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jstark47 wrote:Blues, we don't eat Canadians here ......... at least not yet!

Well considering that several years ago, Canadians were considered fair target practice for the local gun clubs, along I-5...

jstark47 wrote:all-electric everythings

If I could afford it, i'd be totally plugged in now for when the winter rolls 'round... I'll have to suffer with just the vest...

Saturday, April 16, 2006

I reconnected my old computer system. The Yamaha dealer asked if I had a copy of my correspondence to Yamaha Canada that I could give him. Hmmmm, I said I would try. I moved my printer from my new system and got it hooked up to my old system and was able to print out my letter.
You see, I wrote Yamaha Canada regarding the problem with the fender, but they never did respond. So, I and the dealer are hoping that with the photos that I sent and the copy of the letter they now have will help to nudge Yamaha Canada into either fixing or replacing the fender.

As my friend dr_bar always says, “Any excuse for a ride.”
The weather was iffy, so I geared up for rain just in case. I rode over to the Yamaha dealer to drop off the letter. I had some time to kill, so I decided to ride to Steveston. Steveston is an historic fishing village that has become a tourist destination and a great place for fish and chips. However, my plan for today was to go to the little “British Home Store”. This little shop is owned and operated by an English couple who import everything British. You can get everything from Typhoo Tea to Scotch eggs. They have steak and kidney pies, pasties, etc., and assorted sweets that you can buy by the gram. Anyway, my reason today was to go get some tea and biscuits.
Remember…”Any excuse for a ride.”

After I made my purchase, I phoned my friend Janet who lives in Vancouver. I wanted to make sure she was home before I rode over there. I had a nice ride into town and even got some amusement from the sport bike rider who was (I think) posturing for my benefit. Maybe it was because we had the same colour jacket. I didn’t really know, but when I first saw him, he was going the other way and the next thing I knew he was right behind me stopped in a staggered formation at a red light. Well, when the light turned green and after making sure it was safe to go, I rolled on my throttle. Before I had even made it all the way across the intersection, he had pulled a lane splitting maneuver and passed me on my right in my lane. There was a car right beside me so if he was trying to impress with his capabilities he failed to do so. I caught up to him as we approached the next light. Now, I don’t about the rest of you, but, I’m pretty sure we all learned to be in first gear before we stop. I don’t think he knew which gear he was in. He had stopped at the red light with his right foot on the ground and his left foot still upon his left peg. Then he changed feet and started his down shifting. When the light turned green, he was off too fast. He did not look to make sure it was clear. I caught up to him at the next red light where he was sitting with both feet on the ground and both hands on his tank. Now, I was taught to make sure I stayed in gear unless there was already someone behind me. I sure hope his maneuverability skills will keep him safe, because I don’t think his cocky attitude will.
He did have on a nice jacket, though.

I took my tea and biscuits in to Janet’s with me. After we shared a pot of tea and ate half my package of lemon cookies, I decided to get going home. It was getting darker outside which indicated there may be a storm brewing, so I figured it would be a good idea to get home before it got too bad.
My luck did not hold out. It started raining shortly after I left Janet’s house. It was just a light rain for the first few minutes, but then the heavens’ opened up into a full blown wind and rain storm.
Luckily for me it was only about 20 minutes to get home, but it was long enough that by the time I was nearing my place I was starting to shiver. My new jacket is not as warm as I thought it would be. I will have to make sure I take my down jacket with every time I go out from now on.

I was glad to get in and park my bike. I’m so tired of this abnormally cold weather. I like winter, but not in April.

All right...who is the wise guy? I am quite sure I have never put a picture in my personal picture gallery because it took me until today to figure out how to do it and yet there is one there. I was going to upload something into it today and saw the NYE pic.

I bet it was buzZz......

I removed the picture in question.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Attempted ride to the Sunshine Coast with “Jake”

A few days before the long weekend, “Jake” had sent an email asking that if I went for a ride, could I let him know. I already had a couple of things planned that did not include anyone else, so I had to check on it. Let me back up for a bit.

I had a few things planned for the Easter weekend, one of them being to ride up the coast for a daytrip to take my Mom some cookies that she particularly likes. It’s a small community where she is and the selection of goods can sometimes be limited. I called to find out what her schedule was and made a tentative plan. It was weather dependent. I don’t mind if I have to ride around town here if it’s raining, but to choose to ride up a winding oceanside highway in a downpour is nuts. Not that I haven’t done it a few times, but the downpour started either on the way or while I was already there.

I had my weekend plans all arranged with various activities with a few different friends and the visit to my Mom’s when I got the message from “Jake”. The only real ride I had planned was the coast highway and he had expressed a desire to ride it with me….even if he only rode with me one way and then rode home again by himself. So, I gave it some thought and called my Mom. I asked her how she would feel about me bringing a riding friend along for the trip. I have taken people there before, but I would never do so without asking her first. It’s just good manners, after all.
She said I could bring whoever and as many as I wanted. Wow! What a change from the old days. She has mellowed somewhat as she has gotten older and since she’s been a widow. I think when my Dad died 5-1/2 years ago; it woke her up to open up. She is a warmer individual these days.
I told her that I would ask my friend then, since I had not asked him yet, and that it would either be one or two on the first ferry on Sunday. (Sunday being the forecasted better weather day for the weekend) The first ferry gets us to her place by 9am. She would have coffee on and breakfast within a few minutes of our arrival.

Ok, back to “Jake.” Now, I know I could have said that I already had plans for the weekend; however, it has become apparent that he likes me, ( or so dr_bar keeps telling me as did you guys)and he is a decent guy…..
So-o-o-o, I replied to his message and told him that I had already planned a daytrip for Sunday to go up the coast to see my Mom, but that he could join me if he liked. He said he would like that. I emailed back and asked him “How early can you get up?”
His response? “Oh, 7ish?”
I should mention that the first ferry leaves Horseshoe Bay at 7:20am and it takes 30 minutes or so to get there from where I would meet him. So, do the math and you will see where I am going with this.
I replied back, “So, I guess that means you aren’t interested in catching the first ferry?”
To which he responded, “What time is the first ferry?”
I messaged again and said, “The first ferry leaves at 7:20am, which means we have to leave Patterson Skytrain no later than 6:30am.” I then added, “I can hear you screaming from here, 6:30am??!!!!???”
I said, “I’ll even buy you a coffee on the ferry, and my Mom will have coffee and breakfast for us when we get there.”
He said if I make it a large coffee and a smile we had a deal. And so the plan was made.

As is my wont, I got everything ready the night before. It saves so much time in the morning if I am not looking around for things at the last minute. In the morning, I quickly did my hair and makeup, took a few minutes to figure out what to wear…. You know the usual girly things. Actually I was trying to decide what would be my best layering method in case the weather turned rotten. Had a glass of juice and hauled my gear out to my bike. I stowed it in my blue crate and warmed up the bike. It is mornings like this that I am glad I have a quiet bike. I left the garage at 6:15am. When we leave, we are supposed to sit and wait for the garage door to close before driving away. Can you imagine if I had V&H pipes on my bike? The people who live above the garage would probably shoot me.
Anyway, it was not raining. This was reassuring. Although I was dressed for rain, I was hoping it would remain dry. I can ride that highway quite well now if it’s dry, but if it’s wet it is very challenging. At the time of day that I left, there was very little traffic. I probably saw a dozen other cars the whole way to meet “Jake.” I got all green lights until I got to Nelson and Imperial, where I got stopped by a red light. I have made a mental not to go that way again when it is this early. The red light would not change. I waited…and waited…..I pulled forward a bit and then backed up some in an attempt to trigger the sensor. Now this is where it gets hard for me. I am what is frequently referred to as “a goody two shoes”. People say this to me like it’s a bad thing, but I don’t see anything wrong in being a decent person who “follows the rules”, so to speak. Just because I have never smoked, or used drugs or been drunk, does not mean there is anything wrong with me. It just means I try to live a clean lifestyle. It doesn’t mean I don’t have any fun.
But, I digress, yet again…..where was I…..Oh, yes, the red light. The reason I got all green lights on the first stretch was because it is considered the main road and the lights will stay green until a car on the side street triggers the sensor. However, at Nelson and Imperial; Imperial is the main road and Nelson, where I was, is considered the side road.
My bike is not heavy enough to trigger the sensor. I have three choices:

• I can wait and hope a car comes behind me to trigger the sensor.
• I can make a wobbly u-turn and go through a café driveway to get onto Imperial
• I can make my left turn against the red light

I suspect that most people would not have even hesitated or given it a second thought, but running a red for me is, well, my conscience was giving me grief. I looked around and around to make sure nobody was on the street. I still couldn’t make myself go. Then I looked at my little clock on the triple tree. 6:24 Am. I made up my mind in a hurry then. I hate being late. I finally said “fu*k it ( yes, I believe those were my exact words to myself) , looked to make sure the streets were still clear of cars and turned left against the red light.
Phewwww, I made it and didn’t get caught. I don’t doubt I was sweating over that decision.

I made it the Skytrain station with 2 minutes to spare. Dang! No “Jake”. A few minutes later I heard a bike roar to life somewhere. (I don’t actually know where he lives. I just know it’s near here) A couple of minutes later I saw him riding toward me. I was so relieved. If he hadn’t shown up I would have had to leave without him. He mumbled something about having to fix his rain pants. Inside my head I was rolling my eyes, but outwardly I smiled. I mean, what else could I do? Not everyone is a morning person. We headed off with me leading the way. As we were heading North on Boundary, it started to rain. It was a light rain so I was not put off yet. He pulled up along side of me and pointed at his gas tank. I won’t say what I was thinking. I’m sure you can imagine. I simply nodded and got in behind him. I followed him into the Chevron station thinking we’ll never make the ferry at this rate. He pulled up to the building for shelter and then he got off his bike to let me know what the problem was. He had not layered his pants properly and the rain was soaking him up one leg. He made a quick adjustment and we were off again.

I led the way to the freeway and carefully maneuvered the entrance ramp. It is very short sharp cornered entrance with poor visibility of the approaching traffic. As soon as I could get a clear view, I accelerated and merged rather briskly. I hoped “Jake” would keep up. He caught up with me and we rode staggered over the bridge and onto the Upper Level’s Highway through North Vancouver. It was raining a bit harder now, but I still kept going. We rode into West Vancouver where the speed limit goes up a bit. I increased my speed to match and was glad to see my riding companion keep pace. The raindrops were getting bigger and harder almost to the point of hail. Still I kept going hoping that as we got closer to Horseshoe Bay, I would see some clearing on the horizon.

Pfffttttthhhhtt. Who was I kidding? There was no horizon. It was raining so hard, the ocean and the mountains could not be seen. Not only that, but the wind had whipped up and it was making it hard to keep the bike going in a straight line. I saw an overpass ahead, so I signaled really early to let “Jake” know I was pulling over. We stopped under the overpass and I shut off my bike. I walked over to him and said,”This is awful!” He heartily agreed. I said I thought it would be foolhardy to go up the coast when it is this bad. If I had wanted to keep going, he would have gone with me, but I think he was relieved when I suggested aborting the plan. I suggested that since we were so close to Horseshoe Bay, that maybe we could at least go in there and have breakfast. He was happy to do that. We got back on our bikes and I led us about another 3 minutes along the highway into Horseshoe Bay. I led him to Troll’s Restaurant which I knew would be open that early. I angle parked my bike on the road in front of the restaurant, but “Jake” saw an opportunity to park his bike under cover. He rode up to the driveway of the parking lot and rode back down the sidewalk to park under the awning. He asked me “Didn’t I want to park under cover?” I said, “No, my bike was already wet anyway.”
He just shrugged and let it go. Wise decision. You see, I am the kind of person that authority figures find. You can bet that if I had ridden my bike down that sidewalk, a police cruiser would have come by at that exact same time and most likely given me a ticket. I am the kind of person that tries to do the right thing and the moment I make one mistake or one bad choice, I get caught.
So…I parked in the rain.

More to follow…….soon.....

My bike is not heavy enough to trigger the sensor. I have three choices:

• I can wait and hope a car comes behind me to trigger the sensor.
• I can make a wobbly u-turn and go through a café driveway to get onto Imperial
• I can make my left turn against the red light

As far as I have been told, the sensors are not wieght activated, but magnetic, something about the metal in the vehicle, I could be wrong though.

as for what to do, look around....no cop... its a stop sign, wait til its clear and go for it.

live dangerously ya rebel *L

I wanted to share this rare glimpse of a pair of nesting bald eagles that have 2 eggs. They take turns minding the nest. I hesitated to do so anywhere else on the site because of its "non motorcycle" theme and I didn't want TO GET YELLED AT.

http://forum.hancockhouse.com/staticpag ... 3091954727

This is a site from Hornby Island, which is one of the Gulf Islands along the southern coast of BC. If you click on the link it will take to where there is some information. If you don't feel like reading, just click where it says NEST SITE in there. During daylight hours it is live streaming video, but during dark hours when they are sleeping, it is playing what was recorded during the day.
Take a peek.

Part 2 of the attempted Sunshine Coast Ride April 16, 2006

I left off my last entry with “Jake” parked under cover on the sidewalk and me parked on the street in the rain. We went into the restaurant which thankfully was not very busy. It is somewhat off season as yet and given the early hour not many folks are in Horseshoe Bay. It will be a different story after Victoria Day though. That long weekend seems to be the kickoff for tourist season at which time there could be a waiting list for seats. Today, however, we had our choice of almost anywhere since there were only a few tables occupied. We walked through the restaurant dripping rain on the carpets as we made our way to a window table by the bikes.

We had good service and almost undivided attention from the server. This particular restaurant could stand to use different coffee. It was somewhat wishy washy. It was a least hot. The orange juice, however, was so-o-o-o good. When the bill came for our breakfast, I took it and paid for it. “Jake” looked a little and I could tell he felt a little uncertainty about my paying for both of us. He asked if I was really sure about it. He had money in his hand to pay, but I said, yes, I was sure about it. I was going to buy him a coffee anyway, and since I wasn’t going to pay for my ferry fare, I decided I may as well spend my ferry money on breakfast. In my opinion, he did the polite thing. He put his money away and said he would get it the next time.
We managed to kill 2 hours in the restaurant when it looked like the rain was finally letting up. Just as we were gearing up to leave, “Jake” received a phone call. He asked me for a pen to write something down. After I searched for my pen to give him, I took my jacket off again because it appeared this would take a few minutes and my jacket is definitely not indoor wear. Rather than sit there and overhear his conversation, I excused myself to the ladies room. One may as well avail themselves of the facilities in the event that it could be awhile until the next one. (They have good smelling soap there)

He was still yakking when I arrived back, but finished shortly thereafter. He asked me if I was planning on just going home. I said I was. He then asked me if I knew where a certain street was in Vancouver. I said I did. He then asked if I could spare the time to show him the address. (Remember, this is the guy who didn’t know where the baseball diamond 2 blocks from his home was).

So, I said, sure. I can guide you there and then leave you there and go home on my own. He asked me if I wouldn’t mind waiting for him, because what he had to do would only take a couple of minutes.
What the heck. I can wait.
We left the restaurant in the hopes that the rain would hold off. As we were warming up the bikes, another biker rode by. He stopped to ask if there was a gas station nearby. I told him.” No”. He looked aghast. “You mean there is no gas station in Horseshoe Bay?” “No”, I said. “You need to get back on the highway.” He looked crestfallen. I guess he was running on reserve and figured he could get gas here. There was a gas station here at one time, but it was a long time ago. He turned around and with a resigned look headed back to the highway. Maybe he didn’t believe me when I said it was only a few minutes away. I’m guessing he made it, because we left just a few minutes later and there was no sign of a parked bike or an underdressed rider walking on the highway.

We no sooner started riding that it started raining again. Sigh…….”Jake” had asked if I wanted to go the low slower winding road or go back to the highway. I said the highway would be safer on a day like today. The other road is very narrow with a lot of blind curves and I sure did not want to ride it on a wet rainy day with poor visibility. I led us back to the highway and exited at Taylor Way. This would get us to Marine from where we could get onto the Lion’s Gate Bridge. I was glad to see 2 green arrows in our direction. It meant we could stay in the curb lane instead of riding close to approaching traffic. I think 3 lane bridges should be outlawed.
It was easy going getting back into downtown Vancouver. If you ever need to cross any bridge around the lower mainland, try to avoid weekday rush hours and whenever the ferry traffic may arrive. I led ”Jake” to the building he was looking for and waited outside with the bikes for him. He really was gone only about 5 minutes. When he came back outside he handed me a bag and said, “That’s for you.”
I’m sure I had a quizzical look on my face, but he was just grinning like a Cheshire Cat. I opened the big bag to reveal a very large stuffed bumble bee. I could not help but laugh. He had seen it on some internet buy/sell place and decided he needed to get it for me because of the bumble bee/ stinger name they have given me in the riding club. I thanked him and then he put it in his saddle bag for transporting home. It was still raining and it would not have remained dry in my crate.
I led him home via some less trafficked roads. He wanted to go to particular shop and since it was on the way to my place, I rode as far as the store and then parted ways. As I passed the gas station, I noticed the gas had come down by a whopping 3 cents, so I topped up the tank before I went home. I always like to finish every ride by leaving the tank full and ready for the next ride. I had ridden 280km on this tank so far and had not gone to reserve yet. When I filled the tank, I saw how many liters it took and knew I could have gone even farther before filling. I have never gone to reserve yet, but one day I will just to know how far my bike could really go. I paid for my gas and then rode the 1.6km (one mile)home. Even though I had not made it up the coast, I still had a good day nonetheless. “Jake” can be quite good company sometimes.

I can hear dr_bar laughing now. “Oh, he’s got the hots for you.” Yes, he has actually said that to me a couple of times, while he is laughing. I said, “How can you tell? “ He, apparently has noticed some subtle things that I guess only another guy would notice. He said to me, ”Well, if he hasn’t got the hots yet, he is definitely interested.”
This conversation reminded me of a few years ago when I had taken a male friend up the coast for a daytrip. One of my brothers happened to be there at the same time. My brother had asked about him and I said that we were just friends. To which he replied, “A man does not look at a woman the way he looks at you if he only wants to be a friend. I missed it then , too. He is another whole story for another day. For today, the story teller has to take a break. I have been very sick for a week and although recovering, it is slow. Stay tuned....more to come....

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

My Yamaha dealer phoned me today with some possibly good news. I believe I wrote about all the little "dents" that have appeared on both sides of the rear fender and about the rust that has started as well.

So-o-o-o, after Yamaha Canada ignoring my letter wile the bike was still warrantied, I sort of let the subject drop over the winter.

Lately everyone has been bugging me to go to my dealer. So, I finally did.
I got a copy of the letter from my document file in my computer and they took some photos of the fender, and forwarded everything to Yamaha Canada.
Next week, Yamaha Canada is sending a rep to look at my bike.

Too bad they hadn't responded in the fall.

Pacific Yamaha rocks!

blues2cruise wrote:Pacific Yamaha rocks!

They're a Yamaha and BMW dealership. They wanna keep you happy so you'll buy a BMW from them!

jstark47 wrote:

blues2cruise wrote:Pacific Yamaha rocks!

They're a Yamaha and BMW dealership. They wanna keep you happy so you'll buy a BMW from them!

Well, if BMW made a cruiser, I just might.