I'm Gonna Give Y'all the Fever Yet.

When Nate ad I were makin' our liesurely way back from our ICBM (That's Intra Continental Ballistic Missle) impersonation through Tennesse, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas year before last we plotted our return encompassing the Natchez Trace. On it, we sheltered from a horrendous thunderstorm in a little town in Mississippi under the awning of a country store/fuel station. The only soul minding the store was a cordial black fella. Within' ten minutes of our arrival a strange thing happened.

About vehicles suddenly began pulling up to the store from all directions. It happened so fast we didn't pay much mind to it as we were mainly concerned with when the rain would let up and where we could score some RainX for our face-shields. One must also remember that being the only white folk in an all black rural Mississippi town is not like being the only white folk in the ghetto.

Eventually, even more cars/trucks/vans pulled up and some of the brothers looked to be from the 'hood when it suddenly dawned on me that more were showin' up, noone was leavin' and this might not be a coincidence. It probably was, or we may just have been the only white folks they had seen in awhile.
"Hey, Y'all gotta come see these ignur'nt white folks what's ridin' motorcycles in the rain!"

So, being the type of CCW permit holder I am I decided I'd hate to have to shoot any racially insensitive black folks, clued Nate in, said our fare-thee-wells and scooted on out. In the driving rain.

I stumbled upon this pic at BigDogAdventures.com of a store in Mississippi that sure looks familiar....

Just Thought I'd "Pass" This On

I raced a Harley today and after some really hard riding I managed to
PASS the guy. I was riding on one of those really, really twisting
sections of canyon road with no straight sections to speak of and where
most of the curves have warning signs that say "15 MPH".

I knew if I was going to pass one of those monsters with those
big-cubic-inch motors, it would have to be a place like this where
handling and rider skill are more important than horsepower alone.

I saw the guy up ahead as I exited one of the turns and knew I could
catch him, but it wouldn't be easy. I concentrated on my braking and
cornering. three corners later, I was on his fender. Catching him was
one thing; passing him would prove to be another.

Two corners later, I pulled up next to him as we sailed down the
mountain. I think he was shocked to see me next to him, as I nearly got
by him before he could recover. Next corner, same thing. I'd manage to
pull up next to him as we started to enter the corners but when we came
out he'd get on the throttle and outpower me. His horsepower was almost
too much to overcome, but this only made me more determined than ever.

My only hope was to outbrake him. I held off squeezing the lever until
the last instant. I kept my nerve while he lost his. In an instant I
was by him. Corner after corner, I could hear the roar of his engine as
he struggled to keep up. Three more miles to go before the road
straightens out and he would pass me for good.

But now I was in the lead and he would no longer hold me back. I
stretched out my lead and by the time we reached the bottom of the
canyon, he was more than a full corner behind. I could no longer see
him in my rear-view mirror.

Once the road did straighten out, it seemed like it took miles before
he passed me, but it was probably just a few hundred yards. I was no
match for that kind of horsepower, but it was done. In the tightest
section of road, where bravery and skill count for more than horspower
and deep pockets, I had passed him. though it was not easy, I had won
the race to the bottom of the canyon and I had preserved the proud
tradition of another of America's best bikes.

I will always remember that moment. I don't think I've ever pedaled so
hard in my life. And some of the credit must go to Schwinn, as well.

Be it known: No pedal pushing, tight-wearin' sissy is gonna get around BrandX on his Harley.

I Give You The "Swamp Thing" Kawasaki KLR650

Message dates Jan 1, 2006

hi fellas,

I pulled into Ushuaia, Argentina (the world's southernmost town you can drive to, in Tierra del Fuego) last night just in time to celebrate new year's with about 25 other bikers who have all worked their way down through the Americas.

I am the only KLR rider and all these other guys (mostly europeans) are on BMWs, KTMs, a few Africa Twins. The KLR gets a lot of respect when they find out it cost only 5 grand and it made it all the way down from Oregon (about 20,000 miles zig-zagging and on some of the worst roads on the planet), with zero problems... most of the KTMs and BMWs didn't fare so well. Apart from being a crappy long-distance highway cruiser (i.e. all day on pavement), the bike has treated me very well even after the horrible abuse I've put it through on the dirt roads and trails down here.

*snip* solicits advice on whether to replace chain and sprockets after his 20,000 mile trip before heading home.*snip*

Any insight/advice on this topic will be appreciated.

happy 2006 from cape horn

steven

The picture above is from another rider who also treked to the southernmost driving point of the hemisphere. Don't it look great dirty?

North to Alaska

Let's see 240 miles to the nearest fuel, I've got 6 gallons in the tank @ 50mpg or better.... Yeah I'd bring the extra gallon, too.

Name that bike!

Wistful Winter Wonderings on Winchesters .270

That damn Gregg and his dead piggie pictures has drawn me from my obsession with a certain whore-fingernail-red 1100 thrill missle back into the sleepy world of calibre consideration. That's OK though, 'cause it's cold outside, the wind is bendin' the trees, and I may not come out of my flannel 'jammies all day.


So let's talk about the .270, shall we? What started out as a flat shootin' barn burnin' speed demon has become.... ya' thought I was gonna say somethin' like "slowpoke", didn't ya'. Nope. It's still right on the tail of those hot-shit cartridges we all read about in the glossies. How can that be?!

For years the .270 Winchester factory load launched a 130 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 3140fps while the *New* *Improved* .270 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum, SB) is listed at 3275fps. Hmmm... I don't think I'm gonna buy a new rifle for a 135fps improvement. It seems factory loads have changed a bit in the last few years as the *New* .270 Winchester load is a mere 3060fps. Whether lawyers, sales of new magnum cartridges, or better engineering measurement methods are the impetus behind it I don't know, but the fact remains the books have been cooked.

I'm gonna stick with the old timers and run Sierra 130grain spitzer boattails of 60 grains of H4831. Well, not exactly, I think I'll use H4831SC since it works better in my powder feeder, but you get the picture. And if you don't take a look at these from Gregg's program Ballistic Pro: