I am invincible on my bike 3

Motorcycle Dave, beside getting  thrown by the BMW wheelie by Danny was famous for trick riding. When he was riding single he would hop up and put his folded legs with his feet on the seat and jump up and down. His shoes about 2 or 3 inches jump off the seat. He would stand up on his pegs and stick one leg as high as he could.

Toothless Bill, yes he had no teeth, rode with us often. He would do the same as Dave, side by side. He also had a home made holster by his seat. When we asked him about it, he said some guy in a car forced him off the road onto the grass, and he was going so fast he dropped the bike. He says the next time someone forces me over he will have to replace his windshield.

Big George rode a two cycle bike. They had no oil in the engine, You added oil with the gas. He rode too fast, laid it down in a corner, and the kick starter broke his right ankle. Two days out of the hospital he was running the Loop, in a cast. The shifter was on the left side, and he used his front brake, right hand on cycle bars. YES, we were nuts!

Another time a two cycle bike was in the middle of a pack of about 20 of us. We were running about 65 mph. The two cycle bike overheated and froze up, and the chain locked up the back wheel. Luckily no one got hit. From then on two cycle bikes were always on the outside of the pack. We may be dumb, but we're not stupid. The male species learns from our  mistakes, sooner or later.

More later. I am being called by Sophie and Buddy Holly. Sophie, 1/3 beagle, 1/3 border collie, and 1/3 bird dog. When Mary washes her three blankies, they must be dry before 10 pm. Sophie will not sleep unless she can make her nest! LOL

Buddy Holly, the Shitzu, sleeps on my legs. I have restless leg syndrome, my legs move when I lie down. The cats we had for years slept on my legs, like a massage. The one cat who was sleeping on my legs, I was on la-z-boy. She laid with her head toward my shelf and wall one time. This is how I learned animals dream. She let out a yell, jumped straight up, her claws digging into my legs as she started to run. She hit the shelf, my coffee cup full of pens flew up in the air, and the poor cat bounced back on me and jumped on the couch. Nothing broke, but I had rips on both my legs. Luckily I married a great nurse.

I an Invincible on my Bike part 2

I slid and my tires hit the curb right. Luck was with me again. Not crashing just fed my idea that I would never crash again. I am invincible but Very, Very STUPID. It's the male genes. All males feel we can do anything sometime in our lives. Bi-Polar males know we are smarter than everyone else. We must just convince everyone else we are superior. Very Very WHAT??

The male gene is why the human race survived. Hunter gathers, protect your mate and children, guard your territory, stay alive. The Female gene is why we moved out of the caves, wear clothes, stayed more civil to others, and why males are still here.

There was a girl that rode on the back of her boy friends bike when we went on rides. They were behind me, for some reason I always was the leader of the pack? I could hear them yelling again. She was yelling Hoss pull in beside us. I did, he was right beside me. She stood up on the back right foot peg and threw her left leg over his seat. She grabbed my sissy bar and put her left foot on my back foot peg. I leaned toward her, she pulled on my sissy bar, and she was on my back seat in no time.

We were going over 60 MPH! He looked over, she gave him the finger and she hugged me. The boyfriend turned off at the first chance. I heard later he was a hitter and she got tired of it. I do not know her name. She rode with me the rest of the day. I bought her supper, dropped off at her mom's about 11 PM that night. Another Damsel in Distress saved by HOSS, the knight in the tarnished armor on his Corvette Blue iron horse.

Motorcycle Dave and his brother Danny are another story. I had my bike customized. painted, worked over for more horsepower. Their BMW was stock. It was a cruiser, not a race bike. One night Danny took the mufflers off and rode around. It was loud. I told him he would burn the valves if he continued driving like that. He went right home and put them on.

Another day Dave was riding with Danny. We ran the Loop Route about 10  times. We were at a red light. I was even with Dave, we were talking, more yelling above my open pipes. The light turned green. The exhaust had 6 inch pipes coming out of the muffler at the back. The back fender was about 6 inches off the ground. Danny got tired of me doing wheelies all the time. He would show us.

There was no rear bar for the passenger. Danny did not tell Dave what he had in mind. BMW bikes did not rev high. Danny opened the throttle wide open. He let the clutch handle fly. Dave was left sitting on the road. Danny's wheelie was almost straight up. The chrome muffler pipes and fender bottom scraped the road. I never did a wheelie that high. HE BEAT ME!! I don't see how he did not crash. Male dumb luck, why do you think we made it thousands of years, so far?  Females, that is how!

Hey, I never had bad judgement????

The young Knight in tarnished armor. Playing with wheeled vehicles.

                                          Thanks LLoyd! For the love of wheeled vehicles.

The Quarter Hawg, before the Megaphones mufflers, and the  almost 4 ft. sissy bar.
With chrome front fender from Wildwood New Jersey.

We never do anything DUMB!! ONE

Before you crossed the bridge to Willow Street there was a road to the right, right beside PPL storehouse of equipment to keep electric power going all over Lancaster County. Down the road about 2 miles was a road to the right. It went up a high hill. At the top of the hill, you started down 7 bumps, short level places so the road was not so steep. 7 BUMPS.

A lot of the kids visited the 7 bumps every week. We were on our bikes. Bob, David & I. There is no place to park, so we stopped on the second bump, put our bikes just on the grass. Bob's bike was beside David's brand new BMW 650. Bob's bike was on softer ground than David's, and mine was behind. Bob's center stand sunk in the grass and his bike leaned over toward David's BMW. We were about 20 feet away. Bob's Honda hit the front wheel of the BMW, and over they went. The grass was a small hill away from the road. It took us 3 strong guys to pull it up the hill to the road. neither bike's paint or chrome was scratched.

Bob was working on a friend's BSA. Stood for Bugger Stopped Again. Clean version, ask an old biker! Bob was trying to catch me, (Hare & Hound) and we swung down past the water works. We picked up a cop. He was coming towards me and I was going too fast. He wanted to turn around and chase me. I made the sharp left turn, Bob just came around the turn as the cruiser was in his lane. Bob swerved toward the river bank. I had no license plate on my bike.

I hurried home to get my car. The cop called me as soon as I walked in the door. he said, come back and bring your bike. I came back in the car. The officer knew he did wrong, causing Bob to run down the hill and in the water with the BSA. It weighed about 5oo pounds. Bob had pulled it upright till I got back. My house was about 3 miles away. The officer said, where was your bike. I said it would not start. He laughed and said, I BELIEVE THAT??

Bob was written  for reckless riding. For once I got no ticket. The officer called Bob's mom, she came with her neighbor and his pickup. It was our shop teacher Dean, from school. He brought a plank along. The hardest part was dragging the heavy bike up the hill. As we pushed the heavy bike up the ramp, I jumped up and got on the bike to hold it up. He had no tiedowns, I told Bob's mom, Ann to drive my car.

I put the bike's front wheel against the back of the cab and braced for a hard ride. Bob rode with Dean in the cab. Bob's mom was driving my 400 HP Pontiac. Bob and I forgot to mention to Ann about the three carbs, and as you push the gas pedal down, when you hit a hard spot, push no more. Passing the Lancaster square she hit all 3 carbs.  She laid rubber. Luckily she had a lot of room in front of my Pontiac. No real damage to the BSA, drained, oil, gas, lubed fittings, bike ran better that before.

Kathy was with me again. Five of us were going to a local Farm Show. We were wearing chains around our necks, and I had on my biker blue jean jacket. Yes, I still have it. I got 3/8 inch chain. It was about 4 inches too wide for my head. I did not want it to choke me. I did not realize 3/8 inch chain that long would weight so much after one hour of riding.

I was going too fast, surprise, and went up a small hill, with a hard left turn on to a bridge with cement walls. My right handle bar caught the wall, and my wheel was yanked against the concrete wall. Luckily I got slowed down to about 10 miles per hour before I hit the wall. No blood this time.

As often as Kathy risked her life with me, we were not romantically involved. She was under 18, and girls under 18 for me were off limits, sexually. Even above 18, I was not ready for marriage and kids not yet!

I don't know why I'm still alive

I don't know why I am still alive. I had trouble with booze and cigarettes and cigars. My two boys tried them when they were old enough. Both quit nicotine, thankfully. The older boy is bi-polar like me. He is now off medicine and doing great. The younger boy had a bout of depression. but doing great now. Our first born, our Daughter is doing good. My older brother has troubles with gall stones. and other small problems. When Dick & I talk we comment we gave our kids genes that were not perfect. Now we realize, no ones genes are perfect.

Mary has kept me alive since 1971. I drink no beer or hard stuff anymore. Mary likes wine, and I take a small sip when we have kids over for holidays. I take a lot of pills, and a friend died because he took his pills wrong, and stopped his heart. He was at McDonald's in town and fell over. Too bad no one knew how to keep his heart pumping manually. Another friend has diabetes, when he drinks beer, he loses his eyesight. Idiot!

I have found a saving grace in my Charity. Mary likes it keeps me away from the refrigerator and TV. I have a small TV I listen to when I work on the computer. Why? Ask someone with Bi-Polar. My brain goes a mile a second, The more my brain is tied up with something, the better I can concentrate on my first thoughts.

During school I did my best homework in front of the TV. When I had my Electric Contractor's business I had a TV, regular radio, police radio, and 40 channel CB radio all going at the same time. And I remember all that was said. When the little dish TV receivers came out, I was so busy installing them I got about 4 hours sleep a night, the first 2 weeks. That is why I had the TV in my truck. To catch the satellite beam from an orbiting satellite.

I asked Marcy how she knew I had such a colorful Past? She started me on this path. She said, anyone reading your blog already knows how you are. Females are smarter than males, any species.

I am invincible on my bike! Part One

The day I got my Super Hawk was in mid- February. I never suffered from the cold. It was above freezing, so the roads were not too slippery. I had over a year of riding on my smaller bike.

I made a pass to the Loop Route, it was a Saturday morning. I did not even have gloves on. Having a bike of my own that I could top out about 90 MPH on the straight and not too hilly roads was great.

After Bob & I worked the drive train it was a lot faster. The tires back then were not very wide, and not really soft road grabbers like we have now. The Dunlap tires were good all around rubber. Not much good with corning, but wore great. The Pirelli tires were great in the corners. Pirelli tires were better in corners, but when they gave out, no sense of slipping, you just went down. The Dunlap back tires lasted about two thousand miles. Then I got the better grippers.

I love to take corners fast, leaning way over. The softer rubber, wider tire suited me. Because of drag racing we had to glue the tires to the chrome wheel, as leaving out the clutch at 11,000 RPMs and the softer tire grabbing the roadway if not glued would spin the tire and rip out the valve stem and go flat.

Bob would soon start as the second mechanic at Garber Honda. The manager Lyle would be a great friend. The head mechanic Ken was a race bike builder. Bob would pick his brain and put the improvements on  my bike.

August that same year, 1966, I lost my license for 15 days for speeding. I tore my new bike completely down, painted everything that was black to corvette blue, including the gray fenders. When I tore my bike down in August, it had 10,000 miles on the bike, yes I loved to ride. It took 14 days to strip all the metal parts, clean, rough up the old paint and have it painted.

My dad's body shop guy, Mr. Smith was a master at metallic paint. The silver mixed with the blue was terrific. And it was beside Motorcycle Dave's house. We graduated in June, so we all had jobs and money. I put my bike together in 2 days after work.

The day I got my license back I was working on putting the brakes back together. I got 10  inch ape hanger bars. I could not get a clutch cable long enough. I put it lower on the bar. Worked hard, but did work easy. I had no front brakes. I hooked up rear brake, but it was worn, not much shoe left. Drum brakes front & back were bad then.

The next weekend I got new cables made at the Columbia Triumph shop. Bob had worked the engine, carbs, valves and clutch over. I got megaphone mufflers, no baffles and were suppose to suck the spent fumes out faster than with straight pipes. The faster out, gas oxygen and spark faster in. Bob put racing points in for a hotter spark. Washers in the screws of the Barnett clutch to make it grab, but the clutch did not slip, but my left hand was about 1/3 bigger than my right hand. Like the squeezer to build your hands, but only one. With the carbs sat up very rich, and the valves staying open longer I had more HP.

The first time I ran the Loop Route with my new blue bike I had no brakes. I just wanted to have it seen. I had not been to the Loop for the 15 days I did not have my license. Bob & I worked so hard on my bike we just did not get there. Jake painted  Quarter Hawg on my gas tank when it was black. The Harley guys called their bikes hawgs. And I ran the quarter mile drag races. My bike, The Quarter Hawg.

After I got everything hooked up on The Quarter Hawg, I took wilder chances. The worst one was about 2:00AM  one Saturday morning I was doing about 60 MPH coming out Queen Street headed for the train station. There was a cross street  I had to make a left turn. Queen Street. was asphalt. The cross street was concrete. It had rained, and the streets were a little wet yet. I did not slow down, I knew I would slide, if I did it right my tires would slide right into the cement curb, and hold me up. It worked!

I hit the road, curb line and did not fall. About 400 feet more was a right turn to go up the railroad bridge to Fruitville Pike, and the town limits the city police could not follow me there. I started the turn, I was doing about 40 MPH. This time it was concrete, changing to asphalt. Concrete was more slippery than asphalt when wet. I did not slide on the asphalt like I did on the concrete. The Quarter Hawg threw a violent shake, but I held on tight, my life depended on staying upright. A friend slid into a curb and was messed up for many months.

Part Two coming soon!

The snow storm & JINX

Remember reading about Tom, the guy who learned how to race in my 400 horsepower Pontiac? He and I went out in his 1967 Fairlane. It was a 289 V8 2 barrel carb with three on the tree. We took Tom's car because it was snowing. 400 HP and slick tires on back, bad over winter. And since my name is not JAPP I do not use slicks when snowing, like he did.

We were both under 21 years old, but most distributors though I was older, so a case of beer was easy to buy. We always got it already cold. Tom and I could easily drink most of a case in one night.  A lot of stops to drain the lizard. Alcoholics? YES! The beer was in the trunk. We would take about 6 bottles at a time to the front seats.

I did not have my license back yet. Six months goes slow with no wheels allowed. We were driving around the Speedwell man made lake between Manheim and Lititz. When we had beer we usually stayed away from the Loop. We made about 6 or 8 times around the lake property, it was big. We were traveling near where Tom and I would both buy houses later in life.

Tom had WSBA radio 910 York on, the best songs of the 60's. But on Saturday night from 11 PM to 1 AM WLAN 1390 had an oldies show called, Lovers & Losers that everyone in reach of 1390 had on. He would start by saying; High above the Liquor Store on Queen Street, all you running the Loop Route, We present Lovers & Losers on WLAN. That started the show.

They played the guys and dolls that loved and lost! Makes sense!! Tom's and my favorite song was Sea of Love. I don't remember who sang it, too much alcohol when I was young. We were going down the twisting road that comes out to Rt. 501. The last left bend had a guard rain that the plowed snow was piled like an angled ramp up to the top of the guard rail.

Tom & I were singing Sea of Love as loud as we could. Tom slowed enough, but we slid up the snow bank and the passenger side wheel hung over the rail. It was the beer, I was not thinking. I opened my door and jumped out to assess the damage. The ground sloped away from the rail post, I fell about 20 feet down the slope, more like slipped down.

When I got back up the hill the kids had stopped. Tom was frozen in his seat. His first accident. We could not back up. Some kids came along, about 17 or 18 just younger than us. They stopped to help. Neither of us had a chain to pull with. I told them to take the beer, they did not say no.

They took me to Lititz, 2 miles away, and I got a fellow I worked with, Ron. I knew he had a 4 wheel drive truck, and a Virgin 1964 3 deuce 4 speed GTO that I would have killed for then. That was why I bought the 1962 Catalina 3 deuce 4-speed. It was a sleeper.

Ron pulled us out, I asked him how much, he said 10 bucks. I paid him at work Monday. Now every time I hear Sea of Love, or pass that curve I think of Tom. Tom moved to Florida many years ago. His wife put his obituary in the Lancaster Paper about 12 years ago. He had a lot of friends here yet. He had a birth defect in his heart, it just stopped one day.

The fender was rubbing the passenger side tire till we got home it blew. We did not hear it rub, but it did. Tom I think had a jinx streak like I did. He bought another car later, automatic on the floor. He had his dad push  him when his battery went dead. Both of them knew nothing about cars. When Tom put the trans from neutral to drive, it was like hitting the brake. His dad's front end and Tom's rear end were damaged. But the car started. Same car, Tom was just driving a year later, and the transmission was making noise, Tom was trying to get home when the transmission dropped to the ground.

Another friend ED, his Corvette was overheating. He ran a red light to get home before the motor blew. You guessed it! He hit a car that had the green light with the front of his fiberglass car. Was the Jinx they had coming from ME??

Tears for Cloey Caldwell ( Not Yet )

Cloey was born 18  years ago. Her mom was a very small cat, that we had. Cloey was born under our waterbed. The first time we saw the 4 baby cats, they paraded out to the kitchen for breakfast. No mess under our bed.

We have had cats since our marriage in May 20,1972. In fact I moved into the new trailer two months before our wedding. Mary found a cat 2 weeks before she moved in, on our wedding night. We got married at 8:15 on a Saturday evening. Her father still had milk cows, and lived 1 1/2 hours away near Reading. We had our wedding in Trinity Church, East Petersburg.

The 4 babies were in a cardboard box on the porch. I put Kyra in the box. She could hardly stand, but loved animals even then. She fell, the box was big enough that she did not sit on any of the babies. Kyra now close to 19, works in an animal sanctuary near Harrisburg, about 35 miles away. She is deciding what branch of animal protection she will pursue. Veterenian or tech assistant. Eight years for doctor and figure schooling cost is overwelming.

Since 2008 I have been retired. Cloey became my cat when I started being home all the time, Mary worked full time till 2016. Part time till 2017. My job was filling Cloey's food and water dispensers. The water needed attention, about every two weeks. The food I filled when the beaker was low. I shook the tray to fill up the part she ate in the tray every morning.

It has been about 10 years since Cloey stopped letting Kyra pet her. She came in the cat door every night to eat and climb in her bed on the enclosed porch. The last 3 years we have had Sophie, Beagle-Border Collie, Cloey slept outside, afraid of Sophie. Every morning I checked her food & water. We would see her during the day, but was always running into the woods and cover.

There was an old tree down with hollowed out trunk that gave her protection and warmth. Tonight is 6 mornings that no food was missing. She would miss one night sometimes, but not this many. I told Mary she must have finally died. She said at least she died when it was just getting cold. Nights now are about 50 degrees. At least she will not freeze to death, that is painful.

We tried to love her in her later life. She was feral, did not want human touch. She did for the first 6 years of life. Funny how life changes. At least she knew we loved her, at least when she was young she was not afraid of us.

Don't tell anyone my eyes are watering when I write this, I was once a strong man, a rock people thought. Well us Rocks have feelings too!

Goodbye Cloey; up in animal Heaven. Mary said no more cats last year. Then Kyra called her that they have a female small cat with heart trouble. Probably not live more than a year. Because of tight money, donations keep them going, they were going to end her life if no body takes her. Kyra called Mary, Mary told me we will make a suffering cat's last year  wonderful.

My Charity to help Stop PTSD Suicides in Veterans & First Responders! Mary says no more of our money in your Charity. Last 5 years we put in almost $4,000 we could not afford. Every time I ask Mary for money to Charity, she says this is the last time. Is Mary a Keeper?? What do you think??

UPDATE:
Mary let me know after I posted this: she saw Cloey this morning. It has been 12 nights she did not come in for food. I asked Mary, I wonder who is feeding her? She said, probably some people who do not have two cat crazy dogs carrying on every time they smell her close to the porch cat door. I guess she likes calm in her senior years.

Manheim Cruise four

Bottom headlights removed. In place of light bulb, wire screen to stop stones entering carburetor. At speed, it forces more air in carb. Known as ramair. More horsepower. In earle 60's Ford used it on their Thunderbolts, everyone took notice and copied the free horsepower adder.

YES, when I got photos of all the rods&bikes, I stop in at A&M for my reuban wrap!

This is Joe, owner of A&M Manheim store. Thank you Joe for Gift Certificate for our first raffle.

manheim pics two

only bike that showed up

Everyone though this car for fighting breast cancer, nothing on car saying so?

Manheim Cruise three

I love supercharger scoops comong out the hood!

Belt driven blower on top of four barrel carb. Great Studabraker!

Finally Police want to make friends with kids & cruisers, not enemies!