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mounting a gps and powering it up sprocket and chain replacement and air filter cleaning but also more involved things like water pump seals fuel pump replacement stator replacement and valve clearance adjustment the bike never let me down in all those miles i always rode with a full suit helmet gloves boots back knee hip and shoulder armor i never could understand why people would ride without all that protective gear i felt very unsafe without any piece of it even though i was a very conservative rider i decided to sell the bike so i posted an ad on facebook marketplace and entertained a few lookers a young fellow came along who bought it despite the high mileage seeing that it had been well maintained i gave him all my spare parts some tools and extra fluids i think his intent was to immediately resell it at a profit i m sure he hoped so i am sans bike now the place in the garage that it occupied is now used for access to my workbench i am selling off the rest of my riding gear my hippo hands for winter comfort some leather riding suits rain gear and some other small items fittingly my last ride took place on august 8 2023 to whitewater falls and the bad creek overlook on lake jocassee i say fittingly because i made more trips to whitewater falls than anywhere else the road sc 130 north from sc 11 contains a nice mix of curves that are not too challenging and are quite enjoyable ______________ i may occasionally make additional posting here probably about current events or something new about motorcycling if you are interested look over the list of topics on the left side of the screen you can also search for keywords using the search box ______________ keep in touch by leaving comments on postings good riding to you all posted by bucky at 8 31 pm no comments labels age conclusion end goodbye tuesday july 4 2023 july 4 read through this very important posting it will only take a few minutes today is a great day in the history of the united states but we may not thoroughly understand its meaning this article from the heritage foundation blog explains america the great beacon of liberty posted by israel ortega on july 2 2011 the signing of the declaration of independence was a glorious day for our country s history with a stroke of a pen our founders sealed an enduring document representing the triumph of liberty over tyranny and yet centuries after this one of the most important events in our country s history it s easy to gloss over the fourth of july as just another holiday to appreciate why our independence from the british crown is not only a cause worth celebrating but also defending we must remember what our founding fathers fought and died for as the history books tell us our country s struggle for independence was not easy besides being clearly outnumbered and lacking an organized army the world looked skeptically at our cause in a world where kingdoms and monarchies were the norm the idea that governments must derive their just powers from the consent of the governed was indeed revolutionary in short the prevailing wisdom was that mankind could not govern itself and yet thousands upon thousands of american colonists joined the fight for independence despite the seemingly insurmountable odds what compelled so many to fight knowing that they could easily perish against the greatest naval power of the day perhaps one of the most revealing answers to this question was given by captain levi preston a revolutionary war veteran decades after the fight for independence in historian matthew spalding s book why we still hold these truths we learn that captain preston was not motivated to fight because of the stamp act or after reading the writings of john locke instead captain scott responded what we meant in going for those redcoats was this we always had governed ourselves and we always meant to they didn t mean we should this pithy but powerful sentiment conveys man s strong simple desire to live free and helps explain why we have always been skeptical of being told what to do of course summoning the will to fight is one thing but agreeing to tough it out when the surroundings are bleak is a distinctly different proposition and yet that s precisely what every soldier in the revolutionary army did as they faced the elements lost limbs shed blood and went for days without food all for the cause of independence and freedom as thomas paine so eloquently put it these are the times that try men s souls and in one of the most remarkable expressions of blind determination and bravery the man who would later become our first president would lead an expedition on the choppy and icy waters of the delaware river to capture and kill nearly 1 000 hessians in the battle of trenton this scene was far removed from the hot and humid assembly room in philadelphia where our founding father s first gathered to sign the declaration of independence on that fourth day of july 1776 we celebrate this day and not other decisive days in our country s fight for independence and yet they are no less significant the ideas embodied in the declaration of independence are worth celebrating and defending particularly today all around us we are witnessing an insidious encroachment on our liberties by an ever more intrusive and far reaching federal government that promises us the world on this fourth of july let s pause to reflect on our country s anniversary of independence but also its struggle and let us remember that at that heart of what makes our country is exceptional is our country s founding rooted in the triumph of liberty over tyranny israel ortega is the editor of heritage libertad the spanish language page of the heritage foundation here is the lesson for today our current political leaders have mostly forgotten how our country was formed and why it is the very best place to live for everyone who lives here our country was founded on individual freedoms and the rule of law sadly leftists have ruined everything that they have touched free speech right to bear arms schools universities sexuality marriage sports religion legal system immigration healthcare medicine politicized television radio social media energy well read it here from someone who can state it far better than i fight the leftists or we will further lose our great freedoms enjoy your holiday and your precious but dwindling freedom posted by bucky at 10 42 am no comments sunday september 18 2022 i m still around if you have been wondering where i went i am still alive and kicking i just have had so much going on that i have not had nearly enough time to ride retirement can be like that i m told it almost seems that i am busier now than when i was still working now some eight years ago mostly i have been riding on familiar roads to favorite places not too far from home the south carolina tag games on the advrider forum are fairly frequent places where i participate it is sometimes a challenge to find the tags either in the entire state of south carolina or just in the upstate if you are in the area join in the fun enter advrider sc tag o rama into your search engine and you should find both sc tag games i hope to see you on the road soon posted by bucky at 8 28 pm no comments labels tag game tuesday january 26 2021 back in the saddle after a too long break i went for a ride on my ninja earlier this week i had not been out for more than five weeks what was i doing you might ask well there was christmas putting up and taking down decorations and having family in also having fun with the presents i gave and received no coal in my stocking this year then there was the cold and wet weather that usually doesn t bother me but i must be getting old or something cause i felt more like staying in than bundling up for the cold and i don t ride when it is wet unless i am caught in it i also went for several hikes with friends and without into the mountains and foothills of the blue ridge escarpment not far north of where i live along this escarpment the high blue ridge mountains drop dramatically to the piedmont foot of the mountains areas in some places the drop is more than 3 000 feet and is quite a sight to see the escarpment is why there are so many twisty mountain roads near here this past monday the weather was about 40 degrees in the morning and the sky was almost devoid of clouds so i ventured forth i dressed for the weather as i usually do i have this pretty much down pat these days so i wasn t cold for the most part my bike fires right up after its hiatus and it warms up and runs without flaw i like that it having covered almost 75 000 miles it runs as it did when i bought it with a thousand miles on the clock there have only been a few mechanical issues all able to be wrenched on by me in my garage fortunately i have been able to get home each time something went wring though the fuel pump failing was a close one requiring me to limp back to the paddock today i go from home in easley to nearby pickens south carolina via a neat little curvy passage called rice road it parallels sc 8 but is much more fun then i go to the west end of town onto shady grove road and wind my way to sc 133 a buddy says there is a place to hike just south of sc 11 and across the road from keowee toxaway state park so i mark the spot in my memory as i pass by for a future time out as i motor along i find that i have lost a little of my skill in curves and in coordinating shifts this comes back pretty quickly though and feel as confident as i did before the five week pause in the action i have read about and talked to some other riders who have the same problem of deteriorating skills after an interruption of a few weeks those who live where winter prevents riding must surely have the most trouble with this fortunately the upstate of south carolina has a climate where it is possible to ride almost all winter long i do note that the cold makes my clutch cable a little stiffer than usual but nothing else seems much different from the way it is in warmer weather i turn left on south carolina route 11 which is the almost straight road that makes it easy to go from east to west along here i stop for a break in the picnic area at keowee toxaway state park i forget to turn off my gopro so almost the whole thing is documented back out to sc 11 you have to pay attention to the speed limit on this road because they patrol quite frequently sometimes on motorcycles i putter along toward the west to sc 130 and turn right this road is mostly sweepers and is one of my favorites not too challenging but enough so that it is fun to ride there is little traffic today i climb a bit in elevation here the temperature is slightly cooler and i see that there is snow in the grass along the road in the shady places it was a little below freezing over night so there could be ice on the road but i don t see any though i am careful just in case i cross into north carolina and almost immediately turn into the whitewater falls parking lot the falls is one of my favorite places to ride because of the nice curves the generally good road surface and the falls that is a nice place to look at he scenery after a half mile walk from the parking lot the falls parking lot has another place to take a break and they have very nice motorcycle rider hand warmers in their restrooms there are at least three ways to use these hand warmers on your gloved hands on your ungloved hands and blowing into your gloves before you put them back on i use methods two and three i can t resist taking a picture of my ride as i come out again note that i have installed my fleece lined hippo hands for the winter over my heated grips so my tender little hands don t get cold the combination of these two make it comfortable to ride down to about freezing temperatures i start up and go just a short distance south and turn into the bad creek pumped storage facility access road near the end just before the gate that keeps you from continuing down to the powerhouse don t be riding too fast the gate is around a blind curve the overlook onto lake jocassee provides a nice place to view lower whitewater falls and a good part of the lake i linger for a few minutes take a few pictures then go i feel daring today so i ride right off the curb from the sidewalk instead of going back to the ramp from the parking lot once i reach sc 130 i turn south again then after a short distance turn off to the right onto the wigington byway this is a short road with a nice surprise a scenic overlook onto lake jocassee after the requisite pictures of the bike and the view i head back on the byway to sc 130 again i turn right and again enjoy going through the sweet sweepers again without much traffic to interfere with my ride i turn left on sc 11 and go all the way to us 178 i turn right and ride back to pickens then onto rice road again and home there is one other two wheeled soul out today the only one i have seen we pass one another on this stretch he gives a hearty wave to me as we pass i like that i don t know him and will likely never meet him but i fancy the idea of being a part of a group who doesn t necessarily wait for perfect riding conditions to enjoy the roads by the way his bike looks strange to me in the photo it almost looks like a naked sportbike with a chopper front fork arrangement maybe it is the distortion caused by the gopro lens or maybe he is a motorcycle innovator before i get home i take a few minutes to do some low speed turns in a cul de sac nearby and some lane swerves on the road back home i often do this to help keep my balance and maneuvering skills sharper the slow speed turns also help with clutch feathering and rear brake control i reach home look at my trip odometer and find that i have ridden 111 miles today and it feels good to have been out after so long a break here is a map of the ride from home to the furthest points of interest click on this link for the online map mental note to bucky don t wait so long to ride again it has been too long posted by bucky at 12 25 pm 1 comment labels bad creek cold sweepers whitewater falls wigington byway friday september 11 2020 never foget what they did to us even with all the current unrest and disruption to our lives the people who attacked us nineteen years ago still want to destroy us they may even be behind some of the current troubles therefore we must never forget what islamist terrorists did to us in 2001 if you have forgotten or were too young to remember the devastation on our own soil of the 9 11 attacks look here for a short review the blood shed by over 3000 people is not visible in the photos not one of the five masterminds of the 9 11 attack have been brought to justice their trial is set for 2021 how is it possible that it could take 20 years to bring them to trial we must stand strong against these terrorists and our sympathetic politicians forever and always lest the freedom of this greatest coun...