Friday, March 21, 2014

From One Circle Straight Into the Next...

 From Moab to Fort Collins... 410 miles of road...

At the end of that road was a sound and the sound was unmistakeable. When the Rig turned into the driveway... CLICK! echoed in the cab. The circle was closed.

*The Mountains south of Moab... at Ken's Lake*

On the east side of Fort Collins is a small farm of a good friend. On that farm is a windbreak... in the shelter of that wind break sits the worn and tired old Eagle...

*Sunrise on the Farm*
I-70 is a road... a good one it is not. From just east of Grand Junction to Denver... I'd mostly be embarrassed to admit that my company was the one who built/maintained it. I swear, the Alaskan Highway is a far better road. I-70 ain't half as good.

I think half anyway... I actually couldn't find a GOOD half...

The Eagle goes down that rutted, potholed piece of asphalt junk like a twenty thousand pound worm... wigglin' and weaven trying to decide which rut it is that it wants to run in... and unable to pick one.

But I'm here. And my work has begun.

To send that Yamaha Raider of mine to a new home, in the interest of generating the working capital I need for the next Circle... I've got a goodly amount of mostly cosmetic work to do on her to make her not only bring a better price... but also I believe... to just make sellin' her easier in the first place...

Though, that's a two edged sword... the better I shine her up... the harder it will be to let go of one of the few material things I truly value.

Ah well... they don't call 'em hard choices for nuthin' do they... and anything that was easy didn't give you much.

Spent a bit of time just figuring out what really needed to be done for sure and for certain... and then hunting down the best place to get the pieces and parts to do the work. While spending the fewest of my always scarce dollars.


  One benefit of staying here and watching out for my Friends property (she's on active duty in the U.S. Army) is that she's got a couple of garages here with concrete floors and a Roof!

*Raider waiting for her cosmetic attentions*

So... I'll have a spot out of the spring winds to do the work.

I found most all of the goods I'm going to need for this project... as well as bits of the next phase. The next phase being the resurrection of my full Custom Leather Shop...

Pretty much the first thing once the Bike has been taken care of... is to find a "Trailer Core" that will be converted into my shop.

Been scouting a bit online, to get acclimated, for a few weeks now... I'll be looking for an Old Wilderness, Prowler or similar pull type trailer (probably) that has solid walls and roof... but the inside is pretty much wore out...

I've seen quite a few of those online being sold for a thousand and maybe a bit more... Now that I'll be looking with the cash in my pocket (hopefully) they'll probably go and get scarce ;) but... that's the hard find I'll be doing.

With that trailer in hand... I'll go inside hollow out all the worn out furniture and then install the benches, lights, tools and equipment financed by the sale of the Raider... to put a shop together and get back to work.

So... this morning, as soon as all the coffee is gone... it's time to start pulling the to-be-refurbished parts off the Bike and get this show on the road.

... sounds like I'm committed now... don't it...

Wrenching and Shining
Brian

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a plan. Are you planning to have a mobile shop so you can serve ranches with leather work? I've heard of that being done with good success.

gypsyelves said...

It's a hard thing, giving up something you love. Just did it last weekend, sold my little Quantum Formula racecar, owned it over 30 years. Different circumstances, I'm disabled after 35 years of turning wrench for a big company and finally back giving out on job, but it hurts the same, losing a friend. Good luck to you!

Don M said...

Well heck, you won't have to sit around wishing and wondering if you should have tried the RV thing. I've enjoyed reading about it.

Brian said...

Pleinguy; Mostly just to avoid having to "Reset" a shop if/when I need to move it.

gypsyelves; yes it is. leaves a guy just... wondering.

Don; It over till it's over... but... it's damn sure changing