Bubba

Nathan: So....humor me. Do these actually come with bar-end plugs? In addition to the clamps? If they're just clamp-on, I wouldn't call 'em bar-ends.... If they are true bar-end mirrors that fit inside the bar, send me a PM with price, please. (They look 'spensive!) I've been thinking of losing the stock mirrors on my DL650 to see if I can get rid of some of the turbulence. Thx--Bubba

Awwww. Thanks!

C'mon, guys. You can talk all you want about your returns from month-to-month or year-to-year, but that has little to do with what is realistic over a span of 30-50 years. Last year's market returns--or for that matter, the annual returns since the crash of 2007-2008--have been double digit just about everywhere, even including bonds. My advice....don't count on it being as robust averaged out over the next 20 years or so. Cautionary tale! When I first started investing WAY BACK in the early 70s, I watched my money go nowhere for almost 10 years. The company stock that I was buying in my 401-K actually went down in per-share value from 1972 - 1982 by about 0.5%. Yikes, I thought. That year, I had the opportunity to convert my 401-K stock into a GIC--Guaranteed Investment Contract (similar but not exactly like a CD)--that had an annual return of 14.6% guaranteed for 9 years. Can't go wrong with that, now can ya? Converted 100% of my stock into the GIC. Guess what...at the end of 9 years, the company stock had outpaced my GIC, not by a lot, but I still ended up with less money...at 14.6% annual return! Bottom line: When the market is going up, it's easy to make money. Even a chimp with darts can do it. Sooner or later, essentially 100% of the day traders WILL BE PLAYED FOR A FOOL BY THE MARKET. And that's guaranteed!!!

Well. It doesn't do anything well.

Wow! Million dollar question right there...literally. Take something as complex as retirement income for 30+ years and reduce it down to one number? I think not. I'm not gonna claim to be a financial wizard or have a crystal ball any better at predicting the future than your average carny fortune teller, but I'll throw my $0.02 worth in just for shits 'n giggles. First, there is a myriad of free financial tools available on the internet for planning retirement. Check out the tools on MarketWatch.com or on the Vanguard or Fidelity web sites for more info. Nearly all of them rely on statistics, past market performance, future inflation projections, longevity/mortality tables and probability calculations to come up with a scenario. These are called Monte Carlo simulations, and yeah, that means were talking gambling here. What they do is use your input about your financial situation to compute the likelihood of whether you will outlive your money....or not. These tools CANNOT give you a hard and fast number of how much you need; they can only give you the percent chance of the successful scenario of having sufficient funds for life. If you're a risk taker and can deal with a 50:50 chance of outliving your funds until you die in a fiery Moto-GP crash at the age of 75, you will obviously require far less money than someone who's conservative and wants a 99:1 chance they will have enough to live on until they're 101. The other big issue is what the outlook for the investment environment will be for the next 40-50 years. Historic returns on the market (we're talking DOW 500 here) have been 11-12 percent, maybe a bit higher with dividend reinvestment. Bond returns historically, maybe 4-6 percent. So, with a diversified portfolio, you could have realized around 7-8% return over the last 50-75 years. The big cautionary tale here is what every investment guru will tell you: "Past performance is not a guarantee of future returns!" As a matter of fact (or maybe more accurately, "in my humble opinion") the broad stock/bond market isn't likely to return anywhere near historic levels going forward, and I think that trend will hold true for the next 20+ years. The current inflation numbers are at a never-before-seen historic low, and this is also likely to bump higher over the next several decades. If I was gonna give you my best advice from where I sit, I would tell you to figure out how much you're gonna WANT as a yearly income to both pay your bills--don't forget property tax, auto/house/health insurance, food, home/auto repair, free-time activities--and do the things you want to do. BE REALISTIC!!! You're not gonna want to sit in your house on your ass and pick your nose for 40-50 years. Traditional wisdom suggests you will need 70% of your current annual income in retirement, but if you're healthy and looking to have just a little bit of fun, I'd suggest the target of 100-125% to be safe. Now, divide your estimated annual income need by maybe 0.03 to 0.05, depending on things like your risk proclivity, your current health and genetic heritage (i.e., how long did your grandparents/parents/siblings live). This is gonna give a pretty conservative estimate of what you need as savings to live for the next 4-5 decades. Of course, Social Security will play a role at some point, but if you plan on early retirement in your 50s (i.e., before your full retirement age of 66-67) you're gonna need to generate income without SS for at least 7-10 years. I retired--not by choice but by force--at 56, 6 years ago. I had planned on working until I was 62ish, but my job went bye-bye in the big push to downsize back in 2005-7. My company didn't offer a guaranteed pension, so my retirement income was 100% dependent on what I had saved from investments in my 401-K and IRAs. When I looked at my pot of money, my overall debt situation with long-term debt (mortgage) and short-term debt (auto loans, credit cards, etc) and ran the numbers, it was obvious I was gonna have to give up the dream of the yacht on the Riviera and settle for cheap beer on the back deck. My options were to try to find another job and continue to save, or scale back my lifestyle to live within my means. Once I had it worked out, I dropped out of the rat race, enjoyed the hell out'a my free time, walked the dog at the park, rode my MC when and where I wanted, went skiing mid-week without the crowds, and NEVER looked back with regret on my choice. Good luck with your decision. Make the most out of your time here--this ain't no dress rehearsal; this is a "live feed" and you only get one take.

Yup. Yer halfway there. Housing, job, and say.....4 to 5 million dollars cash.

I do not think you know the meaning of that word.

C'mon dude. You gun-nut conspiracy theorists have come unglued. There is undisputable evidence of our country's journey to the moon. It's hard to deny facts--Moshpit girl was there! It's on the internet, so it must be true. Hell, gimme a week or so and I'm pretty sure I can up with evidence Moshpit girl was one of the other inside shooters at Sandy Hook....

Hmmmm, and I suppose I should NEVER try to match wits with a Sicilian....

Won't take long for "Nut-Job" to reach critical mass with this scenario.... Seriously, when/if the zombie apocalypse occurs, you K-N-O-W they're gonna eat the old, slow, fat peoples' brains first, and I've personally come to terms with the realization that I'm old, slow and fat, and I'm OK with that.

Ewwww! Double-ewwww! Sigh...whatever happened to good ol' romance?

Ummm, not trying to sh-t on your thread, but there ain't no such thing as a magic bullet for losing weight. It all boils down to calories in < calories burned. Now that being said, I suppose whatever works for someone is valid, but this product isn't too far removed from the recent fen-phen mess. The actives in the product are: Vitamin B-6, Chromium, Cocoa Powder, Spirulina, Green Tea Extract, 1,3-dimethylpentylamine HCI, Trace Mineral Complex, Phenylethylamin HCI, Caffeine (from natural source), Vanadium, where the actives are supposedly the phenylethylamine HCl and caffeine. There would also be some minute additional active(s) release from cocoa powder and tea extract. The rest is just what you can get from a traditional multi-vitamin supplement. The biggest knock about claims for this product being effective is that PEA is extensively degraded via first-pass metabolism in the gut and never reaches sufficient levels in the brain to be active. The biggest caution is for people who are taking MAO inhibitors, which can increase brain concentration of PEA 1000-fold. MAOIs may also inhibit catabolism of dietary amines (as well as PEA) which may lead to acute hypertension. It may work for you, but please use full disclosure when you're pushing pills.

This has happened several times in recent months here in Cinti. It turns out there's usually a back story--involving drugs/sale of drugs/purchase of drugs/non-payment for drugs--that never gets published.

When it comes to comparing KY/TN/NC/GA roads to CO/western roads, it's an apples-to-oranges thing. In general, the east has more 'technical' roads than the west, in that they are usually tighter, narrower, and slower-speed corners, whereas the west generally has more high-speed sweepers. I'll grant you that there are exceptions to the rule, but both are enjoyable in their unique character. And I'll definitely give the nod to the west for scenery and vistas!

Dunno. Wish I knew. Maybe the guys who nominated Jesse V or the Nug know something I don't. Wasn't trying to start a "my party/candidate is better than yours" type of thread. Merely pointing out that I firmly believe that no politician currently in office at any level higher than maybe a local school board candidate is able to follow their own will or conscience on voting. Too much money required to attain said office and the necessity of selling the soul to finance a campaign leave little to honest chance any more... What I will say about our current crop of criminals in Washington: "Never have so many been paid so much to accomplish so little."

Wait....You actually expect the average Uh-murican voter to be informed and have a strong political viewpoint on anything other than their own entitlement program? That'll happen right after this nation can come up with two or more REAL presidential candidates--that haven't already sold their souls to multiple PACs--out of 300 million choices. Not likely...

O M G !!! It IS a conspiracy. So, have they finally found the shooter on the grassy knoll?

Don't know if you were snaking it by hand or using one of the powered snakes, but if you haven't already, try running it backward (reverse) while yer pulling on it to see if it will untwist/unknot itself. Gotta be a bit careful so it doesn't snap where the wire is kinked and possibly crystallized. Or just burn the place to the ground...

Problem is, once I picked up all the random tools strewn around the garage and the workbench and stored 'em in the roller, it's already full! Guess I'm gonna have to treat myself to an Easter basket next year....

Sold my small older Craftsman roller box and upgraded to this. My Christmas present...from me...to me. Thx, Bubba!

Hey, I ain't planning on going away just 'cause I cross-posted a link to an AW! You gotta get yer own bunkmate/butt-buddy.

Just in case you AW guys are looking to add to your collection. I have no experience as to whether this is a good price or not. Just figgered I'd post it in case there was interest... SKS w/synthetic stock currently 30 round clip 10 round clip 150 rounds of ammo Has original stock with matching serial #'s Has original bayonet BSA 9 x 24 scope Lowered to $400 this morning http://www.assfaultjunkies.com/showthread.php?22074-SKS-for-sale

That's cool. No problem here. I'm can respect that. This I'm NOT OK with. The world would be a FAR BETTER PLACE if the kid in Conn had shoved his AR-15 up their collective liberal asses and pulled the trigger until the mag was empty! Hell, I might have even shook his hand and bought him a beer!

Sorry, dude. I really wasn't trying to shit on yer parade. I was trying to nudge you a little more toward the reality of today's used/wrecked bike market. You might be better served by fixing it yourself and making it look pretty before you try to sell it. And this may be your best option. You obviously like the bike, so keeping it for when you get back is a good idea. Put some Stabil in the gas tank, pull the battery out, and find yourself a secure climate-controlled storage area. It'll still be a fun ride when you return home!

Ummm, isn't that what I just I said? $5000 would sell it. Didn't say it WASN'T a killer price...but $7500 for a 4 year old wrecked GSXR isn't MY cup o' tea. I believe this offer puts you at the head of the line. Get out yer wallet. [EDIT--Not sayin' yer a sucker.]