Back home with the new truck and JBubble's Monster

[silentbob]

Too tired to write so I'll just post some photos for now.

[Big Troubled Bear]

Glad everything went ok on the trip or did it

Some nice bikes in the pics

[TiNi]

when you have more energy...

i think we need to hear what's up with the electrical tape on your finger...

[jdubbs32584]

Glad you made it safely Rob!

Thank you!

[swampduc]

You made pretty good time.
Some really nice bikes in those pics.

[Capo]

when you have more energy...

i think we need to hear what's up with the electrical tape on your finger...

That animal bit him

[Rameses]

This pic's my favorite...

[silentbob]

Glad everything went ok on the trip or did it

Some nice bikes in the pics

It went fairly smooth.  One of the members on the Steel Soldiers military truck forum confirmed that the truck was in running order before I flew out and he picked me up from my hotel and drove me onto the Air Force base where I picked up the truck.

The truck had very low mileage and was well maintained but had probably never left the base in 20 years.  So my 2500 mile trip home was the first time it saw highway speeds.

The Air Force optioned this truck with a/c, p/s, air brakes, a/t, lift gate, am/fm cassette, but no cigarette lighter.  So I had no way to charge my phone, which is also my GPS and mp3 player.

I ran into some mechanical problems but that didn't stop me or the truck.  Once I got to Oklahoma I stopped at Oklahoma City Ducati where Steve (shadowchaser) and the rest of the fine staff helped me make repairs.

[silentbob]

when you have more energy...

i think we need to hear what's up with the electrical tape on your finger...

That was one of Steve's custom designer bandaids.  He made the mistake of letting me operate a very dangerous piece of shop equipment.  I used the tape gun to secure the Ducati Corse sign in the rear window of the truck and somehow managed to slice my finger open.

[silentbob]

This pic's my favorite...

That was the view from Mountain Springs grade in California and exactly what I saw when I stepped out of the truck, forgetting that I was not in a car but a truck that is as tall as a semi.  I fell out of the truck with my right leg still stuck in the cab.  I managed to free myself without injury which is a good thing since I didn't have Steve and his role of electrical tape to put me back together.

[Popeye the Sailor]

I ran into some mechanical problems but that didn't stop me or the truck.  Once I got to Oklahoma I stopped at Oklahoma City Ducati where Steve (shadowchaser) and the rest of the fine staff helped me make repairs.

What happened to the old beastie?

[silentbob]

The daytime temperature throughout the entire region was below freezing, so I decided to put off a detailed inspection of the truck until I got to Oklahoma.  I was running behind schedule and I stopped at the Relax Inn in Arkansas just before the Oklahoma border.  The rooms were only $29.37 and came complete with blood stains and bugs that hide behind the light switches.  The next day I finished the last couple of hours into OK City.  The first thing we checked was the tire pressure.  When we got to the last tire we couldn't find the valve stem.  That's when we noticed that there was no air in the tire.  So I went to the local truck shop and had them put a new tube in the tire.  Since they are military split rims they have to air them up in a cage in case they explode.  This picture is about one minute after the explosion.

[Capo]

I bet that caused some soiled underwear 

[Got Duc]

split rims = very very bad

I thought they were to be phased out.

[Popeye the Sailor]

split rims = very very bad

I thought they were to be phased out.

What's so bad about split rims?

Aside from the whole cage and death thing.