Dave & Teds Most Excellent Adventures 2013

[CyncySpyder]

It was mostly overcast but warm, thinking around 70F degrees yesterday, so that meant that Teddy & I had to get some ryding in. But 1st, after some back and forth PM's, I realized I hadn't recieved my notices from my local post office that we had a package delivered while I wasn't home, but my signiture was required so it was taken back to the post office. I swear, not sure if maybe my neighbor picked it up by mistake or what, but I couldn't find any notice anywhere, and this was for a rather large package.

You know your aflicted with Spyder Addiction when you actually dream about Farkles, I think Bob D. refers to it as Farkelosis or something to that effect. But Teddy had seen where another SpyderLover was selling his Cal-Sci windshield, and we had been wanting to get one ever since we found out about them, but the cost factor was limiting, considering all the other mods that we've been doing, and there's no longer any such thing as a budget for such items, so we were just gonna have to wait. That is, until this post went up in the 4sale section, & Teddy told me to PM the seller and see what he'd take for his Cal-Sci, hey, couldn't hurt to ask. Well, that Teddy is one slick dog, let me tell you. He was able to get the almost brand new Cal-Sci Medium shield for a bit less than half cost (I love this dog) and we soon had an agreement, with Teddy agreeing to 'Pimp himself out' posing for pics to pay for it.

TBC................ work work work

[rcdurango]

Hey Dave so far the brakes are good. We rode Sunday with no Pig in sight. I'm hoping this works but have no time to do anything else before leaving for SF. If mine start up again I may have Len change them while at SF.

[CyncySpyder]

This was the package that the postoffice had been holding for us for almost a week, all awhile Teddy & I had been pensively awaiting its arrival. I had seen on the news one day where a Fed Ex or UPS truck is some other part of the country (thinking Texas) had flipped over on the highway throwing its entire load all along the expressway, creating havoc & destroying much of its cargo. This left me a bit worried, but I just kept faith that it was going to arrive. Hindsite, I shoulda contacted the seller sooner, but I don't like to be a pushy person, especially when we were get'n such a great deal. I just figured it was shipped at the cheapest cost and it was on a slow boat from NY to Cincy - LOL - but the seller had sent me a PM making sure I had recieved it & wanting to know how I liked it, and that's when the back & forth communication took place & he pulled the tracking and informed me it should of been delivered over a week ago So yeah, my bad.................. Stopped by the local post office & sure enough, they had it ready & waiting for us

It came pre-ordained with a bit of 'false advertising' -lol- for us at least, with a nice lil Sturgis 2012 Eagle as you can see in the pic that I'm sure the previous owner enjoyed & was proud to display. I like it, and may leave it, haven't made up my mind just yet. The quality of the shield is very good, & I didn't notice many of the issues that other forum members that got one last season had mentioned in their reviews, and I'm very happy with the product.

My first impression however was, 'This thing is NEVER gonna work!' I know its very hard to tell from the pic below, but I have the Cal-Sci Medium shield behind our 2010 OEM shield. To clarify, Teds Red Sled is a 2011 and came with the stock shorter & skinnier OEM shield for the 2011 RTs, but since we usually ryde year round, and through all weather conditions, I really missed that extra protection that those extra 2 inches provided on the stock 2010 shield, and soon after getting Teds Red Sled, we traded our smaller 2011 OEM shield with another SpyderLover for his larger stock 2010 OEM Shield and were happy with that. That is, until we heard all the great reports from fellow SpyderLovers how the Cal-Sci's were wider but shorter and with the whole in the lower center, they greatly reduced the backdraft and much of the buffeting that many of us RT ryders deal with on every ryde. With that knowledge, I was really looking forward to trying one, and this was our chance.

Tho, if I were buying a Brand New one, I'd most probably had gone with a large size for added protection, instead of the medium, but that wasn't what was for sale. And again, for the price we couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least give it a try.

Again, looking in this pic, if you look closely, you can see just how big of a difference there is in these two shields. That's why my first thought was that it was never gonna work. But hey, I'm an open minded guy and as stated, wanted to at least give it a try.





Sorry...>TBC.............. this work thing keeps get'n in the waY

[CyncySpyder]

The clarity of the shield itself matched that of our OEM, but you could tell from the first glance that the Cal-Sci appears to be made from much thicker material than that of our OEM shields, hopefully making it more sturdy and hold up better with proper care over time.

All the holes matched up perfectly, & I'm sure cause it was previously used, that it was already 'bent' to the proper shape for the RTs mounting bracket. I remember reading some of the first reviews from last season, that a few mentioned their new Cal-Sci shields seemed to bend quite a bit when they first bolted them down to the RTs windwhield mount. Ours showed very little sign of this bending, and fit very well.

I was shocked at how short it truly looked once it was actually installed. At being only 5'9", when sitting straight up in the saddle & the shield at the full low position, I could just see over the top edge of our (comparitively) HUMONGOUS OEM 2010 Shield. With this one, it was more like a football field difference. I just figured to get any of the benifits and relief from the buffeting, I'd most probably have to just ryde with it fully at the UP position all the time. Anyways, trying to keep an open mind, I geared up Teddy & myself as usual and we set out for a nice little test ryde to see just how well this new (to us) Cal-Sci shield would work.

Before I continue, let me state here that I know we ALL have our own personal opinions & we're entitled to them & I respect that & I don't condemn those that may disagree with my own personal choices or beliefs. In that same regard, KY and OH are both states that for experienced ryders, helmets are not mandatory and if over 18/21 are choice. I know & accept the risk I take every time I ryde, but I choose to NOT wear a helmet (unless required when ryding out of state) when I ryde. I don't want this to turn into a debate if I'm wrong or an idiot, as I agree, I AM AN ORGAN DONOR & it is so marked on my license, ok, enough said about that.

So when I gear up, I always wear my protective gear, (sans helmet) along with safety glasses and a ball-cap. I'm not a teenager (41, far from it) so I don't wear my ball-cap backwards like many that may ryde do, because usually the strong wind currents would blow a ball-cap on forwards right off ones head. I bring all this to lite, cause for me, this was really the test of how well this shield was gonna work for us or if it wouldn't.

We started out with the shield all the way lowered and thru town doing between 25 & 40, I really couldn't tell one way or the other, just not enough wind speed to really be noticed that much. So, knowing we only have 7 days til we leave for SpyderFest, we decide to head to Teddy's Vet & get his pre-trip physical done & a refill for his prescription medicine that he has to take daily for his collapsing trachea. That means we hit the highway, and for us that is Interstate 75 South, AKA 'The Cut In The Hill' where the speed limit going up the hill is only 55MPH but once you crest the hill (Giving Wonderful Panoramic Views of the Cincinnati Skyline) the speed limit goes up at 65MPH & going further out of town, past the city of Florence, it goes up to 70MPH, so this surely would be a real test of this shield.

[CyncySpyder]

As soon as we get up to about 45MPH on the on-ramp for the Interstate, the bill of my ball-cap starts lifting, so I bump up the Cal-Sci to right about mid-level, and I feel the lift go away. Ok, cool, so far so good, its working as it should. Now as for this whole that they have in the lower center area, I get that its there to relieve the back pressure, and if you go to Cal-Sci's website http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/SpyderRTprod.html they really go into detail why they build their shields the way they do & they go into detail about all of the scientific stuff that goes into it. So much so, if your anything like me, and you try to read it all so that you can properly understand it, you'll likely come away with a large sized headache, I know I did Here's just a lil tidbit I copied & pasted that explains the Aerodynamics of it all, if your inclined to learn, go for it, just don't blame me for the headache
Aerodynamics
Why don't we use wind tunnels? Wind tunnels are made to measure lift and drag, not noise and turbulence. You put a model on a pedestal attached to strain gauges and start up the wind. Lift is the pull upwards on the pedestal; drag is the push backwards. This is what wind tunnels have measured since they were invented by the Wright brothers. CBRs go into wind tunnels because at 180mph aerodynamic drag is everything. Those fancy looking smoke trails you see in many car ads? The wind tunnel is operating at about 1-2 mph. Any faster and the smoke pulls apart and you can't see a thing.
Nearly all of our windshields have vents. These vents are part of the aerodynamic design of the shield, to reduce turbulence and noise. They are not there to make a flow of air on the rider. When you're riding on the highway, any windshield is pushing air away from the rider. This leaves a low-pressure pocket between the windshield and the rider. Some riders feel this low-pressure area as a push on their shoulders, "back pressure." The air flowing past the windshield wants to drop into this low pressure area. If the outside air is allowed to spill into the area between the windshield and the rider, the result is turbulence, noise, and drafts. When outside air spills into the rider area, it almost always falls in a curved path, causing spinning vortices of air. These vortices are noisy and can cause the battering and hammering on your helmet reported by some riders. Our windshields and vents are designed to funnel air into the rider region to relieve this low pressure area and greatly reduce the tendency of outside air to spill in. The vents are designed so that the air coming through them is quickly dispersed, leaving almost no detectable air flow at the rider. Our goal is to produce almost completely still air on the rider with no back pressure.
Why don't we put louvers on our vents? Air sticks to any surface; immediately at the surface the air is not moving. As you move away from the surface the air speed picks up with distance. The curve of airspeed vs. distance from the surface is called a Poisson curve. As you go to higher and higher speeds the Poisson curves from adjacent surfaces on the louvers move outwards until they touch. When they touch, that's the maximum air flow speed for that gap. Typical 1/2" louvers will choke off air flow to a maximum speed around 40 mph or so; above that speed you need more and more air flow to compensate for the growing vacuum behind the windshield, but the louvers have maxed out. So the louvered vent becomes less and less effective as your speed increases to 80 mph or beyond, and the windshield becomes more noisy and has more turbulence as you pick up speed. I get a lot of emails, "Can you make me a windshield with a reverse flip to kick the air up over my head?" Yes, I can, but I won't. Air is a spring - there are shock absorbers made with only air as the spring. When you kick a spring, it kicks back. Putting energy into the air like this is exactly the opposite of what we're all about. Windshields with reverse flips and non-fair shapes generate semi-periodic chaotic swirls of turbulent air, called Von Karman vortices, after Theodore Von Karman. These vortices, or pockets of turbulence, grow as they move away from your windshield. If you feel your head being rocked or even slammed side to side or front to back as you ride, this is Von Karman vortices at work. Some manufacturers, to my own astonishment, actually claim to produce these vortices on purpose, apparently with the idea that some turbulence is "good" and will somehow perhaps cancel out the "bad turbulence." We work very hard with the design of the shape of our windshields and the location and size of the vents to eliminate all Von Karman vortices.

So back to our little test here. I thought for sure that I would feel air coming from that whole, and maybe I was, but if so, I honestly couldn't tell it at all. We start increasing our speed as we get closer and closer to the Interstate, and with the increase in speed, I once again start to feel the lift on my ball-cap so around 55MPH I bump the Cal-Sci up to about 3/4 position, and the lift on the bill once again dissipates and I feel safe that my ball-cap isn't going to blow off. Now as for turbulance from the sides, I seemed to be getting alot more than I thought I would be getting, especially with this shield being so much wider than our OEM shield. But I also have to take into account, that I still don't have Teds Red Sled properly dressed yet, so we're still ryding without any of the frontal body panels or frame supports on, and with none of the lower, mid-level or upper plastic wind deflectors in place either. I'm sure this fact has alot to do with the seemingly increase in side turbulance that I was experiencing.

TBC.... work work work

[CyncySpyder]

And ppl wonder why I don't like drama................

I don't even know how to begin this. Breath Dave Breath

OK, here's the lowdown. Originally, we had plans of sharing a campsite at SpyderFest, but those plans got changed cause I had to wait so long to confirm that I could actually get the time off & the person made other arrangements & is no longer camping. No biggy, as I'm sure Teddy & I would be able to find someone else to share a camp-site with, considering we take up so little space with our little Moto-Mate camper.

But then I was thinking, you know, maybe this one time, since I'm still having so much pain and issues with my finger, maybe we should try staying a bit more comfortably & actually staying at a hotel. Right now, when I ryde, I can't bend my index finger around the throttle, just have to keep it pointing out, while I use the rest of my hand to roll the throttle. And I figure, with most the trip down and back on open highway, I'll frequently use the cruise control to give my hand a break & it shouldn't cause too much of an issue. But I also know that I'm going to be in pain, and I guess I'm a baby, cause when I'm in pain, I'm not looking forward to 'roughing it' so to speak.

So last night, I get the camper out from storage and set about cleaning off the winters left over residue, and give Teddy's Dog House On Wheels a good bath, with plans on color-matching the whole white camper to a black & red with white top to better match Teds Red & Blacked Out Sled, using Plasti-Dip. I'm really liking this stuff. Anyways, I'm in the driveway of our condo complex where we have a small car wash area right next to our condo, & I'm busy cleaning away when one of my neighbors comes walking by.

"Hey Dave, you coming to the Emergency Board meeting?"
"Yup, planned on it, but its not til 6pm. What time is it?"
"Dave, its already 5:55pm, guess time got away from you, huh?"
"Oh Cr*P! That late already. If they start, tell them we'll be right there. I gotta get cleaned up a bit & grab my new neighbor downstairs as this will be his first meeting."
"No problem, I'm sure they'll wait."

Luckily, its held at the President of the Boards condo, which is directly behind us in the complex, so we only had to walk one street up after I grabbed my new neighbor downstairs.

This was an Emergency board meeting, cause when they originally built our complex, the 1st developer went bankrupt & another developer bought it out of recievership, and continued the project as cheaply as possible so they could make a quick profit. Mind you, this was 20 years ago now. Well, apparently they laid electric lines in a trench, without being in any type of conduit and its now breaking up. Legal advisors says the way the laws read back when it was done, it was legal then, but not now. So the association had to have an emergency meeting to approve a Special Assesment to be lobbied on every homeowner in the amount of $900. We're in a very small complex of only 26 units, and over 3/4 of the complex was soon going to have their power shut off by the electric company if the needed repairs aren't made very soon. Bottom line, we don't have a choice. If we voted against the assement, KY law gives the board the right to over ride it, cause its an emergency and effects the well being of the entire complex.

So, with all that said, there went all of our summer finances for our road-trips. Many of you are probably aware that ALL of my OT had been cut here at work, and for the longest time, I wasn't even working 40/hrs a week, making finances already a challenge. We've cut out most everything we could, like cable, NetFlix Etc... and we were making it, but now this has just blown everything out the dang window.

You know, I'm the first person to admit, I don't understand why some things happen, but I do believe, for better or for worse, like it or not, everything happens for a reason. We may not see it at the time, may not like or agree with it, but in the end, there's always a reason, even if its not clear at the time.

Does anyone attending SpyderFest that's staying at a hotel have an extra bed that's not needed, or maybe even a couch? Teddy & I don't take up much room, (tho in full disclosure, the pup can sometimes snore like a chainsaw) and Teddy is sure to entertain

[CyncySpyder]

Out of the blue tid-bit I just feel the need to share.

I've found myself to be a somewhat aggressive driver when I'm driving the car, and I know its because the entire time I behind the 'wheel' I'm wishing instead that I was on 'The Sled' with Teddy, so the car has become nothing more than basic transportation to get from point A to point B and to be honest, acclimating to dealing with this constant low grade pain, I can sometimes forget my outward presentation that others may percieve, and I'm sure some ppl may see me and think, 'Man, what a grump.'

I bring this up, cause I'm not sure if it has anything to do with this or not, but just maybe it does, I don't know. But the day after the Boston Marathon Bombing, I was down and sad and my heart hurt for all those poor inocent victims who's lives had been forever changed, as I'm sure most of our country shared in this emotion.

Well, since I still don't have Teds Red Sled all back together yet, and we've been having chances of scattered showers almost daily, I still haven't been ryding in to work yet. One to protect the Sled from the electricals getting wet & possibly damaged and two, I don't want to hear all the jokes from the many smart*sses that I work with of "Hey Dave, someone stole your tupperware" or blah blah blah, you get my drift. So anyways, I've been driving the Cougar still, for back and forth transportation to work, tho somewhat disgruntledly.

Some of you may remember a past post (maybe from last years Adventures Thread) about Teddy & I being in line at a fast food drive thru and the people in front of us kept turning around smiling and pointing and snapping pics of Teddy and I behind them, and they even paid for our lunch that day & told the cashier to tell us 'Thank You for making their day.' Well, we've kind of gotten used to that type of reaction where ever we go. I mean, Teddy just makes ppl smile, he enlightens their hearts, and in general, he makes peoples days.

Kind of funny when I read what I just wrote. Here we are, just out being ourselves, doing something we love, and in doing so, we get to 'Make Peoples Day' I forget sometimes how good we really do have it, even with all of our personal challenges.

TBC.................

[eddieshep999]

Dave ref your post :-

But then I was thinking, you know, maybe this one time, since I'm still having so much pain and issues with my finger, maybe we should try staying a bit more comfortably & actually staying at a hotel. Right now, when I ryde, I can't bend my index finger around the throttle, just have to keep it pointing out, while I use the rest of my hand to roll the throttle. And I figure, with most the trip down and back on open highway, I'll frequently use the cruise control to give my hand a break & it shouldn't cause too much of an issue

Not sure if you have heard of these - Cramp Busters

http://www.spyderlovers.com/forums/s...t=cramp+buster

See this via youtube



Hope this helps

[CyncySpyder]

So the day of the bombing, I leave work in the Cougar and head home. I figured Teddy & I needed a good ryde to help sooth our aching souls. Its odd how well our canine companions can pick up on our own moods, often times, mirroring them themselves, such as Teddy does.

Not wanting to depress the pup anymore than we were, I decided to stop by the Wendy's drivethru, as they have Teddy's favorite fries. There's no Wendy's close to where we live in Covington, but there is one right outside of downtown Cincy on the West End, which is mostly a business disctrict but also has alot of crime, so I rarely go in that area, except for the rare occasion to stop at that Wendy's while on the way home from work.

So I get behind this SUV and we're both in the turn lane waiting to pull into the Wendy's parking lot, and the SUV finally has an opening and goes. As I'm watching, I see if the SUV pulls in fast enough, I should have just enough time to also slide in behind them, otherwise I'm going to be waiting for another 20-30 cars of downtown traffic to get by, so of course, I speed in right behind the SUV kinda close. I don't think the other driver was paying attention to what was going on behind them, or maybe it was just me being too dang impatient or aggressive but when the SUV finally did see me right on their tale, they kind of gunned it, to make sure I had enough room to get into the lot without either stopping traffic or getting hit I kind of felt embarrassed but was glad that they did, cause at first, they were just crawling along and if they kept that speed, things would have gotten a little scary.

Well, I was thinking the SUV was probably gonna be p*ssed that I made them 'jump on it' and honestly kind of anticipated see'n a bird coming my way, but I didn't see anything of the sort. In fact, the line was probably 8 cars long, and when we finally got to the window to pay for our order, the cashier had a BIG smile on her face and said,
"Your friend in the car ahead of you already paid for your order hunny, and said for you to have a blessed day."
My jaw litterally dropped open, as I was holding my debit card in my hand to give to the cashier. She shook her hand at it, and said, "Uhn Nuh, not today baby, you keep that & you listen to that lady and you enjoy your lunch and you have a blessed day." I looked around for a camera, like I was being 'Punked' or something like that. I mean, sure, this happens when Teddy is with me, more than once even. But NEVER had this happened before, when it was just me. I literally was in shock. I know its not that big a deal, but it just stopped me in my tracks. Here I was expecting this person to be p*ssed at me & was watching for a fly'n bird to tell me as much, and the person turns around, and buys my lunch for me.

Again, I know its really NOT that big a deal, $6 or $7 for a combo meal, but that's not the point. It helped to wake me up on a day I really needed it. We've ALL heard about Random Acts of Kindness, but how often do we practice it ourselves? Such a small effort brought about something so needed at that very time. When one can loose faith that society has 'lost it' in senseless acts like the bombing, yet one individual makes a small insignificant seeming jesture, yet it means so much more ............................. more than that individual will ever know.

[CyncySpyder]

ALL of 'This' almost came to an end. But its still on-going, and discussing it here, would be like having a hand-grenade super glued to your hand, pulling the pin, and throwing the pin in a haystack praying to GOD you could find it in time So that's all I can say about it at this time sorry

[lookerjdc]

just keep writing - it is therapeutic...

you have to do what works for you, and we all enjoy reading your adventures and turmoils.... lol

hey, the world has become one giant never ending Jerry Springer show.....

[CyncySpyder]

just keep writing

That's exactly the issue my friend

[CyncySpyder]

And I had to get up at 3:45am, snooze made it 4am this morning. Coffee hmmmm, I seem to be functioning just fine on what, 2am-345 carry the 15=

This is going down to the wire & I'm not ashamed to admit, I'm a little worried. Got the camper out from its winter nap, seeing as the last time it saw the road was the trip back from Lamonts bar-b-q last year when the Red Sled got its rear flat tire while taking off the exit to our condo, leading to ALL THIS MOD MADNESS EVER SINCE, not to mention Teddy trying (& almost succeeding) to kill me Gotta give it up for the pup, he may be a lil thing, but he sure does know how to put a hurt'n on a guy

So we worked on the camper all day and night, into the wee early morning hours, but its all going to be worth it in the long run. Took way longer than I thought to get all that lil pin-striping and pseudo graphics that they had on it, off without scratching the aluminum up, but we finally got it done. Used GoofOff or whatever its called to remove the glue residue, got it all taped up and got the front and one side already primed. Going to do the front lower & side half in the black bed-liner so its got better stone & debris protection and then do the top side half in the red Plasti-Dip. I'm thinking it best to leave the entire top the original white color, tho my logic seems flawed. I realize the white is better at reflecting the sun, thereby decreasing heat when camping in the summer time, that logic is sound. The flawed part is, that the top never gets to see the sun, except while in transit, cause the entire top and camper itself is covered by our nifty lighted umbrella when its set-up for camping, thereby negating (for the most part) the issue of heat build up from the sun. Flawed or not, I'm leaving the top white for this trip and we'll see how it all looks once we get everything done, put back together and all hooked up and playing nice with each other. I may hate the way it looks, who knows. But I don't have enough time left to really worry about it.

My buddy is coming over today after I get home from work to help me actually start on putting Teds New & Much Improved Red Sled back together again. Not having full use of my dominant hand has left me a little frustrated to say the least, but with his help, I'm hoping we can get most of the byke back together again, will be soooooooo nice

And wouldn't it figure, here I was thinking I'd have the entire weekend to work on the rebuild, when one of the team leaders from an old dept I used to work in comes up and says that they are being forced to work this Saturday and they need 2 more ppl that know the jobs to work. And with just getting hit with the unexpected $900 condo assesment, I couldn't refuse. But now thats going to cut into my rebuild time even more.

[OJ UK]

+1 on the Crampbuster, Dave. I've used one for many years as I tend to get cramp
across the back of my right hand. Best $10 bucks you'll ever spend on a mod.
It allows you to use the heel of your hand to control the throttle and if you like
you can extend all of your fingers out straight and still be in full control.
Take a look:

[Hberninger]

I had a crampbuster (or a similar brand) for several years on another bike. Here's the only issue I see: Without the cramp buster, in a panic situation, you only have to open your fingers to release the throttle. With the cramp buster, you have to completely remove your hand to release the throttle. I don't think this is a big issue, but just a consideration.

It is, however, very useful if you don't have cruise control.

[NancysToy]

I had a crampbuster (or a similar brand) for several years on another bike. Here's the only issue I see: Without the cramp buster, in a panic situation, you only have to open your fingers to release the throttle. With the cramp buster, you have to completely remove your hand to release the throttle. I don't think this is a big issue, but just a consideration.

It is, however, very useful if you don't have cruise control.

It really isn't safe to release the throttle in those situations. You cannot count on the return spring to work without fail. You should always turn the throttle off forcibly. If you are in a panic situation, hit the kill button.

[CyncySpyder]

Nothing like procrastinating til the last minute to see just how much pain one can endure and still do what needs to be done. Circumstances being what they are, I did what I thought was the responsible thing to do, and I said yes when I was asked to work this past Saturday (1st OT in I can't tell you how long) but mid-way thru the shift, being in a different department that I haven't done in over a year, I realized what a mistake I had made because of my issue with my finger. Too late to back out, just suffer thru it I did. When I left, I knew I was going to regret that decision. Try as much as I may, I've worked on and done as much as I could do with Teds Red Sled, but at a greater cost than I care to admit, actually a little ashamed of myself.

Try as I might, I did what needs to be done, but with most of it done with my left (non-dominant) hand, I've at times, made more work than I began with, and all the things that I've dropped along the way, well, when they drop, they drop ON things, like body panels or wind shields or if I was lucky, just the dang floor. Gravity is a B*TCH!!! Sorry, I'm trying hard not to be negative, I'm just very frustrated at my situation. Got a nice new Cal-Sci shield for Teds Red Sled, and now I can show off all the nice new scratches I put in it while trying to install it with a gimpy hand I know beating myself up serves no good, but maybe documenting and sharing it, I don't know, maybe I can learn something from it.

Don't get me wrong, my best friend Doug has been there all weekend after work helping me as much as he could. I'm not above asking for help, but he can only do so much with the limited time he had available. We DID get alot accomplished & I am SO THANKFUL for ALL of his assistance Without his help, I honestly don't think we'd still be able to make this trip.

I really can't call the Spyder Teds Red Sled anymore, as it has gotten a MAJOR Attitude adjustment in so many different waysI'm not going to reveal it here, not now. You'll have to wait & see it in person at SpyderFest. I will say, I'm VERY VERY HAPPY with the way things are look'n and for those that don't get to see it person, I will post pics after we return or if we get time, maybe even update things while we're at the Fest

We're almost there, but still have alot of work to do. I doubt if I will be on here much for the near time, just too much to do.

I hope ALL of YOU that are heading out to SpyderFest have an enjoyable and safe ryde & Hope Teddy & I get to Meet N Greet with All of You. Take care & Enjoy the Ryde

[CyncySpyder]

Sad to say, but the byke & camper won't be totally done in time for our trip, but they should still be about 90% there, with just the details to finish once we get back from the Fest & actually have time to finish it all.

I will say, I'm far from an Artist, but I do now understand the following statement with much more clarity than I ever did before. "A true artist, see's all their flaws."

Today, we say Good Bye to Teds Red Sled as we once knew it, and we welcome its newest incarnation, what ever that may look like

[CurtG]

ou 2 have a safe ride to MO and Spyderfest.

[CyncySpyder]

We'll be leaving tomorrow Wednesday around 10am getting to SpringField sometime that evening

Just an FYI, we were offered to stay with another SpyderLover that had an extra bed that wasn't being used, so we'll be staying at America's Best Value Inn - its next to the Comfort Inn

Hope all y'all that are going to SpyderFest have a Safe trip, & we'll be seeing you soon

[CyncySpyder]

Still have so much to do.

Mulling over if we should actually take our camper with us since we won't be camping and are sharing a hotel room or if we should just try out our uni-trailer that we picked up last year for the extra storage space for odds & ends. The whole point of the camper gave us the freedom to do what we wanted when we wanted, but when you ryde in a group, that freedom is somewhat compromised.

Decisions decisions ............. I remember tho, a couple of years back, when we did an OSR ryde and we were hundreds of miles from home, and we didn't take the camper, and I got a severe migrane and couldn't even see straight to ryde. I sorely wished I had our camper with us then, cause without it, I struggled and made our way to the closest hotel & had to spend a hundred bucks for a 4 hour nap & then I was fine to finish the ryde.

Hmmmmmm, a wise man would learn from his past mistakes. Better to have it & lose a few MPGs on the trip and not need it, than to need it and not have it ................ right?

[oldgoat]

Right.

[CurtG]

Yep
Ride safe and enjoy,

[CyncySpyder]

I honestly didn't think this was going to happen. But after countless hours & in the garage til 3am this morning, I was almost in tears when I stepped back and actually took in all that had been done. Time slipped away so fast, & with my fumbling complicating things, there is still much to do once we return, but I'm VERY HAPPY with what is completed & excited for Teddy & I to be hitting the road.

[Spyder_Cowgirl]

I honestly didn't think this was going to happen. But after countless hours & in the garage til 3am this morning, I was almost in tears when I stepped back and actually took in all that had been done. Time slipped away so fast, & with my fumbling complicating things, there is still much to do once we return, but I'm VERY HAPPY with what is completed & excited for Teddy & I to be hitting the road.

Dave ... Glad to see you have accomplished so much, especially having to work through pain! Good job. Wishing you and Teddy a safe trip and great time at Spyderfest. Unfortunately, I cannot attend this year as spydercowboy (aka hogcowboy) is headed for bone graft surgery next week -- busy prepping house and getting a bunch of stuff lined up ahead of time. Hopefully, we will BOTH be able to attend next year.

All the best .... Ann