BOO!!!

Twenty two celsius... just the way I like it!

Happy Halloween gang!

It's a Zoo out there...

I love going to the zoo, any zoo really.  Been to Toronto, Budapest, last year in Phoenix and just last week, the Calgary zoo too.

Then there was that year I rode my Beemer to Vancouver and ended up at Oil Can Harry's... now that was a zoo!

It was a fine Saturday afternoon, temperature was right around 10C, calm.  Little traffic and most of it was about waist height so I had no problem seeing over them.  Always a bonus.

I remember my first visits to the Calgary zoo when the Brontosaurus was fairly new.  The cages were typical of their day, small and cramped.

Nice to see that these days there is plenty of open air and at least an attempt at creating space.  I'm of mixed emotions really, after all these are captive animals, many of which are threatened in the wild.

The prehistoric park was a let-down, I'm glad I have seen it in better days.  A shortage of water in the Bow left many of the ponds and exhibits high and dry.

There were few butterflies in the house but what we saw were quite spectacular.

The King of beasts was actively pacing his  enclosure, and the Serow looked at me with a rather bored expression.

Nevertheless, it was a great day with fabulous companionship, and pleasant weather.

This will likely be the last of many visits for me to the Calgary Zoo!  I suspect that the spring will be rather hectic with travelling to the east coast for the early supervision of the construction of my/our long awaited eco home.

Then the whole process of getting my long time house here in the NW prepped for sale, that will be sad I'm certain.

But unlike the Tiger... we are free to go where we please... and I am doing just that!

The Serow

     IN 1992, I brought in 4 then new Yamaha XT 225 Serows to Four Seasons RV in Fort Mac.

     Somehow I had been conned into operating the National Motorcycle Training Program that I had started way back in 1978. 

      Amongst other motorcycles, the 223cc four stroke, electric start, mono-X suspension dualie, proved to be a big hit with the students.

     IT quickly became the favorite Instructor demo bike, and well before my stint on the program ended 3 years later, I had 'confiscated' two of the bikes for myself.

      THE one you see pictured here, has been to Baja twice, all over AB and B.C. and is soon going to a new home with my youngest neice, CJ.  I'm certain she will give it a good home and if she enjoys the bike half as much as I have, she'll own it for years.  Besides... it's famous having appeared/graced several articles in Canadian Biker magazine.

     Yamaha's own literature in those days, claimed it was named after a Tibetan Mountain Goat?

     IT does say 'Mountain Trail' on the sidecovers... so there must be some truth to the claim.  All I can say is thus; the little bike has carried me over some incredible scenery and terrain.

      Last weekend, Brenda and I visited the Calgary Zoo. It was a wonderful Fall day, leaves turning crimson and amber, about 10C (50F) and little Zoo traffic. (more on this later)

     LO and behold... what do I find while wandering the grounds... a very close cousin to the Himalayin goat, a Japanese Serow.

     FITTING isn't it!

HOLY COW Batman!@#?

Where in the hell does the time go?

In just a few days I will be packing the Blazer for my trip south to the Arizona desert.  Hard to believe that it's nearly a yr since the Chevy and I made the trek.  Remember when you were a kid... couldn't wait to get older...

Now it seems the clock is accelerating at warp factor five!

Not sure what the duration of this excursion will be but I do have some tentative plans once there.  Believe it or not, I do have some yard work to do.  (yard is about 10X14)

I'd also like to see what's out there for condo's with garages, something I dearly wished  for when I was buying this one.  Of course I am also prowling around for bikes, a habit of mine :)

Will make another excursion to Bob's, a couple of friends have used parts wish lists entrusted to me.

Shouldn't run into any probs with the equipment this trip.  The XT is stored and the Adventure battery is on a tender.  I should be able to get them up and running in short order.  One of the reasons I looked for an XT 350 specifically, was the kick starter.  It has a tiny 3 amp battery, and will start even if it's DOA.

I have trips planned into the Superstitions this time around.  My buddy Dave and his friend motored around there last February.  I heard some great stories of some fab back roads. 

Not enough time for an extended Baja ride... it's about 3000km round trip to my fave beach in the World south of Mulege on Bahia Conception. That will have to wait until another year.  Really have to give it at least 2 weeks to justify the time.

Not to worry, I will have plenty of stuff to occupy my spare time and will have pics and stories of my travels to entertain ya'll with. 

Hopefully I don't get socked in with bad weather on my return leg.  Crossing the divide several times can be downright treacherous.

Looking forward to some RnR with the desert... and a couple of cold Rolling Rocks to wash down the dust after a ride...

The Old Motorcycle Shop

      IF you're anything like me, you like and cherish old things. 

     Since my boyhood, I have loved old planes, cars, lawn mowers and bikes.

     I've even had several older girlfriends!

    

     While visiting with Todd, I notice this conglomeration of various bikes parked on the street and sidewalk, a couple of bays over.

     He takes me over and I find a truly old fashioned shop.  By that I mean, you can walk thru the open door, across the showroom and directly into the service desk/bay.

      Several technicians (we used to call them 'mechanics') are at work on a variety of motorcycles.

     There's a hardtail Triumph chopper, A late model Ducati, a Suzuki DR-Z.

    

 On the workshop floor, there are old Can-Am's, a collection of V four Honda's, even an RV 125 Suzuki.  (if you have to ask....)

     The showroom, tiny as it is, in fact the boys could use more room everywhere, displays a line up of Aermacchi (Italian Harleys) Sprints, several Triumphs, a mint 79 CBX, two varieties of X-6 Hustlers, even a competely restored TNT.

      Normally I don't endorse a business, but I truly admire people that a)  love bikes of all types, b)  especially old bikes and c)  are NOT bound by stupid, stereotypical brand favoritism.

     Regardless of what you ride, new or old... give the boys a visit and why not give them a try.

    
Old Motorcycle Shop
Mike and Phil  (owners)
4240-16 Street SE Calgary AB T2G 3S3
403-261-0034


Just remember to tell them...



The Dr sent you!

Karma

Definition of KARMA

1)  often capitalized : the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence

You may not believe in Karma but I sure do.  I truly believe that for every action we take, there is a consequence.  Thing about karma is this, you will never know when it comes back to you, good... or bad.  I try to live my life in a positive way, putting more in than I take out, each and every day.

Take this old bike for example.  Ron has been a friend of mine for many years.  When he sold me this bike many years ago, during our Ft Mac stint... who'd have thought that one day, he would own it again.  After alI, we'd both moved on, the bike was sold to someone I knew after I'd had it for years, and now Ron's  changing handlebars on it in his workshop.  That's Karma at work.

As you know, I am downsizing in preparation for a move across Canada, yet again.  When I sold my vintage, but fine working Southbend lathe recently, it was bought by a Prince Edward Islander living and working here in Calgary.  Karma?

Turns out Todd, was not only the buyer of this piece of equipment, but we have much in common.  One of the things we have in common is an interest in old/odd/unusual motorcycles.  Todd is building one in his welding/workshop right now.  On top of that, he works next door to another interesting place...

Karma?

Stay tuned...



Is this the new reality?

Forrest Gump said, "Mama told me, "life is like a box of chocolates... you just never know what your gonna get."

Well that may have some truth to it.

(that's funny... because there is no Forrest Gump, it's all just fiction)

On the other hand, I believe you can create your own reality to a great extent. 

If you try that is.

When I was a young man, okay... boy, I dreamed of riding motorcyles.  Course in those days, there were few riders and fewer shops.  At twenty, riding a new BMW R60/5, all the way to the east coast and back, I was lucky to see one or two other touring riders in the course of a day.  When I did, we exchanged waves or peace signs!

Growing up in Edmonton, a fairly large city by those standards, I pretty much knew them all.

There was United Cycle on White avenue.  Alberta Cycle operated by the Greene family on 118th. (Norm, not Lorne!)

There was Klatt's Harley on 95 Street, if memory serves, and there was Kane's Yamaha somewhere on the north side near a railway overpass on 97th street.






In St Albert, there was a place called Riverside Yamaha.

Let's not forget Scona Cycle again on the south side run by Hungarians Rudi and Zoli.

There was even a Ducati dealer farther out on 118th Ave that sold mostly kitchen and laundry appliances next to Diana's.  Can't remember the name of the place but it was run by a guy named 'Reg.'

I'm sure there were several others but at this point, memory eludes me.

Well before I was of riding age, in those days at fourteen you were legal to ride any bike up to 100cc in displacement, I began by riding the city bus before graduating to a 3 speed Sturmey Archer pedal bike, to make a ... ahem, nuisance of myself at the various shops.

Sound familiar?

I would climb, literally on top of whatever bikes I could get away with at the time.  I still remember sitting on an Aerrmachi Sprint (aka Harley) in the entrance to Klatt's, only to have Mrs Klatt's booming voice like from heaven yell at me to 'get the hell off that bike!'

Who knew God was a woman then?


Fortunately Al came along and with a smiling face, telling me to not mind the old bat and stay put.

Those early days led me to dream about motorcycles (and airplanes).  In my sleep, riding the transit to my music lessons, all I could think about was riding and racing motorcycles.  My first bike, a Honda S90 I'd ride flat out to Lake Wabanum or Elk Island park, I'd pretend my A 100 Suzuki street scrambler was a moto-x bike. my
X-6 Hustler, a road racer bike and my Rebel a tourer. 

Sometimes I pinch myself, cuz my life seems like a never ended series of dreams.  I've been a Chief Instructor, a racer, owner of several shops.  I've been married, had kids that grew up to be remarkable and stable young women, dated a whole series of incredible women... travelled and rode in Baja Mejico, Europe, been to Japan, flew on a DC3, published many a story and photo's and through all of it, lived to tell the tale, as I am doing now.

It's been a memorable journey, and here I go once again, beginning yet another.

What you see here is a 20' long CargoMate. 

In a few short months, I will be packing a handful of my bikes, some clothes, a few household pieces of furniture, some mementos and whatever else of any value to me fits in the cavernous hold.

In a few months I will be heading off once again on another long time dream, in fact continuing one I'd begun many years ago.

I'll keep you  in tune, just follow me...