Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Old NFO meets the Devil


Log Item: Fellow blogger and famous author, Old NFO* joined me for lunch today as he transited through the Orange County, California Area on his way to do bigger and better things.

He received his official "I met the Devil and lived to tell about it" ball cap, which he wore proudly.

He took one look at the Devil and said, "What a Beast!" Most ladies take exception when referred to as a "beast" or a "monster", but the Devil takes it as her due.

We had a fun lunch and are looking forward to the next lunch in Texas, somewhere east of Amarillo. Will I rent a Harley to ride out to his dude ranch and gun range (From Denton, TX)? Maybe. I think that I should first look into renting a Ducati, if indeed they'd consent to parting with a locally rented Diavel for a day or two.


When he saw the Devil in her glory, his first comment was, "Oh, I see where you can mount the M-4". It makes perfect sense when you see the rig in person, but it's tough to explain on the blog. He commented that the California Highway Patrol and many municipal agencies have M-4 rifles or short stroke shotguns on their motorcycles, which is a fact. Jihadis avoid armed citizens.
*NFO=Naval Flight Officer. Old NFO and I are both retired officers from the World's Finest Navy. He was a brown shoe type, I was in the camo navy, but we all bleed navy    blue. He's retiring again from his post-retirement career. I still dabble with things but on the whole am a useless lay-about, surf and scooter bum, firearms enthusiast and adventure junky.
Maintenance Item: It's time to lube the chain again in about 50 miles, which means before I take the Devil out again. I try to keep it right at about 600 miles between lube and tension check.

Log Item: Driving out to meet Old NFO today, I had the Devil up in the carpool lane, had just shifted into 6th gear at about 95 mph and the scooter was at about 4K rpm with a red line at 12K rpm, which is to say that it was idling, and my love of the power and speed is - intoxicating. It's a lot like skydiving in that way. The speed is real, but it doesn't feel quite real. Maybe you have to be a motor head to appreciate that. But all you really want is more speed. 

When you're running the Devil, everyone wants to race you. Even cars...hahaha. Slow sleds. Sometimes guys on tractors (Harley D's) want to race as well. I usually don't unless I feel that they need a lesson in humility. 

9 comments:

  1. It's a beautiful beast, and I can see why you like it so much! Adrenalin rush sitting still pretty much sums it up! Thanks for lunch, that was great fun! And the ride to San DIego in my econobox took almost 2 hours... sigh

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    1. It's always great to see you, chew on pogey bait and solve the world's problems.

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  2. The need for speed. I'll take you on. When I've got my Aston Martin you're screwed. ;)

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    1. Bring it, British Bond Girl!!

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    2. I'd pay good money to watch y'all race. :)

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    3. How much Jenny? Show me the money and I'll bring the fast moves. I know Larry would relish the competition. :)

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  3. Also! I don't see why Old NFO got to see your bike and I didn't when I was out that way visiting my friend! Now I feel jealous.

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    1. You would have done something like try to sprinkle holy water on the Devil...to tame it.

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  4. This is the sort of spam that I want to keep on the blog, because it shows that Steve Fennell, whoever he is, is an idiot. If for some reason he actually read my blog and could have deduced that I was joking, he's an even bigger doofus.

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