27 October 2008

Job updates...

Defeating the purpose of an easy to update blog, I have slacked off with keeping this site up to date, but am now ALL caught up (see all the October posts, some of which have pictures from March!). The big reason in the delay was because I was waiting to see what happens next with my job.

I have accepted a position with my old company, which starts this week in Sierra Vista, AZ (3 hours south of Phoenix).

26 October 2008

Currahee, part 1, "Hi-Oh Silver!" lol

Well if you have ever seen episode one of Band of Brothers, then you will recognize Currahee as a mountain in Toccoa, Georgia where the original members of the U.S. Army's newly formed Airborne corps were sent for training during early-mid WWII.

I had the opportunity to run the length ("three miles up, three miles down") of the Col. Robert Sink Memorial Trail when I went through Ft. Benning this March, after returning from Afghanistan. One helluva run, especially for an out of shape guy like me...but at least I made it.

A sign at the base of the trail:

Me at the bottom:

A coin given to me by the 506th PIR, Fort Campbell, KY, 2007:

Currahee, part 2, at the top




25 October 2008

Currahee, part 3, on the way down...

The way down, good thing I had a flashlight:
Timing myself...what a confidence killer:

A memorial at the bottom:

low and mean, indeed...




Pics of my new flat black 11.5" billet shocks and rear brake caliper relocation (now hidden behind the exhaust), thanks to the guys at www.lowandmean.com, in Lake Havasu, AZ! The powdercoat job looks great and really cleans up the rear end! Thanks Chris!

24 October 2008

Average JO-HN

Well, I took my bike to the VERY knowledgeable and friendly bike shop in Mesa, AZ called Average Joe's Motorcycles today...what a great time. I wanted a simple baseline dyno, and they were glad to work on a metric bike like mine, even tho they specialize in HDs. Here is the result: 55HP, 74Ft/Lbs. Not too bad with only new exhaust, K&N drop in, and a Cobra Fi2000R computer. Anyway, hats off to John (seen testing the bike) and Eric for such a great help!

Click on the video to watch it.

The video:

22 October 2008

Dyno-sore


OK, OK, I can't let my bike have all the fun, so in the name of getting caught up, here are some pictures and video of my car on the dynamometer at Vivid Racing. While the HP/TQ numbers are no where near what I had hoped for, I am told a Mustang dyno is way more conservative than a DynoJet dyno. A heartbreaker of dyno namebrands if you will...haha!