The Geezer Factor

I'm going to tape your hands to that orange beast's bars, fire it up and turn you loose. Then the population will know fear. And I will hear the lamentations of their women and laugh..... and laugh. BWAhahahaha. (cabin fever is a myth)

BTW Port Angeles was clear of snow 1 week after SNOW DISASTER! <sigh> But 1-1/2" of rain is forecast for Friday . The normally nice back roads are starting to get saturated and making big pools so might get exciting.

So this incredibly bright yaller thang came out in the sky and everybody was wandering around all squinty eyed and I took advantage of the confusion to make a break for it. In spite of all the light and the dry roads I forced my way through the mid-winter wilderness to test out the new 19" wheel and tire.





Crescent Lake





Elwah River edit: spelling - ELWHA



Dawn Lake Road



And no chains for the Hurricane Ridge road so back home.

Nice pics, but how was the new 4.00x19?

Oh. That. Got distracted. A couple of unexpected results. Our subdivision has some speed bumps and they used to induce a slight slow speed front wheel wobble, hardly worth mentioning but it was there. With the 4.00 it is gone. Tested back and forth and no wobbly at all. Then in those panicked-left-turn-on-to-the-highway-accelerating moves that are so essential to survival in the PNW the 90/90-21 would stutter and understeer. The 4.00 does much better. Other than that, no noticeable difference. I am definitely not a hot rod driver so did not push it but I spent enough money that I will always claim it's better.

Gotta tell ya that in the pics you posted the new front wheel/tire combo just LOOKS better. Makes the rig look more balanced and capable.

Inmates who have never driven a sidecar rig won't understand about the left turn you mentioned. Yes, definitely a sphincter moment when the traffic forces you to pick your spot then LEAP! Stutter and understeer is the exciting norm. Especially if the stop sign you're sitting at is slightly uphill. BTDT. If the fat tire helps with that, congrats!

Here's a comparison of the Shinko 90/90-21 and the Duro 4.00-19.

What a great looking rig! Small mods can make a big difference.

I hadn't put those pictures together but now I'm really glad I got rid of the superhero graphics.

Helps... not eliminates.

Rumors of Spring. Lawnmowers in February does not compute.

The Spring Beauty
The Native American Story of the Spring Beauty
The Red Indian Fairy Book by Frances Jenkins Olcott
A Chippewa Story

The Story of the Spring Beauty
An old man was sitting in his lodge, by the side of a frozen stream. It was the end of Winter, the air was not so cold, and his fire was nearly out. He was old and alone. His locks were white with age, and he trembled in every joint. Day after day passed, and he heard nothing but the sound of the storm sweeping before it the new-fallen snow.

One day while his fire was dying, a handsome young man entered the lodge. His cheeks were red, his eyes sparkled. He walked with a quick, light step. His forehead was bound with sweet-grass, and he carried a bunch of fragrant flowers in his hand.

"Ah, my Son," said the old man, "I am happy to see you. Come in. Tell me your adventures, and what strange lands you have seen. I will tell you my wonderful deeds, and what I can perform. You shall do the same, and we will amuse each other."

The old man then drew from a bag a curiously wrought pipe. He filled it with mild tobacco, and handed it to his guest. They each smoked from the pipe, and then began their stories.

"I am Peboan, the Spirit of Winter," said the old man. "I blow my breath, and the streams stand still. The water becomes stiff and hard as clear stone."

"I am Seegwun, the Spirit of Spring," answered the youth. "I breathe, and flowers spring up in the meadows and woods."

"I shake my locks," said the old man, "and the snow covers the land. The leaves fall from the trees, and my breath blows them away. The birds fly to the distant land, and the animals hide themselves from the cold."

"I shake my ringlets," said the young man, "and the warm showers of soft rain fall upon the Earth. The flowers lift their heads from the ground, and the grass grows thick and green. My voice recalls the birds, and they come flying joyfully from the Southland. The warmth of my breath unbinds the streams, and they sing the songs of Summer. Music fills the groves wherever I walk, and all Nature rejoices."

And while they were thus talking, a wonderful change took place. The Sun began to rise. A gentle warmth stole over the place. Peboan, the Spirit of Winter, became silent. His head drooped, and the snow outside the lodge melted away. Seegwun, the Spirit of Spring, grew more radiant, and rose joyfully to his feet. The Robin and the Bluebird began to sing on the top of the lodge. The stream murmured past the door, and the fragrance of opening flowers came softly on the breeze.

The lodge faded away, and Peboan sank down and dissolved into tiny streams of water, that vanished under the brown leaves of the forest.

Thus the Spirit of Winter departed, and where he melted away the Indian children gathered the first blossoms, fragrant and delicately pink,—the modest Spring Beauty.

The Spirit of Spring be damned! I may have frost-bit hair, and joints of gravel, and Grand Canyons of wrinkles around my eyes, but I ain't done! I ain't done! And if I die while on the bike, crumpled up like yesterday's milk carton in some bloody ditch, it will be okay.... Payment on a bargain I made long ago when I was "The Spirit Of Spring," the promise of freedom and joy and the wind in my face for just the possibility of injury or death. It was a good bargain in 1966, and it's a good bargain today..... Get aboard, or get the hell out of the way! I ain't done! Ride it until you break it, or ride it until it breaks you.....

"We choose only once. We choose either to be warriors or to be ordinary men. A
second choice does not exist. Not on this earth." - Don Juan Matus

Since we're all sitting here just sharpening our blades by firelight, I thought it would be time to drag this one out again.

Invictus
BY WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.

I am glad that I stumbled upon this thread, it has been a good start to Sunday morning, thanks for posting.

"British possessions" beware tea drinkers, monarchists and warm beer.

Very nice!

The days are getting longer. Dunno what I'm waiting for...






A rite of spring.

This is a salute to Mr. @LC1 one of them there black iron burners.

So if you're hanging around this thread maybe you're into carrion like my little totem bird enjoys and just maybe you're getting a little long of tooth. And that kind of means that the odds makers think you are pretty totally screwed with this virus. There is another way of looking at it. I've been left for dead before and hell, 1 in 6 is GOOD odds when you have that perspective. So some reposts since I haven't been out picture taking lately.

Some people are bound to have a worse day than you.