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Roller Coaster of a week..


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The past week has been both fun, and also one of the hardest I've ever had. The fun part first!

I've been looking for a 4wheeler for awhile now. This would pimarily a tool to help me get deer out of the woods and other misc. property maintenance without spending as much time to do it. Criteria were pretty simple. I was looking for something that was turn key (i don't have space or time or experience to tool around on things like tie rods or control arms, etc), low miles (miles are more important to me than age), 300cc or bigger (but really 400 was on the low end), 4x4 and a winch. All of that without breaking the bank. I had a budget with a top end of $5-6k. I was looking into these and CF Moto caught my attention. Lots of good reviews online. I called a local dealer and asked if there were things he's seen that I should keep an eye out for or avoid. He said they're great machines and really giving the more established names a run for their money. He said that the 400, 500, 600, and 1000cc models were all solid, but for some reason the 800's were less reliable. So, I looked and looked and looked and found one that I liked. It's a 2018 CForce 500HO with 150 miles on it. Apparently the HO has the same engine as the S models, but the wheebase is wider and longer to accommodate the 2up seat, and it also sits taller. This unit was in Cambridge NY which is ~6 hours from me in a straight shot. A few weeks back I was camping in Speculator, so made the drive (about 2 hours) from there to go check it out. It has a few scratches, but those are purely cosmetic. Drives smooth, but the throttle / clutch is a little jumpy. Apparently that's a known thing and clutch kit takes care of that. So anyway I shook on it and agreed to pick it up after vacation. 

Not by accident, my cousin was having his annual anniversary / labor day party this past weekend at his place down in CT. This is usually a 3-4 day party with multiple pig roasts, live bands, dozens of tents, and lots of fun. So on Sunday I headed out. I took my old trailer (4x7 with the ramp in the back) from North Greece where I live to my brother's place about 45 minutes E and dropped it off to him. I then drove to Milford S of Syracuse to get the 5x8 trailer with the ramp that's big enough for the wheeler. From Milford, I drove NE to Cambridge to pick it up. Once loaded onto this used but new to me trailer, I head SE to Litchfield CT. All in it was about 10 hours on the road. 

My plan when I got there was to setup a tent to crash in, but it was too late and too dark for that, so i ended up crashing in a camper with a friend of the cousin. I didn't let anyone know I was going because i wanted it to be a surprise. To say that he was shocked and excited to see me is an understatement! We ended up partying that night until 3ish. Met some great people. Then I was back up at 6 Monday morning and back on the road by 7 to drive home. Made it here around 2 in the afternoon and just in time because I was really tired on the thruway.

That's all the good stuff. Now for the hard part. A few days before all this, I discovered that my wife of 12 years was having an affair. I'm not sure what the future holds for our marriage. Part of me wants to swallow my pride and figure this out to see if we can work through it, and part of me wants to tell her to F off. I'm not sharing this looking for sympathy, but it's part of the weekend story and that much time on the road alone with my thoughts was hard, to say the least. 

Anyway, here are a few pix from the weekend. As for that tattoo, look I like Trump as much much as the next guy on this site, but wtf?!

labor day 23 1.jpg

labor day 23 2.jpg

labor day 23 3.jpg

wheeler.jpg

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So for the wheeler, I've learned that you can't baby the shifter.  Especially going into low gear. That may also be part of the clutch issue with these.  And the boys LOVE tooling around on it with me. 

As for the wife,  it seems there are no easy answers or clear paths to take.  I don't always talk to God,  but I find myself asking him to bring me peace and a clear mind in all this. 

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17 minutes ago, Bolt Action said:

So for the wheeler, I've learned that you can't baby the shifter.  Especially going into low gear. That may also be part of the clutch issue with these.  And the boys LOVE tooling around on it with me. 

As for the wife,  it seems there are no easy answers or clear paths to take.  I don't always talk to God,  but I find myself asking him to bring me peace and a clear mind in all this. 

He, will show you the way.

I hope you can find the path, to the peace you seek.

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34 minutes ago, Bolt Action said:

So for the wheeler, I've learned that you can't baby the shifter.  Especially going into low gear. That may also be part of the clutch issue with these.  And the boys LOVE tooling around on it with me. 

As for the wife,  it seems there are no easy answers or clear paths to take.  I don't always talk to God,  but I find myself asking him to bring me peace and a clear mind in all this. 

Listen to your gut, not your heart.  

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1 hour ago, Bolt Action said:

So for the wheeler, I've learned that you can't baby the shifter.  Especially going into low gear. That may also be part of the clutch issue with these.  And the boys LOVE tooling around on it with me. 

As for the wife,  it seems there are no easy answers or clear paths to take.  I don't always talk to God,  but I find myself asking him to bring me peace and a clear mind in all this. 

Not sure of your atv but I have found dropping the idle down a little bit has made gear change better on the used grizzly 600 I recently bought.

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1 hour ago, Otto said:

Sorry about the mess you have.  Seeing those two happy kids makes it all the tougher.  Good luck, feel free to spout off if that helps. 

You are 100% right about that. If it were just me and her, this would be a much easier situation to figure out. Like most things, what led up to this is complicated, but that isn't to say that she's off the hook. there is going to be A LOT of work involved if we are going to get through this together to put the pain and the hurt aside and to rebuild trust. But, that hard work might be the cost involved if I want the future I had in mind when I told her through good times and bad, sickness and in health. Sickness can apparently include mental health as well as physical. At this point I'm about 70/30 about swallowing my pride to work through this rather than telling her to F off. For now, I'm taking it one day at a time, focusing on honest conversations with her and with myself, trying to get in with a couples therapist (which is ridiculously hard to do apparently), and we'll see what the future has in store for us. 

In the meantime, I need to rebuild an old run down shed from the inside out so that it's structurally strong enough and secure enough for me to store the ATV in it. A buddy of mine who lives nearby offered up the space, and (sadly) it's the best option I have for storage because I don't want to pay for it and my garage is maxed out. The wall framing should be easy enough, and once those are back in place, I'll throw on some cross braces across the "ceiling" to keep the walls sturdy. The only thing I need to think through is how to cover the top of this framed section from the inside to keep rain and snow out. There's a hole in the roof along one of the sides that's about 4' wide by 3' that wraps the corner from the side to the roof. I'm thinking if I throw some USB on the walls in that section, pre wrapped with felt, that should be good enough. I only intend to need this short term, so don't need a permanent build. Also, will need to either build out doors, or repair the broken down garage door that's in place. 

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13 minutes ago, Bolt Action said:

You are 100% right about that. If it were just me and her, this would be a much easier situation to figure out. Like most things, what led up to this is complicated, but that isn't to say that she's off the hook. there is going to be A LOT of work involved if we are going to get through this together to put the pain and the hurt aside and to rebuild trust. But, that hard work might be the cost involved if I want the future I had in mind when I told her through good times and bad, sickness and in health. Sickness can apparently include mental health as well as physical. At this point I'm about 70/30 about swallowing my pride to work through this rather than telling her to F off. For now, I'm taking it one day at a time, focusing on honest conversations with her and with myself, trying to get in with a couples therapist (which is ridiculously hard to do apparently), and we'll see what the future has in store for us. 

In the meantime, I need to rebuild an old run down shed from the inside out so that it's structurally strong enough and secure enough for me to store the ATV in it. A buddy of mine who lives nearby offered up the space, and (sadly) it's the best option I have for storage because I don't want to pay for it and my garage is maxed out. The wall framing should be easy enough, and once those are back in place, I'll throw on some cross braces across the "ceiling" to keep the walls sturdy. The only thing I need to think through is how to cover the top of this framed section from the inside to keep rain and snow out. There's a hole in the roof along one of the sides that's about 4' wide by 3' that wraps the corner from the side to the roof. I'm thinking if I throw some USB on the walls in that section, pre wrapped with felt, that should be good enough. I only intend to need this short term, so don't need a permanent build. Also, will need to either build out doors, or repair the broken down garage door that's in place. 

That really sucks man, and there's no one who is going to be able to tell you the "right" thing to do. In the end, it's up to you and her. It's ridiculously hard finding any kind of therapy or counselling. I've had luck by asking both my health insurance company and primary doctor for advice on finding someone. My Primary Care was very helpful. Just a thought of where to start looking. 

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