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Thread: The plan

  1. #226
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    fabiodriven is offline Aspiring romance novel cover model, and the Official 3WW slayer of thieves and swindlers. Catch me if you can
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    The plan

    I got a bit leery about sharing my thoughts online for a while there, still a bit hesitant at the moment, but I guess I'll go ahead and update.

    As I type this I'm in a little town called Lodi in NY. I stopped in here to spend a couple days with my new friend before I head south for the winter. Lodi is on the shores of Seneca Lake, which is one of the Finger Lakes. It's a very scenic and ritzy area full of vineyards, hippies, and snobs. This was the most difficult place I've had to back my trailer into since leaving home, and a snob woman actually let her dogs out to get in the way of my 39 foot trailer as I was attempting to back it into a tiny dirt road. People amaze me sometimes. She said she wasn't going to be happy if I damaged her trees, then made the task more difficult. OK...

    Lodi, NY. On the right is where I had to back in, then about 1/4 mile in reverse from there to my spot.













    End rant though. For the most part the people I've been meeting since leaving Massachusetts have been great. So far, the Coshocton Ohio people seem to be the nicest as a whole. I'm in Ocala Florida now (I know, that changed quick) and I've been surprised at the people of this state. They're not overly friendly for the most part. There seems to be a bit more concern for who you can trust around here in my opinion, but I wouldn't hesitate to live here. Where I'm parked right now is kind of “in town”. I'm all the way at the back of a big quiet neighborhood so it's nice, but any way out of here is through some heavily traveled roads. I still like it though, and it gets a lot quieter not far up the road. The weather is great for late November, it was about 70 today and I was riding my street bike.

    Anyhow, my house in Massachusetts sold after one day on the market and I was out June 5th. I spent about five days parked at my old neighbor's place in Massachusetts before I hit the road. I couldn't get my Buell to run right, so I began scouring Craigslist for another street bike. I was astonished to find my dream bike from the time I was 15, an 85 Honda VF1000R. It was cheap enough and I knew it was for me, so I got it. Long story short, there was a series of unfortunate oversights by both myself and the previous owner, and the same day I registered it and had it inspected, it lost a rod bearing. Now, these are not engines for most to attempt to open up and work on. I only know one person who knows how to work on them, and that's my older brother. We talked about it, and he said even if we had all the time in the world it would take months and we'd have to source unobtaineum parts, and he doesn't have near the time nor did I. He told me my best hope was to find a take out engine, and he wished me luck with that endeavor as we both knew the odds of finding a VF1000R engine was very unlikely.

    I would guess the previous owner would have taken the bike back, but it was still worth what I paid even with the engine popped, so I kept it. Then I remembered he was talking about a parts bike his buddy had a few years earlier, so I called him back and asked if the parts bike was still around. He said he'd make a call and get right back to me. He called me right back with the good news that yes, the bike was still available, and the great news that it was cheap and also located in the very same town I lived in. Not only that, but the bike only has 3,400 miles on the clock. I went to pick it up expecting to find a heap, maybe an engine and a frame. I was surprised to find a complete bike with a clean, open title. I was thrilled and loaded it up to take home. This was great, but I didn't have time for an engine swap at that moment. I now had a total of three non-running motorcycles to put into storage.









    Another thing I needed to address before I hit the road was the awful over-built ramp that was on the back of my toy hauler. The previous owner did burnouts on the original ramp with his full dress Harley and blew holes right in the ramp. His solution instead of replacing the ramp and not doing burnouts on it, was to build an 800 lb structural steel and heavy plywood ramp. It was so heavy that it required a winch to pull it up, which required a battery, which required a tender. It was ridiculous and heavy, and it bent my rear most axle (trailer has three axles) twice on potholes. I decided to commission a pair of long time friends who run a metal fab shop to build me a new door from aluminum to shed some weight. Well through a lack of communication, not on my end, it ended up getting built maybe 50-75 lbs lighter than the steel door for a paltry $2,300. I was like yeah.... nope. I wanted hundreds of lbs lighter. I tried to nicely explain to them that this was not what I asked them to build, and furthermore it was sheeted upside down so the rain would sheet right into the door and begin to rot the completely unnecessary 3/4” plywood that was on the exterior side of the door under the metal sheeting. It was built wrong! I was told there was “nothing they could do” to fix it. Oh really? With an entire metal fabrication shop at your disposal, two men with probably about 40 years total metal fab experience, torches, brakes, welders.... but you “can't”?

    Funny because I was able to completely disassemble and rebuild the entire door on the ground, in the dirt, with hand tools, no ability to weld aluminum, and some help from Dave Little and another friend who popped in for a bit as well. I was able to invert the door, sheet it correctly, and make it light enough to get rid of the cumbersome winch setup. But they “couldn't”. It's a shame because if they had built me what I asked for, it would have been even lighter than I was able to make it, and it wouldn't have cost nearly as much. Instead I was built what the boss thought I should have, not what I asked for. I paid them what I deemed appropriate, and I was more than generous. Those two friendships ended after that, and they were not two I ever expected to lose, but the behavior was unacceptable to me. They handled the situation terribly. There's 3 sides to every story though...

    Door sheeted upside-down-



    Disassembly-





    Completely unnecessary materials-



    My 15 year old cat is with me. She was my #1 biggest concern about this whole thing, I was so worried about how she would transition to road life. Well the big story here is, there is no story. She's fine, she doesn't mind it at all. She rides in the trailer as we go up the road and knows I'm in the truck driving, she knows I'm close by. She really makes things a lot nicer. It's home wherever I go.

    I spent almost a week parked at my old neighbor's in Massachusetts getting everything ship shape for the road, getting my storage in MA squared away, then I left Massachusetts for the first time with no plan on coming back any time soon. My first stop from there was Mik6's place in Oswego NY which is not a new trip to me. Along my way to his place, I was thinking to myself "There's no way I'm going to be able to afford to keep doing this." Long story short, I was wrong about that, but that's what I was thinking at that time.

    After Mik6's I rolled into Coshocton, Ohio to see our good friend Kiser. My first thought was that I wouldn't really like Ohio, but I ended up loving Coshocton. Kiser and I obviously already knew one another, but not extremely well. Not long after I got there we became really good friends really fast. That was my first taste of real country, and I loved it. We spent a lot of time with Big Specht and Schlepp, and I also enjoy hanging out with Kiser's dad. I almost bought two separate houses there, but I had to restrain myself after people suggested I not settle down so fast. The way of life in Coshocton is awesome and the people are exceptionally nice there, and I'm not just saying that. It's a beautiful area with great people, and one of the houses I almost bought for $150k would have sold for $750k in Massachusetts.







    So from Coshocton it was off to Trikefest in Laurel, Indiana for a week. Then back to Coshocton after Trikefest, back to Mik6's in NY, then up to Maine to meet the family for the 4th of July. I was planning on being with the family for about five days, but I left after only one because they p!ssed me off. From there I went to Fryeberg, Maine and parked at Dave Little's place for about a week. He's like three miles from the Saco river which is a stellar place to swim in the hot summers. I really enjoyed myself there. It was way better than being with the family. At that point I didn't have a motorcycle with me still, and I spent 4 th of July by myself listening to the fireworks and partying from nearby North Conway, NH. I am very familiar with North Conway, and as much fun as it sounded like I knew better than to try and navigate my dually over there during that. A bike would have been perfect right then, and it was then I realized I had to find another street bike. Bike stuff aside, Fryeburg was great, one of the best places I've parked yet. Dave is the man as well.



    From Dave's in Fryeburg I popped in to jeffatc250r's place in Fitzwilliam, NH for a couple of short days. I couldn't stay there too long because I had to go buy another street bike, so back to my neighbor's in Massachusetts from there I went with only a few short days to find and register a motorcycle. I ended up buying a 99 Honda Superhawk VTR1000 that needed a little here and there but ultimately ran well. So at least I had a bike. Then back to Oswego NY from there, then back to Coshocton where I got the bike squared away. The forks were puking all over the front brakes, rear brake was smoked, the engine coughed and died a lot, the clutch actuation was wrong, one valve cover leaked, chain and sprockets were roached... Etc... I fixed it all in Kiser's bike barn and it's a decent buggy now, but it's not the best bike. I kind of bought a beater on purpose so it can get banged up and stuff, but I wish I had a dual sport. I've been looking into dual sports for sale, but there's not a ton available where I am in Florida. Not only that, but I'd sell the Superhawk if I got another bike, and people aren't buying a ton here. I'd either have to sell really low or not at all. At least it gets me out there though.



    From Kiser's I wheeled over to Brazil, IN to visit old HoosierLogger Greg for a bit. I spent about five or six weeks there, it was fun. I did some exploring around there, I'd highly recommend the towns of Bridgeton and Mansfield for gawking. Lots of pretty country out that way. This whole country has tons of pretty places. I was pal-ing around with a nice young lady out there for a little while too, she was good company. Not the first of the summer and not the last though.

    I don't recall the exact name of this place, but it was nice.





    This was another place-



    From Indiana I went back to Kiser's in Coshocton on my way back to Mik6's in NY for his fall ride. The ride went well and I hung out there for another five or six weeks. I like to park for at least a month at a time. I've really gotten used to traveling, and I love it. After Mik6's, I went to Lodi, NY. That's where I started this whole post. I got every last moment I could in NY, it was snowing when I left. As I was going southbound down the highway, they were salting the northbound lanes. As anyone from the rust belt knows, it's not the snow that gets you, it's the salt. I kept it rolling steady heading out of NY as fast as I could hoping to beat the southbound salt trucks, which I did. Now that's cutting it close.

    I took my time getting to Ocala, where I am now. Everywhere I've been, I look at real estate. I get excited and have really enjoyed everywhere I've been, but let's not forget where I came from. NY is nice, but the politics really turn me off, as well as the taxes and tolls. NY is greedy and needs to separate from the city. There is so much country in NY, but the city seems to be the bane of the rest of the state, assuming they're the cause of the politics, taxes, and tolls. They say people are leaving NY in droves, and I will say that the area I spent the most time in has the highest amount of abandoned real estate (commercial and residential) I've seen out of all the places I've traveled. As I said, Coshocton has the best people. They also have affordable taxes and real estate, and a lot of beautiful women. The land is also beautiful, with plenty of hills, woods, and country. Oswego, NY has beautiful women too, but a lot of them are younger due to the big college in town. I've not been overly impressed with the women in Ocala, but I haven't been looking as hard lately.



    My buddy who lives here in Ocala is another Massachusetts transplant. He bought here about three months ago and is thrilled to have company from up north. He's in the process of opening a car repair business here, and I've been keeping busy helping him set up. It's been pretty fun really. I just got my drive shaft back from the shop today, as the shaft in my truck was too long (I can relate) and dented. The long and short of it is that it vibrated a lot even after having been in the shop not long ago. I'm thrilled with how it looks now for $250 from the local shop here in Ocala. I'll install it tomorrow and see how it feels! After that I need to get my tires rotated and balanced on the truck. If it ain't smooth then... by golly!

    Shortened and repaired shaft-



    It was definitely too long-



    The one and only place I actually paid to park since I left Massachusetts was Trikefest, and for that I have great friends to thank. Dave Little, Kiser, Mik6, Greg HoosierLogger, and jeffatc250r have all hosted me, and I try to do things for them while I'm there parked at their places to contribute something. I truly appreciate all of these guys, as well as the others who have offered me to park at but I haven't gotten there yet. This is a great lifestyle for me and I've been truly enjoying it. It was the right decision. I have really liked a lot of the different places I've been, but I have to remember not to stop unless I go absolutely bananas about a place or find an absurd deal. Most of the places I've been looking at are about 10 acres, and that's barely enough for me. I'll probably just keep going for a while and see what's out there. So far so good! I feel very alive. It kind of puts things into perspective for me. I feel like things wouldn't have ended well had I kept on the path I was when I was working. I didn't really understand how incredibly high strung I was for so many years, I couldn't even tell, and it was really dangerous. It was not something I realized the seriousness of, even when others tried to tell me. Everything does happen for a reason. I still live within certain parameters, but I've learned how to relax and actually live life, not just exist. I'm grateful for how things have turned out, and I appreciate the ability to do this. I'm glad I have made the decisions I did in life which have led me to this point, and I look forward to the future. That's a pretty stark contrast coming from where I was.
    Last edited by fabiodriven; 11-22-2019 at 01:56 PM.
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  2. #227
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    John while your in Ocala, take an hour trip south east to Apopka Florida. Stop at the Walmart 5mins from the park in Apopka and grab a cheap inflatable pool tube. You gotta go, there’s a natural lazy river (water is chilly) but we started going there every other year (my kids choose this place over Disney) since they were 5. Yes there’s alligators at the very end of the river I’ve seen but there’s a rickidy old fence/barrier..... the water is to cold for them upstream. The snack shack has good burgers/ fries. There’s woman there too it gets busy on weekends, have to be early, they shut the gates when parking is full.
    We’ll be at Kelly park in March, it’s not coming fast enough. Oh if u decide to float down river about 200 feet down on the right bank it’s gravely soil and my kids have found dozens of “old” shark teeth just scooping up the bottom gravel, if that interests you. Click image for larger version. 

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    Anyway best of luck down there,

    Shep

  3. #228
    fabiodriven's Avatar
    fabiodriven is offline Aspiring romance novel cover model, and the Official 3WW slayer of thieves and swindlers. Catch me if you can
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    Awesome Shep! Thanks very much for the post and the suggestion! I'll definitely get over there!
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  4. #229
    Mosh is offline I'm the one with all the 2 stroke around here! The day begins with 3WW
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    Quote Originally Posted by fabiodriven View Post
    After Mik6's I rolled into Coshocton, Ohio to see our good friend Kiser. My first thought was that I wouldn't really like Ohio, but I ended up loving Coshocton. Kiser and I obviously already knew one another, but not extremely well. Not long after I got there we became really good friends really fast. That was my first taste of real country, and I loved it. We spent a lot of time with Big Specht and Schlepp, and I also enjoy hanging out with Kiser's dad. I almost bought two separate houses there, but I had to restrain myself after people suggested I not settle down so fast. The way of life in Coshocton is awesome and the people are exceptionally nice there, and I'm not just saying that. It's a beautiful area with great people, and one of the houses I almost bought for $150k would have sold for $750k in Massachusetts.

    So f
    ar, the Coshocton Ohio people seem to be the nicest as a whole.
    Its is no secret that Ohio people have taken some less than desirable outlooks from trikers in other states. In some form, some of us Ohioans have been a little proud and boastful, but now you see why. It was not that we were individually proud, we were proud of the community around us, And now you can see why some of the coolest things for trikes have originated close to these areas. And Kiser is about the nicest guy you will ever meet.. The comradery in this area is very strong. Most of all the modern day trike racing originated within 1 hour drive from Coshocton. Tim Sr lives close, we live close, most of the OTC lives all within 1 hour from each other the list goes on. Glad you enjoyed the area.
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  5. #230
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    Fantastic update John

    I'm jealous!

    In my fairly limited experience traveling 21 or so states, i can say that each one has alot of great little communities filled with ppl who give a f**k about their neighbors. It's nice.

    I grew up on a farm in Indiana about eleven miles from any town at all so I was pretty blessed in that respect (peace and quiet, good quality friendly neighbors)

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  6. #231
    fabiodriven's Avatar
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    Thanks for posting guys!

    I understand what you're saying Rob. Like I said, I'm not just saying it! Haha! Pretty much everyone Kiser introduced me to, which was a lot of people, were some seriously good people. Even the people I met on my own were the same way. It's good to see a place like that with such a high number of happy people, and that certainly did have an impact on my opinion of the area as a whole.

    Yes Doug, there are certainly some nice, simple places out there. Many of them can be had for fairly cheap as well.
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  7. #232
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    Amazing pics and story fabio
    U are a lucky man

  8. #233
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    The plan

    Thank you my friend, but this wouldn't be possible if it weren't for this forum and it's members. I have some absolutely exemplary friends such as yourself, and these people are a huge part of why I'm able to do what I do. So thank you to you all.

    Honestly I've only taken a handful of pictures since leaving Massachusetts, not many at all. I've kind of been living it instead of recording it. I took a couple steps back not long ago, I narrowed my focus on things. I stopped communicating with a number of people and simplified a bit. That's what's best for me and what I prefer. This is a pretty iconic time in the story of me and I'm enjoying every moment for myself and those in my immediate vicinity. I feel this makes for a very pure experience with my mind in the moment and not wondering what tit-head just said to arse-frig on the bookface or what kind of shameless posts people I used to think highly of just made. I used to do it too, a long time ago. Now if I try to scroll my news feed it makes me disgusted immediately. I'm in a very small group though I'd say, as it seems like the rest of the country is head over heels for that fake shite.

    I correlate that lifestyle with mindless zoids who are constantly taking pictures and sharing, and especially those who take a lot of selfies. There is a particular strain of this species, you'll see them in videos on YouTube all encircling the object of the video, phones in hand, all looking programmed as if they share a mind. They're all recording the same exact thing or event, and none of them are able to live the moment. They make it tough for me to look at anything other than them, friggin freaks. Unfortunately the Herk 'n Jerk has been reduced to a phone brandishing competition over the last couple years as well.

    But I digress... In my long and drawn out way, what I'm saying is that people have turned me off to taking so many pictures and videos and also have reduced my interest in sharing these things. I do love this forum though and I'm sure there are people who have been wondering what I've been up to.
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    Good point Fabs, most people do not enjoy the moment. It always amazes me how much they miss with phone in hand thinking they must catch every leaf on every tree. The mind is the best camera.
    A recent trip to Montana was a perfect example of this mindless wondering. We drive through Glacier national park and hated it. The crowds were terrible but what made it terrible was all of the people taking pics of nothing. Thinking they had to stop at every waterfall and snap a pic.
    We ended up leaving the crowds for much more less traveled roads. In fact much more scenic and less traveled than the park was. I had actually commented to my wife on several roads we were on about the lack of people. It amazed me they would rather be stuck in traffic enjoying the backside of a rv than some of the roads we were on.
    We never explore with a gps only paper maps because of this reason. Enjoy plenty to experience in this country.
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    Always a good time hanging out with you fab!!

  11. #236
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    The plan

    I had mentioned how I was able to do the work on the Superhawk it needed at Kiser's place, and I figured I'd elaborate a bit.

    I got this bike from an inexperienced kid who had dropped it at low speed and then got spooked. He didn't tell me that but I figured it out. He had only put about 2,000 miles on the bike while he owned it, and I quickly saw a couple scrapes and dings, but nothing major. It was freshly painted and had brand new tires, but there were a lot of other things that needed addressing. I had snaked my way into buying the bike out from someone else by offering an extra $100, so I was committed to it at that price.

    Immediately I ran my finger over the forks seals and there was oil, and as I already said they puked on the front brakes. He had cleaned up the mess but I knew it was going to soak the brake the first time I rode it. The bike liked to cough through the intake, but literally every V-twin I've owned does that as well. Sometimes just a cough, sometimes a cough and die. This bike coughed and died a lot, too much. I could also see the chain and sprockets were wiped and the rear brake was smoked as well. The clutch was soft and the fluid was black in the crusty yellow reservoir, so obviously it needed new fluid. The master cylinder reservoir for the front brake was crusty as well. The foam crankcase vents had already crumbled to dust, and the low gas light didn't work. The previous owner somehow forgot to tell me that. I ran out of gas in Plymouth Massachusetts and had to have a friend come bring me some.

    I get a boner for OEM parts, so I ordered everything OEM! Down to hardware and clamps. Fork seals, brake pads, but the chain and sprockets were discontinued OEM. I got aftermarket for that. Kiser's bike shed was wicked pissa for working on the bike and I found out first hand this bike is pretty easy to work on, so far. Thanks to Kiser for that! The front pads were saturated and the rears were a CH from being metal to metal. When I got the bike, the clutch barely worked and would start grabbing far too early as you released the lever, then after it was fixed with new fluid and a new reservoir it releases way too far out. After jumping on the Superhawk forum I found out that's "just how they are", and there is no fix. I decided I was going to fix it, but then I just got used to it. The slave cylinder loses some fluid but not all the time. The cough and die that was killing the engine was a disconnected vacuum line, so I blocked that off. Problem solved. The rear valve cover was leaking a ton of oil but the gasket was fine. It just needed to be removed, cleaned, and resealed with OEM Hondabond. I found a bad connection to the low gas sensor and thought for sure that would fix the problem. I didn't think it did at the time, so I ordered a new sensor and replaced it. What I found out later is I probably didn't wait long enough for the light to come on when testing the old sender. It has a delay so it doesn't flicker on and off in the tank as you slosh the gas around. Either way it works now. The front brake is still squishy but I have new braided stainless lines to put on at some point. I also suspect that a caliper rebuild might be part of the solution. The steering stem was a little loose as well so I squared that away.

    So now it runs and rides well, and it does the job. I'm not nuts about it but I'm happy to have something to ride. Most people in my position would have gone and bought a brand new bike. I go and buy three sh!tty bikes!



    This front caliper bolt was stripped and I had to drill.













    Another thing we did at Kiser's was build a fire breathing ALT185 race trike for the SAS class at Ashtabula for the 50th. I bought the bike and planned to race it, but I ended up having to stay back in Coshocton during the race as I had put an offer in on a house. After all the work so many people had done, I sent the bike with Kiser and he piloted it. It takes a very strong and experienced rider to tame Suzuki's biggest three wheeler, not someone like Joe Swatland. After I heard about the size of the crowd that was at that race, I was halfway glad I wasn't able to go. I'm not crazy about crowds.

    So it's common knowledge that Suzuki's ALT185 was their biggest three wheeler offering because there simply was no need for any more power than that. They were worried it might actually spin the earth the wrong way if they made a trike with any more power, which I applaud them for. It's quite considerate I think. The Honda trikes are the vast majority of the SAS class due to their low cost and ability to be had for next to nothing, some people pay to get rid of them. It's a great beginner bike I feel to get into the hobby, then you can step up to the Suzuki if you have the cojones.

    Suzuki made it extra narrow, like a bullet, to get you up the straights at lightning speed. I had to source a titanium front number plate to withstand the amazing heat from the wind going over it at such high speeds. They decided against front suspension and a front brake in favor of more high end options, like a choke that requires two different knobs and instructions to operate, and a fuel pump and primer because biceps. They gave it a three up seat so there's plenty of room for both of your girlfriends on the back at the same time. It also comes standard with testosterone. That's not even optional on the Honda.

    At any rate, we needed to widen this bike, put some 20" mower tires on the rear, and re-gear the final drive. Nobody makes anything but the stock count rear sprocket for the ALT, but the countershaft shares the same splines as a certain size Suzuki DR dirt bike (I don't recall which). I went up one tooth in the front and we needed a 35 for the rear. Well it just so happens that Kiser knows someone who can make custom sprockets, and the guy made us a sprocket for nothing! Thank you Kiser and other guy! It wasn't something that could just bolt in though, as the sprocket hub for the Suzuki has rubber cushions to deal with the tremendous amount of torque the power plant makes. We had to come up with some way to machine the sprocket to fit the hub with the rubber eliminated. If you just bolted it flush to the hub, the sprocket wouldn't line up with the one on the engine.

    Enter Big Specht! Specht and his father fired up the machine shop and made the sprocket perfect! Then welded it just how we needed it. I don't have pictures of that unfortunately. Then we bolted it on the bike and it was perfect. Thank you Spechts!

    Suzuki used a very odd hub spline, and they also used an odd lug pattern on the wheels, so we were initially a little concerned about how we were going to be able to widen the machine and put different wheels on it. Kiser said hold on a second... He reached up into his attic and pulled down a set of wheels with 20" mower tires mounted. Well as crazy odd as this lug pattern on the bike is, wouldn't you know those wheels just happen to fit! Ol Captain Weezy had given them to Kiser at Trikefest two years prior, and they sat in the attic until that day. We were amazed!

    We needed to widen it then, but I had no faith in finding wheel spacers locally in that odd size, and we were running short on time. Well Kiser had a first gen ATC250R sitting outside the shed he'd just gotten from The Stud at Trikefest the week before, and the cack sucker had the exact size wheel spacers we needed for the big bore Suzuki! Well smack my ass and call me Sally!

    So the bike came out great and Kiser raced it. He didn't win, the Honda guys made him run a restrictor plate. I was just determined to get a Suzuki out there for the 50th Ashtabula and I cannot say I succeeded, but I can say WE succeeded. It took a lot of help from a lot of people but the bike was there. Thanks to everyone involved!





    Last edited by fabiodriven; 12-05-2019 at 12:50 AM.
    85 Tri-Zinger 60
    85 ATC250SX
    86 ATC250SX
    87 ATC250SX
    02 XR650L conversion
    84 ATC 480R

  12. #237
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    In the first post I saw a mention of a blog, got the link handy or is there no new posts there any more? Not to make a focus on money or anything, but in theory you could post your story, disable comments and have a couple ads on the site. Likely won't make much, but for some people, you're living their dream, so reading your stories is letting them live their dream through your words.

    Either case, I subbed to the thread, neat reading about the different locations with a mix of some builds/repairs etc.

    I kind of had a similar life changing event for myself, same thing, mindless working for big businesses, high stress, tight due dates on projects, etc. I didn't have much for funds since I've only worked in the workforce for around 6 years, just paid off my first home $30k and back to debt free and quit my job and went self employed. I'm making less money, but life is 100x better. I liked traveling some, but I didn't have a huge passion for it, but I do enjoy reading the stories and seeing the photos. Effectively I'm still a slave worker, but atleast I don't have a boss breathing down my neck, my boss is now my customers and if I don't like any of them, I can just get fired (aka have them not pay for services).

    Looks like the Suzuki was winning the race in those photos, guess those Honda's passed you last second huh? Also, wow is that axle narrow. No front suspension is also a great longevity thing, never have to fix front forks if they are solid tubing.

    My family reunion was located about 30 miles from the Indiana/Kentucky boarder and I've noticed that people in both states seemed overly kind there too. My uncle lived in Kentucky for 5 or so years. First thing he was told by his neighbor was watch out for the people down the hill, they will steal etc from you. So first thing he did was take some home made wine down there and went drinking with them. He never invited them to his place, but he made sure to be kind to them. His neighbor was pretty crazy, he had a horse and buggy and they went off roading with it. I never saw it but that must have been a pretty crazy adventure with all the hills and such around the area, it was a challenge even for atvs.

    If you ever get in the Michigan area, I'd suggest going North as much as possible to get away from the Cities. There's nice people in both spots, but there's a lot more snobs and such around the cities. If it wasn't for keeping around family, I'd probably move to southern India/Ohio to Kentucky area. I get along with my direct family really well.

    Anyway, good luck on your travels.

  13. #238
    fabiodriven's Avatar
    fabiodriven is offline Aspiring romance novel cover model, and the Official 3WW slayer of thieves and swindlers. Catch me if you can
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    The woods
    --
    10,515

    The plan

    Thanks so much for posting my friend!

    In regards to the blog, I changed it to private a while back. Sometimes when time passes I don't always feel satisfied with some things I've shared in the past. I was very high strung for a very long time and not really aware, then illness was added to the equation. I'm not saying my views have changed drastically, although I'm sure at least some have, but sometimes I don't like my old posts. I used to want a lot of people to see my thoughts and I shared them on the book and in the blog, then I changed how I felt about broadcasting things on those platforms. What makes this any better? The forum is different. It's public but not everyone will see it. I don't associate the shameless vanity other platforms are built on with this forum.

    That being said, I have to pay my annual WordPress fee. It's funny that would come up at the same time someone asks about the blog. I haven't read the blog in years, I'll go through it all and see if it's worth sharing again.

    About the race, it wasn't me racing. That was Kiser, and yes, you can clearly see the competition far, far behind Suzuki's big bore beast. I heard they didn't have to wet the track because the Honda guys' tears were more than enough to keep the track wet, and that Kawasaki back there is actually green with envy. It started the race blue, no bee ess.
    85 Tri-Zinger 60
    85 ATC250SX
    86 ATC250SX
    87 ATC250SX
    02 XR650L conversion
    84 ATC 480R

  14. #239
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Yea I get that, that's kind of the thing with the internet, once it's out there, it's out there forever, even if you delete it... unless no one ever saw it ever and the server it was on deleted all logs, secure erased the files etc. If I had the url, I could probably load up the internet archive and see all the old posts.

    Also, how is wordpress paid for? It's a free software the last time I used it, heck my http://atvmanual.com site that I've more or less abandoned is running wordpress. Maybe you have a blog on wordpress's website or a paid plugin?

    Anyway, I think the best way to describe what you're doing is early retirement, living life how you want to. Most people don't get to do that till 65+ and generally health and such gets in the way for them to do what they really want. I've seen plenty of elderly people just sit around and watch tv basically waiting to die including both my grandpas. Maybe I'm too young to understand, but I'd go completely crazy if I couldn't do *something*. TV would get old very fast, big time with how the news is anymore.

    If you like woods land and long riding, there's a ton of trails up north, I've heard there's state land trails from around my area all the way to the bridge that connects the LP to the UP. That would be a monster long ride/trip on an atv but probably a blast. You'd need the road permit + trail permit, not sure if the trails all connect up or not, should be like $50 or less total for the permits which are good for a year.

    https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,...148---,00.html

    Here's a map if the link works.

    http://midnr.maps.arcgis.com/apps/we...8110fdb4f7799d

  15. #240
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    NEPA
    --
    7,048
    LMK when you're venturing toward Pa bud. Looking great!
    Please help those who cannot help themselves.

    ALWAYS buying Museum quality machines,3 and 4 wheels. And any and ALL ,NOS parts,EVERY brand.

    I am turning my PM's Off,my Email is billsracing@hotmail.com,put 3WW in the subject. Thanx!

    Gun laws do not stop criminals. BULLETS do.

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