Motorcycle Swap meet Sacramento.

I had been curious about this swapmeet for a few years. Sacramento is a good drive away, but as I said before, these events serve as my primary entertainment. My route would take me past my Son's house, so a couple of days before, I gave him a call and asked if he'd like to join me. He had been storing his and his Wife's bicycles at my house, so I asked if he'd like me to bring them up. He said that would be great, so I loaded them into my truck before leaving. 

 Thoughts on driving and riding.

The Plymouth on the street,
Photo taken during the previous owner's last drive.

I have owned the Plymouth for a little over a year, and I've put approx. 600 miles on it during that time. Although I was familiar with driving manual transmission cars, it takes a while to familiarize myself with the idiosyncrasies of this particular vehicle. Age has given it it's own set of peculiarities and foibles. Besides, it was restored forty years ago, and wear has certainly taken place in the forty years since then.

 My current old bicycle.

A  mid 1980's Marin Muir Woods.
Hard to believe that it's forty years old!

Not from my childhood, but from my middle age.

 A week's worth of driving for my Plymouth.

Casa de Fruta is the only Route 66 type attraction
in my area.

While nostalgia for a time that I never knew, colors my thoughts, I deleted the color from the photographs that I took.

The Plymouth had been sitting in the garage for several months, I thought that now, with better weather, it was time to put a few miles on it.

 Thinking about Corvettes.

1968. It was a very good year.

Chevrolet Corvette.

The "it" car for my Boomer generation.

Home Improvement:

Ryobi, not the last word in power tools,
but still pretty good.

Fixing stuff.

You know that I work on my cars, but I also do a lot of work around the house.

 The birds are driving me crazy, crapping all over my Mustang!

The hood was a frequent target,
but the deck lid suffered the worst.

I'm not going to show you any pictures of that!

 What's in a name?

The first Coupe de Ville 1949.

Sometimes, quite a lot!

To me this name had always been magic.

Cadillac Coupe de Ville.

 Turlock Swap Meet January 25th. 2026.

I had been feeling a bit under the weather but I decided to drive the 100 miles to the swap meet. Upon arrival I felt good enough to walk all around the fairgrounds. As this was the second day of the meet, many vendors had already left the day before. There were many vendors packing up to leave even as I arrived at around 10:30. The grounds looked pretty empty, quite a contrast to when I went there last September. Maybe this trip would be a complete waste of time.

 Rebuilding the wiper motor on my Plymouth. Part Two.

The eventual success was punctuated by a bout of frustration! In other words, it was like most other old car repairs!

The California 1000 lay dormant for a few years. 

That's my set up with the Pony Express style bags.
My buddy Rick's new XLS is to the left. Behind me,
you can see the headlight of my buddy Boyd's new Low Rider.

Then it was back! Sometimes in the early 1980's. 

Just a reminisce. Please indulge me in my rambling memories.

Rick and I went down to LA and found that the 1000 was cancelled at the last minute. So Rick and I decided to do our own 1,000 mile ride. 

Then the California 1000 was back. I signed up for it immediately.

 Two Swap Meets visited in one day.

They were held on September 21st. 2025.

An antique motorcycle swap meet was held at the Old Fisherman's club in Modesto, right on the banks of the San Joaquin river.

 "Amor de la Maquina"*.

It looks good now, but I will make it look even better!

Spanish for; "Love of the machine."

What does this mean?   

I had a custom license plate frame made that sports this sentiment.

Rebuilding the windshield wiper motor on my '46 Plymouth. Part One.

That was either a very old felt sound deadening pad
or a thick layer of dust. I'm still not sure which.

Even though my Plymouth doesn't have a heater or defroster, a working wiper would be of some benefit.

What is all this blather about the Sportster being a beginner's bike?

The junk that you read online about the Sportster
paints this picture of the rider.

What follows is a bit of a rant and a dissertation about Sportster performance. 

What to do when the moneys tight.

It's only a DuraFlame log
but it does the job.

Which it will certainly be after the Holidays.

Thoughts while relaxing next to a New Year's Day fire. There's no guilt today in taking it easy.