hmm... where did i leave that 1/2" socket?

my front ends got a stiffy... wait lemme rephrase that... my front end got stiffer... shit thats no good either.


I modified my front forks today based off a suggestion a fellow enthusiast gave me. what was originally going to be a preload spacer to take some of the mush out of the front suspension, became a lesson in clearing out the tool box.
I haven't had to use a standard socket or wrench in a very long time. every xmas when i asked for tools from my folks i always got the same thing. a xxx piece socket and wrench set. so i had doubles of EVERYTHING.
the inital idea was to take a 1/2" section of steel and install it between the cap and the top spring of the front forks to compress the springs and give a little more rigidity. an hour of fucking with that got me no where. all the piping i had was the same size as the i.d. of the cap. I also tried replacing the spring with a complete section of pipe. same problem and the pipe was even longer so i couldn't get the cap back on. i dug through the tool box and found 2 sockets that i had at least 5 of the same size and depth and 2 socket extensions that were the same legnth. capped them together and slide them down. caps went right back on and the front end feels good minus the air that i haven't pumped back in *freakin' hose!

Here we go again!

I tore the bike down pretty far today to redo everything basically. the whole paint scheme is getting reworked, the front end is going to be rebuilt even stiffer than previously. I'm not going to post any pictures til its done because right now it looks good but when its finished it will look phenomial. this will be the 4th reimagining of how the bike will finally look. the look is evolving with my skill level and the tools i acquire. i spent 4 hours today with my new flap wheel attachment on my grinder cleaning up all the factory welds. Hopefully I'll get some body work done early this week and finish final paint and assembly. then i'll pull the front forks to modify them to stiffen. there has been a few posts on the cc forums about adding a preload spacer to take some of the squwat out of them front suspension. i got an axle spacer from my golf cart project the should do the trick once its cut in half to fit both forks. then i'm going to follow it up with heavier fork oil. factory spec is atf which is like 7 wt.  i'm giong to bump to 10 wt or maybe 20 if 10 isn't enough. want to clean and polish the motor but i don't know if i can get into every nook and crannie. maybe some toothpaste or baking soda and water with a stiff tooth brush will at least clean up all the anodizing that is flaking and looks like shit.