Thanks For Asking! -- 08/01/25

WHAT?

Sorry for shouting.

Go ahead, ask me anything (unless you're a pseudonymous troll, in which case your question has to be interesting or it will just get deleted).

Dang ... accidentally hit "publish" instead of scheduling.

That's OK.

Wordle 1503 Hint

 Hint: Today's Wordle isn't really necessary -- it's just a little something extra.

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First Letter: F

Wordle 1502 Hint

Hint: You might have this kind of analysis done to a diamond or a gold bar.

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First Letter: A

Bit of a long day yesterday ...

I made that trip to Ormond Beach. Not by motorcycle, though -- I borrowed my wife's SUV, for two reasons:

1. The motorcycle isn't fully broken in and performance-modded yet; and
2. My son went with me to assist.

A friend moved to Ormond Beach from California last week, and his most immediate needs for assistance involved household electronics -- computer work rig, wifi-enabled printer, etc.

Liam is better with that stuff than I am, and his help probably cut the setup / troubleshooting time in half.

About 11 hours, including travel and time on-site. I got up early to get ahead on my own work, then stayed up late to get caught back up with that work.

Heading to Ormond Beach, I took the route I anticipate motorcycling next time (State Road 100 to Palatka before hooking south). Looks like it will be a fairly pleasant ride.

Heading from Ormond Beach, we took a supposedly "quicker" (by 5-10 minutes) route (State Road 40 to Ocala, then US 441 north to Gainesville) that happens to pass within half a mile or so of the Long John Silver's in Ocala, because we like to have food from there once or twice a year but don't like the 40-mile drive each way from our place to get that food.

Slept hard. Still tired. Getting old, I guess.

Wordle 1501 Hint

Hint: This is not the end of Wordle, but it's arguably a Wordle of the end.

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First Letter: O

Wordle 1500

Hint: Today's Wordle is shrewd and perceptive, understand?

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First Letter: S

Wordle 1499 Hint

Hint: A paradox! While you still have to solve today's Wordle, it's already complete.

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First Letter: W

The Bike Is On The Road Again ...

... and doesn't appear to be leaking after having the cover removed/replaced. I'll be keeping an eye on that, though.

My impressions so far:

Having to shift gears is taking some getting used to. It's not giving me too much trouble, and I like the added control a manual transmission offers, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't missed the Continuous Variable Transmission Bulldog a couple of times.

So far, the top speed has been less than 60 miles per hour (57 or 56, I think), but I expect that to go up as the engine gets broken in and everything gets well-sealed/seated, even before I install all the performance-enhancing parts I've got on hand or ordered.

The natural riding posture is very close to that of the Bulldog, which I like -- sitting upright unless tucked to increase speed. I haven't decided yet whether the seat is as, or less, comfortable. If I decide it's less, there are after-market options for that.

BUT! When it comes to after-market options for anything, finding stuff made specifically for this bike is proving more difficult than I expected.  Some parts, like a rear rack, may have to be purchased as "universal" parts and then messed with to make them fit. No biggie. At present, I'm not seeing any reason why this shouldn't be my main personal vehicle for 5-10 years, so I've got plenty of time to personalize it in various ways.

One plan for the near future is to find a good camera mounting point and finally figure out how to use the older GoPro a friend donated to the cause. Although I will probably try the phone camera first -- I think the phone holder position may work out OK for that.

Wordle 1498 Hint

Hint: Ghostly activity, or its venue.

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First Letter: H

Not As Nice Bike News

When it comes to negative motorcycle experiences, I'm just always glad when they don't involve trees, cars, giant balls of fire, etc. This one just means a trip to the hardware store this morning.

I took the bike across the street to my mechanic friend's to give it its first oil change.

Drained the oil.

Checked the magnetic drail plug I installed when I changed out the "shipping" oil while assembling the bike. A little bit of metal, but nothing inconsistent with breaking in a new engine.

Then I removed the engine cover, pulled out the little screen that serves as a "filter," and checked that. Same thing -- a little bit of metal dust. Cleaned the screen, put it back in its slot, put the engine cover back on ...

... and broke one of the bolts.

Fortunately, it didn't have to be drilled, "EZ-outed," etc. My friend was able to get a pair of needle nose pliers onto a fragment and back it out.

I probably did tighten it a little to vigorously, but upon examining all those bolts, my friend said they were cheap crap, already showing fatigue from one loosening/tightening, and should all be replaced with "Grade 8" versions ASAP, especially since they'll be coming off and going back on with every oil change.

So, I'll be going to the hardware store in the morning. And I think that over time, whenever I have a maintenance or repair job that involves pulling any bolts, I'll probably just take those bolts to the hardware store and get quality replacements.  I'd rather spend a little money on good parts over time than a lot of money when something fails at a worse time and in a more dramatic way.

And between now and then I think I'll also look for an after-market gasket for that engine cover. "Paper-thin" doesn't do justice to the stock one.

Nice Bike News

The Lifan KP Mini got its first "was full before, then had miles put on it" fill-up this morning, with 80 miles on the odometer. 82 miles per gallon.

That's 14.2 miles per gallon better than the Italica Bulldog 150's average, and 7.7 miles per gallon better than the Bulldog's best mileage. And that's with a lot of lower-gear / higher RPM riding (I've mostly just taken it around the neighborhood, including a stretch where I can take it up to 5th gear for a minute or two, but I've also taken it to two different towns on 10-20 mile round trips via "country highway" type road).

Lifan claims 120 mpg "under ideal conditions." Rider reports say more like 95 mpg with "light throttle cruising," which is where i loved that highest mileage on the Bulldog (just keeping it around 45 mph on an open road without a bunch of stop-n-go).

This weekend it will get its first oil change and maybe the air/carb/exhaust upgrades.

I've ordered a 16-tooth front sprocket and a better chain for it. Those will be here next week.

Once all those mods are done, I'm hoping for a top speed in excess of 70 miles per hour, maybe 75. At the moment, according to my handy-dandy GPS speedometer app, the fastest I've taken it is 56 miles per hour. It's never been anywhere near the red line on RPMs, so there should be significant room for improvement at the top end.

Wordle 1497 Hint

Hint: A professional runner of errands.

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First Letter: G

Wordle 1496 Hint

Hint: The song "Good Vibrations" doesn't generally evoke this kind of personal or earthy shaking.

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First Letter: Q

It's Not Really An Either/Or Kind Of Thing

Did figures highly placed in the Obama regime, maybe even Obama himself, conspire to put over the Russiagate hoax?

It seems likely.

Does the evidence that's being hidden from public view contain probable cause to believe that Donald Trump had sex with under-age women while hanging with his close personal friend Jeffrey Epstein?

I still wouldn't be money on that, at least not yet, but it's seeming more and more likely. When you hide things and lie about things, you presumptively have things to hide and lie about.

I also wouldn't bet money on this taking Trump down even if the truth is ugly and gets revealed, at least not yet. Like him or not, you have to admit he's good at brazening his way through stuff that would pretty much destroy most people.

The Trip to Ormond Beach Has Been Postponed ...

... probably for a couple of weeks.

Which is actually a good thing.

The Lifan KP Mini 150 has been assembled.

I've begun breaking it in (I think I'm at about 40 miles -- sometime between 50 and 100 and I'll do an oil change).

I've got it licensed/titled.

Today, I spent 90 minutes doing the 10-minute job of ditching those ugly floppy front turn signals in favor of the slick turn signal integrated into the tank fairings. I'll take care of the rear signals when I install my "fender delete" kit.

I almost didn't go throught with the front signals -- it has a beautiful black metal gas tank under those fairings and I though about just ditching the fairings, zip-tying any inconvenient wires, and going bare tank. In fact, I may end up doing that eventually if I decide to go for a more "cafe cruiser" look with a can headlight, etc.

The performance exhaust arrived today. At some point after the 100-mile mark, I'll do the switch to performance air/carb/exhaust and to an NGK iridium plug.

Between now and then I'll probably go ahead and order a more toothy sprocket and nicer chain.

I could ride it 100 miles each way right now, apart from wanting to change the oil during the break-in.

But it will be a lot nicer with all that stuff done. The bike will be faster, and run lower RPMs at speed, and it will have longer gears (right now it's whining to be put into second at 13-14 miles per hour).

One of the things I hate about affiliate links online

It's just one example, but IMO it demonstrates how some publications talk up Particular Item X in order to generate commissions rather than because it's really that good. Jack Wallen at ZDNet:

The Minix Z97 is a workhorse that challenged my assumptions about mini PCs ... at $226 on Amazon, it's a steal

The mini PC I run is normally $159 but currently $132.04 (that is not an affiliate link; if you buy it, I won't get a commission).

It's got 16Gb of RAM to the "reviewed" PC's 12Gb, it's got just as much storage, it's got 4 USB A ports and a USB C port to the "reviewed" PC's three USB As, and its chip speed is within 0.2 GHz (3.4 vs. 3.6). The only difference I see that's advantageous to the "reviewed" PC, for nearly $100 more, is that while my PC has two HDMI ports, the "reviewed" PC has two HDMI ports and a DisplayPort port.

The article seems to indicate that Wallen received a review unit rather than spending his own money on it ... but did he even bother to compare prices/specs before flogging it for commissions?

When I'm shopping for anything that's expensive enough for me to want to consult reviews before buying, I generally look at "head to head" reviews of multiple similar products, and take note of whether a reviewer, or the reviewer's publication, receives commissions on sales.

Wordle 1495 Hint

Hint: Unquestionably the most popular drink ever.

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First Letter: W

Less Painful Than Expected

I don't know if my hatred of visits to the DMV is worse than others', but I've certainly never liked doing that very much.

I was expecting a drawn-out and probably expensive bureaucratic process this morning when I hopped on the Italica Bulldog 150 for the ride into town to get the Lifan KP Mini 150 taxed, titled, and tagged.

Instead, within two minutes of getting to the front counter I was at the counter where I would be "helped" -- and one minute of that was finding my way to the second counter.

Once I was at the second counter, I did not encounter the troubles I've read about others encountering in using a Bill of Sale / Manufacturer's Certificate of origin to get title/plates for bikes bought on Amazon. There were a few minutes of paper being shuffled, copies being made, documents being signed, etc., and then ...

... the cost was about half of what I'd anticipated. Part of the savings was due to me transferring the Bulldog's plate to the KP Mini instead of getting a new tag, part of it was my misreading of some gibberish on the government web site concerning fees.

So anyway, the new bike is now "street legal." I made it home on the old bike just in time for a fairly heavy thunderstorm to soak me in the yard while I switched the plates out, so I haven't taken it out for more "breaking in" yet, but I'll probably spend a good chunk of the evening on that.

Wordle 1494 Hint

Hint: When your pizza is overcooked (and when the pizzeria won't give you a refund).

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First Letter: B

I'm Breaking in the Lifan KP Mini 150 ...

... and of course there are little details to attend to. The right-handlebar assembly that holds the throttle cable and incorporates the kill switch, start button, etc. doesn't seem to fit together smoothly. There's an unexplained hose just hanging from the bottom of the carburetor, connected to nothing (the bike is running fine so it may just be some kind of drain -- I've asked a rider group dedicated to this bike for advice on that*).

The advice I've had from various people on breaking in a new motorcycle is "break it in like you ride it," but in fairly short chunks. After draining the "shipping" oil and getting some Lucas (and a magnetic drain plug) into the crankcase, I started taking it out for short rides. Three so far, totaling 13 miles, top speed 55 mph.

I'll change the oil after 50-100 miles, lengthen the rides, do some benchmarking, then eventually install the new carb, air filter, and exhaust and see how much it improves. None of that until it seems pretty well broken in. The only immediate mod -- just ordered from Amazon, is a little plate that widens the footprint of the kickstand, The soil tends to be soft and sandy around here and more surface area will reduce the potential for the bike falling over. I'll probably switch out the Mickey Mouse mirrors for bar-ends, but I'm not in a big hurry on that.

Oh -- I did my first wheelie on a motorcycle ever! It wasn't much of a wheelie and it wasn't intentional (getting used to smooth takeoffs in first gear), but now I can say I've done one.

* Got an answer already -- it's just a carburetor bowl drain that wandered and can be tucked back in somewhere unobtrusive. Whew.

Current Status ...

 

Bike arrived.

Assembly took longer than expected because I'm just not mechanically inclined (it consisted of getting all the shipping crap off, mounting the handlebars and controls, and connecting the battery. Naturally, I lost a nut (no, not one of those nuts) and had to rob one off the old 50cc scooter. I'm surprised it was only one.

Next, change the "shipping" oil out for good stuff, put the mirrors on, and take it for a test ride (it's been across the yard so it does at least go into first gear).

Wordle 1493 Hint

Hint: Don't let your attempts to solve today's Wordle put you into this state of nervous agitation.

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First Letter: T

Wordle 1492 Hint

Hint: To solve today's Wordle (or any other day's Wordle), you have to fill in five of this.

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First Letter: B

I Put The Bike Together Today!

No, not the new motorcycle. That won't be here until Monday.

My daughter ordered a 700c, 14-speed commuter bike during the Amazon Prime Day sale. It arrived yesterday and I helped her assemble it this afternoon. Pretty nice bike for less than $200. It has the "drop" handlebars like the 10-speeds my friends rode in junior high, which I'm not big on, but she seems happy with them. If not, we'll figure something else out.

She'd been riding a  26" single-speed "beach cruiser," and riding it a lot, for a couple of months.  It's an 11.5 mile round trip from our house to the nearest town, and she was making that ride 2-3 times per week for exercise, as well as using it to get to and from the closest of her four(!) part-time jobs (she does maintenance/cleaning at a church, a synagogue, a community center, and a private home; the church is only a mile or so from home).

She pretty quickly decided she wanted something faster. I predict it won't be long before she's at least occasionally riding it to her more distant jobs, 10-15 miles away.

Wordle 1491 Hint

Hint: Brutus fell on his after Volumnius refused to assist him in using it.

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First Letter: S

Gotta Love Modern Shipment Tracking

At 2:56:56am this morning, my new motorcycle left Lakeland, Florida (it got there yesterday from Los Angeles), arriving at "destination terminal" at 4:54:04am.

That seems to be in Ocala, about 40 miles away. So there seems like at least some possibility of it arriving today, well before the Amazon estimate.

Update: Heard from the delivery company.  It will be here Monday, a day earlier than the earliest estimate as of purchase.

Wordle 1490 Hint

Hint: The Asian cousin of Madagascar's lemur.

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First Letter: L

Wordle 1489 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is, in separate meanings, both "most frequent" and "least substantive."

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First Letter: M

Sometimes I Don't Think Things Through ...

I woke up this morning and suddenly realized my plan for the new motorcycle is all wrong. I should have realized that from the beginning.

My plan was to just do the modifications on it as I assembled it.

That's a bad idea. What if the bike itself is defective? Returning/replacing it would be a real pain in the ass even if it was stock. If I had to remove all the mods and put the stock parts back on, it would be even worse.

So, the new plan is:

1. Assemble the bike and make sure it starts.
2. Drain the "shipping" oil and replace it with good oil (real oil, not synthetic, as the former is better for initial sealing of the rings, etc.);
3. Go out and ride it, fairly gently, at varying speeds for about 50 miles.
4. Change the oil and have a look for any unusual amount of metal shavings, etc.
5. Do three benchmarks -- 0 to 40, 0 to 60, and top speed.
6. Then do the air, carb, and exhaust modifications.
7. Do the benchmark tests again and see how they compare
8. Change the oil again at 300 miles.
9. At 1,000 miles, switch to synthetic oil.
10. The other mods will just get done when I happen to get around to it. I suspect I will do the fender delete and a new chain/front sprocket pretty quickly; the oil cooler will wait (I may grab a cheap temperature sensor to help me decide whether I need that or not).

I won't know until I've actually been on the bike whether 1) I like the handlebars, and 2) whether bar-end mirrors will work well on the existing handlebars. If the answer is "no" to either, I'll get new bars.

Wordle 1488 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is brave, in its own insolent way.

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First Letter: N

Referral Code? Yupp!

I just got an email from Yupp with a referal URL:

https://yupp.ai/join/nutritious-long-river

According to the email, if you join via this code, you get 2,500 "Yupp credits" and I get 5,000. The points are theoretically exchangeable for cash, but I haven't tried to do that and thus can't report on how it worked out.

A refresher on what Yupp is:

It's an AI chatbot comparison tool. You ask Yupp a question, and it provides answers, side by side, from two AI models. You tell it which answer you find more useful and why (by clicking on a thumbs up button and then one or more of several descriptors like "fast," "accurate," etc.). You get points each time you do that.

I've personally found Yupp more useful than just going to my preferred AI. I ask real questions I actually want answers to, and sometimes the two AIs' answers conflict. Seeing such a conflict lets me know I need to go research things manually because something ain't right.

You can also look at statistics which show you which model or models you found most useful -- and which models others found most useful.

So far, according to Yupp, I find Grok more likely to provide a correct and useful answer than, say, ChatGTP or Llama. I'm definitely an outlier, though -- Grok ranks 14th most useful among all Yupp users, which makes me wonder if there's not some kind of campaign of users down-voting Grok just to screw with Elon Musk or something.

Anyway, use it or don't. If you do, I think the 5,000 credits I get come to something like 50 cents, so it's not going to make or break my bank.

Wordle 1487 Hint

Hint: I don't even want today's Wordle -- quit trying to fob it off on me.

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First Letter: F

And Another Mod for the New Bike, Earlier Rather Than Later ...

I did a little reading about wrapping exhaust pipes, and talked with my mechanic friend about it, and it seems like something worth doing. The increased internal heat actually improves bike performance a little; on the external side, you're less likely to burn your leg on the pipe.

And! It will just look better to run  a black wrapped exhaust pipe than a plain stainless steel pipe on a black and yellow bike with a black muffler. It seems like it's worth the $15 for a roll of the tape.

And! Might as well get it done before putting the new exhaust on the bike in the first place than put it on then have to take it off to wrap.

So that's ordered. The exhaust will probably get here before the bike does, so I can do that work while waiting.

Wordle 1486 Hint

Hint: It was finished but someone reversed it ...

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First Letter: U

Almost All The Gear Has Now Been Ordered ...

... for the Lifan KP Mini 150.

I got the oil (two quarts of Lucas -- one to immediately replace the "shipping" oil with, the other for the initial 300-mile oil change), Nibbi 26mm carburetor with foam air filter, spray oil for that filter, throttle cable, and fender delete kit from Amazon.

The performance exhaust ended up being about twice as expensive as I had expected for two reasons:

1. I had based my estimate on watching YouTube videos, and it never occurred to me that those videos were mostly several years old; and
2. I had a choice between a "probably OK" exhaust system that would cost nearly $200 (the high end of my estimate had been $150) including "it gets there when it gets there" shipping from China, or a real name (Big Gun) brand exhaust system, specifically developed for the exact bike, made in and shipped from the US, for $300. Since the owner of Kronik Racing (which developed the exhaust in cooperation with Big Gun) himself told me about it (after I asked about exhausts in a Facebook group), I felt like I should at least go look at it , and ended up buying it. Better $300 and confidence than $200 and maybe getting something that lasts six months.

That's everything essential, and even one thing non-essential (the fender delete kit) -- for now anyway. I've already got panniers and a top box that should work, and bar-end mirrors that may work. I might buy a tank bag or tail bag for my basic tools and such, but not until I've got the bike and figure out what my needs are and whether I already have something that works. If I don't like the stock hand grips or foot pegs, after-market ones are pretty cheap. I'll probably do an oil cooler at some point.

Now it's just a matter of waiting for stuff to arrive.

The air/carb/exhaust should get me to within one or two horsepower of the other, bigger, much more expensive bike I was considering ... and to about 1 2/3 the horsepower of the Italica Bulldog. So that will be nice.

Wordle 1485 Hint

Hint: You might catch today's Wordle in your garden, in Zurich, or stealing your underpants.

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First Letter: G

So, I Bought a Motorcycle

This one (the photo will click through to the Amazon listing, but is not an affiliate link):

I explained my liking for it in a previous post, Bottom line: I think it's the kind of bike that will serve me reliably and well, in all likely situations and most less likely but still possible situations, for the next ten years. It should get me anywhere within 500 miles that I'd want to travel by motorcycle too, and do so more comfortably in the most common situations (around town and within 100 miles or so).

It's supposed to arrive on July 22 or July 23. My plan between now and then is to purchase some of the things I'll be using to modify/improve it and just get that work done at the same time as the "some assembly required" part. I'll be doing all that in a friend's garage, using his tools, so might as well do it all at once. Until I get around to ordering them myself, you can find them on my Amazon Wish List if you'd like to help out before I get it all together and place the order.

I Visited My Local Lifan Dealership Yesterday ...

... and got a lot of helpful information.

I was hoping to get a closer look at two different Lifan bikes, the KPM 200 and the KP Mini 150.

The only Lifan bike they had in stock was the X-Pect 200. I was surprised at how much I liked it, as it's a big-wheel "dual sport." A little over $3k "out the door." Top speed 75-ish. Quite comfortable. One disadvantage of the X-Pect over the KPM 200 (other than the silly name) is that it's air-cooled. One advantage is that it's set up better for panniers or a top box in the rear. All in all a very nice bike.

I also did some brain-picking. The guy does really like the KPM 200. With respect to the KP Mini 150, he advised me that the more expensive fuel-injected version doesn't get significantly more horsepower stock than the carbureted version (when I looked that up, the difference is a fraction of one horse).

It's a lot easier to tune a carburetor bike than an EFI bike when you start modifying it for better performance ... and according to some AI conversation, a modified/tuned carbureted KP Mini can top 80 miles per hour. Exhaust/air/oil cooler mods would be a couple of hundred bucks, and the EFI version of the KP Mini costs a thousand dollars more without that nice top speed.

Also according to AI, "long trips" on the KP Mini are feasible. The example I gave the AI was Gainesville to New Orleans, and the answer (paraphrased) was "feasible? Definitely. Comfortable? Meh. Might want to avoid freeways (at least if it's not modded for those speeds), and you'll be stopping every 50-100 miles to fill up the small gas tank, which is fine since you want to let the bike cool down every once in awhile (if it's not running an oil cooler)."

I like riding the 150 I have, and would like to have a manual transmission. A bike that can do 60-ish stock, 80 or better modded, and that has an engine I could count on for long trips, wouldn't bother me just because it's a 150. There also seems to be a good after-market for Lifan parts. The KP Mini is "naked" enough for me to actually do most or all of the modding work myself without spending three hours removing fairings before actually accomplishing anything. And its size/frame type should accomodate my existing accessories (panniers, top box, etc.) better than the KPM 200 would.

So, let's do some math:

The KP Mini, including shipping, comes to $2,118.95, "some assembly required" on Amazon (I'm talking about Amazon for a reason, read on).  Call it $2,500 including taxes/tags. By the time I get done modding it over time, less than $3k.

While the scooter shop guy thinks I could probably get $1,600 for the Italica Bulldog, my plan after buying another bike would be to advertise it for $1,200 and let it go for $1,000 if necessary. So (again, over time, but I'd want to get this done by late August or early September since the likeliest buyer for the Bulldog would be a student), that would bring the net cost down to $2,000 or less, fully modded.

Why Amazon?

In the normal course of things, I'd rather buy from a local dealer and get the bike already assembled and tested.

On the other hand, I have a mechanic friend who will help me with the assembly for a six-pack of beer, and I would know that it was done right (or, if it wasn't, I'd have only myself to blame anyway). Relevant bolts would be hit with thread locker, etc.

For any repair/maintenance in the future that I can't do myself, the guy at my regular scooter shop is top-notch, affordable, and fine with working on bikes he didn't sell (he's a motorcycle guy and motorcycle mechanic; the scooter shop is all about students being a big market).

And, here's the big thing:

For $2k of that $2,118.95, I can just liquidate Bitcoin and get Amazon gift cards (there's a $2k max for gift card balance at Amazon or I might have just ordered a KPM 200 from them). Instead of financing the bike, I'd just be $118.95 out of pocket (plus taxes and tags). And then I could come back and buy at least some of the modification parts using Bitcoin as well.

The friends whose advice I value keep telling me to "buy the bike I want for the long-term."

I think the KP Mini is it, really.

Quality-wise, it should be at least a 10-year bike for me. The Lifan engine lasts and Lifan seems to be pretty good on other parts as well.

AI and some rider experience reviews indicate it's trustworthy for longer trips. Not comfy like a 1200cc touring bike, but I've done hundred-milers on a similar rider position platform. I've also slept in holes in the snow, mud puddles, under gear in five-ton trucks on bumpy dirt roads, etc. I don't think I'd be any more uncomfortable after riding this thing than after driving similar distances in an SUV because my discomforts are age-related.

With mods, it would even be a "freeway bike" as necessary.

It's got a big fan/rider community to go to for advice.

And again, I like the mini moto platform. I like the rider posture. I like the size. It's comfortable. It's easy to ride. It's fun to ride.

Oh, and it comes in black and yellow (I've built a little bit of a wardrobe around the Bulldog's color scheme):

I'm about 95% sold on this bike, and may pull the trigger this weekend unless I receive convincing advice that makes me rethink. Or unless someone just decides for me (on this bike or the KPM 200) via my Amazon Wish List.

Wordle 1484 Hint

Hint: When you're forced to leave and not allowed to return.

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First Letter: E

Wordle 1483 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle might appear before "new," or after "name" or "store."

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First Letter: B

Wordle 1482 Hint

Hint: Looks like today's Wordle makes you a bit nervous.

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First Letter: J

The Bulldog Came Home Yesterday, Nearly Perfect

Nearly perfect, but not perfect, not due to any lack of effort on the part of the shop owner / mechanic.

The bike needed a new key switch, which implies a new key.

The bike doesn't just have one lock, though. It has four: The ignition lock, the gas cap cover lock, the storage compartment lock, and the seat lock.

The scooter shop guy ordered the set.

The set that arrived was missing the seat lock.

So he called the supplier (which is the upstream seller, "Italica Motors," of the bikes themselves). The guy he talked with went and pulled five random boxes of key switch replacement sets off the shelf to check, and none of them included the seat lock.

I suspect I know why: Italica Motors sells mostly "scooter" platform vehicles of the type where the seat is unlocked from the ignition switch. Somewhere along the "we'll need spare parts for this new model" supply chain, someone forgot that this particular model has a separate lock set for the seat, not just for a storage compartment and gas cap cover. Given the newness of the Bulldog model, I might very well be the first owner who needed a replacement key switch, leaving that oversight unnoticed until now.

So anyway, now I have two keys instead of one to keep track of.

No biggie, and more than made up for by the scooter shop guy (who also sold me the bike) covering it, parts and labor, under warranty, even though Italica Motors wouldn't.

I already knew that Dave at Campus Scooters was a stand-up guy, and I intend to continue bringing my two-wheeled vehicles, of whatever make/model, to him for repairs and maintenance.

I also intend to remember that Italica Motors can't be trusted to honor their warranties even on small issues. They tried to nickel-and-dime me, and ended up nickel-and-diming one of their own dealers, on a  minor "of course that's covered, it's a defective part well within the warranty period" issue. If I ever buy another Italica, it will be a used one that's no longer under warranty.

Wordle 1481 Hint

Hint: We got seven of them from Ernest Hemingway.

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First Letter: N

All Motorcycle Decisions Are Tentative Until I Hand Someone Money and Get Keys And A Title ...

... but at the moment, my "dream bike" is the Lifan KPM 200. It's just a matter of seeing one used/affordable, or getting the requisite money ($3.5-$4k including taxes, tags, etc.) together.

Or, of course, something else could pop into view.

I was already looking longingly at the KPM 200, but then I came across two videos that pretty much said "this is the 75 miles-per-hour, freeway-capable-if-needed, longer-trip-worthy, nimble platform you've been looking for."

There's an assembly/test video, and a review video, both from the same channel. In reverse order (the main takeaway from the assembly/test video is that it won't be terrible to put together if I buy it via Amazon rather than from a local dealer):

While I Await The Italica Bulldog's Key Switch Repair ...

... I've finally decide to do a little risky wrenching myself.

Remember the 50cc Italica Grace scooter?

I had big plans for it. Replace the air box with a performance filter (done). Redecorate it in festive style (done). Replace a mirror I broke accidentally laying it down while at a full stop in sand (done). Lighten the CVT weights for (not noticeably) increased top speed (done). Install an 80cc bore kit, new, bigger carburetor, performance exhaust ... not done.

Here's what it looked like pre-mirror-replacement:

I was really afraid to tear into the thing, because it was my transportation. I was burning down the road on it, and probably burning the engine up. It made 80-mile trips, and shorter ones but kind of unreasonably long / fast road ones for what it is, as well as getting me around town. Before I got up the nerve to actually try being a mechanic on it and maybe messing it up beyond repair, I decided to just go ahead and move up to the Italica Bulldog 150.

My youngest rode it around the neighborhood for fun, until he went down on it after whizzing around a traffic circle multiple times and swore off for a little while. He'd also managed to get the turn signal switch stuck.

My plan was to scrap it, but then Tamara asked me about the box taking up space -- the box with the new carburetor and bore kit.

Well, if I was planning to scrap it anyway, why not do the work on it first?

If it comes out really well, go ahead and renew the tags ($24, IIRC) this November, see if that youngest wants to finally get his license and have a "50cc" scooter (actually 80cc, but who would know?) to get around on for real?

Yesterday, I made sure it still runs, fixed that signal switch, and stripped the fairings.

This weekend or next, I'll roll it over to my mechanic friend's house and ask him to advise me as I install the bore kit and new carburetor.

If that goes well, I'll order the exhaust (and, while I'm at it, a new plug and coil and if necessary CDI) and decide whether it's worth sand-blasting and repainting the fairings (to the kid's preferred scheme) or if I should look for cheap replacements. That's probably close to $100 that I'm not going to spend in advance.

If it doesn't go well, it will be completely screwed and not really worth saving anything from, so I'll roll it onto my mechanic friend's trash trailer and pay him a few bucks to take it to the dump next time he goes.

Either way, I'll know a little more than I did about working on small engines and scooters/motorcycles.

Wordle 1480 Hint

Hint: Like that one pirate -- Roberts, I believe his name was.

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First Letter: D

This Is The First Time I Recall Feeling Sorry For Pam Bondi

As US Attorney General, Pam Bondi promised, and pushed for, the release of Jeffrey Epstein's "client list," even claiming to actually have it on her desk.

Then, yesterday, a conveniently leaked DOJ/FBI memo denied that such a list exists.

Now MAGA seems to be mad at Bondi for claiming the list exists and promising to release it.

But they should be mad at the memo's creators/leakers.

You know the list exists.

I know the list exists.

Bondi knows the list exists.

Everyone knows the list exists.

Everyone's also seen the photos of Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein arm in arm at parties, etc., the disclosures that Trump flew on Epstein's "Lolita Express" at least seven times, Trump's public acknowledgement that he knew Epstein "likes them young," etc.

Trump's name, and other names inconvenient to disclosing the list, are almost certainly on the list. So the list has to stop existing. It's as simple as that, and that's not Pam Bondi's fault, unless she's also on the list and cooperating with its concealment, which seems unlikely.

Will the Texas Floods Kill Off (Real) Summer Camps?

It's still unclear how many child/teen campers and staff are dead in Texas after flash flooding. The non-denominational Camp Mystic has confirmed 27 dead, and there are a lot more dead and missing in an area that's home to several other camps.

No, this is not one of those attempts to assign political blame for the tragedy. I doubt there's any such blame to assign, and am really not interested in playing said game. It's just a tragedy that should be respectfully treated as such.

But, I wonder, could the tragedy effectively kill off summer camps?

Microsoft Copilot tells me that summer camp attendance has been growing over the years. That seems counter-intuitive, given the whole "helicopter parenting" era. Likely explanatory: The claim seems to include "day camps," where parents ship their little darlings off for a few hours per day of supervised "socialization" and then bring them home for bed.

When I think of "summer camp," I don't think of Vacation Bible School or of "public" schools feeding some kids lunch and showing them a movie or letting them play flag football, then sending them home for the night. To me "summer camp" involves the kids packing up some clothes, etc. and heading off to either a tent campground, or a remote location with barracks-style accommodation, for several days of outdoor activities.

To be clear, my own "summer camp" experiences were of the tent variety and never more than a few days in length -- church-sponsored things with the "Royal Rangers," the Assemblies of God denomination's riff on the Boy Scouts. I enjoyed them, but they weren't the kind of thing you see in old movies like The Parent Trap, where it's a week long or longer, with dorms, team sports, contests, etc. Probably because my parents couldn't afford the cost of shipping me off for a couple of weeks.

Anyway, in my view, "day camps" aren't camps. They're non-sleepover group babysitting operations.

So when I ask if the flood tragedy is going to hurt "summer camp" as a thing, I'm referring to "at least a week away from home/parents, in a remote area, with a substantial group."

Every kid, and every parent, in America is hearing about the Texas floods and the "summer camp" death toll. And they're going to find that scary, because these days Americans find everything scary, no matter how unlikely it is to actually befall them.

I predict a lot more teenagers sitting at home with their Nintendo consoles or whatever next summer instead of shopping for sturdy boots and backpacks and heading for the woods. Which is a shame, but we were headed in that direction anyway.

Wordle 1479 Hint

Hint: Get two of today's Wordle and you'll be walking tall!

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First Letter: S

Wordle 1478 Hint

Hint: Think courtyards in buildings or entry chambers in hearts .

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First Letter: A

Wordle 1477 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle uses consolidation and compression to make transporting and storing hay more efficient.

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First Letter: B

Fairly Short and Hopefully Spoiler-Free Review: The Old Guard 2

TL;DR: Disappointing. Sequels always struggle to meet or exceed viewer expectations, but this one got very cookie-cutter very quickly. I didn't hate it, but it just didn't come close to satisfying fans' -- or at least this fan's -- anticipation of a great outing.

Trailer:

Longer Version:

The Old Guard 2 isn't so much a sequel that ends with the set-up for a third film as the first part of a two-part film.

A complete film wraps up with some kind of plot closure, its marquee goal having been achieved, even though it may (these days, usually does) work in a hook at the end of the film implying there are more stories to tell.

The Old Guard 2 ends in the middle of its story, at a "major setback" point, with an explicit promise on the part of the main character (Andromache of Scythia, aka Andy, played by Charlize Theron) to finish the story. Its only "story closure" element, and that a partial one) involves a sub-plot that closed the first movie (the fate of Quỳnh).

Furthermore the getting there is drawn out, in ways that make the characters and their stories less compelling, to get the movie to its 105-minute run time and still hit that "cliffhanger" right at the end. 

The makers would have better served the story by just making a long single film -- 2 1/2 to 3 hours -- that tells the whole story tightly, or setting up a different plot arc that gives real closure to this story with the traditional sequel "hook." The actors all do their jobs well, but basically cutting the script in half, then artificially fluffing up each half to full-film length, makes it harder for them to keep things interesting.

That doesn't mean there's nothing good about The Old Guard 2.

The new (Discord and Thua) and nearly-new (Quỳnh) characters help fill out the franchise's "universe," or at least should do so, and all the actors, new and returning, did well with the room their characters were given.

The action scenes work, although not as well as in the original film.

There are a couple of specific character relationship elements to the film that are worthwhile. Making a longer film with the full story, or telling a shorter story and leaving the play-out of one of those elements for the third film, would have made them even better, but they're well-done.

Many of my Fairly Short and Hopefully Spoiler-Free Reviews summarize as "if you like this franchise/ kind of movie, you'll like this film." This one gets the opposite take. At the end of The Old Guard 2, I suspect that if you loved the first film, you'll seriously wondering whether you should have just let yourself be satisfied with it instead of wanting a follow-up.

Which brings up one of my pet peeves: There was a time when you could tell a story and the story was told, be it in book, comic book, or film format. Sequel? Maybe, maybe not. No biggie either way.

Star Wars may have been the end of that era. Now it's all about wringing every last dime out of "the IP." Sequel! Prequel! Spinoff! Reboot! I can't help but think that in putting together The Old Guard 2, the creative thinking was entirely oriented toward "franchise"/"cinematic universe" considerations, at the expense of telling a worthwhile story well.

Wordle 1476 Hint

Hint: There are many types of today's Wordle, including "bell" and "Laffer."

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First Letter: C

Because You've Come to Expect Revised Motorcycle Thoughts ...

The Italica Bulldog 150 went to the shop today -- under its own power.

After the key switch seemed well and truly f*cked the other day, I conferred with the shop about picking it up next week when the new key switch arrived. No problem. But this morning, after making sure they would be open and happy to just keep the bike there, I decided to get medieval on the key switch. Instead of gently wiggling it and hoping for power, I used quite a bit of force wiggling it around. The bike started and I rode it to the shop without incident.

Bonus: I asked the proprietor of Campus Scooters how much this was going to cost so I could make sure I had the cash in pocket. He said he was going to give Italica a yell about covering it under warranty (the bike is less than a year old and just hit 2,000 miles), and if they wouldn't cover it he would. I told him he at least should get some labor pay, and he told me it would either be nothing or so little to just not worry about what I have in my wallet when I pick the bike up. So as I've said before, I'll say again -- fantastic shop, fantastic owner.

Which brings me back to the "new bike or improve this one?" question.

At least two people have advised me "don't put a bunch of money in this bike -- go find the bike you want." And I am looking. But I continue to think about what I want, and about what I will realistically do with what I want.

Realistically, I'm just not that likely to hop on a motorcycle and ride to Seattle

I really, really, really want more range than I've tested the Bulldog at  -- trips of about 100 miles total, no more, in one day. I get nervous about running it more than that on a single-day basis because it has a cheap Chinese GY-6 engine. Average life span, 10k-20k miles.

I wouldn't mind a bike with a beefy enough engine that I could put, say, 500 miles on it in a day without being worried that it will just melt down.

But I think I'd be reasonably happy with a bike that I believed I could ride 200 miles in a day -- not every day, just occasionally -- and not worry about engine wear/collapse.

I also want a bike that's at least a little faster than the 60 miles per hour the Bulldog will do. 70 miles per hour would be great. 80 would be all I could ever realistically need. More than that would be fun but completely unnecessary.

As for rider posture, I was originally thinking "cruiser" -- leaning back like I'm in a recliner, legs stretched out forward.

What I just can't do is the "lie down leaning forward on the bike with your feet behind you" sport posture. Not comfortable even if I didn't have a bad lower back.

What I've become used to, and like more and more, is "standard" posture -- sitting up straight, foot pegs straight down. That's the Bulldog.

I also like the "mini moto" platform in general. It's not huge. It's not heavy. It's agile. Most bikes in the class don't have a bunch of weird-ass "ride modes" and stuff. If they have any digital stuff on them at all it's digital speedometer/tachometer/gas gauge. The Bulldog fits all those criteria.

I've already spent about $400 on hardware to improve it (air scoop, performance fan, variator/belt upgrade) and just make it fit my whims (bar end mirrors, grips, "cruise control" devices), so I have about $2600 in the bike, counting taxes/tags but not counting consumables/maintenance (gas, oil, gear oil).

I would expect to put another $500-700 into the bike to get the engine in the state I'd prefer and probably make it last more than the 20k mile top average. Performance air, performance exhaust, carburetor re-jetting or new carb, oil cooler.

So, my total investment in making the Bulldog "the bike I want," or at least pretty close to it, would be $3,000 to $3,200, most of it already made/paid. I'm $500-700 away from "this is the best version of a bike I like a lot."

Or I could spend $1,000-$2,000 on a "new to me" used motorcycle that I would also want to modify/improve even if it didn't turn out to have problems I didn't notice when buying it, but recoup at least some of that cost by selling the Bulldog.

Or I could buy a new motorcycle (and recoup part of the cost by selling the Bulldog).

The two "new motorcycle" candidates I have in mind are the Lifan KPM 200 and the Lifan KP Mini 150 RS EFI. A third place bike, but not a distant third, is the plain KP Mini 150.

Realistically, the "price out the door" for the KPM 200 is at least $3,500. It's 198cc, single cylinder, liquid cooled, six-speed, listed top speed stock 75 miles per hour. With minimal modifications (less than $500), probably 80 mph.

The KP Mini 150 (probably around $2000 "out the door") and KP Mini 150 RS EFI (closer to $3,000) are the same bike -- air-cooled 149cc engine, five-speed transmission -- but the latter has fuel injection instead of a carburetor and supposedly a different engine tune that makes more horsepower/torque and gets it to 65 mph instead of 60 mph stock. Minimal mods ($200 or so) get the RS EFI to 70 miles per hour. More extensive mods would probably do that for the regular Mini.

In terms of platform, the KP Minis are a lot like the Bulldog -- upright rider posture, small alloy wheels, etc. -- right down to the one thing I don't like about the Bulldog, which is a small gas tank (1.4 gallons). They're supposed to get better gas mileage, though, probably because of the manual transmission helping you keep RPMs down (something I addressed on the Bulldog with the variator upgrade).

But the KP Minis have Lifan NBF150 engines in them. Those engines seem to have about twice the average lifespan of the GY6. I could probably expect to get 40,000 miles out of one of those engines -- more if I install an oil cooler, etc. Rider reviews seem to indicate these bikes are good for 100-200 mile trips, no problem except maybe a sore ass from sitting on them for that long.

Oh, and one additional benefit -- the KP Minis are fairly "naked," making it much easer to get into their engine compartments for maintenance, repairs, and modifications. The fairings on the Bulldog are beautiful, but it's a real pain in the ass to even change the spark plug.

So, I can spend another $500-$700 perfecting a bike I already own and really like, that probably has at least 18,000 more miles in the engine.

Or I could spend $1-2k (less whatever I get for the Bulldog afterward) on a used bike and hope for the best; the benefit is that I probably get something with a solid, long-living engine that goes 80 miles per hour or faster and, once I ensure it's reliable, is reliable for longer trips.

Or I could spend $2k-$3.5k (less whatever I get for the Bulldog afterward) on a new, longer-living, longer-non-worry range, version of the Bulldog that has a "real" transmission. 

It's still a dilemma, but I'm leaning toward the first or third option, mostly because I'm not seeing the used bike I want at the price I want to pay on the market at the moment.

Wordle 1475 Hint

Hint: It grows in meadows in Oz, as well as on graves in Flanders.

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First Letter: P

I Don't Think So

Vice:

Is McDonald’s Losing Customers Because of Weight Loss Drugs?

The logic being that since GLP drugs suppress appetite, people will go to McDonald's less often.

Unless those drugs actually change the kind of food that people want to eat, it's not about losing customers, it's about selling less food to each of those customers.

The customer still goes to McDonald's, because to the extent that customer is hungry, he or she still likes their food ... but doesn't feel like eating as much of that food. So instead of ordering the Double Quarter Pounder combo meal, "make it large," with a McFlurry for dessert, that customer orders a McDouble and small drink.

Which may actually hurt McDonalds's bottom line more, because they need just as many people staffing the drive-thru, cooking food, etc., even though each purchase is smaller. They save on materials costs, but labor costs, facilities overhead, etc. don't really come down.

Wordle 1474

Hint: Today's Wordle is about bringing something on yourself (like taking on debt, for example).

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First Letter: I

Word PSA

vacation, n. Intermission of a stated employment, procedure, or office; a period of intermission; rest; leisure.

Tamara is on vacation.

I noticed she was on her computer, and asked what she was up to.

Work stuff, she said.

But you're on vacation, I said.

I know, she said.

So, I asked, why are you doing work stuff?

Work doesn't stop just because I'm on vacation, she said.

I know, I said, but when you're on vacation, someone else does the work. That's what vacation is.

Shut up, she explained.

It reminds me of something.

Seems Like an Empty Threat to Me ...

Per Reuters (emphasis mine):

Iran-linked hackers have threatened to disclose more emails stolen from U.S. President Donald Trump's circle, after distributing a prior batch to the media ahead of the 2024 U.S. election.

In online chats with Reuters on Sunday and Monday, the hackers, who go by the pseudonym Robert, said they had roughly 100 gigabytes of emails from the accounts of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, Trump adviser Roger Stone and porn star-turned-Trump antagonist Stormy Daniels.

They're "threatening" to do something again that didn't accomplish anything the first time. Big whoop.

The problems with trying to embarrass Trump or his "inner circle":

1. It's impossible to embarrass Trump at all; and
2. It's impossible to effectually embarrass his "inner circle." Trump might throw some of them under the bus occasionally if he thinks their embarrassment undercuts their usefulness to him, but if he still finds them useful he doesn't care how embarrassed they are or how embarrassed he should be by them.

Wordle 1473 Hint

Hint: Like Roquefort or Gorgonzola.

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First Letter: M

Thanks For Asking! -- 07/01/25

AMA time! Ask me anything (yes, anything) in comments, I'll answer in comments or linked from same.

Anything, but not anybody -- if you're the resident Disqus-accountless sick troll, your sick questions will likely just be deleted. Not because the questions are sick, but because you are.