Good Times and Good Memories....

I won't drag this out into some drippy sob story, but there was a recent event worthy of mention on Southern Comfort: Joker, my '08 Nightster,  was sold earlier this week, and to a good home. Joker has had more than his share of the spotlight on Southern Comfort, so I figured the least I could do was give him a proper send-off.

I had a lot of damn fun putting Joker together, changing little bits and pieces along the way. Joker became of of those bikes that, when first looking at it, you know it's not a stock bike, but you also can't really tell what, exactly, has been changed. Just a lot of small things that ended up creating a pretty cool bike, even if I say so myself. Joker attracted attention everywhere I parked it. Heck, even when riding, I'd always get a thumbs-up or two. Never failed.

Even this blog got a boost in readership from the Joker modifications. There are lots and lots of links around the web to the 5 how-to articles in Southern Comfort that I wrote while doing the work, and at last count, almost 10,000 readers have checked out these Joker articles.

I'm the first one to admit that it was getting hard for me to ride that bike, so it began collecting a little dust. The lack of suspension travel and the excessive vibration got to be a little too much for me, and yes, that's because I'm getting older. I really have no idea how I EVER rode all those fucking rigid frame bikes back in the 60's and 70's. Joker at least had a little suspension, but I still paid for a longer ride for days afterward.

I rode that damn bike to Mountainfest in Morgantown, WV, a couple years ago, starting out from Alexandria, VA. I made it OK, but I was damn sure not looking forward to the ride home. And after riding it back, I vowed never to do it again! That was a long-ass 200 miles ride, and I was walking like a cripple when I got off!

I sorta figured I'd always keep Joker for a local bar-hopper, but an opportunity recently came along to maybe pick up a place to live down in Daytona, and when talking to the lenders and real estate people, it was made clear that a little extra cash in the bank wouldn't hurt my chances. A survey of my secret stashes didn't turn up much cash, so I had to take a hard look in the toy department, and of the bikes, truck, and trailers, Joker stood out as an easy way to raise some quick money. He was clean, cool, and ready to ride. No excuses necessary when showing him to a prospective buyer, so an ad was placed in Craigslist.

The very first guy to look at Joker bought him. Done deal. I hope Tim enjoys that bike as much as I did. He's a good guy, and I was glad to see someone like Tim get Joker. And it was also nice not to have to BS my way through the sale, masking the flaws. Hell, there weren't any.

Adios Joker. Ride Safe!
Cowboy


PS Here are the links to the other 5 Nightster/Joker posts in order, 1-5

http://cowboyken.blogspot.com/2011/05/nightster-projectbeginnings.html

http://cowboyken.blogspot.com/2011/05/nightster-part-ii-coil-and-parking.html

http://cowboyken.blogspot.com/2011/06/nightster-part-iii-speedometer.html

http://cowboyken.blogspot.com/2011/08/joker-machine-air-cleaner-installation.html

http://cowboyken.blogspot.com/2011/10/canyon-carvers-real-story-aka-joker.html

Welcome Back Cowboy!

After a lengthy sabbatical from blogging, I thought it was high time to dust off the keyboard and try to remember how to start a new post in Southern Comfort!

First off, I was somewhat startled to find that almost 64,000 people have visited the blog, with the most-read posts being those about Sturgis (surprise!), all the how-to articles for the Joker custom work, the Bagger Wobble articles, and amazingly, the post about #4, my Manco Thunderbird mini-bike. That last one actually is a shocker. Who knew? I guess peeps go to that one when Google-ing for info on that bike which, by the way, has just about doubled in value in just about a year. Cool. (Or maybe I just got it for a bargain-basement price. Either way, I'll take it.)

MANCO Thunderbird. Made in Indiana!

So I left off, back in July or May or ???, by telling y'all I'd bought an enclosed trailer, got rid of the 4Runner, and bought a truck that could pull the damn thing. It didn't hurt that the new truck was a 2008 105th Anniversary Harley Davidson F150 that just happens to match my 2008 Softail Custom Anniversary Edition. I had to buy it, right? Hell, it almost matches my trailer too!

I've been real happy with the truck, but I have had a little trouble. A hole in the radiator cost me $900, and a cracked exhaust manifold cost another 1800, with a set of plugs, filters, and a belt thrown in. Still it's one bitching truck, and has no trouble hauling the trailer.

And what else......Heck, there's been so much.

Well, I took off in August on the spur of the moment and headed south, ending up in Maggie Valley, NC, making sure to run Tail of the Dragon on the way. This time, though, I was on the new Limited, and I'm here to tell you, that ain't no XL1200N. I still managed to get 'er going, though, and I've got myself a citation just to prove it!

 "Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?"

 While in Maggie Valley, I hit Dale Walksler's Wheels Through Time museum, and wow, what an experience. I met Dale and his son, Matt, who were great, great people. The museum is simply beyond description. There's more antique US-made bike stuff there than I've ever seen, and all displayed in some remarkably cool ways....period displays. And Dale occasionally blasts through the aisle on one of the bikes. Fast too!

Matt and I talked at some length about the idea of setting up a small machine shop in the area to support bike builders and (I thought) restoration. Turns out that Dale and Matt rarely use the services of a shop. They will wait to find an original part as much as A YEAR before having one made, preferring only the real McCoy. He said they might only use a machined part once or twice a year, and only for parts that simply don't exist. In short, if I set up a shop in Maggie Valley, Dale and Matt won't be my biggest customers!

And sometime before 9/11, a few complete idiots organized something billed as a Million Muslim March ON 9/11! Really? Suffice it to say that word traveled fast within the biker community with people riding into DC from all over the US, and I was proud to ride with some veterans, meeting in the Virginia suburbs and riding in en masse to descend on the Capitol, looking high and low for the Million Muslim rally. Fuck them.

Turns out less than 20 of those assholes showed up, with more media coverage people and security folks than participants. Meanwhile, the biker community had thousands and thousands of riders show up, and on almost no notice. Some rode for days and days just to make the final ride into town. Again, fuck that bunch of assholes (They pissed me off. Can you tell?), along with the people that wouldn't give the bikers a permit to demonstrate. Needless to say, we did anyway.

Cowboy, Chuck, Rick, and Murph

Clubs, and even the police, called a truce for this run.

Lots and lots of bikes at our meet-up. Similar meet-ups were going on in locations surrounding Washington, DC.

We had to eat, right? Murph, Bobbie, Chuck, Rick and Cowboy at Hooters, Fairfax

In late September, I made a run up to Brooklyn, New York, for Indian Larry's Grease Monkey Block Party, and damn, what a great time that was. The cops had city blocks blocked off and a good time was had by all, and especially me. That was my first time riding in New York City, and once I got the hang of dodging yellow cabs, it was fun! Well, not so much fun that I'm doing it again next weekend, but certainly a whole new motorcycle riding experience for this kid.

And in....heck, I think October....some great friends of mind invited me up to a cookout. These people were around at the very beginning of Hells Creations MC getting started, and some I've known for a lot of years. It was just so great to see everyone. One of my great friends, Bob C, said he had some photos from way back when, and here's a few of those pix to close up this post. Thanks, Bob!

Enjoy
Cowboy

Spider & Cowboy, '72

Cowboy & his K Model Chopper

A line of bikes...My purple bike in the middle

Spider RIP

Three Months?! Damn.

Now and then, I'm told, life happens and people get busy. That's damn sure the case with me, and Southern Comfort has collected an inch of dust. If it weren't for the Joker posts, along with the bike lift and Kendon Trailer info, this blog would have faded into the Blog-o-Sphere.

I've been busy in some damn good ways, I'm happy to report. I broke down and bought an enclosed trailer, I got rid of the 4Runner, and there's been some great rides, the most recent of which was the Ride To Nowhere with a terrific group of friends.

I won't even attempt to update y'all about all that stuff in a single post, so hold on for updates if you're interested. For now, I'll just check in and report I'm alive and well and having a great time.

More to come
Cowboy

Boston

Never Forget

Return Engagement

About Daytona: I've made it very clear to anyone who was interested, and to a few who weren't, that I was RIDING my fucking bike back from Daytona, mostly to avoid the boos and hisses from the crew that would rather ride through a hailstorm than trailer a scoot. And I confess, I'm sorta one of those people. I've handed out my share of abuse! "Motorcycles are for riding, you pussy!"

So I've been packing, and then re-packing, to get ready for the ride back from Daytona. Rain gear, chaps, gloves, and heavy leathers that take up a lot of room, just in case I hit bad weather coming home. And I've been thinking....and thinking.......

Time passes.....

See, this trip back is one straight slog, northbound on Interstate 95, the undisputed world's champion of congestion, big- rig traffic, and nut cases driving minivans full of rug-rats coming back from some theme park in central Florida. I've done this run on a bike a time or two, and it's like a 800 mile obstacle course where your stress level is through the roof every mile you ride. White knuckles. There's no joy, not to mention the fact that there's also no "Oh Wow, look at that!" scenery for the entire trip. Unless, of course, "Oh Wow!" means look at the accidents......

I'll re-mention the congestion, particularly from Richmond, Virginia, northward. It's a fucking parking lot at 2AM on a Sunday morning, let alone on a Monday afternoon when I'm be in the home stretch. And when I'm most likely to be freezing my ass off.

Shit. Despite all my "I'm riding!" BS, this wasn't looking like the best idea I ever had.......

So I bit the bullet today, reluctantly plunking down $420 bucks for a return trip on the AutoTrain. The $420 covers the bike and a reserved seat, which is sorta outrageous, since I'm going down for $320, which includes a sleeping compartment! Amtrak jacks up the price for northbound travelers. I guess they figure you'll pay more just to get home, and sit upright in a seat all night doing it. Damn, they're right!

And that's it. The decision was made, and I'll be one of those peeps showing up at Daytona Bike Week all fresh as a daisy, and returning home with only event-miles on the new bike. Though I was sure looking forward to my first good ride of the year, Daytona just ain't gonna be it. I'll just enjoy my time there, and party just a little less. Like $620 less.......

Cowboy

PS....Just 3 more days and I'm gone!

13 Days and Counting – Daytona, We’re on the Way!

Funny how the last few weeks of an event I’m really looking forward to seem to drag by like molasses in Minnesota in January. Of course, the two or three days just before will go like wildfire when I realize all the crap I’ve forgotten to take care of!

But I’m hoping that’s not going to happen. I'm taking the new 2013 Limited to Daytona, so I have new tires and new…well, new EVERYTHING!.....so breakdowns are way, way down in probability. And even if something OD’s, the Harley Ultra Road Warranty (or whatever it’s called) will take care of me. Or so they say in the sales brochure.....

I'm excited that Linda and Charlie are meeting me down there! They’re both like family to me, but the best part is that we have the greatest travel agreement ever. We can all go someplace…the same place…and even have the same lodging arrangements, but past that, it’s a come-and-go-as-you-please agreement. We’ll certainly do some stuff together, but there’s no itinerary or schedule. It worked great for us in New Orleans and Sturgis, and it’ll work fine in Daytona too.

Mike, Eric, Dan, Gina, Ashley, Caroline, DeAnna, and Robert will be down there too, and who knows who else I’ll run into. I hear from my favorite daughter, Marianne, that meeting anyone at a specific time and place during Daytona Bike Week is a fantasy due to traffic, plus all the fun distractions that can lead a person astray, so the best we can hope for is something like “Boot Hill, Main Street, Thursday evening”, or maybe the “Broken Spoke on Rt 1 this Saturday night”. Perfect!

There's actually a rumour circulating that Robert will be celebrating a big birthday down there, but I ain't giving up any numbers! Happy early Birthday, Robert!

I'm taking a little time-out during the festivities for a little house-hunting, figuring there just has to be a way to get year-round riding time on my calendar. Heck, maybe something with a garage that’s suitable for a little motorcycle-oriented machine shop. Who knows what might happen if I find something. Me? I’m fucking sick of the rat race, not to mention the DC traffic which is now rated the worst in the US, so I'm motivated.

I also have a date with Dan Kite, the world's best pin-striper, to get him to apply his magic touch to the Limited, making this the third bike Dan has done for me, with Joker and the Road King being the first two. If you want nice work done, track Dan down at any major bike event. At least say hi to him and his wife Gina. Awesome people!

In related news....

I did a little preparation of the new Limited for the ride back, and for our future road trips. In spite of a big price tag, I sprung for the Harley Road Tech version of the Garmin Zumo 665 GPS unit. Rather than go with a bar-mounted unit, I sucked it up and bought the fairing mount, figuring drilling holes in the brand-fucking-new fairing would only hurt for a little while. I was right about that, thankfully. (Ask me about that again if I ever trade it in….)

I won’t go in depth about the install, a la the Joker series of posts, but I will say that getting into the wiring harness on a bike with less than 400 miles on it took some thought. My buddy Jeff held my hand (well, not literally) and the instruction manual through the whole wiring process, and Jeff probably got sick of hearing me ask about wire colors and pin locations repeatedly. Sorry for driving you nuts, Jeff, but thanks again for your help!

Serious Pucker Factor Right About Here....Just sayin...

The Mount is Mounted

Jeff aka "Gadget"

 After getting it wired, we figured out pretty quick that one of the connections wasn’t right, but  5 minutes of re-reading got us back on track, and after re-plugging in a connector or two, we had it right. The GPS plays through the speakers, and cuts off the audio for new directions. And the XM radio works fine too, though it’s a mystery why, for all that fucking money, it was still necessary to run a wire out to the external aux jack in the face of the radio.

Speaking of speakers, while the fairing was apart, I replaced the factory speakers, front and rear, with Harley Boom Audio speakers which make a LOT of difference. Nice.

After all that fun, I took the bike out for a 70 mile shakedown cruise, figuring if the wiring harness was going to go up in smoke, I'd prefer that to happen nearby instead of trapping us down in Daytona. Wait! I might have to give that a little more thought......

But the ride was uneventful, nothing went up in smoke, and we are ready to rock Daytona! Stay tuned!

Cowboy

Let The Season Begin! Well, Almost.....

Last time I looked, which was just last night, all my bikes were getting dustier, and though the battery tenders and a space heater keep them ready to ride, I just ain't getting many miles under my belt.

Well, that's not quite true. We had an unusually warm January day a week or so ago, so I took the new Limited out for a 100 mile trip to nowhere, and except for the last few miles, I managed to avoid highways. I got lost on some 2-lane Virginia roads that eventually took me through the Civil War battlefield, Manassas. I got there by seeing a side road that said "Trucks Not Recommended". That was enough for me to turn around and make the turn.

And those last few miles I rode were just after sundown, and don't let anyone fool ya. It's still January, and it got chilly pretty damn quick. I was damn glad to get home. I managed to get the bike up to a whopping 450 total miles on the clock, so it's broken in just a little more. I'm going to finish up that first thousand miles pretty soon!

And where am I going for the rest of the break-in period? DAYTONA BIKE WEEK, that's where! As many times as I've been to Daytona, I've never once been to bike week, and that's in 44 years of riding. Better yet, Charlie and Linda are flying in from the UK and are meeting us there! New Orleans all over again. (Read the older SC articles for more on N'Awlins) And I think my old North Linthicum neighborhood Bro, Mike, will be down there too. 

Now I'm gonna 'fess up. I planned on riding down originally, but decided later on to try the convenience of the Amtrak AutoTrain for the southbound leg of the trip. I load the bike up at 4PM, find my nifty sleeping car and a seat, and then the party starts! About 9:30 the next day, I'm there, fresh as a daisy and ready to party. 

Now before you say I wimped out on the ride, I'm jumpin' in here now to tell you I'm riding back to Virginia the following weekend. I'll start out in a t-shirt, and I'll be in winter gear before I get home. And hopefully not rain gear! I can do wet and I can do cold, but I just hate wet AND cold.

I'm going to rough it in Daytona, staying in a little place known as the Wyndham Ocean Walk. Sure it's going to be tough sleeping on a feather bed next to the oceanfront balcony but someone has to do it, LOL. Linda and Charlie are staying there too and we're going to try to keep each other in line. Yes, I know. Lost cause.

And the Wynhdam just happens to be 2 blocks from Bike Week Ground Zero, Main Street. It's walking distance to the Boot Hill Saloon and crawling distance back. And while we're resting our bones, we've got a front row seat to the parade of bikes and people running up and down A1A. I'm told the scenery is hard on the eyes. Seein's believin', and stay tuned for a report on that.

And that's about it for the pre-trip notes. 

I've been getting some small accessories for the new 110th Anniversary Limited, but hell, it already has most options. I added some organizers for the Tour Pack, and a windshield/fairing organizer, plus one of those little deals that roll up the retaining cord for the Tour Pack lid as you close it. For the lousy 18 bucks that gizmo cost, you'd think Harley would slap one on a Limited for all the damn money they get for one of them. 

Of course, the bike is already sportin' a spiffy Dallas Cowboys tag frame.... Go Dallas.

I'm also looking to add a Zumo 665 GPS for the road trips, but don't know if I'll have that on before Daytona. And yes, I bought a HD collapsible luggage bag...$100 bucks....that sits on top of the tour pack rack. I figure we'll stash the rain gear in that, and use the rest of the room in it to carry back the souvenir t-shirts. All 157 of them!

Beyond that, life is good, and I ain't complaining. Daytona, Here I come!

Cowboy