Black Fly

crawling up the van window
a black fly
I think for a minute
then I let him live
a crack of the window presents freedom
he chooses to stay?
we ride together this amazing morn
I'm washed with happiness
he looks proud
momentary friendship or maybe eternal
climbing up to the edge of the open window
he finds his perch
watching me through the breeze
what a strange creature I must seem
then he is gone

Chickens!!

So....anyways.....earlier this spring my wife and kids got 10 chickens and 1 turkey chick. This should make my life easier. My little bantam rooster Akira is going to have his hands full with all these full sized chickens. Who knows how the turkey is going to fit into this mix. Throw in an English bulldog and a huge tortoise (and a smaller dog and another smaller tortoise).  Fun times ahead. Hopefully I'll at least get some eggs.

Vulcan Update

 My brother and I rode our motorbikes out to Peterborough today, about an hour away. Nice country back roads along a river and through farm country. The Vulcan, that I've named Hidalgo, performed much better than I expected. It was a fantastic and much needed break from reality. As far as the repairs are going, one of the last things on my list to do is to change the K&N air filter. I changed the plugs a couple of days ago. At some point I'll change the final gear oil. Also, I've decided that windshields are for girls so I took the bracket for that off and threw it in the woods behind my house. I ordered some black hard luggage bags for the sides off of E-Bay. They look a little scuffed up which suits me fine.

UFO Video

I filmed this off my back deck last night.

Night Ride

So....last night I walk into the house from my first real ride on The Vulcan. I'm covered with a very large variety of dead and not so dead insects. Surprisingly I'm not bothered in the least. A warm spring New Hampshire night on a back country road. Riding through a thick soup of little flying creatures of the night. There's something very spiritual riding through this forested countryside in total darkness. Killing insects with your body. I mean... with no exaggeration I was hit by thousands upon thousands of insects. At one point I put my arms out at my side and closed my eyes and tried to will more to join me, to become one with my soul really. It was wonderful. I could feel moths crawling on my face and into the side of my helmet. Trying to crawl into my mind. Things were colliding with my face and giving me their life. I saw a waddling porcupine on the side of the road and at one point a deer ran across the road in front of me. Riding at night when no one else is on the road is truly a magical experience.

Movie Night

This is our makeshift "drive-in" showing Abbott and Costello on a 60 year old 8mm projector. My wife's inside watching cooking shows on the 50" HD while we are out here on the perimeter.....of what's normal. Just outside the line looking in....feeling sorry for the non believers.

OLD SCHOOL FILM MAKING

My lifelong pursuit of the "old ways" has finally brought me back to home movies. I had a super 8 camera and projector as a kid. It was a hobby that I loved.  The rekindling of this passion was brought on by the purchase of a 50" HDTV. This TV has ruined all my favorite shows and movies. HD sucks! My new favorite show was The Walking Dead but since we got the new TV, the show is unwatchable to me. The look of the show went from a high quality "movie film look" to a "local cable access soap opera look". HD takes all the magic out of TV and movies. Anyway, the above photo is the beginning of my rebellion against this century and all its bullshit technology. That big 16mm projector in the center was built in the 40s and is a true work of art. It still works! No one on the planet can make such beauty anymore. I paid $10 at a yard sale for it. I ordered some 8mm black and white film and I can wait to start shooting some movies. Stay tuned.

Took The Beast out for a ride today!

I took the Beast out for a road test today. It felt good to be riding once again. I'm going to run a couple of tankfuls of gas with some "Seafoam" carb cleaner in it before I admit to myself that I need to pull the carb off. Runs pretty good but doesn't seem perfect to me.

Vulcan Update

While searching for a reason for a blown main fuse I found a connector on the clutch "kill switch" with a jumper wire jammed into it. I pulled the jumper out to try figure out the reasoning behind it. When I turned on the ignition switch, the neutral light stayed on throughout the gears and it wouldn't start. I took the switch off of the handle and ohmed out the terminals. I don't know exactly what is being switched but I got no continuity between any of the terminals, even with the switch depressed. So, not wanting to buy a new switch unless I had to, I took it apart and cleaned up all the little copper contacts. I put it back together and ohmed the terminals again and it was working. I put it back on the bike and everything seems to be working swell. She starts right up and the neutral light goes out once in gear. The blown fuse was from the way I Frankensteined the indicator lights, mashing them into the speedo console. The wires were getting cut.

George "The Animal" Steele Action Figure

Tearing through my third box of mud cover action figures, the man finally asked "Can I help you?" I told him of my quest. "You got any George Steele?" He said he wasn't sure but you never know. So I kept digging. My family had long since left me at this freaks stand. What kind of weirdo serial killer sells mud covered old wrestling figures? I mean....he has thousands! Anyway, I bought an amazing Andre The Giant off of him last summer and a Gimly dwarf in the fall. So I dumped the last box out on the table and at the bottom of the pile I spot that huge hairy back that we all know and love. I pick him up and mistakenly hold him in the face of a person who doesn't even work there and yell "HOW MUCH!" I get pointed in the right direction and pay the man 3 bucks. Life is good!

Ray Harryhausen : Rest In Peace

One of my all time favorite heroes, Ray Harryhausen, past away today.  I wanted to be just like this great artist when I was a kid. Only difference was he had the balls to pursue his dream. What an amazing and talented genius, an inspiration to countless film makers. This man will truly live forever in the hearts and minds of so many.  God speed Mr Harryhausen.

Almost there

After solving an electrical short problem in the indicator lights and fixing a stubborn coolant leak in one of the tubes coming from the carburetor, I think I'm ready to take it for a spin.

Vulcan: "Indicator Lights"

The ignition switch on the speedometer housing has these indicator lights. They were were broken on my bike and a matching new switch is $175. So, that's not happening for a while. I found the stock indicator lights on E-Bay(the switch on the bike now is an aftermarket one). My idea was to combine the two switches into one super amazing switch from the heavens. I had to grind down the outer lights with a dremmel tool and epoxy them to the outside of the existing switch, then epoxy(JB Weld) the rubber boots  for each light onto the back of the switch. You can see the 3 rubber boots on the lower part of the switch on the right. Of course I blew the main fuse as soon as I mounted them, it took me quite a while to figure that out. I didn't know the main 30 amp fuse was in another spot. A positive side note to that is I found a jumper wire jammed in the switch on the clutch handle that probably doesn't belong there.

Kawasaki Vulcan Project: Getting Closer

I ordered a new voltage regulator off of E-Bay. So I should get that in a few days. Oh, and I bought a super 8 movie camera last week! Just because. Also I need to trek over to my brother-in laws house to try and locate the indicator light.

Kawasaki Vulcan

So, the other day, I put the new stator and the used gear shift linkage on the beast.  Major pain in the ass getting the cover back on. The cover is impossible to get on unless the engine mounts are un-bolted and the engine itself is maneuvered around until just the right position is found. Anyway that's done. I put the floor board, kick stand and the stand switch back on as well. Today I changed the oil and oil filter. I also discovered another part I need.  The whatever it's called that has the tiny lights on the speedo is missing the bulb assembly, so I need to get that. E-Bay has it for $35.  I also should replace the voltage regulator, seeing how the plug was fried. That should be it...unless the driveshaft is toast from the engine being off the mounts. I'm trying to ignore that possibility.