Aww, Crap

Until recently I had near perfect vison. That all began to change about eight months ago. I noticed that I was beginning to read the morning sports section like a trombone. Before every thing started to get a bit fuzzy, my vision was 20-13 in the right eye and 20-15 in the left. So a trip to the eye doctor was order and he verified my worst suspicions, my eyesight was deteriorating like snow on a fifty degree day. It’s not all that bad, I still can see distances like I always could, but from this point forward I would have to have reading glasses with me wherever I cared to be. I could go about this in a couple of ways. First I could get a pair of bifocals that had no prescription on the top part of the lens and my reading prescription on the bottom, or I could buy a shit load of reading glasses and sprinkle them in the places that I frequent the most. Being the jack ass that I am, of course I chose the latter. Now I own about ten pairs of reading glasses, and this system seems to be working for me so far.
So as I get nearer to starting to tear down the XS, I have to make sure I keep at least a couple pairs in the old garage. I am going to have to get used to having a pair around all the time now, as I was trying to read the Clymers on tearing down the carbs I now have to wear the glasses to read the manual. I did not have this problem the last time I used this manual after Thanksgiving. I am getting ready to re-jet the carbs so the engine will run smooth with the XS pods and the pipes I will be running from Mike’s XS. I’m going with the Ascot Street Tracker exhaust from Mike’s over the Mile Exhaust from Omar’s mainly because of price and That high exhaust cooking my leg. I like the Mile better than the Ascot mainly for aesthetic reasons, but I am a cheap ass and cannot get past two hundred dollar price difference. That price difference allowed me to purchase a Boyer Bransden electronic ignition. That, with the jetting, pipes and pods ought to add a bit of hot sauce to the old XS powerband.

If the weather stays mild like it has been, it will allow me to start getting my bike stripped and ready for paint. I was hoping that Curly would have his bike tore back down and everything out to the powder coaters by now, but he has hit a couple of design speed bumps and is taking a bit longer than anticipated. Oh well can’t have everything, but that climate controlled environment and bike lift he has over at his place sure would be nice.


I will leave you with a couple of verses of Frank Zappa’s Yellow Snow, While I have not suffered a fate as bad as the fur trappers at the hand of Nanook, I certainly now know how he feels.

Whereupon I proceeded to take that mitten full of the deadly yellow snow
crystals and rub it all into his beady little eyes with a vigorous
circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
To take the place of the mudshark in your mythology, Here it goes, the circular motion, now rub it! and then In a fit of anger, I pounced And I pounced again

Great googly moogly!

I jumped up and down on the chest of the him, I injured The fur trapper,
well he was very upset, as you can understand and rightly so, because the deadly yellow snow crystals had deprived him of his sight
and he stood up, and he looked around, and he said

I can't see
I can't see
Oh, woe is me
I can't see

Well.....you know
I can't see
Nothin”

Till Next Time...........................................