Pressureangle

I was fleet manager at a mulch manufacturer. We had 3 big grinders, 1000HP Caterpillar V12s. They ran WOT 10 hours a day, idling at lunch. The grinders had an automatic feeder, stuffing logs in until it drug the motor down to 1800RPM, then reverse that backed the load out until the engine reached 2200RPM and start the cycle again. Literally throttle to the firewall the entire time. They usually lasted about 10k hours before rebuild; the problem was, if something broke it was *extremely* expensive. In 2004, the major overhaul kit alone was about $12k plus out of service for a month. Oil tests let us catch them before they ruined heads, or turbos, or cranks.

So...much...change... Will continue after SSR XX.

Sew, Incoming weather cut it short. Made it to Prince Rupert (typical cruise port city, nothing to see here) but grand views in Jasper NP and Banff area. Tons of pics and vids which have to wait until I get near a PC. Now in Michigan, trip will continue with a Route 66 to Albuquerque.

Who knew British Columbia had deserts? 103*F today, quit at 2:30.

Caught a B&B from an ADVrider.com member in Bigfork, MT on Flathead lake. Big thanks. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/49980731?viralityEntryPoint=1&unique_share_id=D60F116D-3A69-430C-815C-5B1F0BC73D7D&slcid=e770ce09029142a9be49574160e7622a&s=76&feature=share&adults=1&channel=native&slug=IPPLjHPU&source_impression_id=p3_1720383224_P3MiAAIgGnR9xSR6&check_in=2024-07-17&guests=1&check_out=2024-07-18

Mine too, now. I'll post vid on YouTube, maybe even with some unlicensed music.

As expected... 8 miles of s&go in the warm sun. Nobody to see Ild Faithful, the jam was only for hot springs. Made Beartooth pass- cold and a little scary lol. Over the hump from Jackson WY and up to Salmon ID. Kalispell Tonight, maybe

Black Hills yesterday, Bighorn (again) today, Yellowstone tomorrow. Can't wait to see July 4 weekend traffic.

Happened upon them in the FS office lobby after hours.

Don't know, time is limited. It's not my trip, so anything's possible. I was supposed to meet the guys in Bozeman, but they've had dire rain for 5 days now. I'm in Custer, SD and they should get in this afternoon. Cool as I've never been to the Black Hills area before. Today's mission is to find tent space for 3, into the July 4 weekend. Secret Weapon; Forest Service park map dhowing all free camping areas, unlisted elsewhere.

Wyoming looks flat on the map, but now I know where the Bighorn mountains are. Got snowflakes?

Yeah... Moab to Jackson Hole. Beautiful start, to Dinosaur and North... Then Wyoming. The high plains winds are crazy, and for hours. Dropped it at a stop from a pebble and the wind, good sam helped pick up Humpty Dumpty. Jackson WY rather sucks bull nuggets. San Fran libs have taken it wholesale to the point that an old biker gets side eye looks buying coffee. The baby Hilton (idr which brand) was f*'n $525 tax in, and every tent site was beyond full. Nice scenery, though. Flew Teton and Yellowstone, got some rain with hail at 7500 feet. Cody WY now looking at ugly weather.

No idea yet.

Friday ended in Chama, NM. Didn't ride the Cumbres & Toltec train as weather Saturday was wet. Saturday, surprised myself by finding my route passed the Durango & Silverton steam railroad as well. Spent a couple hours in and around, then moved on to the 4 corners monument- a monumental waste of time as the entry line went from the road to... Eternity. So I have a picture of the sign. Then through the lesser-travelled road through monument valley; lesser views but zero traffic. Also, lesser places for pictures as the good views were narrow 2 lanes with huge drops and no shoulders. Hot, too, the kind that withers and makes you long for coldbrain, (I'm leaving that spelling error in) or even a spot of shade, of which there was none. Pressed on to Moab, UT where I'm now having a fabulous mocha latte.

I'm too dumb to figure that out smoothly, plus people not on forum have access.

No food at the campsite, at least that's the story- but the other two are Canadians so I'll bet all my gas money there will be grilled cheese sammiches for breakfast. Got insect repellent jammies, skeeter nets for over helm, bear spray across the border where they take it seriously. Lunch in Cuba, NM.

Yeah, you know I like to travel light, and this is as light as I could get it given that we're camping whenever possible and reasonable, so there's tent/bag/footer and a lot of cold weather gear that I hope I never have to take out of the drybags, which I hope never get wet. One thing I did assemble, which I've meant to put together for a long time is a trauma kit. I've always carried simple band tourniquets, but studying up for this trip revealed how remote much of the travel is, and also the frighteningly frequent, almost daily, news of bikers killed or seriously injured in Canada and Alaska. Let's hope it never gets opened. I built my own, in a Pelican case; C-A-T tourniquet 'Israeli' bandages clotting bandages and powder chest wound valve bandages Leatherman surgical shears plastic airway helper SAM splint Of course I have some Ibuprofen/Acetaminophen, burn cream, allergy pills etc. I figure anything less than serious can ride on to the next pharmacy. I forgot forceps, duct tape, and parachute cord. I suppose I can pick the tweezers up at an Albuquerque head shop lol.

So it begins. Let me say first, I'm not riding a Moto-Guzzi. A nice '04 BMW R1150GSA Adventure got thrown at me instead of a V85TT, thanks a lot guys. I'm leaving tomorrow morning, 28 June from El Paso. Should be an easy ride through Albuquerque to Chama. I intended to ride the Toltec Steam excursion but looks like weather doesn't want me to hang around there Sunday. I may post some pictures here, but mostly just put them in a Google Album with this link: https://photos.app.goo.gl/RLJDCUNS6Pwux8gj7 We'll spend plenty of time out of cell service, and I'm not carrying anything with a keyboard. Oh, already had someone ask why I don't post a thread in the ADV forum. Well, because there are only 2 people I know on that forum, one is in this forum and the other is the old friend meeting me in Bozeman. Or Billings, or Sturgis, if I don't dawdle too much on the way up. Besides, the ADV forum is full of menies.

Yes, yes I do. It's more a time and place thing than a too many bikes thing. I don't ride at all in S. Florida anymore unless it's a special occasion or necessity.

I bought the MG Cycle starter, and it's been sterling- for 2 years and 50 starts. <shrug> there was no visible difference from the Valeo it replaced, right down to the rivets used to prevent maintenance. They may come out the back door of the Chinese factory that Valeo owns.

2 Spine Raids ago, my starter locked up. It had been giving me clues and warnings, with slow starting and low cranking voltage I blamed on the battery. In the end, it was the starter; I did not disassemble it to discover whether it was magnets or bearing failure, but it was drawing over 300 amps stalled on the bench, then half the time it would turn but even on the bench drew something like 80 amps. The new replacement draws about 80A initial pull-in then about 40 turning the motor, iirc. There's a thread around here somewhere with the specifics.

I always remember the consultant to the movie 'Saving Private Ryan' who made the landing- when asked, 'What if anything was wrong with the movie?" his answer was, "There were not enough bodies on the beach". https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2429903/Peace-Day-Reminder-millions-lives-lost-war-artists-stencil-9-000-bodies-Normandy-beach.html

Home run... I was training night driving with FLIR- the screen was 14"x16", a little too close to the driver's face and above head level. Sucked to drive with. The guys who could drive all, every one, suffered driving 'on-screen' as it was pitch black outside. Some simply could not get certified. There was a young girl, though, from NYC somewhere who had never driven anything before enlisting in the Army. Of course, they put her in a logistics battalion as a truck driver... and so since she was airbrake certified she got tagged to drive our truck. She wasn't a good driver in the daytime, had no sense of direction or sense of speed or inertia. She crawled through every obstacle slowly and fearfully, but did manage to pass. Of course, all the guys were either 'coaching' her condescendingly, or teasing her, and jerking each other off about who was fastest. At night, though, when the lights went out, she was a freakin' werewolf. As soon as it was full dark and she could only see the video screen, she set a course record for her battalion. At night. Over 12 foot hills and 12 foot deep trenches with blind corners, around off-camber turns. We were all so stunned we could only laugh. And every one of us learned something from that.

Just like her airplane.

You've been here 2 weeks and your second post is supporting the destruction of the purpose of the list you joined?