wet heat-tape steam bath

Got the new (old) wheels tightened up, trued, and packed in some new bearings. Now I just need to clean them up and scuff up the old chrome so it will take some rattle can primer and paint.

She's still down for the count... but I'm workin' on it.

The oil leak around the valve guide finally killed her. She's out of commission until I rebuild the top end.

I'm sure you may have noticed that I pussed out and put the front fender back on. Now that we are going into winter, I'm getting too old (ok I'm just lame) to eat second hand snow and rain off the road.  I'm not making an excuse, I will wear my pussified badge of honor.

Beyond Duality

I say recognize that the absolute is the relative, that nirvana is relativity. There is no way of not making a decision, and within every decision there's always a better or a worse. They are not equal. This attempt to go beyond good and evil posits some dualistic idea about nirvana. But let's not be dualistic. Nirvana is not someplace else. To go beyond good and evil means that good and evil are relative aspects that require choices.

— Robert Thurman, "The Politics of Enlightenment"

The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there. -Pirsig

At some point I'm going to have to re-wire this whole bike. A less attractive prospect now that it is 22 degrees outside and my fingers are frozen.

Sportsters I have known

1993 74 cubic inch Sporty

2005 883 Jockey Shift



Our servant, the mind

When we look for the mind, we can't find any shape, or color, or form. This mind that we identify as the self, which we could call ego-mind, controls everything we do. Yet it can't actually be found—which is somewhat spooky, as if a ghost were managing our home. The house seems to be empty, but all the housework has been done. The bed has been made, our shoes have been polished, the tea has been poured, and the breakfast has been cooked. The funny thing is that we never question this. We just assume that someone or something is there. But all this time, our life has been managed by a ghost, and it's time to put a stop to it. On one hand, ego-mind has served us—but it hasn't served us well.

– Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, "Searching for Self"