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Monday, March 28, 2016

Strange Brew



WHAT an unusual winter.  

Glare Ice topping on this Sunday (dae)
I remember very well what it was like during my previous life on the Island.  If you are/were in the 4 seasons recreational business like I was, you pay attention to things like that.

That very first winter here in the early eighties had only a light dusting of snow at Christmas time.  It didn't begin in earnest until the New Year had passed and then we got hit.  We'd go several winters with little or nothing then by contrast the following winter there was enough to bury cars and houses and snowplows.

This winter there's been very little snow, I bet I cleared the driveway maybe a dozen times.  By contrast the last two winters, I couldn't keep up and had to enlist the services of Donnie Cole and his tractor blower at times.  I seriously considered packing it in and living in Phx!

Course being married and all, that wasn't going to work.

Everything on the Island looks like this.


The winter of 2015/16 will go down in history as middle of the road.  In fact I rode my Polaris Indy Lite about as much as my Yamaha Big Bear!  I was out yesterday around the hood checking out County Line road's unpaved portion which is passable by a high clearance 4X4 or in my case an ATV. 

The Big Bear is pretty much the perfect quad for my purpose.


I puttered up to the local snowmobile cabin just up the hill from our home only to come across Anna, who had taken a couple of hours to walk there along the trail.  You see, last week we had freezing rain a couple of days and what snow we do have is covered with a thin (1") crust of ice. 






"Brenda... can you have a look see and tell me what my butt looks like please..." 

This is County Line road above our home.

Treacherous to walk on, I myself took a heck of a tumble yesterday during our walk.  Today I hurt in more places than I knew I had.  Right wrist and forearm, left elbow, twisted my right knee and hurt my right foot and my left butt cheek feels bruised.  


I'm sure this too will pass, but I am going to be tender as sirloin the next couple of days!


Spring Day came and went during a storm (that brought the precipitation) and since then the temps have hovered right around the freezing point so things are just warm enough during sunny days to melt the first layer of ice but not the sub surface.



Oops... stuck!
I had a great time puttering around with the reliable Yamaha.  At 350cc it certainly isn't the biggest or most powerful ATV but then again, who needs an 800 lb 750cc for trail poking.  The Bear is light enough to man handle like when I got stuck in a drift yesterday while plenty fast with 5 gears to be dangerous on the road.


Shovel is mandatory!



Still some huge drifts on the back trails.




The PIT.



Challenging trials sections in here.

Anna up at 'her' cabin!

It's true I am waiting for the spring, I decided on a scooter and have a hand shake deal with the seller, but until the weather heats up and our road dries out, she'll remain in storage in C'Town. 




Not getting through here anytime soon with the Serow! These drifts are 6' deep.

This year I would like to work on getting my two Vintage trials bikes geared up.  I have parts for the TY 175 and the TL 125 Honda I picked up last year is a good restoration model to gear up.  My backyard has plenty of obstacles suitable for my basic trials skills which really never advanced past the 'fun' stages back in the mid seventies!  On my travels yesterday I rode through the local shale pit (I have permission from the owner) and there are several always changing challenges for me if I get tired of riding my own property.

I'm also still working on getting a magazine into print with a few friends, something fun and another check mark on my lifetime "things to do for the Doc, list".



At some point, I am going to travel to my old surroundings in Calgary for a visit with the new soon to be, grandchild, my first! 

The Caliber R/T



On the return leg I'm driving back, having bought Lisa's Dodge Caliber RT that I had found for her at a local Calgary dealership some years ago.  It's an R/T model in very good shape with low mileage and all wheel drive (AWD).  This will be my 13th time crossing Canada by road! 



Home sweet home!  And I do mean that.  What a beautiful place to live.

So... this is my retirement, could do a lot worse:)




Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Greasy fingers!

Prepping for service

I like servicing my own bikes.  There is some very basic personal satisfaction having replaced a tire, or a chain or an oil change.

Stripped

I liken it so come Neanderthal making fire with stones.  These days I am slower at it then when I had a full shop, and truthfully, I am getting older... still, there is something highly visceral about getting grease under you nails.

Valves are under there


My 225 is now fully serviced and ready for the break in weather, which seems to be teasing the begeezus out of us motorcyclists. 

Bashplate pulled


I've replaced the fuel valve parts and even checked the valves, they didn't need adjusting. 

In between raining cats and dogs, fresh snowfalls and sloppy road conditions I did manage to ride the little thumper to Irishtown road and back.  The engine is now more relaxed at 100 kph than with the stock gearing while still having plenty of low speed grunt. 
Re installing






All I can add now is C'mon March 21st!




Don't forget to add oil!!!

Polish


Fresh fuel.



Grease rubber grommet
New rubber, 16T counter shaft, oil changed and valves checked!  We just need weather!