Beach Monitor

Some of my favorite things to photograph are items that are completely out of context. For example, a rowboat in the middle of the woods or apples floating in a river though there are no apple trees for miles; things that make you wonder just how they got there.

The photo you see here is an example of such context, but in the most unfortunate way. On Nauset Light Beach, someone actually dragged an entire computer system onto the beach and proceeded to smash it to bits. This example is more a commentary on human nature than anything else, and doesn’t help the case in my constant battle with misanthropy. I tried to be artsy, but at the end of the day, it’s still just a shattered monitor that the earth and ocean never asked for.

Did I Miss Anyone?

I would like to bid a heartfelt Happy Merry Joyous Hanukkah Christmas Winter Solstice Kwanzaa Boxing Day to you and yours, his and hers, ours and theirs, back and forth.

Also, may the new year bring you peace and joy.

Love one another. Try it...you might like it.

~SP

Information Overlord

S’funny. I have the ability to track who visits this web log, how long they stuck around to read, and how they got here. Some visits are just from people who are browsing on Blogger and click “Next Blog” and pretty much wind up here by accident. Some of those people immediately realize that this isn’t their cup of tea and move onto something else, but every now and then someone will hang out and read a couple posts.

I’ve gotten hits from Portugal, Italy, France, Spain, and interestingly, Africa. The visits from overseas are usually by way of the “Next Blog” method.

However.

For my faithful reader(s), you know that the past couple months have been heavy on the lists of things I’ve bought and sold and various automotive woes. So far, the greatest traffic I’ve seen is from people searching on a particular bass or amp, how to turn off that confounded Hyundai Accent “check engine” light, or just to find some info on the Island of Misfit Toys and its inhabitants. Not surprisingly, during the summer there was a rush on “Ban de Soleil”.

I hope I was helpful and at least somewhat entertaining in your search for answers.

Don't be a stranger! Drop a comment and say hello! I'd love to hear from you.

Timetripping on Two Wheels

I've written quite a bit about my Goldwing and have hinted around about previous bikes I've owned. It's time to throw the timeline out there for two reasons:

1. I feel guilty for not providing reading material for awhile.
2. Writer's block.

These are in reverse chronological order.

1985 Honda VF 700F Interceptor
I got it in the winter of 1998, and it was originally red, white, and blue. Well, it had been dumped on its side and needed a repaint when I bought it. I knew I'd never be able to match the original color scheme, so I modeled it after a then-new VFR800. Interesting bike as it was one of the first 'real' sportbikes back '85. By today's standards, it'd be as quick as a mooring. This is a heavy bike. But, I love it just the same. I added some F1 slip-ons to get it to breathe a little better. I don't buy into that "loud pipes save lives" BS, but the F1s sure kicked up the dBs a few. The Goldwing takes up all my motorcycle time now, so this one is was handed down to my brother.


1987 Yamaha TT225
After the KLR600 fiasco (below), I decided to just get a plain ol’ dirtbike. I love riding in the dirt. It’s my absolute favorite. I found a TT225 for sale not too far from me, and it was a little gem. They’re rare, too. The picture you see is yet another I got from the internet. It’s a great picture too, because it shows that the thing really was a little mountain goat. It was only a 225, but it hauled my then-215LB frame up very steep hills with no problem, and it was also incredibly light. I sold it shortly thereafter because I got tired of being chased by environmental police. Massachusetts has SO much great landscape, and yet there’s nowhere to ride...legally.


1986 Kawasaki KLR600
File this one under “If It Sounds Too Good To Be True……” My older brother had a Yamaha XT250 years back, and I had always loved dual-purpose bikes. I also have an affinity for picking weird machines, and this was definitely one of them. I bought it from a guy who offered to drop the price before I ever mentioned it. Hmm. Long story short, I got it looking great by tearing it down and sourcing out spare parts from boneyards all over the country. Problem was, I just had the hardest time getting that thing started. It was a 600cc single, so the compression was VERY high. For one reason or another, the electric start never worked, either. So I would just kick and kick it over until I was pretty much too exhausted to even ride afterwards. I got two good runs out of it when I noticed that it was overheating all the time. Come to find out, I bought a bike with a melted piston. I sold it for parts.

The score:
Unscrupulous Jackass Seller: 1
Clueless, Ignorant Buyer: 0


1986 Yamaha YX600 Radian
I don't have a good picture of the Radian, so I scoured the 'net. The above bike actually belongs to Chris Payne, but mine was identical. Remember that Seller's Remorse I've mentioned in other posts? Well, this is a shining example. Yamaha only made these for a couple years, and it was essentially a standard version of an FJ600. It shared most of the same components minus a few styling touches and bodywork.

I bought it in spring of 1994 and rode it to Bike Week in Laconia NH a couple weeks later. That little event is REALLY tough on a bike. It didn't burn oil when I bought it, but it sure did after Bike Week. Sitting in traffic for hours at a time in 90-degree heat (while onlookers shout out requests to see your girlfriend passenger's anatomy) does wonders for an air-cooled engine.

Unfortunately, I never got a picture of it after I did some mods. I had the seat reupholstered by Sargent, added a 4-into one exhaust, clip-ons, Koni piggyback rear shocks, rejetted it, blacked out most of the chrome, eliminated the license plate holder, and added some rearsets. It was definitely only a bike for one after that. And lemme tell ya, that thing would go like stink. I had to sell it because I was trying to get some money together to move into a bigger place. I think about it all the time and wonder if it's still in one piece. It's silly to lament something inanimate, but I miss that bike a lot.


1980 Honda CX500 Custom
My first street bike. Always a fan of the unusual, I thought this bike was great because it had a transverse-mounted V-twin. It was also a former police bike, so it had some really goofy-looking saddlebags and lights (this was before the advent of eBay, so I didn't know that they were actually worth something and just threw them out). However, through the cooperation of some machinist and painter friends of mine, I got it back to looking mostly stock. A great first bike, and if I had the option of having a couple bikes in my stable, this would be one of them. It ran like a top and was just one of those all-around great bikes. Surprisingly, I don't have a good picture of mine. So I got one from the internet and it's identical. I sold it so I could buy the Radian.

And Then There Were Two

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRIMO.

Frosty The Peacemaker

Christmastime can be a conflicted time of year for me because of the utter insanity the majority of people slip into. Interestingly, Chanukah has no such insanity, but I digress.

This time of year, people are expected to turn it down a bit; good will towards man and the whole bit. If anything, I think the converse happens. Once one sets foot anywhere something is sold, they are no longer peers or brothers or sisters; they’re competition. Black Friday, as it has come to be known, is a perfect and disturbing illustration of that.

Every now and then, however, Christmas spirit prevails somehow.

When I was fifteen, my older brother and I were horsing around in my room. I threw a cassette tape case at him, and the corner hit the back of his hand. Not surprisingly, he got angry and threw me on my desk, and my shoulder hit the power switch on my boom box. Just when I thought I was going to be the recipient of a punch in the mouth, the dulcet tones of “Frosty the Snowman” suddenly emanated from my boom box.

We had no choice but to laugh. Through the spirit of Christmas, a hostile situation was defused and I was spared getting downright smote.

It was a true Christmas miracle.

Hal-leeeeee…luuuuuuuujahhhhhhhh.