THE SWINE-LINE

1450 Karen Way Fairbanks, AK 99709

Outpost Web Page – http://www.harleyoutpost.com

Fairbanks HOG Web Page – http://www.fairbankshog.org

Fairbanks HOG e-mail - oldiron@mosquitonet.com

Our Web site sponsor - http://www.fairnet.org

The next General Membership meeting will be held at the Badger Den on May 6th at 7:00 P.M. Don't forget, everyone that attends a meeting will receive a 5% off coupon toward Outpost purchases

For members receiving the Swine-Line by snail mail who would like to receive it by E-mail as well as mid-month updates please forward your e-mail address to Cindy

From the Director

I was riding up to Fox the other day and it all of a sudden struck me… there's leaves on the trees! This spring metamorphosis happens so fast up here you can have naked trees in the yard one day and the next they have on their green attire. The animals are all out in force doing their best spring love dance (including the two legged ones!) This is just the beginning of a great riding season we have ahead of us. Of course, my favorite time of the year in Alaska is any time I can ride the old Road King. I have never seen so many new scooters on the road as I have in the last few weeks. It seems that Harley Davidson fits in quite well with the Fairbanks community. Although I've put on a few miles, In the past I haven't been able to make too many of the Tuesday or Saturday rides we have scheduled for one reason or another. If you're a typical Alaskan, you have more than a couple vehicles in your yard, a boat or two, some ATVs and snow machines, and they all need attention! Not to mention the house needs paint, a new deck needs built, and the yard and garden work needs done. When do we ever have time to ride? Well, I for one am going to make a concerted effort to make at least one of those rides a week. The season's not that long you know. We have a schedule of events and rides on the web site and if anyone has suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact me. If you see some of those new Harley owners out and about, ask them if they are members of the Fairbanks Chapter and if not, bring them to the next meeting. Ride safe and ride free!
Raven

SECRETARY - Lori Price

Please help us to update the chapter's membership roster. All local members must be a member of national H.O.G. before joining the local H.O.G. chapter. If you joined the local H.O.G chapter by completing an application at the Shop, but did not become a national H.O.G member first you need to do that. You can become a National member by going to the Shop or on-line at http://www.hog.com. If you have questions please contact Lori Price or Aleshia Purcell at the Outpost. If you have different information please let us know.

Hi, every one out there! Are you ready to go riding? I know I am. Winters been to long this year !How many of you have, PMS (PARKED MOTORCYCLE SYNDROME)? About this time of year it gets really bad in our house, now that 2 of us ride our own. I have a cure for the PMS.
So here it is! The LOH Tuesday night ride schedule. All are invited to join us. It's just another night to ride and put some miles under your butts. Just because it is called LOH rides doesn't mean that you guys can't join us on Tuesdays. Its Just called LOH dinner rides because its the LOH who organizes Tuesday night. Please every one come with a FULL TANK of GAS, and have some riding fun on Tuesday nights. I am not sure when I will be able to get out of my road. It will depend on when they take out the hard pack and how long it takes for the soft mud to dry up. soon I hope. We had the hard pack taken out of the drive so at least that much is done. Now if the borough would do our road and we would be ahead of the game.
So until Next month!
Nancy

Members who receive the Swine-Line through the mail and would like to begin receiving an e-mail version are asked to forward their e-mail address to me at c.gollwitzer1@gci.net. In addition to cutting down on the newsletter mailing costs members who request e-mail distribution will receive monthly activities updates when available. The deadline for submissions to be included in the Swineline is the 15th of the month.

It looks like break up is here and along with it we have to deal with that great traction control stuff that is put down on the roads in the winter; pea gravel. That stuff is like riding over ball bearings, so be aware and take your time. Spring in Alaska can be real interesting; the temperature can be 60 degrees during the day and 30 degrees by evening. Hypothermia can be a real problem, your body temp starts to drop, you start to shake, and your brain decides to go on vacation without you. The wind chill index while riding 65 mph in 45 degree temperature is 32 degrees. Making use of multiple layers of clothing, adding and subtracting as necessary will help, along with warm gloves and some type of head protection, for that cool ride home in the evening. This will help to ward off hypothermia only if you have the stuff with you.

Ride smart, see you on the road soon.
Dave

Springtime and we're getting the bikes back out from their long hibernation, so what do we do to get them ready to ride? The best thing to do is to go find your owner's manual and look up the 2500-mile service. The 2500 service is a general look over to see if something needs attention. I perform this service weekly when riding and it's nothing that is beyond the average rider.

When getting the bike ready in the spring you might first need to get the battery charged if you didn't make the investment in a battery tender. For a motorcycle battery you don't want anything bigger than a two-amp charger. You want to slow charge the battery to get a good deep charge in it. Don't jump-start the bike and try to charge the battery by taking a ride, that won't get the deep charge the battery needs. If you don't have or don't feel comfortable around this take the battery into the Outpost and they'll be happy to charge your battery.

Now for your 2500-mile service;

1: Check your oil, you should have changed the oil last fall but check the level anyway. Depending on your bike you might find the oil level a little high or low, don't add any unless your down by a full quart, you might find that missing oil when you start riding. You will want to check the level again after taking a short shakedown ride.

2: Inspect your drive belt, tension and for damage, see your owner's manual for instructions. If your not sure what or how call a friend or run it by the Outpost and have them show you how.

3: Check your transmission fluid; consult your owner's manual for specifics for your bike.

4: Check your brake pads and rotors for wear and damage. Again your owner's manual tells you in detail what to look for and how to do it.

5: Check your fuel lines and fittings for leaks.

6: Check your tires for tread and air pressure. You can get gauges for both tread depth and air pressure at any auto parts store. The air pressure for your bike again is in your owner's manual.

7: Check the throttle for smooth opening and make sure it will snap closed when you let go of it. If you have a carb check your enrichner cable to make sure it's ok.

8: Check all your lights, turn signals, brake lights, high & low beams, engine stop switch and horn to make sure everything's working ok.

9: Take the bike out for a short ride, go slow and listen for any strange noises, vibrations, wiggles or anything else that just doesn't feel or sound right. Then go back home and check the bike for loose nuts, bolts or anything else that don't look right. Take your time and look close. Just be careful of hot parts.

At this point if everything looks good you're ready to go and have fun. Like I said to begin with I do this weekly during riding season, usually while giving the bike a bath. It's a good habit to get into and it takes just a few minutes once you get the hang of it.

Rich Barlow

The Board has put together an event schedule that is full of fun and excitement. This year will be the start of Thursday night "Bike Night". Instead of a Thursday night ride the gang will be at the Badger Den starting at 6:00 pm. The idea is to socialize and get to know everybody instead of dashing off on your bike. There will be Saturday rides leaving from the Outpost, as well as, Tuesday Night Dinner Rides planned by the LOH. There will be plenty of opportunity to ride. Remember safety is paramount and the Thursday night get togethers should be a good time. So come on out to the first one on the 19th of May. See you there!
The Chatanika run is on a Saturday this year and Ronnie is planning the usual BBQ fare. You will get plenty to eat for $14.75 and if you are so inclined you can get a room or drive on up in your RV. Girls With Guitars will be providing the tunes. There will be bike games and prizes.
The Meet In the Middle Run is on May 28th. You can make reservations at the Denali Grizzly Bear campground, the number is 1-866-583-2696. On Sunday the group will ride to Byers Lake for the Veteran's Memorial Service.
June and July are jam packed full of events too! We would like to see maximum participation. The more the merrier.

May 3, 2005 Ivory Jacks 455-6665
May 10, 2005 Midway 488-2939
May 17, 2005 Pizza Hut, Airport Way 456-5656
May 24, 2005 Chatanika Lodge 389-2164
May 31, 2005 Dalman's 488-1463
June 7, 2005 Monderosa 832-5243
June 14, 2005 Hill Top Truck Stop 389-7600
June 21, 2005 Pagoda 488-3338
June 28, 2005 Blue Loon 457-5666
July 5, 2005 Midway 488-2939
July 12, 2005 Ivory Jacks 455-6665
July 19, 2005 Pizza Hut North Pole 488-4754
July 26, 2005 Players Bar and Grill 456-7427
Aug. 2, 2005 Monderosa 832-5243
Aug. 9, 2005 Dalman's 488-1463
Aug. 16, 2005 Chatanika Lodge 389-2164
Aug. 23, 2005 Ivory Jacks 455-6665
Aug. 30, 2005 Hilltop Truck Stop . 389-7600

Plus more to come!!!!
If you have any questions, you can contact me at # jking@gci.net or 372-2791

Shauna in Whitehorse is encouraging any of our members that would like to attend their rally to get their registrations in and also to get reservations for hotels, etc.as things are filling up fast.Her number is 867-456-7433and the rally website is www.rideyukon.com.Deadline for registration is May 15, 2005.

Registration will be available soon for the Fairbanks Rally.

Ads can be submitted to the editor via e-mail: c.gollwitzer1@gci.net or dropped off at the shop to be put in the Editor's box.

SWINELINE EDITOR
C/O: Gollwitzer
P.O.Box 55574

Sears Craftsman Truck Toolbox. Fits midsize p/u truck. New in box. Black plastic.$110.00 Larry 457-1011

For Sale- 1994 Ford Explorer, V6, 4-wheel drive, 112,000 miles, auto start with remote locks, new Pioneer stereo with CD player, gets 17 mpg, new IM, fully winterized, body in good condition, ABS brakes, cruise control, asking $4,900.00 OBO. Call Tom at home 488-9649 or cell 460-4307.

Computers have diminished in price to the point where software is a large part of the cost. You can buy a desktop computer (less monitor & shipping) for $250.00 to $300.00. The rest of the cost is software. With the advent of Linux and the Open Software Foundation, you can outfit your computer with all the software you need for free and interesting enough, many of the software programs written for Linux have versions that run on Windows. I will attempt to review one cross platform software program in each copy of the newsletter so the windows users can sample what Linux software has to offer.

I invested in one of those Mp3 players this month. The one decided on is about twice the size of your auto-start clicker, has 4 hours of internal storage, and has a slot for an SD memory card, adding 15 hours of recorded music (1 gb card). It also runs 50 hrs on a standard AA battery, something you can find on the road. With the addition of an FM transmitter, it replaces the 10 disk CD player that use to be on the bagger, and takes up a none of the valuable storage needed on our long trips (it also doesn't skip when ya hit a bump). The one I bought is made by RCA and stocked by the local Radio Shack. There are many, and maybe better options on the market, but this fit the bill, and I'm not much for shopping.

This brings us to this month's software review. The player came with ripper software, to convert your CD's to Mp3's. It took about 20 minutes to decide that it was a mistake installing the software. It degraded system speed dramatically, constantly bothered ya with ad's, upgrade come-on's, and was buggy (lock-up's & re-boots necessary). After un-installing the software, I spent about 90 minutes striping 120 registry entrys left over after the un-install. This is normal and is one of the main reasons why Windows computers slow down and eventually stop functioning without a re-build (bug or intent - you decide!). Bottom line - I started looking for decent software.

AUDIOGRABBER is what I found. As always, it runs on Linux or Windows, and is Free. Ripping the CD's is a no-brainer. Start the program, insert a CD, click on the Penguin, which loads all the information for the tracks, (requires internet connection) and hit Grab. By default it saves the songs as .wav along with .mp3, which is OK but takes up a lot of space. Under Settings, you can change it to just save the .mp3. The only issue encountered was finding the .mp3's after they were created. The default dumps the songs in the same directory as the program files. I looked for a way to change the directory and did not find a menu selection. If you want to store your music files in another place, go to the audiograbber dircctory, you will find a file listed as: audiograbber.ini. Open the file with notepad and scroll down to: DestinationDirectory=C:\audiograbber Change it to your choice of an existing directory and save the file. Enjoy.

Past Software reviews.

Bi11

Need Help? send me an e-mail

FAIRBANKS HOG CHAPTER
H-D FARTHEST NORTH OUTPOST
1450 KAREN WAY
FAIRBANKS, AK 99709