Up to my elbows...

YOU know, this retirement thang is not all its cut out to be.  Think about it... 27 months ago, I was an accredited, licensed full time, independent financial adviser.  I had clients, an office, office equipment and appointments.  I even had a palm pilot (remember those?)

Typical summer use, clay road.

Back in 2008, I 'sold' my business to an adviser that worked with the same broker, unfortunately while I was biking around Europe, he failed to uphold his end of the bargain and upon my return, I was scrambling to renew licenses and continue.  It was a disappointment for me but not to my clients, who actually "liked" me.

Then again in 2010 I was approached by another adviser group, that were gearing up and presto, I was officially out of work, if not actually yet feeling retired.

So, for the last 2 odd years, I've had no paycheck, but still lots to do.  There was the whole moving the girls in, then moving us all out here to the 'East coast'.

Campbell Rd.

There was the finishing of the house, which is still waiting for my library, some improvements into garage/storage and now of course , this last two months, renovating the apartments 2 and 5.

Result... lots of work, still no paycheck!

Cute trail marker

The summer is nearly gone.  Don't feel retired in the least.  I'm approaching my 59th birthday, and it just seems I've left behind one set of clothes for another.  Maybe when I head south for a bit, it will feel more like it.

Up to my elbows in it

I do of course, occasionally get to write a few emails, watch a movie on Netflix while chewing on late night popcorn, or putter around on one of my bikes.  Take the other day for example.  We were early from the reno work in Summerside, back home by 7pm, and being a fine evening, I pulled the 225 from the line up and went for a spin in the hood.  There are many red clay roads around here that link one paved road to another.  Course, some times I haven't a clue where this one goes or ends up, so having a dualie... I find out.

Campbell road nearby starts out as a two rut track, with grass between, then peters out into dense overgrowth.  With rather thick saplings slapping my arms and bouncing off my hand guards,  I'm thinking, this doesn't go anywhere and obviously it isn't even used in the winter by snowmobilers like many of these back roads are.  Luckily, there is a faint trace of an ATV track that I am following but after a few hundred yards even this veers off the 'road' into a grain field.

Yes there is a path here.

Following the tracks I ride the edge of the field 'blind' and literally up to my elbows, down through a ravine and finally back onto a semblance of trail.  From here, brush rubbing said elbows, I work my way through to an passable but heavily overgrown trail to end up at a crossroad where cut lumber is stacked 20' high.  I know this place, I came through here a month ago from the other direction.  Following the path to an obscure route marking, brings me eventually to a potato field and then route 226, the Long River road.  This deposits me on route 20 and because I am literally yards from Cousins Shore road, I drop into Mike and Isabelle's cottage for a short coffee and quick visit.

Signs of civilization

It may not be the wilds of Baja, but there is plenty here to keep a dual purpose guy occupied for years.

Moonlight

Now, back to the apartment where we should be able to finish the reno today,

... and move in the new tenants tomorrow.

How about a little Good news for a change...

 

AFTER nearly twenty years of trying, the powers to be/motorcycle lobby has cleared the final hurdle and the emissions requirement for Phoenix/Tuscon, has been rescinded.  For those of you in the know, Phx was the only urban center in the USA that required motorcycles to be tested.  Back in the nineties (remember them days?) a group began the arduous process of having this corrected, and as of June 21, 2013... (drum role here) bikes need not deal with this formality any longer.



Why is this good news?  Well I have two two wheelers down there at my condo.  A '98 XT 350 and an '08 Adventure 150 scooter.  I can renew my registration online, however, I can't do that until the bike was currently emission-ed.  Catch 22.  I have to be there to do the test, but I'm only there occasionally and now, living on the east coast, even less.  This meant that I would face a penalty and have to do the registration process all over again each time.  Now, with the exemption, I will (once I get it all back to the starting point) be able to just renew my plate online each year.  Yayyy!  Chalk one up for the good guys.



On another topic, I biked the VX 800 over to Clark's welding this morning at 7 30 am sharp, to do a bit of welding.  I picked up the VX a few weeks back and found some vintage Krauser bags online in Ontario, where biking friend Randy, bought them and shipped them here to me.  Old buddy Ronnie had some h/w that he sent me from Kamloops.  This bike was sold briefly in Canada during the early nineties.  It had the 805cc, L/C V-twin and shaft drive that the Intruder series had, and which the Blvd 50 still has today.  Being more Euro style, us North Americans didn't appreciate the bike and as a result, they did not sell well.  Finding a decent sample is difficult at best. 



I have been working on this bike fabricating hardware to fit the 800, late nights in anticipation of said Ronnie's arrival in September for a couple weeks vacation.  We are going to ride the Cabot Trail and visit long ago friends, Danny and Dana from Fort Mac days.  Being a Suzuki nutball, he will find the VX right up his alley...

Summerside pair die in motorcycle accident

This... is getting beyond ridiculous.

For a tiny province with a population of 140,000 souls, this is the third and fourth fatalities this year.  And the summer is but young.

The CBC news report goes on to state;

The names of the deceased in last night's fatal car/motorcycle collision are 63 year old Gordon Howatt, and Valerie Ellis, 52, both of Summerside. They died at the scene of the accident. The motorcycle they were on collided with a car on Highway 2 just before 5:30 p.m.

Further the police are quoted as saying;

 
"It appears at this point, although it's very early into the investigation, that the driver of the sedan was heading westbound and crossed the center into the oncoming lane of the motorcycle, which was heading eastbound," said RCMP Sgt. Andrew Blackadar.

What is wrong with this picture?

Word is that the driver was pulling out to pass a line of vehicles on the major west/east route 2, and he just creamed this bike.  Perfect road conditions, daylight, warm weather.  

I ask again, what is wrong out there?

The public and government calls for mandatory training of motorcyclists... however, the problem seems to be, poor driving, inattention and bad decision making on the part of the driver.  Of course I've seen a woman driving down Crowchild Trail putting on make-up in the mirror while drinking from a cup,  driving apparently, with her knees!  Cell phone use, texting, reading, working on the laptop or pad.  Stuffing one's face with a burger and fries and a hundred other things that simply, have no business being in a vehicle.  The charge I am told for the previous fatality, ( a couple of weeks back) was failing to yield the right of way.  

I am sick...

Why do we do what we do?

1979 YZ 400F

JUST laying here this morning... mostly thinking of my motorcycle career.  It's been varied to say the least.  Having spent nearly 25 years directly involved with the biz and several more indirectly, I thought, why do we do these things?

XT 600 A South of San Felipe, Baja

XJ600S Seca II near Chetwynd B.C.

Me... I had an early interest in things mechanical and of course bikes were amongst them, but it was something else that got me going I think.  I was a bit of a round peg in a square hole to begin with, being a refugee kid.  Bikes were a way to extend my dreams of travel and adventure and escape.  Compared to many over the years, I was very fortunate that my parents if

















not encouraging, were at least understanding about my desire to ride.  I had a bike at age thirteen and rode it all over the place for a whole summer without so much as a license!  Even when I turned fourteen and rode the bike downtown to the motor vehicle building somewhere around 109th street, the examiner asked me point blank, "How did you get here?"  I lied, "oh a friend with another bike came down with me..."

Kazue/DT 50 Rocky Mountains AB

DR 200 SE Arizona back country

Of course he knew I was fibbing but administered the test anyway.  I failed, neglecting to stop before leaving the parking lot.  A second try a few days later was more successful and at the ripe old age of fourteen... I was FREE and Mobile!   

Over the decades I have ridden virtually everything and every type out there.  I took an early interest in motocross, and not only raced for 15 years but ran clubs, built tracks, studded tires and raced on ice etc.  After awhile, having nurtured my early craving for travel farther afield and ridden to Jasper and Banff on small displacement two stroke street bikes, I bought a BMW, which at eighteen, rode coast to coast.  Since then I have been very fortunate to ride dirt, desert, street racetracks and even a YSR 50 from PEI to Toronto for the '89 Yamaha dealer convention.

YSR 50 Burlington PEI

Suzuki T 350 Rebel HW 63

If you look in my garage today you'll find a scooter, two Honda step through's, some vintage bikes, an old Trials bike, a couple sporty bikes, my Thunderbird, a quad, three displacements of dual purpose bikes, all of which I have ridden or ride today. 

Italian scooter in Cuba

Having been in the business so long, often you'd find your customers or friends preferring a particular aspect of riding, like touring bikes... or sporty bikes or dirt bikes.  I feel equally comfortable on everything.  I could be riding my Trials bike in the morning, then in the afternoon, be riding the mountains (or coast now that I'm here) on a sports touring bike.  I could be tooling around the mountains of Giganta on the DT or XT, or bags loaded, be climbing the Bear Tooth Pass.  I could even be carving a corner in the Swiss Alps!

Diversion 600, Swiss Alps

For anyone stuck on a single facet of riding, I say... expand your zone, push the envelope and try something different, who knows... you might find touring or trekking the back roads and trails invigorating to your soul!

Tom Tabbert and I on Elsie's, Cabot Trail

Ride on!  

Of Mice, and Men!

You know something... I really have not had any significant time off since I officially retired more than 2 years ago.  I mean there were households and houses to deal with, years worth of collectables, junk, reno's, garage sales, not to mention the actually building of the "dream home" Then there was the move itself, driving separate vehicles, arriving to an incomplete home, trying to deal with supposed professionals that weren't very.  Extra costs, headaches galore, not having a Doctor, buying rental properties etc etc blah blah blah. 

I take pride in caring for my vehicles.  I do much of my own work and when the girls and I lived in the same vicinity, I must have done countless oil changes, tires, light bulbs, fix ups and sundry other items.  Same goes for my bikes.  I tackle most anything.

Plumbing, wiring, painting, hauling junk to the dump and much more.  Yes I am bragging a little bit. 

Today, my normally very reliable Chevy Blazer that I ordered from GM in it's final production year, refuses to start.  I mean it starts but stops without revving up.  Then stops altogether, then the instrument panel begins to twitch and then the engine catches but I have no tachometer and many of the warning lights are either blinking or on without provocation.  After an hour in climbing sunshine and the accompanying heat, I gave up, put it aside and we took the Cruiser into town.

Tonight I had another go, same problems as earlier, but at least it was running.  I put my thinking cap on, checked fuses... all good, battery condition and charging output, right on 14.5Volts.  Still no answer.  It wasn't until I wiggled wires under the hood that I found a rather large and very complete, nest made of straw and dry grass, tucked into a corner away from sight.  Soon as I saw this, I knew.  Just knew where the problem lay.  I've come across this several times in the past.  In particular there was a Honda Trail 90 a customer brought in that would not run.  After many hours trying to diagnose the problem I took apart the exhaust system and found a very dense nest.  I've also found them in air boxes, under fuel tanks and tunneled into seats.

The little rascal had, over time, chewed through the protective covering and then succeeded in working his/her way through a half dozen wires. Now they couldn't be out in the open or on a harness that had plenty of slack... nope, they had to be under a corner and with little room to work.

I had to shake my head.  This little timid creature had been hard at work, most likely for some time, to do this much damage. 

It took the better part of the evening in 30 degree heat, to splice most of the wires together.  I say most because there were two brown/white striped that I could not find a proper connecton for and ended up running out of daylight.  Searched the internet but as often happens, too much information, too many wild goose chases.

A 4000 lb vehicle and a 150 lb man... defeated by a two ounce mouse... and we think we rule the planet!

Yesterday, I had to run into the bustling metropolis of Summerside, PEI.  I was meeting a young man who, with his fiancee will be renting one of our apartment units.  In fact we rented both of the vacant apartments this week.

Anyway, I decided to ride my Thunderbird into town.  It was warm, but the wind was picking up steadily, and my growing headache suggested to me a front was moving in. Yeah... I'm like the weatherman but more accurate and unpaid!

My appointment was for six, and I had been delayed by the traffic circle, where a very large truck had obviously impacted a very small SUV at a low speed.  Glass shattered everywhere and the occupants of the SUV were being attended by EMT's from a waiting ambulance.  It never surprises me because even here, where several 1 or 2 lane traffic circles have replaced many intersections of yore, I see the darnedest things.  At this very spot earlier in the week, I witnessed a car stop in the circle to allow 5-6 vehicles waiting, to enter and proceed.  Of course this is entirely contrary to the point of the point, which is to keep traffic moving as smoothly and quickly as possible.  All it does is confuses other road users, "what are they doing, should I stay, should I go..."

Having grown up in Edmonton AB, where there were several such circles even in the sixties, (Groat road) I am familiar with them.  Of course in the times I have ridden in Mexico and of course Europe, where I've ridden my bikes on circles with 4, 5 and even a dozen lanes.  you can be reasonably assured that road users understand the basics of the flow.  Back in my youth, riding my X-6 or Big Bear 305 scrambler or T 350 Rebel, all with fixed foot pegs, we had great fun in dragging the pegs riding the circles in the wee hours of the morning.

Having explained the lease paperwork to Spencer, I was heading back home.  In the Wal Mart parking lot I noticed a little red bike, that was very familiar to me. It was about to be loaded into a bumper rack.  I wheeled the T Bird into the other lane, having first shoulder checked and hand signaled, and pulled up to have a conversation with the owner.  They were a couple from Ontario, driving the Maritimes in their Winnebago/VW motorhome, perfect it seemed for a couple traveling.  The bike in question was a 1981 Yamaha SR 250 T.  That was the enduro engined Exciter, a 250 four stroke single with electric start.  It was in incredibly good condition, weighing about 325 lbs, with a comfortable riding position and a fairly peppy SOHC four stroke engine, coupled to a five speed gearbox.

The uniqueness of this particular model, was in the letter 'T'.  With the turn of a key, the rear seat could be removed and a very spacious, matching red trunk, plunked into its place.

I had sold many of these models from my Freedom Cycle shop in the eighties and it was nice to see an example so well cared about.  He told me that they had purchased the motorhome and bike years ago and now retired (my guess was he was mid 60's) they had grandiose plans to travel.  For the next couple of years, they were going to  scout around North America and work out the bugs and prepare themselves for the "Great Adventure".

You see Graham, explained to me that in 2015, they were loading the MH and bike into a cargo container and heading for Europe to spend their later years doing something that was a dream for them.  I instantly felt both envious and cheerful for them, wishing them 'Happy Trails' in their goal.  As we shook hands and I departed on my English made motorcycle, riding a bike that if not similar, certainly had the spirit of the Thunderbird 650 of old, bikes I coveted hoping to blaze my own travels with as I got older.  That was back in the sixties... remember Haight  Ashbury, Viet Nam, Pierre Elliot and his single digit salute etc...

In that time, back when we as kids were wearing rubber and steel off our solidly mounted  (fine line there between thrills and disaster) foot pegs, I myself dreamed of riding my bike to far off locations, learning as I did.  I have always maintained that there is absolutely no substitute for cubic experience and as Clive Cussler suggests, you weren't going to get that by sitting on the couch watching television.

As the storm clouds gathered and the wind picked up pushing bike and rider cross road, I reflected on the choices I made.  At an early age, I was packing duffle bags, then later saddlebags, traveling to far off places in Canada the USA and Mexico before heading overseas.  This couple had worked their lives so they could do it in retirement.

In some ways I feel like a real life Merlin the fictional magician in King Arthur's court, who reportedly lived his life in reverse.  I was biking X Canada at twenty, New England in my thirties, and in Baja in my early forties, why... people would ask, because I may not be able to do it in my 60's, that's what I would reply.

Now that I am approaching that number,  I look back on the times I took off work and rode destinations that most people only read about in the travel mags, whereas now, after my body has been beat up by cars running into me, racing injuries, heart attacks and various other ailments, I am quite happy and content to ride my little TTR around my grass track, listen to the Boss or the Stones or the Beatles while cutting grass, or planning short trips such as Cap Pele with Mike or with Ron around the Cabot Trail, a beautiful road that I have ridden dozens of times but enjoy it immensely each time.  I'm prepping my newly acquired VX 800 shafty, for which I am fabricating  hardware to mount period Krauser bags for Ron to ride while I sit upon my T Bird.

BTW... it rained hard last night.

Visibility?

I noticed leaving Summerside yesterday, Mike had his high beam on.  I don't know if this was deliberate, but I shouted at him during a red light, "I can't make out your turn signals, turn your high beam off!"  On the ride home I noticed several other machines coming toward me and decided to blog about this...

Of course we've had this debate a number of times over the years, more than I care to admit.

The argument goes thus; "I want to be seen... so I ride with my high beam and the multiple spotlights on at all times."  I would never dis-agree with the need for visibility, but I often point out that too much of a good thing can be just as bad.  It's hard enough to pick out a bike coming toward you, speed or distance as a general rule.  Try the pencil test.  Hold the pencil vertical at arms length and you can easily block a M/C coming towards you.  Of course this is only a pencil, not a door post/GPS/cell phone, hamburger in your face etc.  It assumes incorrectly that people are watching out for traffic and for you.  They typically, (drum role here) are not!

When you are running with 200 watts of lights, even in daylight, you are invisible!  Don't laugh. Think about it, car comes towards you at night, high beams shining... you have no idea of his/her speed, distance or whether it's a truck, car or bike.  They don't know if you are a M/C or... car with a headlight out, they can't see your turn signal or hand signal...in short, you are an annoyance or worse, a hazard.

What's the point of having been seen, when you can't actually be seen... ?

I can be a pain in the ass! It's true.

I'VE worn many hats (helmets) over the years, not the least of which was as Chief Instructor for Canada Safety Council's, National M/C training program.  During my first long stint in Fort McMurray, I applied as an instructor in Edmonton, completing the Instructors program, I was the youngest graduate ever...  that however was only a first tiny step. I needed the Alberta Safety council's George Demery and Bob Novikoff to lend their muscle.

To be recommended to the CI program in Ottawa during a frigid February I needed a waiver.  By the way, both George and Bob tried desperately to talk me out of the try out, but I think it was just their way of screening potential candidates.  To be considered for a CI designation meant that you had to have several years as both an instructor and senior instructor.  I had neither.


The plane that carried me from Fort Mac to Calgary from whence I flew east instead of the usual west to Penticton, crashed that night into a snowplow coming into Cranbrook, and killed most of the passengers.  Fate was in my favor that day as I was to find out later.

At the week long course, as the youngest candidate ever, they put us hopefuls through a rigorous program intent on weeding out the wanne be's from the canbe's.  As I found out from Stu Monro, Peter Fassnacht and Chris Brown (if memory serves) they were not happy with my participation, having thought that I was someone's nephew or other, and was receiving special treatment.  There were 14 other candidates I think, ranging from motorcycle police patrol officers and motorcycle police from the CDN forces.  I didn't realize it at the time but was told during my final interview that they had concluded before I set foot at the armory, that I was "not to pass"  In fact, they tried to break me during the week long session.  It wasn't until we as a group, were instructed to put together the course riding exam in the restricted confines of the building, and some obvious bickering and posturing surfaced during the clash of ego's, that they began to change their minds.

After being unusually quiet and reserved in this exalted company of "experts" I stepped in, this short little kid from Fort McHell, calmed them all down, suggested, some said delegated certain people to certain tasks.  Even when I was riding the pre-test course, my over-sized CSC issue, red coveralls got caught on a cleated foot-peg as I was putting my foot down, and I crashed to the floor, bike on top,  I underneath... I got up, dusted myself off, folded the legs up again as I had done a hundred times during the week, and aced the course.  Like Edmonton, I was the only one that cleared the test without mistake.  During my final interview as I mentioned earlier, they told me about the pre-judgement but then in that last hour, decided that I was indeed worthy of the lofty status of C.I.

MC 536 was issued to me, and I spent much of the next 20 years setting up programs and training instructors and students alike.



Which leads me to today... When I am "instructing" or the senior rider, I can get into instructors mode very easily.  When I'm in I.M. I can be rather clear and concise and no nonsense... (pain in the rear)

I wondered when Mr. Smith was going to tell me to shut the F up already!  You see, I don't miss a beat to remind people that our safety depends mostly on us.  Like I always said... no use being right, if you ended up dead, right... right!

Ride on...

Holy Cow!

SUMMER... has arrived with a vengeance.  Weeks we've been waiting for some heat, enough to keep the shivers at bay, especially for an early morning or evening ride.  Well yesterday, the fourth of July, summer showed up finally.  Never mind the official, airport weather report, always misleading, it was in the low 30's and humid to boot.

Hance and I drove my Blazer to Charlottetown to pick up a steel entrance door and h/w for our furnace room in the Summerside apartment.  While there, we popped in to the local U-pick auto parts to try and match a seat belt buckle to the missing Krauser item.  NO luck there unfortunately.  To make up some time, we stopped into Shane Bolger's shop on the outskirts of town and right away I found a bike I want.  Mid nineties 900 Duc SuperSport, fire engine red, Staintune pipes and lovely shape.  Hance (my conscience) kept me from walking out with yet another bike in hand,  He thinks I am truly nuts.  After all I have bought several bikes since moving here and have had little time to actually ride anything.  And some think Obsession is a perfume...

Today, I had to run into metro Summerside to show a unit, and decided to ride my TBird.  It's 37C out there, and even gulping air, it's hot.  

Tonight we are going for a ride, take in some summer while we have it...

Dual Sporting, PEI style.

Well, it's officially July the second, as I write this.  Our Canada birthday party is over and the Americans are yet two days away from theirs.

Got a call from MJ today, wants to go for a ride.  I said "Sure..."

Knowing it was the final day of Atlanticade, and the first good day this week, about 25 little wind, no rain, the roads where Mike wanted to go would be busy.  Busy for a guy just trying to get back into bikes after decades, is a No-No, so in the interim, I got my two Yamaha XT's out and when the big guy showed up, "We have a change of plans."





Being a firm believer in smaller is better in many instances, this being one of them, I took him across country alternating on little used semi paved and clay roads.  Not really having a plan is sometimes the only way to go and in this case, it was a great success.  We clocked about 150km over a period of several hours, stopping for a photo op now and again and to check and see how he was doing.



Loving it... that's how.  Interesting when you put a guy on a smaller, lighter bike with a very user friendly riding position, a smooth torquey engine and  six gears to row, and spend quality time in the saddle, going no particular place in particular.

He wants to do it over again tomorrow.



Spent the evening on "official" duty at Twin Shore campgrounds, watching the fireworks up close and personal, no really... very close as they had no breeze and we were virtually underneath the display.  It's now 12:22 and I am ready for the sack.

A good way to celebrate the Big Day... 146 and counting...