Back in the Stone Age I used to watch “The Dukes of Hazzard”. It was the dumbest show on earth but it was also a “guilty pleasure”. First of all, Daisy knew how to rock a pair of cutoffs. Second, every boy likes to see a Dodge Charger get pummeled by unwise driving. Finally, Roscoe P. Coltrane was pure comic genius. Let’s not forget the nearly inert “Flash the basset hound”!
Fast forward a million years. I got a few donations from my motorcycle story. I used them to order a new headlight. It’s a modern “super bright LED” that should vastly reduce load on the little alternator while making night driving a lot safer. Honey Badger earned it. I consider it a “safety upgrade”. I’ve been freaked out riding off road at night. The OEM headlight is anemic 1980’s technology; every change of surface becomes a gamble. Is that blurry washed out surface up there packed dirt where I can roll on the throttle? Or is it fluffy sand that might wash out the front tire? Knowledge I would have in full sun is elusive at night. So I scamper home at the first hint of twilight like a little bitch.
No more! The part arrived today. I’m going to install it shortly. Then… testing!
It went like this:
Mr. Curmudgeon: “My new motorcycle part arrived. I’m going camping.”
Mrs. Curmudgeon: “I’m not sure how those things are related but have fun.”
Mr. Curmudgeon: “The Duke boys were out testing the new carburetor they installed this weekend when, wouldn’t ya’ know it, they passed Roscoe’s favorite speed trap…”
Mrs. Curmudgeon: “What?”
Mr. Curmudgeon: “Nothing. Gotta go! Bye!”
Update: I don’t care how dumb it was. It was innocent fun. No regrets!
The exchange between you and Mrs. C make it appear you may have inhaled too many carburetor cleaner fumes. 🙂 Carry on, AC, yer doin’ fine! I look forward to a report on the new light. Of course you have alternate lighting, yes?
I was doing 25mph downhill on my bicycle on a moonless night. With a 90-degree turn at the bottom of said hill. My spiffy new super-bright halogen headlight damn near set the road on fire with its incredible lumens. And also robbed me of any night vision. Did I mention this was the first time I had gone this way? Pretty sure I melted the brake pads when Mr. Light said “Eff you; I quit.” There was no way I could stop before the death turn. Fun times…
Until now I’ve been riding at dark (when I get caught out at night) with just the OEM headlight. The light is totally normal for it’s design time of the 1980’s, which is pure bullshit for 2020 expectations. Also, awful on dirt but “good enough” on pavement (unless I’m mercilessly flogging the poor bike because I got caught on a main road and want to keep up the speed). If you go above about 45 MPH the OEM is sketchy in that you’re driving past the lights. A deer could get out on the pavement without you seeing it. The new LED headlight (once properly aimed) should fix this limitation.
For “alternate lighting” I carry a Noco Boost GB20. It’s not only my jump starter and gadget charger; it has a flashlight feature which is more than adequate for setting up a tent (I’ve used it for that) or for rummaging around your backpack to start a fire or find a map or whatever. Since I have a front rack it would be easy to duct tape the little box to the front of the bike as a makeshift headlight (for example, if I smashed out the main light on a tree or something).
I would like to eventually add an additional little 6″ LED bar for off road night. It is not possible to have too much light at night on an unknown surface.
Glad to hear it; two is one, etc.
I inherited one of those itty-bitty boost battery thingies; I smiled sweetly and said “thank you” sincerely while also firmly convinced it was a waste of my limited storage space. I learned two two things a year after receiving it: an automotive starter battery can die with no warning and, despite a rusty AAS in electronics, I can be a oh-so-wrong old fart. Saved me a sweaty hassle.
“It is not possible to have too much light at night on an unknown surface.”
Truer words were never spoken, er, typed.
“rummaging around your backpack to start a fire”
Ur doin’ it wrong. Start the fire outside the backpack. Yes, I had tequila with supper. Why do you ask? Carry on, AC.
Tequila to drink. Backpack to carry it. Fire nowhere near either.
Love it!
No lie about Daisy…
Daisy was even hotter than Ginger.
Oh, MaryAnn… Sigh. Uh, I’ll be in my rack if you need me. Please don’t.
We’re from the same age, but that’s the reason I couldn’t watch the show. The editing was so bad that you could see how badly they bent some of those Chargers, and I couldn’t bear to see those beauties wrecked.
Full disclosure–at the time, I had my first car, a hot-rod Plymouth B-body, so it may have affected me more.
I didn’t fret over the real world crashing of muscle cars but all through he show I just couldn’t quite get used to their insistence on beating them to death as part of the plot. “If they’re never going to drive on pavement, shouldn’t they have a different sort of vehicle? A hopped up Jeep maybe?”. I could willingly suspend disbelief at most of it but I couldn’t break the association of muscle car and pavement. Go figure.
“editing was so bad”
I was appalled to see the nose structure of the Knight Rider car (don’t judge me) friggin’ collapse during an absurd jump-over-the-obstacle scene.
Ah, the Dukes of Hazzard. My grandfather used to call me home from my rambling in the woods by stepping outside and shouting “The Dukes! The Dukes!” and I would rush back to the house to watch it with him.
The Dukes DID teach us that just because something is legal (or illegal) doesn’t mean it is moral, and that money and power corrupt.