The Blog of Blues

[jstark47]

The local Yamaha Power Sports dealer here had a red BMW 650 show up from a trade.

Assuming it was one of the GS models, just out of curiosity, was it the single cylinder (which really is a 650), or one of the twins (which are called 650, but really are de-tuned 800's)?

Mrs. Stark has one of the latter, a 2009 F650GS, which is a twin cylinder 800cc engine. (BMW couldn't have made their nomenclature more confusing if they tried...) It is a very nice bike, very easy handling and easy to ride, yet big enough to be tour-able.

I have a 2005 VStrom 1000 that I don't need... Probably bigger than you're looking for, and don't know how I'd get it clear across the continent to you, but...... just sayin'
Price would be cheap for a friend.

[blues2cruise]

The BMW in question is a 2 cylinder.

As for the V-Strom....if a 650 can't be found, I would consider a 1,000. Let me figure out the logistics.

[blues2cruise]

The House Saga continues
I moved into my house on Good Friday. Do you know what it is it is like to load up a utility trailer in the pouring rain while trying to keep everything dry? I hauled what I had with me in my utility trailer and stopped in Hope to pick up Doc. We had breakfast in Hope and the car got fuelled before heading up the Coquihalla to Merritt….in the rain…and sometimes sleet. The Coquihalla is a mountain highway with high elevation so sudden weather changes are to be expected.
I had taken possession of my house on March 14 so most of my belongings were already in the house. I had pre-arranged for a contractor to meet me at the house on that day to re-route the main water shut-off. It was in the crawl space. I just couldn’t imagine having to go into a crawlspace in case of a sudden pipe burst. Especially in the middle of winter or the middle of the night. The access is on one side of the house but the pipes are on the other side. It requires bringing a flashlight, undoing the screws that hold the plywood cover onto the opening and a mask over your face because of the dirt and dust and old cat poo. The house is old, so you can imagine what it must be like under there.
I need to backtrack to explain the cat poo….which will lead to more of the story.
There was a woman renting a house behind mine prior to my buying this house. She was known as the cat lady in the neighbourhood. She used to leave food out for the feral cats. This is in turn led them to the crawl space to live. There was no cover the opening at the time. Apparently there were about 8 cats living under the crawlspace during the winter. The contractor guy told me he bonked one and disposed of it. The others ran away somewhere. Then the contractor put the plywood cover over the entrance so the cats could not go back in. That is why there is old cat poo in there.
When I first went to look at the house back in January…twice…the house smelled fine. When I went there again to meet the home inspector, it smelled fine. Based on what the home inspector said, I decided to buy this property. He found only a few minor deficiencies that I knew I could get fixed once I moved in.
When I arrived at the house on March 14, it smelled awful. If you can imagine rotten meat in your trash can, then you can imagine what it smelled like here. It was the smell of decay. We looked all over the place but could not find the source. We narrowed it down to a specific area, so I guessed that a rodent had got in the wall and died. Then the others said it might be the P-traps in the drains. For those that don’t know, if the P-traps dry out, then a sewer smell can happen.
Anyway, the contractor guy worked under the crawl space and in the kitchen to re-route the water shut off so that it is under the kitchen sink. In that time Doc and I made a few trip to my storage locker to get my belongings out of storage. Originally the plan was to stay over and take Doc home the next day, but due to the horrible smell, we had to leave. I took Doc home to Hope and then I carried on into Vancouver where I was still house-sitting until the end of the month.
The contractor guy said for $50.00, he would come back and investigate under the crawl space to look for the source of the smell.
March 30 was my official moving day. March 29, I hooked my utility trailer and drove across town to pick up a chesterfield (sofa, couch). I had taken a new plastic painter’s drop sheet to line the trailer and a new tarp for cover. I wanted to be prepared for rain. It just never seemed to stop raining. Fortunately the rain stopped for a short time while to couch got loaded, but by the time I got back to the house it was raining again. I loaded most of the rest of my things into the trailer and wrapped the trailer securely in the tarp with securements and a cargo net. I was confident that it wouldn’t be tampered with overnight. In the morning, I did the laundry so that the bed would be fresh for the owners coming home and packed up the last few remaining things of mine into my car and left Vancouver.
It was not an easy decision to make. I was born and raised in Vancouver, but due to the stupidly expensive real estate and high rents, I could not afford to stay. A lot of us have been forced out because we can’t afford to live there anymore.
I left Vancouver in the pouring rain and like Steppenwolf sang in Easy Rider….Get your motor running/ Head out on the highway/Looking for adventure/And whatever comes your way. Yes, I know it was written about riding…but this seemed to suit the situation. I stopped to get coffee to go and drove to Hope to pick up Doc. He offered to help me.
Upon arriving in Merritt, we stopped at the realtor’s office to pick up the house keys before going to the house. Unfortunately the house still smelled; but not as bad as before. I had plugged a hole that was under the kitchen baseboard heater and kept the bathroom window open, but the door closed. It helped somewhat to keep the odour contained. I took Doc home the next day and came right back. It is only 1 hour-15 min. to Hope.
I lived here for a few days but still could not find the source of the smell. All the drains had been checked. The toilet was so clean you could probably wash in it. I was feeling very despondent about my purchase. I couldn’t live like this. I emailed the contractor guy to find out if he had come back and looked under the crawl space. He said he did and couldn’t find anything. I finally decided it must be sewer gas and called a plumber. The plumber walked in and in one whiff he said, “it doesn’t smell like sewer gas. “ I agreed with him because I had thought it smelled like decay. The plumber looked everywhere and found nothing to insinuate sewer gas. He said he would look under the crawl space. He removed the plywood cover and went under the house. In about 30 seconds he called out and said he found a dead cat. He came back outside and said he would remove it for me. He got a gas mask type thing out of his truck and put on some gloves. I gave him a double bagged trash bag and he went back under. He brought out the garbage bag with the dead cat inside of it. It went into the garbage bin never to be handled again. Pick up for the garbage is an automated system on the truck,
I was happy to pay the plumber his service charge. He suggested I leave the entrance open for air circulation for now to help make the smell go away. I stapled some screen mesh to the opening to prevent any other critter getting in. I felt such relief at knowing the smell should go away now.
More to come.

[NorthernPete]

Gotta wonder why your contractor didn’t find said cat previously. Hope all’s well!

[blues2cruise]

More cat stuff....
There was a feral cat coming and going. I had not seen her for a while when suddenly one day at the back of my yard...there she was with 4 kittens. Due to the lack of help from everyone I called...I finally took matters into my own hands. I started feeding them because the rescue people were supposed to come by. They never showed up. Never called. Didn't respond when I called them. They won't be getting any donations from me.
I continued to feed them while I hatched my plan and created a home made laundry basket trap. I tried uploading the picture but it says the file is too big.
Picture a tall upright laundry basket with a lid. I placed it on its side with the lid open. I used some rope to thread through the basket and the lid to be able to pull the lid up and snap it shut.
I had got the cat and kittens used to going to the bowl of food that was far inside the basket. One morning the mother cat went in first instead of standing guard. Her kittens followed her in. I managed to grab the rope and pull the lid shut before they noticed me. I had purposefully left the rope long for that reason.
Once I got them trapped and secured, I called the Merritt bylaw person who came be and picked them up. I had previously called her and they were going to arrange for trapping in the next week, but she said if I managed to get them to call and she would come right away.
So...the kittens went to the SPCA where they will most likely get adopted. The mother got taken to a local vet who spayed her. The city has a certain budget for spay/neuter and return.
So...they returned the mother to my yard. I gave her food for a couple of days while she recovered from her surgery, but then she took to her wandering ways again.
I am relieved because while she was there with her babies, she was dangerous. Growled and hissed at me. She did allow me close enough to put food and water out....but that was it.
With the cat family gone, I can now clean up that section of yard to prepare it for a car shelter.

[Rubiadiabla]

Lol Blues, sounds like the cats have kept you pretty busy!!! Too bad the file size was too big, would have loved to see the cat capturing contraption! Eric and I use a free program called Irfanview to easily resize our photos.

[blues2cruise]

I will see what I can do about resizing.

[blues2cruise]

KKrap. I just wrote a big entry and it disappeared.

[jstark47]

KKrap. I just wrote a big entry and it disappeared.

I've been having problems with posting.... I login and write something, and then when I go to post, it tells me to log in again, at which point I've lost what I wrote. I pinged TotalMike about it a few weeks ago, and he did something on the server which worked for awhile. Problem seems to be worse with Internet Explorer, Firefox seems to work better.

Nice to you see back on the forum, by the way.

[blues2cruise]

Nice to you see back on the forum, by the way

Thank you

[JackoftheGreen]

Excited to see you back on the forums, Blues!

No idea on the problem you're having with staying logged in. I use Google Chrome and it works flawlessly, but I do experience exactly the problem you're describing when I try to post from my work computer. Maybe firewall settings?

[blues2cruise]

Maybe...but don't know. I will write it on a word document and then just copy and paste. Then if it goes to log in and it gets lost, I will still have it.

[blues2cruise]

I have been absent from TMW for quite some time. As you know, I retired from my workplace, put my things in storage and sold my motorcycle, and spent 2 years doing house sitting, child minding and roadtripping. I finally settled into a little house in Merritt, BC. I had to leave my home of Vancouver, because housing costs became out of reach for my retirement income.
I had been in Merritt for a little over a year, and although I was making new friends and made visits back to the coast to see family and friends, I felt like something was lacking. So….I started looking for another motorcycle. Someone I knew here, told me about a motorcycle that a friend of hers was selling. I didn’t really want a big cruiser, so I passed it by. My budget was not very big.
I started looking for a dual sport like a 650 V-Strom or smaller cruiser. I discovered that people who list their bikes for sale aren’t really wanting to sell them. One person I contacted, told me his friend was going to borrow the bike for the weekend. Now, my thought is, that if you have a person who has the money to buy your bike, you let them come see it and take their money if they like it. So, I told him, ok, if his friend did not dump it, to let me know on Monday. I did not hear from him, so I continued to look.
Another person I contacted said he needed to do an oil change to get it ready to sell. I said, ok, when can I come and see it. He told me on the weekend. I didn’t hear from him. I messaged him again. He still had not done it.
So…. I contacted the person here in Merritt and went to see his motorcycle. He had had back surgery and was advised not to ride anymore. I bought his 2000 Yamaha V-Star 1100. It was late in the season, but I managed to get in some riding to refresh my skills. I could not believe how badly I rode the first time out. I was not coordinated at all. I rode like a noob.
At least I did not stall it.
It took a few more rides to get my coordination back, but something was still lacking. I rode from Merritt to Spences Bridge one day and the whole ride there I was having trouble with the curves. I honestly did not know what my problem was.
I went to the Packing House for lunch. If you are ever riding through the area it is worth a stop. There is no gas station in Spences Bridge though. You either need to fuel in Lytton or wait until Ashcroft.
Once I started on my way back, it suddenly clicked what I’d been doing wrong. I had forgotten a basic principle. PUSH RIGHT, GO RIGHT. PUSH LEFT, GO LEFT. As you can imagine, my ride back was much better. It was smoother and my confidence was better. I got in one ride to Vancouver and back before I had to park it for the winter.

[JackoftheGreen]

Lovely story Blues, and so glad to see you back with us!

We've become very familiar with the people who aren't actually interested in selling their bikes they've listed. I think a fair percentage of them have been told by their partner they need to sell their "toy", so they list it for a ridiculous price and then feign ignorance when nobody shows up to buy. Or they create whatever other excuse to get out of having to actually sell it, when what they really ought to do is trade the SO for something a little sportier, LoL.

Glad that countersteering has come back to you, it can take some time to dust off those skill sets. Even more impressive is that you considered your rust as something you were doing wrong, as I believe most people would blame the bike/road/weather/immigrants. Kudos to you for the self-reflection.

Looking forward to seeing you again in the threads!

[blues2cruise]

Despite having a cold and cough, I drove 2 hours to the 2020 Vancouver Motorcycle show. (I dosed myself up with some non drowsy cold medicine). I picked up a friend on the way and we spent a few hours at the show. That was all the energy I had.
Here is a link to my short report and a few pictures.
https://www.totalmotorcycle.com/exclusi ... w-reviews/

[ZooTech]

Nice coverage! That Royal Enfield is truly stunning, what a bold move for a factory effort. Goes to show a motorcycle's frame can contribute to its beauty just as much as the bodywork.

[blues2cruise]

So far, this year has not been great. But, finally things started improving which got me out of my slump.
I ordered the new battery.
I gave the bike a good cleaning. Despite being in a shelter, it was very dirty. Merritt is a dusty town. The constant wind blows the dust.
After I installed the battery, I gave the bike a good inspection and tested everything. Amazingly, the air pressure in the tires was right on.

Here are a couple of pictures from today.

TMW.jpg (68.6 KiB) Viewed 3281 times

Gloria at Nicola Lake for TMW.jpg (43.63 KiB) Viewed 3281 times

[JackoftheGreen]

Great shots!

What kind of camera did you use for those pics?

[blues2cruise]

I used my old Nikon dslr 35mm.

[JackoftheGreen]

So jealous!
I've got a Nikon D50 (D100?) with a 1.5f lens, but I think something's wrong with it. I can't get a clear picture in the EVF and every shot I take with it comes out blurry.