UPS is coming! UPS is coming!!!

That’s right, Friday January 21, 2011, UPS stopped by the compound and dropped off three boxes.

Oh yea, my Memphis shade fairing is here...


The plan, wait till Saturday afternoon and put it on with a co-worker buddy Dave’s help…one problem, I could not wait, so I got started on it Friday night around 7:00pm. The fairing comes in three boxes, one has the fairing, one has the windshield and one has the quick release brackets that hold it on.

I started by taking my stock windshield off,

this proved to be the hardest part of the job. I had to first remove the windshield, then to get the bottom bracket off I had to remove the headlight,

then to get the upper bracket off I had to remove the nuts that hold the handle bars on.

Done, time to hang the stock windshield on the wall.

Now all that is required to mount the batwing is…

One: Mount the bracket on the batwing

Two: place the clamp on the fork near the lower triple tree

Three: place the clamp on the fork near the top of the triple tree

Four: the bracket that holds the throttle, brake and clutch cable was too close to the fork and would not let the clamp fit around the fork near the upper triple tree.

Five: time for modification of the cable bracket by drilling out the bolt hole to move it over a little.

Six: still could not move the bracket over enough, time for the saw, I cut it into to two pieces and it worked fine.

Seven: Installed the fairing and did the final adjustment.

Eight: installed the windshield, with three bolts.

Nine: done!!!

I think it looks great, took it for a test drive this afternoon and it blocked the wind great, it came with a black gel-coat that matches the paint on my bike great; no painting required. I'll post more later, after I have had a chance to try it on the interstate.


Big Al

The long way home

Rather you ride a

Suzuki,

Harley or

YAMAHA

anything on two wheels; three if you count tikes (I do) rather you are a

writer,

doctor,

school teacher

or even a hardcore outlaw biker,

 we all have one thing in common.

I’m sure at one time or another we all take “the long way home” from time to time. Think about it (I did today) you get off work, and all of a sudden you find yourself taking a side road that takes you home but not in the straightest route. As I was cruising down a side country road

to my house adding at least another 15 or 20 miles to my trip home…this is something almost never do while riding in a car…It got me thinking…Surely I’m not the only one doing this…am I?

Just something to think about…As I said before…I DID.
Big Al

Harley Davison and the Yamaha man take on Wiggins, Mississippi

Saturday, January 23, 2010…9:30am

Time to get this Wiggins trip started…after a few text messages that went something like this… (me)”we still on for the Wiggins trip…weather looks great 60’s and 70’s”…”(David) yep meet me at my house around 10:00am.” (Me) “OK”…GUY TALK…YOU GIRLS JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND. Ha-HA

I gassed the mighty Yamaha up and off to David’s house I went. As I pulled into his driveway, I got my first look at his new Harley…well new to David anyway…let me explain…just the day before David found himself at Chunky River Harley Davidson in Meridian.

http://chunkyriverharley-davidson.com/

Signing his life away on a 2008 police addition FLHTP electric glide, I think it has somewhere around 7800 miles on it. I hate to admit this but I forgot to take any close up photos of the bike so I'll pull some off chunky river’s web site…as they have two more they want to sell.

David greeted me at the door and I got the short tour around the house as his wife Dana and his daughter Amy chased a neighbor’s crazy dog

around the back yard while David and I stayed safely out of harms way on the back deck watching the action from above. (As it should be) you know the old saying “women and children first” that was my point, let them go first and see if the dog is a threat.

After a quick look over of the bike, Amy brought out David’s helmet. Hmmm, what can I say about this helmet? I have to be honest, it looked like something from star wars to me. The first time I saw a photo of it was on Facebook on Friday and I made a comment about it. It looked like something Luke would wear while fighting the death star in the Star Wars movie…

Well little Amy took this to heart and decided to decorate her daddy’s helmet. Out came the blue painter tape and in only a few short hours…the very much new and approved motorcycle helmet.

GREAT JOB AMY!!! Only one problem…as I was looking for a star wars helmet photo on the web…I found out that blue strips were already being placed on white helmets…

hope there is no patents pending…ha-ha.

Ok now we were on the road, we made a quick stop across the road at the high school parking lot so David could do a little stop and go practice before the trip.

Practice went great. I snapped a few photos, then down Hwy. 42 we went until we reached Hwy 29 were we took a right. Hwy 29 is a great motorcycle road,

very few cars and gentle curves, this is where David showed me the power of his new COP bike as he passed me and took the lead. We soon crossed Hwy 98 where we pulled in to gas up the Harley.

Then once again we were on our way down 29, me in the lead, as I wanted to stop off at a hiking trail I hiked a long time ago. We took a break, snapped a few photos

and soon were on our way again…only this time with a twist…I was on the Harley and David was on the Yamaha. Wow, what a ride…I have got to get a bigger bike, the extra horsepower, the weight, and the sixth gear…oh do I dream about a sixth gear (My bike is a five speed). A few minutes later we pulled into downtown Wiggins, first stop… Wards...

time for a burger and fries. As we were getting off the bike I was asked the question how do I like the bike…Hmmm his bike being a retired COP bike the first thing that ran through my mind was the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yil9wlfa0yo

Great bike…and yes it will become the next bluesmobile. Ha-ha.
Stay tuned for part two.
Big Al

Motorcycle saddle bag update

Well as I mention a post or two back one of the bolts had backed out of my left hand side bag.

Due to my bad luck lately I have not got around to fixing it. Until today that is…truth is I have been so sick either with the leg or now this cold stuff I now have, I have not been out of the house much. My idea was this would be a simple fix and would let me get a little fresh air. Simple fix YES, almost killed me YES, ok let me explain…my lack of movement for the last week has weaken me beyond belief. I not kidding, it took me all of fifteen minutes to do, but found myself soaked in sweat. I got to get back outside starting tomorrow, my fever is gone but congestion is still hanging on.

Ok enough about that…I thought I would snap a few photos as I went along on the process of tighten the one bolt. Turns out to get to the bolt you have to remove the saddle bag
The saddle bag is held to the mount with four star head screws,

easy to get to…

Once removed the bag comes right off, I was amazed at how heavy duty the saddle bag mount was,

it looks like it could hold an elephant. Look close and you can see the bolt that had backed out,

I also noticed it was one of two bolts that hold the left side of the back rest on also…I’m sure the wife will be happy to hear that, since she loves to lean back on the backrest during rides. Ha-ha.

A few quick turns of the socket wrench and the bolt was back in place

and yea I checked the other ones while I was there. Then I put everything back together in reverse…DONE!!!

A few people have asked me what do you carry around in the bags, so I thought I would take this time to tell them. I use the left side for my cold weather gear…tour master gloves, skull mask, neck warmer (very warm) two bungee cords (you never know when you will need them) and my sunglasses kit (I have three different lens) Right side bag not in photo, my rain suit.

Just a quick look at the saddle bag mounting system of a Yamaha V-Star 1100, seems like a little over kill to me, but at least I feel sure the bags will stay on now.

More to come
Big Al