Husbands, Don’t Forget:

Just a frindley reminder:

Love Is Grand,

BUT:

Divorce Is A Hundred Grand!

The Final Battle II

The three Harleys stopped at the entrance to the Theodore Roosevelt Island Pumping Station, field headquarters for the final battle in the war on tyranny. Being situated on the west bank of the Potomac River, the ACF referred to it, ironically, as the “Western Whitehouse”. Luke leaned his bike onto the kickstand and waved to Ben and Tom. The two young men headed on toward the bridge to the island. They were to double and triple check the electromagnetic pulse weapons. It was crucial that the alignment not be off more than one degree.

Luke dismounted and looked at his watch. Nine o’clock. Three hours until the final card would be dealt in the highest stakes card game of his life. The thought brought back memories of the Poker Runs he and John had gone on when they were young. The Runs were often followed by all night drinking and card playing. Then, heading home as the sun was rising over the mountains. But this game was different. There was no bluffing, no folding. It was all or nothing. You either win, or you don’t go home.

He looked to the east; across the Potomac River. He saw his nephews turn off of the bridge, and onto the island. Turning to his right, he saw West Potomac Park. Fixing his gaze on the Vietnam Veterans and Korean War Memorials, he wondered how those Soldiers felt when they faced their final battle? A sudden chill went down Luke’s spine. He shook it off and headed into the pumping station.

Reaching the control room, three stories underground, he was meet by Taz and Eddie. The two men were busy modifying the controls to operate the EMP’s. Neither looked up. They were on a tight deadline. “Hey Taz, have you heard anything from the Doc about the Nuclear Power Plant yet?” Luke asked. Taz just shook his head and continued working.

Five months earlier, the ACF had disrupted all electrical power going to DC. It was quite a surprise the next day, to discover that DC still had lights and commutations. A week later, Luke had found out that in 2015; the U.S.S.A. had secretly constructed a nuclear power plant two thousand feet below the Supreme Court Building. “Smart thinking for a bunch of dumb asses” he mused, “just in case the shit ever hit the fan”. The only question now was, “What would a EMP blast do to the nuclear reactor”?

Luke had checked with the best minds on the subject he could find. All had their theories, but none could be taken as absolute fact. No one had ever aimed a EMP at a nuclear reactor before. So it was a craps shoot. Not a pleasant thought. But one he was willing to gamble on. The outcome of doing so ranged from nothing, to Armageddon. One expert said that when the EMP fries the reactor controls, it’ll cause a meltdown and explode. Or simply shut down with nothing happening. Or, it could shut down and go into stand by mode. Yet another theorized that it’s deep enough underground to be contained, regardless of the outcome.

Luke knew that they really didn’t need DC to rebuild the Nation. After all, it was just sixty-eight square miles of isolated land. Cut off from rest of the Country. It was more of a physiological tool. If Washington, D.C. were in the control of the ACF, the few remaining supporters of the U.S.S.A. would surely concede and join in the building of a new Nation. At least he hoped they would.

He checked his watch again. Ten o’clock. Two hours ‘till midnight. Time to go check on his boys. A quick word with Taz and Eddie before leaving. Taz said too “ Leave them the hell alone. They were busy. They didn’t have time to BS with the boss” They assured Luke everything was on schedule.

Back outside, his bike fired on the first kick. “That Ben sure has his Dad’s love for engines,” Luke said to himself. “Best Harley mechanic I ever had”. He reached down and kicked it into gear. Luke gave a quick salute to the Washington Monument, silhouetted in the moonlight, and headed off in search of a Nation waiting to be rebuilt.

Picture Du Jour

Want to know how I really feel?

The Final Battle

Ben and Tom sat by the mouth of the cave and listened intently to their Uncle Luke. The time to attack the last stronghold of the outlawed U.S.S.A. government was close. Washington DC would fall tonight. Over one million soldiers of the Armed Citizen Force were outside the barricaded city waiting for Luke’s order…

Ben, now 21 years old, and Tom 18, barely remember life before the cave. Fifteen years earlier Luke and his brother John had started the ACF. When John, the boys’ father, was killed in a raid on Ft. Dix, thirteen years ago, Luke raised them as his own, and as Lieutenants in the War on Tyranny. The last ten years living in the cave.

Luke asked if the electromagnetic pulse weapons were in place. Ready to take out all commutations and electronics within DC. The young men nodded in agreement. Everything was in place and victory was assured. Tom looked up and spoke, “Uncle Luke, I’ve heard many stories over the years about how this started. But you’ve never told us how you and our Dad got involved. Can you tell us now, before we face the final battle?

Luke had been prepared for this question. He didn’t want to tell them until they were ready. Until “they” asked. He reached into his rucksack for his Winslow pipe. Packed it with his favorite tobacco and took long drags. He stared at the sky for several minutes putting his thoughts in order.

“Boys”, Luke began. “When the government sold GM, Dodge and Ford to Japan, most people accepted the fact that Toyota was the only auto you could buy anymore. In 2011 when Harley took a loan from the government things heated up a little. But assurances were made that the Motor Co. would continue as normal. Weeks later, when news surfaced that the Congress had officially changed the name of our country to the “United Socialist States of America” and had sold Harley Davidson to a Chinese company, things really got hot”.

Luke relit his pipe and continued. “Within a week there were riots and looting at every Harley dealer in the country. Law enforcement was powerless to stop it. I still think they didn’t want to stop it. They were just as mad as we were. That’s when your father and I, along with our HOG chapter formed the “Armed Citizen Force”. Our objective was to take out any Chinese owned company on American soil. Before long we had HOG chapters across the country joining”.

The sun was beginning to fade behind the mountain. Luke looked at his nephews and grinned. They would be part of history. “When they deployed the National Guard to stop us, that was their biggest mistake. The government had no idea how many “Soldiers for Harley” there were in the backwoods and bayous of America. Most of them were secretly smuggling weapons to the ACF. One by one, military installations were controlled by the ACF. Our numbers grew daily. A lot of U.S.S.A officials tried to flee overseas. Most never made it. That brings us to the here and now boys. The day we restore the country your father loved and died for”.

It was now completely dark outside. The three of them packed their gear on three rusted but freshly serviced Harleys and headed down the mountain. The lights of DC glowed like demon candles as they approached the onetime Capital that was now a fortress. The soldiers of the Armed Citizen Force stood in silence and saluted as they rode past. The time was now. Tonight they would give birth to a new Nation.

Ravings Of A Lunatic

I have no idea where this is going. I’m just trying to make sense of all the bad news being thrown at us everywhere you turn. TV, radio, Internet, newspapers and everyone you talk to. The sky’s falling and the country’s going down the toilet. Harley’s cutting jobs. Caterpillar cutting 20,000 jobs. One of my best customers, that until last year had 42 employees and did 1.5 million a year with us, now has 9 employees, and is 120 days past due on $80,000. Small, medium and large companies going under every day. 500,000 jobs being cut every month. Sounds like the Soviet Union before they went ape shit. We have a bunch of people in DC who think they can fix everything. I’m not sure if any of them are economics professors or not, but I’m positive every one of them is a lawyer. And I’m pretty darn sure it’s the same bunch of dumb shits that got us in this to start with. I wouldn’t go drinking any of their kool-aid just yet. I don’t think any of them has a clue. Right now I think all those dummies in DC are running scared. Scared that if they don’t fix their screw-up, there’ll be armed rioters pulling them out of their plush offices, and beating the fucking shit out of them! With half a million jobs being lost a month, and IRA’s and 401K’s getting looted by corporate greed, I wonder just how long it’ll be before roving bands of very armed, very pissed off people start “visiting” corporate and government offices to get their pound of flesh. People are getting really pissed. What’s worse is people are getting scared. And scared people are very unpredictable. It wouldn’t take much for the shit to hit the fan. Just a small incident. Totally insignificant in itself. But enough to push people over the edge. DC would fall pretty quick. The Police and National Guard wouldn’t be able to stop it. Most police are getting screwed over just like everyone else. They might just join in. The National Guard? They did take an oath to protect this country from all enemies, foreign and “domestic”. Care to place a bet on how many citizens are starting to consider most of the DC scumbags domestic enemies? This could happen, it could not happen. Only time will tell. But at the rate that bad shit’s happening right now, shit, I aint got a clue either.

1200 Sporty - A Big Twin?

This is based entirely on a comment Big D made on Joker's post, “More on the New Iron 883”.
First, is a 1200 Sportster a “Big Twin”?
Second, who you calling a “old timer” Big D?

The 1200 Sportster vs. Big Twin is a valid point, and one that has always bugged the hell out of me. When Harley made the change in 1986 from the Ironhead Sporty to the 1200 Evo. Sporty, it bothered me. Mainly for one reason. Having owned several 1200 Big Twins, and still having a “74in. 1200 Big Twin”, the almost overnight perception that a bike with a 1200 cc engine (the Evo. Sportster) was a small, entry-level bike irritated me. Perhaps a different advertising campaign at that time, introducing the all-new “Big Twin Super Sport Sportster”. Or something along those lines. But to keep the 1200 Evolution Sportster in the same classification as the 1000 Ironhead Sportster, I think was a mistake.

Make no mistake about it. A 1200 Sportster will almost always, in my opinion, out-run a 1200 Shovelhead. A 883 with a 1200 kit, will probably always out-run a 1200 Shovel. I also would not be a bit surprised if a 883/1200 conversion, opened up a can of speed demon whoop-ass on a few of the new 96 inchers. I’m in complete agreement with Big D on this one. A 1200 “is” a Big Twin, no matter what frame it’s mounted in. As for the 883 itself, I don’t think it should have been made part of the Sportster family. It should have had it’s own product designation, or just left on the design room floor.

Back To Bike Stuff - For Now

Time to get back to bike stuff. Performance or function. That’s all I put on my bikes. The only “bling” is whatever the factory put on it. Floorboards. The stock location, to me, sucks. Right side, your foots right against the exhaust. Left side, shifters are too close. Most of the “fixes” I saw for this looked cheap and probably wouldn’t last long. I found a small company called Harley-Goodies that makes floorboard extensions that will work on just about all Harley floorboards. Bought them, installed them, love them. They’ve been on the bike over a year now. No complaints. If I remember correctly, they cost just under $50.00 and the freight was free. By my measurements, they move the boards out 1 7/16 in. Makes a hell of difference.

You can also free up more of your left floorboard by reversing the heel-toe shifters. Move the heel shifter to the inside on the splined shaft. Factory set up is toe inside, heel outside. Simply reverse them. Yes, it will clear the primary cover. But most boots still won’t fit between them. I went with Baker extended shifters. 1in. over on the toe and 1 ½ in. over on the heel. Price is reasonable. About $70.00 each. Plus they make them so both mount bolts face the same direction. Just a “eye” thing with me. There are a crap-load of mfg’s. that make extended shifters, whatever catches your “eye”. I just like that my foot fits between them. Gives me full use of the floorboards.

Passenger Floorboards. This is just for Softails with Harley brand passenger floorboards installed. A lot of people put on passenger boards, as did I. The only issue is that with no adjustment, and only one way to mount them, they put the passengers right foot damn near right on top of the rear muffler. Dumb ass engineers. You’ll notice that my rear boards are about 3 ½ inches higher than normal. This involves cutting and welding, but is a very simple fix. E-mail if you want more info. I mention the rear boards for one reason. When installed as per Harley’s instructions, they keep the passengers knees pointed at a downward angle. That causes them to slide forward when you brake or hit a bump. With a minor modification, the knees are kept at a slight upward angle. Therefore keeping the passenger firmly planted against the backrest, where they belong.

Last week I read a post on Crusty's blog. He was talking about new requirements for bike inspections in Mass. One of the comments asked how they would know if the exhaust was stock or not. This is one way to tell. Since the EPA jumped on the bandwagon in 1978, OEM approved mufflers have a “EPA compliance statement” stamped on the frame facing side. It states the mfg. info, part no., model and decibel rating. The current EPA rating is, I believe, 80db. The db reading is normally taken at 25 ft. with the engine at a idle (some states may differ). Normal conversation at 5 ft. is 65db. So how loud is 80db? Start your bike and let it idle. Pace off 25 ft., turn and look at your bike. Now fart. Did you hear it? If so, then your bike is to damn loud!