NickDG

Normiss, saw your comment over on YT, Locktite on what? While I do use it on some things on Nina (owning to the fact she's a rigid) I've never used it on the clutch pushrod locking nut or the derby cover. And I've never seen either come loose. NickD

Gut that 550 cord and it'll take up even less room! Time for Nina's first clutch adjustment. It' something you usually need to do a few times during the first few thousand miles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxb7O5J3oN8 NickD

After the Strato Flyer gained the reputation for thumping people in it quit selling so well. So ParaFlite, rather than lose out all together, turned it into a reserve called the Safety Flyer, LOL! Funny, but it's predecessor, the Statro Star, was probably a better all around canopy. NickD

Nina's rather flat spring seat was good on the bumps but I was hanging on for dear life when getting on the throttle. So I decided to buy another seat with some "kick up" in the back to hold me in place. Then I saw the prices which were between 200 and 300 dollars! So instead I took apart the 30 dollar seat I had and just bent up the back. I also moved the spring position a bit forward. I just tried it out (man, it's really windy in So Cal today) and now it's perfect! It doesn't look as good overall as the slammed seat I had on Nina, but it's not too bad, and it's quite comfortable. NickD

A good vidy of 2010 . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouoqaEuqb6k NickD

I'm afraid you're right, but the one good Angel on my shoulder says it's not about the money. It's about misguided priorities. NickD

Tom Bosley of 'Happy Days' dead at 83. http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/10/19/tom.bosley.obit/?hpt=T2 NickD

It's been my experience that real world training is the best kind . . . Instead of what "they're" doing now there should be some kind of universal pre-AFF-instructor check dive after which you just go onto the real thing. "Okay, Knob, here's how you do a Level One. If it goes pear shaped your only job is to disappear." And so on down the line of progression. Funny, and probably wrong, is the fact when you actually do a first time level six with a real student it's also the first time you've ever done a real level six, since you're own, in your life. So even on the later single Instructor dives, "Okay, Knob, here's your slot, stay in it and learn." Would work. In fact, the best of us, you know, me (LOL) Jimbo, Lou, BillVon, etc, should be assigned a cadre of Knobs to fetch our beers and run errands for us. And in the down time of their stooping and fetching we'd impart certain pearls of wisdom learned over thirty years of dealing with the funnest sub-group in skydiving. The folks who just begin . . . http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=BASEPolice21#p/u/4/rgJpqiIpeCQ NickD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO7VtZ-dhJk&NR=1&feature=fvwp NickD

http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/10/16/obit.barbara.billingsley/index.html?hpt=C1 NickD

Barbara Billingsley dead at 94. http://www.tmz.com/2010/10/16/barbara-billingsley-dies-leave-it-beaver-june-cleaver/ NickD

Got Nina buttoned back up today. I went with the shorter springs but have the back end of the seat sitting higher so maybe I can stay on this time? I also closed off the electronics's pod (really just the main bus bar, LOL) with a roof I made as the old seat did that job without a cover. I also repaired the damage the errant plate holder did to the frame and repainted the rear fender. Still have a few wires and such to cinch up, but I'll test her out tomorrow as it's my birthday today (!) and it took too many beers to fix Nina already . . . NickD

Fixed Nina's left hindquarters, the seat issue too I think, as I went with shorter springs . . . NickD

>>but for real students it has got to be a nightmare

Have a wonderful day, Lisa! NickD

I was blasting up the 210 FWY last night, coming home from Port Hueneme, and I'd been on Nina about hour and a half and something didn't feel right. I made it all the way home before realizing Nina's license plate holder and tail light had broken off. No, not where I welded it, but where I bent the mount for it. It dinged up the frame pretty good. I guess I didn't hear it clanging away back there as I just peeled away from a pack of bikes I was riding with and was pretty much deaf. Up on the freeway, where I think it initially broke, it must have been throwing sparks like crazy while the only thing holding it on was the wires. If it had kicked up into the chain it would have really sucked. Also fixing a few other things while I got Nina naked. NickD

I've been stopped three times already! The law reads the plate must be visible from the rear and (whether it is or isn't) is up to the officer's discretion. So far no tickets . . . NickD

The Saga of Nina's License Plate ~ Part Two! GOT IT!!! Finally . . . NickD

"All changes are more or less tinged with melancholy, for what we are leaving behind is part of ourselves." ~ Amelia Barr NickD

>>(was that too blunt?)

Da Dilima . . . http://www.youtube.com/user/rgtthlktrhpmothgopm#p/u/0/BUkqan3gQFU NickD

N/A

"California Governor Signs Marijuana Decriminalization Bill!" Arnold screwed us this week on the motorcycle noise bill, but he came through on this one. So I guess it's a wash, LOL! http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2010/oct/01/california_governor_signs_mariju NickD

Yes, I was hoping he wouldn't sign it since he rides himself. For now it only affects bikes manufactured in 2013 and later. The original bill was actually a new law saying motorcycles would be smog checked in California (like cars are) but that never got out of committee. Then it became a defacto noise law in that it said no changes could be made to any factory supplied motorcycle exhaust. That never made it out of committee either. Then the original bills author changed it to all motorcycle exhaust must be EPA compliant for 2011 and later, then 2012 and later, and finally 2013 and later and that's the one that finally got out of committee and hit the Governor's desk. Basically it's the same old story. Ask the average non-motorcycle riding voter if motorcycles should be more regulated and of course they'll say yes. If left up to them we'd be regulated right off the roads. We all have to live in this world together and that means making allowances for the other guy. Like when I work all night and come home to sleep and the neighbor's gardner shows up at 8 AM with his motorized leaf blower and whatnot. I just deal with it. One tenant of a democracy is not allowing a majority to jerk around a minority. But most times it doesn't work like that. NickD

>>Foot peg extensions!