Waiting for UPS sucks a fat one!

i'm on hold until the parts i ordered from the dealer show up. I fixed my seat in the few spots it was splitting (special water proof black tape from work and good ol' fashion duct tape). Started fuckin' with my throttle cables cuz I'm sure they were jamming and sticking the throttle. cable is broken at the mount, cable still in tact but the sheathing around it is peeled off so it hangs up. about 6 wraps with electrical tape still not keeping it in place. without the air/fuel screws the bike runs so rich it won't start unless i induce a vacuum leak so large it goes real lean. looking at a bike in the garage that i can't do anything with is so boring. not even worth taking a picture of

Macguyver FTW

last night my fuel petcock broke in my hand while the tank was full of gas. was able to collect almost all the fuel in the can it came out of. took it to work today and with a combination of some fuel hose and some clamps, its fixed. instead of a nut holding the petcock on its a 1/2" fuel hose and then out to the fuel filter and into the motor. passed all leak tests so far and when i get a battery installed I should be in business

Startin' a club... you in?

Yesterday I took stock of how much I have spent on this project. less than a grand INCLUDING the inital bike purchase. to a cheap ass like me thats pretty fuckin' sweet. some of the people i know with bikes have spent more in gas than what i have spent on the whole bike. case in point. a co worker of mine just opened a bar they are calling "RUB" which stands for Rich Urban Bikers. this is almost a paradox in my eyes. When i think of "bikers" i think of Brando in "The Wild One" or Fonda and Hopper in "Easy Rider" not these yuppie motherfuckers that spend 30k on a bike, 2k on riding gear etc. so my club is P.U.B. Poor Urban Bikers. I don't even care if I'm a club of one. I'm an anarchist. I don't need followers. New clubs first motto "no chrome, no cash, no class"
So yeah THIS just happened.

Damnit

After some dicking around I realized that if I wanted to start the bike I would have to put fuel in the tank. I got a 2 gallon can full of gas. poured it in... and watched it pout out the bottom. started to leak on the garage floor. tried to tighten it and it started leaking worse. pushed the bike into the driveway and tried to tighten it again. the fuckin' fuel petcock snapped right in my hand, so i went from a leak to a pour. bobby grabbed the fuel can and stuck it underneath the flow to catch it (why waste 6 bucks) after that little disaster I rigged up an iv to see if after my carb rebuild i can even get the bike to start. took a 1 liter pop bottle cut the bottom off, punched a hole in the cap and shoved the fuel hose in. poured about 3 cups into my makeshift iv and try to start the bike. now, turns out the battery is dead... again. i have to charge this battery what seems like weekly and it only last for a few cranks. since i was out in the sun i could get a good look at the battery. the date code punched on the top tells me it was manufactured over 2 years ago, i only bought it 7 months ago. this battery has been shit this whole time and i have been chasing fucked up starters and faulty wiring that is not. gotta verify tomorrow with better equipment but god damnit today was frustrating!

Making your Own Decals

Got some special paper from Staples. its matte white with an adhesive back on it. Ran it thru my printer at work as a proof of concept. turned out pretty good. So I made larger ones at home. stuck them to my covers and started laying down the clear coat. Here is some pictures after 2 coats of clear.

...meh

I finished the other side cover today. it sucks that i spent all that time to get a finished product that i am... underwhelmed by? they do the job. they cover the electronics and intake but the left side cover had to be trimmed to clear the license plate bracket and taillight. I trimmed off a section with the dremmel and punch a slit for the strap to attach. i'll have to get some more straps for the angled frame section to secure both sides down so they don't flap up while I'm driving. Hopefully when i add the decals to the covers I will like them more. have a look.

how to turn a nerf side cover into an asphalt one

The individual picture on the left is a "before" I fiberglassed the cover. the picture on the right is the "after" actually i re made the drivers side one after it de laminated and the right one just needs a some more sanding and a bondo smoothing. after it was fiberglassed it felt, looked and kinda smelled like asphalt. the weird thing is its really strong but pretty flexible. i put it on the bike and the top conformed to the sides. drivers side will get glassed tomorrow and sanded on Saturday. should have them finished and installed by Monday