Bubba

^^^This^^^ Unless you like eating insects and living in a cave, there isn't much joy in a life without pleasure. Big difference between 'simple' and 'subsistence'... I agree with #1 implicitly. I know people who spend hundreds to thousands of dollars a month on useless shit. I'm from a different generation, so maybe I have different values, but at 64 years of age, I've never had cable TV (I watch very little crap TV and what I do watch is free with rabbit ears) and my only acknowledgement to modern communication is my $99/year cell bill (TracFone, baby--GF insists I carry it for when I 'die' on the MC!?!) Bought my first 3 houses as little fixer-uppers and sold 'em to upgrade. Never bought a new car until 3 years post-retirement. #2 is good advice for folks who don't have fairly strong financial resolve. If you have the discipline, you can use a credit card to your advantage and not have it cost you a penny. #3 is a tough nut to crack. I'm not sure I ever had that kind of money in an untouchable account until I was old and the kids were gone and out of college. Can be done by strict budgeting and keeping a close eye on your expenses.

I gotta weigh in on this, being an old guy who worked 37+ years at one company that I both loved and hated at various times thoughout my career. I was forced into retirement in 2006 when the company farmed out my position to a temp agency. I had planned on working at least an additional 5-6 years, but I took stock of my financial situation, gave up the dream of the yacht on the Riviera, settled for cheap beer on the deck, and have never looked back since. I enjoy every day as much as possible, even if it's just a walk in the woods with the dog or a short rip into NKY on the scoot. Disclaimer: Realize that my advice--along with the advice of others on this board--is useless to the OP, as only he can make the changes in his life to find what makes it worth living. A long time ago, I worked for really great boss and we shared many personal stories together. I was in my 30s at the time, married with kids and mortgage, and couldn't seem to find happiness with my current situation. He told that there there were some people who 'got' the whole rat race thing that were able to play the game, put up with the BS, even be better at it than most, and find happiness in the daily grind. And then, there were people like me, who questioned everything, had trouble finding satisfaction in the day-to-day tasks, and that would always be labelled a 'non-conformist' by the folks who run the world. I can't tell you if the world is that black and white in terms of how people operate, but it stuck with me enough to make me put my head down and plow through the crap of life. I literally hated the last 5 years of my job, but I could see the end pretty clearly and was willing to make the personal sacrifice of my time to reach that goal. Please understand--this is NOT an endorsement suggesting you stick with a job you hate until you retire. Doing that will make you a grumpy old man before your time. What I'm trying to convey is that there is joy to be found in the little things every day--it's just very hard to find that joy when your focus is on the big things. I liken it to this old story: A philosophy professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, rocks about 2" in diameter. He then asked the students if the jar was full? They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He then asked once more if the jar was full. This time the students were sure and they responded with a unanimous "YES!" The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and proceeded to pour their entire contents into the jar -- effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - your family, your partner, your health, your children?things that, if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff. "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued "there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out dancing. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal. "Take care of the rocks first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers." Take care of the big things. Find enjoyment in the little things. Advice is easily given, but finding the energy and the will to change your perspective is one of the most difficult tasks in life. And for gawd's sake, talk to your wife and share your pain and discomfort. She's your partner….and if you picked a good one, she'll she'll help you with making decisions and will gladly share your pain. Good luck. I'll lift a glass of cold, cheap beer this afternoon on my back deck and toast to your success at finding a solution!!!

So….are hairy Amish strippers hotter than midget strippers?

For those hoping for purty fall colors on the ride, the peak hasn't arrived yet--still lots of green with some mottled yellows on the walnut trees and light oranges on the hard maples. Oaks haven't started to turn. I pre-rode some of the route today and the leaves, acorns and walnuts are falling like rain. If we get the cold front on Friday with heavy rain, the roads will be extra slippery yet on Sunday. There were several places that I hit gravel unexpectedly as well. This is a word to the wise…. The pace will likely be slower than what I normally ride due to weekend traffic, church folk, shoppers and leaf peepers. We WILL get blocked on the busier state routes, so leave your road rage at home and just plan on a relaxing ride. Figure 35-45 in a 35, 55-60 in a 55, and maxing out at 70-75 on the wide-open fast stretches. If the group is more than 3-4 riders, we prolly won't be making any banzai passes around the slow traffic anyway.

Please note that I've changed my contact number!!! Cell # is 5one3-5sixO-one94two [Text only pls] Sorry for the confusion….old-timers disease….

Hmmm….they couldn't possibly screw up coffee, could they? I recommend sticking with the veggie entree….

Route--Edgewood KY 41017 to Williamstown KY 41097 https://goo.gl/maps/Px444 Williamstown to Idlewild/I-275 interchange https://goo.gl/maps/dro7j

Sounds like you guys are on-board for Sunday. Here's a map of where we'll meet--Exit 80/KY Rt 17 off I-275 in NKY: Coming south from Dayton, it's about 50:50 whether you take 75S across the river and head east on 275E or take 75S to 471S and head west on 275W….your choice. We'll meet at the McDonalds just south of the interchange. WIth a route ride time of approx 6 hours, we should try to roll early enough to get you home by dark o'clock. Let's say we meet at the McD's between 10 and 10:15. There's a Thornton gas station next door to fuel up before the ride--kickstands up promptly at 10:30. In case you have to head home early, there are lots of bail-out points in the route along the I-75 corridor in NKY to short-cut and roll north. Fuel, snacks and road food can be had in both Falmouth and Williamstown near the ride's mid-point. NOTE CHANGE!!! If you need to get hold of me for last minute change of plans or emergency, cell # is 5one3-5sixO-one94two [TEXT ONLY PLS!]

Here's the forecast for Sunday. Gonna be a chilly start but a pretty day: I knocked out a route that runs about 175-200 miles from the starting point along the 275 loop in NKY. Google map calculates ride time at 5'45" not including stops. Includes some of the favorites like 10 from Alexandria to Willow and 22 from Willow to Williamstown, along with a few lesser-known surprise favorites. Not enough daylight/too many total miles to include the awesome 227 south to Stamping Ground, but if you like what you see this fall, we can always map something that includes 227 for next summer when the daylight lasts longer. Disclaimer: These roads are rural and there's always the possibility of Sunday church folk, slow field equipment, dogs, cats, farm animals, mud/gravel/manure on the routes, so ride at a speed that accommodates your sight lines. Typical pace is 10-20+ posted limit in the fast sections with max of 70MPH-ish. Lemeno what you decide to do by Saturday noonish so I can make the final arrangements and post a link to the meet-up time/location.

Based on your description of how it'll be constructed, the mesh would be superfluous. What mesh and reinforcement rods do is 1) give some additional strength in high traffic areas; and 2) keep the slab in one piece when it cracks….which it inevitably does if subjected to heavy vehicles. You'll be fine unless you plan to put on a ton of weight as you age. EDIT: Be sure to use a groover and put crack/stress reliefs in every 4' or so. For a 4" pour, your relief should be 3/4" to 1" deep. Or saw-cut it after it cures.

I know logistics including the extra 35-40 miles roll from Dayton in the morning and evening are hard to overcome, but I'd be up for volunteering to put together a route of 150-200 miles of NKY goodness if you wanna head south from Dayton. Could do fewer miles, but you'll miss out on some of the classic roads. Lemeno by Friday if there's enough interest--also presumes the weather is gonna cooperate--and I'll dig thru some of my old LocalRiders routes and post up a map. Technically, I guess Cincinnati is REALLY part of northern KY anyway….

No wonder. That looks like the Carroll Shelby model.

Yup. And my Craftsman (Yeah, yeah….I've heard all the Crapsman jokes) wrenches cost me $29.95 on sale and are still functional after daily home garage use over a 20-30 year period. One of the wrenches in the set was mis-cast, which wouldn't happen with the Mac or Snap-On set, but I returned it for a new one without a hassle. If I did mechanic's work for a living, I might be able to justify the high cost of a stuffed roll-box in the 10s of thousands. You obviously get value out of your high-end tools and that's a good thing.

Cool concept/product, but that is a metric shit-ton of cash for 5 box-end wrenches. I'd feel a lot better about their longevity, too, if they were 6-pt instead of 12-pt….

Here's your clue. HH pads are really meant for high-speed aggressive braking and are way more 'touchy' to initial lever pressure than OEM organic pads. I wouldn't recommend them for typical street riding unless I was planning on railing the backwoods at triple digits. Putting them on the back brake is a recipe for a low-/high-side.

I've watched several videos similar to this over the years. Can't help but think how fast the SHTF!!! Obvious the rider was going way over what a reasonable speed should be given the traffic situation. Presume the motorway had limit of 50 KPH--typical for suburban highways in GB--which is just a few ticks over 30 MPH. He had to be pushing 60+ MPH. My opinion is that there's no way EITHER driver could have avoided that collision at that speed. It's ironic that the within the last few 100 to 150 ft of the bike's journey, there was a large "SLOW" sign painted on the roadway at the beginning of the intersection markings. RIP rider….

Unless you're doing some heavy hauling on a daily or at least weekly basis, a monster turbo-diesel as a DD is kind'a like swatting flies with a 6# sledge. I've had several Fords--an F250 4x4 with the 5.4 gas and my current F150 2WD XtraCab with the 4.6 gas--and they have been nearly flawless over the several hundred thousand miles I've driven them. The newer Triton blocks are pretty stout motors that, with the VVT, put out plenty of real-world torque at decent efficiency. I routinely get 18 MPG in mostly town driving and have seen 21-22 MPG on long interstate trips. A couple of years ago, I hauled a 16' box trailer with 3 bikes and gear to CO and back at 70-80 MPH on I-70 and averaged over 14 MPG. I'd recommend staying with the '09 and later models that had the 6-spd tranny.

LocalRiders crew does a group ride to the Waynesville/BRMC area every Sept. Here's a few links from previous years: 2012: http://www.localriders.com/forums/showpost.php?p=160575&postcount=82 2013 Day 1: http://www.localriders.com/forums/showpost.php?p=160774&postcount=97 2013 Day 2: http://www.localriders.com/forums/showpost.php?p=160775&postcount=98 2013 D1&2 with GPX file links: http://www.localriders.com/forums/showpost.php?p=160786&postcount=101 2013 Return: http://www.localriders.com/forums/showpost.php?p=161075&postcount=192 2014 Day 1&2: http://www.localriders.com/forums/showpost.php?p=164437&postcount=88 I know these don't fill your needs as far as start or finish locales, but there's a whole bunch of good stuff in between. We're leaving Tuesday morning after Labor Day and coming back the following Sunday, so maybe our paths will cross. Have fun!!! Another fun route that's easy to follow is take 70 south from Jonesville, VA all the way to Hot Springs, NC, then 209 south to Waynesville.

This is why women are TOTALLY allowed to do cosplay….and why guys are not.

So… Is a cul-de-sac the same thing as a cod piece?

Welcome to OR!!! Where are located?

With respect to….? I agree with Dustin's assessment about the Pirellis vs the Mich PR3s. Never ridden the 4s. I think the Pirellis are a bit less expensive than the 4s.

I put a set on my FZ1. Easy to mount and didn't require much weight to balance, so high quality carcass. Rode 'em for several thousand miles--around town and on a week-long tour to NC where there was much 'hooning'…. They stuck very well and had good turn-in feel. Good wet weather manners as well. Note that I did switch from the OE 190/50 to a 190/55 and it helped a lot. Also mounted a set on a friend's FZ and he loves them too. He's getting about 6-7K miles use of pretty hard street riding (no track). He's on his second pair and plans on buying again when this set is shot. Bottom line--you can get longer lasting, you can get stickier, you can get cheaper, but these do it all pretty well for a reasonable price.

Apparently, I don't qualify. Although I am old, I am neither distinguished nor a gentleman. That, and I don't want to hack off the front and rear fenders of my WeeStrom so I can call it a 'bobber'…. If anyone is willing to lend me their classic, impeccably restored Ariel Square 4 for this event, please PM me early enough so that I may at least grow a bushy beard.

My guess, too.