exskibum
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Gone, that is, but I'll still get to ride it on occasion (like in Utah soon).
I've had two Honda Blackbirds (CBR1100XX), a '97 that I owned when I bought my FJR new in April 2005, and then an '03 that replaced the '97 as my farkling got out of hand. Warchild was to blame for the over the top Blackbird farkling with his group buys over on the Blackbird forum he once frequented. The '03 had 3,000 miles on it when I found it, and it had 12,225 on it last week. I just haven't been riding it the last few years. In fact, since November 2011, I haven't been riding anything much, and not at all since Oct. 2012 -- my FJR needs some work (e.g., electrical issue) and I have had too much to do with the purchase of a short sale house, etc.
I have lots to do on the house, and a very good friend of ~25 years (good athlete, scratch golfer and one of the very best humans I know) is a licensed handyman with skills. I was once a journeyman painter and drywall taper, but Bob's got the full set of maintenance, construction and remodel skills. OTOH, he's busy, and no matter my begging to schedule my house for work for which I'd pay him, the bastard won't charge me, so on top of my procrastination, the house remains in need of much work to get it where I need it to be.
Bob has had his MC endorsement for over 30 years, but has been prohibited from owning, or riding a motorcycle during his marriage (~22 years). That is ending with final dissolution only weeks away, and I'll leave it at the very non-gender related observation that his soon-to-be-ex never deserved the very good guy she had all these years.
Now, we all know how psychologically therapeutic riding motorcycles and taking motorcycle trips around the country can be. Right? So I probably said something like "you need a motorcycle again." Hehehehe.
That apparently planted the seed, and we eventually struck a bargain in which he would help me get my house done this summer, including finishing the studio apartment beneath it. He's already contributed significantly since his marriage imploded last June. In exchange, I'd give him the Blackbird (sans Carrozzeria wheels, 4-2-1 Micron header and a couple other farkles) plus a helmet, textile jacket, tank bag and a few other necessities. The bike remains equipped with Traxxion Dynamics AK-20 front suspension, a Penske rear shock, Pazzo levers, and Clear Alternatives signal lenses. Also included are a new set of Michelin Pilot Road 2s mounted on the OEM rims whose outsides we stripped and polished, and my collection of new OEM replacement filters, plugs, pads, etc.
Ive been jonesing to do a ride to see the National Parks and ride the twisty roads of southern Utah for a few years and even posted about it 18 months ago or so, seeking routing and destination input. Still, I never got around to actually doing it. With Bob getting back into motorcycling, I felt an obligation to show him why we all grin at the mere thought of touring adventures like that (and I'd promised his sister-in-law that I'd help him achieve testicle reclamation from the attractive but monumentally controlling shrew). But alas, I'm a world champion procrastinator. So I thought about the Utah trip, but with ski season and a trip to Kauai taking my time, I did too little toward making it happen. Until . . .
Ten or twelve weeks ago, a trouble maker on this board e-mailed me to ask whether I'd ever done that Utah trip I'd blown hard about. When I wrote back to say "no" and suggest a discussion, I was told something like "don't write, just tell me where to meet you." With that kick in the ass, I finally got around to routing the trip and shifting into GO mode. Now we're 20 days out from departure.
Bob took a refresher MSF course a couple weekends ago, bought boots and gloves, and got the Blackbird titled and insured last Friday. On Saturday, I rode it to his house, ready for this trip, but available for him to spend some time getting used to it. He was over again yesterday helping me with the FJR prep, and grinning at being back on two wheels that perform like that bike does. His oldest daughter (almost 22) is obviously wowed by his new black bike, his 19 year old daughter is away at college and doesn't yet know about it, and the one-who-is-still-to-be-feared will surely throw a conniption fit upon discovering that Bob has acquired a long prohibited fun toy. She will probably have an aneurism at his audacity to be going on a 2,500 mile fun odyssey when that becomes known, so for now, it's still a secret in those circles. And of course . . . I'm pretty obviously the culprit here.
Somehow the world seems a little more right in all of that.
I've had two Honda Blackbirds (CBR1100XX), a '97 that I owned when I bought my FJR new in April 2005, and then an '03 that replaced the '97 as my farkling got out of hand. Warchild was to blame for the over the top Blackbird farkling with his group buys over on the Blackbird forum he once frequented. The '03 had 3,000 miles on it when I found it, and it had 12,225 on it last week. I just haven't been riding it the last few years. In fact, since November 2011, I haven't been riding anything much, and not at all since Oct. 2012 -- my FJR needs some work (e.g., electrical issue) and I have had too much to do with the purchase of a short sale house, etc.
I have lots to do on the house, and a very good friend of ~25 years (good athlete, scratch golfer and one of the very best humans I know) is a licensed handyman with skills. I was once a journeyman painter and drywall taper, but Bob's got the full set of maintenance, construction and remodel skills. OTOH, he's busy, and no matter my begging to schedule my house for work for which I'd pay him, the bastard won't charge me, so on top of my procrastination, the house remains in need of much work to get it where I need it to be.
Bob has had his MC endorsement for over 30 years, but has been prohibited from owning, or riding a motorcycle during his marriage (~22 years). That is ending with final dissolution only weeks away, and I'll leave it at the very non-gender related observation that his soon-to-be-ex never deserved the very good guy she had all these years.
Now, we all know how psychologically therapeutic riding motorcycles and taking motorcycle trips around the country can be. Right? So I probably said something like "you need a motorcycle again." Hehehehe.
That apparently planted the seed, and we eventually struck a bargain in which he would help me get my house done this summer, including finishing the studio apartment beneath it. He's already contributed significantly since his marriage imploded last June. In exchange, I'd give him the Blackbird (sans Carrozzeria wheels, 4-2-1 Micron header and a couple other farkles) plus a helmet, textile jacket, tank bag and a few other necessities. The bike remains equipped with Traxxion Dynamics AK-20 front suspension, a Penske rear shock, Pazzo levers, and Clear Alternatives signal lenses. Also included are a new set of Michelin Pilot Road 2s mounted on the OEM rims whose outsides we stripped and polished, and my collection of new OEM replacement filters, plugs, pads, etc.
Ive been jonesing to do a ride to see the National Parks and ride the twisty roads of southern Utah for a few years and even posted about it 18 months ago or so, seeking routing and destination input. Still, I never got around to actually doing it. With Bob getting back into motorcycling, I felt an obligation to show him why we all grin at the mere thought of touring adventures like that (and I'd promised his sister-in-law that I'd help him achieve testicle reclamation from the attractive but monumentally controlling shrew). But alas, I'm a world champion procrastinator. So I thought about the Utah trip, but with ski season and a trip to Kauai taking my time, I did too little toward making it happen. Until . . .
Ten or twelve weeks ago, a trouble maker on this board e-mailed me to ask whether I'd ever done that Utah trip I'd blown hard about. When I wrote back to say "no" and suggest a discussion, I was told something like "don't write, just tell me where to meet you." With that kick in the ass, I finally got around to routing the trip and shifting into GO mode. Now we're 20 days out from departure.
Bob took a refresher MSF course a couple weekends ago, bought boots and gloves, and got the Blackbird titled and insured last Friday. On Saturday, I rode it to his house, ready for this trip, but available for him to spend some time getting used to it. He was over again yesterday helping me with the FJR prep, and grinning at being back on two wheels that perform like that bike does. His oldest daughter (almost 22) is obviously wowed by his new black bike, his 19 year old daughter is away at college and doesn't yet know about it, and the one-who-is-still-to-be-feared will surely throw a conniption fit upon discovering that Bob has acquired a long prohibited fun toy. She will probably have an aneurism at his audacity to be going on a 2,500 mile fun odyssey when that becomes known, so for now, it's still a secret in those circles. And of course . . . I'm pretty obviously the culprit here.
Somehow the world seems a little more right in all of that.
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