Sunday, April 19, 2015

First Real Ride of the Season.

Yesterday, the sun was shining but it was still kind of cool. I decided to take the Zx14 out for the first real ride of the season. I rode a little over 80 miles. While on my ride the odometer turned over 49,000 miles.


I headed north from Cable and west on Co Hwy N from Drummond. At Hwy 27 I turned to go north. I wanted to get some pictures of a local "shoe tree".


There were also a couple of old cars (model "T"s maybe?) parked in a near by woods. I find weird things like that interesting...





The rest of the trip was just down Hwy 27 to Hayward and back up 63 to home. It felt good to get on a bike and ride!


This Spring, I've kept busy mostly by working on projects in the garage while Nancy worked in the yard. I finally finished my trailer rebuild. I stained and sealed the last of the side boards. A few weeks ago I had new trailer tires mounted on the wheels...


The tailgate is not in the picture but it's finished too.

I've also made a few modifications to the new tractor. I bypassed the RIO (Reverse Implement Option), it's a switch that kills the tractor dead if you are using the PTO (Power Take Off) and try to reverse the tractor without first lifting up on the PTO switch while cutting grass, using the snow blower, tilling.... Taking one hand off the rest of the controls.... I don't see why Deere couldn't just have the RIO system disengage the PTO and not kill the whole tractor. Lawyers I suspect.... It's right up there with labels on hand held hair driers warning you not to use them in the shower!


I disabled a very sensitive seat switch. I couldn't tilt my butt when looking backwards without killing the tractor...


...added a couple of grab hooks to the top of the bucket...


...almost finished my ballast box. I just need to cut up a rubber mat to cover the sand. I don't want the cats to think I gave them a new "bathroom"...


This winter, I found a large 3'x4' map of the U.S. and colored in as many of the roads from my motorcycle trips as I could remember. Unfortunately the level detail on the map is pretty low or there would be a whole lot more ink around the Black Hills in SD, Eureka Springs, AR and Estes Park, CO.


Happy Birthday Ninja!!


The next ride will be to get pictures of yet another local, but much less decorated, "shoe tree"... Maybe some Cranberry bog shots too.

7 comments:

  1. There are some pretty empty areas on that map. Any plans to fill in more of it this summer?

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    1. Yes, there are some empty areas. We'll see if I can fill up a few this summer, but I have no plans for any out state trips this year...

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  2. You've racked up quite some mileage, and I hope there are many more to come.
    The skeleton in the vintage car is something I would have snapped a picture of as well. I like weird things ;-)

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  3. Great job getting out for a ride and finding some roadside oddities too.

    Nice job on the trailer too. Looks good.

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  4. Those safety switches are or can be literal pains in the butt.....you'd think with mine that I'd be able to hold our lawn tractor's seat down but there are two spots on the lawn I've got to deliberately "sit heavy".

    I'm not aware of your shoe trees and this is the first I've heard of them. I did see a bra tree once in a yard not 20 miles from here, haven't been back to see if it still exists.

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  5. Erik I hear you on the safety seat switch ... I've a rough yard and if I mow fast enough a bump unseats me enough to kill the motor ... Congrats on the 49,000 miles and here's to many more.

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  6. Erik I hear you on the safety seat switch ... I've a rough yard and if I mow fast enough a bump unseats me enough to kill the motor ... Congrats on the 49,000 miles and here's to many more.

    ReplyDelete