Bubba

Thanks to Dice for putting in the work to get this rolling every spring. We had a great turnout in the morning--13 bikes with members from LR, AFJ, and an OR rider who came down from Dayton! The day didn't start auspiciously, with a farm dog making an illegal cut-block tackle on one of the mid-pack riders early in the ride on 824/Racetrack Lane. Dog fared far better than the rider, who high-sided when he hit the dog, throwing him and his pristine Z1000 down the road. Injuries weren't life-threatening, but he's gonna feel like he pulled a flying Superman impression this morning…. After cleaning up the body and bike parts and waving adieu to the po-po and ambulance and dropping a few riders to look after the bike, nine of us rolled south to Willow and took the short route to Williamstown across 22 to meet up with other riders at the Red Carpet restaurant--World's Best Burger!!! We had to endure a rolling road block in the form of a red crew cab pickup that made sure we did at least 10 under the limit all the way from Falmouth to the Williamstown city limit. I believe he was taking it on as his personal mission to ensure we obeyed the speed limit and had zero fun on 22. We picked up two more riders after lunch and continued south and west, heading down 227 to Stamping Ground. Had a great run and did the entire length without being blocked by any red pickup drivers. More back roads on the return to our last gas stop at about 200 miles back in Falmouth again, where 5 riders headed east for home and the others rolled on toward Rabbit Hash. We dropped two off in Dry Ridge as they rode 75 north toward home and just Dice, Chris Nicoloff--aboard his brand new 2012 Pikes Peak edition Multistrada--and I rolled to the Hash. I did take a picture of his bike and would'a posted it except that it didn't turn out from the drool on the lens…. All in all, a fairly successful day with no loss of life and minimal carnage. I got about 320 miles door-to-door, and I can feel it in my shoulders today. Good riding!

Bumping this up for Rob. I know that a lot of OR peeps are in Dayton, C-bus and points north, so that'd be lots of miles to ride just to get to/from the route. If you live in the SW portion of OH or SE IN (but then I suppose you would be an IR peep???) and have the day free for being irresponsible, it promises to be a fun route with LOTS of twisty smooth roads. Think WV/TN/NC/GA only with smaller hill'n'valleys and closer to home. I got in 240 yesterday in the same area and its a great ride!!!

Love the new Ninja 1K. Looks like it would make a killer ST machine. Lately tho, I've been jonesin' for a late model Multistrada. Same idea as my WeeStrom, but more HP with less weight and orders-of-magnitude better suspension. There are several on local CL recently--none of them screaming deals--and I just haven't been able to bring myself to pony up the cash for a bike that has known QC issues like tank swelling, rear brake, and electronic glitches in the new e-suspension. But in a perfect world, where I had unlimited funds and garage space…...

Comet is a little dive bar in Northside on Hamilton Ave just above Knowlton's corner. Every Tuesday night is bike night, all year long. Great burritos and beer selection. Great service??? ….not so much. Go for the crowd. Bar service is so slow you won't have to worry about riding home buzzed. A thread from ADVR: "I went on Yelp to see the reviews, and they were all over the place. Great burritos, terrible burritos, welcoming staff, unfriendly staff, great music, lousy music. One person even said "no matter what they say, it's not even in Northside" The reviews were funny, worth reading. Sounds like a hippie, hipster, dive, old man's, blue collar, white collar sort of place. One thing they all agreed on, fabulous beer selection. That's enough to get me there." http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=23855200&postcount=2248

Welcome to the riding scene! It sounds like you might be a west-sider in Cinti--which is the best side, of course! Shoot me a PM when the weather cooperates and you're ready to ride. I'm on the westside, too, and I'd be glad to show you around some of the best roads in the area.

Warning: Threadjack! Joe: DON'T DO IT!!! Stay away from guys who make their living with sharp knives. It's far more acceptable in society nowadays to simple walk like a cripple and medicate with good drugs.

Welcome to a life-long addiction! There's probably more people here on OR that are Cbus-based or farther north, but a small crew based in Cinti. Riding with a group can be a mixed blessing. Ride your own pace and NEVER feel pressure to keep up to a pace you're not comfortable with. You'll quickly find people that your riding style blends well with and those are the ones to hang with. Some other forums that are more geographically located in Cinti are the Assfault Junkies and LocalRiders. AFJ is a younger, pretty active group that has quite a few track addicts, a few squids, and some newbs as well. There seems to be some hard feelings on OR toward the Junkie clan, but it's more representative of the way the group rode years ago; they've toned down the insanity quite a bit over the last few years. Some very good riders and always an active ride list several times a week during the season. Typically ride in NKY on the weekends and a regular bike night gathering on Wed on the east side. LocalRiders is an older (???) much smaller group with a less active membership than AFJ, but those that ride are very experienced and have a wealth of knowledge about routes that follow the twisty ways around NKY and beyond. Watch for posted rides--they'll take you on some awesome roads! I presume you're familiar with the QSL Bike nights at Milford and Colerain--mostly pirate gatherings, but OK to hit once in awhile to be immersed in chrome, loud pipes and leather gear with tassels…. EuroBike night is in downtown Milford the last Tues of every month from 5ish till dark, and the Comet on Hamilton in Northside has Bike night every Tuesday eve--great burritos and an eclectic selection of micro-brews.

Mmmm, pretty sure we've already established he's in it for the money.

TP: I'm pretty sure that most if not all of the riders I roll with would ALWAYS stop and assist in an accident situation. That being said, I hope you know I'll DEFINITELY DRAW THE LINE at mouth-to-mouth resuscitation…. …unless you don't mind tongue.

Hey, if he's a newb, I can offer to pull a couple of plug wires for ya and he'll never know the difference. After he has a year of riding under his belt, you can tip him off and return it to full HP. LOL As for CL, I just spent the last couple/three weeks lurking in the Auto4sale section trying to find a reasonably safe and clean car for my grandson to use to get to/from his first job. After a dozen or so 'encounters' with the under-belly of society, I was ready to blow my brains out. The used car market has still not recovered from Obama's CashForClunkers program….

OK, gonna bump this up one last time before spring hits and I resort to dealing with the mouth-breathing, nose-picking retards that CraigsList seems to bring out. Just how many broken X-Box systems and cheap RC cars do I need to trade for until I get my money out of them? I hate sounding desperate, but I kind'a hate to see it just sit in the corner of the garage collecting dust. 'Course, if it doesn't sell, I guess I'll be FORCED to simply ride it again this summer. Hey, there are worse fates to befall a man….

N'mind. Got what I need from Goggle. Rims won't fit my car. FYI, your rims--according to Tire Rack--are 15x7 with a bolt pattern of 5x108, an offset of 40 mm and backspacing of 5.55 in

I might be interested. Any idea what the bolt pattern on the wheels is? 4x100? 5x??? Also, would you post the DOT date code form the sidewall(s)? Thx! Oh, and pics would help you sell….IJS.

Ain't no love for the FZ anywhere. Not a nibble on mine, either. Gonna be a long winter….

SW: Awww, hell. We have to have met at least once in the last couple of years. That's Rob Giles (Dice) standing behind you and his old PC; he's one of my main ridin' buds. We're gonna have to get together when this weather breaks.

Thanks, guys! If you keep pumping my FZ, I'm gonna have to send some commission money your way…. I rode this to Waynesville, NC, last Sept and found it to be very comfy for long days. When I first got the bike, I was leery that it would have the same low-speed fueling glitch that I hated about my FJR, but this motor has none of the "digital off-on snatch" when you roll on the throttle out of a corner. Suspension is what I would call average and works fine for 7-8/10ths riding, but leaves something to be desired when you're pushing hard and the pavement turns rough. With the upgraded seat, soft bags (like I used for the trip) and the touring screen, I rode over 2000 miles in 6 days--mostly back roads--with a couple of 450 mile days and had no problems….and I'm old as dirt! If I had one wish for the Gen 2, I'd like a bit more fuel range--for regular riding, you're pushing the limit of the tank at 165-170+ miles.

Was a time not that long ago that I'd have made that trade in a heart beat. 13 broken ribs and two busted collarbones plus one near death experience convinced me that I should sell all my dirt shit this past summer so I wouldn't be tempted to get back into it. I used to be REAL FAST….course, that ain't necessarily the same as being REAL GOOD….

SW: Have you ever visited the twin tunnels at the Lamb's Ferry crossing in northern KY? Supposed to be haunted--yer goin' in first! On Cliff Road near North Bend:

Joe: You can call me Bill, or you can call me Bubba, but don't call me Bob unless I can call you Ralph. And for Gawd's sake, don't call me late for supper!!!

Bumping this back to the front page with a lower price! Got my eye on some new wheels and have run out of garage space. You won't find a cleaner FZ1 at a better price anywhere in the US. Guaranteed. New price: **WOW!!!** $4795 **WOW!!!**

SW: Don't think we've ever met--unless my Old-Timer's disease is getting the better of me--but from looking thru your pix, we know a few of the same people and travel the same roads. I'm in SW Ham Cty and lived, worked and rode in the the Colerain/Ross/Miamitown/Shandon area since the 60s, and yeah….that makes me an old guy, even older than you, but I still love ridin' as often as I can. I'm guessing our paths may have crossed at either EBN in Milford, Fuel Coffee on River Rd, or at the westside QSL on bike night. That looks like Mr Tom Witt in one of your pics as well--he's kind'a hard to miss with that big ol' head!!! I love your train trip reports. I haven't been on a train since they folded the Great Northern route years ago. My folks were both from Vancouver and used to take us kids back every 5-10 years to visit when the relatives were alive. They're gone for decades now, but I still got memories of the trips thru the Canadian Rockies, or on one special trip, the route across the desert southwest on the City of LA Vistaliner. Good luck with your recuperation and give us all a shout out either here or on the LocalRiders forum when you get back on your horse!

Put 150 miles on last Sunday (12/22 after the big rains) and rode out to Serpent Mound, 100 miles Friday morning (started out when the temp was in the low 30s) and about 150 miles yesterday. There was a bit of salt around, but I look at bikes as depreciable assets. They're gonna lose money whether I ride 'em or not. Little water will wash the salt off and keep the rust at bay. I do begin to feel like a little kid going out to play in the snow, all bundled up. And just like a little kid, it seems like I gotta pee right after I get the last of my gear on….

>>>SOLD!!!<<< (to CL buyer) 2000 Mazda MPV ES, only 87000 miles, 7-passenger van, 2.5L-DOHC-V6, 170 HP, 4-spd auto w/OD+lockout, silver/lt-grey interior, full leather seating, 4 captain chairs w/fold-away rear bench, P-windows/P-locks/P-mirrors, tilt steering column, rear heat/air, AM/FM/CD, interval wipers, cruise control, fog lights, rear wiper/defrost, R&L sliding doors, roof rack. The Story: There comes a time in every parent/child relationship that you've got to put your foot down and take their driver's license away. Unfortunately, as the son, I've had to take Dad's car away. He's 90 and diagnosed with Alzheimer's and has had several recent incidents where he's gotten lost. And the last few months, he seems to be coming home with other people's paint on his bumpers, only he doesn't remember hitting anything….??? The Good: This is a low mileage, one owner vehicle purchased new from local dealer. Always garaged, newer tires, recent oil/filter change, new battery 5-2013, clean vehicle history. No rust or collision damage. The Bad: Two tires have slow leak and need to have pressure checked weekly. Has a couple of small blemishes on the body corners (some may buff out) and typical parking lot dings (see pics). Right rear taillight lens was cracked but has been replaced w/OEM part. Listed it on CL for serious money (hopefully to eliminate the creeps and flakes).... http://s875.photobucket.com/user/icantdrive55/slideshow/2000%20Mazda%20MPV%20ES

Nope. Suburban SW Hamilton Cty. I can be in downtown Cincinnati in under 20 min. I get a lot of deer traffic because the north end of my property is under a Duke high voltage line and the bucks use the cut the same way you and I use the X-way to get around. Duke right-of-way runs from down near the OH-IN border along the river east to the city. Heavy underbrush for cover, low growth like Honeysuckle for browsing. Perfect for hunting with a bow!!!

Pix from the trail cam in my backyard. This 12pt is from two years ago and currently decorating my buddy's living room wall: Here's a friend's catch from last weekend in SE Indiana: And here's this year's best so far--a 10pt--from the backyard trail cam. Coming in to the yard between 5:30 and 6 PM: