Bill Hagan

Well, doh. Thank you for slapping me into clarity. She is looking for Moto Guzzi tees, i.e., brand specific. Guzzi rallies or related are fine, too, but Guzzi is the theme. Apologies for my brain cramp in not making that clear from the start. I'm now going to other places and correcting my posts there. Bill

Many of you reading this know or know of Chet … an avid West Virginia Guzzista and “Chethro” on ADVRider. Regrettably, Chet was in a very serious motorcycle accident involving a deer strike in early November. See more here: https://advrider.com/f/threads/chethros-wv-nearby-travels.1468688/page-134#post-51683267 Chet was hospitalized for weeks, in rehab for a lengthy period, and is finally at home with a long recovery period ahead. Chet's good friend, Eric, was following Chet when the day turned Chet’s world upside-down, and has posted updates of Chet’s condition. Eric’s wife is a skilled quilter, and had the idea to make Chet a quilt as a small blanket or throw that he might enjoy during his continued rehab. The quilt squares are made from the front and/or back of a T-shirt. The quilt requires minimum of 12 tees, with 16 preferred, of Moto Guzzi content; subject matter front and rear would count as two. The size and condition is not overly important since she will be cutting them down to 12x12 squares. That said, as we all probably know from our own collections, “some tees are better than others,” i.e., so more to choose from is a good thing. With Guzzisti, I am compelled to add “washed and clean” tees. 😄 I suspect we all have tees that could be of service in this great cause. Given the sad realities of privacy and security in 2025, PM, email me <wrhagan AT earthlink DOT net>, or text me at FourZeroFour.8Zero8.84EightSix as to where to mail your tees. Thanks. Bill

We are even … you got me with the “up & over hill!” Bill

I think you missed my teasing point: "Did you walk uphill both ways as I always told my kids that I did? " Seriously, I think few young folks in any era really know about, much less appreciate, what their forebears did to make life easier for posterity. Bill

Did you walk uphill both ways as I always told my kids that I did? Seriously, we have MANY miles of gravel roads in Frederick County here at the top of Virginia that school buses have to travel, thus the school closures on days that would, for most urban schools, be ho-hum business as usual. I do see -- in great weather -- all the parents sitting in their cars at the end of a street or driveway to take their kids the few hundred feet to their homes! I think much of that stems from fears of security. It's none of my business -- which never stops me from judging and pontificating -- but it still bothers me. I detest snow, but need to stop whining about the weather and just go down to the Moto Grappa and putz around, pretending that I am doing something useful. Bill

As for first year of the new century and, in this instance, millennium, I pleaded guilty to pedantry. and am awaiting findings and sentencing. WRT to vehicle tags, there's a long thread on the issue here: https://advrider.com/f/threads/why-do-people-cover-their-license-plates.1516730/ Quibblingly yours, Bill

Congrats! I have sold cars and motorcycles, but (almost) always with a pang of regret. We keep most of ours for years and hundreds of thousands of miles. My '98 EV, bought as a new leftover in 2000, has 108K miles, and would have many more if I had not had dalliances and affairs with others along the way ... although several of those are still in my moto-harem down in the snowed-in Moto Grappa. At risk of offering even more evidence of my pedantry, was not the year 2000 the last year of the second millennium, and thus not the first year of the third? Best wishes from the frozen top of Virginia, Bill P.S. I like the way you don't mask your tags. It always interests me when folks do that.

Fascinating. Impressive. I’ll always be in the bleachers cheering on such things, as opposed to actually doing anything of the sort. Still, I’m amazed at the potential. My only direct connection with 3D printing so far is ordering some wind deflectors for the V85 that literally fill the void between the stanchions and tank. That gap has been viewed as the cause of lots of wind turbulence and noise since the V85 appeared. I found the fix pretty useless, but did admire the ides and execution. Then, the Georgia Guzzi Guru, Wayne Orwig, made up a test set of front and rear turn signal stalks for my EV. The OEM ones are infamous for corroding and falling apart. That led to all sorts of MacGyver fixes of the popsicle stick splints, black electrical tape covers, and cable tie supports! I wish I had a "before' pic handy. Wayne's are grand ... Best wishes from the snow-covered alps and steppes at the top of Virginia. Bill

Thanks. Actually, I was feeling guilty because I thought -- and did not particularly wish to look and confirm -- that I had similarly sinned in the past. Bill

Yes. Lived in Atlanta then. The thread said "no words," so I followed the rules. I'll say this now ... December 2006. Near top of Richard B. Russell Scenic Highway in north Georgia, a lovely romp. https://exploregeorgia.org/things-to-do/article/helen-dahlonega-fall-road-trip I do not have to strain to hear that Ballabio's cans roar as I ascended. What joy. This, on nearby Ga 75 and Brasstown Bald ... Those were the days, my friend ... we thought they'd never end ... etc. sigh. Bill

. The mention of “Paradise” is interesting for its timing. Over on ADV Rider forum, there is an entertaining and informative thread called "Pillion Viewpoint (PVP).” https://advrider.com/f/threads/pillion-viewpoint-pvp.1525703/ The “host,” a lady from West Virginia, posts great photos of the things we “pilots” only see, if at all, briefly as we are so darn focused on the literal way ahead without dying. Her narratives are also engaging. Her “groupies” (I am one) have been encouraging her to collect and publish in, e.g., a “coffee table book,” the best of her posts. Great stuff. Her husband, Wally — PVP calls him “Rider” — is a fine fellow. He is often mentioned, and occasionally seen, but don’t think he ever posts in PVP’s thread. Rider is quite a wrench, too, and has many solo and two-up miles on his beemer and his new KTM. Anyway, PVP — a retired lawyer — has an architectural bent, and her pix often include interesting buildings. Her interest in houses of all sorts led recently to this comment, "All this architectural inventiveness, fading away, and replaced by the ticky-tacky," and 60’s or so protest songs, including, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes. Go to her thread if you care to see all of the interesting chatter, but I responded to the "ticky-tacky" post, including mention of "Paradise." "I understand the Little Boxes, ticky-tacky houses, and the like, and enthusiastically sang (badly) those along with my friends. That said, and I did not recognize it at the time, there is, IMO, an unmistakable whiff of elitism in that and other "suburban protest ballads." Those little boxes were the literal dreams-come-true of so many whose lives, when young, had been scarred by the Depression and then disrupted -- if they survived -- by WWII. Those folks were now raising families in those ticky-tacky homes we condemned in our songs. As a boomer, vintage '47, I lived a care-free teenage life that made it easy to complain about the wrongs of my parents' generation, most of whom were struggling and still sacrificing for their children. As one of those kids, I lived in a tract home in Daviess County, Kentucky, in the 1960's, and dated a sweet lass from Central City in Muhlenberg County, so my favorite song at the time was, of course ... Recognition of my own frailties as a young person helps me overlook and forgive the teens and young adults of today. Now ... get off my lawn, PVP, and take and post some more pix!” Whatever the socio-economic and political value then and now, it’s a great song. Bill

^^^^^^^ That does not look like central Indiana @Chuck! Our next couple of weeks are frigid, and the cleared roads covered in corrosives, so first ride may be as late as March. Still, hope, the refuge of the doomed, is about all I have that warmer days and cleaner roads will arrive anytime sooner. Bill

Nothing like a bit of Roper in the morning. No need for coffee now. The most disconcerting part is when, as here, I agree with him. A specialist at digression, I am compelled to add this. I am especially crabby just now because we cannot get delivery of a new washer and dryer because of snow. It is now laundromat time as our hamper is full, and once one's clothes reach a certain stage, deodorant has its limits! I used my rotator-cuff injury -- my "souvenir of Sardinia" earned on that Guzzi tour -- to get Kathi to shovel the paved entrance to our driveway yesterday. Polish wives are magnificent. I did reward her cheerfully done hard work with an Old Fashioned ... Anyway, while can get our (Mighty) Fit up and down the gravel drive, the 26-foot box truck would not, especially if an inexperienced driver. Best from snowbound (and smelly clothes) at the top of Virginia ... Bill

Did not intend for you to have to recall that, but as a father and grandfather, I assure you that I know EXACTLY what you mean. Sigh. Bill