ReconRat

Even chain saw oil works great. But it will fling off. I started using DuPont spray Teflon. The type that drys like a wax. Big cans from Lowes. Weird, but I swear the chain is very very quiet with that on it. btw, for any mud-runners out there. Spray your wheel wells with the Teflon spray. The mud won't stick as much.

Yeah, the Geeks come out... and here I thought I was nearly all alone. Guess again.

Also hitting a bump at a good speed would tend to move them. I think? Sort of suddenly unbalance the tire, I would suspect. But we're talking variable balancing here. So it's "wait a sec, let me change the balance" over and over... But Flounder got it, I never thought about it that way, they would just head for the low spot is all, even when in motion. Not the point of balance unless the inside of the tire was perfectly round. Which it would never be. You'd have to have a lot of them to overcome that, I bet. Including overcoming effects they produce themselves. That might be the equivalent of packing your tire with sand. Which has the advantage of being able to run flat.

Yeah, geez... not that old, heh... Welcome!

was... been out of it for a while. Still fun to figure stuff out once in a while. Wait till you have one of those extremely huge, slow moving black triangles fly over you at night. I'd like to see one of those. Just US Air Force, of course...

ha! I met a batch of them at a trade show in Anaheim. Bet they don't remember me, boo hoo... They were called The Mustang Girls back then though...

Dudes... a B-52 or C-130 won't even show up on civilian radar, let alone any of the fancy modern aircraft.. Not anymore. It would be mistaken for a piper cub without a transponder on, if it was seen at all. It's the anti-radar stealth paint, if they are using it, they vanish. Commercial air traffic control doesn't even know until some pilot starts screaming about something weird happening. And air traffic controls won't talk about certain things. I've known them to say "I can't talk about that" and hang up when their friends call and ask questions. I still think it's just noises from the cold weather.

heh, military projects... Aurora, Brilliant Buzzard, PumpkinSeed, TR-3A or TR-3B, X-33, X-34, X-37, X-43, X-47A Pegasus, and our old friend the SR-71 which *cough* isn't flying anymore. Most of these are hypersonic projects, and could be flying about. Not counting ones we don't know about yet. Not counting spacecraft. Secret or otherwise. Any could create a boom. And one of the current research projects is a "how to" reduce that sonic boom as much as possible. Don't forget that we have an "open skies" agreement with Russia, we and they can overfly each others territory anytime, as long as a flight plan is provided first. (yeah, sure, two seconds before arriving hypersonic) A lot of people have forgotten about that. These are all public. I could probably remember more, but I might have to go into hiding for talking about it... But if you ask me, it probably was that house exploding. Or one of those rare Winter thunder snowstorms. edit: btw, everybody is allowed to go supersonic above a certain altitude, I forget how high up...

You know, I was really disappointed at Schmidt's, I expected German brats, and they sure didn't taste like it. Nothing like German brats. Hell, a Johnsonville brat tastes more like a German brat... edit: well, ok... there was one German street vendor brat that was similar, not very good... there you go...

Yeah, it's a Steubenville and West PA thing... We rode over there in a group, early last year, just to get some pizza. Then rode another 250 miles all about. Was an iron butt that day. Yeah, was sore too.

Heck, my (old) balance ain't bad, but will still try to fall, everyone does. I buy and wear Wolverine boots that have fancy anti-slip on the bottom. It works, I don't slip on ice at all. It beats falling...

Ok, I'm trying another Columbus Brewing "Ohio Honey Wheat Ale". I don't remember what they taste like. They don't taste like honey, wheat or much even an ale. More like a ... beer. But it does taste stronger than others, and the ale taste does come through. There are some hints of some flavors blended, but I can't pin it down. Overall a tasty brew, not a fancy like the Blue Moon. No bitter taste, just tasty. Dang, pretty good kick for a single bottle of beer.

Race tire warnings about freezing. It's for cars, but interesting... http://www.nittotire.com/assets/safety/StorageRecommendationsCompetitionTires.pdf http://www.us.pirelli.com/web/motorsport/car/grand_am/competitors_bulletins/default_coldweather.page

On the other hand, Michelin and Bridgestone are the two companies most likely to safety recall their motorcycle tires. And Bridgestone is on the short list of companies that may fail economically in the next year or two.

Apparently a lot of the Metzler 880s are not German, they are made in Brazil, and those appear to be the ones that fail. I like Dunlop Qualifiers, but they sure wear out fast. My bike is a bit different, it can trash a front tire fast. Next tire will be one of the dual compounds. Not sure which one yet. Waiting for a two tire change. I'm completely willing to try out the Spitfires.

Tire reviews: http://motorcycletirereviews.com/ http://motorcycletirereviews.com/25-1-marathon880.html http://motorcycletirereviews.com/33-1-metzlerlasertec.html http://motorcycletirereviews.com/9-1-dunlopD404.html http://motorcycletirereviews.com/10-1-spitfireS11.html Summary: The Metzler 880s reviews are scary. Blow outs and stuff. The Metzler Lasertec wear fast, good in rain. The Dunlops wear fast, and the front feels squeamish on a c50. (factory tire on c50?) The Spitfires are the new dual compound. Everybody seems to like them. Better mileage. Looks like the Spitfires win. I didn't expect that.

One of Columbus's secrets that most people know... Talitas in Grove City. (Yes, they finally moved away from North High St in Clintonville.) It's Tex-Mex by a Tex-Mex family that moved here from Brownsville Texas in 1968. Get the big flour nachos to start snacking on, WITH the green sauce, heheh... I like the beef/bean burritos, chalupas, and especially the enchiladas. You won't find enchiladas like those anywhere else. Be aware that it is popular with Columbus detectives and prosecutors, lol. http://www.talitas.com/

btw, for some strange reason, I love Little Kings, ice cold, but the only way to drink them is to knock them straight down...

So I was in that mostly Harley road house out East of Columbus with a pair of metric cruisers, and asked for a wheat beer (Hefeweizen), and got a definite "deer in headlights" look from the waitress. I had to quick ask for a Sam Adams, they had that... Burgers were good, fries nothing special...

It's cool, but I quit eating there when they raised the damn prices...

ahhh, those are a pain. Try outside snap ring pliers in the gap, and pop it up out of the groove, where you can wiggle it off the shaft. That or two little screwdrivers.... Hopefully it doesn't scratch the shaft. Shaft should be harder than the snap ring.

I had no idea youse guys and gals were beer connoisseurs, thanks for the suggestions. GSXNurse, Jagr, Casper, the fruit in beer might have started in Berlin. They have a beer cocktail called "Berliner Weisse" (pics below, notice the straws). Local wheat beer with a slice of fruit (the fruit slice kills the suds, optional). They color them up by adding a fruit flavored syrup like a slushie. Everyone there drinks it. I don't care for it. Berliners are still touchy about WW2, I wouldn't call any of them wimps. No beer is served warm anywhere over there that I ran into. I hear that some stouts in England are better warm (cellar temperature actually, not warm), but they are much higher alcohol content also. You can run into warm beer in Taipai, Taiwan. Ever since traveling there, I go for hefeweizen (witbier), any of the German or Belgian or Bavarian wheat beers, or similar American. Blue Moon is good (actually made by Molson Coors Brewing) Shiner's Hefeweizen (Texas brewery) Most of the Sam Adams wheats are tasty Columbus Brewing Company - Ohio Honey Wheat (local micro) most all can be found in a Kroger's store Still sampling what I can find btw, there is a beer shop on Indianola Ave that has any beer you want or will get it Traditional Style Berliner Weisse Cocktail Style Berliner Weisse

yo Princess, not to mention that a doctor's insurance rates are so high that many of them are sorry they are doctors. It lowers their actual income by a fair amount. As the story is told, a plumber makes more than a doctor. Combined with the struggle to get health insurance companies to pay up when billed, doctor's are fleeing private practice to work in other fields. My doctor is gone. He left private practice for a better job in long term health care. I think many are doing that. Now I have to find a new one.