tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88979158488716279572024-03-05T15:32:31.920-08:00Motorcycle and Scooter TalkAt Kano's Coffee HouseKanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.comBlogger122125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-78879495007628279452010-04-02T03:02:00.000-07:002010-04-02T03:23:52.264-07:00Hello Again My Friends!So, I'm back and this time with a decent computer and fancy broadband internet connection. Sorry to all of you that's been a wonderin what's going on. Everything is fine except one small (well, ok, big) difference. I don't have a motorcycle anymore. Not yet anyway. Financial difficulties brought me to the point where I couldn't justify keeping my bike anymore. She had to go. But as it turns out, it's been a blessing in disguise. You see, I've made some big time changes in my life and for the better. I've re-ordered my priorities. More on that another day. <br /><br />For now, I'm in the process of cleaning out those millions of spam comments. That will take some time and until I get them all deleted please don't click on any of those anonymous comments. I've temporarily blocked new comments and hope to restore that capability soon. Patience my friends. <br /><br />I've eliminated all those other blogs I was doing before the great computer meltdown of Oct. 08. Maybe I'll let this one go too or I may evolve it into something new, exciting, but definitely different than it was before. I still love bikes and aim to get another one some day, maybe all electric this time! <br /><br />So, if I decide to continue this blog it will be different but I will for sure keep some motorcycle and scooter related talk going.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-81598422089323390692008-10-28T09:31:00.000-07:002008-10-30T08:29:52.290-07:00A Motorcycle Ride Up to Haunted Hill<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1i1YLmaHYHIcvyo6xiNid49cXxTDPN2MQvgDpHhay4mfbpxZ12e7hc4Xl_sxrE12EdIKy50TXPWVN2grEgRl3aWWmmTMaCSgd-XyojagVOBHfgweSFPHMCxjpHw00VcjEGmFnmpzf-RAC/s1600-h/Pictures+480.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1i1YLmaHYHIcvyo6xiNid49cXxTDPN2MQvgDpHhay4mfbpxZ12e7hc4Xl_sxrE12EdIKy50TXPWVN2grEgRl3aWWmmTMaCSgd-XyojagVOBHfgweSFPHMCxjpHw00VcjEGmFnmpzf-RAC/s400/Pictures+480.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262264144721600402" /></a><br /><strong>Just in time for Halloween, Kano comes up with a spooky account of his motorcycle ride into the realm of the supernatural:</strong><br /><br />It was an October day typical for around here. Cool and crisp as fresh apple cider, sunshine, but with threatening clouds looming in the distance. In other words; a perfect day for a motorcycle ride, or so I thought.<br /><br />Aiming my Sportster east towards the foothills of the mountains, I was thinking there would be plenty of fall color to see up there.<br /><br />I rode the hilly back roads for awhile before turning back towards home, a light wind began to get gusty, the clouds got darker, and daylight itself was failing.<br /><br />Then on the top of a rise an old wooden church building surrounded by a cemetery came into view. I remembered my uncle was buried there a few years back and decided this would be an opportunity to pay my respects before heading home.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGK0QRnF9ScXlkRMudetVE12qtqyF4ZqZd2n0Fhe5otgI9hLnhDfy_aRDf5BJpEJgDYNJvQYdXJ1DSUdQMrTJ7NTkTp__pKAB_ifGUDIYwj0b5G8sFsVT4UV-kKt6z9JskCoZ9xwobxocj/s1600-h/Pictures+461.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGK0QRnF9ScXlkRMudetVE12qtqyF4ZqZd2n0Fhe5otgI9hLnhDfy_aRDf5BJpEJgDYNJvQYdXJ1DSUdQMrTJ7NTkTp__pKAB_ifGUDIYwj0b5G8sFsVT4UV-kKt6z9JskCoZ9xwobxocj/s400/Pictures+461.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262264148881949602" /></a><br />After stopping in front of the church, I dismounted the bike. Being a bit of an "old building buff" I grabbed my camera and climbed the steps up to the church. There was no one around, living that is, and the door was slightly ajar. I couldn't resist taking a peek inside.<br /><br />A plaque by the door described the church and cemetery: Miller Cemetery was established in 1860. Miller Church, built in 1882 with its unique sloped floor identified it as a "burying church". The pews came from an older church in the area that was built in 1853.<br /><br />Entering the building I noted no light switch or fixtures, apparently electricity had never been installed. This was a single purpose church, a last stop before the grave.<br /><br />The wooden floor worn and weakened by many footsteps over the years creaked as I walked the aisle towards the back end of the room. I was looking for a good angle to take a picture. The air felt heavy, almost stifling, then it suddenly turned cold.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrr_hGBTsd521uiVfTeH0HnVHvc3fiRAUK5gg8YdNdP5wcd6APiojbQgq_CUY1xJjFVAHOPxDkw92OB5rJ8Vn_1hAOVWnywHss14RAk22ibQAMUXveY1uFTSkfoqeO6sirwSUt-ACXyun/s1600-h/Pictures+467.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrr_hGBTsd521uiVfTeH0HnVHvc3fiRAUK5gg8YdNdP5wcd6APiojbQgq_CUY1xJjFVAHOPxDkw92OB5rJ8Vn_1hAOVWnywHss14RAk22ibQAMUXveY1uFTSkfoqeO6sirwSUt-ACXyun/s400/Pictures+467.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262264155800611762" /></a><br />The hair on the back of my neck bristled. I had a dreadful sense that someone, or something was watching me. A sudden but silent movement in the periphery of my vision to the left caused me to gasp as I turned towards the source. I relaxed a little, relieved that nothing was there. Just an overactive imagination I thought. As I once again looked towards the front of the room a dark human shaped shadow darted across the front front wall and was gone in an instant.<br /><br />Seriously creeped-out at this point, just wanting to get the heck out of there, I took a quick snapshot with the camera aimed at the place where the shadow had just been. Making a hasty exit seemed the prudent thing to do. <br /><br />I was relieved to be outside in the fresh air once again. Once back on my bike I hit the starter button, the engine didn't catch. Being in such a hurry I had forgotten to turn the kill switch back into the on position which delayed my departure by moments that seemed like hours. Then I quickly sent my motorcycle through all the gears as I headed down the hill and away from the burying church and west towards the setting sun. <br /><br /><br />Uncle Bill would have to wait for another time for a visit from me. Next time though I think I will skip looking around the church. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVVvkIVS8TwqFMo3i45_2GMpbWxoe78Zntfk3KL8UOd-T4sjp8rMS-5Eq0Ntea1G2POBjxkrGYssTSzSXUgcEVtDgOx1XxwZOCQ97_MuZG2xZk_BMLvOXjjV1QzBDduXUxlA2GrhhQLnk/s1600-h/orb.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 253px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzVVvkIVS8TwqFMo3i45_2GMpbWxoe78Zntfk3KL8UOd-T4sjp8rMS-5Eq0Ntea1G2POBjxkrGYssTSzSXUgcEVtDgOx1XxwZOCQ97_MuZG2xZk_BMLvOXjjV1QzBDduXUxlA2GrhhQLnk/s400/orb.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5262264167462562226" /></a><br />Safely back home I downloaded the photos from my camera onto the computer. I was astonished to see that one of the pictures appeared to have captured the source of my fright. An orb clearly floated in the front of the room where I saw the shadow. When I was on the scene I didn't see the orb but my camera did.<br /><br />I went to a ghost site on the internet and sure enough, plenty of similar "orb" pictures were there to see, looking hauntingly familiar to my photo. It seems that according to the website, ghosts sometimes can be captured on digital cameras and that the orbs are the energy of formerly living beings.<br /><br />I thought about alternative explanations for the appearance of the orb. But there were none. I didn't use a flash when I took the picture, and there was no apparent source of direct or reflected light into my lens. Could it be I had captured an image of a real apparition? I'll let you be the judge. Happy Halloween! <br /><br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/KanosCoffeeHouse" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</a></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=kanscofhou-20&o=1&p=42&l=ur1&category=automotive&banner=07XN66RTCYTSR266F6G2&f=ifr" width="234" height="60" scrolling="no" border="0" marginwidth="0" style="border:none;" frameborder="0"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-1689842752686711642008-10-20T08:48:00.000-07:002008-10-20T09:31:03.643-07:00He Did It! A Honda Rebel Run - Las Vegas To N. Carolina & Back!Our friend Ken over at <em><a href="http://razorsedge2112.blogspot.com/">Walk the Razor's Edge</a></em> which you heard about in <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/09/leaving-today-6000-mile-moto-odyssey-on.html">one of my previous posts</a> finished his ride for charity on his Honda Rebel 250. He's now safely back home in Las Vegas after a 21 day journey covering a distance of 5,836 miles. And he did it to help support the <a href="http://ncadv.org/">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence</a>. Good job Ken and congratulations!<br /><br />And speaking of charity, Pro Italia, a California Ducati dealer is sponsoring a raffle to help support the <a href="http://www.rettsyndrome.org/">International Rett Syndrome Foundation</a>. Anyone can purchase online a $25.00 raffle ticket (or 5 for $100.00). First prize is a 2009 Ducati Monster 696. Second prize is a $550.00 "America" leather jacket from Vanson.<br /><br />The deadline for purchasing tickets is October 24th and the winners will be announced on October 26th, so better hurry!<br /><br /><a href="http://store.proitalia.com/irsf696raffle.html">Purchase Tickets Online</a><br />Questions? Phone 818-249-5707 or <a href="http://www.proitalia.com">sales@proitalia.com </a><br /><br /><a href="http://ncadv.org/">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)</a><br /><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/KanosCoffeeHouse" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</a></p><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><br /><a href="http://foxcreekleather.directtrack.com/z/2648/CD357/"><img src="http://foxcreekleather.directtrack.com/42/357/2648/" alt="" border="0"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-8600162987982910582008-10-10T10:42:00.000-07:002008-10-16T09:36:16.470-07:00Out Beyond the Noise is Music <strong>Have you lost your job? Can't pay the mortgage? Is life getting you down? How about the war, global warming, melting icecaps, and the economy? Kano has something to say about that in this "Zen-like" post:</strong> <br /><br />I arrived home from work feeling refreshed after riding my motorcycle through the foggy brisk air of a fine autumn morning. I work at night and sleep during the day, a mockery of everything my body says is normal.<br /><br />But in any case I was feeling good, and then I walked through the door of my house.<br /><br />Waiting for me at the table was yesterday's mail, a pile of bills. After living off of credit cards for all too long, the proverbial chickens had come home to roost. I pushed the stack aside in no mood to look. Sipping on a steaming cup of tea I contemplated the recent news from my boss that no more overtime will be available at work. I had been depending on the extra hours to help make ends meet.<br /><br />Wandering into the other room I listened for a moment to the TV with its news of the global economic collapse and government bailouts at the taxpayer's expense. Then they played a clip of the CEO of the now bankrupt Lehman Brothers. He was bullshitting his way through congressional questions on why he made millions while his corporation was going down in flames and why he gave out millions in perks to his top executives <em>after</em> asking the government for help.<br /><br />With a click of the TV remote the noise was gone and I returned to my tea at the table. Then my wife joined me with more financial news; my son needs braces and wants a cell phone because he says "all the other kids have one". My daughters need money for picture day at school and one of them needs a Doctor's appointment. I'm also informed that the car is nearly out of gas and we need to pick up a gift for a birthday party...It just doesn't seem to get any easier saying no to the ones you love.<br /><br />As I listened to my wife her voice became distant as my attention and gaze moved from her eyes and out the window, eventually focusing on the shed outside which housed my motorcycle. In 45 days or less that shed would be sitting empty and anxiously awaiting a new occupant. In the mean time I'm fine with the prospect of living without a bike. I'm past the stages of anger, denial, and so forth and am at the stage of acceptance. After all a motorcycle is just a thing and things aren't all that important. <br /><br />While it would be easy to blame my financial woes on Clinton and his NAFTA or the Bush administration and it's de-regulated "trickle down economics", the price of food and fuel, the lack of health insurance because of sky high premiums, or the greedy mega-millionaire CEO's of giant multi-national corporations...ad nauseum. No, I won't go there. There's plenty of legitimate blame to go around but that would be of no use to me. I must take personal responsibility for my own situation in order to move past it.<br /><br />I've come to understand that no matter how bad things seem, they still are not as bad as millions of others have endured in the past, are now enduring and will endure in the future. Keeping things in perspective. I've actually got it pretty good right now...I've got a loving family, a job, my health and a place to live. Beyond the noise of all that is going wrong in this world... is the quieter and sublime voice of all that's right in this world. The voice of God. <br /><br />Standing in the open doorway I shut out the noise and listened to the sounds of my children's laughter as they played with a ball outside. Listening more attentively now, more sounds came into my awareness; the clanging of a clean pan being put away in the cupboard, the sweet voice of my wife calling out "breakfast is ready", the Canada geese in the sky above migrating south for the winter, and the wind blowing through the trees. Those were the sounds transcending the noise of the irrelevant and brought my attention to the right and perfect moment, which was that very moment. And with each and every tick of the clock, the universe is created anew, wonderful possibilities are born, new hope, and new beginnings emerge...Out beyond the noise, is music. One only has to listen...<br /><br /><a href="http://ncadv.org/">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)</a><br /><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/KanosCoffeeHouse" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</a></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00068XCQU?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00068XCQU">Deltran SuperSmart Battery Tender Plus 12-Volt 1.25 AMP Battery Charger</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00068XCQU" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-83719528045181372482008-10-01T08:25:00.000-07:002008-10-07T09:11:04.251-07:00The 1% Solution? This is my turf & I've got the patch to prove it!A post and comment thread caught my eye over at <a href="http://www.motorcyclephilosophy.org/">motorcycle philosophy</a>. The author wrote about some of the differences between clubs, pointing out that some have a lot of structure while others are more lax. It seemed like a pretty even handed analysis to me.<br /><br />Then comes some comments about the post from an anonymous reader, "For me, a club like yours is a complete waste of time because there's no commitment and no standards. Any schmuck can buy the patch and play biker on the weekend. For you, a club like mine where you have to earn entry and you're held to high standards, well, maybe that's too much work." <br /><br />I had to wonder what Mr. Anonymous had to do to earn entry into his club and if it was something to be proud of, like help an old lady across the street or something like that, I kind of doubt it. I'm usually a pretty mild mannered guy but some of his/her further comments really got me worked up:<br /><br />"...I tried to clue you in once before about RCs emulating MCs and you blew me off, but now that I've seen your patch I have to tell you again. You're asking for real trouble with that patch, especially the SoCal rocker. you're claiming territory - or appearing to - and that won't fly with your local power club. You must be under their radar, because with your attitude I'm certain you haven't cleared it with them. They're not going to laugh it off when they finally notice you."<br /><br />Then after a few more comments by others the anonymous 1%er came back with this:<br /><br />"STAR and HOG are both brand-specific clubs known and accepted by the power clubs, that's why they can fly a location "patch" without fear. You guys? Not so much..."<br /><br />The last time I checked anyway, this is America and its supposed to be a free country. It just seems to me so petty and juvenile that any club thinks they own territory and that no motorcycle rider should dare wear a patch on their jacket that doesn't meet their approval. Gimme a break! <br /><br />So, what do you think?<br /><br /><a href="http://ncadv.org/">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)</a><br /><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/KanosCoffeeHouse" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</a></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G7E8KE?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B001G7E8KE">Harley Davidson Men's 105th Anniversary Hooded Sweatshirt--LIMITED EDITION. Large 105th Anniversary logo screen-print on the back. 96114-08VM</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B001G7E8KE" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-33811324537599346892008-09-26T08:49:00.000-07:002008-09-26T11:57:58.182-07:00Leaving Today -A 6,000 Mile Moto Odyssey on a Honda Rebel 250!Ken Linder of the blog <em><a href="http://razorsedge2112.blogspot.com/">Walk the Razor's Edge</a></em> is leaving today on a 6,000 mile, 23 day motorcycle trip on his Honda Rebel 250. That's a long way to go on such a small bike. Why would anyone want to do such I thing?<br /><br />The answer comes in Ken's own words, "A map, a motorcycle and a cause. This is a ride from Las Vegas, Nevada to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (and back) to raise funds for the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and help awareness of domestic violence to the public."<br /><br /><strong>A man on a mission, a Rebel <em>with</em> a cause.</strong><br /><br />Ken could use our help. On his webpage <em><a href="http://www.radstream.com/">Ride for NCADV</a></em> there's a donation link to help fund his trip and support the NCADV. Click on the site navigation bar to find out about the planned route and more about his cause. Send <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/09/leaving-today-6000-mile-moto-odyssey-on.html">this post</a> along to others and feel free to publish it on your own blog.<br /><br />I deeply respect Ken for undertaking this project. He is the stuff true heroes are made of. Society is quick to admire and reward celebrities, but <strong>its ordinary people doing extraordinary things that really deserve our attention. People like Ken Linder, who with very little resources, a small motorcycle and a big heart, rides the high road toward a better world.</strong><br /><br />So, what do you think?<br /><br />Ken's <em><a href="http://www.radstream.com/">Ride for NCADV</a></em><br /><br /><a href="http://razorsedge2112.blogspot.com/"><em>Walk The Razor's Edge</em></a><br /><br /><a href="http://ncadv.org/">National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV)</a><br /><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/KanosCoffeeHouse" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</a></p><br />Learn <a href="http://thesustainableearthproject.blogspot.com/2008/09/keep-your-dollars-green-buy-hormone.html">what Monsanto doesn't want you to know</a> about the dairy products you're consuming at: <em><a href="http://TheSustainableEarthProject.blogspot.com">The Sustainable Earth Project</a></em><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000IZJQQQ?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000IZJQQQ">Basic Maintenance I DVD for all Motorcycles</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000IZJQQQ" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002H49BC?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0002H49BC">Leatherman 830039 New Wave Multitool with Leather Sheath</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0002H49BC" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-54688946267156767692008-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:002008-09-23T10:52:43.172-07:00Motorcyclist & Blogger Evan Tanner goes "Into the Wild", doesn't survive.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbfqAFiFf7RJ0dPxbrMi1pbWLs5SdNDHqX6MKHdw8oTOUmRDchK-D83654FlHJjvCj3h4-uOnw6SW7ivQKWtrDva3L0orpMJRrYDm7QCfhyphenhyphen3cVfqhB6YSM5mRNHbw0itvFb4jk8mJX17X/s1600-h/evan+tanner2small.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfbfqAFiFf7RJ0dPxbrMi1pbWLs5SdNDHqX6MKHdw8oTOUmRDchK-D83654FlHJjvCj3h4-uOnw6SW7ivQKWtrDva3L0orpMJRrYDm7QCfhyphenhyphen3cVfqhB6YSM5mRNHbw0itvFb4jk8mJX17X/s400/evan+tanner2small.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5249254675777337298" /></a><br /><strong>"I plan on going so deep into the desert, that any failure of my equipment, could cost me my life."</strong> Strangely prophetic words from one of Evan Tanner's last blog posts before he embarked on his fatal motorcycle journey.<br /><br />Evan Tanner, a man well known in the sport of "Mixed Martial Arts" (MMA) was found dead about 2 miles from his campsite out in the remote desert area of Imperial County California, near the Arizona border.<br /><br />On September 8 he used his cell phone to text a friend. He apparently had run out of gas while riding his Kawasaki KLR650 and was attempting to hike through the 115 degree desert heat back to his camp. Preliminary reports cite the cause of death was heat related.<br /><br />Evan's very last post, just 5 days before he died was titled "Into the Desert", suggestive of his probable awareness of the book and subsequent movie titled "Into the Wild" about Chris McCandless. Chris was another young man with a penchant for adventure, going out alone to places well beyond the bounds of human civilization. He too didn't survive.<br /><br />Was Evan Tanner's death preventable? Certainly. He could have stayed at home and sat on the couch. Tragic story yes, but at least he died doing what he loved most, treasure hunting. And now he rides on the ultimate adventure, out beyond the boundaries of life.<br /><br />"Treasure doesn't necessarily refer to something material."- Evan Tanner<br /><br />So, what do you think?<br /><br />I first heard about this story over at <a href="http://motorcyclescansavetheworld.com/"><em>Motorcycles Can Save the World</em></a><br /><br />Evan Tanner's prophetic posts: <a href="http://www.spike.com/blog/treasure-hunting-in/67570">"Treasure Hunting in the Desert"</a> dated August 16, 2008 and his last post <a href="http://www.spike.com/blog/test/68011">"Into the Desert".</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to <em>Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House </em>by Email</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-47240223141757830102008-09-18T09:10:00.000-07:002008-09-18T10:19:23.391-07:00How Motorcyclists Can Help the Victims of Hurricane Ike<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaF85e18F2kCicJ0Y3H60ozZw_wSl2ExVUmSONd26KRHvDMjeH78bB5SLHbVW83rORs1BPel9PWxx_F9sB05SwwAcKFQsCI1kBWz_UwHs_uDuVfJy_8bwfHWIJ6G46nZhvL_nwKBKHzkF/s1600-h/hurricane+red+cross.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZaF85e18F2kCicJ0Y3H60ozZw_wSl2ExVUmSONd26KRHvDMjeH78bB5SLHbVW83rORs1BPel9PWxx_F9sB05SwwAcKFQsCI1kBWz_UwHs_uDuVfJy_8bwfHWIJ6G46nZhvL_nwKBKHzkF/s400/hurricane+red+cross.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5247400224052415906" /></a><br />Texas was ravaged by Hurricane Ike and as I write this post 6 days after the storm more than a million people are still without electricity. Thousands have lost their homes and many more than that are suffering the aftermath of the disaster. <br /><br />Motorcyclists and scooterists are a charitable bunch and there's some things we can do to help the victims. Short of going down to Texas and getting personally involved in the relief effort, the next best thing we can do is donate financial support to organizations that are on the ground doing the good work of humanitarian assistance.<br /><br /><strong>Donation Links:</strong><br /><a href="http://www.redcross.org/">American Red Cross Hurricane Ike Disaster Relief</a><br /><a href="http://www.salvationarmy.usa.org">The Salvation Army</a> 1-800-SAL-ARMY<br /><a href="http://www.worldvision.org">World Vision</a> 1-888-56-CHILD<br /><a href="http://www.aspca.org/">ASPCA </a>Animal Rescue<br /><br /><strong>Get the word out!</strong> Send <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-motorcyclists-can-help-victims-of.html">this post</a> along to others or post it on your blog. Thank you, Kano, <a href="http://MotoPhilosopher.blogspot.com"><em>Motorcycle & Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</em></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-91261886659140077912008-09-15T11:12:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:52:17.312-07:00Is There an Air Powered Motorcycle In Your Future?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCq_SkmGI-a8D6OCgTFKXNKDZ1GEj4czPdyHbkKytCjT3J4qWRHPqDhi-5F62G9QSLSrl587Oti25hLQxOQqCvzW4iJRLhd9etLmCB97oB2OcS-QrIhaXJjkRELTwhmVFFMRzt9z2Kdd50/s1600-h/air-motorcycle-001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCq_SkmGI-a8D6OCgTFKXNKDZ1GEj4czPdyHbkKytCjT3J4qWRHPqDhi-5F62G9QSLSrl587Oti25hLQxOQqCvzW4iJRLhd9etLmCB97oB2OcS-QrIhaXJjkRELTwhmVFFMRzt9z2Kdd50/s400/air-motorcycle-001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246639556286908658" /></a><br /><br />Researchers at the National Center University in Taiwan have come up with a motorcycle that runs on compressed air instead of gas to run the motor. With nothing but air coming out of the exhaust pipe and huge energy savings potential, the idea may have some traction.<br /><br />Problem is the prototype motorcycle can only hold about 2 1/2 gallons of compressed air which limits the range before refueling to about 3/4 of a mile.<br /><br />However, in the future the tank size will increase and they expect to come up with ways to improve the range up to 20 miles. Compressed air refueling could be implemented at current gas stations.<br /><br />It's high time for the world to give up on costly and polluting fossil fuels but it's not going to happen overnight. I'm looking forward to following the progress of the development and implementation of the compressed air motorcycle in Taiwan.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGlqf43SrliY9wm2tHLFvnrNmrMmc8NSwGV4NCXukbrorOak7J90VefjxoeM480eCv00KYDOLm6Fdw4T14CGze_drm0GNon-3ErkEMkBJRfwqZeZjZPiS0c2iC1kHmpSvvbF-IiUJkHp-/s1600-h/air+car.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXGlqf43SrliY9wm2tHLFvnrNmrMmc8NSwGV4NCXukbrorOak7J90VefjxoeM480eCv00KYDOLm6Fdw4T14CGze_drm0GNon-3ErkEMkBJRfwqZeZjZPiS0c2iC1kHmpSvvbF-IiUJkHp-/s400/air+car.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5246639553033979986" /></a><br /><br />Cars may be the more viable vehicle for compressed air technology. Their larger size enables them to carry larger air tanks. In fact a company called Zero Pollution Motors is well along in development of a hybrid air/gas powered car. It runs on air only when going under 35 miles per hour. At higher speeds the motor burns fuel to expand the air and recharge the tank.<br /><br />The "ZPM" car is expected to hit the U.S. markets in about a year and a half and the company is already taking reservations for delivery. The company plans on selling the modernistic looking car directly to the consumer, skipping the middleman, so there won't be a dealer network. This is one way ZPM plans on keeping the cost of the car affordable and appealing to the masses. It's expected to sell for around $18,000.<br /><br />Man what a great idea! The compressed air vehicle idea sounds much simpler and less costly than other new technologies I've heard of. I'm looking forward to being the first (grey haired) kid on the block with an air powered motorcycle! I've got to get me one of those bad boys! I might even start up a gang called the "Airheads"<br /><br />So, what do you think?<br /><br />Article: <a href="http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/04/air-powered-motorcycle-diy-moped.php#ch02">"The Air Powered Motorcycle By Jem Stansfield"</a><br />Article: <a href="http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/08/14/compressed-air-motorcycle.html">"Motorcycles Designed to Run On Air": </a>Discovery News<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.lduhtrp.net/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><br />Get a subscription to: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000WM6NZM?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000WM6NZM">Motorcycle Consumer News (2-year)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000WM6NZM" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-77755139803957112432008-09-11T09:51:00.000-07:002008-09-16T09:48:15.703-07:00Motorcycling & Rafting On the Streams of Time<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-PUQxkLDhoEvFm6_VHgZKV5yxXn_1GDIINI4REN2N-5rcxE58hqan57VNyogiMI_gGyXKJtFQg1IDOFVhB8Xp-1H2ij8mcMGQyJUniIn6DddCJqhntKnmfh0oFRNzF5eHTfoe6DEZlSg/s1600-h/Pictures+446.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn-PUQxkLDhoEvFm6_VHgZKV5yxXn_1GDIINI4REN2N-5rcxE58hqan57VNyogiMI_gGyXKJtFQg1IDOFVhB8Xp-1H2ij8mcMGQyJUniIn6DddCJqhntKnmfh0oFRNzF5eHTfoe6DEZlSg/s400/Pictures+446.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245174075243740578" /></a><br /><br />Highway 22 shoots like an arrow out of the western Oregon city of Salem towards and over the Cascade Mountains and the high desert beyond. The busy highway rockets hurried travelers past small towns like Aumsville, Sublimity, Stayton, Mill City, Lyons, Gates, Idanha, Detroit and Marion Forks.<br /><br />Last Sunday turned out to be a glorious day. With late season warmth and sunshine, it was the last hurrah of summer before the cold winds swept it all away.<br /><br />This made for an almost overwhelming temptation to turn the day into a ride. So off we went my son and I down Highway 22. We had no destination in mind, just a ride for the sake of riding and spending time together.<br /><br />A thousand scents filled my nostrils and sparked memories of other days and other rides; diesel exhaust from a truck up ahead, wood smoke from a warm fire in an unknown home, meat cooking on someones backyard barbecue, the musk of the earth and dying leaves.<br /><br />A numb butt, hunger and a full bladder from the mornings coffee forced a stop at Poppa Al's which was right off the highway in Mill City. The overly optimistic person who named it a city probably didn't foresee the end of big timber days. Over- harvesting, clear cuts and the late arrival of sustainable forestry practices doomed this would be city from the start. It's a town and will always be a town and that's as it should be. <br /><br />Poppa Al's was a past frequent haunt of mine back in the river running days. My two older boys, now grown and distant, friends now gone, and I, would pull our kayaks and rafts up on the bank of the North Santiam River at Mill City. Then we would walk up the hill to Poppa Al's for a burger and hot chocolate. We shivered dripping wet in our clothes, semi-hypothermic as we waited for our orders to get filled. Those were the days before we knew about more adequate clothing like polypropylene for the ice cold white water.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhEWzEMnuFAyX0lwm1KUrOmpEmFvEx81qNfqKWm88RDpkx2Hz6JKg-hBcmbSLftPR6MPNoUZytv07Nw_KgtVVuDstOoxu9nTJGnDPghFiQ8juNdEPqM25zpKrWLnPhPqK8Mqhx6l-Icfq/s1600-h/Pictures+447.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhEWzEMnuFAyX0lwm1KUrOmpEmFvEx81qNfqKWm88RDpkx2Hz6JKg-hBcmbSLftPR6MPNoUZytv07Nw_KgtVVuDstOoxu9nTJGnDPghFiQ8juNdEPqM25zpKrWLnPhPqK8Mqhx6l-Icfq/s400/Pictures+447.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5245174077950386466" /></a><br /><br />As my son and I sat at an outside picnic table, dry and warm, we watched my Sportster attract other motorcycles like a magnet. Within minutes an older couple on a Victory pulled up, then a boy on a sport bike pulled into the other end of the parking lot, then came Harley's, about 3 of them. <br /><br />Old memories came alive and my mind drifted back to the last time I was at Poppa Al's. I couldn't have known or even imagined back then that it would be more than 15 years before I would return.<br /><br />All too seldom do I think about that whenever I'm doing something that it might be the last time, or possibly a very long delay before I could do it again. Maybe if I were more conscious of that I would appreciate and enjoy things more. <br /><br />Poppa Al's looked outdated even 15 years ago, but with lots of character. The old place is reminiscent of a simpler, slower, and more care free time. I've done a lot of changing over the years but not Poppa Al's. Except of course the price of a burger and a coke.<br /><br />We pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the river for a look. I thought about how the boy, my son, would all too soon be an adult. He grew up different than my older boys; he never got the chance to experience the river. I wondered how it was that we were at that place and at that time. It was an unplanned ride after all. I don't believe much in chance or coincidence. I tend to think everything has a purpose, a message, or a lesson to be learned.<br /><br />The sound of the waves as they surged and splashed over car size boulders were like a siren song. A call to return to the river. I glanced toward the horizon and the sun was going down, it almost seemed to pause its descent for a moment before disappearing completely behind the mountain. "It will be back in the morning" I abruptly said out loud, startling my son who was glancing toward the highway in the other direction . <br /><br />Yep, I decided it was time, I would come back again with a river raft and we'll be dressed in polypropylene, my son and I. And I will not take that moment for granted.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> NO SPAM!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><!--****** START LINK1 HTML ******---><br /><A HREF="http://www.BikerKiss.com/i/af15017240" target=_top><br />Best Biker Personals</A> - the largest dating site in the world for biker singles and friends looking for more riding buddies, love, romance, and even marriages.<br /><!--****** END LINK1 HTML ******---><br /><strong>"Fox Creek Leather" Quality American Made Apparel & Accessories "Sale Page"</strong> http://www.foxcreekleather.com/sale.phtml <a href="http://foxcreekleather.directtrack.com/z/947/CD357/">Click Here</a><br /><br /><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-7406368719478450622008-09-06T00:39:00.000-07:002008-09-12T11:35:30.722-07:00Does Sarah Palin Ride a Motorcycle and Does it Matter?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3edwFz34sfS1fYStn6zbJHiYiPk6REcRhjrmLEy0uYTfcMIcoLCOE4Jk5cLrS9onPEOLSG5tO6h5KIUWY6yKt3hI3UQCkukbQYuO_N9mITlAIptl9u-iKOZZpV4WJ4NG5ekhjENlhqQ6J/s1600-h/s-PALINBIG-154x114.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3edwFz34sfS1fYStn6zbJHiYiPk6REcRhjrmLEy0uYTfcMIcoLCOE4Jk5cLrS9onPEOLSG5tO6h5KIUWY6yKt3hI3UQCkukbQYuO_N9mITlAIptl9u-iKOZZpV4WJ4NG5ekhjENlhqQ6J/s400/s-PALINBIG-154x114.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5242833497063684002" /></a><br />I've heard rumors that Vice Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska is a motorcyclist. I tried to do some quick research around the Internet to learn more. It's an intriguing thought, having a motorcycle enthusiast in the White House. <br /><br />However, the only thing I found that links Governor Palin to motorcycles is a press release of a speech she made proclaiming May, 2007 as "Motorcycle Awareness Month" in Alaska. <br /><br />And for that I applaud her, thank you Governor. But if it turns-out she is actually a motorcyclist herself; will that affect my decision on whom to vote for in the upcoming November election?<br /><br />If it was tossup, and I couldn't decide either way, maybe the motorcycle connection would be the deciding factor. However, for me anyway it's not even close, not by a long shot.<br /><br />So, what do you think?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.anrdoezrs.net/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.ftjcfx.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><!--****** START LINK1 HTML ******---><br /><A HREF="http://www.BikerKiss.com/i/af15017240" target=_top><br />Best Biker Personals</A> - the largest dating site in the world for biker singles and friends looking for more riding buddies, love, romance, and even marriages.<br /><!--****** END LINK1 HTML ******---><br /><strong>"Fox Creek Leather" Quality American Made Apparel & Accessories "Sale Page"</strong> http://www.foxcreekleather.com/sale.phtml <a href="http://foxcreekleather.directtrack.com/z/947/CD357/">Click Here</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> NO SPAM!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-9944650259940910492008-09-03T08:50:00.000-07:002008-09-06T01:52:38.449-07:00Motorcycling Through the Seasons of ChangeZipping the liner back into my riding jacket, inserting the wool liners into my 28 year old Army issue leather gloves, keeping the choke knob out a little longer while my motorcycle warms up, -all tell-tale signs that summer has come to a close and autumn has arrived, as measured by the likes of me, a motorcyclist. Here's my "Ode to Riding the Seasons": <br /><br />Winter is the dark and damp ride before spring. And it's a cold ride that steels the body and fills the soul with resolve. Riding the open air exposed to the chilling elements brings a new appreciation for the warmth and protection of shelter and the warmer seasons of the year.<br /><br />Riding through spring is an affirmation of the eternal cycle of life renewed. The sights and senses awaken to newly sprouted growth and the anticipation of possibilities ahead.<br /><br />The warm glow of a summer evening is a welcome respite from the heat of the day. The unimpeded view of a sunset is enhanced, and the caress of the warm wind turns motorcycling into a sensual delight.<br /><br />Fall is a paradox, its harvest time and death all at once. The frequency of my rides increases. And the sight of leaves blowing in the autumn wind quickens my desire to ride while I still can before winter sets-in. Anxious feelings soon are replaced by the peace forged from acceptance of the season and the inevitable winter ahead. <br /><br />Winters come and they go. Enduring them is not difficult, knowing that everything has its time. The dark days must come before the light. Contrast is the mother of appreciation, and a life without it is nothing more than a dull and wasted blur.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> NO SPAM!<br /><br />Click on the Fox Creek Leather logo to browse American-made quality leather motorcycle jackets, chaps, vests, gloves, and saddlebags.<br /><a href="http://foxcreekleather.directtrack.com/z/714/CD357/"><img src="http://foxcreekleather.directtrack.com/42/357/714/" alt="" border="0"></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-25539329613201712842008-08-28T23:28:00.001-07:002008-08-30T09:45:00.267-07:00One Year Review -Tour Master Transition Motorcycle Jacket<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8A0pNKgFDJ55bfEXKdsRCnSPp2n7qEFnPRt5VNaIrUgkFOtjrSZpI3Ier8QWpaVnYS2wn5Qh1DerLAmH8T_2bGYvWQKpoBDV5eyj3LS6KL8bGKh338L0DvglDFYg8cm_gxFaYYQmvwnie/s1600-h/transition+jacket.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8A0pNKgFDJ55bfEXKdsRCnSPp2n7qEFnPRt5VNaIrUgkFOtjrSZpI3Ier8QWpaVnYS2wn5Qh1DerLAmH8T_2bGYvWQKpoBDV5eyj3LS6KL8bGKh338L0DvglDFYg8cm_gxFaYYQmvwnie/s400/transition+jacket.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5240338026554313858" /></a><br />I've evolved in some ways over the years and have slowly but surely replaced my riding gear from no helmet, to 3/4 helmet, to full face helmet. From shorts to jeans, from tennis shoes to boots, from tank top to leather jacket to the textile "Tourmaster Transition" motorcycle jacket I'm going to discuss today.<br /><br />Have I become paranoid or just plain ol'wiser? I would vote for the latter rather than the former.<br /><br />It's been a little more than a year ago since I bought my motorcycle jacket. So it has endured nearly daily riding through all four Pacific Northwest seasons from stifling 100 degree heat, to below freezing and all points in-between. Rain, snow and hail put my new jacket to the test.<br /><br />I'm happy to report that one test wasn't carried out however and that would be the crash test.<br /><br />In warm weather, I removed the zip-out liner and opened all the vents. The air circulation was better than my leather jacket but I still found it pretty toasty at temperatures above 80. But then wouldn't any jacket be the same?<br /><br />With cold weather, I added the liner and it kept my torso warm enough down to about 40 degrees. Adding another layer of clothing like a sweatshirt kept me comfortable enough down to about 29 degrees on short rides. If I had cold weather long distance riding in mind however, I might look for a warmer jacket or add more layers of clothing. <br /><br />Rain was not a problem for the jacket. It retained water-tightness and everything in my pockets stayed dry.<br /><br />The zippers still work flawlessly.<br /><br />So, I've found the Transition jacket to be high quality for the $150.00 price tag and expect it to last many more years to come.<br /><br />Do you have a particularly good riding jacket? Or one that is so bad that you wouldn't even recommend it to Bin Laden?<br /><br />Previous Post: <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-new-motorcycle-jacket.html">"My New Motorcycle Jacket"</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W4PTNM?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000W4PTNM">TOURMASTER/CORTECH TRANSITION 2 MOTORCYCLE JACKET BLACK/BROWN</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000W4PTNM" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018K7BI0?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0018K7BI0">Tourmaster Transition Series 2 Silver Motorcycle Jacket</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0018K7BI0" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016NG5YA?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0016NG5YA">TOURMASTER/CORTECH TRANSITION 2 MOTORCYCLE JACKET WOMEN HIGH VISIBILITY YELLOW</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0016NG5YA" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.kqzyfj.com/email-2522409-10378364" target="_top">Motorcycle Apparel & Gear at BikeBandit.com!</a><br /><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-2522409-10378364" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><br />Save surfing time! Get new posts delivered right to your email box! <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> NO SPAM! Your email address will never be disclosed to anyone.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-85908243128819644482008-08-22T08:22:00.000-07:002008-08-22T09:49:36.685-07:00Why I Ride Motorcycles plus an Update on Losing "Liberty"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6zkgjW8bAKlJdV1c8rIUeMQlwUyNxHmpvYvNOp9bTTmZNKcP1xUIbfFmVV_r2SzCknUPzs1m2M9K6zsH4x0JOnQt7LJ-ap-CVoMV4P_OGQLaUvrZ9MZNetqrPNyGSXFOL0Vw7Q3xgQFF/s1600-h/IMG_0781.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK6zkgjW8bAKlJdV1c8rIUeMQlwUyNxHmpvYvNOp9bTTmZNKcP1xUIbfFmVV_r2SzCknUPzs1m2M9K6zsH4x0JOnQt7LJ-ap-CVoMV4P_OGQLaUvrZ9MZNetqrPNyGSXFOL0Vw7Q3xgQFF/s400/IMG_0781.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5237378425352370482" /></a><br /><br />For those who didn't read <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/08/libertys-last-ride-motorcycling-to.html">my recent post</a> concerning selling my motorcycle, the short of it is: I’m planning on selling my bike which I’ve named “Liberty” because I can’t afford the payments right now. I’ve held on to it as long as I could. <br /><br />Today I’m going to address some of the reactions I’ve heard: <br /><br />“Are you going to give up riding, or are you going to get another bike?”<br /><br />No, I’m not giving up riding and yes I will get another bike and just as soon as I possibly can. <br /><br />“You ride your bike to work, isn't it cheaper (on gas) to just keep it instead of driving a car?”<br /><br />Yes, but I will be getting another motorcycle or scooter to use for commuting. In the mean time I’ll be riding my bicycle on most days. That’s not a bad thing either. There will be no cost for fuel and I’ll get some much needed exercise too. I’ll also be saving the planet of some carbon emissions and helping reduce our dependence on foreign oil. (Hmm, I wonder if Al Gore gets around on a bicycle) <br /><br />“What kind of bike do you want to get?” My leanings are toward the pure and the practical. A “KLR650” would be nice, or a scooter would be fine too. I think even if I had an unlimited amount of money to spend, I still wouldn't be getting a “Boss Hoss” or a “Goldwing” or even $25,000 worth of “Harley” chrome. <br /><br />“Are you going to quit your motorcycle blog?” (<a href="http://MotoPhilosopher.blogspot.com">Motorcycle & Scooter Talk</a>)<br /><br />Heck no, I enjoy it too much. It doesn't cost me anything except for time. Writing is something I love to do and so it’s time well spent. I’m not going to let the temporary condition of not owning a motorcycle stop me from writing about motorcycling. My philosophy is this: If a brick wall stands in my path, then I’ll go over or around it. <br /><br />When my spiritually minded wife read the post lamenting my upcoming loss she had perhaps the most thought provoking reaction of them all. She laughed hysterically like it was the funniest thing she ever heard. I told her that I thought it odd that she found it funny, the one saddest post in a year’s worth of motorcycle blogging. Not to mention that this is the second bike I’ve lost in the past five years due to economic circumstances and she knows how much motorcycles mean to me. <br /><br />She explained her reaction something like this: "Material things don’t matter, they come and they go." And she said, "be saddened by the loss of persons not things."<br /><br />That is her way and she is right. Maybe I was overly sensitive to what seemed like her making light of my feelings and my writing. Her reaction served as a reminder that attachment to things is frivolous, even laughable. Maybe I taught her a little something too. Once she realized that I didn't think my post was intended to be funny, she lovingly straightened the hood on my jacket and said that she would pray for a miracle, so that I could keep the bike. I told her that if a miracle is coming it had better be soon, I've got a payment coming up in a couple of weeks! In her wisdom, she reminded me that the very nature of miracles is that they are not restricted by time. <br /><br />I've come around to thinking about attachment to material things the same way she does, and increasingly so as I get older. Attachment to things is a proportional loss of freedom. With the one exception: motorcycles. For me Liberty is more than just an inanimate chunk of metal and rubber. She is the symbol and the means of my freedom. None of us, not one, are truly free however. We have responsibilities to our God (or Goddess), our families, our friends, our communities, the planet, our jobs, our pets, the list goes on and on. And that’s not a bad thing either. Complete freedom is an abstract goal that is unattainable and even undesirable. A certain measure of freedom however is life affirming and even re-creational. <br /><br />When I’m on my motorcycle an ecstatic feeling overcomes me. It’s not just the wind, the motion, the adrenaline rush or the unobstructed view. It’s not only the focused consciousness, or the heightened awareness born of a sense of danger. Nor is it only the feeling of being in total control of a force much more powerful than I. It’s not just the feeling of synchronicity between man and machine. It’s all those things along with the sense of freedom I get while in the saddle. <br /><br />And there is one more thing:<br /><br />My brother the Mathematician once said to me, “riding motorcycles is tempting fate, the odds are that eventually you’re going to crash.”<br /><br />Mathematically he is right of course. But I ride safe, minimize risk and play the odds to win. And riding a motorcycle straight towards “The Reaper” in an odd sort of way is riding away from him at the same time. For me riding allows living in the moment, and any given moment is the only moment that really exists. The past is memory and the future uncertain. <em>The</em> moment, <em>this</em> moment, is life eternal. <br /><br />And so that’s why I ride and that’s why every day I will be expecting a miracle to come along so that <em>I can</em> keep my "Liberty", and if not, then that will be a lesson in detachment. I will take that lesson with my head held high and a smile on my face. Then my attention will turn towards my next bike and her name will be “Liberty 2”...<br /><br />Save surfing time! Get new posts delivered right to your email box! <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> NO SPAM! Your email address will never be disclosed to anyone.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-2522409-10440889" target="_top">Get a Motorola W375 with 300 minutes and free shipping for only $69.99!</a><br /><img src="http://www.awltovhc.com/image-2522409-10440889" width="1" height="1" border="0"/><br /><br /><a href="http://www.dpbolvw.net/click-2522409-10479769" target="_top"><br /><img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-2522409-10479769" width="120" height="60" alt="Apple Store" border="0"/></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-36694205054627102262008-08-15T08:30:00.000-07:002008-08-18T08:32:20.065-07:00Motorcycle Ride. Re-Visiting & Re-Thinking a Gunfight<strong>My bike "Liberty" parked at "Spong's Landing"</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSssxcwrBrRsW3aHdFcwLI_AaL5_6NlKBbHmN7KdLjlTVZ5cL6jzvzkzz6cEywQGjxZCAt-do8tcVosyeDZLu5lZ0loseVYzcl2oeZ7XHU5GrB7lTZ-HTnRym4lyKoDxYdI5c2hiEDalKN/s1600-h/Pictures+405.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSssxcwrBrRsW3aHdFcwLI_AaL5_6NlKBbHmN7KdLjlTVZ5cL6jzvzkzz6cEywQGjxZCAt-do8tcVosyeDZLu5lZ0loseVYzcl2oeZ7XHU5GrB7lTZ-HTnRym4lyKoDxYdI5c2hiEDalKN/s400/Pictures+405.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235163892202978450" /></a><br />Today's post is about my ride out to the scene of a shooting. No need to worry though, the gun-smoke cleared away some 140 years ago and time the great eraser had done it's work, rendering the incident all but forgotten. <br /><br />One of the cool things about going for a motorcycle ride is the added benefit of being able to pursue secondary interests. In my case, I'm a bit of a history buff. <br /><br />The other day I had an opportunity to take the bike out for a spin and spend some time at a place along the Willamette River with some little known history behind it. I grew up nearby and spent countless hours there swimming, picking wild blackberries, catching crawdads, skipping rocks and exploring. Sometimes with only the ghosts of the early day pioneers to keep me company. Often I would sit on the river bank and try to visualize the scene as it would have been a hundred years ago and more, -imaginary steamboats rounding the bend. <br /><br />Back in the nineteenth and early twentieth century the Willamette River was the main means of transporting goods and people up and down the valley. Riverboats navigated these waters with regularity. I have heard it said that in the old days if you sat on the bank of the river one could see at least one steamboat at any given time. <br /><br />Towns and river boat landings along the river were alive with human activity. Towns sprang up along the banks of the Willamette almost overnight and many disappeared just as fast when the river lost out to improved wagon roads, bridges being built, the laying of train track and the final swan song of the river boat was the advent of the internal combustion engine and the building of highways. <br /><br />Now the river sits mostly silent except when it passes through towns like Eugene, Corvallis, Independence, Salem, Oregon City and Portland. The rest of the river is protected by a “greenway” where no development of any kind is allowed near its banks. So mostly there is only the gentle ripple of the waters, the wind blowing through the trees, the rustle of dry leaves racing to wherever dry leaves go, and the occasional call of a Blue Heron.<br /><br /><strong>A once busy ferry landing was here.</strong> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSy1KwkUW3VhZH-NHji4ddFku0KxdWFLMMpzZ7jv6UY-kOiRbczKQLF5D9s5hEc9Pbasdvc8Ti64oFuQPngE9wcNj_dyQ9Szmi34ZVv3YlqZgQ95cMzC43LyTa0zVBuT3udvWAVinpjSA/s1600-h/Pictures+393.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSy1KwkUW3VhZH-NHji4ddFku0KxdWFLMMpzZ7jv6UY-kOiRbczKQLF5D9s5hEc9Pbasdvc8Ti64oFuQPngE9wcNj_dyQ9Szmi34ZVv3YlqZgQ95cMzC43LyTa0zVBuT3udvWAVinpjSA/s400/Pictures+393.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235163899848205314" /></a><br />About 10 miles north of Salem and 4 miles west of the present day life blood of the Willamette Valley which is Interstate 5, is a lightly used and out of the way rural park called “Spong's Landing.” It was named for Alexander Spong who came to Oregon on a wagon train in 1851 with his wife and child. He took up a donation land claim in 1853 along the Willamette River and began to farm. His land was heavily wooded and a natural place for steam boats to stop and load up wood to burn in their boilers. He started a ferry service as well to move people and crops from one side of the river to the other.<br /><br /><strong>Looking west from Spong's Landing toward the Ghost Town of Lincoln.</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpx9vEMFQa1P3v0dro44ut3-w6qsqDRjT0XxWlMy3WDa8jdNKtuwm9cDi4OhyphenhyphenUE7bt7yYWk_249eoF0S0Pt8ITUpVGN7DjuuMXNhZ6jMQ6UqPqwH1rhWVXLQp-1cg-U3EtAihulkpm5yv/s1600-h/Pictures+392.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSpx9vEMFQa1P3v0dro44ut3-w6qsqDRjT0XxWlMy3WDa8jdNKtuwm9cDi4OhyphenhyphenUE7bt7yYWk_249eoF0S0Pt8ITUpVGN7DjuuMXNhZ6jMQ6UqPqwH1rhWVXLQp-1cg-U3EtAihulkpm5yv/s400/Pictures+392.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235163903608508914" /></a><br />Across the river from Spong's Landing is the site of the once bustling town of Lincoln. <br /><br />The town was fairly large for the time, it consisted of about a half mile of riverfront warehouses and wharves. It was platted by an earlier emigrant to the area in the 1840s, a man named Andrew Jackson Doake. He also was running a ferry service across the river from that location which apparently caused some bad blood between Misters Doake and Spong. Local lore has it that the two even exchanged gun fire on at least one occasion, luckily nobody was hurt. <br /><br />The town of Lincoln along with steamboats lost their usefulness when bridges, railroads and eventually improved roads and highways came. Lincoln has long since disappeared from the western bank of the Willamette. Reclaimed by Mother Nature, a riparian woods thrive as though the town never was. Mr. Spong's farm, his boat docks and ferry landing are all long gone too. <br /><br /><strong>Steps down to the landing and back in time. </strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllMJsqnW7M-uadh0K3-k0yPr9xq-Lfsla73Crh3bnu7vSRj-5oQhR5t6BKCFJmgV0_hNdL1x6tcp6iIAMTVLSpEgUbuzd5Ufq8n1Hk_-s3Q20hFzmi6KPpdZrX8b6O3Un4xzmyIDejwRs/s1600-h/Pictures+387.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgllMJsqnW7M-uadh0K3-k0yPr9xq-Lfsla73Crh3bnu7vSRj-5oQhR5t6BKCFJmgV0_hNdL1x6tcp6iIAMTVLSpEgUbuzd5Ufq8n1Hk_-s3Q20hFzmi6KPpdZrX8b6O3Un4xzmyIDejwRs/s400/Pictures+387.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235163908015533522" /></a><br /><br /><strong>"The Grandfather Tree"</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxYWzcqfkC6QTnOyx1ND_y6_DrEG3wKJd-lzJlRkzNTFpJcMySV_UyzuBvXep-wJUinXjjBB9eif8r9PGoRvjd2C6hem7gHDzdXK-eFgbUU2Y4pGMvEt4IDFpqG4QHxmQvSpBHM9O0oUy/s1600-h/Pictures+401.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUxYWzcqfkC6QTnOyx1ND_y6_DrEG3wKJd-lzJlRkzNTFpJcMySV_UyzuBvXep-wJUinXjjBB9eif8r9PGoRvjd2C6hem7gHDzdXK-eFgbUU2Y4pGMvEt4IDFpqG4QHxmQvSpBHM9O0oUy/s400/Pictures+401.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235163907125752802" /></a><br />This magnificent old oak tree sits on the side of a trail that must have been the original wagon road leading down to the river and to the place where steam boats once sat at dock and the ferry landing used to be. <br /><br />Too small to feed the hungry boilers of the steamboats of the 1800s it was spared the axe. The tree now big and grand watches silently over those who pass. Some even notice the tree, mostly old folks, small children and the like. Those in-between often seem too pre-occupied to see the beauty and wonder that lies all around. Once in awhile I bring my kids over to the landing and my girls don't pass the tree without giving it a hug. They call it the "Grandfather Tree". <br /><br />Eventually Mr. Spong won out and his family operated the ferry business for many years after the shooting. Mr. Doake at some point in time ceased ferry operations and sold his Lincoln land in 1860. Eventually Lincoln the town was gone too. <br /><br />Did Mr. Spong and Mr. Doake resolve their differences peacefully and become friends? Or was it an uneasy truce? History does a poor job of recording thoughts and feelings. One can only guess, given the facts what <em>we </em>would think, feel and do under the same circumstances. <br /><br />War and peace, conflict and cooperation, human nature is capable of going either way. Hopefully Mr. Doake and Mr. Spong came to a mutual agreement for the common good and chose to live out their days in peace. Life being too short to let ambition and selfish interests get in the way. I wonder.<br /><br />Save surfing time! Get new posts delivered right to your email box! <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MF7L46?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000MF7L46">Garmin Zumo 450 Portable GPS Motorcycle Navigator</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000MF7L46" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-82095955985015453282008-08-09T08:06:00.000-07:002008-08-10T15:09:01.455-07:00"Liberty's" Last Ride? Motorcycling to Silver Falls Park -OregonI rode my motorcycle to our campsite in the middle of a rainforest with my 14 year old son on the back, my wife followed in a van with the rest of the kids. The twisties up the canyon were invigorating, the scenery breathtaking. The Sportster rumbled along flawlessly as always. Would this be the last time I took to <em>this </em>saddle as Captain?<br /><br />Though this was to be a fun family adventure, it was a "bittersweet" one. The thought of it being the last run for my old friend, the motorcycle I've named "Liberty" weighed heavily on my mind. Economic circumstances being as they are, make it impossible to hold on any longer. The payments too large for my low-income job. With a family of 5 to feed the struggle has become no longer sustainable. I recently lost my opportunity to work overtime and when monthly expenses exceed monthly income, well, somethings got to give. The only thing I have left to give is my Liberty, who has given me so much of the very same. <br /><br />I will continue to commute to work and with luck get in a few more side trips until I sell the bike. After that the commute will still be on 2 wheels, -a bicycle that is. Hopefully I will find a way to get another motorcycle sooner rather than later. <br /><br />We went to Silver Creek Falls State Park in Oregon. Not more than 30 miles from our driveway in Salem put us right in the middle of a temperate rain forest and the campground we would be staying in. <br /><br />The weather held up, it was nice and sunny and it didn't rain until after we had everything packed up and were leaving for home. <br /><br />The park holds 9,000 acres of forest, meadows and a steep basaltic canyon holding 10 waterfalls, all connected by an 8.7 mile National Recreation Trail.<br /><br />My son and I with my Sportster in the foreground and North Falls in the background.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7y5HiCZtO1unbxzq0Z5AY5ujzSaorz01QNzlaykXrAV7GxGSHpRfV0aKxy9cYyVw5277NpkA1NPLtnA9KD_kd0QVx4EaTlibUEKF0S8-x_HPv_EeIk64Ydc4KXIg0KsqgBXYB8uoFotCL/s1600-h/Pictures+373.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7y5HiCZtO1unbxzq0Z5AY5ujzSaorz01QNzlaykXrAV7GxGSHpRfV0aKxy9cYyVw5277NpkA1NPLtnA9KD_kd0QVx4EaTlibUEKF0S8-x_HPv_EeIk64Ydc4KXIg0KsqgBXYB8uoFotCL/s400/Pictures+373.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232545325614700626" /></a><br />Looking at the falls had the effect of washing away motorcycle problems from my mind and to see something bigger, something timeless. The cycle of water, which in the grand scheme of things makes one man's small troubles seem insignificant and temporary. <br /><br />"Roughing It Easy"<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVwt4vAFLBdkaFsuIQNGzs7Jb0ggf3f5j3nzjgw9xis9Aam9ZLNfbgR9Yp4TxhIdpjb9C7JYwtUWuH06bMjPghv9KHSRQZ9vyffqtScF1eMZAsWr-DKMLZQsVYgwf8oq7-Zu_vm0fTRNA/s1600-h/Pictures+326.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTVwt4vAFLBdkaFsuIQNGzs7Jb0ggf3f5j3nzjgw9xis9Aam9ZLNfbgR9Yp4TxhIdpjb9C7JYwtUWuH06bMjPghv9KHSRQZ9vyffqtScF1eMZAsWr-DKMLZQsVYgwf8oq7-Zu_vm0fTRNA/s400/Pictures+326.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232545329202127746" /></a><br />The campground we stayed in was completely full. Filled with a lot of fancy RVs of all sorts, tents being in the minority. This particular RV caught my eye. No it wasn't the $300.000? price tag, it was the satellite dish, custom painted with a nature scene. <br /><br />I've been practicing being non-judgemental lately which is really against my nature and a hard lesson to learn. So with that in mind, I'm not going to hold judgment on my fellow campers, especially if I don't know their story. The couple staying in the rig with the satellite dish had to be quite well to do. For all I know they may have funded an orphanage in Cameroon or helped feed and shelter children digging through the trash heaps of Mexico City looking for leftover food. Maybe they own a company and treat their employees well and give them good medical insurance and a living wage. Maybe they used some of their apparently plentiful supply of money for altruistic purposes -before having their satellite dish custom painted. -Maybe. Not for me to judge.<br /><br />Still, it strikes me as a funny way of experiencing nature. I wondered as I walked past their self-contained resort on wheels, appointed with every known luxury and convenience known to man, if they were sitting inside making good use of that satellite dish. With 472 channels, hopefully they found a good nature program to watch.<br /><br />South Falls <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHOm9VbUGThlIzv_fhfqFtlOa6ZoE480vULDcdbu9sAecawH5FjEKhHoXvXGeYhC2Nrj-MRu5wiLrEXIT4qkZVrdfJatEdU38KFPywhXkD4GY4ryPP87j6AAvcj-RPVKt8Qtv39rPdNVK/s1600-h/Pictures+339.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHOm9VbUGThlIzv_fhfqFtlOa6ZoE480vULDcdbu9sAecawH5FjEKhHoXvXGeYhC2Nrj-MRu5wiLrEXIT4qkZVrdfJatEdU38KFPywhXkD4GY4ryPP87j6AAvcj-RPVKt8Qtv39rPdNVK/s400/Pictures+339.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232545331642787458" /></a><br />South Falls is a big one by any standard. Silver Creek plummets 177 feet down before landing in the pool below. This picture just shows the lower portion of the awe inspiring waterfall. In 1928 a Pacific Northwest legendary hero and daredevil named Al Faussett went over the falls in a homemade contraption of canvas and tire tubes. He survived with only a few broken ribs, a broken wrist and both ankles sprained. Others that have gone over, not so lucky.<br /><br />A view from behind South Falls<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpfao8vTzwjEzeV-RVAGEluVBePTj519LB_LFA1kyKyypBF4oZ_kCrwocv_BrkmxIJHBcT3PR-Dn0OnObfmdBFxyzq4PG1crjt3tqyBvUOVDx2Gyb1zat2H5prxeDHXeyu8ezD0aaR742/s1600-h/Pictures+344.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpfao8vTzwjEzeV-RVAGEluVBePTj519LB_LFA1kyKyypBF4oZ_kCrwocv_BrkmxIJHBcT3PR-Dn0OnObfmdBFxyzq4PG1crjt3tqyBvUOVDx2Gyb1zat2H5prxeDHXeyu8ezD0aaR742/s400/Pictures+344.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232545341452072770" /></a><br />A ponderous trail leads down into the canyon and around the side passing behind the falls. For the feint hearted and vertigo prone the railings are small comfort, being the only thing between oneself and sudden death, serious hurt, or at the very least embarrassment having to be rescued by means of rope and basket.<br /><br />Mia Familia <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMd-zMpSELgy_GWHZwiqOzXO0SfCefhyphenhyphen6sa5iaDOHPX2P5tUK_4nLeZVgmchahNSEFOY1L9JNQ9p_Q9cJXGTV-qVW4D2Sl7tcs4NKMnQT6AqSkEITDpjQ5pLLVqoLZJYdwGAw53XSuUiiN/s1600-h/Pictures+358.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMd-zMpSELgy_GWHZwiqOzXO0SfCefhyphenhyphen6sa5iaDOHPX2P5tUK_4nLeZVgmchahNSEFOY1L9JNQ9p_Q9cJXGTV-qVW4D2Sl7tcs4NKMnQT6AqSkEITDpjQ5pLLVqoLZJYdwGAw53XSuUiiN/s400/Pictures+358.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5232545345724004594" /></a><br />This is a shot of my family perching on the side of the cliff behind South Falls. From the left my daughter turning 9 this week, my wife, my 10 year old daughter and 14 year old son. This 2 night camping trip is the highlight of their summer. God bless them for being patient with my inability to give them more. <br /><br />And so was this to be Liberty's last ride? Perhaps. How long will it be once it's sold before I can get another bike? Questions that don't stray too far from my mind. I wax and wane between optimism and pessimism. Time will tell...<br /><br />Save surfing time! Subscribe and get new posts delivered right to your email box! <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=kanscofhou-20&o=1&p=20&l=qs1&f=ifr" width="120" height="90" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-65277544090532260122008-08-03T10:55:00.001-07:002008-08-03T13:17:20.794-07:00Motorcycle Ride -The Oregon Coast, Barns, Bridges & BiscuitsI was really fortunate to be able to take my motorcycle last week on a business (camping) trip out to the Oregon Coast and stayed 2 nights.<br /><br />I traveled from Salem on Highways 22 and 18 to Lincoln City on the coast, a distance of about 50 miles and then South down U.S. Route 101 to Newport, a ride of only about 83 miles from home. I feel fortunate to be living where I do because I have an amazing backyard. <br /><br /><strong>My bike "Liberty" overlooking the Pacific Ocean at Depoe Bay, Oregon</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw27TPb62l10g5jtXWX6wywKIUJyYIh4on-HED0vbAF7QKj2QxmEsqTcv7swNX0CaUZ4tEXOS5iVysSXdigqS3IJX8r9Hq4VRkiKE6fI07mutpnFEifN26hbsdCjHCZVqzEaDRBNaPsexF/s1600-h/Pictures+275.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw27TPb62l10g5jtXWX6wywKIUJyYIh4on-HED0vbAF7QKj2QxmEsqTcv7swNX0CaUZ4tEXOS5iVysSXdigqS3IJX8r9Hq4VRkiKE6fI07mutpnFEifN26hbsdCjHCZVqzEaDRBNaPsexF/s400/Pictures+275.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230355477750558882" /></a><br />Depoe bay is where the fishing trip sequence was shot in the 1975 film <em>One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest</em> starring Jack Nicholson. The 6 acre harbor is the smallest in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records. <br /><br /><strong>Yaquina Bay Bridge as seen from where I was camping at South Beach State Park</strong> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDR2bqeOTL8n8k5ICeq_kHU18QTqAztg056pH7RXk7EbeTVAShdrvI4MPXMLLUWBat4t8Q6HRvhatsTB0nqk3mO3YXudmLE_IbjGi8BVsbDHs_uAEg9E94j2n_p939-BVB84UoHHX7ukW/s1600-h/Pictures+282.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKDR2bqeOTL8n8k5ICeq_kHU18QTqAztg056pH7RXk7EbeTVAShdrvI4MPXMLLUWBat4t8Q6HRvhatsTB0nqk3mO3YXudmLE_IbjGi8BVsbDHs_uAEg9E94j2n_p939-BVB84UoHHX7ukW/s400/Pictures+282.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230355482203437874" /></a><br />The Yaquina Bay Bridge just South of Newport on U.S. Hwy. 101 was built in 1936. It must have been difficult getting around on the rugged Oregon Coast before the bridges were built. <br /><br /><strong>"The World's Best Biscuits & Gravy"</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFkZ6rrXKHZlcBqcbKv8EqNBAqiMULCoY5JUXu64l4d88B2P34aNjBPGxTimxI-CG_4TqYbo8ZUM22vTp3m2Fx5YObZIxf0Av2oVJWyPPxxVkXiqJQ5mscLcsisOosPqKPLOUipBb28nC/s1600-h/Pictures+287.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFkZ6rrXKHZlcBqcbKv8EqNBAqiMULCoY5JUXu64l4d88B2P34aNjBPGxTimxI-CG_4TqYbo8ZUM22vTp3m2Fx5YObZIxf0Av2oVJWyPPxxVkXiqJQ5mscLcsisOosPqKPLOUipBb28nC/s400/Pictures+287.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230355483084514146" /></a><br />On the last day I packed up and left camp early and hungry. Finding good biscuits & gravy in this world is a rarity indeed. The breakfast at the "end of the rainbow" is "The Pines Restaurant" in Newport off Highway 101. They had the best ever. Perfectly done biscuits with sausage patties, scrambled eggs and gravy on top. Oh Man! <br /><br /><strong>Drift Creek Covered Bridge</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh151F2g-GVU_wOVflzft1rWQYRvN5-lKC5ZVkR4CDhyphenhyphenYDRL_Je3H6HZQo8NLIK6yW48e8v7nLBw8aU50lgGzR3Hv2WMcL-vqyZQV0FCzPV4IMLNOhYf5RbWjmIKYv6Rm3HzyCHTSR_1sol/s1600-h/Pictures+291.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh151F2g-GVU_wOVflzft1rWQYRvN5-lKC5ZVkR4CDhyphenhyphenYDRL_Je3H6HZQo8NLIK6yW48e8v7nLBw8aU50lgGzR3Hv2WMcL-vqyZQV0FCzPV4IMLNOhYf5RbWjmIKYv6Rm3HzyCHTSR_1sol/s400/Pictures+291.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230355491725152098" /></a><br />On my way back home I made a stop off Highway 18 at Rose Lodge to see the Drift Creek Covered Bridge. Oregon has the largest collection of covered bridges in the west and one of the biggest in the nation. They were built around here from the 1850s up until the 1950s. 50 remain from an estimated peak of 450. Drift Creek is the oldest one left which was built in 1914. They were built because the roofs protected the huge truss timbers from the damp Western Oregon climate. A covered wooden bridge could last upwards of 80 years whereas an unprotected one could be expected to last only 9.<br /> <br /><strong>"This Old Barn"</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7HEO4hQZdW77rv2NBJ5Y3me8G0PxmdNJP9YHnehUKYeb2m1Le3IspaCdLx6pEsHu9WtgmFclraP8R5WedRYxl-eYW_bte2GuqAVcxDKMWBQ_lvREPhPYD1lk5CYARZwUR_tteVKiU9Yf/s1600-h/Pictures+303.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA7HEO4hQZdW77rv2NBJ5Y3me8G0PxmdNJP9YHnehUKYeb2m1Le3IspaCdLx6pEsHu9WtgmFclraP8R5WedRYxl-eYW_bte2GuqAVcxDKMWBQ_lvREPhPYD1lk5CYARZwUR_tteVKiU9Yf/s400/Pictures+303.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230355495289086434" /></a><br />Next stop was Ft. Yamhill, a new Oregon State Heritage Area. It's open to the public but still under construction and being excavated near Grand Ronde off Highway 22. The fort was built in 1856 and was abandoned in 1866. Its purpose: to ensure the Indians and white settlers didn't get into each others hair. The fort was built adjacent to the newly created Grand Ronde Indian Reservation on a strategic hilltop overlooking an encampment. <br /><br />Which really must have sucked for the Indians at the time.<br /><br />Being prevented from roaming their own land freely and having to live in one place couldn't have been a whole lot of fun. <br /><br />Their revenge? A large and hugely profitable tribal casino just down the road a piece. <br /><br />Small in stature, big in ambition, young Lt. Phil Sheridan reportedly used to sit in the mornings and look out for couriers bringing him a much anticipated call to action in the Civil War raging back east. Lt. Sheridan got his orders and in 1861 he left Ft. Yamhill. By war's end he had become a hero and a 4 star General. <br /><br />I took a picture of this barn because first of all it was a good subject to photograph and secondly I was thinking of Lt. Sheridan, he fixed his gaze in the same direction some 148 years ago. I have a theory as well, about the barn that is. <br /><br />This barn is obviously very old. It wasn't standing during the days the fort was occupied. There would have been an Indian village or encampment there. Most of the buildings at the Ft. are gone. Only the Blockhouse (moved to Dayton) and an officers house remain. What happened to all the other buildings? I think locals may have tore them down and carted off the wood to build their own structures, like maybe this old barn... <br /><br />Living where I do in the central part of the Willamette Valley of Western Oregon puts me within an hour or so ride to seemingly endless curiosities. As I said before, I have an amazing backyard. I've been living around here most of my life and have seen all the main attractions, it's the small and lesser known wonders I now seek out. Like where to find a great breakfast, or places to ponder history and my place in it...<br /><br />Tomorrow I'm going camping again. This time to Silver Creek Falls. One of the most scenic places anywhere. It's a common tourist stop, my assignment: Find the uncommon, stuff that won't be found on a brochure. <br /><br />Save surfing time! Subscribe by email and get bonus material available to email subscribers only. <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> <br /><br /><strong><em>Dreaming of Jupiter</em></strong><br />In 1974 Ted Simon travels "round the world' on his Triumph Tiger 100 and then writes the bestseller <em>Jupiter's Travels</em>. In 2001 he does it again, this time on a BMW GS and he's 70. The world and his perspective have changed and he writes about it in a sequel: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0965478548?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0965478548">Dreaming of Jupiter: In Search of the World--Thirty Years On</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0965478548" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> This is your chance to get a copy through this amazon link:<br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=kanscofhou-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0349119600&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-22445874674817032932008-07-27T19:06:00.000-07:002008-07-27T19:07:59.088-07:00Motorcycling, Escapism and the "Oregon Country Fair" Part 1(Kano shows that he's not the only "hippie freak" left on the planet. In fact the 1960s style counter-culture appears to be alive and well in Oregon. Because of a 5 photo limitation per post, the story will be completed with 2 posts.) <br /><br />It’s been a busy month for me. On Sunday, July 13th was a motorcycle ride from Salem out to the “Oregon Country Fair” near Eugene, Oregon. We got front row parking in “Hog Heaven” right near the gate. Lucky thing too, it was a hot day! The mercury was showing 98 degrees by late afternoon. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7JwLW00H9yYGIl50VV2U5DqduTWRVUa02ZNLD5VcD2VaLzYjkWmgw68N86dd9_T9rRIZGjz_s-z88pxXXfG6p_LPI7AYJ22zCkJ3s9DmoAb1HjLGUqwwx6r7LX1RhnCnoSyyx3qcGy0v/s1600-h/Pictures+272.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7JwLW00H9yYGIl50VV2U5DqduTWRVUa02ZNLD5VcD2VaLzYjkWmgw68N86dd9_T9rRIZGjz_s-z88pxXXfG6p_LPI7AYJ22zCkJ3s9DmoAb1HjLGUqwwx6r7LX1RhnCnoSyyx3qcGy0v/s400/Pictures+272.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227752799760962834" /></a><br /><strong>I put on my best "I'm glad to get this damn jacket off" look.</strong><br /><br />Mike’s Buell Ulysses was in the shop so he rode a borrowed (thanks Dale) Vulcan 900, and I was putting the spurs to “Liberty” a Sportster. <br /><br />This friendly couple was more than happy to get their picture taken. Fairgoers are part of the entertainment. Many dress up (or dress down) for the occasion and don’t mind the attention.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QAwE9WEq3W_6b2ledj50gQBzFHa3cln7iIeQHxCgB3i-Xzjr1DTLsiKfvmNODFs5Ojn-Qn7NUOIcM4VU6gh7T8_6S3qcFBbq3TaJtP6owc7dOuhL2bEz80h5dMOtq7UUJ0fcTXof8zXC/s1600-h/Pictures+270.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9QAwE9WEq3W_6b2ledj50gQBzFHa3cln7iIeQHxCgB3i-Xzjr1DTLsiKfvmNODFs5Ojn-Qn7NUOIcM4VU6gh7T8_6S3qcFBbq3TaJtP6owc7dOuhL2bEz80h5dMOtq7UUJ0fcTXof8zXC/s400/Pictures+270.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227752804961169122" /></a><br /><strong>"Who's that weird looking guy pointing the camera at us?"</strong><br /><br /><br />The fair has been going on every July since 1969 attracting some 50,000 people over the course of the 3 day event. Old hippies love the freedom to “do their own thing” and a new generation has taken to “the fair” too, a la cell phone. For lots of folks cell phones are a convenience not to be done without. For me anyway, they are just a modern "ball & chain" and a distraction from fully experiencing the world right in front of my own eyes.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoEb9ZxDvTLr3nWJW-l7N4gh4fafdUL9xcbguuqXKAeIjHI2y4l6W4wmMYszcQgYTN_wpEMcWezOnlVPzEML1iwbQy0JKcQRGYviA2IkT-VWH5cPg_K1ogPS1N5RBOtwQueIuNDg2xpELf/s1600-h/Pictures+225.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoEb9ZxDvTLr3nWJW-l7N4gh4fafdUL9xcbguuqXKAeIjHI2y4l6W4wmMYszcQgYTN_wpEMcWezOnlVPzEML1iwbQy0JKcQRGYviA2IkT-VWH5cPg_K1ogPS1N5RBOtwQueIuNDg2xpELf/s400/Pictures+225.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227752805524558770" /></a><br /><strong>"Can you hear me now?"</strong><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPCLrRugGsCMVpQheZADrGQp5OphXRu9SrYSxRRGKSF-8z3JuuLPGQBZrqeSeqVwcRZu67dospPSrH3qZUx3R0Um0m0foL0KG4mrx1dUxZOGOp0GhrRM5yxNhJ2BxpvF9iy6eTDkO4vr4/s1600-h/Pictures+232.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaPCLrRugGsCMVpQheZADrGQp5OphXRu9SrYSxRRGKSF-8z3JuuLPGQBZrqeSeqVwcRZu67dospPSrH3qZUx3R0Um0m0foL0KG4mrx1dUxZOGOp0GhrRM5yxNhJ2BxpvF9iy6eTDkO4vr4/s400/Pictures+232.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227752809902554626" /></a> <br /><strong>"Can you hear me now?" </strong> <br /><br />When’s the last time you could find good Mexican food out in the middle of the woods? The booths, stages and exhibits are located along meandering trails and small clearings in the 260 wooded acres of the fair site. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQ3X3GJlJJiFn6cBCoqeNvAy9QnjINndORq4Bsr3OTlvc1Kfl9oPK2inkpcDOcNz6_l0dhKjMGSL3N87OeDFl3cQPr8wYZocJ2EQortTNnCHdGqnXHhdQiF8C6qzT7laAjSIyPRVZr28e/s1600-h/Pictures+233.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcQ3X3GJlJJiFn6cBCoqeNvAy9QnjINndORq4Bsr3OTlvc1Kfl9oPK2inkpcDOcNz6_l0dhKjMGSL3N87OeDFl3cQPr8wYZocJ2EQortTNnCHdGqnXHhdQiF8C6qzT7laAjSIyPRVZr28e/s400/Pictures+233.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227752812873689538" /></a><br /><strong>"Who's up for chalupas?"</strong><br /><br />The atmosphere is hard to describe but I’ll try: San Francisco circa. 1967, A Carnival or Circus, A Pre-Historic European Village, Rio, New Orleans, The Wild West, Eugene. It’s not any of those but all of those in one magical place. But even with all the fun and festivities going on it's hard to miss the feeling of being in a very special place, an ancient and sacred oak grove. And there's an appeal to the experience, something primal...<br /><br />Part 2 is the next post down, so read on!<br /><br />More pics and words about my day at the Oregon Country Fair will be coming shortly to the email boxes of subscribers to Motorcycle & Scooter Talk at Kano’s Coffee House. Click the link below to sign up. It just takes a second and it’s free! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><br /><br /><a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/06/motorcycling-out-to-oregon-country-fair.html">One of my previous pics and posts about the Oregon Country Fair</a><br /><br /><a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2007/06/destination-hippie-heaven-in-2007.html">Another previous post on the Oregon Country Fair</a><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=kanscofhou-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B00007AWME&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-15404731051247951212008-07-27T18:59:00.000-07:002008-07-27T19:08:32.341-07:00Motorcycling, Escapism and the "Oregon Country Fair" Part 2Here is the conclusion to the previous post:<br /><br />...And you don’t know what you’re going to see around the next turn in the path. It could be a banjo player, a sword swallower, or -a tree man.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5vaNpMMfIqBSRH5KnBJU3yMWwRUY-PoWJW3BDkmEVAT2h7hEK9tIdNm77lySEh5s0H1xoJ7ToDtPn__6gcsdASgxyk1wuAfSBLtUsM6AsyqMHdu3AMREMp_wLsXmPWQPE3dsPpi_RK0md/s1600-h/Pictures+239.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5vaNpMMfIqBSRH5KnBJU3yMWwRUY-PoWJW3BDkmEVAT2h7hEK9tIdNm77lySEh5s0H1xoJ7ToDtPn__6gcsdASgxyk1wuAfSBLtUsM6AsyqMHdu3AMREMp_wLsXmPWQPE3dsPpi_RK0md/s400/Pictures+239.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227766028996178402" /></a><br /><strong>"A tree saddened by the doings of man."</strong> <br /><br />Being there is like being transported into an alternate reality, kind of like Disneyland I guess. A place to escape the routine, social norms and entrenchment of the lives we lead most days. The fair is a place for folks to be their natural selves and to experience the freedom of expression without fear of the sometimes quick judgment of main stream society.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUQlM5QzdL_D1cd2cINK-zmw5P6dWoPI6hGIdJBgsHL06EPymDaVABAz9orpsgMCTPBp7ipHaJNgD58E7HaUdBPpChsg3uQq7uNQGheSaA8O-2xfJQogLoK0f8bJLOabpFxBQpUxc5emD/s1600-h/Pictures+263.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUQlM5QzdL_D1cd2cINK-zmw5P6dWoPI6hGIdJBgsHL06EPymDaVABAz9orpsgMCTPBp7ipHaJNgD58E7HaUdBPpChsg3uQq7uNQGheSaA8O-2xfJQogLoK0f8bJLOabpFxBQpUxc5emD/s400/Pictures+263.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227766029998542402" /></a><br /><strong>"Hipsters and Hoopsters"</strong><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlezhpemA3VzXk7X0xKi8QjrSWUcnc_3mpbsHjOW-FzraOAK_oz7C14EZwbOfkNjLwAvDSvVI-rZ5vhBxR-R9dBFDLFcOzSylzdG13N1qQkbsillGZpZZbFBNeO7oDM8vHtxQs1J6ARbJ/s1600-h/Pictures+228.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZlezhpemA3VzXk7X0xKi8QjrSWUcnc_3mpbsHjOW-FzraOAK_oz7C14EZwbOfkNjLwAvDSvVI-rZ5vhBxR-R9dBFDLFcOzSylzdG13N1qQkbsillGZpZZbFBNeO7oDM8vHtxQs1J6ARbJ/s400/Pictures+228.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227766032582895266" /></a><br /><strong>"A fierce looking Spiritual Warrior."</strong> <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrm69eTMD7xVNCLh30RaFkuGWzas30l5CVG8a20ANUf8ameqCdfaGfzWvisJxzGxETA33D6ifErZrojw3erPBHp5jS87HvZnYls4inSS1wXGSJjpw9E-Ys3PnhTmVWLKQ2umqoC6KQiek/s1600-h/Pictures+200.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKrm69eTMD7xVNCLh30RaFkuGWzas30l5CVG8a20ANUf8ameqCdfaGfzWvisJxzGxETA33D6ifErZrojw3erPBHp5jS87HvZnYls4inSS1wXGSJjpw9E-Ys3PnhTmVWLKQ2umqoC6KQiek/s400/Pictures+200.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5227766060666235826" /></a><br /><strong>"Goodbye and Come Again"</strong><br /> <br />This was the third time that I had been to the fair and I’m going to make a habit of showing up every year from now on. I'm not one for donning a costume or strolling around wearing nothing more than a loincloth, but still these are my kind of people and this is my kind of place. Maybe I just need to loosen up a bit...<br /><br />More pics and words about my day at the Oregon Country Fair will be coming shortly to the email boxes of subscribers to Motorcycle & Scooter Talk at Kano’s Coffee House. Click the link below to sign up. It just takes a second and it’s free! <br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><br /><br /><a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/06/motorcycling-out-to-oregon-country-fair.html">One of my previous pics and posts about the Oregon Country Fair</a><br /><br /><a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2007/06/destination-hippie-heaven-in-2007.html">Another previous post on the Oregon Country Fair</a><br /><br /> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HU9JN2?ie=UTF8&tag=kanscofhou-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000HU9JN2">Heavy-Duty Hydraulic Motorcycle and ATV Lift Jack - 1500 LB Capacity</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=kanscofhou-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000HU9JN2" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-47680612955054257692008-07-18T08:20:00.000-07:002008-07-19T10:21:35.001-07:00A Father & Son Motorcycle Ride 13,000 Years in the Making<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuVe41RUJk27dXZB69_mv_pqUBf0YB6Paa7zaHnQkm7OZ6FjrmGLOk-LJo6G0VVKyi7a7qeqkT3f_5X0v7j9fzxWWqnN5wTrzZRowiSGmgxqFGuWtrXAdOsTNdMGuGml5MsJLfDs5vJgq/s1600-h/Pictures+144.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGuVe41RUJk27dXZB69_mv_pqUBf0YB6Paa7zaHnQkm7OZ6FjrmGLOk-LJo6G0VVKyi7a7qeqkT3f_5X0v7j9fzxWWqnN5wTrzZRowiSGmgxqFGuWtrXAdOsTNdMGuGml5MsJLfDs5vJgq/s400/Pictures+144.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224759001909656386" /></a><br /><br />I said to my 14 year old son Jason, "Your mom and the girls are going to church this morning and you and I are hitting the road on the motorcycle."<br /><br />"So where we going dad?" "To check out a rock over by McMinnville, it'll be a nice ride out there."<br /><br />My son looking unimpressed and a little less than eager asked "are we going to get a pop or anything?"<br /><br />Sunday mornings are usually reserved for going to church. My church preference though is the road, the woods, the beach and today it would be to see a "glacial erratic rock."<br /><br />We waved goodbye to my wife and my 2 girls as they rolled out of the driveway. I felt a little guilty because they soon would be sitting on a wooden church pew and I would be in the familiar saddle of my bike named "Liberty".<br /><br />Jason reluctantly climbed aboard the bike and we were off. Later we arrived at "Glacial Erratic State Park" a forgotten little wayside with just a small sign marking the entrance to the parking area just off Highway 18 in Yamhill County.<br /><br />At the trail head was a graffiti sprayed historical marker describing the rock waiting for us at the top of the hill. I read about the glacial erratic as Jason walked ahead.<br /><br />I caught up with him and we hiked up the short trail and soon we were standing near a large rock overlooking the surrounding scenery of rolling hills, farmland and vineyards.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRsGzo2sbQQ22uOnsgvMETTBqa4jf9Uv38Vyx2XanHYdpjtDDZvJfQpvEAMZvgQz16dSq1hSVfpjAB5dfKyqOiBjK7zPBnH3BOoHzYZ7B5lSJufxE6bA9H4jcafLW9yxrPz_wGqO6Hlkg/s1600-h/Pictures+143.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRsGzo2sbQQ22uOnsgvMETTBqa4jf9Uv38Vyx2XanHYdpjtDDZvJfQpvEAMZvgQz16dSq1hSVfpjAB5dfKyqOiBjK7zPBnH3BOoHzYZ7B5lSJufxE6bA9H4jcafLW9yxrPz_wGqO6Hlkg/s400/Pictures+143.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224759803954788514" /></a><br />Jason looked at the rock for a second and said "we rode all the way out here just to see this?" <br /><br />He cracked open his can of Dr. Pepper and took a long sip.<br /><br />"Yep" I said, "and this is no ordinary rock, this here is a glacial erratic. If you would have stopped long enough to read the sign then you would know all about it."<br /><br />He rolled his eyes, took another sip of pop and put on his best disinterested look as I explained:<br /><br />"This rock came all the way down here from up in Canada during the Missoula flood about 13 thousand years ago at the end of the last ice age. There was a glacier blocking the flow of a river so there was a huge lake. The ice dam burst and a wall of water hundreds of feet high flowed down the Columbia River carrying huge chunks of ice along with it. Embedded in the ice were big rocks like this one".<br /><br />"And?" He said. (It may have been my imagination or maybe he really was interested in hearing the rest I don't know)<br /><br />"And this wall of water carrying huge chunks of ice flowed down through Montana and Idaho and into Washington and Oregon along the Columbia River and about where Portland is now some of the water came down the Willamette Valley."<br /><br />"So" he said. At this point I didn't care if he was really interested or not. I wanted to finish the story so that maybe he would remember it and appreciate the experience we had together sometime in the future. <br /><br />"So a big chunk of ice settled at the top of this hill and melted, leaving this here rock. End of story."<br /><br />Shrugging his shoulders he said "cool" and headed back down the trail at a quick pace. He was probably eager to get back home as soon as possible so he could resume the video game he was playing earlier.<br /><br />I stood there for some time taking it all in. I looked at the view from up there and touched the rock with my hand, noticing someone had spray painted "You Suck!" on the side of it.<br /><br />I imagined the almost unimaginable pre-historic scene; the wall of water surging over the hilltops around me carrying chunks of ice bigger than a house.<br /><br />My mind moved from pre-history to recent history. About the time I was Jason's age my dad brought me to see the rock. I was thinking that back then I probably looked just as bored as my son did.<br /><br />This time was different though. Getting older seems to have the effect of giving me a broader perspective. I appreciate things more and I certainly appreciate my dad more now than I did then, when he was still alive. It's too easy to take people for granted. <br /><br />Maybe because my finished journey isn't all that distant anymore and things like the rock, people, the world, are savored and taken in more slowly so as to be fully valued.<br /><br />I was glad I brought Jason up there despite his disinterest. Because, I thought, maybe he would someday return, if only in memory, and he would look at the rock and understand it.<br /><br />Maybe he would even bring his own family to show them. Maybe generation after generation would come and keep coming, until the time that the rock becomes dust...<br /><br />Cars sped by on the highway below. Busy, unconscious, and in a hurry to get wherever they were going.<br /><br />Long ago the rock arrived at its destination but it's purpose was not finished. It had waited silently for this moment 13,000 years in the making.<br /><br />I was in church that day alright. I felt the presence of my dad on that hill and smiled knowing he would be happy that I was passing along the experience to my own son. I touched the rock and it touched me and it felt like the hand of God. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTYMsySIuHTnqPSfCcqME9KfTL_aGs5oa3kjvMKoaXTGp83aIz-j9NpfNM_VpRPSHbQG6mRfXQaYOWzsPzMhEt7WlB75-1mixmMGoKDaDNzRbCF8U-x1nbfSHEr3R4wktWX4ItMXpaY9W/s1600-h/Pictures+145.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHTYMsySIuHTnqPSfCcqME9KfTL_aGs5oa3kjvMKoaXTGp83aIz-j9NpfNM_VpRPSHbQG6mRfXQaYOWzsPzMhEt7WlB75-1mixmMGoKDaDNzRbCF8U-x1nbfSHEr3R4wktWX4ItMXpaY9W/s400/Pictures+145.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5224757630633365122" /></a> <br /><br /><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/KanosCoffeeHouse" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House</a></p><br /><br /><a href="http://www.waymarking.com/wm/details.aspx?f=1&guid=9898c0bd-ede2-400c-9318-d0cc0bbeb11b">More information on the "Glacial Erratic" along with GPS coordinates. </a><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=kanscofhou-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0870043323&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-6241491043768420882008-07-15T08:16:00.000-07:002008-07-15T11:03:47.114-07:00Reminder -Wednesday July 16 is Ride To Work Day!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOxZVc6u-oZE57IrCXP_EU8x3Yit6G336cyp65MZCJOjI8HEY2To9k1BQ4lZilPY1XP1wqwWkJMDPssXiKQKTth1WajxsAkipZVLEkRSRjaa-DA5LZA-wosJQ2dCVWQel8PED9iB0Bk7B/s1600-h/rtw08banner"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfOxZVc6u-oZE57IrCXP_EU8x3Yit6G336cyp65MZCJOjI8HEY2To9k1BQ4lZilPY1XP1wqwWkJMDPssXiKQKTth1WajxsAkipZVLEkRSRjaa-DA5LZA-wosJQ2dCVWQel8PED9iB0Bk7B/s400/rtw08banner" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223260512417217058" /></a><br /><strong>From ridetowork.org:</strong><br />Riding to work is fun.<br />Riding to work reduces traffic & parking congestion.<br />Riding to work uses less fuel than an automobile.<br />Riding to work leaves me alert & energized.<br />Riding to work results in less pollution than commuting in a larger vehicle.<br />Riding to work is less destructive to road surfaces, bridges etc.<br />Riding to work gets me to work faster (and back home)faster.<br />Riding to work demonstrates motorcycling as a social good. <br /><a href="http://ridetowork.org">www.ridetowork.org</a><br /><br />Help keep your web surfing time down by getting <em>Motorcycle & Scooter Talk</em> delivered right to your email box for free! It takes only seconds to sign up! <a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><br /><blockquote></blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-18854327871157410822008-07-14T08:10:00.000-07:002008-07-14T22:40:01.856-07:00Moto Mulching 101<strong>Professor Kano (Master Moto Gardener) takes us through some of the finer points of organic gardening:</strong><br /><br />Just when I was having a hard time coming up with something new to write about, "<a href="http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/">conchscooter</a>" came up with a doozy of an idea. He suggested I write about "motorcycle mulching".<br /><br />Conchscooter planted the seed, now it was time to get to work and come up with how this could be done.<br /><br />I called a meeting of the sharpest minds Kano's Coffee House had to offer. The crack research team would consist of "Snake", "Curly" and myself.<br /><br />Long into the night and after several pots of "Kano's House Blend" we worked out a theory...<br /><br />And we had yet another good reason to own a motorcycle or scooter. We were going to prove them useful far beyond what their designers ever imagined, -as a gardening tool for instance.<br /><br /><strong>The Problem</strong><br /><br />I have a small garden out back with a mulch bin sitting in the corner that isn't doing much. At the slow rate my chow leftovers and yard waste are decomposing I'm more likely to become mulch myself before that stuff ever does!<br /><br />For things to decompose efficiently in the bin, the stuff would ideally be in the smallest form possible to begin with.<br /><br />It's been a battle to get my kids interested enough in the joys of organic gardening for them to chop up watermelon remnants and banana peels into small pieces. So that leaves the job up to me.<br /><br />And that's where a motorcycle or scooter could come in real handy.<br /><br /><strong>The Solution</strong><br /><br />We came up with two ways to deal with the situation. One is a rather modest approach and the other a little more "upscale" and a whole lot more fun I might add.<br /><br />Now I haven't actually tested the hypothesis out yet. I've been kind of busy lately and would prefer some of my students give it a go before I light-off my Sportster out in the backyard.<br /><br />The first and more conservative technique to "moto mulching" would be to get some of those creosote soaked railroad ties and cut them to size. The idea being to make a three walled enclosure to throw kitchen scraps and yard waste into.<br /><br />The added benefit of all that toxic creosote leaching into the ground is that it is said to act as as slug repellent. But if you want to go "full bore" organic, skip the creosote and use something else. <br /><br />I'd make the back wall kind of high if I was you because you're probably not going to want a whole lot of stuff flying into the neighbor's yard. Hmm... <br /><br />Once you've got a reasonable build-up of watermelon rinds, corn cobs and banana peels. it's time to help speed up the decomposition process a bit. That's when the fun begins, because you're going to use your motorcycle or scooter.<br /><br />So just back your bike into the three walled stall, slip into first gear, squeeze the brake tightly, grab a hand-full of throttle and let er' rip!<br /><br />It should take no time at all to break down all that stuff burning and shredding under the back tire. Now that's my idea of a good ole' time!<br /><br />It may be helpful to get one of your kids, the wife or friendly neighbors to stand-by with a shovel to toss material that gets thrown to the side back toward your rear tire. We'll call that job "feeding the hog".<br /><br />The second and considerably more sporting approach to motorcycle mulching would be to make a larger fully enclosed area with some kind of gate to let your bike in and out of. This way you could actually make a regular "moto rodeo" out of the work. Fun for everybody!<br /><br />You could become the hero of all the neighborhood kids and even charge a small admission fee just to watch.<br /><br />OK, so now the work is done, the smoke has cleared and you've got yourself a pile of nicely ground up scraps ready to become mulch.<br /><br />The final step in the Moto Mulching process is just shovel the pulverized remnants of last weekends BBQ into a mulch bin or compost pile and let time do the rest.<br /><br />Apply finished compost to garden when ready.<br /><br />Repeat as necessary. Good luck and happy Moto Mulching!<br /><br />!Safety Reminder: Always wear a helmet and goggles!<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-64196126359473213082008-07-12T08:59:00.000-07:002008-07-12T10:20:49.746-07:00Sportster Motorcycle Mileage UpdateIn one of my previous post on <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/06/how-to-calculate-your-motorcycle-mpg.html">how to calculate miles per gallon</a> I figured the mileage on my Harley-Davidson Sportster XL1200C at a disappointing 35mpg.<br /><br />"Fuzzy Math" or "weak calculator batteries" my wife says.<br /><br />I don't think so. Using the techniques described in another post of mine on <a href="http://motophilosopher.blogspot.com/2008/06/kano-motorcycle-miser-shows-how-to-save.html">how to save gas</a>, my next tank delivered a satisfying 42.46 mpg.<br /><br />The tank was used for the same exact commute to and from work. I didn't have to ride like a 93 year old grandma either. <br /><br />Mainly I accelerated slower from stops and avoided as many of them as possible by slowing down when a red light loomed ahead. It's all in the timing!<br /><br />7.46 more miles per gallon isn't anything to sneeze at. That's a net savings of about 193.96 gallons per year on my commute alone. <br /><br />At the current cost for a gallon of regular which is $4.17, that works out to an annual commute savings of $808.81!<br /><br />And as we know the cost per gallon is only going to go up, so the actual savings will be even more. <br /><br />Oh, and thanks to Steve's suggestion over at <a href="http://www.motorcyclephilosophy.org/">Motorcycle Philosophy</a>, I tried switching over from using Premium to regular with no ill effects. Another ton 0' savings there!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><br /><br /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=kanscofhou-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=1560253177&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width:120px;height:240px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-69536710515656704142008-07-06T12:17:00.000-07:002008-07-09T08:49:35.739-07:00The Motorcycle Charge of the Light BrigadeKano shows why he deserves to be awarded the "Motorcyclist Iron Cross" medal for exceptional courage under friendly fire <em>and</em> a "Moto Oscar" award for "Neighborhood Entertainer of the Year": <br /><br /><br />11:05pm.- I reached for my fully armored "Tour Master Transition" riding jacket. It was time to go to work. <br /><br />A good choice as it turns out, and judging by past experience it wasn't going to be a routine night time motorcycle commute. It was the 4th of July. <br /><br />And it was no ordinary trailer park I had to maneuver through to get out to the main road either. <br /><br />(My wife and her Real Estate Agent don't call it a "trailer park" by the way. They say it's a "Multi-Use Manufactured Home Subdivision"-or something like that.)<br /><br />On that night anyway, it was a war zone.<br /><br />I might have been safer riding through Baghdad's Sadr City than running the gauntlet of hooligan kids and drunken revelers who lined the streets.<br /><br />And they were armed to the teeth with all kinds of deadly incendiaries and explosive devices.<br /><br />I had the whole park to negotiate and it's tough to get a good head of steam with its maze like lefts and rights and all those potholes, stop signs and speed bumps.<br /><br />Determined not to retreat and against all odds I charged ahead.<br /><br />The neighbors launched their attack with military like precision. Road side bottle rockets strategically placed along my route were exploding all around; cherry bombs blinded my vision and filled my lungs with sulfurous fumes.<br /><br />Those little shits had the whole thing planned!<br /><br />The neighbors were getting ready to unleash the final assault when I noticed a small clearing in the smoke screen ahead. <br /><br />And the last speed bump had been hurdled.<br /><br />That's when I grabbed a handful of throttle and rocketed the Sportster past a group of gangsters throwing strings of firecrackers at me. <br /><br />(At that point I was thinking about how fortunate I was to have my detachable windshield on and that I was wearing an armored jacket with real decent flame retardant qualities built right in.)<br /><br />Rounding the final corner before the exit I noticed one last obstacle remained between me and freedom.<br /><br />A guy was standing there holding a lighter in one hand and a beer can in the other. He was attempting to light the last of about 9 or 10 roman candles burning brightly in a line down the middle of the street. <br /><br />I plowed right through, crushing them under my wheels and scattering them in all directions as I went, -sparks a' flying. In terror he dropped his "Pabst Blue Ribbon" as he dodged out of the path of my front wheel bearing down on him.<br /><br />(I knew he was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon because I had hoisted a few with that same guy earlier in the day. He waited until I got distracted by my kids using a soccer ball to bowl down my corn plants. Then he raided my back-yard cooler and disappeared with two six packs of beer and a quart of "Tennessee Walker". That was <em>my</em> Pabst Blue Ribbon laying there spilling its award winning contents onto the hot concrete! -The beer thieving idiot is some kind of foreigner -from California I think.)<br /><br />I made it out of that hellish park and out onto the open road.<br /><br />Free and clear of the smoking and fiery trail of destruction left behind, I pulled over to the side of the road to gather my thoughts. I thought about the good time those fools were having and realized that I apparently was the "main event" for the evenings festivities.<br /><br />I took a quick glance at my watch, I still had enough time to get to work and the neighbors no doubt had some fireworks left, who was I to spoil any one's fun on this -America's birthday?<br /><br />So I turned the Sportster around and put the spurs to her for another pass. After all, that would be the neighborly thing to do and I wanted to give them a 4th of July to remember...<br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8897915848871627957.post-63409877182603638662008-07-03T08:07:00.000-07:002008-07-03T11:05:03.099-07:00Motorcycle Blogging At Work - Kano's Really Bad Idea #1,372<strong><strong>There's</strong> a time and a place for everything. Blogging at work is <em>not</em> the time <em>nor</em> the place. Kano explains:</strong><br /><br />Recently I was granted access at work to use the Internet- for research that is. I felt that the sky's had opened up and the literary gods were smiling on me. What a golden opportunity to kick up my Blogging a notch!<br /><br />Then just as I was gearing up to make <a href="http://MotoPhilosopher.blogspot.com"><em>Motorcycle & Scooter Talk</em></a> really rock & roll my boss discovered that I've been partaking of the company's high speed broadband connection for my own evil purposes, Blogging.<br /><br />So I thought about it for a bit and decided it was best to keep my job. (Right Joel? I know you're reading this!) <br /><br />I want to keep fixed firmly in my rear-view mirror my previous careers in ditch digging, dish washing, wrestling the criminally insane at a psychiatric hospital and cattle rustling.<br /><br />Now it's back to my tired old dinosaur of a home computer with its "super no-speed dial-up Internet connection".<br /><br />New posts may not be as frequent as I had planned. I'll do the best I can though. <br /><br />And if my winning number comes up in the lottery, I'll take a look at hiring a bunch of secretaries, then I'll get a laptop with broadband. That way I could do a lot of posting!<br /><br />Until then, I will post from home and as fast as time allows. I do have one coming up real soon about how to get the most out of your motorcycle or scooter by adding it to your arsenal of gardening tools. Thanks for the idea <a href="http://conchscooter.blogspot.com/">conchscooter</a>!<br /><br />Now if I could just find someone around here that knows how to type... <br /><br /><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1067774&loc=en_US">Subscribe to Motorcycle and Scooter Talk at Kano's Coffee House by Email</a> <strong>Get it delivered for Free right to your email box!</strong> <br /><br /><strong>Your <em>SMALL</em></strong> donation can make a <strong><em>BIG</em></strong> difference when it comes to helping keep Kano from Blogging at work. And (your going to have to trust me on this) you don't want him coming over to <em>your</em> house to use your computer either. In no time flat your PC will be infected with every kind of virus known to man! Just click on the donate button in the sidebar or send an email to: oregonian@netzero.com<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-5755847014677186";
google_ad_width = 160;
google_ad_height = 600;
google_ad_format = "160x600_as";
google_ad_type = "text_image";
google_ad_channel = "";
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Kanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07061130052392660661noreply@blogger.com4