Memphis

O.K. so I listed some guns for sale and I've gotten more responses to the trip then the guns. As requested I'll bore you with the mundane details (I use that term loosely) and how this all came about. So I just turned 36 on March 5 and around that same time it had dawned on me that I am a motorcyclist. Not just a motorcyclist but, a certifiable moto nut of 30+ years! I seem to have let riding get tossed to the wayside in the last few years since I was in a severe car accident on my 33rd birthday. I busted up both shoulders, lots of cuts and bruising and a broken neck. I received a nice sum of $$ and began getting into my old secondary hobby which was shooting. I LOVE it but, since I'm a bit compulsive, I couldn't maintain the pace at which I was shooting (read going broke). I'm broke now anyway but not because of shooting. Life happens. Anyway, back to the whole moto thing. I was looking to get back into bikes by purchasing a super-moto to just ride and be an a** hole whenever I got time. Super-moto is a dirt bike with street tires and they are typically treated as such. One website led to another and I found myself on ADVrider DOT com which is where this whole thing really started to gain momentum. From there my memory was jogged back to a truly serene time in my life when I owned a couple of dual purpose bikes (along with every other type of motorcycle) and I really liked getting off work on Saturday and just wasting gas for a weekend. I slept in a mummy bag most nights and ate canned chili or what ever I could kill with my BB pistol. Despite having a plasma T.V. before anyone else, a nice house and all the comforts one could want, I just wanted to ride and see stuff. Adventure riding is so much more than a track day or scenic mountain slab on a sport bike or a cruiser. You can a do ride pretty much anywhere you want. A little more back story to my "early mid-life" causes are the fact that I am a survivor of several close calls with death in my life including being a cancer survivor twice by age 28. At age 27 I was diagnosed with stage 3 Testicular cancer that had metastasized to my lungs, heart and brain. I also had a secondary cancer growing that was not diagnosed until after my surgery, hence the 2 cancers in 1 year. They gave me 3 months and I gave them the finger! Here I am 8 years later still on this side of the dirt. Fact is, I'm NOT having a mid-life. I'm a rider. I'm an explorer. I always have been. I'm not looking to go find myself or any of that crap. I know who I am and that's why this has to be done. I'm not couch potato or a city councilman or a 9 to 5er. I've become those things by NOT listening to myself and trying to be a man that I'm not meant to be. Riding is really the only thing I have found to bring peace to myself. I love my family but these are not things that cause peace as much as some might say/think. I've always been responsible for everything in my life and that causes a lot of stress I guess. Riding just fixes that for me. I like the solitude of riding and solitude in general. Of course I'm a "people person" too but, I enjoy time alone. So the general plan: A. Find a bike.-----------------------Done. 2009 Suzuki DR650 with lots of farkles. B: Get money to buy bike.----------Working on it. http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=149077 Help!!! C: Get more money to take trip.---Working on that too. http://orlando.craigslist.org/bfs/2926862343.html D: Get more gear so I don't die.----Well I don't have a link for that but, my whole life is for sale. Guns, TVs, books, magazines, furniture, computers and clothes. I'll list it all in a couple days on CL I guess. E: Get blog up so the cool guys on FSN can follow me.---I'm working on it now actually. F: LEAVE!!! My general plan is to slowly make my way to Mexico and cross at a small border into Baja. I'll putter through the desert and ferry the bike back onto mainland Mex. I'll likely stop at a hostel in the southern tip for a few weeks to practice my Spanish. I'm studying Rosetta Stone now so I don't get too worked over by bad cops and such but, I'd like to learn local dialect differences too. I really want this trip to flow naturally so I have planned a bunch of routes and deadlines to make me crazy. If I like where I am, I'll stay a bit, if not, I'll plan on the next place and get-ta-ridin'. I have lots of time once I'm cashed out and because the seasons are opposite in the Southern Hemisphere I have no intention of leaving until October or November anyway. The desert is hot all the time but, I'd rather not freeze to death in an Argentinian winter. When I get to the bottom of the world, if I like traveling as much as I think I will and I learn to make money on the road somehow, I'll keep going. Back to the U.S., Canada, AK. I'd like to fly over to Russia and go the route in Long Way Round (but backwards). Who knows, maybe you guys will like living vicariously through me and donate to the site when it's up. Of course if I don't get these guns sold quick, I may delayed for another year or so. The deal I have set up is phenomenal but, it has an expiration date.

It will stick very well actually. Most people don't realize that grip tape should be heated a little ( I just use a lighter) when it's being applied. I use actual skateboard grip tape from Lucky Brand. I shot all my IDPA with a G4 G17 last year and after the first sweltering FL shoot, I realized grip tape would be needed to ensure a good grip for me. I just received my G4 G35 and shot my first USPSA of the year Sunday and I covered the entire grip and some slide portions with grip tape. I can't have had a better time and never felt I had to re-grip my hand. BTW, I shot like crap but it was a great time anyway.

Glad I read this before I ordered a G model. I'm awaiting a reply for the source besides paying full retail through CR.

I actually like cleaning my guns most days. Not so much after but always in between competitions I fully strip my gun for inspection and cleaning. I guess to me it would be like racing my motorcycle with out checking it end to end first. It's a safety issue for me more than a cleaning issue.

I'm not sure of legality but, I had one on a Mossburg 500. I cycled fine and looks pretty cool however, I found the weight to be significant and the fore end must be used which may require you to change your natural grip. Since the round capacity isn't amazing and it centers all the weight (not a good thing IMO) I would vote to pass on this one whether it's legal or not. They are not manufactured anymore. Too many problems with cycling, even though mine was fine, and they are pretty expensive.

I'll be the first to admit that F*** is my favorite word. That being said, I do my best to keep it under wraps in public since I'm aware of how angry it makes me when I hear someone else say it in front of children. In a private conversation between friends though, Debra Morgan has nothing on me. Google her if you don't know who I'm talking about.

I take deep breaths before the buzzer but in the nose and out the mouth. Since I suffer from stage fright at times I'm going to try this one out. Thanks for sharing.

Seems like a lot of guys shoot a few classes and I'm assuming it keeps it interesting for them. I'd say I'm with Seth in the renewed interest is nice to keep the juices flowing. I mainly shoot IDPA just because it's more available in my immediate area but, I shoot 3 classes. Glocks are cheap, easy and just one of my favorite pistols so I shoot SSP with a G4 G17. The 1911 is my first love and daily carry so I shoot a S.A. Operator for CDP. Sometimes I compete with a Sig 229 as well but I'm not classified in ESP since I only shoot it once a year or so. All USPSA is shot with a G4 G17 but, I'm having a G3 G35 stippled and it will the dedicated USPSA gun till I go into open again. I'm going to wait till my near vision takes a dump first just like the rest of the "old guys". LOL

A friend and I shoot a 12" steel plate at 100 yards when we get the chance. Best I've done is 14 out of 18 hits with a Gen4 Glock 17 the day I got it. I regularly shoot paper at 200 meters with a Super Redhawk in 44mag but it's scoped so I don't think that counts as much.

Welcome! I hope you find this site as informative and polite as I do.

Gratz! I just sold the first car I ever paid off yesterday. Used the $$ to pay off my new truck and it feels good. My Wife only has about 6 months left on her 2011 Mustang and we're hoping to pay it off sooner. Free pay raise till my Son gets his first car in May. I love being debt free (or close to it)!

I had my entire right shoulder rebuilt almost 2 years ago and though I still have a little discomfort after long days of shooting, I feel better than I did. Good luck and make sure you do you PT every day. I makes all the difference.

I only have experience with one. Galco Miami Classic for a 5" 1911. Works great to conceal while riding the FLHX.

Sounds like it was a great match. Unfortunately I got sick and couldn't make it.

I'm there. It's and hour drive for me and after shooting the Monster Match I've been dying to get back down there.