Riding the Dragon

[MAragorn]

Hello to All

I bought myself a Teal and Black 1998 Honda Valkyrie Tourer last Friday night about 10pm. I had never seen this bike before about 9:30, nor sat my big butt on a Valk before that. I rode that big girl around the neighborhood in Dallas, then rode back and finished the deal.

It took about 20 minutes to get 'er strapped down on the U-haul motorcycle trailer, then 4 hours to get 'er back to Houston.

I gotta say my opinion of this bike changed 30 seconds after starting 'er up. What a machine!

This bike has 8600 miles on 'er and has sat up most of the last 3 or 4 years. The guy I bought 'er from got 'er in a trade and only had 'er long enough to have the carbs worked on and a new Dunlop Elite 3 tire put on the back.

I trailered 'er over to my mechanic to have 'er gone through before I really start riding 'er:

New front tire, air filter, plugs, oil and filter, coolant change, replace the brake and clutch fluid, final drive oil change.

Anything else that jumps out as an issue with so few miles?

I have had Victorys for the last 7 or 8 years. I had a 99, 00, 01 and 02. [What can I say...I am compulsive and I got very good deals!] Anyway, all but the 00 flooded and then burned during Hurricane Ike on Galveston.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Vics, but Victory stopped making all the bikes I liked. So I was looking around... And I wanted something different.

I had stumbled upon Daniel Meyer's articles on line about Darksiding his Valkyrie. That interested me and I took my 02 Victory Touring Cruiser to the Darkside. I loved it and had about 6000 miles on the car tire before I lost the bikes. But in the back of my head I was remembering how much Daniel Meyer liked his Valkyrie. So....
 
Now I have one.  The title?  I have found that Valkyrie riders call the Valks "Dragons".  After test riding mine I understand why now.
 
If you go to the link below I have some pictures posted.  The pictures below don't do 'er justice, but they at least give you an idea.  She is one beautiful lady.  Even my ex and her daughter think so!


http://throwthescoundrelsout.blogtownhall.com/

[godfire]

Welcome to the family! 

[Six Guns]

Welcome, I have a 1998 Pearl Jade Green and Black Tourer as well. I went down to Houston to buy mine back in 2002. I hope to meet you one day and go for a ride. Lots of good folks on this board, and many of them live in and around the Houston area.

[RainMaker]

Read your post on the main board and am happy to see another convert to the fat lady.

This bike is everything rolled into one.  It is a touring bike, a drag racer and a cruiser.  Unlike most bikes that cross between so many things, it does them all well. 

This is my 5th motorcycle (one at a time) and probably my last.  It will still be going strong long after I am physically unable to ride it.

Hook up with RocketMan aka Mark Stovall, the Texas Rep, who lives in the Houston area.  He's probably just sitting around scratching his.....  well, scratching, since he works for NASA and is between shuttle flights right now.

RainMaker aka Mark Clauder

[Lyn-Del]

Cool!  Another Valk in Houston!!

 The Houston VRCC is a small group, meeting on the third Wednesday of the month (as a general rule) at Woodrow's on Chimney Rock.  Food's great, company is even better.

We try to hold wrench parties semi-regularly, where folks can get together, do needed maintenance on their bikes, do mods, etc.  When they're at my place, I even provide lunch (and no one has died from my cooking, either).

We need to plan more rides, but life keeps getting in the way.  Rocketman (our leader) and Wizard and I are recovering from Ike, with all the unexpected rescheduling that goes with it.   If you have an idea for a ride, post it, and see who's up to go.

Hang out here, and you'll find a nice group of folks.

[MAragorn]

Yeah, that Ike thing has impacted a lot of us.

I was renting a house on the island.  It flooded, then burned, taking everything in this world I owned that didn't fit in the one suitcase I took for what I thought was going to be a weekend trip.

At first, I was not going to leave the island. Hell, it was only a Category 2 Hurricane. What is the big deal? Seriously, the island gets brushed by hurricanes just about every year and there is almost never much of a problem.

But, I figured I would not have power for 3 or 4 days and that is no fun. So, I put up the storm shutters to keep the windows from being broken. I got the 2 cats and made sure they had enough food and water to last a week. I made sure to lock the kitty door so they couldn’t get out into the weather. I packed a suitcase and left the island to go stay with my ex-wife who was kind enough to offer to let me stay there.

So about 2 pm Friday I left the island. Hmmmmm. I noticed that the tide was up quite a bit as I was leaving. Well, there WAS a hurricane on the way, so no big deal, right?

Well, the hurricane hit late that night around midnight, I think. It turned out to be a BIG storm, affecting a huge area of southeast Texas, including where I was staying at the ex’s house. So, no power. No Power all day Saturday, either. No power for about a month and I had 2 big generators in the garage in Galveston.

And apparently a fair portion of the island had gotten water in the houses. That had NEVER happened in that house in 60 years so I was only a little worried, but…

Sunday, they were apparently STILL NOT allowing residents back on the island. But I drove down anyway, and sold the cop on the (true) story that I had 2 cats in my house I needed to rescue. He asked me what the hell I was thinking leaving them during a hurricane, but he let me on.

As I drove toward the house, I could see some sign that there had been quite a bit of water on the island, finally seeing waterlines on the outside of some of the buildings…maybe as much as 5 feet of water! But, not in our house, surely!

So I finally got to our street, 3 blocks away, I could see residue from the storm on steps of the houses…dang.

Finally, I get to our block and there are waterlines on the outsides of a couple of houses…5 feet high. Oh my.

As I come up on my house, I look through the clump of trees in the front yard…what the heck is that on the front porch?

It is the roof of the front porch. The house not only flooded…it burned to the ground.

I stop my pickup and sit there literally open-mouthed, just gaping. Let me tell you, the last thing you expect to find when inspecting your hurricane ravaged house is that it flooded AND burned. It just leaves you confused, befuddled. Can’t think straight.

Literally, everything in the world that I owned was destroyed, except one small suitcase full of shirts and underwear.

Then it hit me. I had locked my 2 cats in that house. Trying to keep them safe from bad weather I had ensured their death either from drowning or the fire. That was a hard thing to face.

Losing everything I owned is one thing. I estimate it was probably $100,000 to $150,000 worth of stuff. But it was just stuff. I can get more stuff.

But I had just killed my cats.

Let me explain something. In my opinion, when you take a pet, you accept the responsibility to provide and care for them. It is not like kids, but they are poor dumb animals that love you and you owe them the best you can reasonably do for them.

I had tried to do right by them, or thought so, but I had failed about as miserably as it is possible to do. It is hard to describe how badly I felt.

I left the island and was not allowed back on the island by city officials for 10 days. There are a lot of other things going on at this time, but I am going to stay on this story line.

After 10 days, my ex and I drove back on the island. We drove by the house, both open-mouthed this time. We spoke to a neighbor who was there cleaning up his property. Much to our surprise, he said he thought he had seen our orange and white cat “Fat Cat”! He was feeding a number of cats on his porch as he was the only person in the neighborhood living there at the time. And Fat Cat was one of them! I am stunned.

I KNOW I “cat-proofed” the house. I shuttered the windows. I locked the people doors. And I KNOW I locked the kitty door. There is no way this cat could have gotten out.

But we drive around the neighborhood, over to where he is feeding the cats, and my ex SEES Fat Cat! We can’t catch him, but she sees him.

Long and complex story skipped here. I set a live-trap for the cat, visit the island every day to check and re-set the trap. About 3 weeks pass and I catch 3 other cats, 2 opossums, but no Fat Cat. Finally one evening, I set the trap and walk across the street to talk to another neighbor, who says he is pretty sure he has seen our black cat “Ashes”! I am thinking, “Wow is that possible?”, when I SEE Fat Cat across the street in the yard where the trap is. I ease over to him, calling and talking to him. After a minute, he comes to me! I put him in the truck and we go to the ex’s house, Celebrations all around!

But now I have another mission. I have to find Ashes. So I reset the trap, checking every day. No Ashes. Another cat, another opossum, no Ashes.

Another 3 weeks or so goes by, almost 2 months since the hurricane. I am wearied by these cat-trap trips, but not bowed. But I get sick for about a week. I am working 10 hour days and driving a total of about 4 hours a day, and I am just worn out.

So I miss the trips for about a week.

Last weekend the ex goes to meet a childhood friend returned from California who is in to visit the island where her folks still live and to help them rebuild. This is 2 months after Hurricane Ike devastated Galveston Island. The ex and friend drive by the burned-out house, walk around…and there is Ashes! The ex eases over to her, calling and talking, and catches Ashes! So ex and friend box the cat up and put her in the car and she returns home. Celebrations all around!

So here is the deal. Yeah, we were hit pretty bad with the hurricane. I lose my stuff, all replaceable, but….we get back our cats.

I don’t know how they got out. Maybe the wind blew off a shutter and broke a window. Maybe I got mixed up and screwed up locking the kitty door, although I double checked it.

As far as I am concerned, God reached down and saved the lives of these two beloved pets. That is all I can say. Two cats x four feet per cat = 8 feet of miracle on Galveston Island.

Dear Lord

Thank you for watching over us
For the sea is so wide and our boat is so small.

Amen.

[Wanderer]

I like the part where you still have a relationship with the EX! Kinda reminds me of Spoiler and his ex - NOT!

Welcome, even though you are a cat person.  ~Jeff

[Disco]

Welcome fellow cat person!  When I was a kid, my black cat, Ashes, used to eat squirrels!  That ought to make Wanderer & Daniel feel a bit better.  He got his name because he preferred the fireplace to the litter box. 

By the way, welcome to you and your beautiful bike.  That's the color combo I was looking for when I got blinded by the yellow & black.

[Lyn-Del]

Everyone else has heard this, but since you're a fellow animal person, and new here, I'll repeat part of it.

Wednesday evening before the storm, I heard the announcement on the TV (which I rarely watch) that there was a mandatory evacuation order for Brazoria county Thursday morning.  I immediately started transferring birds into evacuation cages, loaded up the dogs, and we caught 3 of the 4 cats.  One was so freaked out that she ripped Wizard up pretty good, and disappeared.

So, we hit the road Wednesday evening with 7 dogs, approx. 30 birds, and 3 cats.  It was a crowded hotel room we all shared for the next week.

When we got home, the cats and birds ended up spending 7 weeks in a boarding kennel until the house was safe enough to bring them home. 

The missing cat was fine, even more frightened than before, and was caught and transported to the kennel to be with her sisters.

All are well.

[Ten Bears]

Enjoy the bike and welcome to the DFW VRCC. Some of the best times of my life have been spent with folks from the club. Ride safe.

[LemonDrop]

group of folks you will ever find.

[Rocketman]

Hook up with RocketMan aka Mark Stovall, the Texas Rep, who lives in the Houston area.  He's probably just sitting around scratching his.....  well, scratching, since he works for NASA and is between shuttle flights right now.
RainMaker aka Mark Clauder

Hey, I resent that!  It usually takes a week before all the smoke clears after a flight, and I can resume scratching.

Seriously, welcome to the group.  Send me an email address, and I'll add you to the Houston distribution list.  As Lyn-Del said, we meet up regularly on the third Wednesday, and irregularly for wrench parties, etc.  Come out and join us.  The only thing better than seeing one Valkyrie, is seeing more Valkyries.

Mark

[MAragorn]

So DO I understand there will be a Houston VRCC meeting January 21?  If so I will try to be there.

I am also anxious to attend a wrenching party sometime soon.  I bought some risers, a set of the Cobra 6 into 6 exhaust, a trigger wheel, a tank bibb and am about to buy a gas tank disconnect kit and an Audiovox cruise control.  I do have a factory manual, but have yet to turn a wrench on THIS bike.  I need advicxe, lol.

I was able to finally take the bike on a trip to Austin the weekend after Chrisdtmas.  What a great ride she is.

I am working fvery hard to keep myself from buying another Valkyrie!

[Rocketman]

Yes, there will be a meeting on the 21st.  Come on out and meet us!  Time and place are 7 PM at Woodrow's at Chimney Rock and Richmond.
Unfortunately, I will not be there.  I just found out that as part of my new duties at work, I will be traveling to Alabama an awful lot, including the 21st of January.  I'll meet you some other time.

Mark

[RainMaker]

I've read there is a big ass pool at the NASA facility in Alabama.  Maybe that would be a good place to rehab that bad knee. 

[Disco]

I'm not sure I want to know, but, what's an a$$ pool? 

[Rocketman]

I've read there is a big ass pool at the NASA facility in Alabama.  Maybe that would be a good place to rehab that bad knee. 

The big ass pool is actually at the NASA facility in HOUSTON TEXAS.  Tinman works there.    I've asked him to heat it and turn on the jets for my knee, but he hasn't done it yet.

I'm not sure I want to know, but, what's an a$$ pool? 

I'll let Tinman answer that, along with why he's devoted his life's work to it.

[Tinman]

Well it's only a little wading pond that is 40ft deep and big as a football field.
It is heated to 82 degrees and the water is perfectly/optically clear from one end to the other.
Other than all the metal in it, it is pretty clean.
Never a dull moment! Always something to do or watch being done.
What they do up in space they practice/train for here first.
So about the only thing I can offer is a swift kick in your other knee.
 That will make you forget about your sore knee at least for a little while.
That way I can get a good head start.....