Saturday, March 9, 2019

Today confirmed an interesting fact. Whether I like it or not, (and I do like it) I will always be chased by motorcycles in some way or fashion. Whether it be the sound of a V-twin throbbing at it's steady lope, a flash of two wheeled chrome rolling by, or even a child's two wheeled toy, motorcycles and I are quite evidently entwined in each other's lives. Take, for example, this set of photos. I can't even wander to a coral littered beach without one of those two wheeled things just having to find me. See it? It's right there in this first photo:

Well, I didn't at first, but there is a front end buried in this stuff.
See it now?
Yep, another motorcycle part has washed up right in front of me! How do these things just happen to find me?


I don't know how, but me and motorcycles are somehow always entwined with each other. I can't even escape them at the beach!!

Friday, March 1, 2019

Banyan Drive in Hilo

Took a drive to Hilo today, needed to have a light day. In Hilo there is a road named Banyan Drive which is bordered by some fantastic banyan trees. This swings around an area known as Reeds Bay, and was the place to be back in the day. Many of these trees were planted back in the 1930's, and a few by a couple by prominent people of the day who were guests in Hilo. One can only imagine the pageantry and pomp that would have gone along with the certain individuals below planting a tree in Hilo town! What I found so amazing is that these trees are still going strong today, almost 85 years later.








Also had the cruise ship in, towering over everything in the port of Hilo.
Evidently not a very productive day, but I enjoyed rambling around and learning a bit more. Cheers!

Monday, February 25, 2019

A Week Or So Later

I managed to get very lucky this past month. I knew it was going to take a wee bit more than some old guy with a machete and other hand held instruments of destruction to make a good road and pad on the property, so I knew a tractor of rather large size would be handy. I found a guy named John who has over forty years experience on the island, and good references too. So he told me to get the boundaries marked, and he'd work in a time. I hustled, got my part done, and let him know. He called back in a week's time with a scheduling date: "Joe, how's tomorrow at 9 sound?" "SURE!!!!!" I replied, knowing that it is normally a two or three month backlog. Next morning, John was there, and he and the D-9 started working on a 200 ft. driveway and a 100 x 100 ft. pad. By Saturday noon, he was done. Next step is some rock to help define and smooth both areas.




Please note that the final photo of Ginger (somebody in Hawaii named their cat Ginger?) really has nothing to do with this part of the story, but since this is written by someone named Deadstiffcatt, random stupid kitty photos are to be expected...….

Sunday, February 17, 2019

A Few More Pics Of Hawaii

Not much to say here-long day spend lugging a ladder through a few hundred feet of trails to tie property markers higher so the tractor guy can see them before he has run them over. So here are just a few more pictures from the last month:
Orchid in the wild

Pineapple plant

Bananas

Street view of the property

Jungle view of the property

A nice spot that's only about 6 feet deep in brush. (Taken with the balancing on the top of a ladder cam.)

About 200 feet into the property, and at this point I'm not sure if it was horizontally or vertically, or perhaps even both?

A New Beginning

Looking at things from a slightly new perspective. Last thing I remember is that I was working the stupid job in California with not too bright of a future. Things have changed a bit since then.
To make a long story short, let me put it to you this way. Most people go on vacation and buy a T-shirt, I bought two acres. Of Jungle. In Hawaii. As enough of you have read the details via other sources up till now, here is where I'm at today.
   Been on the Big Island of Hawaii a month now. I sold the house in California, and have moved everything I care about here, and have almost finished closing out the mainland life. I'm not on the property yet, I have just had boundaries marked and am getting in line for D9 tractor work so I can start building a magnificent mansion measuring a staggering 240 square feet.
    Ironically, as I was posting this I realized that my last post almost 2 years to the day is why I nade this change!  Keep an eye out-future posts of the adventures of Deadstiffcatt and his faithful companion, Penny the motorcycle, will be posted as time goes on.
   Without further adieu, here are some current pics to get us up to date:
Hilo Bay

The property

First step on the property

Penny is happy here!


Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Rien's Beach Flood

Beginning with rains on about January 6, the river began to rise. It reached a crest of approximately 35 feet on Monday, Jan. 9, then receded a tiny bit. As more rain fell over the next 36 hours, a local high tide helped to force the swollen river up a few more feet to a recorded peak of 37.82 feet on Wednesday, Jan 11.   Note that heights are based on the nearest recording station listed as Johnson's Beach, CA. These photos are from further down river at Riens Beach, and as such act as a reference point for locals to translate the Johnsons' Beach figures into something visually relative to the Riens Beach area; being further down river the geography (wider area for river to spread) as well as runoff from other sources into the Russian River means that what ever height is recorded at Johnsons' Beach will probably be a different height than a reading recorded directly at Riens Beach (If they did do measurements at Riens). Although the National Weather Service had a nice graph showing the projected flooding, in reality it was off by about 24 hours, causing several to have to evacuate much sooner than they had anticipated. A few pics from the Jan 10- 11 flood......











Monday, April 11, 2016

Rare Cult Sacrifice Triumph TR6R Motorcycle Find,,, or Motorcycle Archaeology 101

Recently our cult had it's monthly sacrifice in Eastern California, so naturally I made it a point to attend. It turned out to be a rather dull event, as the sacrificial maiden was well over 40, not a virgin, and was tired enough of this life to not make much of a fuss of the event. With pretty much no fanfare, that event was put behind me and I wound up over the border in Nevada to check out an old Triumph.
   It was a 1967, and I have decided to add it to this blog in hopes of playing the role of "Motorcycle Archaeologist" So here are a few things worth mentioning.......
Starting off, one must first put their heads back into a circa 1967 frame of mentality. Back then, the chopper phase was really starting to make a strong movement. Often headlights and taillights were swapped out for a more smaller and custom type style. Then next step would be to extend the front end with 6 or 8 over tubes, a smaller peanut type tank thrown on, shocks switched to hardtail struts, and the seat and exhaust both traded in for something very long and wild looking. With that frame of mind in your head, it's time to look over what is sitting right in front of you today.
   Starting with the numbers, both frame and engine indeed check out to be 1967. The paint seems to be 1968 style of blue and silver, where as the "book" calls for a mist green colour. Well, depending on exactly when it was built in the factory, there is a chance that the tank and rear fender actually left the factory with this bike. Looking at other points, my guess is that it is about 85 to 90% stock per its' original build. Some of the details to look at are: Matching frame and engine numbers, the stamps on the engine cases belly side are both matching- indicating that the cases are a matched set and everything here left the factory in one piece. To help ascertain that this was mostly all factory, other details were needed. In 1967, at that point in time, an immediate clue is that the original cheesehead screws holding the timing cover in place had not been switched out for the allen head type, a change that often occurred on the owners end within a few years. Other little and insignificant points that lead to the estimation of the bikes' originality include the clamps around the rubber boots on the front forks, the metal clips used to secure wiring to the frame, and larger details such as the headlight with all of it's warning lights and amp gauge intact, (often swapped out back then for a cheaper aftermarket version), the sticker still on the speedometer, the original Lucas taillight, the correct Triumph passenger pegs, the lock in the steering fork, and overall the extremely minimal addition of American thread nuts and bolts. Although the primary cover is missing, the alternator itself is of the non encapsulated type, leading to the correct vintage for this year. Under the seat, the battery box, oil tank and side cover are intact, showing no wild changes to a Harley type oil tank. Wiring though out is clean with proper Lucas end pieces, another clue that electrical has not been fucked with too much. Even the side cover and ignition switch are correct for the year. Handlebars and switch gear are all correct and blessed by Lucas, the prince of darkness, again often swapped out for 10 foot tall ape hangers back then.
   Another basic starting point is the license plate. Although it is of the 1969 and later blue variety, there is a possibility that the bike was not purchased until late 1968 and wound up being registered with a first time plate being of the blue and gold, rather than the earlier black and gold. In either case, the year sticker is 1975, showing the last time the bike was registered was perhaps sometime in 1974- a span of 7 years since being built at the factory. As a road type model, this is a short span of time and in the hands of someone who wasn't into the chopper scene, it would have still been a relatively new and low mile bike that was not in need of repairs at that point in time. (Speedo indicates about 25,000 miles, still within range of no major repairs yet needed.) As the basic over view is continues, notes should be taken of the bolts themselves, seeing if the heads have been rounded by use of a poorly fitting American sized wrench on a Whitworth headed bolt. Not too much of this is visible, telling me that it had not been horribly attacked by a neanderthal mechanic with the wrong (non Whitworth) tools: most of the bolt heads had not had a wrench on them since leaving the factory.  The wiring harness seems to be wrapped in black tape, yet closely follows the lines of where an original harness would be routed- also there are little if any cuts to it and other wires spliced into play. Sadly someone has switched the head for a Bonneville twin carb type,- another let's make it faster mod of the time. With all of the points added together, the basic machine appears to be a relatively unmolested 1967 model.
   So why is it dead? I have determined that the last registration date is 1975 by the license plate, so it probably hasn't been on the road since about that time. Thankfully it was found in Nevada, so not much damage due to a much drier yearly climate, even if stored outdoors. I was able to shove a wrench on the crank and turn the engine over, so no seized motor at 70 miles an hour! A sense of intuition comes into play, and looking at the clues I'll take my best guess. When I bought it, the last owner told me he had to put the trans gears back into the case, As we can see, the clutch basket is removed , the chain and chainguard are off, and there is no primary cover. My first major clue is the hunk missing on the left case just where the chain would have fed into the cases to run on the transmission drive sprocket- a thrown chain. This in turn with the rest of the bike looking so original leads me to believe that some idiot had enough money to buy the bike new, but knew nothing about basic maintenance- chains stretch within 1000 miles, and if not looked at regularly will cause exactly this type of damage. Looking at the axle nuts, they don't have much wrenching done to them, and although the adjusters are set set different lengths for each side of the wheels, neither is pulled all the way back to the end, leaving the possibility that the chain was not well adjusted and cared for. With the trans gears having been put back into the tranny by the guy I bought it from, I will even venture to surmise that the chain was so slammed into the engine case that to remove it someone had to pull the mainshaft to enable the trans drive gear to have enough wiggle to finally get the chain back out.  So in a quick summary, I tend to believe that back in 1975 a not so mechanically inclined owner had the bike, rode it, and locked the chain into the case from lack of proper maintenance.
I'll see what progresses over the next few months, I've gotta open it up to check the crank sludge tube anyway, so this will give a more thorough look at the inside of the motor.