Maintenance Day 05/22/04

[Tourmeister]

Howdy,

:tab Well, the maintenance day was a total success. I think we had about 20 some odd bikes and a few more people. I got to meet quite a few new folks. Homermcleod showed up first but had to leave to get some extra goodies. Then Vessmech, Snoopster, and Scratch showed up around 10ish. Vessmech and Paul left to go get their Sprint RS's inspected. Around 11:00, more and more folks started arriving: Teeth, Pdef, KJM-B12, BeemerDude, GreevesTFS, coach1517 and a few others... Then shortly before lunch, Squeaky shows up with a horde of bikes in tow, most of the riders I've never met.

:tab Everyone pretty much settles in and starts getting their bikes setup to work on. Vessmech and Scratch redo the front brakes on Vess's RS. Ron changes the oil and plugs on his Beemer cruiser, and also does a valve adjustment on it (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01785.JPG). GreeveTFS wheels his Beemer in and give is an oil change. Homer has the entire front end of his bike dissassembled so he can add his Hella auxillary lights and a set of air horns :shock: Wires are everywhere :lol:

:tab We moved the bike washing crew out into the street so they would not make puddles where we were trying to work on the bikes. Coach1517 got to install his first set of decent tires on his VFR 800 with a little assistance. Casey and Debbie hung out and visited with us, lending a hand where needed. Dave Bowman even came up from Alvin to hang out! We knocked off for lunch around 1:00ish and headed to McKenzie's BBQ here in town. Dave found out that the Double Cheeseburgers here are HUGE!! Unbelievably he ate the whole thing :eek: I mistakenly ordered three ribs thing I was really hungry, after two I could hardly eat another bite! They are pretty large as well! Looking around the table I see a lot of glassy eyed stares off into space. Nap time?

:tab We get back over to the house and get serious about finishing up the work. Beemerdude and GreevesTFS are pretty much done with their bikes as they skipped lunch. Dave had to take off and get back to Alvin after lunch.

Scratch shows Squeaky how to clean, lube and adjust the chain on her new SV650S. (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01786.JPG)

Frank installing a Scott Steering Damper on his 954. (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01787.JPG) I could not get him to look up for the pic. He has a shocked look on his face because I asked him if he knew how bad his bald spot was getting :-P I always get my pics!

Beth getting seat time on the GS the only way she can since she is 11 weeks pregnant. (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01788.JPG) No riding on Doc's orders! Now I don't have to fight her for the bike ;-)

Richard Wells and his new 04 KLR 650, sweet!! (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01788.JPG) I want one :twisted:

Just the KLR without Richard in the way, hehe (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01790.JPG)

Teeth's might Busa (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01791.JPG)

Apparently Frank can't be left alone without a lot of supervision?? (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01792.JPG)

Debbie wonders if I will ever stop taking pictures? (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01793.JPG) :angel:

A nice collection of bikes (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01794.JPG)

The "Shop" (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01795.JPG)

Vessmech's incredibly clean Sprint RS! (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01796.JPG)

Casey and Debbie enjoying my high tech garage furniture (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01797.JPG)

Anna Claire, my second cousin and future adventure rider!! (http://www.twtex.com/linkfiles/052204MaintDay/DSC01798.JPG)

:tab As the afternoon wore on, folks started to straggle off and head for home. Those of us remaining after all the nuts and bolts have cleared head out for a nice evening ride down through the National Forest to King's Cafe for dinner. The weather is incredible. The air is cool and dry for this area. The roads are clear and curvy. The food greasy and delicious! We head for home around 8:30pm after saying goodbye to everyone. When we get home, Scratch and I have a few beers to relax. Kelly went nuts buying beer earlier in the afternoon and now I have enough beer to last me a few months!

:tab The riding was fun, but the best part really was getting to see everyone and actually spend time hanging out with them. On a ride I don't always get time to visit with everyone. From what I am hearing through the grapevine, it won't be long before we need to do another Maintenance day so keep your eyes on the Upcoming Events forum ;-)

Adios,

[kc69]

Scott and Beth ,
Thank yall both for the wonderfull hospitality . Deb and i both had a ball meeting and visiting with every body , shes even more ready to get her own bike , especially after talking to debbie and beth ! i ordered her reeds for her cr80 today so she ll be riding her dirt bike by next weekend , i hope . the ride up there was a ton of fun every body was considerate and patient , at least till we got out of the forest ! we had a blast ! our ride home down 30 was as boring as you said it would be except for the crosswinds , all together i put a little over 360 miles on the concours and im well pleased with her . very little monkey butt syndrome !. Deb has her eye on a kawasaki ninja now and i think we are both gonna take tha MSF course together , ive been riding for 32 years and never have gotten my motorcycle endorsement !after 16 bikes and a zillion miles i figger its probably time ! thanks again for the great time and all the comraderie , i cant remember when was the last time i met such a diverse group of people that all had that good ole texas good buddy stuff down to a T like this group does ,,, and coming from a texas cowboy like myself , yall really deserve all the compliments i can give ya ,,,,,,,,,Casey and Deb

[Fangs]

Part of the maintenance day should be called "Zen(tour)meister and the art of motorcycle tire changing". Anyone who wants to save some dollars by learning how to dismount/remount tires at home has to see this. I think I saw the tire practically fall off the wheel at one point :eek:,with the fewest number of tire iron applications to the wheel I have ever seen, also without breaking a sweat(outside air temp. was mid 80's )



If that is not enough they have a 6 toed cat to check out.

Great to meet everyone. Lot of nice people.

[Tourmeister]

Actually, she has 24 toes :-P

Adios,

[BeemerDude]

Scott and Beth:

Thanks so much for letting us use your house and your tools!! It was great to meet several new faces...GreevesTFS (Ted) commented on how many really nice folks are in this group and I couldn't agree more. Maybe someday I'll even ride with some of ya!! Scott, those Wurth feelers are the ticket for BMW valve adjustments. But even then it still feels more like an art than a science. Maybe next time I'll bring some incense. :mrgreen:

Sorry Ted and I couldn't make it for lunch. We were under a little time pressure to get back to meet friends at the original Ninfa's on Navigation. As it turns out we had time to spare, but given what we ate/drank at Ninfa's :chug: (how do you pronounce that chicken dish again Ted?) I'm glad we skipped lunch!!

Ted said he saw alot of snakes on 1791 in the forest on the way back. I guess I was looking too far ahead to see them but I did feel a couple of pretty good speed bumps :eek:

[Tourmeister]

We saw one really long one, a little over four feet. I thought he might be dead since he did not slither off into the weeds when I came by. But other folks saw it as well and said it moved. Guess the snakes were soaking up the heat from the pavement.

Adios,

[Tx Rider]

Alvin eh? That's where I grew up, Dave Bowman sure sounds familiar from my high school days.

Sounds like a good time was had by all, and I'm going to have to get some tire changing tips one of these days for sure.

[Tourmeister]

:tab I graduated from Alvin in '84. Lived there from late 78 to 86. Was there when our subdivision got 45" of rain in a 24hour period :-| That was NOT fun. That place was flat and windy, real windy, all the freaking time! When I go back now, I hardly recognize anything hehe. My inlaws still live there so I get back a few times a year or so. Almost as bad a place to live as DFW if you like riding motorcycles ;-)

:tab Oh yeah, the secret to easy tire changes is the liberal use of snot.

Adios,

[KJM-B12]

Had a great time... it was nice to meet all the new faces in the crowd. :chug:

Kelly

[Squeaky]

I had a wonderful time and learned so much!

[Squeaky]

This will sound like Thanksgiving, but...

Thanks to Scott and Beth for hosting everyone and offering up their home for the sake of those beautiful bikes.

Thanks to Paul (Scratch) for showing me how to clean and lube my chain and how to check the alignment and make the necessary adjustments. I learned that sometimes a boot is better than a mallet. Go figure.

Thanks to Debbie (Snoopster) for hanging around with me and making me get back to work on my bike instead of letting the guys do it.

Thanks to all those who were so patient with my leading the ride up to Huntsville, this INCLUDES those of you who flew ahead on 149 even though you missed the turn off...

Thanks to Kelly (KJM-B12) for helping wash my bike. It didn't take long to get her dirty again....

Lastly, thanks to mother nature for making it such a wonderful day for friends, fun, and frolic!

[Rwells]

Had a great time even though once we got into the NF, I was left on the asphalt :lol: . I guess I can make a good sweeper for all of you sportbikers.

[sbaker33]

Sounds like I missed a great time :-(

Patrick at MU was doing the 600 mile once over on the new SV and I was eager to pick it up as soon as possible :-D which wasn't very soon since my oldest daughter is getting married in October and the time (and money) drain is getting serious :-|

Hopefully I can make it next time. :chug:

[Tx Rider]

:tab I graduated from Alvin in '84. Lived there from late 78 to 86. Was there when our subdivision got 45" of rain in a 24hour period :-| That was NOT fun. That place was flat and windy, real windy, all the freaking time! When I go back now, I hardly recognize anything hehe. My inlaws still live there so I get back a few times a year or so. Almost as bad a place to live as DFW if you like riding motorcycles ;-)

:tab Oh yeah, the secret to easy tire changes is the liberal use of snot.

Adios,

I believe I moved out to Port Arthur from Alvin must have been '77. Moved back in about '81, and was there until I moved up here to Dallas, man time flies when you trying run a struggling business it doesn't seem like I've been here that long.

I used to ride the backroads out through Liverpool and Danbury down to the beach all the time when I was a kid there. Or ride my dual sport offroad on oil lease land all the way from my house in Alvin down to 2004 and run to the beach from there. I lived out by the community college and could do offroad from there for miles and miles back in the day.

[Snoopster]

Thanks to Tourmeister & Blue Bomber for hosting a great Maintenance Day. :bigokay: It was nice to meet some new people & put a user name to a face. The only thing I needed to do was clean & lube my chain. I've got to remember to do that more regularly.

Scott informed me that I need a new back tire before the Colorado trip and Squeaky mentioned she has an oil change coming up so maybe we will be doing another Maintenance Day soon. ;-)

[Red5]

It was great to finally meet some of the people on this board and see a couple of familiar faces. A big thanks to Scott and Beth for hosting the gathering (even with the unwanted photo-posing :-) ). There were a lot more people/bikes than I expected, and it was cool to see all the bikes laid out in various states of disassembly in the driveway. Not in a chaotic messy kind of way, but a orderly cluttered way. I didn't get to meet everyone, but I'll try to remember the names with the faces next time I do.

Thanks to Casey for bringing the wrench socket I needed. Tell Deb to take the MSF soon. She's seriously eyeing a Ninja.

Thanks to all those who were so patient with my leading the ride up to Huntsville, this INCLUDES those of you who flew ahead on 149 even though you missed the turn off...
Hey, I was just following the other two in front of me. I thought they knew the route once they passed around you :lol: You did a fine job nevertheless.

Other than the wind buffeting and a white F-150 that came inches to running me off the highway, the ride back down I45 was boring and uneventful.

Frank

[coach1517]

Big thanks to Scott and Beth for the hospitality and generosity you two displayed this weekend at your home. I had a great time meeting everyone else and appreciate all the expertise and advice I got while I was there. Needless to say, I'm not in any Gifted and Talented classes when it comes to mechanics on my bike yet, but I got some great teaching on Saturday and I'll get there soon enough. There are some great people of character on this site and I look forward to being able to return many of the favors I've received. Scott and Beth, make sure you guys let us know when the baby shower is so we can have the opportunity to return your genorosity.

[Greeves TFS]

Scott and Beth,

Thanks so much for allowing a bunch of motorcycle riding.....your neighbors must wonder. I really appreciated the hospitality. Maybe I'll start riding more (I can see vessmech and beemerdude rolling their eyes!). As beemerdude (Ron) said, what a nice group of people. Next time maybe Ron and I can make it to the BBQ place.
I saw so many snakes in the NF I thought I was Indy Jones. I hate snakes. We I was 5, I had a large 100 foot chicken python rattlesnake roll off the house and land on me. Didn't phase me at the least. No really it didn't....really....
When I get my house in a little better shape, I like to have TWT guys and girls over for a swim party after maybe a ride through the NF or something. Maybe we can have fried snake! Just a thought.

Again Scott and Beth,

Thanks....