Last night I talked to a friend of mine who lives in Sarasota, Florida. He was telling me about how bad the wind was getting where he lives, yet he’s seen a ton of guys out riding through it. When I talked to him last night winds were gusting around 20mph. Well honestly I can’t say much about that. We’ve been stuck in some pretty heavy storms before with gusting winds that felt like they were going to push us completely off the road, but we had no choice but to keep riding or get stuck sitting on the side of the road in the middle of no where. I guess that’s something you get used to when you spend most of your time in the mountains though.

Where I was going with this point though, is that I hope all of you guys and gals in Florida are safe and sound. I’m sending good thoughts your way! I’m just glad this is only a tropical storm. I got kind of freaked out a few nights ago watching a special about hurricanes only getting stronger each year. They were talking about how pretty soon there might have to be another category to define storms much stronger than a category 5. Will we see a category 6 in the future? Or do you think it’ll be something like CAT5a and so on maybe even up to CAT5e!  That would seriously be scary.

I’d love to be able to say I had some news to give you on the bike being finished, but I don’t. We’re yet again waiting are parts that are taking longer to get here than expected. We were able to finally get the correct set of springs for the forks. I guess 3rd try is a charm. The mounting blocks have been machined, and they’re ready to be welded to the frame…we just need that master cylinder rebuild kit to arrive. Now I just need to find a seat lock or figure out someway to securely rig my own. There are still a few minor parts here and there, but for the most part everything is ordered or soon to be ordered. As soon as the blocks are welded to the frame the bike will be back in one piece again.

With everything we’ve had to do I still can’t believe I’m sitting below budget! I might even have enough left over to pick up a few pair of Asgi shoes I’m scoping out right now.

What? Just because I love motorcycles doesn’t mean I’m not still a woman. I love shoes just as much!

Ya know I’m all for people switching from 4 wheels to 2 to save gas money. Those of us who already prefer 2 wheels have taken to riding our bikes for commuting instead of just fun to help save on gas. What drives me nuts are all these people running out there and buying bikes who think they can drive it just like a car. There are so many new motorcycle riders out there because of the gas prices, and a lot of them don’t have a clue what they’re doing. I can only preach about safety and the MSF course so many times. Sometimes people just don’t listen.

Just a few days ago Hubby and I stopped by the dealership to pick up a part we needed. While we were there we saw an older guy, probably in his mid 50s, talking to a friend of ours who is a salesman there about one of the used Harleys sitting in the corner. The guy flat out said he wouldn’t have the first clue about how to ride the thing. He just wanted something that was cheaper on gas.

My friend told him about the MSF course, and called me over. He asked me if I knew the dates of the next course because he knows I stay up to date on that kind of thing. I wrote down the website address for the guy, SCRiderEd.org, so he would be able to look up the information. I told him I knew there was probably no way he’d get into the course this weekend, but I strongly suggested he take it before he attempt to ride any bike he purchased.

Fast forward to tonight. Hubby and I stopped at Sonic to get a bite to eat. It was nice today, so we decided to sit outside at one of the tables instead of eating in the Blazer. While we were sitting there a guy came pulling in on a Harley. We could totally tell he had no clue what he was doing. He almost dropped the thing when he went to get off. He forgot to put the kickstand down. Luckily Hubby spotted him and yelled at him in time for dude to catch himself.

When the guy took his helmet off (at least he was smart about that) I recognized him as the same guy we’d talked to at the dealership. He recognized me, too, and started up a conversation. We talked for a few minutes about the bike he’d purchased, then I asked him about the MSF, and if he’d checked into it. He said yes he had, but that was $225 he couldn’t afford right now…after all he has a new bike payment and bike insurance. I mentioned that he’d get a discount on his insurance for taking the course, and that it’s really something he should look into. At that point I basically told the guy to have a safe ride, and I went back to eating. He sat at the table talking to Hubby until his order arrived, then he stuffed the food in one of his brand new saddle bags and attempted to leave.

I say attempted to leave because the guy had a very hard time. He couldn’t walk the bike backwards by himself, so Hubby had to assist him by pushing him out of the parking space. When we thought all was clear he let off the clutch too soon and choked her down. It took him 3 tries to get moving, and he eventually made it out of the parking lot and to the red light.

When the light turned green Hubby and I sat there shaking our heads as we watched him take off. He choked it out again. On the second try he made it out into traffic to make his turn, but as he started to turn he hit the gas causing him to wobble and screech to a stop in the median as he hit the back brakes. The guy sat there for a good 5 minutes just collecting himself. Hubby looked at me and asked me why is it these people put all this cash into new saddlebags and shiny accessories, but they don’t even want to take the time to take a course that could possibly save their life.

I just shook my head. I just hope the guy takes my advice before he ends up hurting himself or someone else.

So, what do you think about the new layout? I know a few things are still off. The header isn’t anywhere near what I want it, but I’m working on it. You might see a few more things change over the next few days. I just thought it was time for a change. I was really getting tired of the old one, so I decided to work on a new one a little today.

Anyway, we finally got the completed forks back this morning, and I helped Hubby install them this afternoon. I’m glad I ordered that extra lower triple I found for $10 because we needed it. You couldn’t visually tell the lower triple was bent, but it was. We had to switch that out to get the forks to line up correctly. Things are finally coming together. All we need on the front (besides plastics) is the master cylinder reservoir. The little nipple broke off the side, and unfortunately the part the holds the nipple is the only part on the bike that isn’t available individually. I’ve looked everywhere online, but no one has as used on for sale. I can find all the rear ones we could ever need, but not a front. It looks like I’ll be buying the whole rebuild kit for $90 just to get that one little part that probably costs .20 to make.

I’m really starting to think I need to find some motorcycle parts dealer stocks to invest in. I don’t know the difference between a commodity broker and a futures broker, but I do know if other people are needing as many parts as we do, the stocks should be pretty good.

I’m so ill this week over the bike. It seems like every time we get a step closer to getting everything put back together something goes wrong. Our friend from the bike shop has had our new front forks for a couple weeks. He was changing out the springs for us because the stock springs can’t be adjusted enough for Hubby’s weight.

We ordered an after market set of springs per recommendations from the guys on the 600r forums and Wheelers. We dropped the forks off with our friend knowing he wouldn’t get them back to us soon because he’s doing this as a side job. No big deal. He did promise to have them back to us by the end of the week. As soon as he started working on them there was a problem. Parts Unlimited sent the right set for our bike according to the part number, but the springs weren’t the right springs.

The dealership called Parts Unlimited and they sent out a second set saying there was probably a mix up in the factory when the kit was put together. No big deal, but we had to wait a week for the second kit to arrive. When it came in our friend picked it up from the parts department as he was leaving the shop.

We were expecting our friend to put the new springs in today, but he called this morning with more bad news. This time Parts Unlimited sent the completely wrong kit. They sent a kit for an r6, not a 600r. Grrrr…feel my frustration?

Instead of waiting on yet another kit to be sent out I told him to put the old springs in the new forks, and we’ll switch them out once we get the whole kit thing sorted out with Parts Unlimited. He swung by earlier to drop his Sony Vaio off with me to fix, and he picked up the old forks so he can get the old springs.

I’m just so ready to have this thing back together. We’re so close yet so far away at the same time.