Dreamin'

02 Thunderbird

I've spent much of this week preparing motorized vehicles of the PT Cruiser (turbo), F 150, and various two wheeled types for what I hope will eventually be... spring.  I mean its cool (but not in the Arthur Fonzerelli sense) with a biting wind coming out of the north.

So far this week I have installed new batteries in the Velo, XT 600 and next will follow the Craftsman lawn tractor.  Every year it seems, I have to replace a couple.

08 Velo 150

I'm excited about the riding season, short as it may be, after all... I'm gone in the fall.

1990 XT 600

I sat on my Velo scooter today, thinking about riding two up for a coffee at Beanz in C'Town,  imagined myself passing through Puertecitos Baja with the Cortz on my left, heading south on the XT 600, the White mountains of New England on the Triumph 900 and the Cabot Trail on the V Strom.  In a month I am headed west for a ride around BC and AB on the old LS 650, so a busy season, like I say... in a short summer.

Can't wait...

09 V Strom 650

Only a Canadian would get this:

We knew where we were... ?

Two American tourists were driving through Nova Scotia.

As they were approaching Shubenacadde (shoe-been-ack-id-dee),  they started arguing about the pronunciation of the town's name.  They argued back and forth until they stopped for lunch.  As they stood at the counter, one tourist asked the blonde employee, 

"Before we order, could you please settle an argument for us? 

Would you please pronounce where we are... ver-r-ry  slo-o-owly?" 

The waitress leaned over the counter and says,

"Tiiimmmmm Hoorrrrttooonnns"

Brenda and the T Bird on our honeymoon trip to Lunenburg N.S.

Joke from my buddy Ron

Twas the first day of spring today...

MAY 03/2015

Finally.  After long last, thinking the weather would never turn, it's spring today.

Temperature almost hit double digits and (my knees are shaking here) the weatherman predicts as high as 20 for the next couple of days.

I went for a walk today around the homestead, snow still too deep in many places especially around the woods, may not melt for a week, heck there may be snow back there by the first day of summer!

Diesel the neighbors dog, likes to have company as he roams about his turf, which pretty much includes everybody's

Willy enjoying some sunshine.

Hard to imagine the snow was up to the deck a short while ago.

Diesel, the d o g.

Pretty place this.

Still lots of snow to go...

The ok'dok's lined up.

yard on County Line road.  He doesn't hang around but keeps me in sight as I wander and take photo's to prove to myself that, yes indeed... the winter just may be over.  Another one for the record books.

I took some time to sweep the crud out of the garage but there is lots of cleaning and re-arranging to do in there.  Time is flying by, I leave for my 'nostalgia trip' in 5 weeks.  Wow hard to believe this is the first springlike day on the Island.

Maybe I can even ride a bike or two tomorrow... :)

May 1st

Has come and gone.  Little to no sunshine, grey and gloomy skies, rain, mud, snow.

I wish there was something I could say other than that but in the mood I'm in, its probably best to say nothing. 

Last year was a 'record' winter. surpassed this year by yet another record.

While my western friends send my photos of riding over hill and dale, I sit here with a reluctant cat (Phoenix) that is leery of going "out there." That says a lot in itself.  Normally he can't wait to get outside.  When he sticks his nose into the 'fresh' air and compresses like a slinky toy when the arctic blast wind hits him, he more often than not backs in, gives himself a shake and looks up at me with that "can't you fix this" look!

The PT Cruiser is still up on blocks, my bikes are still sitting under covers and my gear is stiff from lack of use. 

In less than six weeks I will be sitting on yet another aircraft heading to Alberta and thousands of kilometers of riding the old Kazue LS 650.  All I can say is this... it better not rain during my trip!!!

W H Y ???

Oh come on now, really!

This is getting ridiculous to the extreme.  Apart from a very brief down and back to Irishtown road about 2 weeks ago on my Serow

I'm losing it!!!

... I have not ridden any of my bikes.

Today it's 2C  (That's about 34-35F) feels like -10.

I have diligently trickle charged batteries, kept bikes under cover in the heated garage, serviced them, talked to them, renewed the plates online for those that have plates, installed batteries in some and double checked documentation...

It's April 27!

It will be May by mid week.

It's F___g 2 degrees AND snowing.

I put the Polaris away 2 weeks ago but except for a few bare patches... I could still go for a run.  At this rate, there will still be snow in our woods for a month to come.

I have a very busy riding season planned and my patience is truly running out.

I mean what's a guy to do?

Surprise surprise... !

Correct me if I'm wrong, wasn't that Gomer Pyle's common expression.  I don't remember for certain, but I am pretty sure Jim Nabor's who played the character on television sit com was an excellent singer as well as popular actor.

Well I got my own little surprise this afternoon.  

I wanted to check on our summertime only PT Cruiser touring in its winter storage (temporary) garage and what do I find... dirty and damp little toe nail paw prints leading up to the roof where Anna's old mattress is stored. And what do I see atop said mattress? 

A little 'bandit' sleeping away curled up into a compact ball.  Now I know that a cornered animal can be quite aggressive and even dangerous, so I kept my distance, while snapping a few photos for the album.

I can't be certain but it looked to me like he may have had a couple of puncture marks on his/her jaw and upper neck.  A check just a few minutes ago revealed an empty mattress but what I am thinking is this little clever and adaptive creature has been living there for awhile, rent free!

We don't have a lot of predators here on the Island, so small creatures like raccoons and skunks and fox can survive quite well.  Of course our property is in a rural location, we have hills and gulleys, forest and apparently, Frank made hiding dens.  Of course the mattress would provide insulation, once the snow came down around the sides of the 10x16 enclosure, draft would have been minimal and the sun heating up the upper 'deck' would have kept the place sauna warm. 



I understand raccoons are as clever as our common fox, and this one certainly has taken advantage of what a human (myself) has provided.

Color me Happy

MANY of us out here on the 'right coast' thought this day would never come... but after getting the Classic Gentleman's Express Suzuki VX 800 running yesterday, listening to that sweet, smooth V Twin, that was so much better suited to a bike designed for running from Munich to Vienna to Tuscany to the Istrian Peninsula than a burger bar cruiser, I fired up the 23 year old owned since new Yamaha XT 225 Serow today. 

VX 800 Gentleman's Express

This was one of two Serow's I'd bought from Four Seasons Ft Mac. after using them on Motorcycle Training courses.  After many years I sold the second one to my niece Cindy who lives in the lovely Okanagan Valley, just prior to moving lock stock and cylinder barrels east.  They are well traveled 223 cc dual purpose bikes.

Still lots of snow but great to be back on board!

Although there has been substantial snow melt during the past week of above zero temperatures, most of the fields are still snow covered in fact I took my Polaris Indy Lite for a spin around locally just the other day.  I expect I will cruise the hood once more yet before parking the 340 twin on its summer pad. 

The Indy out in my back yard!

It's been a long winter. 

Ummm, I'll rephrase that... it's been a helluva long winter, record snow falls, record cold temperatures  and even today as I write this I am looking at a snow bank in front of my den window some 4 feet high!

Going to be quite the summer indeed.  I'm booked to fly to Edmonton in mid June from where I will embark on a 'nostalgia' ride to celebrate forty years since I rode across Canada.  I had contemplated doing it again, in reverse on either the VX or the newly acquired DL, but nixed that idea given the added time frame involved.  I will be riding an ancient LS 650 Japanese import Suzuki Savage that I bought years ago from Japanese import/friend Kazue.  She had ridden it across Canada herself.  My niece has kept the bike ride-able for many years now and I am going to thump thump my way several thousand kilometers across the Rockies.  Story and photo's to follow.

Kazue and I before I turned grey, heading XC, spoke about a dozen words of English!

In keeping with simplicity, the 650 cc upright four stroke single 'cruiser' with somewhere around 30 bhp and running a belt through a 4 speed gearbox, it may not be a BMW R60/5 that I rode across the country in '75 but it certainly more nostalgic than a new Gold Wing.

You see, I will be sending a lot of time in the saddle in 2015.  A helluva lot of time.

Mikey on his Sherpa

Long time old friend Mike Smith, who you've seen in this Blog numerous times and I have re-visited one of the idea's we had back in the day.  I don't want to say too much at this point as the plans are still developing but I will say that I'm looking forward to the experience and spending time riding this year is at the top of the list.

Stay tuned...

On the Lighthouse Trail

ps I just got my May issue of Canadian Biker delivered into my mailbox, now that the snow has receded.  There's a great story about riding the back-roads of PEI in search of lighthouses.  If you're not a subscriber (and you should be) then pick up an issue at any one of many locations in Canada. 

Cheers f.