Pi is exactly 3!!

this title requires some explanation. after a disastrous first ride on my bike i realized it was too complicated. i had too much shit going on and too much shit that could go wrong. electric cooling fans, switches, etc etc etc. so today i made it simple. in chopper fashion here's the weight i lost on the bike...

tachometer gone
small digital speedometer
wired the headlight to key on hot
got rid of the headlight switch on the left bar
only 1 mirror

i also insulated the under side of the gas tank to shield it from the engine heat and sealed the coolant resivour
i know have a mechanical fan and have completely disconnected the electrical fans.
bike runs good now but the master cylinder needs to be rebuilt so its not going anywhere until that is done

great lighting...shitty resolution

after a wash up and systems check last weekend i snapped some pictures. the resolution on the camera was set pretty low so the pictures look pretty shitty, but you get the general idea. we've had some dark afternoons in the valley this week so saturday, weather provided, i'll get some new pictures

picture time

so far the jb weld is holding just fine. i didn't try to start the bike last night after i put it back together because i was too tired to deal with anything else that happened. i got some pictures of it though. the side of the tank reads "Malvivente" which is Italian for lowlife, criminal, hoodlum etc.

One of those builds

You ever have something that just fights you EVERY step of the way? this bike has been that something. i just replaced the left side head because the left side water jacket in the cylinder head broke. so i replace it then start putting it back together... now the RIGHT side head is starting to fuck with me, the water jacket was leaking, fixed that, one of the intake bolts started to strip, fixed that. started the bike up and had a high idle, figued it was because the intake runner o rings were original and collapsed. so i pulled the runners off, replaced the o rings and in the process of putting that back on... the fuckin' left side runner snapped at the flange. its sittin' in the vice jb welded in place. it probably won't hold, but it's worth a shot. i'll probably replace it this week.

cold turkey

this is the last post i am posting on this blog. the bike is almost completely done and i was shown today how much of my life this project has taken. i don't know if anyone is reading these but what started out as a documentation of building a project turns out to become a fuckin' shrine over an inanimate object. so 41 posts later i'm done. the bike ain't but i am.

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.