New Tire

Had a wonderful visit wit Hazel & Darcy in Maysville, GA to have them change my Spyder's rear tire this past Tuesday. I helped a bit but since Hazel has done this before, she led the way in the project. After removing the wheel, we took it to the local Wal-Mart in Commerce, GA to have it mounted. They forgot to balance it but didn't charge me either. While that was being done, I bought Hazel lunch at the local resturant she likes. When we got back to put the wheel and tire on, Darcy stepped in to help with the challenge. We had to get it on and then get the belt tension correct. Then align the tracking of the belt on the back wheel while making sure the tension was still correct. To say the least, it was a challenge. After everything was good to go, we headed inside to have a kick ass dinner that Darcy had prepared. We had meatloaf with spinach on it. The meat was dead deer that one of the gals had harvested from the woods out back. It was quite tasty! We also had potatoes and green peas. There were cookies and some sort of gooey desert that I don't know what to call it. It was quite good. There was coffee involved that was delish from the ALDI store. Then we headed down to watch Darcy aniliate the enemy in some sort of X-Box game for three hours. There spaceships for a while then shooting in some sort of base. It had stopped raining so I thought it best to load up the BluSpyderByte and head for home. We got it all locked down and I bid a farewell to the gals and headed out. I got home at about 1:45AM Wednesday morning. I've ridden the bike since changing the read tire and there are no un-balance issues that I have noticed. Maybe it didn't need it? I've even had it up to speed in 5th gear with no issues. A BIG thank you to Darcy & Hazel for their expert Spyder tire changing on my Spyder!

Thanksgiving

First time in my life I didn't eat a Thanksgiving meal at someone else's home. I was OK with it. Had a nice quiet dinner at home because the local restaurant I had planned to visit had a line out the door. Wasn't interested in dealing with a mob like that.

Last half year update

Wow, has it been that long since I last posted on here? I really suck at this. The Spyder now has over 18K miles on it of which I've put on over 16K miles. Had the clutch repaired under warranty several months ago. Then I couldn't drive it because I was recovering from emergency gallbladder surgery for over a month. In September my Dad passed away and about three weeks later my sister Ruth passed away too. It's been a real sucky past few months for me. Back in May I had to make the hard decision about Stumpy as his health was quickly going down hill. I sure miss my little buddy. Every time I hear the local train I think of Stumpy. I use to tell him the train was coming when I heard the train horns. He has a Geocache dedicated to him up on Chestnut Mountain in N. GA. I've lived here too long and I'm looking for another house to put my home in, away from the city. Looking for something with woods and some acreage in which to play. I like trees and the critters that live around them. Many photo ops and shade. Wood floors, fireplace for real wood, gas stove, useable garage, work space, extra bedrooms for company and a ham shack. Not looking to mow grass so not a big yard. Small field may be OK, but not to mow. I was planning to do another epic cross country trip starting the end of October. With the surgery after Labor Day weekend, those plans came to screeching halt. I was planning to see some back country areas off the beaten path. Take a course at Front Sight and then head up to see Grant Winkler and meet his wife in Montana. On the way back explore some more out of the way areas. I had bought several guide books on back road areas for reference. Maybe next year I can do a trip? I want to travel more with the Spyder and the trailer I build to pull along behind. Did that for the BRP owner's event this past June to Maggie Valley. I stayed at the Alamo Motel and it was a nice change from camping. There was some camping involved where I discovered I can't sleep on the ground any more. Sleeping in my chair in the tent sucked! I also attended the GWRRA convention in Greenville, SC last July. There were about 5-6 Spyders there out of over 9K Goldwings. Got ripped off at the Traver's Rest KOA on an over priced campsite. Trailered the Spyder up there since the clutch was going out. I have hotel reservations for next year's SpyderFest in April. I'm not going to pre-register in advance and get screwed out of promised goodies like we did at last year's event. I also don't want to deal with camping when it's so far away from most event locations. Cold, wet and camping didn't work well at this year's SpyderFest.