The Great American Novel?

     I still have the taper in my right ear. This has created two problems. Small problems but problems non the less. The first one, is why I still have the taper in. When I took it out to clean it today, I noticed that I have some tearing on the back side of my ear. The tears are hanging off the back and won't allow me to put my tunnel in. I can't screw the back of the tunnel on, with those flaps of skin hating down. That means I have to keep the taper in with it's wider surface area. The good news is, that it is feeling much better tonight, and that means it is healing. The second problem is, that since I have this taper in, I can't wear a helmet. If I can't wear a helmet, that means I can't ride Saki. If I remember, I will take a picture of the tapers, so that I can post them on Sunday. You will see why I can't get a helmet on over them. I haven't ridden since Monday, and it's killing me. The weather has been perfect for it, and Saki has just been sitting in the garage. I'm hoping to get some ride time this weekend, and maybe tomorrow afternoon if I can get this freaking taper out of my ear.

     I was listenting to the Greg Proops vodkast today and he was talking about the Chelsea Hotel at one point. That gave me an idea for a story. If you don't know about the Chelsea Hotel. It is a famous hotel in New York. It recently shut its doors, but before it did, it housed some rather distinguished guests. Mark Twain, William S. Burroughs, Truman Capote, Thomas Wolfe, Fore Vidal, my favorite Jack Kerouac, who wrote "On The Road" there. Those were just some of the literary giants. Bob Dylan wrote songs there, Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper, Dee Dee Ramone, Iggy Pop, Better Midler, Chick Corea, Janis Joplin, Rufus Wainwright. Artists such as Yves Klein, Arman, Husband to Frida Kahlo: Diego Rivera, William de Kooning, and many of the Warhol Superstars like, Ultra Violet, and Holly Woodlawn. That is just a sample of the remarkable people that spent time there, and crafted masterworks in that environment.

Here is the idea. I got to thinking, what if I wrote a story about a hotel similar to that. I could set it here in Florida, and create a cast of characters that would influence the life of the main character. That main character would be a young writer that hears about this place, and goes there to live while writing his first novel. I already have a title in my head, and the idea that it would be something like a memoire. It would be his life in that environment while he is there. You would see the world through his eyes, or words if you may.

     There are some things that I'm going to need to do for this, and one of them has me in a quandary. I need to research the Chelsea a little more. I want the life in the story to mimic it, but not be exactly like it. That was New York and much different than anything that could be found here. I've never been to New York, so writing about it as if I've been there is a very bad idea, and people would see through it immediately. The thing that is putting me in a quandary, is that I have this sense that I want to write the majority of this in bars. I don't know why I feel that that is necessary, but for some reason I do. It may be, because I have this sense that some of the characters will come from the people I meet while writing it. It could lead to something interesting. As you know, I stopped drinking over 7 weeks ago. I say stopped, because I haven't quit. Quit seems a more permanent than stopped. I haven't missed drinking, but I do miss the people that I meet. I could be looking at this as an excuse to drink again, but I'm not sure. I'm going to start this at home and see how it plays out. It could take off, and then again, it could just lead to a lot of frustration. I have the title, I can see the main character and several other characters that I want to blend into this world. What I don't have are any names to go with those characters. Most importantly, I don't have the name of the main character, and that is something that should just jump out at me right away. It may come when I begin the research, and I might just pay homage to heroes of mine to create a name. As soon as I thought about that last part, a name did come to me, but it doesn't quite feel right yet. I'll give it some time.

     I'm pretty excited about the prospect of writing a full length story again. I have no idea how long it will be, short story or novel length. I'm hoping novel, but that will come as the words flow. I have the final sentence in my head, which is something I do with every story I write. I always have the ending first, and kind of work backwards. Not completely mind you. It's just that I always have that last line first, and have to find out how to get there.  I do have first sentence in my head already as well, and that is kind of unusual. I normally have to debate for a few days to get that first line out of the way. Not this time though. If it's still in my head tomorrow, that will make it a definite keeper, and I will begin writing.

     Before I leave tonight, I just wanted to ask you how progress was going on my request from Tuesday night. Have you gone out and done something kind for someone yet? How did it make you feel if you have done it? If you haven't done it yet, there is plenty of time to do it this week. It's only Thursday night right now. That leaves Friday, Saturday and Sunday to get something in before the week is up. Yes I know that Sunday is supposed to be the beginning of the new week, but I'm playing by my own rules on this one. You have until Sunday to get a kind act in. I wish you luck on your adventure. Peace in and goodnight.

A Snog Under A Wall.

     My new 7/8 inch tapers arrived yesterday, and I managed to get them in. They were pretty painful last night. Enough so, that I had a hard time sleeping. I'm not real sure when I finally fell asleep, I only remember hearing the alarm going off in the morning. I was able to get the left ear out, and have a tunnel put in, but the right ear is being stubborn. This called for flipping the taper around, so that it would get a different angle. When you wear tapers, they tend to be weighted toward then long end, and if you can't get them balanced, they will pull your lobe in weird ways. That was the case at work today. The long end was hanging down and that causes the healing process to be a little off. I have it reversed now, and it is balanced, so that it is going straight now. I'm hoping that I will be able to get the other tunnel in in the morning, but I'm betting it will be more like tomorrow afternoon. This right ear is rather sore, and was quite a bit raw looking when I pulled the taper out. I may end up going a couple of days with the taper in. The good news in all of this is, that my left ear didn't blow out into the second hole. In all actuality, it doesn't look like it even bothered that small sliver of skin between the two holes.

     I watched a new show tonight. It's been on for a while now, but I never gave it a chance, because it was on a channel an a night that I didn't bother with. It's a new CW show called Riverdale. It's based on the old Archie comics. It has all the characters, but the departure from the comics is, that it is rather dark. Tonight after The Flash, they aired the premier episode, so I gave it a shot. From what I gather, Jughead is a writer that is narrating the entire show, and it is centered around the suspicious death of one of their classmates over the summer. I have to say, that I enjoyed that first episode, but there is a problem. I'm not sure how many episodes in they are, and they promoted a new episode for Thursday night. I don't want to watch the first episode and then jump in on episode 5 or whatever it is. I need to find out how many there are, and where to watch them. Ok, just looked it up on cctv.com and there are currently 5 episodes available, and the ability to watch then second episode on the site expires in two days. I guess I'm going to have to try to watch it tomorrow, and catch up with things before Thursday night. I do have another option though. I watch the second episode tomorrow as planned, record Thursday nights episode, and then catch up with the rest over the weekend. I like that plan better. I have no plans for he weekend anyway, and since I haven't been drinking, there really isn't much for men to go out for. Riverdale it is then.

     I've spoken about The Perks of Being a Wallflower probably more than you can stand, but I'm going to bring it up briefly again tonight, and that is because it relates to Favorite Song of the Week. I haven't had a Perks weekend in some time now, and I think I might be due, but in the meantime, the signature song that ends the movie, in what I believe to be a truly epic scene is Favorite Song of the Week. It is none other than David Bowie's classic song "Heroes". I was watching a documentary this weekend about Bowie, and Tony Visconti told a rather fun story about this particular song. Tony Visconti was producing for Bowie in Berlin. Bowie was growing frustrated and needed some alone time to write. He just so happened to be working on this song. The studio was near the old Berlin Wall, and Tony left the studio, and met up with a woman that he was quite enamored with. They snuck away to the base of the wall out of the sight of the guards that lined the top of it, and had a song with this lady friend. Bowie saw that, and made it the second verse of the song. Listen out for it, ti's there, and you will hear it clear as day. That verse was thanks to Tony Visconti's indiscretion.



Did you hear it? Pretty wild right? Bowie was amazing and him witnessing a private moment and turning it into a song lyric shows that.

     I'm heading off to bed now. Since I have one ear without a giant taken going through it, I believe that I will get a little more sleep tonight. Oh, before I leave, I have one request of you tonight. It's a simple one, and one that you will easily be able to fulfill. Here it is, go out and do one nice thing for a complete stranger this week. It can be anything. Hold a door open for someone. Give someone your seat if you are in a crowded waiting room. Pay for someone's order behind you in a drive thru. Hand a flower to a complete stranger. And any number of other things that you could do. If you fulfill this request, I promise you, that you will have an incredible feeling when the deed is done. Peace in and goodnight.

Freedom Is What You Make Of It.

     The title came first tonight, and I'll explain all as we go. It all stems from one very brief moment on Friday evening, but there is an underlying theme throughout the weekend. If you guessed that it revolves around Saki, you would be correct.

     After depositing my check in the bank, I went for a ride. I eventually ended up at my new favorite spot to take pictures of Saki. It just has an open scenic viewed despite the fact that it is an unused cup de sac at the end of a rode between two neighborhoods. I was going to try to recreate this picture with Saki and Melvin. Since I upgraded the exhaust system. I was thwarted though. A large SUV saw me as they were coming out of a neighborhood further back, and followed me to said cut de sac. I didn't know what was going on, I was just pulling in to the place where I set Saki for the picture, and this SUV comes barreling in straight towards me. I slowly started moving, and they still kept coming towards me. I stopped, and they veered off slightly. I tool this opportunity to boogie on out of there. As I tore off, I noticed the two occupants smiling. They only wanted to get a look at Melvin, but I wasn't staying around to find out what they wanted.

      It was taking them some time to get out of there, which gave me a pretty big head start, and then I hit some big luck. The light to where I turn was green. I throttle up to make sure that I got through, and that's when I saw another SUV sitting in the middle of my turn lane at the intersection. This person had pulled out too far, and I was coming in pretty hot. I already knew I was going to have a good lean in order to make the turn. I started out a little wide, so that I would avoid this SUV, but I also decided to buzz by real close. With being fully in my lean, my eyes were at headlight level of this SUV, as I rode by, I reached my left hand out to mimic brushing across the number of this SUV. I was still a few inches from my finger tips, but I wanted them to know, that they were out way too far, and that they shouldn't do that again. In that moment though. it was as if time slowed down. I was in a full lean for the turn with my arm outstretched fingers out reaching for this bumper. I could see the entire thing as if I was above it. That moment there was true freedom to me. Was it dangerous? Of course it was. Was it stupid? I can't argue that one either, but it was freedom and life.

     If you are lucky, you get these moments in your life, where the whole world slows down around you, and you get to feel everything in that moment. You are present in your life. For most of my existence, I struggle with being present in my life. Yes, I know how that sounds, so let me explain. I'm very introverted. If you know me personally then you might find that hard to believe, but it is true. I force my self to participate, but I'm not truly all there. It is in moments like that one above, where I am fully aware of my surroundings and my senses. I am fully in control of myself. Other times, I may be there physically, but in truth, I'm more in my head than anywhere else. That is really the best way I can explain it.

      On Saturday, I went out riding again. It was beautiful on the Space Coast this weekend, and I took full advantage of it. I rode some twists roads, and then I hit a highway to really open up that new exhaust system. I'm not going to say that I hit triple digits on the speedometer, but the new Yoshi pipe let me know that it was really enjoying itself. Oh, before I forget, and I will get back to this a little later, but it was too hot to wear the new Icon Sanctuary jacket. I had to partially squid it on Friday and Saturday. Squid is a biker term used for people that don't wear protective gear. I say partial squid, because I always wear my helmet and gloves. So the real important parts are safe. I did find a slightly desolate road that I may take some pictures of Saki on some day. It's a good long stretch where I can park Saki in the middle of the road and get that shot that trails off into the distance. I think it will be pretty good. You'll see it here when it happens.

     On the way home, I stopped by the tattoo shop to talk to my artist. Mainly to catch up with him, since I haven't seen him in a month of two, and also to talk to him about doing the Princess Leia/Bowie tattoo. You might remember the picture I posted on here when Carrie Fisher died. I can't remember who posted it on twitter, and I don't have any idea who created it. I remember saying that I was going to have to fight with myself about not getting that as a tattoo. Well, I lost, and the other part of me won, and I will be getting it tattooed on my on March 11th. In case you don't remember the picture, here it is.

Great picture right. It says it all. She was a rebel, and she was just an all around impressive woman, and I'm going to be proud to wear that on me. We are doing it as is, on the outside of my right calf. As I'm looking at it, it is about 2 1/2 inches by 4 inches, and I believe that is the actual size that it will be. I can't say for sure right now, but this cold lead to an entire Star Wars leg sleeve. Well, maybe just the lower leg. I don't think I want to go above my knee, but only time will tell on that one. If I do a themed leg, I'm only picking the characters that I connected with most. Leia was one of those, Luke will be in there somewhere as well, and Darth Vader, and of course Chewbacca. I still have a plush doll of him that I got when I was a kid. I think those 4 could fill up the entire lower leg. Ha, I just realized something. That could be a very strange family photo with their pet dog. I can't stop laughing about that.

     This brings us to today. I woke up early, and showered as soon as I got up. I wanted to hit the road early, so that I could try out that Icon Sanctuary jacket. I'd taken the quilted lining out, so I could see just how much protection from the cold it would give me on it's own. When I left the house, it was 61 degrees. That is no where near freezing, but when you are moving, it gets into the 50's. I only wore that jacket and my white textile Icon gloves along with my helmet and my Speed and Strength riding jeans. Those are great by the way. They are kevlar lined so help protect against abrasions in the even of a slide, and they also have CE rated knee pads in them. They also  helped keep my warm. Which brings us back to the jacket. It did it's job. I barely felt any cold air on me, with the exception of my neck and chin. That is the one downside of my Arai helmet. It doesn't have a true chin skirt. It has a chin spoiler that I can drop down, but that only partially works to deflect the wind. It wasn't too bad on the ride over to the beachside. I was going to my favorite spot over there to get a few early morning pictures.

I combined most of the shots I took into this one right here. I think the shot on the bottom left is my favorite. If you look close, you can see the waves in the background. AS for the top left, you can see a bit of the jacket, and as I said before, it worked great. I'm not going to have any worries about riding in colder weather now. I can just zip that quilted lining back in, and I will be snug as a bug in a rug. 

     On the way home this morning, the ride turned into just relaxing enjoyment. It wasn't about seeing how fast I could go, or how the new exhaust sounded, or how much I could lean over in a turn. It became about that freedom again. I took my clutch hand off the bar and just sat up and enjoyed the ride. I looked at there beauty that was around me as I crossed bridges over the rivers, and as I rode along side the Indian River, I just marveled at its beauty. I was back to being present in life. It felt good, and that was because of Saki. I doubt that I could get that feeling in a car or even in a boat drifting down the river itself, but I can get that on the back of a motorcycle. A lot of people call motorcycles "two wheels of freedom" and that phrase really hit home this weekend for me. Freedom is what you make of it, so find you happy place and feel that freedom. This life is too short to just wait for it to happen. Sometimes you just have to get out there and make it happen. Good night and peace in.

I'm Tired And I Want To Go To Bed.

     I am really tired tonight, so this might be short. I decided to do something stupid. I'm going to stretch my lobes ups again. I'm currently at 3/4 of an inch, or 19 mm. I'm going to stretch it up to 7/8 of an inch or 22 mm. That may not seem like a lot, but when it comes to stretching skin, it kind of is. I thought when I went up to 3/4 that I would be happy with it, and I have been for some time now. Much longer than at any other time, but  now, I feel like I have a quest for a full inch. There is one problem though, and that is the second piercing in my left ear. It is pretty snug up to the larger hole, so I really don't have a bunch of room to work with. I have tapers coming, and I'm going to take my time with them this time. I tried to push it too fast last time, and I ended up with an infection in my left ear. It sucked, and I don't want to do that again. This time, I'm going to stretch them over a week or so, instead of a couple of days. That should let the skin stretch at a much easier rate, and hopefully not blow out on that left ear between the two holes. I'll let you know how it all goes.

     I have an update on the under lighting for Saki. A friend of mine contacted me, and thought that it was legal in Florida, but that you couldn't have blue lights. That prompted me to look it up, and I found out that she was right, but that you also couldn't have red lights either. This could present a problem. You might remember that I said that the kit I was looking at, turned red when you hit the brakes. The reason for the no blue or red lights, is because those are the lights used my emergency vehicles. I'm hoping that since I don't sit with my foot or hand on the brake when I'm at a light, that it will only look like my brake light is really bright when it is pressed. I'll know for sure if I get pulled over for it. There might also be a way to disable that through the phone, or I just want route it through the brake wires. I'm sure that question will be answered when I finally get it, and install it.

     In ukulele class tonight, we were working on an older AFI song, called "Miss Murder". I"Ve been getting the finger picking techniques pretty well, and this song is only power chords. I mention that, because I am terrible at power chords. Power chords are generally just two strings, and I can't seem to be able to strum two strings at all. I either hit 3 or maybe 4 strings, and when I do only hit 2 strings, I hit them to slow, and it messes up the sound. Instead of one stead chord, I get a  double note. I know that it is going to just take some practice, but it is humbling when you are doing so good at something that should be difficult and then you turn around and suck at the easy thing. I'll get it though, it will just take some time. I can remember when I started, and thinking that I would never be able to get a G chord. Now, I have no problem with that chord as well as many others that I thought were nearly impossible for me at the time. It just takes practice and determination.

     Think about that for a second. With practice and determination, you can achieve things that you once thought impossible. It sounds cliche, but it is true. When I first started playing, I was concerned that I would have to give it up before I even got started. My fingers seemed fat, and unable to do things that I wanted them to. After a few weeks, those simple things that were so hard for me to do, became a little easier. With more time, those things became second nature, and I don't even think about how hard it once was. With each new lesson, comes a new challenge. From those challenges we become stronger in whatever it is that we are working at. Bring on those challenges. With enough time, I will beat them all. Go out and challenge yourself. Peace in and goodnight.

ICON, Podcasts, And Love.

     The leather jacket has arrived. It showed up yesterday, and it is perfect. It's an ICON Sanctuary jacket. It came with a little added bonus that I didn't know about. It has a full quilted sip out lining in it. Unlike my other ICON jacket, this lining goes all the way to the wrist, so it will be perfect on those cold days, which don't seem to be anywhere in sight. The 10 day forecast is showing lower 70's as the lowest high temperature, and it may get into the upper 50's on a few of those days. It has a couple of zippered vents for those warmer days, but I don't think it is going to be all that breathable, but that really isn't what I wanted it for. I wanted a cool weather jacket, and this truly fits the bill. It fits a little on the large side, which is perfect, because I could wear a hoody under it, on those very rare, really cold days. I'll get some test ride time in it this weekend.

     This should be very visible to cars. If they can't see me now, then they are blind and shouldn't be on the road anyway. The inside of the ICON logo is made of a textile mesh, so that is some of the venting, along with those small triangular spots just below it. The cuffs have two way sippers, so that you can keep it sipped up snug but open it up for venting through the sleeve. That is pretty much all the venting that is on it. Like I said, not very breathable, but that is exactly what I wanted. It also has D3O armor in the elbows, shoulders, and spine.

     I did do some thinking today about what I could do to Saki next. I know I said that with the new exhaust I was basically done, but there are still other things that can be done. I think the next big thing I will do, is under lighting. I found a kit that is programmable with my phone, and has an added safety feature of the lights turning all red when you hit the brakes. That will be an added bonus when I'm riding at night. There is one problem though. I believe that those lights are illegal in Florida, so I will have to make sure that there is a shut off switch that is with it, or, I can possibly do it with the phone. Here is an example of what they would look like. 

     The kit I was looking at had all the colors in the rainbow, and you could even make them pulse to what ever music was playing on your phone. I don't know if I will use that feature, but it's fun to know that I could. I'll have to look into the laws on it, and all that, I have time though, I don't plan on doing that for a few months.

     The Howard Stern show has been on vacation for last week and this one, so I decided to try out a few new podcasts. I listened to the new ones today, and so far, I like them. The first one was a motorcycle oriented podcast called 2 Enthusiasts. It was pretty interesting. There were two of them up for today. The first one discussed the motorcycle industry as a whole, and the recent shutdown of Victory Motorcycles. They had a lot of good insight on the whole matter. The second one was an interview with the CEO of AMA Pro Racing, Michael Lock. He was there promoting Flat Track racing. If you haven't seen a Flat Track race, you should give it a try. They are full of excitement. He mentioned that they either will be airing or are airing Thursday nights on NBCSN which is NBC's sports network. I'll check into it this Thursday and see if there is anything on. the first race of the season is coming up in Daytona, on March 16th, and it will be the first time that a Flat Track race will be held in the Daytona Speedway. They are putting the track right in the middle of the famous Daytona Tri-oval. I haven't gotten tickets yet, but I'm going to give it a try. This is the first year that Indian Motorcycles is putting a team of riders in the races. This will be like the old days of Indian vs. Harley-Davidson. Harley is touting the #1 rider in Flat Track, but that guy one that #1 plate riding a Kawasaki last year. It should be fun and good for the sport over all.

    The next podcast I listened to, was Lena Dunham's podcast called Women of the Hour. There was only 1 up for today, and I think it was the last one of her season. It was really good. As you may have guessed, it is about women, and this particular one, was about aging. It was very smart, insightful, and down right funny at times. Lena loves self deprecating humor, and she will always take the piss out of herself whenever she can, but don't let that make you thing this isn't a serious podcast. It is definitely a feminist podcast, and it is very well done. If you are up for something a little different, give it a try. You may just find that you like it.

     The third and final podcast of the day was Anna Farris is Unqualified. There were two of those up for today. They had Charlie Day as the guest on the first one, and Bob Odenkirk as the guest on the second one. It's a fun little podcast. Anna does certain little segments where she plays a ditzy woman that is trying to come on to the guest, and he has to try to talk his way out of it somehow. It was interesting to hear. Charlie Day was very nice about it, and Bob Odenkirk was trying to get away as soon as he could. it was great. At the end of each one, they take call listeners. This is where the unqualified part comes into play. They are preplanned in that the listener has sent in a topic they want to talk about, and they now that Anna is going to call them. From the two podcasts I heard today, they seem to ask about relationship type stuff, and Anna and the guest try to give that person the best advice that they can give. I have to say, that I thought the advice was pretty solid. I would have given the same advice if that person was asking me.

     I'll see how these go over the next few weeks. I have thrown out a bunch of podcasts that I liked at first, but then they began to grate on me. Fitzsimmons and Proops have been the ones that I always listen to. They have done no wrong, so it will be fun to see if these new ones, can cut the mustard. I did add The Nerdist in there not too long ago, and it is doing pretty well, so it may just be a mainstay as well.

     I've been a fan of Lana Del Ray for some time now. I admit, I didn't get it at first, but then I saw the iTunes concert that she did in London a couple of years ago, and it just connected with me. I understood it all once I saw her live on iTunes. She has a sort of retro 60's appeal. A freer time if you will. She has that hippie vibe, but it is twisted with a little vagabond biker, and debutante good looks. He voice is what I would call heavenly. It just relaxes you when you hear her sing. So, what does all this mean? It means that we are at this weeks Favorite Song of the Week. Lana just released a new song, and the video showed up in my subscriptions yesterday, so I share it with you today. Here is Lana Del Ray with "Love".

     It's about that time again, and by that, I mean time for bed. Peace in and goodnight.

Saki Gets New Vocal Chords.

     The Yoshimura exhaust showed up around 8 o'clock Friday night. That meant that the plan for a Saturday upgrade to Saki was a go. I of course had to get one last ride on Saki with the stock exhaust system, and it just so happens that I needed to hit the hardware store and pick up a 3/8 drive. I didn't realize that all the sockets and the 10 in. extension that I got were all 3/8 and all I had were 1/4 in drivers. I hit the bank after work and headed straight to the store to pick one up. I found what I was looking for and it was just the right size to fit under the seat, so I didn't have to try to back pocket it for the ride home. Once I got home, I shot a short little video clip of what the stock exhaust sounds like. You will see that a little later. First I have to tell you about the rest of my Friday night.

     Well, since I haven't been drinking, I've basically been staying home, and watching Netflix or catching up on recorded shows. I was caught up on all those shows this week, so Netflix it was. I watched the last few episodes of Santa Clarita Diet. It ended rather abruptly, and definitely left you wanting more. I will have to wait until the second season though. I needed a new series to watch, so I quickly ran through what was on my queue, and after browsing everything through once, I decided on OA. I can't really tell you why I like this series so much. Partly because one of the reasons will give some of the story away, and one of the other reasons, I just can't figure out. The one I can tell  you though, is that it is a complete story. It isn't rushed just to get an audience. It builds slowly the way a great story should. There is character development and growth with those characters. Imagine a more mature Stranger Things. I guess that is a good way to put it. I only watched one episode on Friday night, because I wanted to get to bed early, so that I could wake up, and put the new exhaust on.

     Here is the crazy thing about Saturday. I had a hard time sleeping that night. I woke up a dozen times between 3 and 6 in the morning. With all that, I managed to wake up late. Well, 8:30 in the morning, but that was late. I wanted to be wrenching on the bike by then. The forecast was calling for rain the latter have of the day, so I wanted to get everything done early so that I could ride.

     I made a quick breakfast, and got everything ready so that I could start wrenching. I had already put Saki up on the rear tire stand, so all I needed to do, was put down some towels underneath so that I could lay down while getting under the bike, and a piece of cardboard to put the new exhaust system out on. I opened up the box, and I would have had pictures for you, but I forgot that I only took them for my Instagram Story, and those pictures do not save to the phone. Not to mention, that they are only up for 24 hours on Instagram, so if you didn't see them yesterday, they are gone. I do have pictures of the finished product though, and those will be coming up, as well as the video.

     Removing the stock exhaust was a breeze. I only had to open the bottom of the fairing, and take out 1 bolt on the side in order to get the headers out. I also had to remove the right side footage, and rear brake mount so that I could get to the two bolts for the bracket that held the can of the exhaust. With that all done, I put the new headers in, and grabbed the new Yoshimura can. I had to fight with it a bit, because I was trying to mount it on the wrong side of the bracket. The directions that came with it weren't really specific, but when I took a good look at the diagram, I finally saw where it was supposed to go. Once I got it right, everything fell into place. Before I buttoned up the fairing and returned the footage and brake to it's rightful place. I wiped everything down with rubbing alcohol, so as not to leave any prints behind. I know, that makes me sound like a thief in the night, but that is recommended so you don't leave any oils are grease behind that will blemish the new exhaust system.

     With everything clean and tidy, I had one more thing to do, before reattaching everything. I needed to start it up, and check for leaks around the headers, and where the can and exhaust pipe connect. I was good, and let me tell you. Saki sounded amazing. Here is the video, to show you the before and after.

     It sounds so much better, and let me tell you, when I was riding I got several heads to snap around to see what was coming. That was the greatest feeling. People walking down the sidewalk would spin around and look at me, and if they were doing that, then drivers were taking notice as well.

     Yoshimura doesn't make any claims of increased horse power, but I can tell you, that there is a difference in horse power. I could feel it when I would take off, and gun the throttle. I know it isn't much, but it was enough to make a noticeable difference. Still, the biggest thing for me, was the sound. I could hear the exhaust over the wind noise, which is something that I could do before Saturday. The bonus of it all, is that the new exhaust just looks sexy on Saki. you can see it in the video, but I did get some pictures at my favorite spot. I'll give you a before and after shot, and then a combined shot that I put up on Instagram last night.

This of course is the before. Still  great picture, but that exhaust though.

And here is Saki with the new Yoshimura RS-4 exhaust system.

Final shot with the picture above combined with a close up of the exhaust.

     It was a great experience putting this exhaust system on, and it made me realize that I really love working on this bike. That feeling of accomplishment that you can only get by doing something yourself. There is a huge sense of pride that comes with something like that, and I can't wait until the next thing I do for Saki. Whether it's an old change, or maybe putting new bar ends on. I fall more in love with this bike with every ride and every new thing I put on it.

     Here are some of the the simple things that this exhaust has changed. It dropped around 10 lbs. from the bike. Based on other exhaust manufacture claims. Saki now has anywhere from 3 to 7 extra horse power, and the sound is loud enough for cars to finally hear me when I'm along side of them. the greatest change though, is just how good Saki looks with it.

     All of this gives me hope for when I finally buy that GROM. I want to do a lot of things to that when I get it. A new exhaust will be one, but there are so many more things in store for that little bike when I do finally decide to buy it. Now, I know for sure, the I can achieve everything I want to do to it, and I have some pretty grandiose plans for that tiny little bike. Because of that, I"m going to end this tonight the way I end my little blogs on Moto Amino. By the way, I got some pretty good reviews on the write up of the new exhaust. Anyway, this is how I ended it on there. Get out there and ride, and peace in.

New Exhaust On The Way?

     I received the shipping notification for the new exhaust system today. That would normally mean that I won't get it before next week some time. Here is the good news. The email notification came a day late. I just checked the tracking on it, and it is currently in Jacksonville Florida. It is scheduled to be here tomorrow, most likely in the evening. Saki will be getting new vocal chords on Saturday morning. I will be shooting a little before video of how Saki sounds tomorrow. Why not Saturday morning right before you take it off? Because that would heat up the exhaust system and I would have to wait for it to cool down in order to remove it. This way, I can just wake up, and start wrenching. Once i'm done, I'll get the footage of the after. Then I edit it all together for a short video presentation for you to see on Sunday. I've also been thinking about doing and Instagram story on Saturday so that you could follow along live as it happens, or as close as you can get. If you want to watch it, you will have to follow me on Instagram. You can do that by going here Instagram. If you don't know much about Instagram, you have to have the app in order to see the "stories". They won't show up on the website version. If you don't have Instagram and don't want to get it, don't worry. Practically everything that I post there, will be available here on Sunday night.

     If you remember, I ordered that White Icon leather jacket as well, when I ordered the exhaust system. That hasn't been shipped yet, or at least I haven't gotten notification that it has yet. I was a little surprised by that, I figured if anything would be delayed, it would be the exhaust. The exhaust is coming from their main offices in Philly. I'm guessing the jacket will come from one of their Cycle Gear locations. It could take a couple more days if that is the case. It has to come through communications between the two locations. I'm hoping to get an email tomorrow though.

     Speaking of communicating. My plant manager is still in what ever angry mode he is in. I've been letting go of things, and I think that is getting to him. I've remained calm, and today I even cut up a bit with one of the employees in front of him, having a little fun, and I could see that it bothered him that I was still in good spirits and not broken. He may be giving up this anger he seems to have towards me. I've taken everything he has thrown at me, and either deflected it, or just let it roll over me. It feels a little like victory to me, but there is still one more day of work this week, and all could change at a moments notice. I'll let you know how it all goes.

     I got a little sad news today, when I saw a post on twitter about Ohio Players, and P-Funk keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morrison had passed away. You know by now, my love of Funk music, and there is really no one better than the Ohio Players in my mind. Junie was a founding member of the band and his keyboards were integral to their signature sound. In honor of Junie taking his place in the ether, I'm going to share the song that he wrote and arranged for the Ohio Players in 1974. If you are a fan of Hip Hop and Rap you may recognize parts of the song. Portions have been used in numerous songs in recent history. Please enjoy the soul sensations of "Funky Worm".



     The thing I said I might talk about today on Tuesday, had to do with a possibility of going to see a concert. Jimmy Buffett is coming to town, and a good friend of mine and I are Parrotheads. We went to show in Texas when she lived there, and we were looking to relive that great experience here in Orlando. There is only one problem, tickets are really expensive, so we are not going to make it to a show this time but, I cam up with an alternate plan. From time to time, Jimmy posts his shows up on Youtube, and there is always a chance that this could be one of those shows. Regardless of that though, he always simulcasts his shows on Radio Margaritaville on Sirius XM. Here is the plan. On the night of the concert in Orlando, we are going to get together and have our own little concert. Just a small get together to celebrate Jimmy. We can either watch it on Youtube, if it is available, or we can listen to it on Radio Margaritaville, or, if those two fail, we can always play tons of his songs and just have a great time. What ever happens, I'm sure we will have a great time dancing and singing like a bunch of Fruitcakes, which just so happens to be one of my favorite Jimmy songs. It will be a night of cutting lose and having fun, with good friends and good music.

     Until Sunday, have a wonderful safe weekend. Peace in and goodnight.