Coop's Corner: The Little Things......

Saturday, October 15, 2016

The Little Things......

It is the details that make the difference; following through, executing consistently and according to plan.

per·fec·tion noun

....the condition, state or quality of being free or as free as possible from all flaws or defects.

We most certainly witnessed this condition today at Diamond's Coffee Shop. It was Rat Bike/Hot Rod Day. It matters not that there essentially was only one entry in the 'Bike category; if there had been a hundred entries in that class, this one would have podiumed regardless, most likely center top.

Started from a base 750 Honda, the mods with their attention to detail were virtually flawless. Note the very solid double bladed battle axe on the rear. Not some lightweight piece of carbon fiber, you're looking at true solid thickness, 16 honest-to-goodness ounces in each and every pound. I didn't ask but it possibly could be tilt tuneable for prevailing winds. You know, vectored down force.

As you can see, there has been great thought to each and every hook up point. Note the almost neon green throttle assembly, obviously a concession to safety though incorporated nicely into the overall design flow.

Just one more safety feature, a horn that absolutely puts to shame the OEM unit. Anyone would want to get out of the way when this one blows! That choice of front tire very timely; last year's transition season brought us far too much frozen slush, our roadways nigh impassable. Streets slippery and rougher than a cob, I'm willing to bet this setup could be The Compensator.

As everyone knows, that glaring reflective chrome is too often overdone. Check out that bright metal petcock, enough without being too much. The vibrant colors on those intakes just the right shade of Hugh and to top it off, that properly subtle "Laid Back" sticker a fine and understated reminder of the popular, "don't worry...be happy" philosophy.

The rear end where it all comes together in my way of thinking, encapsulating all, the wingnuts for quick adjustment, the nod to our two wheeled beginnings with the bilayer chain guard, the extra coverage a bonus for keeping that luscious sidewall white. I don't do auto magazines any longer but I certainly grew up with them and Thrush Exhaust ads were everywhere. Out and Down, I can't imagine a better way to cap off the rear ports. I'm only guessing but I suspect their minimal mass only contributes to making way for the extra heft of the battle axe above.

This machine, the real deal and truly worthy of the awarded trophy. Indeed a winner in most anyone's book. The bar has been set almost unrealistically high for next year's competition.

8 comments:

redlegsridesOctober 15, 2016 at 8:49 PM
the Schwinn chain guard was a cool addition, am a bit embarrassed to admit I've considered using cans to keep rain off the muffin top air filters my Bural rig came with....
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TrobairitzOctober 16, 2016 at 10:16 AM
That is quite the machine. Very creative. Do you think it is prone to wheelies with the weight of that battle axe on the back?
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motormikeOctober 16, 2016 at 6:21 PM
.. yeah can't fix ugly .....
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VStar LadyOctober 16, 2016 at 7:46 PM
I'm just thinking that the owner of this is one very creative mechanic!
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)