dwerbil wrote:Hey forum rally airheaders.....a week from tonight we'll be at Ken's bunker under the parachute! Here's a salute to good weather and everyone having a safe ride/drive to Ken's digs!
And I'm looking forward to it. It's been too long.
I'll be going shopping for vittles and various liquids soon. One thing I've put in place already is to order barbequed beef and chicken, with sides of smoked cabbage, spiced corn, and (what else) beans for the Saturday evening feed.
It's coming from a small biker saloon and restaurant (as they bill themselves) on the way to Heavener, OK. (About 17 mile from my place, up and over the scenic drive, and then hanging a left toward Heavener) My neighbor Ingrid highly recommended it to me but I never made it there. But my friend Sarah from Dallas was visiting me and we needed nourishment, so I suggested we try it. Naturally(?) we ordered BBQ. It was unexpectedly good. After a bit Sarah suggested that I have them cater the Saturday meal. In my usual manner I paid little attention. (Unfortunately?) She knows me well and thinks (wrongly) that I have a bit of a stubborn streak. But with a belly full of BBQ and a smile on my face I succumbed and paid more attention to her suggestion. Then she had another idea, that in my satisfied stupor I paid attention to. Why not see if I could hire Hazel, my friend and neighbor, to help out with handling the meal and such. She suggested that this would free me from a lot of the meal "duties" and enable me to spend more time doing what I'm much better at, specifically BSing, displaying my arcane knowledge, and othewise entertaining the captive audience. She didn't actually use those exact words, but that's what she meant.
The couple who own the bar are pretty neat people. Thy are retired and bought the saloon. They are very laid back, obviously enjoying their venture. The place is open only on Fridays Saturdays and Sundays which is pretty smart I think. When Sarah and I were there, Friday, we were the only customers. I have seen lots of Harleys parked outside on the Weekend though. The guy owns a "T" bucket rod which he had pulled out of the garage. I naturally lusted over it, though it is nothing I would own. I'm already neglecting my airhead projects too much and I would never get around to paying attention to the T bucket. But I was able to muster a fantasy driving it along the Talimena drive with a svelte young thing at my side, hanging on my every word.
During the rally I plan to hit up a couple of you guys to help me extract a couple motrocycles from the back of my shop for transport to my place in Boise. One is a '57 Triumph 650cc Thunderbird which was my dad's bike and which was essentially turned over to me upon becoming 16 and getting my driver's license. I'm thinking there will be somebody in the Boise area who works with the old British bikes and can give the engine a much needed overhaul. I'm possibly capable of doing the overhaul (farming out any jobs that are daunting such as replacing the L/H crankshaft end) but this summer is going to be pretty much busy getting the new shop in order and actually ready to do something in. I am soooo looking forward to hearing it run again with those (uncapped) Bates megaphones. It is simply the sweetest sound that ever came from a vertical twin. Of course I may not be totally objective.
The other bike I want to extract is my '78 Triumph T140E Bonneville. It actually ran well when I put it away years ago and after the Thunderbird is up and running I may pay some attention to it. Meanwhile it will nice to look at in the Gathering Room of the shop. (I refuse to call it a "Man Cave" and will take the beer out of the hand of the person who calls it that.)
I may also extract my '78 R100S Touring for a future trip to Boise. For those who havent read or paid attention to my previous ramblings about it, the bike was a Butler & Smith promotional special which they imported as a nekkid S bike and then put on a color matching (smoke red) Luftmeister fairing. This airhead is perhaps my nicest being very low mileage and not too far from pristine (or so I remember. My plan for it is to buy a new S fairing and have it painted smoke red and then reconvert it to a S bike as God and BMW intended it to be.
And that's all I have to say for now. I'm really looking forward to renewing acquaintences at the rally and making a few new ones.
Ken
