg -- like skiing, sort of.

We also had to slow down a couple of times for cattle. It's free range up there. You need to watch the calves, who can be frisky and unpredictable. After about 22 miles, Mike pulled off at the edge of a meadow, below a reservoir at 10,000 feet. He wanted to collect mushrooms for the kitchen, and pulled a cloth grocery bag out of his pocket. As he headed into the woods, I suddenly realized that my tires were inflated to 30 lb for pavement, and would probably work a lot better at a lower pressure. So I let some air out, guesstimating the amount (next time I'll bring a tire gauge). Then I poked around at the edge of the woods and spotted some amaritas, which it was probably not a good idea to take home.

It was eight pm and getting dusky. I was nervous about running into cattle in the dark. Mike reappeared with more than five pounds of huge morels. He rode conservatively on the way down, balancing the bag on his lap and mostly riding with just his right hand. My softer tires were much more comfortable on washboard and had way better grip on the loose stuff.  I was able to keep up easily but had to drop back because of the dust Mike kicked up. I realized that I'd been riding with my shoulders locked up stiff, and relaxed a lot.

Got home just as I really needed the headlight. Gail wanted to know why I had no morels for her.

[oldbike54]

 COOL 

 Well , not here it isn't , we are currently experiencing conditions similar to a wet sauna  Apparently Ft Smith AR just down the Arkansas river about 70 miles saw a temperature of 97 over a dewpoint of 84 degrees yesterday , about the same today . Just staying inside until late tonight when a cool front is forecast , how did I ever work outside in these conditions ?

 At least this allows me to catch up on some Dr Who episodes 

 Dusty

[balvenie]

Dr. Who is always a Good Idea

[oldbike54]

 Not so great , just watched a man die from a stab wound . This really sucks .

 Dusty