Back on track...Nuts to that!

Since the last post i have fixed the starter issue. ground wire wasn't hooked up and i didn't see it. also got the front brake rotor turned (turns out yes you could that) while i had the front wheel off i pulled the old speedo gear and housing becuase i wasn't going to use a speedometer. without the gear and housing the axle had about 1" of lateral movement that meant the wheel would wobble all over the place. i was going to find some axle spacers or cut them or something like that. "Something like that" costs time and money, 2 things i am running out of so i trudged through my odds and ends box and found 2 identical nuts that had an arbor big enough to fit the axle through and together they were exactly 1". free nuts and the ability to get the job done tonight took precedent over making a part that you can't see without a flashlight pretty. would post a picture but you can't see it so no point in trying. just down to rebuilding the front brake system and rehanging the horn. my biggest problem will be keeping my hands off it til i get my parts assembled. i keep fuckin' with things and make more work for myself.

FUCK...me...running

if anyone read the last post you would see that i said "from a list of things i'm down to two." well that may have been a little over optimistic of me. while i was tearing down the front brake caliper for rebuild i decided to hide my wiring in the bars, while i started prepping for that i wanted to start the bike one last time. fucker wouldn't start. the starter sounded like shit so i pulled it off to count the teeth, they were all there. i couldnt pull it apart because one of the case screws is bent and won't unscrew. i'll  cut it off and put a new one on but when i put the starter back on the bike won't start now. when i turn the key the lights won't even come on. i deduced i lost ground somewhere because the ground locations i used to use don't work anymore but the battery is fully charged up. i was ready to roll this in the drive way and put a road flare in the tank.

Everything Louder than Everything else.

got the exhaust finished this morning. Danny called me at 830 on a saturday saying he'd be over in 45 min. by 11 the pipes were all welded up and rehung. when i fired it off to hear it with no leaks it actually shot a piece of slag out of the pipe and blew past danny. when i reved it up i aparently hurt his hearing a little bit. I can't thank him enough for helping me with this. i am a novice welder and didn't have the tools at home to make it come out this good. still gotta wrap and paint the pipes but from a list of things i gotta fix before its drivable i'm down to two. gotta make sure it charges itself while driving and gotta make sure it stops. front brakes are next and checking the generator / vr while i wait for parts in the intermin. then. its done. the last post will be a video of 360 view and startup.

Bath Time!

i've owned this bike for almost 10 months and have never washed it. having starting issues right now so i'm dead in the water until i get it figured out so i figured i would roll it in to the drive way and rinse it down.

now i have to figure out why its not starting. i'm thinking the neutral safety switch has an issue. i couldn't get any power to the wire when i probed it on sunday. i'll hot wire the starter and see if i get a grind or not

why Frisco a tank when you can Motown it?

i realized today after pulling the tank to get to the wiring that i wasnt able to turn the bars all the way before because the triple trees were hitting the lip of the tank at the top. i drained the fuel before so i pulled it off the bike and started playing with where i can mount it to correct this problem. at first i tried to move it back to its stock location. this tank is not OEM for the bike model its a replacement becuase the last one turned into modern art at the sight of a blow torch. this gave me tons of clearnence but,

1.) you could see all the wires i was trying to hide and

2.) there was no way to mount it there because the oem tank didnt bolt thru it just rested on some little tits that stuck out.

so shit... i was frustrated. so i came up with a plan b. the trees were hitting on the pressed lip of the tank at the very front where the top of the tank seams with the bottom of the tank. its meant to give it a definite and finished edge. so fuck that. i laid the tank on the ground and proceded to beat the edge down with a little wooden hammer i got from my dad. its not metal to metal so there were not sparks (fool me once) and its not a rubber or a dead blow so it didn't leave a circular impression. it just rolled the seam under itself and gave the neck of the tank a little tucked in collar. i'm calling it "motowning" a tank because as far as i am aware a "Frisco'd" tank is where the sides are indented. i don't know why its called "Frisco" but I'm calling this style "motown" because i lived in a detroit suburb til i was 14 and i just beat the tank like it owed me money. so thats a copyright right there. snoogins

edit: I finally learned what Frisco'd is... but this tank is still Mo'town'd

little fixes... big progress

Saturday Night check list...

got the battery hold down bracket welded in place.
re tack welded the exhaust spacers and bracket.
wired the taillight back correctly to the brake pedal.
fixed a gnarly run in the clear on the top of the gas tank.
measured and marked the remaining "vents" for the shotgun exhaust pipes

all in about 2 hours off and on. I realize I blew the 2 week deadline I set for myself but i could drive it tonight if the rain had'nt made the ground all slicked up.

its almost done... and yes its loud