Moyou in December

Moyou was looking restless when I got home.

I knew I had to run with her before I got to skate.

She deserves to enjoy the 70 degree day in December too!

1...2...3.....go!

Gaining momentum. 

Full speed.

Tongue.

Trot.

Can't wait to make some tasty burgs.

Say Something Nice (JLPT 2012)

JLPT 2012.

6 + hours in a car by yourself is way too long.

Chicago Diner, the new location, with a friend.

That french toast..soo good.

Yeah, here we go again.

I love these two!

Bro-Sis combo coming up to take the challenge. 

The other students declined to wait for my test to end.

I can't blame them.

It's like taking the SAT in Japanese.

I'm not kidding.

They were probably pretty wiped out.

I haven't had the mental capacity to study for the past 3 months so I almost skipped the test.

I am glad I went though, it felt good to get my brain working in this capacity again.

I need to get back on track.  

little changes

Some little changes have been made to my SS50, just a crappy pic in the dark, but it's wintertime, it gets dark soon and I didn't have my exhaust mounted in time to make pictures in the light.
Custom painted tank emblems, exhaust that came off my motorcycle, different seat, CB50 shocks and a slightly different taillight (short lens type)

Thanksgiving of Horses

It had probably been 20 years since I rode a horse before last weekend.

Credit and Blue

I grew up around horses but didn't ever really get to know any of them.  

I had some bad experiences when I was younger that made me not trust them.

These horses don't know me well either, I usually only say hi to them once when I'm around.

I have read and heard that horses are really sensitive to human emotion.

Before I rode Credit I wanted to hang out with him for a little bit because I didn't want him to be scared or anxious about me riding.  While I was brushing him, at one point he nuzzled in my chest for a little bit and looked at me as if to say everything is going to be okay......  

I am sorry I waited so long to connect with these guys.  

I hope I can hang out with them more in the spring.

Loving Cafe with Z and S.

Dad and his Deere.

THIS is how you unload a bandsaw.

Brake pad change with Happy dad.

.38 rounds in a 357.  Not bad?  I don't know.

Last weekend seems like such a distant memory.

Re-living the nightmare.

Embracing the pain.

Trying my best to stay strong for him.

Losing myself in the sadness.

BMW front forks

I've done a lot with the front forks of my BMW, stiffer springs, more preload, thicker oil, shortened original springs...
I pretty much had a good setup for a while, eccept for the occasional tankslapper at slow speeds.
Back in the day, they sold tubular fork braces, that I thought would make a great period specific addition to my bike, so I bought one off ebay, mounted it to my bike and as the weather was sort off nice, I had a testride.

I wasn't at the end of the street yet, or I had the worst tankslapper yet...
I had hoped this would be pretty much the answer to all problems, but it turned out to open up a whole new can of worms.
What to do now?
Another period upgrade for the front forks were alloy top yokes that clamp the forklegs instead of the original bolted connection. I've seen them on ebay, and they are not cheap. But what I've seen before, was that some people make their own by using a bottom yoke as a top, and as we had some bottom yokes laying around, I started adapting one.

In the picture you can see what will be the underside of the top yoke, I machined it down so my clip-ons could remain as high as possible for comfortable road use.
I also machined the center hole to fit the stemnut.
and then mounted it, as it was still sort of nice weather, I had a testride.
Yess, this made a dramatic inprovement in handling, not perfect yet, but were atleast getting close again. Now that the forks are much stiffer, I might just need thinner oil again.

Now I just need to finish the yoke, some more material needs to be machined off to be able to tighten the stemnut, I'm just not sure yet what to do.
Leave it as is, showing the raw casting with the numbers and logo, or machine the whole top flat and polish it to get one flat shiny surface....what do you think?

Salamanca

Two nights in Salamanca wasn't enough and I wish I could stayed longer. I totally love this town especially the main square. Every night after 8pm, the lights are turned on and everyone gasps. Each night we were there, we had dinner in the square and listened to the traditional student bands in costume singing songs from the region. There were 2 groups singing on opposite sides of the square;  I preferred the voices and personalities of the younger group and of course, I bought a CD to support them.

During the day, we did a walking tour of the town's main sights. The old town was amazing with a beautiful church and lots of small gorgeous shops around.

Of course, we kept coming back to the main square for coffee, drinks and meals and the illumination of the lights at night. The restaurant and bar located in the corner of the square is one of the best places to eat in town. It could be a bit expensive but it worth the money for the friendly service and great food. Their sangria also was superb!!!! If you don't want to have dinner, you also can go upstairs to their great bar, which is busy serving tapas and has nice table settings looking over the square.

We were lucky with our hotel choice, choosing one with comfortable rooms overlooking a park just off the corner of the main square. Typically, as we'd discovered in Madrid, Spanish people party until the morning and this was a university town so it was pretty noisy at night once the clubs closed down. By This stop on our tour of Spain, we realised that we either had to get used to it, get earplugs or get out there and join the party.

November 28th.

The day that could have been a life changer. 

Could have silenced the doubt and quieted the fears buried under the floorboards.  

Could have sowed the seeds of future happiness and brought everyone back together again.  

The most important decision of my life and I am not allowed to make it anymore.

Piggies

  When Z, S, and I went out to get siding from Shawna's old house a while back, we got to see piggies!
I remember being excited to see them but it was sad at the same time.
Looking back at these pictures makes the memories of that sunny day seem much more dark.
Most people don't agree with me but I think it is sad humans still think they need to slaughter animals to survive.  It's not about being at the top of the food chain or "these animals were given to us by god to do with as we please", or even about being healthy, it's about compassion for another living, breathing being that feels pain just like you and I.  It's been almost 15 years.  It is such a part of me that I don't think about it everyday anymore and I am not dropping banners from any fast food chain stores or bridges during thanksgiving anymore but my conviction hasn't wavered once.

Piggies!

What's over there?

This one actually looks like he is smiling a little.

Sad eyes.

Bonus:

Elephants!

Good cold ride.

32 degrees.

Splitting lanes like I wish I could on my motorcycle.

Brought me back to life tonight.

Reminded me of loner late nights in Tokyo shooting photos.

I might need to build a bike this winter.....and I'm not talking another motorcycle.

Thanks Tim and Jason.