Today, with the exception of the headlight, Sherm Jr is done and ready to go. All is done to make him as much like Sherman that I can. The only notable differences are the gas tank and air cleaner badging, the pinstriping and a place where the engine displacement is displayed. I almost forgot, the mileage.

It’s called DIFS when one buys something new that looks like the old. I have done this on several occasions with cars and firearms. Now a motorcycle. DIFS is short for Damn Iowa Farmer Syndrome.

Now that Sherm Jr is home and safe in his garage, I can cover what was given up to make this a reality. Yes, the go cart semi was first on the chopping block. Les had an easy time convincing me that I was not going to get much pleasure from buying this. She was quick to point out that I would need a trailer to haul it around and kids would have more fun with it than myself. We were also going to need a place to store it and the trailer. Common sense prevailed.

The second item to go was a 1968 Mustang that I had my eye on. I had been looking for a late ’60s to mid ’70s Chevelle or Nova. This Mustang owned by my nephew came up for sale. It has had a frame-up restoration. All the numbers match. Everything except the tires and wheels are period correct. Biggest problem is it’s not a daily driver. It’s a car show car. It was going to sit a lot. Les informed me that she was not going to wash and wax it. We were also going to need to add another stall to the garage or build a separate garage in the back yard with a massive concrete drive. This is why we communicate. Getting a car has not gone away. Just not this car and not right now.

Les is now the primary owner of our pickup “Scorpy”. It took very little convincing to get me to turn the fobs over. She loves it and I’m glad. I will take it on trips from time to time. It’s now her drive around town vehicle.

Happy trails

I wrote this post March 18th 2021. Two – years – five months ago already. Sherman now has 66K miles on the odometer.

On Tuesday August 15th, I went to the Harley dealer to look into the cost for a new engine upgrade and replacing the transmission. When I left, I not only had a new engine upgrade and a new transmission, I had a whole new motorcycle. Not in the plans at all. Last thing on my mind.

Looking at the numbers, my engine and transmission were going to cost as much as Sherman is worth. I would get a very short warranty. I would still have to think about the other things that can break that are no longer under warranty. I also thought about the cost of towing to get a repair done.

During the buying process since Les, my wife, was at home, we talked on the phone four times. We texted nine times. I had to have her full approval before anything could move forward. If she had given one inkling that she was not on-board, the dealing would have stopped. That’s just how it works at our house. We’re equal partners. We communicate and communicate. Then we communicate some more. She really pushed for the new motorcycle. A lot harder than I.

Les has always been very quick to remind me that when I breakdown three miles west of Tin Buc Tu, she is not coming after me. She was very instrumental in the new motorcycle purchase. She also pushed for the extended warranty. There was no tap dancing on her part. She wasn’t short on reasons for buying new. A couple reasons had nothing to do with motorcycles and traveling.

With the paperwork and check writing behind us, some parts have been ordered to make Sherm Jr look just like Sherman only with a bigger engine. I should have Sherm Jr in a couple weeks. In the meantime, I keep reminding myself that I have the most totally awesome wunnerful wife in the world. Les also gets reminded a lot.

And yes, Sherm Jr will probably make it to the library. I’m also pretty sure with a new pick-up three months ago and now a new motorcycle, I won’t be asking for anything for Christmas.

Happy trails

When I bought my 2017 Harley TriGlide four years ago, I purchased a three year maintenance plan and a two year extended warranty. At the time, I figured that I would probably trade for a new one after a couple of years. With that mindset, I only made changes that served a purpose. I didn’t add any chrome or make any other cosmetic upgrades.

I quickly found after a couple rides that I needed mud flaps for the rear fenders. Not to keep mud and dirt from flying off the tires, but to protect the edge of the fenders from being chipped by rocks flying off the tires. I also added a luggage rack. Not so I could load it up with extra baggage, but to keep people from setting things on the trunk. I also added mirror extensions so I could see past my arms and shoulders.

About halfway through the 2017 riding season I found that an aftermarket seat and mini-floorboards to go with the standard floorboards would make the ride much better. And a huge difference they made. Also, a rear bumper found its way onto Sherman during the summer. With only 15,007 miles, the season came to an end way too soon.

The 2018 season saw no changes to Sherman. Just ride, wash, wax and take in for maintenance. Eye surgery interrupted my riding and Sherman got put away with just 27,790 miles.

The beginning of 2019 I replaced the windshield with one that was thicker, wider and has a contour to better handle side winds. I had the air shocks changed out with adjustable shocks. Added a lot of comfort to the ride. The odometer registered 45,144 miles.

It’s amazing what a little different shaped windshield will do for the ride.

Over the 2019 – 2020 winter months I added a lift kit as to stop dragging my mufflers when going out driveways including my own. I changed out the rear Dunlop tires for a pair of Goodyear “Comfortreds”. The lift kit also made a big positive difference with the steering and handling.

On a short ride during the summer, at 48,500 miles, the engine went south due to lack of oil pressure. Sherman got new pistons, rings and cylinders. At that time I decided that I would do the new engine break-in and then look at trading for a new trike. I rode Sherman up to the 50k service. Since I was not making payments, would not be making payments and that the engine had been “rebuilt” the trade fell through real fast. I made the decision to keep Sherman and had the 50k service completed. The season ended with 53,336 miles on the odometer.

Since deciding to keep Sherman and ride till the wheels fall off or I can’t get on, I have had a little work done. I started with going to Stage Two with the engine. New air cleaner assembly, new torque camshaft, de-catted the header and neighbor hater mufflers. For comfort I have added a backrest, a seat cushion and changed out the handlebars. For better night travel and safety I replaced my driving lights with halo makers. They are 100% brighter than the OEM lights. Added a mechanical reverse for easier backing out of parking spaces. Last weekend I added an oil filter relocation kit. Total cost approximately $7000.

Now we just need some consistent nice weather. If you ride, hopefully I will see you on the road. Enjoy your travels and be safe.

Happy trails

11 – 8 – 2023 Updated pictures

Till now, only two people have ever seen this letter. We know our past. We dream about our future.

Some Les background. She grew up in an old farmhouse. Didn’t have indoor plumbing till she was nine years old. Water came from a sand point meaning that if you started running water for a bath before school, there would be enough water for a bath when you got home. Of course, it was cold water. One heater in the living room for the whole house. Her mom passed away when she was twelve. She had surgery for scoliosis when she was fifteen and wore a body cast for nine months. She played basketball. She was in drama, band, and on the drill team. Never dated in high school. Not even a date to the prom. I was her first real date two years after she graduated from high school.

After high school, Les attended American Institute of Business (AIB) and received an Accounting Diploma in the late fall of 1980.

A number of years later, Les told me that if we had been the same age and gone to the same school she would have never dated me. She said she would have been too scared to go out with me. She was a completely different person in high school than the twenty-year old I asked out on a date.

Les worked in a bank where I serviced their HVAC systems. We spent several months making eye contact which turned to smiling making eye contact. Since I was seeing someone at the time, I didn’t put much thought into our distant interaction. At least not until I stopped seeing someone else. I didn’t even know her name. Maintenance man helped with that and her phone number.

When we really met, I was twenty-six. Les was twenty. Les was my height, lanky and an Olive Oil body. She wore her hair long. It was like a mane. Les was perfectly happy in blue jeans. Les was just plain wild. I loved wild. I just didn’t care for her low self-esteem. That I had to turn around if we were going to be together. I got it turned around.

I have always been a relationship person and wanted Les to be part of my relationship. Les wanted a relationship, although she’d never been in one. Les quickly learned two things about me. I didn’t do one night stands. Again, I’m a relationship person. I have never picked a woman up in a bar. Never will. Usually only bad things come from doing that. Somehow I’ve always known. Relationships, not somebody else’s leftovers or disease. Always been somewhat surprised that women in bars haven’t figure this out. Maybe I need to write a book.

July 28, 1981 when Les and I went out for the first time, she was like a rock with real sharp edges. I was pretty sure that in a prior life, she had been the captain of a pirate ship*. She could drop a ten-word sentence that had least five cuss words and three of them starting with “F”. To say the least, she could make everyone blush. Getting her toned down became a priority. It came down to the cussing had to stop or at least slow down. Les got it toned down.

Les never planned to be married. Nor did she have any desire to have children. I was good with both and understood why. The never planning to get married started changing when I moved in with her June 1982. The having children never came up in conversation again until November 2022.

We moved from Marshalltown IA to Des Moines IA in March ’83. Lived in a one-bedroom apartment at first. Got married in a minister’s office on April 6, one week after my divorce was final. I wrote my own vows. Figured that I had stood at the alter and lied once, no sense in lying again. Les got hers modified. We each wore blue jeans. We had each other and that was about it. We were good. The following weekend we went out and bought marriage bands. I still wear my first one. Les got a new one when I bought her diamond ring.

Les started out in Des Moines working in the mortgage lending department of a small savings and loan. She would later re-open an office in Des Moines for CUNA Mortgage doing loan originating.

In 1989 when we moved to Kansas City, Les found that she was very comfortable working in the property management field. She held a number of positions including controller and executive assistant.

Daytona FL Daytona Speedway July 2000 Les at Pepsi 400

Sometime around 2003, she had the opportunity to step back from working forty-hours to thirty-hours a week. I was all for it and we could more than afford her cutting back. She had worked hard and deserved to be rewarded. She loved having a three-day weekend every week. I loved her being happy. She rarely worked a forty-hour week again.

Our marriage went into a tailspin sometime not long after Les retired November of 2017. It was broke and for awhile, we seemed to be OK with it being broke. We were married roommates and that was it. It only made things worse. Both of us were guilty. My on-going fight with cancer seemed to be the biggest culprit. Things had to change. They did in a big way.

I’ve convinced Les that contrary to what she has read in a fiction book or seen in a Hallmark movie; my cancer isn’t contagious. It’s not like I have cooties. We’re back to holding hands. Hugging. Kissing. Smiling and joking with each other. We’re having fun at home and when we go out. The eggshells are gone.

As we continue to rebuild our relationship, we look at the positives. Since Les doesn’t like to travel, I have a house and dog sitter. She doesn’t shop, although we do get groceries together again. She doesn’t go get her hair or nails done. I keep her in reading materials, beer, cigarettes and anything else she wants. We go out several times a week for lunch dates. Very low maintenance. As the forever kid, I’m her only baggage. Neither of us are perfect, but we’re perfect for each other. Just like we were forty-plus years ago. And I get to travel at will. When I’m out and about she welcomes the quiet time and the reprieve from all my antics. Above all, she’s happy. I’m happy.

Over the years, Les has done a lot of things she never dreamed she’d get to do. Learn to love. Learn to trust. Move away from her home town. Be married. Have a new car (she’s had a bunch). Have a real home. Go to Hawaii. Ride in a submarine. Walk in the surf of two oceans. Have her own motorcycles. Shoot firearms. Go to New York City(once was enough). Jump from an airplane. Go to Vegas(17 times). Ride in a helicopter (looked good in a uniform). Drive a NASCAR race car. Be retired. Be spoiled. Be a queen.

It all started with a phone call on July 28th 1981. A phone call I hesitated to make. Glad I made that call. Really glad she didn’t turn me down.

Happy trails

*Note: My alma mater, Park University, has a pirate for a mascot.