31 An Apology

      Ruthie tells me that I should just apologize to people when I meet them.  It would save a lot of time.  She has this idea that I will do or say something inappropriate.  I don't know where she got such an idea.  Well I might as well get it out of the way so we don't have to go thru this again.  I have been trying to get my blog and ride dates closer together.  This post is an example of what happens when I try and share a simple idea.  I was going to tell you about our next stop and how we chose to go there. 

                    Next stop?  Sometimes our trip planning gets a little complicated.  An example:
     I monitor a Gold Wing forum occasionally.  A note about forums.   My explanation is that they are internet discussion group devoted to a particular subject. It is amazing the detailed information and assistance you can receive on forums.  Some are so helpful and knowledgeable you would think the poster may have wrote a product manual.  One thread I read was on oil filters, (I know, but it was interesting.) The detail and research was amazing, their were even pictures of dissected oil filters showing contaminants filtered.  Listen it doesn't get any better than this. However with every thing good their is some bad, I call it the drama or bully squad just like a school play ground.   I’m pretty much a lurker ( stay in the background and read others posts.) for at least two reasons, since we are involved in the trike building business I have decided on the forum we just want to be riders like most of the forum.   I have seen others use it to promote their business by building themselves up and degrading others.  Here is an example of the drama.  A person might ask the forum if anyone knows where he might get a headset that he can use without a helmet,  I hope he is sitting down because he has just ignited a flame that won't go out on it's own and the poor sap doesn't even know it yet. The replies will be many and harsh about the sins of riding without a helmet, accident statistics, how the brother of this guy I know  was saved by his helmet.  etc  It can go on for days with by now many not knowing the original question or no one having the courage to step in and post an answer to the poor guys question.  The original poster has probably signed off.   "All I wanted to do was have a way to check my intercom system in the garage without putting my helmet on every-time." he mutters as he posts on Craigslist,  "For sale "used computer"   Sometimes if it becomes heated or silly enough a moderator will step in and stop it and sometimes a forum member will interject and extinguish the flame.  One of those voices of reason is a gentleman from Boerne TX.   On the forum his posts ( it's hard to judge a man by his verb-age.) make him seem like the kind of person you would like to have living next door.  ( I don't know, maybe he's a son of a gun.)  One time the trike discussion was going pretty strong about the best riding trike.    Here is his post in that thread.  "As you can see, I have a '05 ( to avoid law suits I deleted the name)  kit hung on my '02 two wheeler. I got 38-40 mpg on my two wheeler. I get 22-24 on my trike. My Kabota tractor has a slightly better ride it and corners much better. It wears tires out like they were made of bubble gum. I buy stop leak by the case for the differential.  I have snapped two drive shafts and had a bent rim installed with the kit. I have spent over $51,478.46 on this trike since I got it. (this price does not include the price of the two wheeler) I bought the modified Steer triple tree under the advisement of this group. It has broken twice and the trike is not steering to well at present. Most of the kits are overpriced and work poorly, junk, if you will.....and I only have 129 miles on my trike...... Gee, I love that machine....

    Okay don't you want to invite him over for coffee.  I think of him as the voice of reason.  To avoid the drama I have used the private message to communicate with him about our current trip, places to visit, roads to travel and safety issues.  Lots of good info from him.  On his posts he has his picture with his current ride in front of  the old store at lukenbach Texas with the caption "if you haven't been to Luckenbach you haven't completed your journey."   There you go, that's why I'm behind on this trip journal.  Why couldn't I have just said.  "Somebody told us to go to Luckenbach?   ( Surprising note:  when I did a search for Kubota, after figuring how it's spelled it came back with two pages of results on a motorcycle forum?) Damm, there I go again. Anyway the result, here we are in Luckenbach.   A neat relic of the past,  a popular motorcycle stop.