thirdgenlxi

280k and counting..... running strong!

Just a little update..... all finished! I didn't want it to take as long as it did, but just as luck would have it, soon as I get it apart it gets crazy busy at work and I have no time to work on it, and then on top of that I had to do a side job on my buddies R6 (valves all out of whack), and then some work on his trailer too. So mine had to kinda take a back burner for a bit as he was kind of in a pickle with a trackday scheduled soon and needed his bike. But was finally able to get her all finished up and back home.... ready to go in Started saturday and got the engine hung back in the frame Had to start her up and make sure all was well..... sounded good, so filled up the cooling system and bleeding the air out here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dnwUUfCKHY Finished putting plastics back on and gave her a good wipe down to get all my nasty greasy fingerprints off Aaaaand.... ride time!! Just a quick jaunt down my road and back. The audio is messed up on my GoPro right now (trying to figure out if/how to fix that), so that's why all the wind noise (that's in the solid waterproof case). But you can kinda hear it.... running and shifting beautifully! Sooooo nice not jumping out of 3rd anymore, god that was freakin' annoying, haha http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gmIi4k8YZc Now back to our regular weekend shenanigans

Thanks guys . Still don't have it back together just yet, but just cuz I'm waiting on a few gaskets and o-rings that I had forgot to order beforehand (or didn't know I'd need). Had to get a valve cover gasket (was still original.... found leaking just a little bit), o-rings for the oil pick-up and pressure relief valve, and the o-rings that go around the spark plug holes on the bottom side of the camshaft hold down plate. Hopefully they'll be in early this week and I can get it all back together. Other than that everything else is done... trans is fixed and cases back together, valve adjustment done, just waiting on the gaskets and I'll be set Anyways, a few more pics.... Original clutch still measures well in spec (2.4mm) Top end like brand new.... literally looks like zero wear on the cam lobes, journals, thrust bearing, etc Certainly can't complain.... Rotella T6 has done me well!

Haha you'll get there! Just takes some time and lots of consistent riding Taken me 8.5 years to get this much on mine.... it started life with me at 3 miles. Actually haven't updated my siggy in awhile.... right now she's at 256,138 as of last night when I dropped it out

Yea this is the second time now having to fix 3rd gear.... originally started popping out (and shifting itself down to 2nd) back in 2008 at 114k. Fixed it and it's been good as gold up until a few months ago.... wasn't nearly as bad this time and wasn't going back to 2nd, just kinda jumping out for a quick second then re-engaging (which made for a good jolt if you were on the gas). So the first replacement made it 142k.... we'll see how long this one lasts

It's really not all that hard, especially with a good factory service manual.... pretty much walks you right through it. It's just nuts & bolts.... and maybe a few other oddly shaped pieces as well, lol

Well for the past couple months now my bike has been getting rather picky about staying in 3rd gear. It wasn't 'that' bad, but it has been getting progressively worse, so finally had to tear into it and get it all fixed up. Got all the parts I needed to fix it, and had a little time since we're not riding this weekend (going to the GNCC races again this weekend!), so decided it would be a good time to tear it apart Went pretty quick.... I rode it to work yesterday, rode home (carried all the tools I'd need in a backpack and tankbag), got home a little after 6pm, got started on it about 6:30 or so, and it was out and ready to go by 8:30. Not too bad.... coolant was still steaming when I drained it and motor was still warm when I loaded it into the back of my car, LOL. The little A-frame idea worked like a champ! Hard to see in the pic but the whole bike is actually hanging in the air. I'm not gonna lie though, I really do wish I had a cassette style transmission that didn't require pulling the motor out to do this, lol Took it into work with me this morning to tear it down. Boy was she dirty outside... the rural roads I ride on around here are so much dirtier than other places I used to live. Had to do some scrubbing on the outside for sure. The valve cover gasket was also leaking a little bit too so that didn't help any (it's original.... got a new one) Inside though... nice and clean. Oil still nice and clean too for having almost 6k miles on it Original clutch still hanging in there and looking good (256,138 miles) Once again..... squeeaaaakkky clean inside, always makes me happy to see. Regular oil changes FTW! Bottom end looks brand new And here would be my problem..... gear dogs on 3rd rounded off, and of course 6th too since it meshes with 3rd And got the shift fork a lil bit too Got the new gears put in and trans back together.... guess I have my work cut out for me monday when I go back, haha. Then I've gotta do a valve adjustment as well.... fun fun. Should have her back together and running again this next week sometime and back to our usual weekend rides next weekend

Not sure if anybody cares of not, but last weekend my buddy Scott and I went up to the GNCC races at Steele Creek, which is right up where we ride all the time, and right across the road from Brown Mountain where we ride dirt as well. Awesome facility they have there, huuuuuuuge area and real nice setup... and I love how there's pretty much no rules as to where you can go, you can walk the whole track and stand wherever you want so long as you're not in the way (and if you are in the way you sure as hell better move cuz they're coming through, haha... saw that a few times and boy you never saw a crowd of people move so fast). It was packed.... tons and tons of people! But it's so spread out it wasn't bad once everybody moved around. The big mud pit was still where all the action was at though and where most of the people (ourselves included) hung out a majority of the time Anyways, quite a few pics here, mostly on the second day with the bikes cuz I forgot to bring my GoPro the first day and all I had was my phone. Made a few videos too... Saturday was the quads.... LOTS of riders! The amateur group was broken up into many different classes, which got released staggered one after the other. There were so many that the first group had come around twice and there were still groups just starting off.... track was 12 miles long Amateur group http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnuwie3U8bo Quads pro group http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKGlz6hZ2Vw Then on Sunday was the bikes... was even more people there for the bikes than the quads Amateur group LOL can't see what you're aiming at with the GoPro (no screen), but I was shooting away, and later we both got a good laugh afterwards of Scott looking soooo angry.... he really wasn't in the least but he just gets sooooooo focused on stuff and has a total poker face, lol. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VYJUylZiLw Bikes pro group We wandered the track a little bit more for the pro group bikes... went out before they started to try and find a good spot for their first lap around (which is usually pretty crazy). Figured this spot by the tent would be pretty good These guys are f'ing FAST!! And I myself almost got ran over here, lol.... didn't look like any bikes had been through here so didn't realize it was a cut through (also in video below) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4RXygG1-3s That's all I got.... we had a freaking BLAST!! Weather was absolutely perfect.... sunny and about 70 degrees, dry but had rained several days prior so the ground was just a little moist to keep the dust down, but not soggy or muddy..... perfect! We enjoyed it so much we're going again to the next GNCC race this coming weekend down in Union, SC..... should be fun, hopefully the weather is just as good as last time!

LOL yup..... actually 434k now, haven't updated my siggy in awhile. Never been rebuilt, pretty much only repair was a headgasket back in 2001 at 271k, but that was due to it getting hot from the dang cooling fan not kicking on. Still ran perfectly fine just building excess pressure in the cooling system. Replaced it myself and it's been a gem ever since. Still cold A/C and all.... runs great! I do need to get a muffler for it though, it rusted and fell off.... kinda loud now. Tranny is still 100% original other than the clutch... replaced the original at 321k The body looks terrible (this pic does it A LOT of justice, lol It was from last year though).... rusting out pretty bad, clearcoat peeling everywhere, etc. But she runs great and still tows my bike around no prob! You ever been on 3geez.com?? Edit..... just went out and snapped a pic

Yes.... and yes, lol http://www.ohioriders.net/showthread.php?t=100794

Oops.... I must have somehow missed your oil question... sorry! But to answer, no I'd never used the 15w Rotella before, I was simply using that cuz I was gonna be changing it again shortly after so just wanted to put something in there that was decent but not crazy pricey since it was only for temp use. Prior to this I had used only Mobil 1 15w-50 at first then 10w-40 when it came out later on (yes, the car stuff in the 5qt jug). I did switch to the Rotella T6 5w-40 not too long after this though and that's what I've been running ever since. At 251k now and zero issues

I put mine in just to see, lol.... I'm 10th on there. Guy above me has 667,014 miles on 5 Goldwings Miles Ridden - 250,157 Total Days - 2,964 Average Miles/Day - 84.40

It's a 5 digit odometer, it resets back to 00000 after 99999, and this is the 3rd time it's shown 50000 which = 250,000 if my math is correct. It was at 50,000 back in 2006. So yes, the title is correct http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZUTfpw8NUM

Nope

Yup as the title states... the trusty old F4i rolled over 1/4 million miles today like it ain't no big thing, kept right on going! I know I'm a mile off, I was hoping to snap some pics soon as it turned but the road we were on was kinda sketchy to pull over safely so just went a little further up until we got to a parking lot. Close enough, lol. Still running like a dream!! 6 trackdays and counting (maybe I'll get fast one of these days.... smh)... doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon! Then a few other pics from todays (rather chilly) riding adventures In front of us is Old Fort Rd... Awesome road but lots of gravel spots. It used to be part of my awesome 120 mile/day daily commute through the mountains everyday that I had back in 2010 before I moved. The road behind is we took for the first time today... awesome road but turns to gravel right at the end for a short ways (less than a mile I think) up to where we're at here Stopped in Black Mountain for some lunch... friend of mine that I used to work with several years ago (she was the HR lady at the last place I/we worked at).... her and her husband decided to start their own business and opened a small pizza shop. They just opened on Friday, so I wanted to go and show her some support and check it out. Freakin' GOOOOOD stuff!! Heading up NC 80... Lake Tahoma in the background Blue Ridge Parkway Got to the Brown Mountain overlook on NC 181 right after the sun went down. Had to get heading home after this cuz it was getting cooooold (prob high 30's/low 40's) and Scott doesn't have any heated gear so he wanted to get home before it got too cold. He's tough though I gotta hand it to him, lol Same spot but looking the other way over Table Rock mountain Then a few from yesterday (sat).... Scott and I were out geocaching as we've been doing for a bit here lately. Went for a little walk through the woods looking for one and buried in the middle of nowhere in the woods... an old house! Right past the house was a big open area surrounded completely by more woods, and there was a little hut type thing over by the trees. As we were walking past the house Scott made the comment "only thing that kinda worries me out here is that it's hunting season".... we get up to the open area and right then we hear a voice out of the hut... "trying to hunt over here". Kinda freaked us both out, we said oooookkkk and turned around and walked back the way we came, lol... never did find it So we wrote that one off and went to another not too terribly far away from that one. This one sounded pretty simple.... all the hints pointed towards steps. And steps we found! Supposedly many many moons ago there was an old funeral home here... a large part of the perimeter of the old crumble brick foundation is still there, forming a big hole in the middle of these trees! This wasn't far off the road but very much overgrown now. After looking all over around the steps, and after Scotts quote of the day, "Ummmm.... is that a skull over there??" (human.... but in his defense from the angle we were looking it really did look like one... ended up being an old white milk jug with some holes, lol), but we finally did find it. Not really near the steps prob 30 feet away under a broken end of a cinder block We had gotten kind of a late start since I had to work that morning, so it was getting late and we got heading home Then a few from Thursday (turkey day!)... it was almost 70 degrees and we both had the day off work, so why not?? Some more geocaching going up NC 181... didn't find anything here though Brown Mountain again Sunset in some kids park, lol.... this is the same spot where we found the old house in the woods above, but it was getting dark here and we didn't get that far in Went back to the house and it was foooood coma time! I must say Scotts mom is an awesome cook, lol. Even had some homemade apple pie and brownies too. She gave me a box and said to take as much home as I wanted, along with some homemade chicken and rice soup too. Certainly can't complain! Aaaand what the hell... been awhile since I posted any ride pics up so a few from last weekend too. Our first try at geocaching... this one was pretty easy and found it right away. Lots of these, like this one, are right on our normal ride routes, we just never knew they were there, lol. Kinda silly but still fun Then up the normal route... Brown Mountain yet again Up NC 80.... Lake Tahoma Supposed to be another cache at NC 80 and the Blue Ridge Parkway off on a little trail. Apparently last year sometime the forest service did a controlled burn and it was destroyed, said he was gonna put it back but never did find it. We did have our own little parking nook though, lol Started getting late so we made our way back towards home... with a stop at Ryans Buffet for some dinner Did I mention we like to eat?? LOL (this was actually from the night before, but oh well) I think that's all I got for now, haha. Sorry for so many... I like pictures, heh

Been driving my old 1989 Honda Accord for the past 12 years now, it's been an amazingly great car, hands down! But the roadsalt has definitely not been kind, and after 23 years and nearly 434k miles she's really starting to show her age. Still runs great but the body is rusting bad and starting to get lots of little things that will need attention. So I decided it was finally time to find something a little newer and nicer, and a little more practical for what I need now. With 3 dogs, it got a little crazy in the back seat of the Accord, so I needed something with a decent amount of space for them to be comfortable and not stepping all over each other. Also wanted something I could sleep in out of the weather at trackdays and whatnot... seats fold down flat so it's perfect. And also wanted something that could tow a trailer fairly easily, and this has plenty of power for my towing needs. And still gets decent MPG to boot! Still keeping the old Accord as more or less a back up incase something happens with my job or whatever and I've gotta ditch the payment and sell it, I've still got a set of wheels that nobody can take away I work as a tech at a Ford dealership and noticed this out on our lot... '07 Edge SEL... clean as can be inside and out and obviously well cared for... it's literally spotless other than one small scratch on the top of the rear bumper. Worked a pretty dang good deal with them (pretty much at cost, which was almost $4k below NADA value, and OTD still almost $3k under). Signed my life away today and brought her home.... I think I'll be real happy with it. Only thing I wish was that it was manual trans, but oh well beggars can't be choosers, right?? lol. Does have pretty much everything else but navi though.... not bad. And being a Ford tech I know about whatever issues the different cars might have, and these have next to none (an occasional rear wheel bearing is about it).... very good, reliable cars. As much as I would have liked to stuck with Honda since they've always been so good to me, fact of the matter is for what I was looking for the newer Hondas were just way out of my price range. For what I got here I really couldn't beat it. Runs & drives like brand new! Snapped a few pics before I left Plenty of space for critters Nice and simple.... I don't like overly complicated Automatic A/C and heated seats Not sure I'll ever use memory seats but oh well, lol Steering wheel controls are nice Has the big Vista roof too which I really like Lowest mileage car I've had in a looooong time, lol 3.5L V6 (the same one they're using in evvvverything now, including the EcoBoost)... plenty for what I need it for, and still gets decent mileage Sorry for so many pics, just excited to finally actually have something nice, lol. I think I'll be quite happy with it... already a few small mods planned! haha (getting rid of all the chrome... front grille and foglight bezels will be painted to match for a monochrome look, some interior LED's and change the instrument cluster color with some brighter LED's, smoked headlights and maybe taillights from the '09-10 sport models, factory navi, etc..... all in due time though, just future plans)

ncsportbikes.com And yea western NC is where it's at.... mild climate, some of the best riding roads in the country, and scenery that simply can't be beat. You'd love Asheville and surrounding areas. I'm about an hour from Asheville.... never ever want to move away from this area

Well I had yet another awesome trackday this past weekend down at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC, making now my 5th so far. Got to hang out with lots of old friends, met some new ones, had weather that simply couldn't be beat (low-mid 70's and partly cloudy), and overall just had a great time! Anyways, I was originally gonna head down there friday night, but ended up having to redo my forks again friday night after having a little fiasco with them all week, lol. So I finally got those done friday night but was dead tired and wasn't even loaded up yet, so decided to head down saturday morning instead. Got up early and got the bike and car all loaded up, and all 3 kiddos this time too, and made our way down to SC Don't mind my old trusty rusty beast, lol.... poor girl is getting old Got down there about lunch time or so, got the kiddos situated in the shade while I got everything unpacked Had a BBQ sat night and hung out with everybody and had a great time.... one of the coaches made 'bacon explosion', which was freakin awesome until you got to the 'explosion' part of it the next day or so...eek! After dinner one of the other coaches helped me get my suspension set up since I had it all apart and nothing was set, we got a pretty good baseline setup to start with and I must say it felt pretty good from what I could tell. Hung out for a bit longer yapping, then got some sleep Nothing better than waking up to a nice brisk morning at the track Fed the pigs, fed myself, then off to tech and registration we go The beast is ready to roll First session out of the day is always slooooww.... always spend the first few laps with the coaches showing everybody the lines and whatnot. Getting toted around by one of the awesome coaches Larkin Willis on the Super Duke Came back at lunch time and found Riley apparently wanted in the car. I had the windows down at first and he had jumped in the window. Put the windows up but the sunroof was open, he literally climbs up the side of the car (good thing I have an old beater, haha) and jumped down in the sunroof. So I closed the sunroof and he climbed up yet again... literally right up the side. It was quite amusing to watch! LOL CMP also has a pretty sweet go kart track, people bring fancy shifter karts and they also have rental karts (which we've done multiple times... they're a blast, lol). But this day they seemed to be having an all motard (and a few other small 2 stroke bikes) trackday over on the kart track I must say some of those supermoto guys sure have some fancy rigs! Made a quick video while I was over that way... quality isn't that great it was from my phone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FecZNOGIeIQ Back out after lunch and moving along a little faster. I still need a lot of work on my body position... though it's definitely improving from previous times I still have some things I need to work on my next time out. I know I need to get my head/chest down lower and out further, and arms up. I really need to get a new suit though cuz this one really doesn't fit me well at all, I'm finding it way too tight in some areas and I simply can't move, and my arms is one of the things. So I'm on the hunt for a new suit, and hoping that will help me out a bit with getting my BP correct. I'm getting there, I'm just a little slow, I openly admit it, hahah A few GoPro videos... was trying a few different mounting spots this time. This was the 4th session out.... we only had 11 people in B group, and most of them were actually pretty quick, so a few people from I group bumped down to B group cuz they had a few things they wanted to work on at a little slower pace without holding anybody up in I group. This session was a blast, all 3 of us got together and were having some fun (they were running about the same pace as I was in B group) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0704JDYJ1k Then I was curious what kind of vid would come from it mounted on the tail pointing backwards. Actually thought it turned out kind of cool! LOL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3oGKjDqtwM And then on the front pointing backwards so I'm able to see what I'm doing. I learn a lot more by actually being able to see my mistakes instead of somebody just telling me. So I wanted to try this.... while a little distorted, can def still see where I need improvement. Give me time, I'm working on it... already got a list of stuff to work on the next time. Constructive criticism always welcome though =) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAfBYTSbmr0 I tried it with a sticky mount on the upper triple tree nut cover too, but I guess it wasn't as tight in there as I had thought... ended up with about 16 minutes of..uhhh... this, lol. Actually kinda cool in it's own way though cuz you can watch throttle and brake The suspension was feeling pretty good, I wasn't fighting the bike and wasn't getting exhausted. AND I remembered to fill my gas can this time so I didn't run out, haha. Did all 7 sessions, a little over 100 miles, no mishaps, no close calls, and loaded up at the end of the day still shiny and in one piece... so that's always a good thing We all got loaded up and headed out, and a bunch of us went down to Camden, SC and got some dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Soon as we pulled in my buddy Josh locked his keys in his 4 Runner with the key and lights and everything still on, lol. Luckily I had a slim jim with me that my dad gave me years ago that I've never even used... got it open and all was good. Oddly enough 2 ladies in a car that pulled in right after us ended doing the exact same thing, so had to go get into their car too haha Finally got home at about midnight, completely exhausted since I didn't get a ton of sleep the night before. So I just left the bike on the trailer and toted it into work monday morning to get her back in her daily commuting attire. Went and pulled the sticker off the front and... damn it.... pulled all the clear coat with it...grrr Oh well live and learn.... next one will be going on the windscreen. Still had an absolute blast though, awesome weekend for sure! Can't wait until the next one... possibly doing one (MAYBE 2, but that's a squeeze) more trackdays before the year is over with. Yup, I'm hooked, lol

Well I had another awesome trackday, making this my 4th now and counting. I went up to Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA..... my first time at this track.... definitely a fun track but very technical and takes quite awhile to really learn it (I'm still gonna need to go back again to really get it) Anyways really didn't get any on-track pics.... I thought there was a photog there but guess he didn't get that many pics? I can't seem to find anything from him other than the few he posted up on his FB page, so pretty much everything is before or after So sunday morning the 2nd I needed a few things from the store, so rode my bike down to Forest City to grab a few things, then come home and prep the bike and get it loaded up and on my way to Virginia. I'm leaving the store and didn't even make it out of the parking lot when I hear, "POP.... tap tap tap tap tap tap". FAAAAACCCKK!! I pull over into a parking space and see this little gem... day before a trackday, great!! So after a mild heart attack I found it didn't actually puncture it, just went into the thick part of the tire sideways. Pulled it out, head of the nail and all, and no probs at all... phew! Got home and taped up the bike, got it and the car all loaded up, and my little buddy and I were off to Virginia Get about an hour or so into the trip and I'm going over everything in my head making sure I didn't forget anything.... DOH! Of course I forget Rileys food and food dish. Luckily the PetSmart we have training classes at was on the way so ran in there and grabbed some Finally made it up to VIR about 9:00 or so after driving through 2 monsoons and another when I got there.... literally spent a good 30 minutes driving around the damn park trying to find where to go (heavy rain + fog = couldn't see a damn thing). Had to call my buddy Josh to help kinda guide me in, lol. Finally found everybody though, hung out with everybody for awhile then set up camp in Hotel Le Honda to try and get some sleep. Up bright and early monday morning ready to go! Riley was such a good boy.... sat and guarded my trailer all day long without even making a sound (I went and walked him around between sessions though) Pretty sure this is the only pic of me, lol Video.... I'm still slow, esp being my first time here and learning a new track http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCDg2eOy_DM Aaaand this is what happens when you have a slight fuel mis-calculation, lol. Oops! Totally my fault though... I was getting flustered on the drive up going through the storms and being dark and trying to find the place (I have extremely poor vision and can't see s**t at night), and I completely forgot to stop and fill up my gas can. So I had to just run with what I had and make it as far as I could. Thought I had enough for this last session but... guess not! Not gonna lie though, the breeze coming back on the crash truck felt freakin' amazing, hahah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UM8AtXl8jM Snapped a couple pics of the other groups between sessions Towards the end of the day, I came back and was looking around the trailer... "where's Riley??". Apparently he was hinting that he was ready to go, haha After running out of gas the 2nd to last session (which I was planning on being my last anyways.... getting mentally wore out), loaded her back up in one piece which is always a good thing, lol My buddy Josh and his lady friend were headed back to Charlotte, same basic way I was going so we left together. Had to stop for some food on the way out though... That's all I got..... can't wait for trackdays # 5 and 6 coming up here on Oct 6-7 at CMP! I wanted to go back to VIR on the 16th but I have GOT to get a new suit before the next TD.... mine just doesn't fit right and I can't move, causing me problems with body position. Ohh and bike ran like a dream... no probs at all! Well until I ran it out of gas, lol

Not too many pics today as we got a late start since I had to work this morning. But Scott and I still got out and did some riding and one of our crazy adventure hikes too. We headed up NC 226A (a favorite for all) up to the Blue Ridge Parkway and took that over to Mount Mitchell State park. Walked up to the summit (highest point this side of the Mississippi) and hung out there for a bit...... thought this was kind of a cool pic, lol. It wasn't long before we were completely engulfed and couldn't see much of anything Nice and clear when we got up there, but it's been crazy weather all day Then went down to the Craggy Gardens visitors center again to check out one of the other trails. There's supposed to be a 60' waterfall in the woods that we wanted to find. Still foggy.... everywhere you went just couldn't get out of it So long story short.... the markings on the trails were terrible. For the most part, there was none.... and there were multiple trails and nothing telling you which one went where or how far to anything. So we ended up deep in the woods, never did find the waterfall, and the sun was setting fast. As we were trying to make our way out walking through thick woods, we come around a corner and there's a clearing with a perfect view along the trail.... had to snap a pic then back into thick woods where we'd continue to get lost, lol We were on the trail we thought went back to one of the parking lots, it got real close and we could hear cars and bikes going by not too far away, but it kept taking us east, parallel with the BRP. It was getting to be close to 8:30 pm and getting dark FAST, we were both getting kinda nervous and had to get out and this trail just kept going and going, and started going down again, so we had to choice but to blaze our own trail through the non-traveled woods straight in the direction we knew we needed to be going (thanks to a GPS and compass on my phone for that, lol). Up a steep steep hill for a good ways grabbing onto anything we could get ahold of, and finally popped out in a random spot on the BRP, where it was an easy walk back to the parking lot where our bikes were Then the ride home... talk about nerve racking, lol. Rain + heavy fog + pitch black + extremely twisty roads = NOT fun, lol. Especially with a smoke visor, haha (oops!). So needless to say I was down to about 20 mph in a few spots... I simply couldn't see anything, and had to ride with my visor open and could still barely see the yellow lines on the road. Finally made it home... a little wet but oh well..... definitely an adventure of a day for sure, lol Probably won't be doing much riding tomorrow as I have to track prep my bike and get headed up to Virginia tomorrow afternoon for the trackday at VIR monday

Well my good buddy Scott and I had yet another awesome weekend (as we do pretty much every weekend, lol). The weather was absolutely incredible, today especially, yesterday was a little cloudy and rainy in parts but not bad. We ended up getting a late start saturday as Scott is working a really weird shift at work right now (double shifting... 6-9:30 pm then again 4-8am), so his sleeping schedule is all screwed up right now and he sleeps a good part of the day saturday. So we didn't do a whole lot saturday, went to the local all you can eat buffet for dinner, lol.... then left there to go ride, thinking we might get a little wet We had to run back to Scotts house to let his dog out before we headed out, so we go back there and decide where we want to go ride. It was still a little cloudy but we both wanted to find a good spot to watch the meteor shower, and oddly enough we both thought of the exact same spot... at the top of White Oak Mountain, about an hour or so away. I don't have any pics or vids of the road as it was pitch black, but this road is STEEP as it's a good climb to the top of this mountain in a pretty short distance. Lots of 1st gear switchbacks. Awesome view at the top though overlooking the town of Columbus, NC. This is the road going up... Crappy pic cuz it was night time, but you get the idea..... looks down over all the city lights and whatnot. You can see lights waaaaayyyyyyy into the distance.... whole curvature of the earth and everything... great view Ended up still fighting the clouds that would come and go, and really didn't see a whole lot of meteors... Scott saw 2, I saw 0.... my freakin luck, lol. We hung out there for awhile then a little after midnight decided to call it a night and head home Sunday we headed out around noon or so and made our way north. We wanted to do some more exploring around Roan Mountain, right at the NC/TN border. So we made our way up there.... Scott found a little twisty side road he wanted to check out that was almost right on the way up there. Pic didn't come out very good though, looks a lot better in person. LOTS of traffic here though, as you can see Little better picture without the bikes.... still kinda hard to see, but it just zig zags the whole way down We then made our way up Roan Mountain on the NC side, to Carvers Gap, which is right at the NC/TN state line. This is also where the famous Appalachian Trail crosses, so we decided to go and check it out for a little ways... we headed north Some beautiful views to be had up here for sure! Tried a couple panorama pics (prob have to open them up full size to see) Continued our way up to the next little ridge Good view of the road down below.... this is TN 143 heading down the other side of the mountain on the TN side. AWESOME road This video isn't from this ride, it was from a couple months ago... but this is the road in the above pic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUdHLf6h_N8 More panorama pics.... this was prob a little over 180 deg view Had to start making our way back.... wanted to check out the Cloudland Trail, old Cloudland Hotel site (was dismantled in 1913), and Cloudland Gardens After we finished there we headed out and made our way around on some more backroads. Huge power line trail here.... bust out the dirt bikes! LOL Yet another awesome road.... and the curve in the front is not distorted at all from the pano pic, this is exactly how it looks It was starting to get late and Scott had to get home to let his dog out, so we wandered our way back home. Coming down NC 80 (another awesome road) stopped for a little break at the Blue Ridge Parkway... I had to zip up my vents on my jacket, and Scott had to put on a long sleeve shirt cuz it was starting to get chilly and we were both shivering. Earlier the air up at Roan Mtn was so cold it made my nose run.... felt crazy good though, lol Got to the bottom of 80 and caught the sun setting over Lake Tahoma Also never realized there was a dam here as well.... and I believe that is a driveway going over it All in all only did 366 miles for the weekend, so it was a fairly short ride for us but still had a blast and enjoyed the cooler weather (it's been so HOT lately). Good times were certainly had though... until next weekend

Or maybe it's not a 5.4 3V..... Never had a problem with the plugs on the 6.8, and even still there's a special tool to pull them out which works great... it's not hard at all. And they don't even have VCT so no cam phasers to worry about either, it's just a regular old timing gear. The stuck injectors causing hydrolocks were only in the '05 5.4's, never had a problem on the 6.8's. We really never see any problems out of these motors at all.... I've never been a fan of the 5.4 3V though, at least the earlier ones ('04-05)

If you want to shoot me the VIN I can run it through our system and get the exact color they call it (along with any warranty history, lol)

Awesome... congrats!! GREAT trucks and the V10 is a strong motor.... it'll treat ya good for a long long time. And this is coming from a Ford dealer tech, lol. And my fav color on those trucks too! Just remember, if you put any tranny fluid in it... Mercon SP only in the TorqShift (if it's auto, that is), cannot mix with any other fluid