Big B's Something or Other

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#1 Unread post by **Big B** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:46 am

hello all, and why are you reading this? it's probably going to be a complete waste of your time.(and mine, but what the hell, right?)

anyways, my name is bryan gatzke. i'm 28 years old, currently engaged, and a resident of watertown, wisconsin (a happy little burg between milwaukee and madison). grew up here, went away for college, moved back, moved away, and moved back again. i can't get rid of this place.

right now i'm the parts department manager for the local chevrolet dealership, but as this is far from my dream job, i'm always looking elsewhere. i've been riding for about ten years now, started on a cx500, and have somehow always ridden hondas since. it's not a fanboy type thing, they just always sprout up when i need a bike. cracked up the cx, suddenly a nighthawk became available, that kind of thing. my current ride is a 2003 Honda VTX1800R. i've also got a 1973 Honda CB360 or a 350 (confused? so am i. the bike came with two owner's manuals and two sets of plastic side pieces. the title says it's a 73, and that's it) which is my restore project, and my much maligned original cx500 is still alive in a way. i'm building a tube frame gokart using its drivetrain.

i suppose that a big portion of this blog will be the progress of my two project bikes, but as an active rider, i'll be updating on where i've ridden recently. i'm a member of the patriot guard riders, and have been on a couple missions, and hopefully no more, but if there is, i'll probably be writing about that as well.

so that's my intro. pointless? maybe, but you don't have to read it and i don't have to write it, yet we're still both here.

B

#2 Unread post by **Big B** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 9:18 am

dammit

this installment shall be known as:

the weekend not on the bike

for the first time this year, circumstances prevented me from riding at all last weekend. the weather was perfect for riding, unfortunately, it was also perfect for a bachelor party. so, starting saturday morning (about ten a.m., just after the thunderstorms passed) until about 3 p.m. sunday afternoon (when the thunderstorms started again) i was away from my beloved vtx.

now this may not seem like a reason to "dog" "oh, poor baby, had to go to a weekend long bachelor party, wah wah wah", but stay with me here. it's nice out right now, clear skies and a little chilly, but not bad. the rest of the week, rain. rain rain, and more rain (call me a wuss, but given the choice between riding in rain when it's 35-40f, or commuting in my car with the heated leather seats, i'm probably going to choose the latter). then, this weekend, another bachelor party (paintballing and barhopping, we're taking a bus, but i'll be in no shape to ride on sunday), and the following weekend, a wedding. i can't bail on any of these events because i'm in all of these weddings (and as a result, i've become quite the expert at renting tuxedos. i'm in six weddings in the next eight months, counting my own. yeesh).

so, i probably should have titled this stupid weddings but i didn't. prime riding and bowhunting time is being wasted in the name of holy matrimony and getting drunk.

i guess it's not so bad.

#3 Unread post by **Big B** » Sat Dec 02, 2006 9:26 am

well, hell. i know many of you may not have noticed, but it's been a while. i left my old job as a parts manager for a gm dealership to work as an inside sales rep for the largest automotive recyling company in the united states. much like the witch in "men in tights" changing her name from shithouse to latrine, it's a good move, a good move. besides the better pay and benefits, instead of a ten block ride through the city, i've now got a fifteen mile ride on some decently twisty country roads. yes, i understand it's now december in wisconsin, but up until recently there hasn't been any snow, and as long as the roads are clear, i'm just nuts enough to ride. thank god the vtx has efi. so, anyways, that's where i've been the last two months. happy days.

#4 Unread post by **Wrider** » Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:18 pm

Sounds like you've got a good job, a nice bike, and a lot of fun on your hands!
Wrider

#5 Unread post by **Big B** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 1:18 pm

Just when we thought things were starting to get good, we experienced a tragedy up here in Watertown. My fiancee's godfather and loving uncle, Thomas L. Krueger succumbed to cancer Tuesday morning. Bren has been having a pretty tough time with all of this, when she had cancer five years ago Tom (who had beaten lung cancer seven years ago) helped her through it all. The wake was last night and the internment this morning. I had way too many recuparative Beam and sours last night, and now we're getting rain tomorrow, which means it'll be a while before I can get a nice theraputic ride.

So this entry is a downer, I guess you need the rain to appreciate the sunshine.

#6 Unread post by **Wrider** » Sat Dec 09, 2006 2:50 pm

Sorry to hear that, I hope you and your wife do alright.
Wrider

#7 Unread post by **sv-wolf** » Sun Dec 10, 2006 7:12 am

Very sorry to hear your news Big B.

It sounds like your fiancee and her uncle were close. Love is always painful. Just take it slow.

My very best wishes to both of you.

#8 Unread post by **Big B** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 5:42 pm

first off, thanks, guys, for your thoughts, we've gotten through this difficult time and we've moved on to something more difficult

wedding planning

what does this have to do with motorcycles you ask? simple answer, nothing, but we're in our second week of below zero temperatures, so the riding season looks a long way off, and that eliminates on method of escape from this madness. i now officially hate invitations, and if i have to look at another flower display, well...

so, subzero temps, snow everywhere, a wedding to plan, how do i maintain my sanity? easy, my go kart project. i know, i know, this isn't total go-kart world (tgw ftw!) but hear me out. it's at least powered by the drivetrain from my busted up cx500, so it's half motorcycle, kinda sorta. the frame is half built, i'm just waiting on a rear axle to complete it and the rear suspension (if i still go with an actual rear axle, i may do something else and try to eliminate as much of the shaft drive as possible, we'll see) the nice thing about this is there's no real time frame on it, it'll get done when it gets done so i can experiment all i want. to be honest, i'll probably have more fun building the damn thing than riding it, but we'll see.

so that's what's going on here in the house by the frozen river. i just hope it's not another month and a half before i have a second to check in again. damn, wisconsin is cold

#9 Unread post by **Big B** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:27 pm

so anyways, i'm out in my garage cutting some shelves for the fiancee and i keep looking over at the bike and i say to myself, self, it's almost forty degrees outside, let's fire the vtx up and go for a spin around the city. there's still ice and snow on most of the rural roads so i was just going to town it. so i run into the house, grab the key, punch the starter and she fires up (not right away, but not an unusually long crank time). i let it idle and it starts to stumble a bit so i walk back over and blip the throttle and it evens out. so, no problems, right? i take the shelves into the house, grab my helmet and walk back out to the garage and i notice something dripping onto the rear cylinder and steaming off and there's a decent puddle under the bike. wtf? did snow get on it somehow? i walk over, touch my finger to the puddle and take a sniff. son of a "dog", it's gas. i kill the bike and roll it off of the puddle. it stopped leaking when i shut it down, and since we had to leave shortly after this, i didn't have time to fully investigate, but i'm pretty convinced i split the fuel line leading to the front cylinder, reasons? well the front cylinder was still cold which would indicate it not firing (the reason for it idling poor), and it stopped dripping out as soon as i hit the kill switch, which stops the fuel pump from delivering pressure. also, that's about where it looked like it was leaking when i gave it the eyeball inspection

so, "poo poo". it's supposed to get into the forties this week and i don't have any time to fully investigate the leak, much less fix it. i've got to do it soon, though. i've got a severe case of cabin fever and i need my riding fix.

peace

#10 Unread post by **Big B** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:18 pm

i never thought i'd say this, but thank god march is here. february sucked. actually, by looking outside, you'd think it's still the middle of winter, instead of close to the end, it's near blizzard conditions, and the bike isn't fixed yet, because it's damn cold outside, and it's not going to get any better soon. also, my job has been really getting me down, lots of cold calling, people infighting (not i, i'm one laid back am-fm, but salespeople can really get nasty with each other) so i said the hell with this and i quit.

now i'm not one of those fellers who just up and quits on a whim without any other plans for the future. i up and quit because i was starting to hate my job and i got a beaut of an opportunity. starting monday, i will assume the duties of the service manager at arrowhead motorsports, a yamaha and indian (indian?... yeah if they stick around) dealership. (visit us online at www.arrowheadmotorsports.net , sorry, i had to

)

this sounds almost too good to be true, but it is true, i get to turn my hobby into my career. i've always had hondas but i'm not insanely brand loyal, i like nice bikes, and the royal star, well...

plus i get the added bonus of being able to play with the atvs, snowmobiles and watercraft on the weekend, like the boss says, we work hard, we might as well play hard too.

i agree