Riding in Big Bear with Eric, and Chris

I met a a gentleman through my work. He works in the construction industry and he told me that he rides dual Sports and lives up in Big Bear. He invited us to come up there anytime we want, so I took my good friend Eric. We put the motorcycles in the back of the truck and took the two and a half hour drive up to Big Bear, it was beautiful. We climbed the mountain with the truck through lots of trees and beautiful Terrain. Chris lives in Sugarloaf. We unloaded the bikes at his house, and drove to the city of Big Bear, to our first trail near Big Bear Resort. The trail took us down to the bottom of the south-facing side of the mountain and back up to the top it was about a 12-mile loop. At the top we drove into Big Bear and went to the Big Bear brewery had beer and hamburgers. We left and hit another trail on the North side.  We were able to get a few vantage points where we saw Johnson Valley and Apple Valley. We continued on to the house it was a great day for a ride thanks Chris.

New dog

My good friend Bob, from Bakersfield, found out that I was looking for a dog. He called me up one day and said "I think I found the dog for you". He found a stray he brought it down to San Diego and this is what we got so far we love him.

Dog got anxiety when he could not find me so he jumped up into the engine compartment looking for me

Harley backrest fabrication

My back needs support while riding, and I would get a sore back on long rides. It just happened about a week back....
I knew a backrest would help me, but the seat I have does not have a port to accept one. I have an additional seat and it has a port for the pilot to have one. I looked on line and found some for $60 on up. The design looked pretty simple. So, I figured I could fabricate one. I had the foam, the plywood, some metal, and the vinyl.  upholstery. I bought some nuts and bolts, I cut the stem, and tapped some threads into the seat adjust hole.(this when adjusted in and out, changes the angle of the lower stem backrest angle. The top hole has a pivot bolt that also allows for pitch change to the pads.
The pictures tell the rest of the story.

Summer projects

Decided to scrape the ceilings of the hallway, and eventually the bedrooms. After all, it has been on there since 1976.
It didn't take much. I bought a garden water pump sprayer, and a scraping tool that fits on the end of a broom handle. It has a frame around it so you can attach a waste bag. When I was done, I put some drywall compound on the a drywall knife to smooth out the imperfections.

A close friend of ours family had their oldest daughter get married, and we attended this great event.

Visiting our Friends Day Camping

Took the bike down to Coronado, and met up with friends who were staying at Fiddler's cove which is a Navy facility for active duty and retired. We cooked a steak or two, and some ahi tuna. After dinner, we went for a boat ride on his boat that was moored there. (NOT our Truck, NOT our Trailer, Not our boat)

The passenger pegs for the Harley was very uncomfortable for my wife. So I bought a chunk of aluminum in which I could cut the shape of some floor boards it was very crude as a start as I only had a portable band saw, and a grinder, and a set of sanding/ polishing disks.

New light for the Harley

The Harley I just bought shows signs (like almost all Harley Davidson bikes) of a very weak headlight. While on the road at night, I noticed the beam was nearly useless. My wife was in the truck ahead of me and she noticed it too.
I heard the LED replacement was the way to go. Most of the high end LED lights are about $300 - $400. I was cheap and found a cheap Chinese version on Amazon. I read a lot of reviews, and watched some YouTube videos. They reviewed very well for the money. At $60, I had to try it. The replacement process took 10 min. I took some before and after pictures, and videos. The difference was significant, and so far I am very pleased.

Went riding in the San Bernardino Mountains

Borrowed a UTV (side by side atv)(Polaris razor)

From a great friend of ours. I was invited to ride with 13 other riders. The Razor we were driver was the oldest model, with the smallest engine, and the shortest amount of suspension. But that did not stop us from going everywhere they did, and I guarantee we had more fun.

It was very dusty, and we were covered from head to toe with dust, and so was the razor.  We went out to the 16mile mark, and had lunch near deep creak.We logged about 36 miles.

 What a beautiful setting. At the end of the day, we loaded up, found a parking ticket on my truck. We headed back up the mountain with some friends and parked and walked around lake Gregory, and had some dinner.

Time for some coffee and a long drive home.

Ready for the dust. that was the last time we looked clean

fresh water stream from the mountains. We parked and ate lunch and had beverages.

Crystal clear water form a good snowpack year

Proof of tuff riding, is a dirty UTV

In the town of Lake Gregory, we found this Big foot stalking our wives.
(or maybe it Was my good Buddy Eric)

Dual sport Riding

Since I left my former company, I have had more time to ride my dual sport bike.

It may not seem like a big deal to the non-rider, but it is my  get-a-way.

When you ride it means a few things

> No talking in your ear.

> No radio, commercials, and opinions.

> No internet to get you worked up, or give you unrealistic expectations, crappy uneducated views

> If you are riding on the dirt, that means you are out of the urban area, in touch with Terra Firma. There is dirt, trees, shrubs, weeds, rodents, deer, reptiles, and bugs. You know, "nature" get back in touch with it.

> All the senses are there:  Smell the exhaust, the dust, and shrubs, see the colors, landscape, flowers and contour of the trails. Feel the vibrations,  the wind rushing past, the bike as it reacts to all the bumps and turns below you, the weeds as you brush by. Taste the dust, and the refreshing water you re-hydrate with. Hear the bike, and only the bike.

Get out of the house every weekend! 

Take a kid with you when you can.