Darrell

I'm interested in the 5744..... but you're a long drive from me. Do you ever come north? PM on its way.

I've always wanted to do a cross-country bike trip, but the years passed by without ever doing it. I did a couple of west-coast trips, north to south, and those were fun. I hope you have a great time!

I rode my BMW S1000XR to the Dragon yesterday and made a couple of runs. It was pretty hot on the way home, but what a lot of fun! Comfy AND quick.

Man! For a minute there I thought you were selling special mosquito rounds! JK, good luck with your sale.

I set off on my motorsickle this morning to ride to Cookeville to play some racquetball, as I do most every Monday. I wasn't too far from home when I crested a hill and there stood a big ol' black bear in the road. I stopped 75 feet or so from him. I was on a black bike with a black helmet, and he may have mistaken me for another bear, as he took a few steps in my direction. Let me tell you, guys, a black bear looks a lot different when you're sitting on a motorbike than it does when you're inside your pickup truck. Especially when he seems to have no particular concern about your presence. I've been close to bears in the woods a few times, but I always had a rifle or a bow in-hand. But I tootled my horn and flashed the high beams at him and he decided he wanted no part of me and headed into the woods that border the road. (The Catoosa Wildlife Area) It's amazing how hard they are to see once they're in the woods. I looked hard as I rode past where he left the road, and didn't see a thing.

See if you can rent one for a day or weekend before you buy. I bought an Ultra (though this was 15 or 20 years ago) and HATED it. The thing was a pig. I was worried about dropping it every time I had to turn it at very low speeds and it just wallowed in the high-speed stuff. But to be fair, it was a very plush ride going in a straight line on a good road. I've owned and enjoyed many Harleys, and I've got nothing against the brand, but I got rid of that particular bike after only five or six months. But I ride for the curvy bits, and that Ultra sucked in that environment. I've owned a BMW R1200RT for ten or twelve years now, and I really like it. It's comfortable two-up, has a lot of storage space, and it's fast and nimble on the back roads. It's more a "sport tour" bike than a tourer. I recently sold my S1000RR sport bike and replaced it with an S1000XR, which so far seems to be the best bike I've ever ridden. Same engine block as the RR, very fast, but without the Ricky Racer riding position. It's good enough that I'm considering selling the RT.

It was a nice day for a motorcycle ride yesterday, and I came across this near Georgetown. Sorry about the poor pic, I didn't have a "real" phone with me and had to use my phone, with which I have NO practice. Still, I thought the car and the service station were really cool.

I keep trying to find a compact, portable QRP antenna that works as well as a five-element yagi tri-bander at 60 feet. No luck so far, though.

Thank you for posting this. My brother's widow lives in London, and I didn't even know about that damage. I've heard from her and she's okay, but she knows a couple of people who were killed. Very sad!

PM on the way.

And for me, HF is way more interesting than VHF. I enjoy talking to people in Europe or Asia, but if I want to talk to someone nearby I can call them on the phone. That's one of the cool things about Ham radio: there are avenues to persue a wide variety of interests.

There's a sporterized Argentine Mauser listed in the classifieds that's in your price range. But as you mentioned, it's pretty tough to find bargain milsurps anymore.

Holy Cow! I hope that didn't do any damage. We got a bit of hail, but it was just little ice-pellet stuff.