]-[åRdFlóòR - The Day Tripper

Restoration Part 2 - Motor

2006-05-09T18:39:00.000-04:00

Well, I finished the motor a while ago, and decided to rip the frame apart and redo it "quickly" also. The frame is in pieces, primed and ready for paint now, I'll post pics when i get back from Germany.
As for the motor ... Here are some pics:

One of the case halves before assembly:

A shot of the cylinder, after honing the piston installed, and the cylinder ground.

A bad photo of the ground and assembled head

And the completed and assembled motor ...

Restoration Part 1 - Motor

2006-04-14T21:23:00.000-04:00

Well, although I was going to start this DURING the winter, I've finally started ... now. Well I took the PC apart two weeks ago, and am SLOWLY starting to get rolling on it.
Why? Well, although it was running last year, a few things bugged me. Occasionally a hint of smoke was appearing ... and well performance ... can always be better. It's always bugged me the way the PC looks as well. Sure for most people its all good, but I think she just needs a good make-over. Besides, last years dissection to re-machine the crank didn't include anything more than that seeing as i was more in a hurry to ride and see whether I even liked the damn 'ped. There's one thing I hate, something that doesn't run right, or has the potential to let you down. When you're for example riding around say Lake Simcoe, and you're clocking around 250+ KM in a day ... the last thing you need is a break down ... especially if you had one of those "I knew it ..." feelings.

So enough babble! On to the pics, now more will be posted as I get further, assuming
I don't get lazy again and stop posting altogether ....

Here she is, my 1972 Honda PC50 ... still in one piece:

And without motor ....

Here's the motor all by itself ....

Ok heres the head and the top of the piston ... note that build up ... remember ... its a FOUR STROKE .... I knew we had a problem!

Take off the side cover ... the clutch!

And now without clutch ... isn't it wonderfully simple!

Split the crank case in half and we get to to the good stuff! Elegantly simple system, which is perfect, not much that can go wrong here is there.

Gutted, we have the bare case now sure i'll be doing some work on it, but one thing I hate on the Japanese motors is the painted Die Cast cases, now when new, they look just great ... you add 30 plus years to them, a few owners, and you get this dull finish, paint worn off in places and it looks, just sad. Now sadly, as you'll see on a few other pics later, there is HEAVY pitting on top of the cases where it goes into the frame, due to a mouse nesting up there during years of storage. Not much that can be done ... well yes there could, but to be honest, I am aiming for a relatively fast restoration, and don't want to spend a year or more on it to get it perfect.

Before we go nuts, and start painting the cases, we need to glass bead the case. Now to avoid getting too much glass into the case itself, I always plug every hole in the case, here I made aluminium plugs, quick, easy and will protect the sealing surfaces, and the bearing seats from the glass beads ....

Another look at more plugs ...

After the glass beading ... you see how matte the surface is, perfect for painting ...

Here you can see that pitting i was talking about on the top of the cases ...

A quick preview of the painted cases, bad photo ...

Now having the cam out, I noticed the extreme wear around the oil pump driving end ... look closely on the right, the cam is on the lathe ready for machining ...

Now since the camshaft end was machined down to get rid of the score marks, we have a problem, the bushing it goes into is also worn, and besides now it doesn't fit at all obviously. So, yup you guessed it, I get to make a brand new bushing. This bushing is a pain in the ass, first its going to have to fit the case, no problem, except there are two stamped cutouts on it which hold it in place, so the new one has to have those too. For the Aluminium camshaft to successfully run in the steel bushing, the surface of the bushing has to be as smooth as possible, and hard to avoid scaring which will cause the cam to rip its surface. Solution? Make a bushing, fit the slots to the case, harden it to around 60 rockwell, and finish turn it using diamond. Result? a mirror finish ... ok the photo again is crap, the camera doesn't like me! Also check out the re-machined camshaft end .... the better the surface, the less chance of wear. Also the fit is important. too much play you get wear, too little gap, not enough oil will get in, and wear will occur again. Tricky, but all possible! Look at that scoring on the old bushing in the front ... ouch.

The Ride ...

2005-10-11T13:38:00.000-04:00

Well, about 10 miles into it, I swear I wanted to turn back. It was bloody cold! I stopped and put on my rain pants, over top of the million other layers of clothes I had on, and it was better. The ride up to the lake shore was nice, the long straight roads with little traffic was lined side to side with trees of different colours. It was gorgeous.
Once I got to the Sutton area, and headed east on Hwy 48, I got pissed off at the morons in cars flying past me at ridiculous speeds nearly hitting me. North bound after port Bolster was a nice trip until Beaverton, where I had to head back on to Hwy 12 not having a map or clue where to go. As I rode up 12, my ass started to hurt, and I literally wanted to stop, get picked up and forget it. Then I finally got to the bridge near Couchiching, at that point I was reminded why I wanted to take this trip. The photo doesn't do it justice; I should have taken a picture of the Locks near there, which were great to see in action.
I stopped for a while at Couchiching Point, took some pics, and marveled again at how big this body of water is. I was admittedly worried until I got to Orillia whether the PC50 would hold up for this trip, but once I got there, I sort of forgot about it, and enjoyed the rest of the trip.
BIG mistake ... leaving Orillia, I saw a sign that said ... Hwy 12 to Hwy 11. Now Hwy 11, thatâ€™s Yonge street right? I nice normal street, moped friendly etc. WELL, I start driving, turning down some ramp, not really paying attention. Suddenly, I was face to face with a sign that indicated the speed limit was 100 ... Not wanting to U turn and go back I figured, go to the next exit and get the hell off there! That thought ... MISTAKE #2! Next exit ... dirt road going ... no idea where ... second, same thing. So at this point I am traveling on the shoulder of this super speed highway hoping a cop doesn't show up. Well, one did. He went flying past me full speed, I suddenly see red lights, then the cherries blinking away. Panic ... The exit for another road was right in front of me. I quickly got off, headed to the bridge over passing the highway, and saw to my relief, the cop had stopped all the traffic, to let someone grab a big piece of tire off the middle of the road, afterwards he moved and let them go. And the whole time i was making up excuses about how I was lost and didn't know, and I know mopeds are not allowed on highways etc ... I kept following that road, which ended up at Ridge Road. That was an excellent find. A long winding road which cut through forests along the lake shore. Just heaven for a moped. Some of the views of the lake from Ridge road were stunning. Check out the pics below. By the sizes of the houses, I guess these people paid for that view ...
Once in Barrie, I stopped at the bay, taking another short break. Two guys approached me, and started talking about the PC50, one of them also owned one. We talked for quite some time before I left again and headed to Yonge street, and followed Yonge back down. Some nice views again of rolling countryside near Bradford, and at Newmarket, I started heading back east again. I had decided not to follow the lakes south side as the concept of getting back was starting to look more than appealing after so many hours on the moped.
I made it back in one piece some 8 hours after starting, and all in all, it was an excellent ride. It's one of those you have to see it rides. Next year, earlier in the season, it would be great to do it all over again with some of the RCMP members... Was it worth it? 8 hours of riding â€¦ a really sore ass â€¦ and a couple of dollars of gas? You bet! Looking forward to doing it again!

Some of the Simcoe Pics...

2005-10-09T15:55:00.000-04:00

On the way to the Lake, the weather was excellent, minus the temperature. This was near Ravenshoe Road ...

The view over the bridge just outside of Orillia.

Couchiching point ....

The view you get from living on Ridge Road just north of Barrie ... if you live in a house ...

A house like this ....

At the Bay in Barrie, just an awesome area ...

The countryside just north of Bradford on Yonge Street.

And finally, the milage of the day :)

The Simcoe Loop ...

2005-10-08T19:00:00.000-04:00

Well, 158 Miles, or 252Km later, I am back.
I started at 10:50 this morning, and got back around 6:40pm. I took a few pics, and will definately post them later on. I have some stories, and will write them later on. My ass hurts, my brain hurts but the Honda is just fine.

I want one of these! (xmas is coming, hint hint!)

2005-10-07T16:05:00.000-04:00

Should I stay or Should I go?

2005-10-07T15:47:00.000-04:00

Well, in theory, I had planned to do the Lake Simcoe run tomorrow morning.
As it stands right now, here is the forecast for tomorrow:
Markham:
Morning: 6Â°C/Mainly cloudy/30%P.O.P
Afternoon: 13Â°C/Cloudy w/ Sunny breaks/20%P.O.P
Orillia:
Morning: 4Â°C/Cloudy/10%P.O.P
Afternoon: 13Â°C/Cloudy/10%P.O.P
Barrie:
Morning: 5Â°C/Cloudy periods/10%P.O.P
Afternoon: 13Â°C/Cloudy periods/20%P.O.P
So what does this all mean? Well, its getting cold! Winter is coming it appears. So now do I ride or don't I? Kind of like the Clash song "Should I stay or Should I go?". Decisions desicions.
On the upside, from the numbers, its not supposed to rain, which would seriously screw up my life on 'ped at that temperature. Besides, the cold would be good, as running all day at near top speed is bound to bring on the heat from that little motor. If I back out now, I will have to wait yet another week before attempting it, and who knows how cold it will be then. Ultimately, I think I should go for it. The leaves are gorgeous, the air is crisp, and although I am not a big outdoors freak, it is awesome to see Ontario this time of year. It will take me all day, which might be a good escape from reality. Well, I will check the "trusty" weather site again in the morning, since overnight changes where 30% chance of rain got me SOAKED to the bone B4. Wish me luck .... Time to do an oil change, check the valves, check the tires, spay the chain etc ....

Lake Simcoe Or BUST

2005-09-14T15:58:00.000-04:00

Winter is coming. Yes its still 30 Degrees outside, but never the less, the trees are changing colours, and its almost time to be all pissed off again.
Well, before it snows the need to do one big all day trip on Moped is here. I have mentioned it before, and now I am starting to plan. Theres NO stopping me now!

The idea is simple enough. Starting point .. Markham. Ride back roads up to Sutton, head east around the lake up to Beaverton, then up to Orilia. From Orilia down to Barrie, then follow the Lake right back around to Sutton again, and head back to Markham...
How far? Well, Mapquest (which lies cause its so not the route I have in mind ...) says from Markham to Orilia: approx: 110 KM
Orillia to Barrie: 40 KM
Barrie back to Sutton: 75 KM
Then all the way back to Markham: approx. 50 KM
So Basically around 275 Km in theory. Now cruising at around the say ... 35-40 km/h mark all day would be around 7 - 8 hours lol So yes although it would be good to hit 50km/h then and just keep going.
Either way, some extra gas, a cell phone and a camera would be useful. I think it would be a good trip. I have made it up to Beaverton, and got fairly close to Orilia so this isn't too much of a stretch. The roads aroun sutton are gorgeous. All 40km/h and coasting along the lake. Last weekend I drove through a bit of Barrie, and the waterfront there looks great as well. If you stick to some of the less travelled roads, I am sure cars won't be an issue.
When? Good question. I was really hoping to get some tires on the Honda before this as the ones on there have a big wow in them causing the big to shake at speed ... anything over 35-40 mph gets a big wild ... but considering this would not be a speed race but rather an endurance thing ... it should be otay. I would guess not next but perhaps the weekend after next would be good? Of coarse if any members of the RCMP are up for it, Let me know, as it would be cool to travel in a group.
Maybe this should be some bizarre endurance race ... a once a year test of man/woman machine. Sure its no trip to Alaska, or trip to paris from Africa, but its a good ride for a day. Hell, maybe consider Wasaga beach in the event???
Will have to give it all some thought.

God Damn Tires!

2005-09-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

Ok, this is depressing. Its almost the middle of September, and NO FREAKIN tires for the Honda... These tires have been on backorder for three months now ... what planet are they coming from?
This is pissing me off. I need tires, the ones on there are screwed. Do you think ANYONE would have a 23x2.25 aka 19 2.25 tire? No. Sad.
I hate this!
Now I get to look in the US, though concidering it could take up to three weeks (yes thats what it took last time a few weeks ago with the motorcycle tires from Dayton ..). Ok. I'm done venting ....

Hells Satans Docu ...

2005-09-09T21:37:00.000-04:00

It is rare that I get excited about any movie, but I have to mention this short film about the Hells Satans Moped gang from Richmond VA.... Have a look if you haven't yet ... it had me smiling and wanting to go for a ride :)
Video Here ...

Codename .... ENV

2005-09-07T16:07:00.000-04:00

Envy ... And now for something completely different .... A hydrogen powered motorcycle ... http://www.envbike.com/

Too say the least, its ... um, interesting? It's actually not that bad looking in theory, look at the hybrid cars, some of those are uglier than hell. At least the technology is getting there.

Old Photos ...

2005-09-02T14:42:00.000-04:00

I was going through some old family photo negatives I brought back from Germany last time I was there and found two great photos of my Grandfather. Mopeds are a common thing in Germany, and everyone and their dog had/has one. I wish it was like that over here in Canada. This particular pair of photos were taken shortly after he bought this DKW (one of very many mopeds that members of my family had over the years....). Its a DKW Hummel, from the looks of it I would guess late 50s. Although he rode motorcycles most of life and did until the late 70s early 80s, the Moped was mode of transportation choice for almost everyone after the war. With these gas prices I expect that many people will soon discover the benifits of 100km/L.
I love the suits and dress of the early half of the 20th century ... you see people now and you wonder sometimes wtf they are thinking ...

Scugog Ride?

2005-08-24T16:21:00.000-04:00

On my way to Mosport the three days, I passed Lake Scugog over and over again ... made me think ... need to take a ride there via moped ... I think taking the slower Reach Street from Uxbridge would be a good ride. A bite to eat, and maybe a ride onto the "island" would be fun ...
hmmmm .... saturday is supposed to be nice ...

Race Weekend is ... OVER

2005-08-24T16:13:00.000-04:00

The weekend is over, finally, less stress. The week before last weekend was crazy, as we tried to prepare the Rudges for the race. As usual, since we didn't have much time for this last winter, everything was last minute. Though I have to say, it was not so bad. The weather was bizarre, BUT it didn't rain on us. It was nice actually since heat and sunshine at Mosport isn't fun.
The bikes ran great, and we all had a great time. There was even a guy from New York State who brought and raced his 1935 Indian. He will hopefully be coming back next year, as he had a good weekend. What a difference between my 1934 Rudge and the Indian ... amazing how advanced the Rudges were for their time. Even compared to our friend's Velocette. The velo ran great also, and I am happy to say, that the crankcase half that I machined him from solid held up, and got rid of all the oil leaks, and the set of cam followers I made him also did their job, and now with the new ratio for the followers, the bike actually has some power!
Anyway, I need to get some of the pics posted and will do in the next few days.
Blah ... back to work.

RCMP Ride To High Park

2005-08-08T10:30:00.000-04:00

Had an excellent time with the peopes from the RCMP on Sunday. I was late for the 3 pm start of the ride, but met up with them a bit later, and we all still managed to ride together. It was super fun with the 7 others. HEre are a couple pics from the run. Hope we get a chance to do that again!

Here are all of the peds together at the park ...

Lindsay posing on "Moped Rock". A sacred stone deep in the heart of the Toronto Jungles ... the locals see it as a shrine to the lifestyle of 'peding' ... we just came, saw bought the t-shirt and conquered it before whizzing away on our next mission ....

Mopeds everywhere! As seen in their natural habitat. Tomos, Vespa, Garelli, Honda and many other species can be seen grazing in the wooded areas ....

110 Miles of Blue Skies ...

2005-08-06T17:45:00.000-04:00

Just another trip up north to Simcoe, this time I went east around a bit. Had two stalls today, no idea, prolly dirt in the carb, because I quickly drained both times and she ran again. The fear of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere is slowly disappearing. Not sure if thatâ€™s a good thing. I've walked motorcycles way too often in my life because of some idiotic reason ... Just some pics for today ...

Here's that Virgina Pic from last week ...

Up near Beaverton, I stopped to top up the tank, and heard a great story from a woman who rode her Moped from Toronto to Hamilton back in the 70s ... Great story!

These last two pics are of a beach I stumbled upon ...

Rain anyone?

2005-08-01T17:43:00.000-04:00

Well, it looked ok. Monday is a day off, and I thought to myself, why not go back up to Lake Simcoe again? I wanted to check out and talk to the people running the ferry to Georgina Island, to see if it would be cool to cross and ride on the island via moped. Georgina Island is a reserve and is governed by Chippewas. I thought it would be a great trip in the future to take the ferry and ped around the island for an afternoon. I was then going to continue on my journey up to Lagoon City on the east coast of the lake and head back. I would like to do a full circle around the lake, but I am now realizing, its a bit longer trip than I imagined, so I think a whole day would be in order for that trip. I will do it, just not yet.
Well, enough with the plans for the day. I made it up in record time cruising non stop at around 30 mph, I decided today I wouldn't need the extra gas can as I know now I should be fine as long as I check it when I get up to the lake and throw in a liter. I got up to Hwy 48 near Sibbald Point, and headed east. I arrived to my amusement in a town I hadn't seen before called Virginia ... I even took a picture for my friend who lives in Virginia (the real one in the US). Convieniently, there was a gas station there so I pulled in to top up. When I went in to pay, the woman behind the counter said " Honey, I would advise you to boogey on home, they just warned for severe thunderstorms". Now I realize it was cloudy, but it didn't look that bad, and besides, the weather network I check this morning said 70% rain in Toronto and only 40% near the lake ... well, how wrong they were yet once again!
I took here advice and turned back, and not a kilometer later the first drops hit my sunglasses. I sped up from the slow gentle roll down the street as more rain started to fall. I was going full speed ahead heading south again towards Ravenshoe Road, when it started to get more intense, so I pulled over and pulled form under my seat my dollar store rain poncho thing and threw it over my head and continued on. All I can say is, there must have been a hell of a leak up there, because the rain suddenly came down so hard it sounded like someone was playing drums on my helmet! I couldnâ€™t really see where I was going as the sunglasses didnâ€™t have wipers â€¦ But one thing was for sure â€¦ I wasnâ€™t stopping. Years of traveling with my 1972 CB350, I learned that if you just keep the motor nice and warm, and keep it so the electrics stay semi-dry, youâ€™ll be fine â€¦ problem is when you stop, and TRY to start again â€¦ I remember just how many time I had to push the 750 Norton Commando for kilometers because the coils were wet. Well, I kept up a good speed, but the rain wasnâ€™t going to end â€¦ I decided a detour to my parents house was the new destination. I was totally impressed with the little Honda â€¦ she kept going through all of it â€¦ well almost. About 2 KMs away from their house, over these massive hills which are a bitch on moped even in dry weatherâ€¦ she died on me. The nice thing is of coarse the moped weighs relatively nothing. So I walked for a couple minutes until I got to the top of a big hill, engaged the motor again, ran â€¦ jumped on, let go of the decompressor, and bump bump bump, put put put â€¦ she suddenly sprang into life yet once again â€¦ I rode the rest of the way to their house, parked in the garage, and dried out. Mind you only the shoes and lower half of my legs were soaked. Those fugly as hell leg shields Honda had on the earlier models and on the C90 etc. would have come in handy today! But all in all, it could have been worse. At least I know that the Honda isnâ€™t that sensitive to moisture â€¦ good to know on future travels â€¦
As for the lake? I will head up there and try it all again, and maybe next weekend attempt the full trip around â€¦ weâ€™ll seeâ€¦ for now â€¦ I am going to go home and change these damn wet shoes!

And to the Lake we Go

2005-07-31T09:21:00.000-04:00

Years ago, I would get on my motorbike, and escape the real world by heading mid week to Lake Simcoe, around Sutton there is a beach called Willow Beach which during the beach was always empty during the day. A perfect place to escape and chill out. Well, life goes on, and years pass and you often forget these things ... we are all so busy running the rat race we often forget that we need to breathe and live a little.
We Saturday I had just had it. I sat at work thinking, I have to get out of here. I thought, since I got that new carb, I should seriously take it for a test drive! Well, having thought of Lake Simcoe, I decided I would try it. What's the worst that could happen? A flat? The motor dies? It's not THAT far away, so hey, why not?
Thinking it was pretty far a drive, and I didn't want to hunt for a gas station in the middle of nowhere, i bungeed on my 5 Liter gas tank (no i am still not done making my real second gas tank .. no time!).
Km:1589
The Journey starts, and first things first, I head for the gas station, which turns out to be a disaster, as i over filled the gas tank on the back lol got gas everywhere!

Km: 1592
All filled up, we are cruising along steadily and really soaking in the sun for once.

I headed northward and soon, the townhouses stacked side by side with not a mm to spare, were replaced by massive green trees with branches reaching out to wave to passers by, they danced slowly in the slight breeze. Once you get passed a certain point, the road starts rolling with the hills. This is where the fun begins on moped, as some of these hills are just massive. But if youâ€™re patient, and chose a path where this isnâ€™t a huge issue, youâ€™ll be humming along as I did, comfortably cruising between 25-30mph â€¦ The scenery was indeed gorgeous. When I got to the top of this hill at Ravenshoe Road, I couldnâ€™t help but think this looks endless â€¦.

I actually rolled down that hill with the motor off, and hit over 35mph lol so gravity is still pulling me down!
I soon after Rode past a town called Egypt, which was great â€¦ Welcome to Egypt! Lol. OH NO! I rode too far! As I passed Sibbald Point Park the highway-esque road turned into the most sexy winding along the lake road ever. With a speed limit of 40km/h you donâ€™t have to worry about cars, and besides, everyone up there is relaxing anyway, so no stressy drivers. Just a great ride along the lake.

I passed Willow Beach which was packed full of peoples, and kept going for a while until I found the dock for the ferry to Snake Island. I parked myself there and sat on the dock and enjoyed the traffic jam of boats out there in the Lake.

What a great ride that was. I headed home after a while thinking it would have been cool if I had a riding partner for the trip, but then I remember I already did have one â€¦ my shadow! The bastard had been following me all day!

The ride back was also cool. Driving by the endless fields, the forests etcâ€¦

What lasted for hours (well I did stop to see some people on the way â€¦) turned out to only be 93 miles â€¦ or around 150 km â€¦ The funny part is that my real 2 liter gas tank on the Honda, which I was worried was going to run out, actually still has gas in it. So taking that 5 liter tank with me was totally unnecessary. I always seem to forget the best part about mopeds â€¦ fuel economy. I got a chance to get outside, and rode around all afternoon, saw things I havenâ€™t ever looked at, and all this for less than 2 liters of gas? Ie. Less than $2? Lol I really have to do this more often! hmmmmm ... Mondays' a holiday!

Its all about the Carbs ....

2005-07-31T09:14:00.000-04:00

About two weeks ago a carb for a 2004 crf 50 came up for auction on eBay, having been removed right away to be replaced by some 20mm racing carb as many of these mini-moto guys do. Since I got the PC50 I have been having issues with the existing carb, though I have cleaned it several time, it was still not reacting on the adjustments etc. Well, long story short, I won the auction for little money, it arrived on Tuesday and on Friday, thinking I would have to make a bunch of adaptors and other parts to get it to fit, I realized to my surprise â€¦ itâ€™s the same carb! Yup, 30 some years later, and Keihin is still running the same carb! Great news for me, undo the old one, fit the new one â€¦ done! Only one slight difference of a hose out of the side, but that was irrelevant.
Once installed, she started in a quarter turn, and for once â€¦idled! That was new. I played around with the settings, kept checking the plugs for mixture etc, but all in all, I have it running now to the point where the idle is so low, I keep thinking its going to stall, which is good, because the lower the chance of the clutch slightly engaging, thus heating the thing up due to a dragging clutch.
So, lets recap this boring story, 1972 PC50 carb can be directly replaced by a 2004 CRF50 carb. You can get jets for these things, oring sets, and since they are MUCH newer, are more tunable. Ie. No more backfiring upon throttle release due to a slightly worn throttle slide etc â€¦.

Here's a pic of the new one on there ...

And the weather gods smiled on us ...

2005-07-24T20:48:00.000-04:00

Well, for once the weather gods really didn't screw me over. We finally managed to all meet up for a moped ride starting off down at Cherry Beach ... I was a bit worried, as the trusty internet weather site showed thunder showers all afternoon into the night for the GTA ... just my luck too as yesterday was a brilliant perfectly sunny day â€¦ but I couldnâ€™t make it â€¦ I was thinking â€¦ great now Iâ€™ve screwed up everyoneâ€™s ride, perfect when I canâ€™t go, and when I can, the heavens open up and soak everything â€¦ well, we took a gamble and it paid off! (For once since the rest of my life is a write off 90% of the time). I met for the first time 5 fellow moped riders, and we all went out for a great ride to the Bluffs in Scarberia. I miss riding with people, there is something about riding something with two wheels in groups that just makes it more fun â€¦ itâ€™s just awesome, helps when they are great people too! Which fortunately they are! A great bunch, a great ride and all in all a great day. Now we just have to figure out how to do this more frequently! Thinking it would rain, I stupidly left the camera at work, so no pics to share, but Linday took some at the Bluffs, so check out the RCMP site! Thanks again to all of you that came out today! It was indeed a blast!
If you donâ€™t have a moped and are reading this â€¦ get one. Yes thatâ€™s an order. If you donâ€™t, we will slash your car tires â€¦ you will be assimilated â€¦.

Another sad day ...

2005-07-21T15:06:00.000-04:00

When is this all going to stop? I feel for the people and families of the Brits who were involved in todayâ€™s "attacks" again in London ... I hate violence (don't ask me why I'm addicted to UT then ... thatâ€™s not important right now!), right so I hate violence, and the concept of terrorism ... well thatâ€™s just wrong sure ... BUT, for the second time in two weeks, people are mourning the dead in the UK ... which I have nothing against ... But can I ask you this ... Why is it that no one stops the show when a suicide bomber heads to the streets of Iraq, or anywhere else for that matter? Is it because the west really sees them as being different? As soon as the bombs go off, the radio at work freaks and explains the horrible event ... but what about every day where bombs are going off, people are being shot and tortured? What about those people? Why don't we care about them? I am sure we do, but not as much? Is that it? I hate that. I have friends in the Middle East. And other troubled places around the world. To me, there is no difference. Violence is violence. Be it in the UK, or the USA (which you just got to wonder if this is all leading right back to the US ... ) or elsewhere on the planet. We are all brothers and sisters.. No I'm not a fuckin hippie, but seriously ... can't we all just get along?
I seriously need to get back home to Galgamek, no one kills each other there! Beam me up! Now damn it!

Smurfs?

2005-07-20T10:37:00.000-04:00

Ok, we all know that hollywood ran out of ideas in 1993 ... but smurfs? Yup ... the smurfs as 3D CGI! lol/ Good to see that the fine folks making movie decisions are still managing to find hard drugs ... Can't they come up with something NEW? Sure I watched the smurfs on TV ... but that was in the early 80s! Hell even Peyo's been dead for 13 years!

Da Smurfs?

See you in line at the theatres in 2008!

Ch Ch Ch Cherry! (Beach)

2005-07-20T09:37:00.000-04:00

Went for a ride on the Honda last night after work, and I have to say ... I needed that!
Its so nice to do a longer-ish trip again (I put on around a 100Km). The weather right now in Toronto is gorgeous, and we all need to take advantage of it and head outdoors! We are slowly all becoming creatures of air-conditioned builds who's only time outside is walking from the house into the car. What happened? We are slowly all hiding indoors, reminds me of time machine with those albino freaks living underground ... Either way, as the captain of this ship ... I order ALL of you to GET OUTSIDE! Sit by the beach go for a walk ... better yet ... come for a moped ride!
That is all ... carry on ...

Awesom-O is your friend!

2005-07-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

Check this out .. theres a video on this link which shows some clips of the RoboCup ... seeing robots play soccer is so much more fun than real people ... who are over paid and don't really do much other than create drama on the field ... one day the machines will be our athletes ... Transformers! More than meets the eye!
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news_9864.html

Rain Rain Go Away!

2005-07-17T19:43:00.000-04:00

There goes another nice weekend ... I was really hoping to get out there and do some riding this weekend, but NO ... it has been raining on and off since yesterday. Weeks of nice weather, and finally some time and ... rain! Go global warming! Thanks all you SUV drivers out there! Keep on pumping out more and more pollution! Then when we live in a Sahara type climate up here, maybe then ... some of them will figure it out. This weather is seriously getting more bizarre by the year. Hurricanes here, there, and everywhere. I feel sorry for the people I know in the Gulf and on the islands, spending their year dealing with some pretty exciting weather. Where is it all going? What will happen next?
Stay tuned!
On the up side, I did manage to spend a couple hours this weekend working on the Honda â€¦ didnâ€™t get that much done, but hey â€¦ itâ€™s the weekend!

Britain Britain Britain ....

2005-07-16T08:56:00.000-04:00

Finished watching season 1 of "Little Britain" yesterday! On to season 2!
If you don't know what Little Britain is ... turn on your TV dammit! Even Canadians will now be able to watch via Showcase ...
In case you really haven't heard of this ... check out some clips of the show:
http://lbvg.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/video.htm
You have to watch: Andy has Something to help Him do toilet second from the bottom!
Love Lou and Andy ... YA .... I know!

Oompa Loompa ! ! !

2005-07-16T08:27:00.000-04:00

Went last night to watch Charlie and the Chocolate factory. All in all, not bad. Having recently watched the original "Willi Wonka and the Chocolate factory" I was really getting my hopes up for this one. After all you have a Tim Burton movie here kids! With Johnny Depp in it ... it just has to be good! Was it? Well, I have to say, I definitely wasn't bad. But I think I was expecting more. Some of the scenes were fabulous. The ideas for example the machines in the factory were crazy. Over all the only scene I was disappointed in was the "totally eatable room" ... I was really hoping for something completely over the top, instead it seemed a good recreation of what I remember from the book. The 1971 movie seemed almost to have a more elaborate room.
Cast of characters were good. Veruca Salt was a an UBER bitch! Awesome, though she could have laid it on a bit thicker. Charlie was good, not great. Oh the fat german kid Augustus! OMG, fat little bastard he was! Greatest thing about that was he was from: Dusseldorf! Yup where I was born, and they showed a pic of it too! and I was in tears laughing, they showed a traditional bavarian town covered in snow lol. Bit of a stretch considering its the wrong side of the country!
Anyway, all in all, great movie worth a watch. I laughed when I saw the moped swarm! When Wonka announces the contest, out come hundreds of motor assisted red bicycles ... no idea what they were but they came streaming out of the factory like an army of bats! Great stuff, would have loved to have swarmed with them!
Oh, also saw a long trailer for The Corpse Bride ... looks fun! Only a few more months!