DAMMIT!!!

While installing the new grip and following the instructions, the grip got stuck halfway on the handlebar. As I twisted it to get it to move, I heard and felt the telltale "cracking" sounds of the heater mesh breaking. I got it off and checked it with an Ohmmeter. Wide open.... and trashed! FUCK! $226 down the shitter. Prior to removing (and destroying) the old grip I put the Ohmmeter on it to verify it was open, which it was. The new one showed continuity. 

I spent some time to try and source a new one from a different vendor, but the eBay seller in Japan I bought the first one from is still the cheapest for OEM. I checked with Manchester Honda because sometimes the dealer is actually cheaper (I have run into this with Toyota). Nope. Just for the left grip they quoted me $302 plus tax. I looked into some aftermarket grips made by Show Chrome that are supposed to be plug and play with the Goldwing system, but the ones I need are out of stock everywhere. If I had gotten those I would then return the Kuryakyn ISO Grips because the Show Chrome version has ISO grips built in.

I felt like an idiot ordering the same item from the same seller, but the deed is done. I did a test with the one I broke and it seems that coating everything with Windex makes it slide on easily, and once the Windex dries no glue will be necessary. I work tomorrow and then have the following 6 days off. I'll tackle it again then. I had the last one straight from Japan in just a few days.

 Excuse me while I go outside and scream at the sky. 😮

Working On "The Beast" Today

I am finally.... FINALLY going to work on the heaters on my bike, affectionately known as "The Beast." 

My 2008 Honda GL1800 HPNA Goldwing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have been out way too long making cold weather riding not as pleasant as it can be. I have ridden when it was below 20 out, wearing cold weather gear, and with the heaters on finding myself quite comfortable. Rather than troubleshoot the entire system, I took a chance on buying a new heated left grip, which is what normally goes bad. $226 on eBay for a brand new OEM unit straight from the Land of The Rising Sun. What happens is the heater mesh inside breaks from people using too much torque on that grip to get the bike on the center stand, instead of mostly using the seat handle. I believe it broke in summer of 2020 when I had my bike in for service, but I can't prove it. But it all worked prior. The exterior of my original grip looks rough and was rotated way out of position putting strain on the power cable. Unfortunately the Honda heater system is way over-engineered and when one component goes out, the whole system goes out. The troubleshooting procedure is about 8 pages in the service manual, and also requires disassembly of the trunk and left saddlebag, because that's where the heater control box is and the main wiring connector. So dumb. Anyway, I am just going to install the new heated left grip and give it a try. Part of the engineering of this nightmare has to do with the operation if it is above a certain outside temperature and the air intake reporting, toggling ON/OFF from the main ECM. So if YOU happen to be chilly and want heat, you won't get it if the system says it is too warm out. I don't recall what the cutoff is... 62F? 64F? Most heated grip and seat systems are simply heater elements with a rheostat in series connected through a fuse to the battery that you can turn on and as high as you want at will. Simple. Not this. There are also thermistors on the seat heaters so they shut off if they get "too hot." 🙄

I have these Kuryakyn ISO Grips on order from Wingstuff. They are clamshell type covers that go right over the OEM grips. My old riding buddy had them on his Goldwing and he loved them. The heat transfer is superb. I want them to protect the grip heaters from future damage. $161.99 with no sales tax (Ha Ha fuck you Kommiecticut!) and free shipping.

 

OMG!!! She Was Hot AF

Whom you may ask? Why the gorgeous and super sweet 19 year old Irish redhead "Sexy Kitty" I had as a patient in my ambulance on Halloween night. She had been traveling through town on the interstate to an out of state Halloween party and began having an asthma attack while driving. She got off the highway to seek medical attention, however she instead found herself traveling on a dark state road in the middle of nowhere. She finally stopped on the side of the road and called 911. When I approached her car to talk to her.... HOLY SHIT!! look what she's wearing. Black stiletto ankle boots, fishnet stockings, a tiny black short skirt, sporting a bare midriff, a small black top with spaghetti straps, and of course... the cat ears on her head and a round black spot on the tip of her nose. I won't go into the details of her physical attributes, but it suffices to say she was a well put together young woman. She was very sweet and outgoing and so nice to me as well. She had tried to use her rescue inhaler but found no relief. Thankfully, she was not in acute respiratory distress. When she exited her car I got to see her from head to toe. OMG... so smokin' hot! I wished I was 20 and single because I would have done my damnedest to date her. Alas, I am married and old enough to be her Grandpa, so I was just the charming old man that took care of her until the paramedic got on board and then I assisted the paramedic. We got her to the hospital and turned her over to the ER and wished her well.

I just returned from another call with that same paramedic, and told her I will remember that call until I die. She didn't get why.

 Uh.... maybe because I'm a guy?

Sigh. Back To Being Uninsured I Guess

Neither my wife's or my current employer provides health insurance. We went without when I got laid off in August of 2016 until September 2017. Thanks to Obongo care and Kommiecticut's full and eager participation, it was the the only option available to us. Unfortunately, because of what we earned, we would be on the hook for the full premium of around $2000 per month. This was for the cheapest and crappiest plan with shitty benefits and huge deductibles. We then had health insurance through my employer until I get let go again in January 2019. This time we went without until November 2021 when the tax subsidies were raised to 400% of the poverty level because of COVID, meaning we qualified for the subsidy making the monthly payment less than $300 a month. This lasted until recently with the gubmint shutdown and the end of those subsidies. With open enrollment coming up, we are looking at least $2600 per month for just my wife and I.... $31,200 per year for shitty health insurance we won't be able to use! Not happening. My wife said it before I did.... "I guess we're gonna go without again."

Luckily, neither of us have chronic health issues or kids. So like before, we will put away the money we would spend on health insurance premiums, and pay cash to go to the doctor. Funny thing about that, is how much LESS you pay in cash for a doctor visit compared to what they charge insurance. In case of a big medical bill, we'll just use the hospital's no interest payment plan. For meds, we'll go the CVS and use one of the consumer discount prescription cards. I hope that with all of us that can no longer afford to be in Obongo care, that piece of shit system collapses into irreversible financial ruin. Below is my multi-point plan to FIX the national health insurance problems once and for all. Too bad it will never happen because TPTB make way too much money off the insurance-medical-pharmaceutical industry.

1). Health insurance is no longer tied to employment.

Each time I was unemployed, I kept my homeowner's, life, auto, motorcycle, and umbrella insurance  because I paid the premiums. It was only my health insurance that could go to COBRA for only 18 months if I were willing to pay for it, or NOTHING. Minimal or no contracts. Don't like your coverage... CHANGE IT!

2). Remove ALL federal and state mandates and restrictions. This will:

A). Let me buy a policy across state lines from whatever company I want no matter where they are located.

B). No "enrollment period," change your carrier and/or plan WHEN YOU WANT just like I can with all my other insurance. 

C). Pay only for the coverage and services we want. At our age we won't be expecting any children, have no addictions, WILL NOT PAY FOR BABY MURDER, etc. A catastrophic only plan would work for us right now.

3). No restrictions like In/Out of Network. Have insurance, choose to use it or pay in cash to ANY provider for any service. This will:

A). Put the consumer in charge of prices for healthcare by returning market forces.

B). Force providers to charge REASONABLE fees for service, not the max they think insurance will pay. This is why healthcare costs skyrocket out of sight. Doctors charge more, insurance eventually pays more, then doctors charge more.... lather-rinse-repeat over and over, while we pay higher and higher premiums to cover these payments.

4). There is no reason for government control of healthcare or insurance other than normal business regulation and consumer protections.

 

The recommendation to folks like me at the moment is to sit tight and do nothing. The deadline to make changes in Kommiecticut is December 15th. My policy will automatically renew if I do nothing, and will be cancelled if I don't make payment by January 1st. I will try to keep my dental policy because it covers a lot and is only $70 a month for my wife and I. As much as I hate Obongo care, it is all I can have until I hit 65 and then get Medicare. My wife will get on it a year later. I was hoping to cruise along on this crappy plan until then.

 So until December 15th or the subsidies are renewed, I wait. 

Remembering October 23, 1983

And hearing the news that my childhood friend Stephen was killed by cowardly jihadi scum while he slept in his barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. We grew up together in the little town of Ellington. Went to school together and played baseball together. His Dad was our baseball coach. He was a man's man... and a real tough coach. There was a reason we won ball games. But IMHO, Stephen's death broke him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

It would have been bad enough had he been killed honorably on the field of battle, but this.... this cut deep and hard. Killed by a truck bomb while they slept. My wife was away for a funeral and I cried myself to sleep alone the night I had heard the news. 42 years removed and I am tearing up just typing this.

I was in the Army Reserves at the time, but did not wear my uniform to his funeral service. I wanted to be there as everyone else was; as a school mate, fellow athlete, and friend. We all stood and cried together at the cemetery for Stephen.

 

I wear this memorial patch for him on my biker vest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now you know the source of my deep hatred of those rag-headed goat fuckers and want them either expelled from My Country or dead.

Preferably dead.

EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.