I've always thought of you as a Pheasant plucker Dougie D . I had a similar experience with a Red Legged Partridge a few years back in D&G. I went back to check and it was dead without a mark on it so laid it to rest under a hedge bottom, a potential meal for a foraging predator no doubt.
Lucky you didn't hit it full on, last one, hit by me in the car doing 65, cost me £50 for a new front grille. It was deliberating walking up and down the grass verge until the last minute when it flew into my path Surprising how much damage a bird like that can do.
Today our Sunday ride group rode north to the small town of Mammoth, Arizona and had breakfast out on the covered patio at Mi Pueblito, a favorite of ours. We chose today's route so that we could send our riding buddy, Russell, off on his solo five day MC trip with a full belly and lots of wishes for a fun and safe ride. When we finished breakfast, Russell began his solo journey north while the rest of us turned around and went home to Tucson. Russell's plan include riding along the south rim of the Grand Canyon, a stop at Vermillion Cliffs National Monument, and a peek into the southeastern corner of Utah. He's been doing a spring solo trip now for years. There were six of us on the outward bound portion of today's ride and the bikes included a Kawasaki Ninja 400, a 2006 Triumph Thruxton, and three Harley Street Glides. I opted to ride my orange Street Glide Special today. Here's my bike and that black Street Glide is Russell's. He has his touring setup on there--a Tourpak and his touring seat and backrest Part of why I rode the Street Glide was to wear my matching orange helmet which, thanks to Mr. Sandi, has a new Sena 50R on it! He came home from Cycle Gear about a week ago and had purchased a dual set of the Sena 50R for the two of us. He has been reluctant to start connecting via intercom again for the last year or so but decided he'd give it another go. I promised I'd be more mindful of my "chatter" and I'd also make sure that we're not actively connected if I feel a bit of a rant coming on. This controls on this Sena unit are configured differently than the ones on my 20S and I found today that the new ones will take a bit of getting used to. But Mr. Sandi and I were able to successfully connect out intercoms and also to, as we call it, "tap in" and "tap out". I always double check that we're TRULY "tapped out" by asking, "Can you hear me?!". And I ask that two or three times just to be completely certain. I did find myself saying some not very nice things when a car cut us off on the way home so was glad that we weren't actively "tapped in" at that moment. Two days ago Russell got a new custom seat that he ordered from C & C Motorcycle Seat Co. That's the company that made the seat on El Gordo, my Fat Boy. He also sent in his back rest (or "throne" as we call it) to be reupholstered to match his seat design. He is thrilled with how the seat feels and where it puts him ergonomically. It's a solo seat and has a 1" reduced reach. He also really likes how the design turned out. It has both smooth and ostrich materials and a red stitched tribal type design. Mr. Sandi and I are excited that Russell is excited about his new seat setup, but we both later agreed that it's a wee bit over the top for our tastes. But that's one of the cool things about motorcycles! Everyone customizes their bikes the way they want them to be. Overall both Russell and I have been super happy with C & C and most likely this will be the go-to seat company for all of us from here on out. I may check with them about reupholstering my Le Pera seat which I've had for about 8 years and 40K miles now. They will reupholster all brands except Corbin and I've no idea why they won't do those. Russell things it might be something related to the seat pan that Corbin makes. Breakfast was especially delicious today for some reason. I ordered a dish I've had multiple times before--a red chili tamale, a green corn tamale, refried beans, and two eggs over medium. Mi Pueblito is an excellent Mexican restaurant and well worth the ride to get there even though there are hundreds of Mexican restaurants right in in Tucson. Well, and the ride to get there is pretty sweet, too. Just one page of a four or five page menu. My breakfast was item #114 with an extra tamale. Back home in the garage with just shy of a hundred miles. This was my first long-ish ride with my new Kuryakyn Isogrips installed and I loved them just as much as I remember I did when I had them on my Road King five or so years ago. It was also my first ride of any length since having my fender repaired/repainted. I'm glad (and relieved) to report I did NOT get another paint chip right outta the gate! When we left this morning at 7:45am it was about 70ºF. But the days are starting to get pretty toasty! We arrived back home a little before noon and this was the temperature then. Hmmm, todays mileage and todays temperature were nearly identical!
Refried beans are delicious, @Dawsy. They are a staple of Mexican food around here and are true "comfort food". Especially with melted cheese on top.
Thanks, @Bikerman. I hope you get some sun soon. I appreciate your positive comment about my bike--it being a Harley and this being a Triumph forum, and all. I personally think it looks even better in person. Especially now that my front fender is repaired and repainted. And now that I've managed to pry all the dead bugs off of it!
After 18 months of restoration on 1980 Honda 750-4, it had been standing outside for 20 years, I got the tank back yesterday fully restored and painted, I've totally restored this machine top to bottom, my Trident will get the same treatment
Yes of course, you can see the state it was in, I was told when I bought it, not to waste my money, my money, my choice. I had the chrome done by Silchrome, the seat by a guy in Wisbech, the carbs stripped and rebuilt and tuned, I did the mechanics if you like
Not mine, but seen this when my Thruxton was in for the suspension setup at Ian Mackman's. Lovely example of this iconic bike
When you look at bikes like this, from the same era, with their skinny front forks, dubious brakes, excess weight and comparatively modest power outputs it makes you wonder why we all lusted after them back in the day!
This morning Mr. Sandi and I met up on the bikes with Leila and Lee, a wonderful couple that we've been trying to schedule a ride for months. Leila is not only a friend and riding buddy, she's our boss. Well, she's only Mr. Sandi's boss for two more days because after that he will be officially retired! And Lee was a motorcycle police officer for about 10 years some years back. They both ride Harleys--Leila a Sportster and Lee an Ultra. Leila loves my Fat Boy and wants to get one next year so, in her "honor", (and so she could sit on it) I rode El Gordo today. In addition to the four of us, Lee had invited a work colleague who moved to Tucson from Chicago recently. He loves to ride but hasn't really connected with a riding group or some riding buddies so....who knows?! Mammoth, AZ was on Leila and Lee's short list so we headed there for breakfast/brunch at Mi Pueblito. Mr. Sandi and I had just ridden there last Sunday, but we enjoy both the ride and the food so much that we were happy to make that our destination today. Lee's colleague hasn't even been here long enough to know his way around, Steve and I arrived a bit early at the appointed gas station and while we waited for our riding buddies to arrive, a couple of very interesting and cool sights arrived. The sky was partly cloudy all day long and it was nice and cool, relatively speaking (80'sºF). This is a saguaro cactus being transported to a new home. Neither Mr. Sandi nor I could figure out how they actually replant it! And on the other side of the pickup were three more cacti--these are called golden barrels cacti. They were particularly beautiful specimens. But I have absolutely NO idea how anyone can actually lift and handle and replant them. They have very stout spines that are at least a couple of inches long! After the cactus truck left, this guy pulled up to a gas pump in a bright blue Porsche Carrera.When I asked him what year it was he said it was modeled after a 1956 but that it wasn't truly a Porsche and that it had a Volkswagen engine in it. He said it wasn't a "kit car" because he bought everything direct from the factory. I don't really know anything about all that but that car sure caught my eye. No taco photos today, I'm afraid, @Ducatitotriumph. I had a breakfast burrito...and I didn't even take a photo of that! Next time.......
Next time? You need to head back over there and do the decent thing and buy a taco! Nothing small either!