Back and Forth, Maine to Arizona...

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2025 2:19 pm

The saga continues! Just bought a Hybrid Hyundai Tucson, so we'll drive back to Az this year, plan to leave late October. It was a "short" summer this year, with only a few days on the lake. We cleared a bunch of land behind the garage, took down about a dozen trees, and pulled about 3 dozen stumps. So all in all a busy year.

First pic is the huge truck we hired to haul away the stumps and debris. It too two trips, with that truck chuck full!

Second pic is my bud John pulling out a typical stump. Tree was a Hemlock, about 60 to 80 feet tall.

Third pic is the logs which were donated to a friend of Johns, who is building a barn. I also donated three big logs to a neighbor down the lake who uses them for his own barn. Better than burning them, or them ending up in a landfill!

Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2025 10:45 pm

The boat has been winterized, wrapped and sent to storage, the bikes have started their long winter sleep, we leave the lake on Monday. The rule is, you can't start anticipating the beginning of a new season, until the current season ends. Looking forward to getting back to Arizona, and the first ride of the season on the Beast.

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2025 4:57 pm

Made it safely to Arizona, and watched the weather on the news last night... Next seven days are all bright sunshine, not a cloud in sight, mid to high 80's, and the Beast started right up after a couple of hours on the Battery Tender. Hope to get my first Winter Ride this weekend, all is well here in the sunny Southwest!

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2025 10:55 pm

Enjoy the warmth and sunshine down there Rick! See you in the spring.

Steve

Posted: Fri Oct 31, 2025 11:07 pm

Thank you, brother!

Kicking around the idea of having a "Winter Ride", here in the great SW...

Posted: Sat Dec 06, 2025 2:52 am

Spending a week in SoCal, and had the opportunity to visit with one of our legacy members, Ray. Some of you will remember Fastspider, but suffice to say that he's one of those "leaders" in our community of misfits. We spent a half hour or so talking about bikes, and comparing notes, and I had the opportunity to snap a picture of his last bike build, which happens to belong to our good friend Chris Lee. Of course, the bike has a brand spanking new stainless steel exhaust, and has not yet been started, so it's still a virgin. Initial engine start is tomorrow, I think, and Ray says it will be the fastest bike he's ever built (1123, Wiseco, Hot Cams, and Mikuni TMR carbs are some of the high spots). Still needing attention is the bodywork, but the bike is almost ready to go back to Chris.

Also saw his beautifully rebuilt 327 Chevy engine, and the recently installed engine in his Toyota Truck.

A good day, for me.

Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2025 1:59 am

That's great to hear that Ray is still working on bikes.
I was under the impression that his health had put an end to his wrenching.
He helped me out with some repair tips on my CBX twenty years ago.

Posted: Mon Dec 08, 2025 3:44 pm

I haven't seen nor spoken with Ray in some time. It is good to hear he still has his hand in the game.