cheesy

I ain't going down without a fight. Twice this week, I went roller skating. Even got into the 18 and above races. I sucked but I gave the kids a run for their money. For one of two laps. ? I pulled our snowshoes down from the garage attic in hopes of some real snow. The 2" of heavy wet crap that came down overnight doesn't count. It's only good for snowmen, snowball fights, and heart attacks. Planning a fat bike ride with my other retired buddies for next week. Looking at joining a gym and volunteering with a couple of local community groups just to keep from sitting on my a$$.

Where's the fun in that??

This is my third attempt at retirement. I think this one will stick after presenting facts to management that they didn't want to hear.? I may do an old guy part time job but only if it doesn't involve airports and hotel stays. As for cold weather riding, it's not bad with the right gear and heated grips.

New Years Day was my first full day of retirement. No longer my circus, no longer my monkeys, no longer my problem. I usually do a Polar Bear motorcycle ride on the first and yesterday was no different. Though the promised sunshine and warmer temps never happened. 31F, my a$$.

I'm glad you had a good time, keith. I'm heading to Maine tomorrow via Ontario and Quebec. I have been to Canada since before the pandemic and I've missed it.

The ball stud is fixed. The pic is pre paint, so it looks kind of ugly. The rig, less a drive shaft boot that was supposed to be here 3 days ago, is back together. As a bonus, there are no left over parts. It was late, and raining, when I wrapped things up last night, so that initial start up will be sometime after breakfast and Buster dogs' morning walk. If things work out, fingers crossed, I'll be spending the rest of the morning putting tools away.

This turned out to be a tad more expensive and time consuming than I expected. The only way to get replacement valve guides for a 2007 is to machine them myself. I could, but I don't have access to a lathe anymore. So, a grand later, I have a pair of late Gen 3 heads with bigger valves, umbrella seals, and redesigned valve springs. However, we ain't up and running yet. While putting the final touches on the right cylinder, we had an incident. The rear ball stud at the sidecar snapped off of the bike frame. One minute, I'm leaning over the tilted bike, installing the final exhaust stud. The next minute, I'm holding up 450lbs of bike with my hip, trying to fish my phone out of my pocket to call my wife to give me a hand. There are no replacement ball studs from IMZ as it's a weldment on the frame. Choices are a replacement frame or fix it yourself. I did locate a 2010 frame* in Ohio for a not unreasonable fee, but I decided to dust off my welding skills and try to fix it. Not the prettiest job in the world, but it's back together. While the bike and the sidecar are taking separate vacations, I'll hang the carbs and exhaust. The tank is also off, so I'll replace the throttle cables. * I'm considering getting that other frame, just in case.

We're getting used to it. I'm liking the 24-27 mpg. I'm also liking that it's not loaded with bells and whistles like my wife's Fiat in Jeep clothing. No heated seats, no heated steering wheel, no lane sense, no adaptive cruise control. That everything else is kind of, sort of linked via CAN BUS does make my eyelids twitch. I still have nightmares of the CAN BUS equipment my outfit built that didn't work when it was delivered. My daughter has a 19 F150 with the 3.5L Ecoboost and to my knowledge, she's had no issues. Yet. Her kids call it "Mom's Rocket". My other daughters' hubs has a 19 Ram 2500 with the 6.4 VVT and it's looking at possibly a 3rd engine. My Ram owning SIL's Dad wants to trade in his Silverado 1500 for another one but is dead set against the I4. Like me, he wants to see how those little engines hold up to towing in real life. As far as VVT in my diesel, I don't think so. I haven't found any reference to it, but I haven't looked that hard either.

My other half decided we needed a bigger travel trailer. I hemmed and hawed but finally gave in. My worry was that the Chevy, with its 4.8L engine wouldn't be happy. I hate it when I'm right and it's gonna be expensive. The Chevy did it, sort of, but struggled. It continually shifted between 2nd and 3rd, annoying me to no end, and delivered 8 mpg in the process. The other half wasn't going to downsize her new hotel room on wheels, so we needed a different truck. I wanted to go with a Ram because I can get a break with my Dads' Chrysler Employee Family discount, but I was still looking at north of $70K. Even my Dad suggested I look at used. So I did. I found this cherry 2020 F150 XLT with the 3.0L v6 diesel. It's not loaded but has exactly what I wanted on it, which was the diesel, 4wd, and a heavy duty towing package. The engine is down about 30 hp from the Chevy but has over 150 ft-lbs more torque. It could give the Chevy a run for its money in the 1/4 mile. I'm really impressed with the mileage. Just running around, it's turning 26 mpg. That's on par with the other half's Jeep Renegade. The best the Chevy ever did was 20. We won't talk about what my Wrangler does to a tank of fuel. Trailing is done for the year, but we do have a road trip planned for Maine, via Ontario and Quebec, next month. We were planning on taking the Renegade, but we'll probably end up taking the Ford. It's quieter and more comfortable.

Back in August, I gave into my other half's whining about our pop up camper being too 'rustic' for her. Cramped, no potty, no A/C. So, we bought this hotel room on wheels. It had everything she wanted in it. Sigh. As we are handing over the cash, I casually mention that "I hope we don't have to buy a new truck to pull it." Yeah, we did. The 4.8L/292ci v8 in the Chevy was a bit lacking. It pulled it, but the 8/9 mpg and the constant shifting between 2nd and 3rd was annoying to me. I cringed every time it dropped into 2nd and the tach read 4500 rpm. I got her to agree to getting a different truck. I wanted a new Ram because I can still use my Dad's Chrysler Employee Family Discount. It does save a few bucks but I choked at the out the door price even with the discount. I talked to my Dad about it and he even said that he really couldn't recommend this generation of Ram trucks and to look at used. To make a long story short, we bought this 2020 Ford F150 XLT with the 3.0L/183ci V6 Powerstroke engine. Geez, it sips fuel. Quiet, comfortable, and even being an XLT, not overloaded with tech. It's about 30 hp down on the Chevy but with 155 lbs-ft more torque. And it does scoot. I've dealt with Cat, Duetz, Hatz, John Deere, Kohler, and Lambordini diesels for the past 30 years, this shouldn't be any different.

It's engine repair time for the Ural 38,000 miles. That's a Bazillion miles in Ural years. Our town had its annual three day drunk festival parade a few weeks ago. I was in the parade with the local ABATE chapter. It was a beastly hot afternoon and the parade pace was SLOOOW. There were eight bikes in our group and four, including me, dropped out due to overheating. I rode a couple hundred miles after the overheating incident with no problems, until last Saturday. Mrs. Cheesy and I had run a couple errands on the bike when we suddenly lost power on the way home. At first I thought maybe a bad plug, coil, or Hall Sensor. No such luck. I did a compression test and got 60 psi on the left side and 86 on the right. Minimum should be in the neighborhood of 110 psi. Unlike a lot of stuff, the Ural is designed to be repaired by the owner. Removing the left jug is seven nuts(valve cover, exhaust pipe, cyl. head) and a yank. The right side is a bit more complicated. Need to remove the two upper bolts from the sidecar struts, then lean the bike to the left to pull the head. I think I spent more time looking for the tools I'd just set down than taking this apart. Diagnoses are two burned valves and effed up valve guides. Piston clearance and cylinder taper are within spec, so that's a few bucks saved. New valves, guides, seals, and rings are on order. Hopefully I will be back up and running in time for some fall weather riding. At least I have my old 45 year old Honda to fall back on.

I saw that little Nissan on a car hauler a couple days ago and Fiat was my thought, too. Kinda cute.

Bump. This followed me home Monday. Dyno Crestline tandem. Mrs. Cheesy is getting a bit soft and doesn't want to ride her own bike anymore. TBT, her bike hasn't turned a wheel in 10 years.? So, anyway, after a bit of service and new tires, we'll hit the roads in the neighborhood and she can be a backseat driver.

Hauled this one to The Chicago Tweed Ride yesterday. We did a crash and I lost a tiny amount of skin. There were all kinds of restored British and American bikes. This was my favorite. A mostly original 1949 Raleigh Clubman.

Same here, though it was in the grade school cafeteria in Wisconsin. I was already a Weblos and on my way out by the time our troop held one. As I had to look up how to spell Weblos, all I remember about my car was that it was green. We had girls, so it was Brownies and cookie sales.

I finished up this beastie Saturday and took it on a short maiden ride yesterday. It's a seventies something 23" Raleigh Sports frame with a bunch of stuff from other Raleigh's from the same or earlier periods, along with some newer bits and some French Lyotard Berthet pedals. The 23" frames are kind of hard to come by as most Raleigh Sports frames were 21". The Sports 3 speeds were also geared really high, usually with a 46 or 48 tooth ring up front and an 18 tooth cog in the rear. 3rd gear with that set up was akin to a racers gear and a bear to push. I put a 22 tooth cog on the rear that gives a more civilized 3rd gear for old pharts. I need to level the rear rack, it looked okay when the bike was on the repair stand. Not so in real life. Also need to tighten up a bit on the suspension stem and it will be ready for the Lake Pepin 3 Speed Tour next month. www.3speedtour.com I hope I will be.

I had a good time at the bike show yesterday. When it's a nice February day in N. Illannoy, you throw caution to the wind, bundle up, and break out the the motorized bikes and trikes. There was a lot of eye candy to see. Like our old vehicles or my weird a$$ motorcycle, sometimes the different gets all the attention. The Tetanus Express turned out to be one of the stars of the show. I got asked a million questions about how I built the 2 speed fixed gear hub, why the MTB rims, what kind of seat bag, it's age, why the name. The guy putting on the gig did a video interview with me about the rig and with the guy who owns the curved tube Schwinn Paramount behind the Tetanus Express. Looking forward to next year.

I, to my wife's' chagrin, practice N+1 when it comes to bicycles and motorcycles. N equals how many you have and 1 equals how many you need. My Dad taught me how. He had a bunch of snowmobiles. At 89, he's down to one.

I'm at around 25 bikes. My track bike has neither fender or chain guard, but most of the internal gear hub bikes have chain guards. Because I commuted year round in N. Illannoy, all but four bikes have fenders. I hated having the 'skunk stripe' up back. A couple of the commuters even have mud flap extensions on the fenders to keep the slush snot off my feet during the winter months. I've never participated in a bicycle show, either, so I'll see how it goes. I do know there will be some pristine high end road bikes displayed by the host and the others that will have me wiping drool off my chin. As far as awkward, 'Eye of the Beholder'. The Tetanus Express was built as test bed for the 2 speed fixed gear hub and not to look good. It became a workhorse commuter/alley cat racer. At the time I built it, Sun had not yet released their CR-18 rim in EA3 size(British 26x1 3/8). I now have a set of those on my 1968 Raleigh Superbe. Big improvement in speed and handling. But, and there is always a but, the choice of good tires in EA3 is limited. In 590 size, MTB 26", there is an almost unlimited choice. I run Nashbar street slicks on The Tetanus Express, 26x1 1/4 at 85psi.

I'm getting two bikes ready for a local bicycle show this coming Saturday. This is my 1990 Miyata 600GT I rode this in the 1991 running of Paris-Brest-Paris, one about 700 Americans participating. I finished the 1200km slog fifth from last. Missed turns added about 200km to the route. Other than the ooky bar tape, rear rack and the Flex-Stem, it's as I rode it 32 years ago. The other is this abomination. It's a highly modified early sixities Dunelt Sports, same as the ubiquitous Raleigh Sports, save for the fork crown. I pulled it from a dumpster with no wheels or handlebars. The wheels are 26" MTB rims, which are a smaller diameter than the British 26x 1 3/8, which in turn, are smaller in diameter than Schwinn 26 x 1 3/8. Gotta love bicycle tire size lack of standards. Anywho, this bike began my foray into multi speed fixed gear hubs. The rear hub is an old Sturmey Archer AW 3 speed converted to 2 speed fixed gear. My first hub failed spectacularly while rolling down my driveway. Which was at the top of a hill. And I had not yet fit brakes. The second drawing board visit resulted in what's on here now. That was back in 05. I commuted to work for 8 years and ran several Alley Cats on it while in my early fifties. Even though I had my butt handed to me in every race, I had a blast. I've racked up about 10,000 miles on the hub with nary a problem. That's not to say I haven't had problems with the bike. There have been more than a couple of impressive dismounts. Most memorable was a 22mph downhill endo that damaged both of us. Because of the considerable amount of, ummmm, 'patina' on the frame, one of my buddies said he might end up with Tetanus if he touched it. Hence, it's been known as 'The Tetanus Express' ever since.

Another Polar Bear ride in the books. It was anything but Polar. Mid forties, damp, and foggy. So foggy that I took very few pics this year. I did it somewhat differently this year and met up with another couple for a late breakfast at a joint halfway between our respective homes. I'm the folliclly challenged guy. Mary and Casey to my left and their 2017 Ural behind mine. Casey and I have been slowly working to have a get together with other Chi-town area Ural owners.

Not my finest moment. Stuck in my own front yard

Yesterday was Ural weather. I rode north to have lunch with my old boss and a coworker. I was behind a semi on the way back home. Not much choice with drafting the semi. These rigs aren't the most powerful things on the road and the headwinds were brutal.

I didn't take a decent photo of the outside of the DeSoto this year but how about a pic with one of my favorite passengers, Buster, in the back seat.

It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. The DuKane* ABATE Chapter has one a bit earlier in the year where I live. I may give that one a shot next year. *Dupage and Kane counties