Monday, February 15, 2016

Monday Morning Break Down


This picture came from the URAL e-mail I receive periodically. This time it featured a guy who has been circling the globe on his outfit and how you need to be adaptable for this sort of travel. Using your headlight grill to cook your dinner would certainly qualify I would think.



Here's a photo of the gizmo I bought to safety wire nuts and bolts. I should have bought one of these when I was racing - I probably could have paid for it with the money I spent on broken drill bits. I'm planning on putting it to good use on the 900 front end parts. Just needs to warm up a bit to get back in the shop. When it's as cold as it's been, about the time the shop warms up, I'm ready to call it quits. I did get the front fender cut down and sanded. I want to get some paint on it to see if I like the color. I've got a rattle can of metallic brown I'm going to try out. When I get the bike all done I'm planning on having a bit of pinstriping put on - nothing too wild. Maybe a little on the front fender and a design on the tank. 

I bought the tool from an aircraft supply outfit along with a couple of pieces of chrome-moly tubing. They sent a little sale flyer along in the box that has some good prices on various sizes of tubing. I'm going to see about a rough design for a sidecar and if they've got something close to what I need on sale, I'll get it ordered. I've been giving it a lot of thought lately and I'm pretty sure of the direction I want to go. 

Frankie Flood posted up a bunch of sidecars the other day including a couple of different looks of the BMW rig I posted last week. You'll have scroll back a bit but that's OK, you'll get a chance to see the motorcycle project he's got himself involved in now. It's rough. More than I'd want to tackle.

It's supposed to warm up a bit this week. I should be able to get back out in the shop and get a little bit more accomplished. I tended to some household chores while I was holed up during the cold days and got some reading and "think time" put in, so it wasn't a total loss. Plus, I'm finally learning to relax a bit, which is good, but I've got the itch to build now. "Middle path, Grasshopper."

Time for all of us to start thinking about the garden. The way things look in the financial markets and the banking industry, a garden could literally be a life saver. I read a little about Venezuela and things are getting pretty desperate down there. They're running out of food, medicine, etc. What was it Margret Thatcher said about Socialism? - works good until you run out of other people's money. Additionally, the Bank of Japan has now gone to a negative interest rate and there has been talk of the same thing occurring here, plus a move toward a cashless society. Might want to be thinking about getting debt free and becoming a little more self-sufficient. I've still got some work to do in that regard, but I'm probably much better off than the average Joe since I've been working towards a subsistence lifestyle as part of my retirement plan for several years. The banking thing has me a little worried, however. Not sure what's the best approach there.  

Get your seeds ordered.

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