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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Men's Room Art.....Daytona Beach

I'm haven't gone door-to-door to discover the extent of this "art form" , but as I told you folks the other day, I was a little surprised to see the nifty, almost tattoo-quality artwork that's airbrushed onto the Men's Room walls in a couple of the notable biker bars on Main Street in Daytona Beach.


And I also don't know if the art-y work exists in the Ladies Rooms, but I'll recruit a scout and report my findings, and maybe even some pix!


So all that said, here's a group of pix I snapped in Boot Hill Saloon, Froggy's, and The Pig Stand (more pix/bars may be added). There is one....the Christmas Wreath...that was airbrushed on the front door of Boot Hill, so it's not technically in the Bathroom Art collection, but close enough to be included....

 Boot Hill Saloon

  Boot Hill Saloon

 Boot Hill Saloon

 Boot Hill Saloon

 Froggys

Froggys

Froggys

Froggys

Froggys

Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach

Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach
 
Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach

Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach

Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach

Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach

Pig Stand BBQ, Ormand Beach

Iron Horse Saloon, Ormond Beach
Traditional MR "Art"


And a PS: Getting these photos involves a lot of "pucker factor". I just timed my entrances carefully, hoping like hell no one saw me heading into the bathroom with a camera at the ready. That wouldn't be good in any establishment, and falls into the "real bad" when the establishment is a biker bar. And no, I was just not willing to risk a peek into the Ladies Room. That's begging for trouble. How could I possibly explain that to some big biker dude who's Old Lady is in there? I sure know what MY reaction would be, and it wouldn't be a friendly discussion.......

PPS I got caught taking the Pig Stand pix. Some guy came in as I was framing the shot, so I just said I wanted to send the Pork Kings pic to some friends. He just looked at me funny but didn't respond. I can only imagine what story he's telling his friends.

Enjoy
Cowboy
12/30/2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Santa does Daytona........

Ho, Ho, Ho my ass......You can have the White Christmas...I'll take a sandy beach, a little sunshine, and a couple biker bars for the Holidays, thanks. And in keeping with my habit of trying to spend each New Years Eve in someplace new, this year it's the Party In the Streets, Daytona Beach, Florida! And to make it even better, I'd load up the Harley on the new trailer and get a little riding in.....No helmet law!

Or that's the plan....


So off I went, getting on the road about 8:30 Christmas morning, heading down I-95....Snow flurries for the first 40-50 miles told me I was making the right decision and I was hoping I'd beat any heavy snowfall. Run, Cowboy, Run!

And I did run....Didn't stop for much, but as easy as the trailer pulls, the Hummer gets only half the mileage pulling the bike, so I wasn't able to pass many gas stations. Damn! I'll bet it's not getting more than 10MPG, and I'll have to check it on the way home.

There was just light traffic much of the morning, and the first major stop was Pedro's South of the Border.....Gas (again) and some munchies.


I took off again for Savannah, Georgia, where I planned to stop for the night. See, I stay in Choice Hotels all the time, so I had a free night or two waiting. Randomly, I found one of their hotels online, near a Savannah exit, and made the reservations. Much to my surprise, and almost like a Christmas present, right across the highway from the hotel were a Hooters and Harley dealer. Now, that was pretty darned remarkable, and I couldn't have planned that if I'd tried. LOL



I was able to get good home cooking, served by Brandi (are they all named Brandi?), and if I needed a new Savannah HD t-shirt (or parts), the shop was right there. By the time I got to the hotel, rain had started, so I got off 95 just in time. I covered up the bike and spent the night in Savannah.

Next morning, I gassed up yet again, heading south in a very light rain, hoping to hit Daytona about 2. The rain finally let up around 11, but the damn temperature never got above 40-41. Most of the time, it hovered around 38 which was NOT what I had planned on. I figured I'd be in a t-shirt by Jacksonville, and that wasn't happening.

Around 1, I hit Daytona, ahead of schedule, and magically found another Hooters for lunch, then checking into a little old beachside hotel, which is frozen in time, right out of the 50's. I was going to find something a little better, but the room was actually very cool, and my bike and trailer are well hidden around back. A good choice after all.






So I'm here, right....Now for the fun. I quickly found Main Street and soon after, the Boot Hill Saloon. Boot Hill just might be the template for a perfect biker-bar. Gritty, names carved in the bar, poorly lit, bras hanging up everywhere, and biker memorabilia from practically everywhere nailed wherever space was available. Great airbrushed art on any bare wall space too!




Better yet, I knew I was finally back in a biker bar when a big-titted blonde got thrown out for mouthing off to the barmaid, and just 15 minutes after I settled onto a bar stool. My kinda place, and reminded me of East Baltimore. (I did wonder if there wasn't something we could have done to smooth this over. Seems fundamentally wrong to throw a big-titted blonde out of a bar.)  

Boot Hill was a great place, and I hung out with some cool folks. I can't wait to fire up the Harley and go back. There were a few bikes in the lot this afternoon, but most folks drove. It's fucking cold! Like in the 20's tonight!

Here's some art from the Boot Hill Saloon, and a few were from the Men's Room wall. By the way, I gotta tell you, it ain't easy going into a biker bar men's room with a fucking camera, so I hope you appreciate these...I earned the damn things.




I made one last run down Beach Avenue on the way back, and found all the bike shops. Can't wait to get down there when they're open!


OK, folks, stay tuned. I'm cranking up the heat, putting on some long underwear and watching some football tonight.... Take care!

Cowboy

Sunday, December 19, 2010

I did it....the "Trailer" rumours are true (subtitle: Kendon Trailer Loading & Unloading)



After all the dust settled, there was a motorcycle trailer parked....or rather stored...up against the wall in my garage as of Sunday, December 12th. After about 43 years of giving people a hard time about trailering bikes, I've crossed over to the other side.

I have to tell you, buying a bike trailer wasn't an easy decision, beyond the simple fact of deciding that I probably needed one. For years, I lived in my own home with a yard, a driveway, and sometimes a garage. Usually I had someplace to park a small trailer, but living in the DC area, or as we say it, "inside the Beltway" typically means your place of residence has limited (or no) parking, much less your own garage. Unless you make some serious money, that is. I don't.

or 



So the decision sorta made itself. I already rent a garage for the Porsche and bike, so if I had a trailer that fit in there too, I'd solve the trailer problem without creating an additional financial drain each month....more rent for parking. And a manufacturer in California, Kendon, makes such a beast, so I was on the hunt.

Kendon Dual Rail Standup trailers go for about $2,300 new if you shop, and with a spare and utility box, the total price is about $2,700. Now I might use this damn thing 4-5 times a year, to and from the shop, and on a couple trips, so spending $2,700 wasn't going to happen, so "previously-enjoyed" seemed like the way to go. Then I had to find one, which I thought would be easy, and I figured those I found would be cheap.

Wrong on both counts.

Turns out, Kendon owners don't part with these things often, and when they do, they sure ain't giving them away. Lots of single-rails were out there, but I wanted something to haul two bikes. Used prices for a dual-rail went anywhere from $1,300 to $2,000, depending on age, accessories, etc.

There are also a few variations on the Kendon design, and there's even one outfit that sells an almost identical folding trailer on eBay, but that doesn't stand up, brand new for $1,295. It turns out that these are "Made in China" knock-offs of a Kendon, but they don't add the stand-up feature due to patent infringement restrictions.

So, before you rush off to buy one of these, think twice about loading that nice Harley up on top. Repeat after me: Made in China, Made in China.... I thought the same thing when I bought my hitch ball mount. I could have saved 20 bucks buying a Made in China version on eBay, but decided I wanted something solid and dependable pulling my Harley, made right here in the USA. I didn't want my bike and trailer passing me while southbound on 95. Or have crappy welds breaking. Or worry about that cheap axle with cheap wheel bearings. Or all the above.

So to find a Kendon........

Searches on eBay and Craigslist turned up a few, but none in my area. One guy in Virginia Beach had one, but didn't have a title, so that was out. There were a few others in Florida, and I found one in Atlanta. After contacting the Atlanta owner, we came to terms on a price, and he agreed to meet me in Charlotte, NC, to do the deal. And I'll tell ya. I paid $1,300 for my 2002, plus the gas and a night's lodging to go get it. (And yes, dinner at Hooters!) If you find a Kendon Dual-Rail for a price in that range, buy it. You will always be able to get your money back.

George and Joyce, at Speedway Harley Davidson, Concord NC

Off I went, meeting a great guy, George, and his wife, Joyce, and we exchanged some cash, took the trailer off his truck and hitched it to my Hummer. George and his wife promptly went into the Harley dealer to do some shopping (Spend that money, guys!), and I hauled the trailer back up to Alexandria where I folded it up, stood it up, and rolled it up against a wall, totally out of the way in the garage. Totally cool.




Lessons learned:

The 3-1/4 " drop hitch on a Hummer H3 was far too high. After getting back, I had to get an 8" drop which almost levels the trailer for towing.

NFG

An 8" drop ball mount levels it out far better. Not perfect, but it tows just fine.

Then I got to thinking about loading the bike on this thing. By myself. All of sudden, I realized this wasn't going to be easy. Online, folks were saying DON'T ride it up onto the trailer. Instead they recommended starting the bike, putting it in gear, and using the clutch to walk it up on the trailer while you walked alongside. I gotta tell you, that sounded kinda shaky, especially as the bike went up the ramp and you stepped up 15" onto the deck for the last few feet while balancing the bike. Fuck that. More research required.

Ideally, you'd have a wide ramp and just ride the fucker up there, with the ramp providing a place for your feet while going up or town. But with the narrow ramp that comes with it, you just sorta need to do a little Evel Knievel deal, starting at the bottom and just letting it rip, with no place to put your feet until you're up on top. Coming back down, you'd get to that point where you just had to let it roll back, catching it when you were down.

I solved the problem the cheap way and cut a piece of 3/4 plywood, fastening it to the bottom of the narrow ramp with a couple carriage bolts. It's still a little wobbly*, but the plywood supplies just enough of a safety net to get you up, or down, without incident, making loading easy. And the self-locking chocks hold the front wheel so rigid and upright that you can get off without tying it down. There's lots of time to get the straps hooked up without hurrying, or needing someone to help out. Cool.






Added this loading note, September 19, 2012: I've loaded and unloaded my Kendon trailer many, many times now, putting either the Softail, Nightster, or Road Glide up on it, and often, I've had some combination of those three bikes on it at the same time. Loading has, for the most part, gone without a hitch, but I do have one caveat: After many successful loadings, I started running them faster and faster up the ramp, until one day my front wheel got a little crossed up on the upper rail and over I went. Sideways. There was nothing hurt but my ego and a broken brake lever, but (at the risk of stating the obvious), I've learned to just slowly ride the bike up that ramp, just like the first time, using the plywood for a place to rest my feet and keep my balance. Meaning of course, that loading a motorcycle isn't a race, and that's a lesson I learned the hard way. If I just take it easy, loading the Kendon Trailer is effortless and safe.

So that's it. Sorta boring, but it's the story of the trailer. Next installment is loading up the bike and hauling it to Daytona over the Christmas/New Years Holiday. I'll see then how it tows with one bike on it, and also how dirty the bike gets on the way down. Yep, the only deal is that the bike is out there in the elements with a Kendon trailer, and that just can't be helped.

I was going to get a tight fitting cover for it, but I then heard some real horror stories about towing a covered bike on an open trailer. Folks arrived at their destination to find the paint "sanded" off the tank, or the finish dulled by the abrasive action of accumulated grit between the cover and the paint. Makes perfect sense to me. I'll just put up with a dirty bike and wash it when I get there.

Plenty of room for two bikes. My Road King fits up there too, alongside one of the others.

Cowboy

* !! After staring at that rear-view picture of the ramp, with the plywood attached, I realized that sliding the plywood down just a bit more would allow outboard contact of the wood to the ground, giving it more stability. All I need to do is drill a couple new holes. Or I could leave it as-is, and add a small block to the outboard edge on both side, underneath, to make up the gap between the plywood and the road surface. This might be better, and would create a triangular flat plane. Hmmm.

* !!! Have now added a couple blocks on the lower outside edges of the plywood and also moved the top carriage bolt up to the slot instead of the round hole. Using the slot(s) lets a 3/8 -16 x 2" carriage bolt sit down almost flush with the ramp. I use a fender washer and wing nut underneath. I'll post some pix after I load up for Daytona.

Friday, December 10, 2010

It's true.

12/10/2010 - 8:31PM This just in:

Reliable sources report that Cowboy is leaving before daylight tomorrow, heading south, attempting to get out of town without attracting attention.

Several messages were also exchanged between his office and a location near Atlanta, and the word "trailer" was mentioned several times. And the photo, below, was found near a trash receptacle near his desk.

Stay tuned. We will continue to follow this situation, but those close to the source think Cowboy has already gone over to the other side. Yes, with the Trailer crew.

Disgusting. Can a tattoo be far behind?

SC Staff

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Could it be? A trailer? Really? Not Cowboy......Surely, not him.

???!!!!

Eagle-eyed Southern Comfort intelligence agents (Wikileaks has NOTHING on this crew!) overheard conversation, monitored email, and reported sightings suggesting that Cowboy....yes, that one....is considering the purchase of a motorcycle trailer. Yes, the very same "Cowboy" known to mercilessly taunt others who trailer their bikes here and there. Yes, the very same "Cowboy" who arrives soaking wet, filthy dirty, with a sore ass, boasting "I rode mine!" to biker rallies, while walking even more bow-legged for the next 2-3 days.

Cowboy's Hummer was observed on Saturday (see photo above) sporting a shiny new chrome trailer hitch ball which appears unused. Agents believe, however, that a strong connection exists between this shiny chrome ball and the trailer photograph below, extracted from a recent secret email, along with other pornographic pictures.


Another rumour persists (very hard to believe, even for us) that Cowboy may sacrifice his traditional Christmas get-away to Florida, electing instead to spend the money on a trailer. Those in-the-know simply can't imagine him giving up the opportunity to paddle a kayak in alligator-infested waters in exchange for a fucking trailer, but let's not tell him that just yet. (Of course, he may actually be blowing his cash in the strip joints on Orlando's Orange Blossom Trail each winter, but that's another story for another time.)

Others we've spoken to hint about late-night, whispered conversations concerning the relative merits of folding vs enclosed trailers, fuel-mileage-while-towing comparisons, and subtleties such as staggered loading, wheel chocks, and tongue weight. The last time Cowboy discussed tongue weight and ramp loading, it was in the context of the last porn film he watched.

Stay tuned as Southern Comfort keeps an eye on this developing story. The editorial staff at this blog wonder if Cowboy is really strong enough to face the East Coast Sturgis folks wearing this shirt:

Friday, November 26, 2010

Blog Statistics, again.


Hmmmm, what to write.....

It was a dark and stormy night....

??

No ?? That one's been done?

OK, I'll start over.

It's a rainy, chilly morning in Alexandria, Virginia, and it's the day after Thanksgiving. I'm, quite thankfully, one of the throng of DC professionals who have the day off, and I'll bet downtown DC is like a morgue this morning. That's because everyone's at their favorite shopping center participating in the shopping orgy known as Black Friday. For the record, I've never jumped into that pile of crazy people, preferring instead to experience it vicariously, via the stories from my friends. I'll do my shopping online or at the Harley dealer, beginning about December 15th.

So WTF does all that have to do with statistics, as headlined? Nothing really, but I haven't had a lot of coffee and I'm still smiling from all the fun I had yesterday. It started by waking up with at Wendy's (more on Wendy as time goes on, but that's damn sure a great way to begin the day), and ended with a great meal and an afternoon/evening with my family. As one family member candidly observed, "We got through this one without a single death threat!", which for my crew, is definitely a step in the right direction. And there was only one trip to the Emergency Room, but that was to sew up an injury from the previous day, so that really doesn't count as a Thanksgiving issue. All in all, a terrific holiday with the Robinson's.

So for the statistics....about the blog:

For something that started as a personal journal, to be read (or not), by a few friends, this blog actually has developed a worldwide following. There are readers from the US, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Japan and China, in order of number of page views. Russia and the UK (Linda/Charlie, WTF?) are in last place, behind Mexico and India. Now don't get me wrong, there aren't hundreds of hits every day, but rarely does a day go by when a few folks don't read Southern Comfort. Overall, there have been literally thousands of folks reading since I started publishing in May, 2010. Or was it April? I can't remember now.

By far, most hits come from a Google Search, with "East Coast Sturgis" the most popular search phrase. Most readers use Internet Explorer, running on a Windows OS. Mac OS users are next, with most of them using the Safari browser. Firefox users are closely behind Safari.  There have even been a few views from iPads, Blackberrys and iPods, and I didn't even know this was viewable from an iPod. Huh.

And yeah, there are some links included on the page allowing you to view and buy stuff. These links are placed by Google, with my permission. And now I'll let you in on a secret. I've made a whopping $2.08 since May with these links, so keep it up. Retirement is just around the corner. I just know it.

I even get some "fan mail" now and then, a few comments, and even a couple new Facebook friends who maybe want to know more about my other activities. Or maybe they're all shrinks, doing post-graduate studies on me. Like a class project or something.

So that's the story about stats and readership, if you're still reading. They aren't exactly exciting, but maybe are sorta interesting. Or not. Figured I'd let folks in on the under-the-hood stuff about blogging, or at least this blog, Southern Comfort.

Cowboy

PS I could have written a paragraph about leaving the refrigerator door open all night, letting the beer get hot. Decided to leave that out... Too sad.