CX500 rAt Attack stage 1 completed

Okay, never mind the current and well justified "Art Rage" re: Uncle Bill's highly questionable, inappropriate, and universal betrayal of adult to child responsibilities (not to mention clearly being at odds with any "permit for working with a child" police clearances) going on in Oz at the moment, here are some more happy snaps of my current "rAt Rage" instead.

The CX500 that I'm applying my own forms of artistic freedoms of expression to is of 1981 vintage, which in bike years (that at least match human years) makes her 27 years old - more than old enough to have her photos taken in such compromising states of being ... and she certainly didn't consent NOT to have such happy snaps taken. :)

Until the new seat along with a modest Harley sissybar and backrest arrives, I've resorted to camoflaging the current seat with some classic beaten up leather saddlebags virtually donated to the cause by an old friend who probably doesn't share my distaste for shiny, polished, and clean machinery. Cheers again CW ... perhaps you'll have time to take it for a spin next time ... oh and you were right about the bad earth probably causing the indicator to play up! Actually, I reckon the bags lend themselves well to The Look I'm aiming for, so I hope they are still high enough when the new seat goes on.

Like the red light installed on the centre stand ? It's wired into the park lights (and on a separate switch) and puts out a nice glow to remind night drivers there is something on the road in front of them. Which is also the reason for the gratuituous use of those ugly looking reflectors.

The narrow 55watt drive lights have been relayed into the high beam ... decided I didn't care about doing the split thing of putting one on the main beam and the other on the high beam. Yes, I realise that the charge system might not keep up with the drain, but I doubt that the drive lights are actually going to get all that much use anyway. Like the light-up toggle switch ratted onto the fusebox next to the ignition ?

Yes, that IS plastic spiral wrap that has been used on the pillion grip, crashbars, and handlebar tie-bar. Yes, I've deliberately introduced MORE plastic to a motorcyle. Who says my idea of "rAt" has to be the same as your, hmmmm ? Heh.

Aside from the seat/sissy bar arrangement on order, some pods for the carbies are coming so I can get rid of the stock airbox and move the battery and electrics into the middle under the seat and get rid of the side-covers. I'm still on the search for some shorter reach shocks so I can lower the rear a few inches. I've also got a different kind of guard on its way. That one is going to be mounted off the swing arm so that it hugs the tyre.

I'm also on the lookout for an old B250 Tractor seat to interchange with the main seat as whim takes me. Why a B250 seat ? Coz ten years or so ago I spent many hundreds of hours sitting on one as I used the tractor it belonged to as my beast of burden to get artistic and creative with the 5 country acres I had.

See pic of one gorgeous piece of quality 3D functional Art. Oozes talent, eh ? Oozed a bit of hydrolic oil too.

Remember folks, chrome won't get you home.

Oh, and IL BL, you're a IL DL. Both of you even. Heh.

As for more on the Art Rage as opposed to Rat Rage going on at the moment, see: http://www.behindthebox.com.au/showthread.php?t=31467

regarDS

CX500 Rat Attack stage 1

More of a slide show than a waffle this time. Stage 1 in the deliberate Rat Attack of my CX500 1981 Custom. No real modifications at this stage, just getting busy with the Matt Black rattlecans after fish-oiling everywhere for rust control , fixing the tank weep, pulling off logos, getting gratuituous with reflectors, and installing some spots.

True Rat work with the spots - bit of aluminium angle I had laying around used as a reinforcement to the "Honda" logo on the triples then just bolted the spot mounts straight through both after some drilling. Drilled a couple of reflectors onto the rear shocks, and hoseclipped a couple more on to the frame under the side guards then bunged a bit of gaff tape over a couple of rust holes behind the stop light.

Most time so far has gone into the tank which needed one of those liquid repair kit thingies where you wash it out with one kind of thing, etch it with another kind of thing over night, then seal it with another kind of thing. Tis busy curing as I type and to speed it along I've got a small fan off an old IBM mainframe blowing air through it at a pleasing pace.

Hopefully will get the tank painted and back on the wee beastie in time for a ride on Saturday. Then it is just a case of looking out for suitable mod parts on ebay and Ratting accordingly. I want to change the seat to something less gay and also get twin headlights going but using two CX500 lights side by side.

The pot-belly matt black spraypaint on the exhaust has given me second thoughts about changing them for the moment ... they don't stand out so much like Gabriel's Trumpets now that they are "cast down to earth" kinda dirty.

regarDS

Biker Boy Rides Again ...

What with diesel prices going extremely North lately making things somewhat expensive to keep my tRusty 4x4 on the road, I've decided to revisit my days of youth and do The Biker thing again.

Result is pictured. Scored myself my third Honda CX500 and this time I got myself the "custom" design. The last one I had was the "sports" but I got rid of that at least 8 years ago.

See the picture within a picture ? That was me at around 20 years old when I had the a CM250 Custom, which my current CX500 Custom is a Big Brother (Heh) to.

Yup, still just as good looking, still just as much a kid ... just not so much the virgin anymore. Oh, and not so much hair these days either.

Here is what it looked like when I was bidding for it on ebay and won it for pleasingly reasonable price, and below that is a pic of one idea I have for it.

I'm planning to get very busy with some matt black spray paint on it in the next day or so and I have also been very busy visiting the excellent http://www.ratbike.org/ site getting ideas on how I can properly show my contempt for brand names and shiny over-priced sporty things and the kind of people who worship them. Heh.

Logos and brands are coming off post-haste and as much chrome as possible is either going to be gone or covered under beautiful ugly matt black.

I'll keep the blog posted re: my progress and the transformation of a somewhat ugly bike into a truly ugly bike that I shall be proud to ride and park among the high priced vehicles it is likely to encounter on a regular basis in a month or so.

Remember folks, "chrome won't get you home".

Rat bikes are the new black.

Matt Black.

regarDS

Shalom Shalom ... Happy 60th Anniversary Israel !

Yup, it's been 60 years since that 14th/15th day in May in 1948 that prophetic clock really got ticking its countdown again. See: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/mideast/israel.htm for more on that.

NASA seems to have joined in with the celebrations with the release of a pic of a certain allegedly young supernova. See: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BadAs.../~3/290294357/ for more on that.

Cool Heavenly Fireworks display, yes ? Imagine how this universe would look if you were outside it and could watch it in fast motion ?

Here is youtube to help with your imagination in that regard. Tis of fireworks put on as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfxYoRp27AY

Shalom Shalom

Downtime ... deep Downtime.

Just a quicky to continue on the the previous entry but "downtime" from a different point of view. "Downtime" as in "dive, dive, dive ..."

Busselton Jetty is a Great Place to do a bit of scuba diving, but rather than me bang on about it, just visit: http://www.busseltonjetty.com.au/ for more info on the kind of view you can get of the bottom of the Indian Ocean from about 2km offshore WITHOUT getting your feet wet.

If you want, you can even do it now, for they've got a web-cam set up there too.

LSCP and I did it from both sides of the underwater observatory glass, and we cheated having to carry all our scuba gear out for a 2km walk by using our 4 metre "tinny" dinghy instead and using "The Dive Shed" mooring (with permission). Much better way of doing it.

The Dive Shed is the local dive shop and they were extremely helpful regarding weather conditions, any equipment hire, and they also do charters to not only the jetty (saving you the lugging of gear) but also to the HMAS Swan wreck and some local reef.

As for us, well the Vis wasn't good that day but it was still a fantastic and peaceful dive ... and wouldn't you know it, I just happened to have a certain sign handy and LSCP was in the mood to take some photos. :)

Yes, even when partaking in "downtime" when on extended "downtime", I was still thinking of all the wonderful foruming folk in the "Behind Big Brother" forums.

LSCP even managed to capture on film a forum moderator swimming by at the time !

regarDS

Downtime

Nothing like hitting the road in the tRusty 4X4 and a Tinny in tow and heading out into the great outdoors. Especially when it is a wet and wild April going down and most folk are sensibly tucked away in front of their plasma screens, xboxes, blogs & forums, ebay auctions and other online distractions designed to drain life away with the least amount of resistance or fuss.

This voluntary little excursion took me away from my 'puters for a whole EIGHT NIGHTS. Yup, no kidding. That's EIGHT NIGHTS without reading or posting a single forum message, or making a single ebay bid on something I probably could do without, or even watching the slightest bit of TV "news" (let alone NCIS or House, etc) or having any kind of hands on interaction with the Online World.

Scary stuff indeed.

Let me tell you folks that there IS sunshine, fresh air, stars in the clear and cold night sky, bird flittering through the trees, possums arguing over poorly stored campside rubbish, outrageous fuel prices, good food and wine to be found out of the cities in the Wild Offline World lurking just beyond the freeways and mobile phone range !

In our case, LSCP (that's "Life Style Choices Partner" for those who came in late) and I headed off for a favorite haunt called "Honeymoon Pool" near the Wellington Dam near Collie (in W.A.) for a few nights before braving the School Holiday Rush that was bound to be found at Busselton around 80ish Kms down the road.

Honeymoon Pool was a bit low for water this time around but the night air at our site at "Gelcoat Rapids" was crisp and fresh, the stars bright and the moon even brighter when the rain clouds chose to part now and then, and better than that, the tent was warm and cosy, chocolate copious as too suitable illcoholic pleasures.

Any questions ? Mind your own business ! However, I might mention that because there was no one else around for most of the time we were there, it wasn't all that necessary to keep the tent zipped up either. Hmmmm - if possums in the area start to mate in some strange new position not normally observed of them, it could be a case of them seeing through an open tent things no possum should ever have to know about ! Heh.

So having paid our dues to the "Honeymoon pool" name (and the name of our campsite I guess) we left the wild woods to face a new wilderness ... the holiday seaside town of Busselton during the dreaded school holiday season.

What were we thinking ?

Didn't matter, coz Praise the Makers of Plasma screens, xboxes, and all electronic things designed to make childrens eyes glaze over, Busselton was surprisingly family/school kid free !

We now had access to the Busselton Jetty to scuba dive around, lots of hot water at the not all that busy Kookaburra caravan park to wash our smelly salty bodies with, and walking distance access to plenty of locations that could supply us with Good Food, illcohol, chocolate, and even really good cheese and dirt cheap reading materials at whim.

Had to be a little more careful regarding the tent mind you.

Ok, confession to make ... we weren't TOTALLY isolated from traditional visual entertainment. I'm not talking about the fantastic scuba dive we did on the Busselton Jetty (I'll save that for a later blog entry as hopefully there will be a topical photo or two that relates to the blog entry prior to this one), nor the antics of possums arguing over garbage.

I'm talking about the visual entertainment possible by the Oz rarity called "The Drive-In Theatre". Yup, those places that were everywhere in Oz before VCRs and Drink Driving laws killed them.

Busselton has one. Who cares what was showing, we just had to bed up the 4runner, load up with unhealthy food and the odd coldie, and cuddle up with it backed into a good pozzie with the tailgate down (saves having to clean the windscreen and fumble around a centre-console).

Movie selection wasn't bad. "I am Legend" and "10,000 BC" was an ok double for the price and experience that for a while looked uncertain due to technical issues with my tRusty 4x4 car stereo.

It is missing its antenne - not that I care as I don't actually bother with music or radio when I'm driving. However, the "modern drive-in theatre" kinda needs you to have a functioning radio so you can tune into its movie broadcast soundtrack.

Ooops. Deem much fumbling around in vehicle looking for a coathanger or something to stick in the antenna hole included ! Nup ... all I could find was a 4" nail. I hammered that into the hole with an axe I happened to be carrying (why would you go to a drive-in without one ?) but nup, way too short to be a useful antenna (said the actress to the bishop).

What to do ? Movie about to start and I've got no sound and the neighbours were telling their kids to stay away from the strange guy carrying an axe and bashing the dangerous looking vehicle which had a pretty girl inside who was way too young for him but far too old to be his daughter, etc, etc.

I finally got a couple more of my brain cells back online (too much downtime puts a disturbing number of them into a state of constant slumber and clodness) and thought of another use for the battery jumper leads I carry than the one usually intended for them this side of Egypt or an evening out with one "Cruel and Heartless" of BBBA forum fame.

See piccy below for an example of my sudden spurt of cleverness that got my radio receiving loud and clear just in time for Will Smith to strut his questionable "I am Legend"ness.

I swapped the axe for my skipper's hat and a sign I happened to still have "floating around" in the back of the truck after the scuba dive earlier that day.

Just because I was on Downtime from my precious forums (et al) doesn't mean that I wasn't thinking of y'all !

And here I am back safe and sound and just in time for the official launch of the Oz Big Brother season.

Like the happy snappy says:

regarDS

It's nearly that time of year again ...

Yup, "Big Brother Australia" is nearly upon us again. What do you mean you "can't abide THAT show" and you "can't believe you watch or support in any way shape or form that dross" ? :)

Well, I do and have done so since the first season was inflicted upon Oz viewer all those years ago ... can you believe we are now up to season EIGHT ?

Sadly, it would appear that Gretel isn't going to mother us through this season so there is some cause for concern if not despair.

Anyway, not only am I a long time proud viewer of "Big Brother Australia", but also I am a long time proud participant of forums and websites dedicated to the topic. Actually, I'm probably moreso a fan of such sites than I am a dedicated watcher of the show, for it is much more satisfying to be actively involved in something than a mere observer, yes ?

Once upon a time I used to content myself with the official BB Oz site but soon found that to be far too restrictive, manipulated, and the forums over-flowing with young'uns spouting endless pointless SMS speak. Yuck, eh ?

Then in 2005 I discovered the excellent "Behind Big Brother Australia" site and that soon proved to me to be a far better place to both observe and participate in the Big Brother phenomena ... you can still find "derspatz" posting there to this day.

And now, just in time for the new Big Brother Oz season, there is a new web site and foruming area that has recently been made available to one and all and thus far it promises to have a far more progressive, useful, and pleasantly welcoming approach to those who love "foruming" than anything provided by the Official Big Brother Oz site, or the official site's long time nemesis "Behind Big Brother Australia".

The recently launched New Improved approach to things is called "Behind Big Brother .NET" and it can be found at http://www.behindbigbrother.net/ and the most immediate difference between "the other" Behind Big Brother site and it is the fact that it IS a ".NET" as opposed to ".COM"

IE. None Commercial. Not For Profit. Get the idea ?

It also has a novel approach to Moderation and forum policing that I hope both works well and catches on for other online discussion places. Sure, it will be nothing new to those used to the old days of FIDOnet or USEnet, but it has been a long time coming for standard Web.

Anyway, nothing like a bit of healthy competition and I for one wish BOTH the mentioned "Behind Big Brother" sites all the best for BB08 ... I can imagine it is a massive and largely thankless job to maintain such web locations during such a popular show, and it is fantastic to have such sites available for the fans to gather at to communally discuss and enjoy their favorite show and a lot more besides.

Here is to BBo8, and here is to those who continue to give of themselves in order to make it even better for everyone, and here is also to the bright and shiny new boat in the docks: http://www.behindbigbrother.net/ and all who choose to sail in her, too.

Remember BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU !

So get Behind Big Brother Australia and join in with all the forum fun here at Behind Big Brother Australia ... NET :)

regarDS

A York Dreaming ...

In addition to my "sorry day" entry (see previous), I thought I'd include the following entry which actually used to be one of my web pages near ten years ago. I thought it was an apt archive to dust off.

SOQ (which I assume everyone understands to mean "START OF QUOTE", which might indicate that I'm either quoting myself, or quoting someone else)

As I understand it, the Oz aboriginal people's history consists of a range of events recorded in "dreamtime" types of stories, which are recounted both in words song and dance. Corroboree ?

The "Dreamtime" interests me greatly because from what I can figure, it is a timeless type of place which explains both creation and the end of time - "dreamtime" seems to be a place OUTSIDE time ... a place Shamans and the like of all sort of cultures, know, and can visit.

With that in mind, I wonder if this following "dreamtime" account about the two main "mountains" (more like large hills) in York Western Australia, is from our "Past" or from our ever unfolding "Present", or from our eventual "future(s)". It has elements of all within it including a "prophecy of hope".

When I was a child, I used hunt fish with aboriginal children - they taught me how to make and use both the "kylie" and the "gidji", and we used to go for mullet and cobbler in the Swan River around Maylands and the Peninsular. It must be a good 35 years since that Perth area has seen that kind of activity - and I hope I am very wrong in saying that - it would be so sad if the ways of the kylie and gitji are no more around the Swan River.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say by all this is that in some small way, I relate to a tribe or dreamtime of sorts, and have lived a sort of tribal life and dreamtime, sometimes. However, I'm not an "Aboriginal Story-teller"and am not trying to take ANY credit here, or trying to offend anyone either. This is just a case of me being touched by the legend, and wanting to see it told to a greater audience.

So, here is "The Legend of Mount Bakewell and Mount Brown" as published in an Avon newspaper, told by Emily Winmar.

"To the Nyungar people the taller mountain was called Walwalling (place of weeping) and the lower hill was called Wongborel (sleeping woman). Koorain kwotjut (a long time ago) in the Dreamtime, the hills Nyungars used to meet the plains and valley people on the flat area at the tjenna (foot) of Walwalling for games and sport.

Wundig was a Moorditj (a good looking person) young man of the hills people who waskwobinyarn (champion) in the skills of gitjul (spear) kylie (a simple form of shuriken or shakken - essentially a flat square blade usually used to throw at fish in shallow water) and tjenna (foot) races, and a lot of young yorga's (women) had their meowl's (eyes) on him.

However, Wilura, a mooditj young yorga of the valley people was tjeruping (had to have) for him. They were not betrothed because in their tribal groupings it would have been a warrah(bad) relationship. The two decided to ignore the taboo and they woort kooliny together.

When it was discovered, the valley Nyungers demanded the return of the young yorga. The hills Nyungars said they didn't know where the young couple were. The valley Nyungars didn't believe them and declared war.

The hills Nyungars came down over the slopes outnumbering the challengers and a blood thirsty battle ensued with the valley Nyungars coming off badly. They called in their Mubarn (medicine)man and asked him to use his mubarn powers.

He was able to change all the hills fighting men into blackboy bushes and to this day you can see the wide band of grass trees where in the dreamtime the warriors from the hills were coming over the top of Walwalling and down the Eastern slope. They stand there still.

The Mubarn man then turned his mubarn powers on the young people who had caused such bloodshed and put a curse on them. Their nortch (dead) bodies were found later and his curse was that the man's kunya (spirit) would stay on Walwalling and the Yorgar's kunya was sent to Wongborel and that they would never meet again until the mountains came together."

Now for more commentry from "derspatz". These two mountains are separated by the "Avon river" and York is on (or near) an earth-quake fault line (about 30 years ago a quake leveled a place called Meckering which is not all that far away from York), so perhaps this dreamtime story is also a prophecy of a day when the two mountains will be shaken together !

Mount Bakewell, the taller of the mounts, is a place where hang-gliders and para-sailers leap off and also the location of telecommunication towers ... male type stuff, and Mount Brown is where a public look-out is, and a water supply tank, and at it's foot is a grave-yard. It is also a place where I'm told young lovers go to kanoodle (grin). A "feminine" type of place ?

Between those Mountains is not only where York township is located, but also where people who like to leap out of aeroplanes get to land ...

I would like to think that the kunya of Wundigand the kunya of Wilura, get to continue their taboo breaking love in the airspace in between those two mountains - perhaps the parachutists are like a "celebration" of an obvious selfish love that rejected the wisdom and guidance and well-being of the tribe, and brought about the ruin told in the story. Love or lust ?

I say "celebration", because I have leaped out of a perfectly good aeroplane and hung on thin air ... some would say a dangerous and selfish thing to do, ah but what an experience, not to mention privilage ... despite it flying in the face of conventional wisdom.

As a hills man I have also broken taboos with valley yorga with tragic results. Once again flying in the face of conventional wisdom. As Mr Neil Finn wrote in the song "Into Temptation", "the guilty get no sleep in the last slow hours of morning and experience is cheap; I should have listened to the warning ... ah, but the cradle is soft and warm !"

Experience is addictive too it seems and at the end of the day, how DO you separate "True Love" from "Selfish or False love" ?

Yes, I understand and probably enslaved to the emotion which was the driving force behind the relationship that Wundig and Wilura formed and that which prompts some of us to leap out into thin air protected only by cradles of silk ...

It is all the same, no ? So that mubarn curse is still in place. So pray that the mountains get to meet soon, and "True Love" may abound !

So who was that Mubarn Man ? He punished hill warriors and the "lovers", but is there a sort of mercy and grace evident in the story, where the hill warriors still "look over" the valley and that one day when "mountains collide", the selfish lovers will be reunited ?

Whoever he was I think I like his attitude ...
EOQ ("END OF QUOTE")

regarDS