New Toy upgrade VTR1000

The reality is that the GS500 that I was riding, only had 40 horse power, and too often got me in spots that I couldn't accelerate out of.
So I sold the Honda Quad, and put the money toward a bigger street bike. Now I need to sell the GS500, but 'A' doesn't want me to sell it until she can learn to ride.
So I took her out for a spin, and she did great.
The bike I bought is a 1998 Honda VTR1000. It is a V-twin engine, it makes 110 horse power, and 71 ftlbs of torque, and it sounds quite different. It is 13 years old but is in outstanding condition. It has aftermarket exhaust, and is beautiful. It is strong enough to handle a passenger, and that's the first time in years.

Picture Day

'A' had team pictures taken, but that can be boring, so, we took our own:

Cocktail party

Going to have a cocktail party this weekend. The featured drink will be an OBL ( Osama bin Laden)
OBL = 2 shots, and a splash of saltwater.

:)

Osama Bin Laden is Dead!

4/31/2011 R.I.H.

Infidel this .45 round to the back of your head, you piece of shit!
The big questions are still not known:
> what impact will it have on terrorism, hatred for USA, democracy, Al Quieda itself?
> was all news about it, forthright? any lies in the process? did they have to get rid of the body right away?
> Does this make Obama a hero, and a shoe in for a second term?
> Did we really cut off the head of the snake, or just poke it with a stick?


Sailors jump from a deck of the USS Carl Vinson, the same plunge taken two weeks later by Bin Laden's corpse

the same plunge taken two weeks later by Bin Laden's corpse

States and Countries I have been to

visited 38 states (76%)
Create your own visited map of The United States


visited 14 states (6.22%)
Create your own visited map of The World

quadruple header

4 Games back to back. 'S' had a couple good plays, and hits. but it was a long day.

Sister and Niece are in town, Yeah!!!

My wonderful sister, and her lovely daughter are in town. They are visiting from "semi-cold" Indiana. They wish to hit a few California sites, like the beaches, and some other Oceanfront features.
The first day, we went to the beach with some bicycles, and round around the inland waterways, the beaches, and boardwalks, for about 7 miles. We stoppped for lunch, shopped in a a pier-side store. and then went home and had dinner, and called it a night. the next day. While 'S' played softball, the family went to the Swap meet, and then to Shelter Island for some lunch, and shopping at a farmers market, and a alchoholic beverage ( see below) . When the girls got home, 'S' and I had already started washing the trucks. We added Kim's 4runner to the car wash, too. Leslie cooked up a beautiful meal of Garlic Chicken, and potatoes, yum. 'S' made some brownies. what a great day!
cousins:

Kim and Leslie having a little drink

The little Ratza played today

'S' played softball today for the first time in almost a year. The result? Well, the first at bat, she hit a double, then a single, and another double with 2 RBI's.



Her second big hit:

Ducks are aerodynamic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEBLt6Kd9EY&feature=player_embedded

Painted a dirt bike helmet (chargers)

I had a helmet sitting in the attic that was one of my favorite helmets, but, the paint scheme was boring. So I painted it with some help from 'S'. The theme is Chargers, and Rockstar.
I had seen a similar scheme on racer Chad Reed, a few years ago, and I like it. This was my attempt to replicate it.

put some graphics on Her bike

It took about an hour to apply with a little help from the hair dryer. Her bike was looking a little boring, so I went to the dealership, and found this graphics kit on clearance for $10.

From rain, to snow, to dry and sunny

Saturday night while watching the San Diego Supercross on TV, we looked outside and saw heavy rain, and hail. It was not looking encouraging to go out riding the next morning as planned.
The next morning is was hailing and raining, so i decided to sleep in. an hour later the girls are waking me up to go riding. We loaded up and drove through the mountains to the desert. As we crested 4,000ft elev. we saw plenty of snow and slush, and actually followed a snowplow through the pass. Was we descended onto the desert floor, the ground dried up, and the sun was out. It was 54 deg, and it was going to be a good day. We pulled up in our usual riding area, and met up with the Coffin family and the Dergen family. Right away 'A' and 'S' took off for a challanging ride around the mountain ( about 20 miles). We were to meet up with another buddy on the other side of of the mountain, he was going to be a guide for our trip. He had a long weekend, and was ready to pack up, so we were on our own. The trip around the mountain was a steady flow, and the girls did great. They had a different view of the mountain. We rode again with the rest of the clan, and tested our riders on some tricky terrain. I was away on a ride when 'S' sinally tried to ride the big 250 of her sisters. As we were loading up to leave, she jumped on the 250 with her jeans and showed me she could start it, and ride it. Very proud of you Kid!

Maintenance by driver

It is time to realize the responsibility of owning a vehicle.
Step 1: 'A' bought some brake pads, and rotors for her truck.
Step 2: 'A' got together with Dad, layed out the proper tools, Jacked up the truck, removed the wheels, calipers, mounts, pads, rotors, bearings.
Step 3: 'A' repacked the bearings with grease, replaced the pads,rotors, mounts, mounted the calipers, and the wheels.

While she washed up, 'S' pumped up the brakes, and we all had dinner before 6pm.

February update

I have done some motocross lately, it has been very fun, I am challenging myself more so then I have done in years past when I was younger stronger, and more flexible. I am actually pulling it off, too. I am jumping some doubles.
'A' is in deep in softball, lately. She tried out for a high Profile team sponsored by Adidas. She just got the e,ail saying she made the team!! yeah!
This team will play in Utah this summer, and will be watched by a lot of College scouts. This will be in addition to her regular team.
We are spending a lot of time and effort into the prospect of getting scouted.
'S' is doing great with her Volleyball. and she looks damn cute in those shorts.
Kim has been trying to get ion as much walking as she can.

classic, with rock

taking the dog to nature

Sasha loves to be treated to a walk in the canyon, especially when she gets to see Rabbitts, and such. Lately the creek has been high, and flowing pretty good, so she went in to take a look.

Shooting and softball

Went to a Showcase softball event for 'A' this weekend. We stayed at a Hotel, and they had a Gun range across the street from us. We went there and shot the .38 revolver, and My Friend Tony took his daughter as well. He had a 9mm Glock, ( semi-auto) 'A' liked the Semi-auto better then the revolver.

Safe keeping ( gun safe)

Thank you to my in laws, in Ohio. I took the gift cards you sent for X-mas, and made a little investment that would help keep the family, and others safer.
I don't just like spending gift cards indiscriminately, and then having nothing to show for it. This was something that has been on my list for many years.
(By the way, I found my sunglasses.)
I mounted it (with some modifications) to the wall studs. I put 1" spacers behind the safe so I could continue to run my air system lines along the wall, uninterrupted. The safe came with some 2" lag bolts. I went longer, and got 3 1/2" had to get past the 1" spacers, and then still got in deeper.

Closed:













Open:

Presidency takes its toll

You think it doesn't take its toll on a person..... see for yourself:



Carter




Reagan




Bush:




Clinton:




Bush:




Obama:




Or maybe its just marriage.

Nov trip to Glamis

Brandon came out from Ohio for some fun. We headed out almost right away Sunday morning, and headed to GLamis Sand Dunes.
IT was very windy, but we got some riding in.
We spent the night in the Hotel about 25 miles away(thank God!) it was windy and everyone was covered in sand. The shower was very welcome.
The next day we rode a little, and headed back to San Diego. Once in San Diego, we rode the trolley to the stadium to watch the Chargers in Monday Night Football. Chargers beat The Broncos.
The next morning, we wnet back out to the desert, and took Kim and Sasha with us. 'A' drove her truck for the added room.
















The desert was beautiful, there was very few people, and Brandon was getting his first taste of the sand Dunes on a quad and even rode the motorcycle. He did very good on both.



























Took some pictures of Amber and her Truck in its psuedo-preferred enviroment: