Great Day With Bikes

Today was planned for a week and a half depending on weather and whether my town DPW chip sealed my road. The chip sealing was postponed in July because of flooding rains, and again this week because of the extreme heat. Good for us because it is impossible to ride a motorcycle on 3" of loose gravel until it settles and mixes with the oil.

My fellow Goldwing rider wanted me to do an oil change on his bike. He had already provided me with the oil, filter, and drain plug gasket. The plan was to come over early, have a nice big home cooked breakfast to let the engine cool, then do the oil change, and go riding afterwards. Another couple we ride with asked if they could join us for breakfast and a ride so I said sure. Bacon, sausage, homefries, my farm fresh eggs, toast of all kinds, juice and coffee. I started prepping and cooking an hour earlier. Yep... ole Glypto does know his way around the kitchen, and I cleaned it all up as well as loaded and ran the dishwasher before heading out to the garage.

The air was thick and humid with temps climbing through the 80's and dew points in the low 70's. Gross. Since I have an oversized garage all the bikes were inside. Good thing because the skies opened up. It doesn't take much in the hilly area I live to squeeze moisture out of a juiced up atmosphere. The oil change on a Goldwing must be done on the sidestand for proper drainage, and since I don't have an elevated ramp to drive up on, it meant rolling around low on a creeper. The oil drain plug and filter are located behind the lower front fairing. Two pop pins, six hex head bolts, and some "wrestling" to wriggle it free. There is only a few inches of space between the garage floor and the bottom of the engine, so I use a shallow aluminum steam table pan to catch the oil. Then I dump the pan into a 4 gallon plastic jug I keep for transport to the town transfer station. Oil drained, a new aluminum drain plug gasket, and the plug tightened to the proper torque spec. Next came filter removal and draining, mounting surface cleaned, and a new filter screwed on and properly torqued. Finally the engine was filled with 4 quarts of Honda HP4S full synthetic motorcycle oil. Yeah, I know its stupid expensive at like $11 a quart, but I will not entertain cheaper unapproved alternatives. I have heard it all before about how its a waste of money. On big jap bikes, the engine and transmission share the oil, and I will not fuck up an expensive to repair machine by going cheap on oil. But hey you feel free. With the oil change finished, I pulled out the air hose and pressure gauge chuck so everyone could check tire pressure. Everything was set to go with the bikes so it was giddyup time.

 We did a 75 mile loop around Windham County. Once the earlier rain showers passed, the sun came out with a vengeance. There were some stretches of RT. 12 and RT. 169 that were out in the open with no shade that were really warm. The plan was to end the ride at the car cruise at Loos & Co.  at the corner of RT. 101 and 169, and get some lunch at Pizza 101. The car cruise was a bust because it was cancelled due to a previous request. A local home in the immediate area was hosting a wedding and asked for the cancellation to keep down traffic and noise. Oh well, we still got some grub and then headed for home. Because my house was closest, I peeled off from the group first and waved goodbye to my friends.

Carried In Two GFDZ's Today

Put new sneakers on the Tundra today at Town Fair Tire. I've lost track how many full sets of tires I have bought there in the past 30+ years. Always great price and great service. I got another set of exactly what I had. Michelin LTX AT2 off-road tires in LT275/65/R18E. After all, I got 78,000 miles out of the last set and they were still road legal. With 155K on the truck, this may be the last set. Who knows?

Gotta have the raised white letters showing. Can't afford new rims, they are more than the tires.

 

As my usual SOP I was carrying. Since it was so bloody hot, I opted for the LCP in .380. The ammo is Hornady Critical Defense which has good penetration and expansion, especially against lightweight summer clothing. As I went to enter the store, I noticed and then promptly ignored their Gun Free Death Zone (GFDZ) sign on the door. I refuse to be disarmed, not only while standing in the store, but to and from my vehicle in the parking lot. If I followed their signage completely, I could not carry at all, including to and from home because the only place to secure it was in my vehicle. And they were bringing my vehicle into their garage. Since I carry concealed, its nobody's fucking business what is in my pocket. But I'll bet there would be plenty of grateful potential victims if I was to put a stop to an act of "gun violence" by being that good guy with a gun. BTW... my truck rifle was locked up inside the cab, so as long as no one was poking around the inside of my truck where they shouldn't be, they'd never know.

Since today is also yours truly's anniversary (#38), wifey and I went out to dinner with another couple. Because we were going out for the evening, I had upgraded my carry gun to my normal S&W 45 Shield. The plan was to go duckpin bowling afterwards, but my wife had too much tequila in the form of margaritas, so bowling was out of the question. Instead, the girls wanted ice cream and that was fine with us guys. The closest (and best) place to go was the UConn Dairy Bar. The ice cream is made right there with milk from the cows in the agricultural program. Located on the UConn campus, I found myself armed in a GFDZ yet again. And yet again... IDGAF! My alternative would have been no ice cream for anyone, or go out for the evening unarmed. I'll just stick with ignoring GFDZ designations and doing what I please, thanks.

Moving Into War Mode

No details for OPSEC and PERSEC, but think of the movie "The Great Escape" and some of the things they did to try and blend into the regular population.

I'm thinking it better to fight these commie fuckers from behind rather than direct confrontation. I'll let 'em think I am one of their sheeple right up to their last moment consuming oxygen.

12,000 Years

That's how long the 2 billion year old Chamberlin Rock sat in place at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Estimated to be 70 tons, naturally immovable and deposited by a glacier, it took racially motivated SJW's, university money and heavy construction equipment to have it moved. You see, almost 100 years ago, large dark-colored boulders in that region were called "niggerheads." Therefore, that big dark rock by its very existence was "painful" to those always looking for ways to be offended. A link to the story can be found here.

My property is littered with all kinds of glacial rubble left behind by the retreat of the ice sheet 12,000 years ago. A few are the size of compact cars. Thanks to the U of W social justice warriors pointing out something I had never heard before, they are all now niggerheads, even the lighter colored granite ones. Don't like that? Then please feel free to have them all removed from my property at your expense, thereby making my property more usable. BFYTW!

Now let's talk about one of my favorite snacks, Brazil Nuts. You see, my Memere' as well as my wife's grandmother referred to these yummy nuts in the shell as "Nigger Toes." If that phrase, which was last uttered in my presence sometime in the early 90's when my wife's grandmother (who was from the south by the way) was still alive offends you, then rush down to your local store and demand their removal from the shelves. Contact nut companies to have them taken off the market. All because some old people that are now deceased used to call them that.

See how stupid all of you wokesters and the cancel culture is?

Open Carried On "The Beast" Today

No all day excursion today, just a 50 mile solo loop to satisfy the urge to get out. Overcast and cooler than normal with a chance of showers all day, but that doesn't discourage me from heading out. I got sprinkled on briefly, but no need for rain gear. All the rain drops were dried up on the bike when I got home.

Since my biker vest is currently being worked on, and I wasn't stopping anywhere, I decided to just open carry my S&W 45 Shield. The vest has built in concealed carry holsters so normally my firearm is out of sight, and known only by few. Today I carried the 45 Shield in my DeSantis Speed Scabbard on my belt at 3 o'clock. I used a 7 round extended magazine for the full size grip. Since it was warm enough I wore just a t-shirt, so my gun was out there for all to see. 

Today was a test. First, how secure would my firearm stay on my hip? I know someone that lost his gun riding a sportbike on I-95 in the Stamford area. His gun was recovered and returned to him. It turns out the riding position on my Goldwing keeps the holster as vertical as if I am standing. While riding, I periodically checked to see if it was still secure. It was. The second part of the test was to see if anyone freaked out and called the cops. Open carry is perfectly legal here in Kommiecticut, but the hoplophobes in the general population still go mental if they see a gun. Most cops will arrest you on some bullshit charge, but as usual it all gets tossed out. Plus a motorcycle is a motor vehicle, so I am in complete control of my firearm while operating the vehicle. It's too bad if someone happens to see it. Besides, if anyone called I would be long gone anyway. I rode through several intersections with stopped traffic on my right. I'm not sure if anyone saw it or not and I don't much care.

After issuing the challenge to gubmint jab goonsquads in my previous post, I will be sure to be armed more than normal. What does that actually mean?

SHHHHHHHH!

OPSEC