| Thursday, November 19th, 2009 |
| 5:56 pm |
Question...
For the last week I've been watching WWII in HD on the History Channel. It's a first-hand account from WWII veterans, both living and deceased, with restored color film. For anyone who is clueless about WWII history, this is an excellent documentary. Anyway, for the past couple years I've been toying with the idea of working with my dad to document his experiences during WWII either in written or audio/video format. Of course there is a whole slew of this out there so it's not something I'm looking to do for financial game. Mainly I want my children and future generations to understand why my father fought in the war. I want them to know why we (the United States) did what we did during this time. They need to understand, and not forget, the history. My dad is 90 so the time to do it is now. Should I? |
| Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 |
| 5:13 pm |
I got talked into riding the final round of the New York Air-Cooled Trials (NYACT) series that took place in Moreland, NY last Sunday. Now when it comes to trials, I'm about as useful as a fart in a jar. Normally trials is scored like golf, where you're shooting for the lowest score, and it's just as frustrating. However NYACT events use a gate system where the object is to ride through as many gates as possible, within a section, without taking a dab (putting your foot down). If a rider can go through a section clean (no dabs) they score one point. For each gate the rider passes through they earn one additional point. However if you dab just once within a section, your score is zero for that section. ( Rest behind the cut. ) |
| Monday, October 26th, 2009 |
| 9:59 pm |
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| Sunday, October 25th, 2009 |
| 9:00 pm |
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| Friday, October 16th, 2009 |
| 11:04 am |
Two-Stroke Cowboys
Found this on another forum. It appears to be from the Scottish Six-Day Trial (SSDT) in the early to mid-seventies. |
| Thursday, October 15th, 2009 |
| 4:58 pm |
Jacob's Trophy
 Looks like he's saying; "You may have beat me by 6-points, but I'm still taller than you!" |
| Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 |
| 10:50 am |
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| Monday, October 12th, 2009 |
| 12:28 pm |
A Weekend of Riding
Saturday was the 19th Annual (my 6th) Spanish Motorcycle Owners Group (SMOG) East Trail Ride. Sadly, this year, I left my camera at home so no pictures. Also in attendance was ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) tomatoe333 at his first SMOG Ride. Despite some rain the day before, the trails were in spectacular condition, i.e. fast and fun. For most of the bikes, and a few riders, this is the only time all year they ride off-road. I got to witness a few spectacular crashes on the first hill. Ended up riding over a combined 40 miles on all three of my bikes. Sunday my son Jacob wanted to ride the observed trial at CATRA. He had a spectacular day dropping 16-marks his first loop, 9-marks on his second and 6-marks on the third for a total of 31-marks and second place in the Youth Class. I didn't do nearly as good in the Vintage Class. For some reason they have us riding the tougher B-line in the sections. With four loops and eight sections in each loop it was a struggle. Two times I fell over, dropping 5-marks both times. In one section I managed to drop only one mark, but in all the others I dropped 3-marks for a total of 98-marks and a solid lock on third place. |
| Wednesday, September 16th, 2009 |
| 3:37 pm |
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| Monday, September 14th, 2009 |
| 7:03 pm |
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| Sunday, September 13th, 2009 |
| 5:25 pm |
That Sounds Expensive!
So Thursday afternoon I pulled my Bultaco Sherpina out of the shed and started getting it ready for the last two rounds of the New York Air Cooled Trials Championships. Right after I fired it up a loud rattle developed in the lower end. It sounded like marbles rolling around inside the crankcase. An expensive sound I might add. So I pulled the ignition cover and rotated the flywheel back and forth and each time there was a loud clunk similar to a rod knock. Yes, a very expensive sound indeed. Friday I pulled the motor from the frame, brought it up to the work bench and began taking it apart in anticipation of splitting the cases. When I removed the primary cover I found several pieces of the chain tensioner laying in the bottom. I fished out all the loose parts and removed the rest of the parts rubbing against the primary drive chain. When that was done I rotated the engine back and forth again and the clunk was gone. I called my buddy Pete and asked if he had a spare tensioner laying around. His response was to forget about it and run the bike without it. Pete does have way more experience with Bultacos, but I was still skeptical. Then I noticed the engine being torn down in the manual I have did not even have a tensioner. So I put the motor back together and voila, it fired right up, sounded normal and works as good as... well... and old Bultaco. I'm sure that after 36 years the primary drive chain has some extra slop. One of these days I'll get around to replacing the chain. Hopefully before it breaks giving me instant neutral. Of course the best part didn't cost me a dime since I could salvage the gaskets and I was changing the oil anyway. |
| Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 |
| 11:57 am |
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| Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 |
| 1:12 am |
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| Saturday, August 1st, 2009 |
| 10:23 pm |
Guess I'm just lucky.
Friday - Rode 50 miles in the pouring rain. Can you say mud and deep water? Hope Turkey Runners like rocks cause we found a few. Think I finally killed my enduro computer. Saturday - Jacob raced in his second pee wee scramble. He got stung by a bee and crashed on a bridge. Yeah, I thought it was BS too until I saw the welt. Some other kids got stung too. He finished and not in last place, but the best part is he had fun. Met some nice people, but a few are definitely living vicariously through their kids. Sunday - Work party... more time on the pegs. |
| Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 |
| 9:27 pm |
Almost finished...
Slowly, but surely, it's coming along.  1978 Bultaco M-206 Mk11 (250) Pursang - Right Side. ( Two more behind the cut. )At least this Bultaco has the rear brake/shifter on the "correct" sides. My slow brain can't handle the reverse rear brake/shifter on my other Bultaco. Now I just need to grow a pair for some vintage motocross racing. |
| 1:03 pm |
Great Memories...
From the 2003 "30th Anniversary" ISDT Reunion Ride in the Berkshire Mts. of Mass. I was at this ride, working checkpoints and spectating. In fact there's some cameo appearances of me and my oldest son, when he was 18-months old, in the final motocross test scenes. Also there's some pretty famous off-road racers in various shots. Too bad there will never be another event like this at that location. The trails in Savoy State Forest were closed to motorized off-road access in 2004. |
| Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 |
| 11:13 pm |
TMI, but funny none the less
So Monday morning I'm out scouting trails on my buddy Bob's Yamaha XT350. I'm riding through the woods on this seasonal road when suddenly the bean burrito I had for dinner the night before starts knocking at the back door. I stop the bike, take off my camelbak, jacket and enduro bum bag to dig out my stash of bung-wad. Then I pulled down my riding pants. ( Cut for the juicy part! ) |
| 5:43 pm |
Duct tape and zip-ties accessorize!
So after writing about gadget-guy I started thinking af another guy I met at an enduro one time. I was on minute 30-something that day and, being that it was an AMA enduro, there was a AA rider on my minute. His mechanic, who was fast in his own right, was also on my minute. I didn't have a snowballs chance in hell of keeping up with these two guys. ( Yes, there's more! ) |
| 1:51 am |
Gadget-Guy
A few years ago I went to one of the Western NY Enduros. Speedsville, Barbed Wire, one of them I forget now. I post-entered and wound up on a late minute which is usually where they stick all the newbies. Well I go and line up for the start and the only other guy on my minute has a brand spankin' new Suzuki DRZ 400, the street-legal model. This thing was clean, too clean in fact. It shined like a nickel in a turd. So I strike up a little conversation since I'm probably going to be seeing this guy for the next five hours. "New bike?" ( Click for the rest of the story ) |
| Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 |
| 5:15 pm |
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