This & That

Almost ran over Momma Woodcock and her clutch when I was mowing the other day. I knew Woodcocks were around here but this is the first one I've seen on my property. As little as the babies are, I would think the nest would be someplace near by. Just one more reason I love living in the country. 

Here's the frame of the firewood rack. I need to get it set in place and then I'll get some sheet metal on the top of it. I'll also put a couple of extra legs on the bottom shelf - I figured it would be easier to cut the legs to the length needed after it's set in place rather than trying to level the ground exactly. Next time someone comes by I'll con them into helping me move it around the back of the barn.

I pulled the swingarm off the 900 yesterday. I was going to head over to the high school to bend up the tubing for the bridge but I had a former student stop by and we chatted quite awhile. He just graduated from Ferris State with a B.S degree and starts a new job in about a week. He showed me his senior project - pretty impressive. Lots of engineering, what with finite element analysis, CAD drawings and the write-up. By the time he left and I ate lunch, I bailed out on going to school but no big thing - heading over this morning. Speaking of no big thing, check out the size of the rear tire in the photo. Puny little thing by today's standards but that was what you got in the late 70's even on a bike as big as the Kawasaki. 

Surly put up a post yesterday with some nice pics of Superbikes from back in the day. You can see they ran some bigger tires on aftermarket mag wheels but still nothing like what you get today. There's also a couple of nice shots there with the bikes leaned over where you can see the swingarm bridge clearly. Lot's of different approaches to going fast on those early Superbikes.

Like this BMW. Check out the mechanical anti-dive set-up on the front end to keep the cylinder heads from grounding. Clever, yes? Real good write up on the bike here. Dirt track racing is experiencing some of the same type of creative thinking these days with a variety of marques coming to the starting lines. Not just the 750 HD like it has been for years. I'm not sure what the figures are but once the English bikes were no longer competitive on the flat tracks, it was pretty much an all Harley show except for a few years when Honda decided they need to show the world they could be the best in anything they chose to compete in. And with guys like Ricky Graham and Bubba Shobert in the saddle, they were. 

Enough talking - off to the fabrication wars. After I pull the tarps off the garden, that is. Ninety degrees on Monday, thirty degrees on Thursday. Craziness.