Back in the saddle!

Whew that was fun....not! Whatever the 'bug' that's been going around happens to be officially called I call it 'The Suck of 2013'....and not the nice kind.
Finally seeing the back end of that and back working again.

Jordan's bike for Old Bike Barn's Greasy Dozen build-off is moving forward, frame re-work, a custom swingarm, a front end swap, custom Ducati spoked wheel swap, custom header....loads of work. 
I won't give much away here but will tease you with a few pics and tidbits of info just to stir your interest.

One of the build points I'm handling is a stem swap for a ZX7 front end. It's a standard style 41mm cartridge fork that works quite well but still has a touch of retro for the stylists out there. I've done stem swaps before but this one has been a challenge.

I start by grinding off the weld goober on the bottom then cut a notch in the triple. At this point I can usually whack it with a brass faced deadblow hammer and displace the stem enough to then whack the side of the notch with my 4lb hammer and a drift. This will normally break the weld and I can clean the stem up and go from there. "Usually...."Normally" I said.

 

 

But not this time.......the good little fellows at Kawasaki did a REALY good job welding this one. Really good.....

Can you see the color shift in the metal within the notch? Hmmmm......great weld depth there Yoshiro san! Note that this pic is 'pre-whackage', also note that the original bearing race hasn't been cut completely through as I wanted to be careful not to nick the stem. Fat lotta good THAT did me!

Huzzah for carnage. If at first you don't succeed......chop the shit out of it until it gives up. Always works for me!

I used my angle grinder with a .110" cut off disc and proceeded to chop off each side to make it easier to turn on the lathe. 

Here's the result, lumpy and ragged but sans arms.....

A wee bit of grinder work later to knock off the worst of it and I'm ready to center it in the lathe...

Poor sad little triple clamp......DIE DIE DIE!!!! Sometimes carnage is cathartic! I used to keep a few old gas tanks around just to smash with a mallet when I was feeling cranky. I'm out of suitably bad tanks but this felt pretty good too.

Think of it this way...I'm not beating on people who make me cranky. That's good....right?

After a bit of clean-up on the lathe it looks pretty good. I turned down the base of the stem to 28.95mm, removing roughly 2.05mm for a nice tight press fit into the ZX7's lower triple stem bore which mics at 28.85mm. Obviously there's more to it that just slapping the two into a hydraulic press and mashing away.....but we'll leave that for the next installment.

Yup!

Boo-TAY!!!

I 'found' this on my hard drive.....I don't know where it came from or how it got there....I hate clowns. Ronald McDonald's girlfriend kinda scares me. I'm ok admitting that.....I'm a big, viking scary guy myself and I'd run like hell was on my heals.

Easy like Sunday morning.......

The incomparable Stacy Dash.

Someone's Grandma was a hottie!

You mugs thought I forgot.....be good humans!

Sorry for the lack of action here lately, that little bug I picked up turned out to be pneumonia and by picked up I mean, that's kicking my ass.
I did make it out to the One Show here in Portland, Oregon and saw some pretty neat bikes but between the angry lungs and a few too many the night before, I just didn't get much out of it. Had I managed to feel somewhat more human I'm certain I could have been more inspired and excited.
I'll post a few pics though as soon as I can see straight.....blah

Ariel Arrow 250cc Racer

I do love a weirdo bike! Found this on Bubblevisor, I will have to research this one, I have no idea what it is other than an Ariel 2-stroke racer of some kind. Anyone have any thoughts?

Ok just got the low-down on this one from Richard who goes by 'Teazer' online, who is a wealth of information. Chances are if you need to know something about bikes, be it chassis design points or in this case semi-obscure history he's your guy.

According to this sage source the above weirdobike is An Ariel Arrow 250cc racer, either from the TT or possibly a sprint bike from a fellow named George Brown. 

  

An oddly cute little bugger

A cafe racer version, street trim due to the road lights and license plate on the back.

And a more race oriented beastie. I like it!

George Brown:
http://www.myvincent.co.uk/people/george_brown.php


Some neat pics here:
http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/arielarrow/Interesting

Loads more images to see here:
https://www.google.com/search?q=ariel+arrow+racer&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&hs=8aE&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=t1FDUYvZFomPqwGglYHoAQ&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1114&bih=873

Comfort is for your couch, speed hurts.

When I was a kid I had an insanely fast Montessa 350cc something or other in a Rickman chassis. Low pipe, Ceriani forks and Hagon shocks.....like most kids, I didn't know what I had and I sold it cheap....I think I bought a necklace for a girl I liked with the meager money I got for it. I routinely smack myself in the face with a lamp for that. She wasn't worth it. Now I'm homely and didn't even get laid! 

I liked to strip everything off it, sit on a towel with a 1liter pop bottle full of gas taped to the spine so I could go out and drag race on the streets around Kearns Utah where I was stuck. Salt Lake City might as well be on another planet but when you're a kid you find ways to have fun. It was already terrifyingly quick, knobbies and all, take off 40 pounds of stuff and it was a missile for the 1/8 mile. I learned about speed wobbles on that bike. 

Good times......

This will do the trick!

Who steals from a lady?

Dear asshat, douchebag, moose-knuckle,
'we' will do everything we can to make your theft as fruitless as possible. You suck and deserve a curb stomping.
(Am I over protective of my friends? Could be....I guess..)

Remember Jada?

Well, she recently took a nice ride to a scenic spot lots of us know about, Bald Peak State Park and while wandering about taking in the beautiful view some shitheal stole the license plate off her bike. That's low, really low. 

Here's something that I'd appreciate all you good kats passing around, post it up on every forum and every classifieds you can. It's good karma.

From her post:

"On February 2nd I rode out to Bald Peak because it was a beautiful day, and a sketchy man that was there appeared to have taken off with my plate as I wandered down the hill. He may be riding around with it on his bike, or may be selling a bike with my license plate on it.
Ok, what pisses me off, is that he SAW me get off my bike (I am a female rider), and followed me down the hill for a little bit, then turned around. Once I got back up the hill, he was gone and so was my plate. Who steals from a lady?!
Here is a photo of the day that I registered my bike (about a month ago) before I had even put them on. If you see this plate, please report it.
Thanks guys!!"

(To be clear, the curb stomping part was mine....I think Jada may be too nice for that. I'm not.)

Slow week here....

Sorry folks, been a slow week here. I'm seeing the far side of this bug though which is welcome as I've got things that must be done. And soon.
In the mean time between hurling and laying around moaning pitifully I ran across an unusual bike creation...thing. I rather like it.

Found on the always interesting Slightly Different Specials, dunno what it is but it's mean looking. Actually it looks like one of the mutant rides from the Mad Max series...with a bit more polish. Do you know anything about it? If so I'd love to know more!

Be good humans....

I'm fighting a bug and feel like hammered dogshit so nothing at all happening of note. I did however run across this and thought it was pretty neat and about effing time!
http://singularityhub.com/2012/02/27/ekso-bionics-sells-its-first-set-of-robot-legs-allowing-paraplegics-to-walk/

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/berkeley-bionics-elegs/

Wouldn't be worth much if they couldn't navigate basic obstacles like a set of stairs....

That is the looks of pure joy! I can't imagine(thankfully my legs are plenty functional) how happy they must be!

I am not a good blogger......

 I am not a good blogger.
I tend to come here, dump something on the page really quickly and blast off again. I don't linger much, nor do I read other blogs all that often unless something really catches my eye. In this case, I've also neglected adding some to my follow list....an easily rectified problem.

Most notably of recent is Bubblevisor.
I scoot thru Lenny's joint at least once a week sussing inspiration for my own builds and of course pictures to add to my collection. So go check his joint out if you haven't...and IF you haven't yet then get out from under that rock.

Here's some pictures I just stole...err....borrowed from Lenny:

The hammer and dolly work alone make this worth staring at til your eyeballs dry out....

Oh those sexy pipes!

O.M.effing G!

So much to love here, the hydro-formed megas are simply more on the list....

I believe I've found the air-filter solution for the VX I have been pondering. I've considered tank cutouts before but I think this has pushed me over the edge. Fantastic!

Anyone who knows me knows of my burning lust for Vincent motorcycles; OG, Irving and HRD.....dunna matter to me. I will not lie, it's this same lust that made me want the XV920 I purchased a while back. One day I'll own an actual Vinnie!

Another bike I will always have a soft spot for is the humble XS750/850 Yamaha. I got my 850 when I was 18 and have had the thing since. It carried my large self for many MANY happy miles and underwent far too many modifications to be posted with any useful brevity....something perhaps I already lack? I've built several engines for it and am pretty confident in my ability to make the 120* triple bellow like an enraged bull elephant. 1030cc is do-able, 4v heads can be had...made...adapted...well, it can be done, chain drive as well!

Here's yet another drool worthy example of the breed, also found on Bubblevisor:

Be good humans!

Gods rode in anger......

You want to know how to go fast, you want to know how to be the best?

Plates and Stems

They were doing this crap a long time ago but this one if fairly recent I think. How cool though? A techie, totally unique frame for your next scoot, cut out of flat stock with your skillsaw!

TZ250. USD forks well before they were in fashion. I randomly happened upon this pic, wish I knew more about them.
Update: More from the ever helpful Richard aka Teazer on this front end:
"The USD forks on your blog are SMAC as are the mag wheels.  Eric Offenstadt (sp?) made them when he was Moto GP racing." 

A little 411 on Mr.Offenstadt:
http://8w.forix.com/offenstadt.html

Isle of Nan TT

Little old lady from Pasadena she ain't......

20 minute seat pan, 2 hour seat pad......

Ok so the pan was really easy and quick. the pad...well it was easy too but a wee bit more time consuming. I'd planned a single layer of 1" black 'race foam' with maybe some extra in certain areas. Turns out someone who'll remain anonymous acquired my stash of the stuff and didn't inform me. I had some scraps available and as I thought a bit I remembered a blue camping pad I found when I was cleaning out the garage. Ok, it's got the right density, there's loads of it and it 'works' well with the tools at hand. The thinner layers also allow me to sculpt a bit more so I'll take it!
   

Ok so I added the high density black foam pieces to strategically add contour. This stuff has a decent adhesive already on it, just peel and stick. What you can't see is that this is in roughly 30 degree temps.....fookin' cold mates! I took my angle grinder to it first, equipped with a 60 grit sanding wheel. In retrospect I should used the 220 grit wheel just to make it a little easier to control. But, I got it shaped. Not too bad, a little butt-cupping out back and a wee bit more loft up front. 

First layer of camping pad glued on with 3M '77' series aerosol contact cement.

This stuff works well and holds up, I've got things stuck together with it that are going on 15 years.

Sorry for the blurry pic, did I mention it is cold as Hades to go along with the seeping damp here in Portland? Yeah...well good then. Whilst butt testing this first layer on the bike I finally figured out what's been bugging me so much. The bike is low and slender but the seat was a bit wide making her look like she has a big butt. That won't do! Out comes Mr.Sawzall for a little off the sides. I won't bore you with the retest pic, you'll see it later....

Now it's starting to look like a proper ass-perch! I took after the edges to blend it a bit, used a rough rasp file and a wire brush of all things! Since this is going to be under quilted leather I won't worry about the fuzzy bits, just check the shape it's taking on!

Right tools for the job and all that stuff! HAH!

Another layer with contact cement tacking up, almost ready to mash'm together.

Next layer added and gently shaped to suit. The front bit is smoother too,,,missed the shot...

A nice profile shot shows that it's taking on a really attractive shape and should be lovely when done!

A somewhat deceptive shot, hints at the blend and contours but not nearly well enough.

Almost there.....just one more layer and some more blending to go...

Svelt after a quick trim, no?

Looks nice on the bike, and once it's covered it's going to really work great. It 'sits' well; feels like a very high end, expensive solo seat. The layers of padding are thin looking but the material is extremely supportive and since this won't be a hard tail it'll work out just dandy.

 The only tool I didn't show was my Dewalt orbital sander that I used on the foam to smooth out all the rough spots and fuzzies left by the file&wire brushing. This was far FAR easier than I'd thought and the end result is extremely gratifying. 

I have some rear 'mounting bits' to machine up that will incorporate a couple other functions too, that oughta be cool but is for another installment. I'm gonna go finish thawing out now, be good humans!

Capable Women

Let's be honest with ourselves for just a bit this morning. Man + motorcycle is kind of a given; motorcycles are historically known to be visceral, dangerous and fulfilling in ways that only great sex, great booze and great music can be. Before all two of you females out there get all in a bundle, this is for you....

Something I like even more than wearing the chicken strips off my tires are women who ride. Really RIDE. It's one thing to get your hipster on and moped your way to the local used vinyl shop or coffee hang....it's another thing entirely to own it.

There's something greatly attractive to me about a woman who can go from slinky sexy, dressed to the nines... to greasy, scuffed and noisy in a turn. I want to know what makes her tick, what makes her set aside the heels and silk to throw on big stompy boots and a helmet to tear it up in a 'Man's World' like motorcycling. 

I find capable women immensely sexy.

This is Jada and her CL175 (fixed just for you ) Bruiser, they look like a perfect match! Photo by the talented and moto-endowed Lanakila MacNaughton

 
Since I started this stupid blog I wanted to do the occasional interview, present something interesting to you lot of barbarians. I may have hit on it.....we'll see.