...and back to DC

Here's a little more about the last Texas trip, and the return to Alexandria, via Texarkana, Little Rock, Memphis, Wytheville, and Washington, DC. I didn't think too much about the route for this trip, except just to get there as fast as I could. I certainly didn't play on the way to or from. But a few spots along the path were interesting, and given a choice, I'll take a rest stop at a Harley dealer if that's an option, and Hooters always gets my vote for food.....Just sayin'.

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Here's a Confederate Cemetery that's right next to a Harley dealer, but I'll be damned if I can remember which one.....

[OK. I went back and looked it up. This is next to Thunder Creek Harley in Chattanooga, TN]

First choice for food...always. I had a bad moment at the Texarkana location, but the extreme brevity of orange shorts more than made up for the food I didn't get. Heck, I forgot I was hungry!

Where I went when the pressure got to be too much....I was at both places a lot.

Wandered around, got lost, and accidentally found this place.

Girls of Azle, #1. 

This is Aunt Annie, the reason for all the running back and forth, and she's totally worth it.

More Girls of Azle.....Joyce!

A food stop in Nashville, where a Harley shop is conveniently located right next door. Someone on Facebook accurately observed that this combination might be Heaven for me, speculating that I might never leave. They had a point.

The view most of the way from Knoxville to DC...More rain that Texas saw all year.

....and back home, almost exactly 48 hours after leaving Azle.

Got a lot done down there. The house is now mostly cleaned and repaired, awaiting painting, and is now my new home-away-from-home when in Texas. But to be honest, it was beginning to feel more like home the longer I stayed. I put a lot of work into that house over the past month or two. 

Legally, it's now protected from "the Man", and still in my Aunt's name. That was a big win, and kudos to the Good N.E.W.S. team for finding out how to do that. If you're in a jam with an elderly relative going into assisted living, and who owns a home, ask your attorney about a Ladybird Deed that might help protect that asset. Google the term for more info.

Thanks also to Terri for handling countless other details over the years, including giving me a kick in the ass, and getting my Aunt into a hospital when she needed it! 

Thanks also to Joyce for helping with the hospital stuff, and damn near everything else, including a difficult trip to an attorney office for some long-overdue business. Joyce is one terrific lady and has been at my aunt's side for years now.

And thanks to the efforts of both Terri and Joyce, Aunt Annie is now a resident of Azle Manor nursing home, where she'll get the 24-hour care she needs! Both ladies work for Good N.E.W.S, which is a non-profit group that assists elderly folks who want to remain living at home. What an incredible organization!!! And what great girls!

And after all that, I finally got home yesterday. First thing this morning, after some coffee, I opened up the garage, took out the Softail Custom, and took a nice long ride to nowhere. I felt the worries slip away, all the while thinking of the Girls from Azle. I miss them all, and one in particular. I might have to go back sometime soon. After all, I sorta have a second residence there now........

Cowboy

Back to Texas.....

I got an urgent message the other day that my Aunt Annie had taken a turn for the worse, and I had to high-tail it back to Texas last weekend. Not knowing all I'd be dealing with, and not wanting to drag a trailer behind me on another long ride, I left my motorcycles home, tucked away in the garage in Virginia.

Now that might have been a practical move, but I gotta tell ya: I'm going in circles down here dealing with all the stuff: there's the nursing home staff, attorneys, various other concerned parties, contractors, and one really pissed-off 99-year-old aunt. And yeah, I'm working remotely during the day, so I'm trying to run my department as well. If it weren't for the help of two terrific ladies who have taken care of my Aunt, I'd be up the creek. And yeah, one of the ladies is really a cutie, but I'd better leave that subject for another time, LOL, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing her again.

But before I complain too loudly about working while I'm here, let me quickly say that I've got a terrific boss who generously offered to let me work remotely while I take care of business. Not many bosses would do something like that, so Joe gets a couple Gold Stars from me and my Aunt Annie! Thanks Joe!!!!!

That said, the entire ordeal sorta sucks, and now I'll explain how that's motorcycle-related.........

See, at home, when the shit hits the fan, I can come home, jump on one of the bikes and just let those worries blow off in the wind. It's the best therapy I've even found, and it never lets me down. I take a long ride to nowhere and when I get back, I feel like a new person. The headaches are still there, but my perspective changes, and that's no exaggeration.

And down here, there ain't no motorcycle....no outlet for the stress. I'm thinking I'll treat myself to a rental this weekend.....take a long ride........to nowhere. With a stop at Hooters, of course. And after that, a much needed siesta!

Cowboy

It's Back! My Softail Custom is Back!

 Right out of the shop at Patriot Harley Davidson

Back near the end of May, some idiot, paying attention to everything EXCEPT what was in front of him, rear-ended me at a traffic light! As it turned out, I was OK, but there was $3,500 worth of damage to my 105th Anniversary Softail Custom, and I bitched about the event in an article back in June. (click here to read).

Most of the replacement parts parts didn't take long to get, and installation didn't involve that much labor, but getting the painted tin out of Harley Davidson was an entirely different story. It took damn near 2 1/2 months to get the fenders! Patriot Harley Davidson finally put 'er back together for me, delivering it just after I got back from Southern Comfort 2011!

Getting the bike back was a really nice surprise when I got back, and George and Jeff at Patriot get TWO GOLD STARS for helping me through the entire process, making sure my bike was fixed properly. GEICO also stepped up the plate, approving all suggested repairs....No bitching and quibbling at all. Thanks to everyone.

Very first stop, but you knew that, right?

As soon as I got it home, up on the lift it went so I could replace the front rotor and pads, which I'd ordered last May.

Back at home with it's siblings and up on the lift for brake work.

The front rotor got warped somehow, and it happened not too long after I bought the bike. One day I started noticing a "pulsing" when I hit the front brake, and it just got more and more annoying as time went on. So I picked up a chrome replacement on eBay for about a hundred bucks, some new rotor mounting bolts, and new brake pads. 

I read somewhere that you should always use new bolts when replacing the rotors, and for reasons not entirely clear. It could be because new bolts have locking goop in the threads, which is gone when you remove them. I reckon just using Loctite on the old bolts would do the job, but for 10 bucks, I replaced the bolts with new ones, deciding to cut corners on money someplace else besides my brakes! Cheaper beer? Cheap women? (Is there such a thing?)

And I used Loctite anyway, along with the compound in the new bolt threads. Double-locked! Now some Yahoo will write me a note, telling me one of the thread-locking compounds cancels out the other, creates acid, and eats the damn bolts away! I'll let ya know. Or not......

it's a quick and easy job to replace the rotor and install new pads

Done deal....

And right about here, I got to thinking, which (as all my friends know) can be dangerous. I was thinking that I just installed a very smooth, chrome rotor which had unknown friction characteristics, and maybe....just maybe...the fucking bike wouldn't stop! Now that might seem stupid....it was...but I still rode up to that first red light S L O W L Y, making damn sure the brakes worked. And then I gradually got used to the idea that a chrome rotor worked just fine, LOL.

Time passes........

So I've had the FXSTC back about a week now, and the Joker has been tucked away in the back of the garage while I've ridden the Softail. I gotta tell you....I've been on the Joker all summer (I'm damn glad I bought that second bike!), and certainly got used to a rough-riding, ornery old scoot....no complaints about it at all. But the two bikes couldn't be more different!

Getting back on the FXSTC is almost like riding on air. I don't have to tense up at every little crack in the asphalt, knowing I'm about to get hammered! And even with my loud pipes, the Softail is damn near quiet in comparison to the Joker. And you don't have to run it at 3,000+ RPMs to keep it from rattling itself to death! In short, My Softail Custom is a well-mannered, easy-riding bike, reminding me how I managed to ride all those miles last year.

So this chapter is closed. One idiot's stupidity turned into getting lots of sparkly new hardware, so it wasn't all bad, and of course, I wasn't hurt. I had the second bike so no riding got missed either. All things considered, I guess it turned out OK, though I sure hope there ain't no next time. And I hope the idiot gets a super-high rate increase when his insurance comes up for renewal. If nothing else, that might make him pay some fucking attention to motorcycles.

And that's about it. It's been so long since I had the Softail Custom, I feel like I've got a new bike! Heck, it even LOOKS new. Since it's been on the shelf all summer, it escaped a lot of summer miles, so I'll let it rest up for a long run next Summer. Sturgis? Now THAT's an idea.......

Cowboy

PS The Softail has a back seat and passenger foot pegs, so maybe I can start dating again? Just sayin'.

15,000 Visits to Southern Comfort

While Irene was steamrolling over Alexandria last night, Southern Comfort had its 15,000th visit! Pretty cool.

Visitors find SC mostly via Google, but also Bing, HD Forums, and manufacturers' web sites. Many are looking for pictures of events, but almost as many are interested in the articles on the Joker Machine products, Pitbull Lifts, and Kendon Trailers. I wrote these articles hoping I could make life a little simpler for other bikers having similar interests, and maybe I have.

Lots of peeps also get to SC via the links on Facebook, so thanks for that interest too. As long there's interest, I'll keep writing this blog.

If you're curious, there's also financial incentive to keep the Southern Comfort blog going. I've been at it well over a year now, and have earned a grand total of $7.96, before taxes. That's not quite enough for retirement, but if I can keep at it another couple hundred years, I'll be set.

And that's all for now. I'm headed back to work tomorrow after a nice vacation, and the thought of getting back behind a desk is positively depressing.

Cowboy

Tail of the Dragon, 2011

One of the best part of my Southern Comfort 2011 vacation was getting the chance to run Rt 129, better known as Tail of the Dragon. The road is famous, and bikers from all over come to run this route, which is not without some serious challenges. The week before I got there, the road claimed another life. It's not to be taken lightly, and as I told a friend a while back, don't ride it beyond your limits.

I picked up 129 coming out of the Asheville, NC area. I rode Rt 19 out of Maggie Valley, NC, making a right on 28 a little west of Bryson City, NC. You can also access it from points north and west. North, from the Knoxville area, or west from the Bristol area. However you get there, it's 318 curves in 11 miles and you almost never get a chance to catch your breath if you're running hard.

One of the cool things about the Dragon is that 3 professional motorsports photography companies set up at strategic curves along the route, snapping awesome hi-resolution photos of riders (and yes, drivers if you're in a car). A few days after your run, you can access their websites and purchase the photos if you like 'em. I think they run about 5 bucks each for a hi-res download, which is how I purchased mine.

Here are the websites:

• www.killboy.com
• www.129slayer.com
• www.us129photos.com

And here's some of the pix of me and the Joker. I thought these were cool, and I'm thankful these guys caught me running the Dragon. Eagle-eyed people will note that my jacket is zipped in some photos, and not in others. On the way up, running into Tennessee, it was unzipped, but I bought a t-shirt at 129 Harley Davidson and had no where to put it, so I stashed it in my zipped jacket on the way back.

I made no contributions to the Tree of Shame! Amen.

Cowboy

Southern Comfort 2011 - That's all, Folks!

I rolled out of New Orleans on Monday, August 22, heading towards home. Of all things, there had been a earthquake here and I was concerned about damage to the condo or the garage. And if that wasn't enough to think about, there was a hurricane threatening the East Coast later in the week. (In fact, Hurricane Irene is now dumping rain all over my windows as this is being written!) So I just decided it was time to get my ass home.

The trip home had one additional element that made it interesting. I had picked up a case of food poisoning in New Orleans (those oysters?) that made the entire trip back anything but a fun ride. Suffice it to say that during parts of the trip, I did it one rest stop (or Harley dealer) at a time....

Hmmmmmmm?

It wasn't ALL drudgery. I did a slight detour at Birmingham, over to Leeds, Alabama, to re-visit the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, which is simply not to be missed if you are anywhere nearby. Heck, it's worth a trip for the visit alone. It seems they have almost one of every motorcycle ever built worldwide, and it's an amazing collection. There's also a great collection of Lotus race cars to see too, but the museum is decidedly focused on motorcycles.

But all good things must come to an end. I stayed the night in Sweetwater, Tennessee, where the Comfort Inn staff offered rock-star parking so my bike would be safe that evening. Totally cool. And the next morning, they were shooing people away that were checking the bike out. I'll say this again. I don't know exactly what it is about the  Joker that makes it so interesting to people, but there's no question that whatever it is, the Joker has "it". Heck, I wish I had a little of "it"!

From Sweetwater, I began encountering the density and hustle of the US East Coast, and by the time I hit I-81, the fun was over. 80 million trucks, competing with 80 million cars for space on that long-ass road. Bummed me out, but I quickly got over that. Or I hope so. And like last year, I took very few pix on the ride back.

So during Southern Comfort 2011, I got to:

• Visit Maggie Valley, NC
• Run Tail of the Dragon and Hell Bender....twice.
• Visit Memphis, including Beale Street, Sun Studios, and Graceland
• Do some substantial repairs on my aunt's house in Azle, Texas
• Sightsee a bit in Shreveport, LA, and Vicksburg, MS
• Hit New Orleans/Bourbon Street for a couple days of R&R
• and visit the Barber Museum.

Now that ain't bad for a couple weeks, is it?

I also checked on the mileage. Between here and Azle, Google Maps tells me it's 1,375 miles each way, so a round trip with a little running around might add up to about 3,000 miles. Doing it my way resulted in 3,640 miles on the Hummer, PLUS another 374 on the Joker! So yep, it wasn't exactly a straight path, and the bike didn't collect any dust during stops.

I'm not sure I'll try this kind of deal again though, or at least not in the same area. My next long road trip will be out west someplace, and won't have any serious time constraints. Next year, it's Daytona Bike Week for my season opener, and then all my remaining 2012 vacation plans will revolve around a trip to Sturgis, South Dakota, for the annual biker event in August, and I'm thinking about riding.

Cowboy

NOLA, Revisited......

...and right back at the same hotel as in 2010: Old Towne Inn

I rolled out of Vicksburg, Mississippi, yesterday morning, headed east for Birmingham, Alabama, to visit the Barber Motorsports Motorcycle Museum again. It's an awesome place, and I wanted a second shot to see what I might have missed the first time. Well into the drive, about halfway, I was cruising in the fast lane, when I saw a sign that said I-59 New Orleans - 1/4 mile. In the couple seconds it took to cover that 1/4 mile, I had crossed 3 lanes of traffic, hauling a trailer, and found myself heading the 170 miles south to New Orleans.

Of course, in the true tradition of Southern Comfort travel, I've always taken any new path that looked interesting, regardless of the general itinerary, and this side trip is no exception. NOLA was the halfway point for last year's ride, and I had nothing but fun memories. An annual refresher seemed like a damned good idea. I called ahead and booked a room at the Olde Town Inn where I stayed last year, set the cruise control to 75, and several hours later I was booked into Room 13 and unloading the bike!

  

Someone's missing!

The only possible first stop was Bourbon Street, which seems to never disappoint. There's a party going on there all the time, even on a Sunday afternoon. There's something for everyone on Bourbon Street, regardless of where those little twisty-bits go in those dark corners of your mind.

Bourbon Street is easily the nuttiest place in the US, and I've been to Duvall Street in Key West, Beale Street in Memphis, and many other US hot spots. While checking things out, I walked down toward one spot where a crowd of guys were competing for a view inside a bar where music was blaring. Not one to miss the action, I muscled my way in, camera at the ready, and was horrified to find that I had one foot in the door of a gay strip joint! I slipped back through that crowd in a millisecond, getting both feet firmly in heterosexual territory before I was spotted! No... no pictures!!

I'm on a slow internet connection and also anxious to get moving, so I'll cut this short by saying that within 10 minutes of parking the Joker, I met some cool people including 4'10" "Hammer", a little gal on a Sportster something like the Joker. She introduced me to other folks, and after hanging with them a while, I had some oysters at Acme Oyster House, and then started my sightseeing. There were LOTS of sights to see.

and a few from other places....

 Voodoo Shrine

Stay tuned for an update....maybe tomorrow.

Cowboy