End of the year posting

Well Bloggers, another year has come to an end with all the resulting ups and downs and bits in between.

Soooooo Bodger has decided to recap the year if for nothing else so he can remember for himself.

The good:

-the on-going treasure hunt for parts for Vicky and Amelia. Got a lot of the parts that is on the never-ending wish list such as gear cluster, horn, clutch bearings and rod, push rods, a tatty seat which will be redone, a tank for Vicky that is quite serviceable, a Spitfire tank for Amelia to save and preserve the original fiberglass one, a steel side panel for Vicky plus a slew of miscellaneous other bits
-obtaining more toys to play with such as a Darth Vader bobble head
-the continued learning of new and various things no matter whether good or trivial which in the words of Bodgers dear ol' Pappy can be termed "DUI"....Damned Useless Information.
-attending local classic bike events such as the New Ulm Rally and the Harvest Classic
-getting out and about and doing/seeing different things with the my lass Teri
-knowing who your mates are and that they're there like good mates will be
-idiotic dags who love you no matter what
-through the use of cyber space, finding old friends and being able to keep in touch with them
-two weeks of 20F weather that included some snow and ice which was most welcome by yours truly
-a change in personal circumstances that's for the better
-and lastly, to go along with the last item, meeting and being with Teri who is a great lass.

And now on to the not so good:

-still having to actually for a company that is determined in self-destructing no matter the cost
-a few medical issues coming up such as having high blood pressure and taking meds for that
as well as insomnia for the past two years
-the unexpected loss of a friend, George, who suffered a massive heart attack while out doing something he enjoyed, deer hunting
-discovering that taking Prozac is NOT recommended and to be avoided at all costs!
-the loss of a motorcycling great, Gary Nixon
-finding out that having problems of the four wheeled type are costly to get fixed
-several weeks of over 100F temps which lasted even up to 8-9PM when it should've been down in the 80s

All in all, it's been an interesting year and Bodger can only hope that the coming one will be just as interesting and even better.

So on that note......Bodger wishes one and all a Happy New Year and Hogmany! Drink a dram or two of your favorite to bring in the New Year coz Bodger and Teri will be cracking open a bottle of bubbly to celebrate

  

A little late in the day.

A little late in the day I know, but Bodger wishes all out there in Bloggerland a Merry Chrimbo and a Gnarly New Year.

Also, if you're gonna be operating one of these or any other contraption that moves

to lay off the spiked eggnog, the drams, the brews or whatever you imbibe in or this could happen

Clicky to see what it does

or even worse, you could be have a visit from the rozzers and become a guest of theirs for a few hours and lose your favorite form of transportation.

In other words, be safe, don't drink and drive and have a good time over the next week or so and we'll all meet up again in 2012 with more things to blether aboot.

Cheers....Bodger

A Bah Humbug Rant!!!!

In a few more days it'll be time for Christmas.

With the exception of the commercialism of the non-stop Christmassy music, the endless commercials droning on about what to buy the sprogs and the entire plastic look of it all in general, Bodger actually likes Christmas.

The idea of putting up a real pine tree and decorating it nicely opposed to some garish scene from a Tim Burton movie, snow which is a rare commodity in these parts, gift giving and being with the ones that mean the most is pretty cool.

However, the commercialism side apart, there is something else that has set Bodger off and it's this:

The main boss at work is getting audited due to inefficiency most likely as well as job performance and is being looked at quite closely.

So, in order to look good in front of his bosses who are  breathing down his neck, he decreed that ALL personal belongings are to be removed from our cases where we get the mail sorted for actual delivery.

By ALL, this apparently included pictures of family/loved ones which is contrary to established norms in that we are allowed to have these types of pictures there so we can at least remember that we are still human beings.

But NO.....the gaffer decided that ALL personal items are to be removed including the pictures. And he personally took one down of my new lass which got Bodger quite irritated. When confronted about this the gaffer admitted it and then when it was told to the bosses that we were ALLOWED to have up to five pics up, they acted like that was unheard of.

However, the gaffer has all types of pics/plaques/etc hanging from the walls in his office.

I guess it's OK for his office to look human while our gray colored cases are to look like mini prisons.

Then Bodger was told that it would be discussed later and to NOT get upset. NOT GET UPSET!?!?!
 How the buggery bollocks do you NOT get upset when people mess around with personal items just so they look good?

So much for keeping the blood pressure down.........Snapperheads!!!

OK, rant over, so please forgive Bodger for this rant, especially just before Christmas, but I'm sure you can understand to a degree how I feel about this.

Anyway......to all out there, have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Hogmany and be safe while out there riding!

And on New Year's Eve at the stroke of midnight, no matter where you are, join Bodger and Bodger's Lass in lifting a glass of your favorite liquid adn ring in theNew Year.

The job

In order to survive in today's world and to have the readies to buy toys, it's necessary for Bodger to earn an actual living as a.......the horror of it all.......a mailman.

Now earning a crust may seem to be the norm to indulge in for some and for others it is a real irritation, those who prefer to wait for the Giro/unemployment check to be delivered by the likes of the Bodger. And some such as the scribbler of this Bloggy see it as a necessary evil to be tolerated.

But every once in a while,  it does have it's moments such as the tomfoolery that abounds within the confines of the Postal system. But that can be addressed at a later date.

Today Bodger is going indulge in a little Postal nostalgia. Seems ions ago, the Postal Service utilized motorcycles in order for the letter carriers or mailmen to get around and deliver the mail. Now, we get about in mini-vans or in aluminum boxes on wheels which are for all intent and purposes mobile ovens during the summer months.

The following are a few pictures gleaned from the 'net, eBay to be precise, showing a mailmen in the performance of their duties.

That must've been a nice job to have, especially if you were a motorcycle enthusaist. The US stopped using motorcycles a long time back and the Royal Mail was still using mechanical chickens made by BSA in the form of Bantams up until the late 60s I think, possibly even into the early 70s in some places.

Back in the early 21st century, the evil overlords at the US Postal Service came up with the idea of mailmen on walking routes such as the Bodgers to start motoring around on these monstrosities:

Yep that's right, the Segway, invented by some type of tree hugging green nutter I'll guess.

The USPS had the idea that this might be a good way to do things; hang some satchels on the handlebars or wherever plus put mail in a little trailer that was towed behind.
 
However, due to reasons that probably had to do with security and possibly even sanity, the whole, thankfully, was canned.

But what, there's more to this saga........not to escape silliness, the local supermarket chain decided that their security, read that as rent-a-cops, should be mobile to patrol supermarket parking lots on these, ahem, beauties:

Much like the "new" VW Bugs, Fiats or Mini's, this looks reminiscent of.......wait for it...........drum roll...........the Ariel 3 three wheeler. You know, this beast:

Well, that's enough strolling down memory lane for today.

The Fat Man's a-coming

It's nearly that time of year again for the Fat Man to make an appearance, which is a good thing as it's finally starting to feel like Bah Humbug weather at last.

This past week it's been, what's the word Bodgers looking for......bracing. It's been in the 30s in the morning and getting up into the 50-60s in the afternoon.

Today it's only 51F but with the wind a blowing it's feeling a mite bit cooler than that....like....well...winter time!

So with that, the Fat Man will be making his rounds dropping off prezzies to all the little sprogs as well as us bigger ones.

Bodgers been goodish this year and has gotten a few of his prezzies already such as a sprocket puller, clutch hub compressor, a fork seal tool, steel tank for the wee Starfire and awaiting a few other material thingies such as front brake shoes, motor mounting bolts, a gear cluster and a cable oiler .

But the best one of all so far bar none is a new lass. Yes that's right, Bodger has a new lass and is a courtin'.

Yep, Bodger has met himself a lovely lass who in some ways is like the ol' Bodger except for one tiny, wee little thing which is the lass dinnae like motorcycles as she feels they're dangerous. Other than that she's a bonnie gal.

More later about the Fat man and what he brought Bodger.

Newish steel tank

Just arrived yesterday at ye olde Salt Mine and picked up this AM when reporting in.

What's that you're blethering aboot you may ask??? Why, it's another one of those rare unobtainable things, a steel gas/petrol tank for Amelia the wee Starfire.

In Bodgers last post which was about the Devils Brew, it was mentioned that this vile swill will attack and turn to sludge rubber bits and fiberglass gas tanks. Not a pretty sight I'm sure to see that kind of thing happen.

So anyways, the tank has come in and needs a slight bit of work done to it to make it presentable such as a repaint, getting the roll pin for the gas cap hinge positioned right, a tiny bit of the screw that's used to hold the tank badges on removed, coat the inside of the tank due to some slight rusting and whatever else that needs doing.



  So now a rare find has been got....the two fiberglass tanks can be safely stored away, no future worries about the Devils Brew destroying tanks/seals/pipes/etc and this:

to the Devils Brew.

The Devils Brew

I've been reading the monthly VMCC journal of late concerning the situation with ethanol laced stuff that passes for fuel nowadays.

Seems that the powers to be, politicians to be precise, have decided that in order to save the earth and it's dwindling resources, we need to start looking at other types of fuel.

So some Einsteins decided that using corn or other crop derivatives and mixing it with the available petroleum products we use now is a good way to go.

However.........this fine concoction has some slight side-affects such as the ability to absorb water and the  ability to dissolve into sludge some types of fuel lines, rubber gaskets and seals and fiberglass gas tanks such as the type used on my wee Starfire Amelia.

Seems that if left in a fiberglass tank such as mine, this devils brew will start to work on the resins and what have you turning it into a sludge that will start to flow through fuel lines ending up in the motor by way of the carb. This tends to make a dogs dinner of the motor from what I understand which results in the motor having to be stripped down, cleaned out and then rebuilt.

One way to avoid this situation is to coat the inside of the fiberglass tank with a sealant of which a few are touted to do the job. However, is this a permanent fix or does this vile corn-gas affect the sealant as well in a few years? If so, back to square one so to speak.

Or you could seal the tank, fill with fuel for useage and then drain the tank, carb and lines each day in order to alleviate a situation.

Or.......if you can find a metal tank to use that would be the best scenario.

As it happens, Bodger has just purchased a steel Starfire tank off eBay to use on Amelia and to save and protect the two fiberglass tanks on hand.

The tank needs to be repainted to match, but Bodger would rather do that than have to tear down a motor in order to clean out goop, sludge and gunge due to a melting fiberglass tank.

So to all the politicians, bio-freaks, green people, tree huggers and save the earthers who dreamt up this foul fluid and fosited it upon us decent folk I say......Up Yours!!!!!!!

Attention: The preceeding editoral like comments were made by Bodger and he doesn't care if the "people" in the above paragraph feel hurt by his comments, so there!!!!