Hello people. I'm a 40 year old man in north MS. I haven't done any riding in years, because I never had anything to ride. My first four wheeler was I think a 50cc suzuki in the 1980s. I rode it a while until I broke the frame. we had it welded and I broke it again. So then I got a yamaha moped and rode it a few years until about 10 or 12.
At 15 I had a best friend who had some four wheelers which I rode any chance I got (honda fourtrax 300) for about 2 years.
Last year I traded a john deere mower that I wasn't using, for a 2001 yamaha kodiak 400 4x4. It needs work, But I like tinkering and fixing things. It has been on hold though because shortly after, I found out that I had an aortic aneurysm and a bicuspid aortic valve. About 4 weeks ago I had open-heart surgery to fix it (bentall procedure). The surgery went perfect and I've been surprising everyone with my recovery. I am already feeling better than before the surgery. I feel lucky because I went to the ER with chest pain about 4 times in a week until they finally scanned and found the aneurysm. It was always pretty much "you're not having a heart attack, go home." Then I find out that a lot of times you don't find out you have one until it dissects or ruptures. In the case of a rupture, it's likely that its your family that finds out because you're gone. So now instead of a silent ticking bomb in my chest I have a ticking mechanical valve that everyone around me can hear. I feel blessed to have found and had it repaired and people have been so good to us and helped us when we needed it most because of the work I've had to miss.
So I've been feeling good enough that I rolled the kodiak out to work on. Hopefully soon I'll have enough posts to download the service manual.
I have been a machinist for the last 11 years. My favorite hobby has always been playing guitar. I also tinker/bash/race RC cars and trucks. I like to play video games when I can with my wife and kids.