Odds & Sods

 

Hard to beat John Lee Hooker if you're looking for a toe-tapper.

Before anyone complains, I know wife beating is not funny. However, if you're a boxing coach, that's laugh out loud funny. 

Twin engined Royal Enfield drag bike and Bonneville competitor. Some of the welding looks pretty rough, but the engineering work must have been solid.

This is the cover photo from the Superbike book I got for Christmas from Surly. It's chock-full of really good photos of when the Superbike series was basically a run what you brung deal and the later years when the rules started to kill some of the creativity. The stories accompanying the photos are by Kevin Cameron, a name everyone who read Cycle or Cycle World back then would be familiar with. 

When the guys in the book were racing, Surly and I were going to the track to watch them. I was also doing quite a bit of frame work about that time. Mostly on drag bikes, but a few road racers. I was all about those Superbikes. 

Went to a hockey game last night in Indy. Good game, lots of action. Big fight broke out with 5.6 seconds left at the end of the second period. Everybody was duking it out in front of the Komets' goal and then Indy's goalie skated down and the two goalies were throwing punches. Then all the other players stopped and watched the goalies. When the third period started the announcer listed all the penalties. Only two guys went to the penalty box, though. If everyone involved went to the box, they would've had a couple of minutes with no-one on the ice. Quite the scrum.

That's about all for 2023. We'll see what 2024 brings and at this point, who the hell knows.

Year in Review

 Looking back over 2023 with some relief from the previous couple of years. 

The big Covid pandemic scare is mostly over. People are still suffering from the after-effects of the shots, and it has come to light that much of what we were told was pure bull shit, but the concern with masks and vaccine passports is mostly a thing of the past. 

On the home front, I dealt with some health issues. These were mostly the result of my lifestyle. I screwed up my shoulder at the boxing club while holding punch mitts. This resulted in a frozen shoulder. The doctor sent me to therapy for six weeks, three times per week. No help there and the limited movement slowed me down on a lot of things. A visit to a surgeon and a cortisone shot set me on the path to redemption, though.

I developed an infection in my big toe - back to the doctor. Antibiotics for two weeks, no help. Antifungal for two weeks, no help. Antibacterial for two weeks, no help. Abandoned the local doctor, went to a foot specialist and problem solved in about ten minutes. She figured I dropped something heavy on my toe by the way the toenail came off when she grabbed it with the pliers. Other than a little pain for a couple days, no biggie. 6 to 8 months I should have a perfectly fine toenail once again.

The only major project of the year was the Sportster. What looked to be an easy fix to get myself a "runner", turned into a fairly major project. I way underestimated both the time and money for this one. The shoulder and toe both contributed to the time element, but it's just about there finally. I've got it covered up for the winter but only a couple of little things to do in the spring - assuming the engine is in fairly decent shape since I've never had it running. I'm planning on keeping it, so whatever it takes in the future, I'll deal with. 

Only one little travel trip on the year. Cuzzin Ricky and I went to Ohio to see my brother, his wife and another cousin. Saw the AMA museum while we were there. Nice weekend. 

Rick and I only went to two races on the season and one of those got rained out. We'll be planning on getting out more in '24 as soon as the schedules come out. Rick says we should see more midget events. No argument here.

I did several 5k events and put quite a few miles in on the bicycle. Joined a health club to try and get some muscle built back up and read 30 books on the year.

As for plans for the coming year, not much on the agenda at the present time. Need to finish the vintage trials bike and get the jitney closer to being done. I moved some things around in the shop on Christmas Eve so I could get the trials bike up front and have room to work on it. I need to put in a couple more hours out there making it a bit more user friendly, but I made a move in the right direction. 

I'm going back to work at the college. A couple of the instructors are leaving, so I may be doing a bit more than I originally planned. It pays well for a part time job, and I can spend that money guilt free. Maybe use it to trade up for the new Himalayan.   

I'm thinking that things nationally and internationally are going to be chaotic, so I'm not going to make too many travel plans. Stick close to home and pick shit with the chickens. And, of course, count my many blessings.  

My best to all of you on the upcoming year.  

50 Mile Challenge

 

I took the pickup to the dealership the other day for an oil change and once over. This Bronco was on the showroom floor and only $62K with dealer prep and delivery charge added in. It obviously is not the base model, but it is the one I'd be shopping for if I was willing to go back to work full time. I can't imagine making those payments. My pickup is a 2016, is garage kept and has only 36,000 miles on the clock - might just be the last new vehicle I ever own. I do like the looks of that Bronco, though. Four-wheel drive and it only has two doors - as it should be.

I've been thinking about what I can do to keep myself on the right path as far as my physical fitness. I've done a marathon, a century (100 mile) ride on the bicycle, along with several self-contained bike tours of 200-to-500-mile lengths. I don't know how many short runs and race walks I've done over the years, starting with a 10.5 miler in 1976 my boxing coach "urged" me to sign up for, but the one year my buddy Kevin and I did 13, including two half marathons if I remember correctly. 

I've been kicking around the idea of taking the 50 mile challenge for a few years - 50 miles in 20 hours. As an old dude I remember President Kennedy trying to toughen all of us up, only to be assassinated for his trouble (just one more conspiracy theory). The 50 mile challenge originated with President Teddy Roosevelt and was revived by Kennedy. If you look at Generals Austin and Milley, might not be a bad idea to revive the challenge for military officers once again, which was Roosevelt's original idea. Milley is 8 years younger than I am, so he should be able to whip himself into shape and set a good example on the national stage - be a good retirement gig for him.

Anyway, 2024 just might be year. Coach Jen is talking about a half marathon in May, so she'll be in good shape and might be talked into it. With or without her, if I can find someone else ambitious enough, that'll work. If not, I'll try it solo and I'll just need someone to drop me off and ferry my tired ass back home.

Buon Natale

 

Merry Christmas everyone. 

Peace to you all.

Scratch It If It Itches

That's me - itchin' like a man on a fuzzy tree. I thought I had scabies but the doc says it's some type of rash similar to athlete's foot. I figure I picked it up at the health club but who the hell knows. It sure as shit itches, though. He prescribed a 10 day treatment and I hope it works. 

I've read 29 books this year, so I went to the library to get an easy read to finish off the year with an even 30 on the count. I just finished a couple by Tim Dorsey, found them enjoyable, so I thought I'd grab another one by him. However, while perusing the new book section, I came across this little doozy. I started reading it yesterday while in the waiting room of the surgery center while the Missus was getting some work done. I'm about 50 pages into it and it's very interesting. I'll definitely get this one finished by the end of the year. 

This one was on the shelf of new books also. I never read any book that's 500 pages or more, but after you subtract all the references in the back, it's under 500 - not much under but under just the same. I might check that one out and give it a go. I've read a few blogs that mention the "fourth turning" so I think it would be a great idea. Add this one and the previous one together and they should keep my paranoia well fed for quite a while.

I'm hoping the Stoic philosophy will steer me in that direction. It's only going to get worse from here.

Soul Christmas

 

A couple of Soul Christmas diddies - Christmas is only a week away now. The weather was a little more Christmas like yesterday morning with a bit of snow on the ground and temps in the twenties. It's supposed to be back up to the fifties Christmas Day - no snow but chance of rain.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, funeral last Thursday. We left the house at 10:00 and got home about 5:00. Long day but things went pretty smooth for a funeral. Health club on Friday and the boxing gym on Saturday. I worked 3 rounds each on the double end, heavy and speed bags. The muscles are starting to firm up - not as squishy as they were and the speed bag work is helping to keep the shoulder loosened up long way to go to get back to where I was prior to Covid. Doctor appointment today, Missus has a procedure on Thursday. 

It's about time to for me to look back over the year and plan for 2024 - not like I ever follow through on too many of my plans, but with what's on the horizon, plans are probably going to have to be pretty flexible.

Himalayan & Tunes

 

Big fan of Redbone - no idea how old he was when he passed away a few years ago. He was always kind of a mystery but it seemed to work for him. I especially like this cut. This song got a lot of bad press a couple of years back and stations weren't playing it due to the theme of a man holding a woman against her will. My way of thinking the people complaining are the same sorts that took down the Kate Smith, Cristopher Columbus and Robert E. Lee statues - friggin' crybabies.

Since I've been on a motorcycle kick of late, I checked out a few sites I occasionally visit and ran across this at Pipeburn. The new 2024 Royal Enfield Himalayan. I'm pretty happy with mine but it's definitely underpowered. The new model's going to take care of that. Mine has a displacement of 411cc and makes 18 horsepower. The new one has a displacement of 450cc and makes more than twice the power of mine. Enfield also has an electric version of the Himalayan that will be coming out next year. The article didn't mention the price of either of the models but I'd like to see what it would cost to trade up for one of the new gas powered ones.

The grandson and I went to the college Tuesday evening. I wanted to catch the weather before I left but the news was interrupted by Slow Joe and Zelensky wanting to give some more American tax dollars away. After a couple of minutes of that bullshit, I gave up on the weather and headed out. On the way home from the college, the news came on the radio and they started playing Slow Joe's speech. Since I'd already heard it earlier I punched a button for a different station and got Cindi Lauper with Girls Just Want to Have Fun. I decided right then and there I'd much rather have Cindi Lauper for president than what we've got now. I'm guessing she wouldn't be the most qualified candidate that we've ever had, but she'd be a lot more fun than what we've got now.

More Motorcycles

 

That's one fine piece of engineering. After coming across the photo, I did a bit of searching and came across Alp Racing & Design as the builder. Check out their website - amazing work and results.

Twin engine Norton Top Fuel bike. There's been a lot of interesting engineering on race bikes of all kinds over the years. CNC machining combined with traditional fabricating techniques has allowed for some interesting builds - like Bimota has been doing for years.

Probably the most interesting example of a non-traditional build, the Bimota Tesi. I think this was a solution to a problem that didn't really exist - at least to the extent that they went to with the frame and center hub steering.

Here's exhibit A of the simplest type of construction. This is the first motorcycle I built totally from scratch. About as bare bones as you can make one - sort of the Fred Flintstone model. It worked, though. No handling problems. Note the bell bottom pants on my buddy Steve.. If I remember correctly, full leathers were required if you ran a 12 second ET or quicker. I think this one ran 12.30s. When I built the new bike, I was the pilot and I was about 40 pounds lighter than Steve, plus lighter components got the bike down to an ET of 11.70s. Big time fun.

My father-in law passed away on Sunday, so funeral and a couple of doctor appointments for the Missus going to blow a hole in the week. I did get the shop ready for heating and most of the clean-up taken care of. I still have a couple of other things I want to do to improve the work flow through the shop - that's a joke. A time-study man would laugh his ass off watching me fumble around out there. What I need is a shop that's twice as big with about half as much stuff in it. If I was younger, I'd definitely get myself a bigger work area. 

John's Blues

 

John's Blues in remembrance of Brother Johnny's birthday - he passed away almost 12 years ago now. As a guitar player himself and a fan of Roy Buchanan, he would have appreciated this one. I miss that boy.

Sporty

 

I got the Sportster put back together. There's still a couple of things left to do, but they'll have to wait until spring. 

Surly hooked me up with the gasket I needed that goes between the carb and air cleaner base. I went to install the filter and I couldn't find any air cleaner oil. I've got motor oil, chain oil, fork oil, gear oil, penetrating oil, two stroke oil but couldn't find the air filter oil. I'm going to look once more but if I can't find it, Surly says he has some. Actually, getting his would be easier than looking for my bottle that may or not be around. I don't remember using it up, but there are a lot of things I don't remember anymore.

There are a couple of quick change rearends on Market Place. One of them is fairly close by, the price is right, and I need to see some progress on the jitney. I'm waiting to hear back from the seller about a couple of details, but hopefully the width and bolt pattern are what I'm looking for.

After I put the Sporty to bed, I'm going to do some cleaning and then get the vintage trials bike back out. It doesn't need much to finish it and since my buddy got the motor rebuilt, might as well get it together and have a little fun with it. 

Lots of other things in the works, as usual, but I'm feeling good physically and improving my mental health - got a few more refinements to make on the preps but about ready to just hunker down and let the world go by. I'm blessed with a wonderful family and friends, got a few coins in the purse and enough things to keep me busy for at least the next ten years. Life's pretty good here at the shack - hope you all can say the same. 

Drag Bikes

I don't spend much time on Facebook due to philosophical issues, but there are some things on there that I'll waste a little bit of time on, like a group posting vintage drag bikes. Lots of iron head Sportsters on there, which isn't too surprising considering what was available back then. Late seventies - early eighties, Japanese bikes were coming on the scene - mostly two and four stroke Kawasakis and then Suzuki. Elmer Trett, who was the top fuel master, switched from Harley power to Kawasaki much to the chagrin of the HD guys. Honda only had their 750, which wasn't big enough to run with the big boys, unless you were Russ Collins.

Collins on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Honda powered top fuel bike. 

This was from a different page, but that's how the rabbit hole works if you allow it to happen. These M&H Racemasters showed up on a lot of the serious drag bikes. When I was racing there was a guy had a high gear only fuel bike that would show up when they were running fuel cars. Apparently, the drag strip had a different insurance rider when nitromethane was involved. This guy would kick the bike off the stand and spin the tire about half way down the track before it would hook up - put on a helluva  show. However, as the fuel bikes developed more power, transmissions and Goodyear drag slicks in car tire sizes showed up.

This is what I was racing back then. The bike frame was patterned after a Kosman frame I built in the Washington High School Weld Shop. I built a fixture to keep everything in alignment that I made using an idea I saw in an old aircraft construction book. Most of the components came from a guy I traded my labor doing welding and machine work for. I had very little money invested that way, which was a good thing since I didn't have much to play with. Instead of the M&H tire on the rear, I ran a road racing tire on a wide rim with low tire pressure. Stock motor ran 11.70s.

I damn sure don't need another project, and that's not even factoring my advanced age, but I wouldn't mind going drag racing again. 

Soundtrack

Some great guitar work on Working Man's Blues - not the way Merle played it but that's not a complaint. 

I went with the grandson to the college the other night. We fiddled around with a couple of the welding machines, one an older Miller and one a brand new multi process Lincoln. I was familiar with the Millers, since that was what I was using when I worked there before, the Lincolns just came in this summer. I was able to figure out how to get it set up for E-6010 electrodes without much difficulty but I'll need to check out the manual or get some flying lessons to figure out what all it will do. Felt good to be out in the shop again - funny, but about half of the instructors are former students of mine.

Not sure about the Messiah coming, but that's something that's usually glossed over when the discussion turns to prepping. Having water, food and security are certainly important but the way things are going, might want to put a little effort into getting right with God. 

Roy Buchanan is probably the most under-rated guitar player ever. He had some serious issues with alcohol and ended up hanging from his shirt in a jail cell. It was ruled a suicide but there was some speculation that he was beaten while incarcerated.

When you have some time to kill, go to YouTube and type in a search for Roy Buchanan. Lots of great stuff will come up and you'll see his mastery on the guitar, and his versatility. The cut with Johhny Otis is a dandy - the video quality stinks but I would have loved to have been in the audience.

And for something completely different, Leon Redbone. The song was playing in an old Joan Crawford movie I watched the other day. I was humming it all day long - serious earworm. You've been warned. 

Henrys

 

Public television had a fundraising show on the other night that featured Michael Londra traveling around Ireland. One of the gifts for you contributing was a CD of Irish music. As they were scrolling down the list of songs on the CD, I noticed a cut from The Henry Girls. My maternal grandmother was a Henry and her people came from Ireland. In fact, when I was there I saw where there was a Henry street in downtown Dublin. My curiosity got the best of me, so I looked up the song and some info on The Henry Girls.

The Henry girls are sisters but their last name is not Henry. The group is named after their grandfather Henry. I don't know if that's his family name or his given name, but I'm inclined to think it's his given name - so no relation. Regardless, the girls put out some pretty good music. Even though I got my family history book printed up, there's been some changes and more information is available on Ancestry - might have to get another six months subscription to get all of the "hints".

Not much else going on. The Missus is still sick, the weather has been less than ideal and I'm still battling a serious case of lead in my ass. I've been doing quite a bit of reading and spending less time on the computer - all that bad news has been "harshing my mellow". I'm working a plan for 2024, however. Better days are coming - just don't know when.

Brake Pads

 

It's December and Santa's not too far off now. I can use a little musical inspiration to get me in the Christmas spirit.

This one is rather timely what with the Missus coughing and hacking around the clock these days. Between her and the dog I'm up and down all day long. I don't mind taking care of the old girl - all part of the service - but the dog could ease up a bit. Thursday night he wakes me up about 12:30 because he wants some more food. I go back to bed and at 1:00 he's barking because he has to poop. Last evening he wants to go out but it's raining. So about every ten minutes he wants to go out but wants back in after a couple of minutes since he doesn't like the rain. He managed to do that 5 or 6 times before he gave it up.

I did make it out to the health club and the shop yesterday. I rigged up a tarp so I could run the heater so I could take the chill off the shop. After I got the taken care off, I installed the new brake pads in the front caliper on the Sportster. The pads are riveted in place, but I didn't have any trouble installing them. I started on repacking the wheel bearings as well. 

A buddy of mine called me the other night and told me about a quick-change rear he found for sale. It's about what I've been looking for but the axle studs are on a 5" bolt circle and my wheels are on a 4-3/4" bolt circle. I don't know how tough it would be to redrill them accurately, but I'm thinking seriously about calling the guy and arranging a look-see. 

Seneca & Hubbard

 

In pursuance of some more knowledge of Stoicism, I drug out an old book by
Elbert Hubbard that contained a chapter on Seneca, a name that always comes up in the study of Stoicism. Elbert Hubbard was quite an influential individual in his own right, having formed the Roycroft Shops and as an author. I've got several of his books, including this one: 

Book #1 of the Great Philosophers. The binding's in pretty rough shape but the book's pages are still intact. In fact the pages are a very nice quality paper, some of which are embossed with the Roycroft name and logo. I read the chapter on Seneca, and it gave a decent biography, but it didn't go very deep into his philosophy. Also, Hubbard mentioned many names of people I knew very little of or nothing at all. My education is sorely lacking when it comes to the classics. However, I'm working on expanding my knowledge at least as far as Stoicism goes - baby steps.

Those were the days, indeed. The weren't all great. Hubbard and his wife went down with the Lusitania when it was sunk by a German submarine. 

We all better be preparing for hard times. Things are only going to get worse.

Track Gang

 

The track gang came by this morning about 7:00. I'm still curious about the long term plans for the track. I think the only thing it services east of me is the power plant and it was scheduled to shut down a couple of years ago. There are solar fields now in place that took heaven only knows how much productive cropland out of production that was supposed to replace the electricity from the coal fired power plant. Apparently, someone's calculations were a bit off. With all the track work they're doing, they must plan on keeping the line running for at least a few more years. Since I like trains, I'm glad to see the line staying in operation, but more importantly, I'm a big fan of dependable electricity. 

I just read in the paper "Slow Joe" and company are using wartime powers to manufacture heat pumps and four other alternative energy technologies. This goes along with the war on gas stoves, water heaters and other appliances that will create increased costs in new construction and who knows what costs for existing homes and businesses. I've got no idea how this is all going to shake out but I really wish the government would back down a couple of notches on the green energy/climate change front and come up with way to balance the budget and erase some of the debt. This country is in big, big trouble on all fronts. Heat pumps aren't going to be the solution.

It's been unseasonably cold the last few days - night time temps in the teens. Between my cold and Mother Nature's cold, I haven't ventured out to the shop for a few days. I did feel well enough to go to the health club yesterday. I needed to go out anyway in search of a heated chicken waterer. Two different farm stores and all I could come up with was the bottom half of one. Fortunately, it matched the one I was replacing so I could use the old top with the new bottom. They cut me a good deal on it, so I came away satisfied.

The Missus has come down with the cold now. She's hacking, coughing and feeling like death warmed over. The grandson has it, so we had to cancel our welding lesson and the sister-in-law has got covid. I hope the cold weather has killed some of these nasty germs so the rest of the winter will be better from a health standpoint. 

In the meantime, here's a couple more shots from the AMA Museum:

Moto Guzzi cut-away and an Indian service vehicle. I enjoyed the museum visit, and now there's two others on the list to go see: Wheels Through Time in North Carolina and the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Alabama. I need to get the map out and see what kind of a trip I can put together for North Carolina that would include motorcycles, steam trains, an open wheel race or two and the Buc-Ees  Travel Center in Richmond, KY.

Stoicism

 Epictetus was telling his students that there can be no such thing as being the "victim" of another. You can only be a "victim" of yourself. It's all in how you discipline your mind. Who is your master? "He who has authority over any of the things on which you have set your heart. ...What is the result at which all virtue aims? Serenity. ...Show me a man who though sick is happy, who though in danger is happy, who though in prison is happy, and I'II show you a Stoic."

I just finished reading this one. I'm looking for some help dealing with all the craziness going on in the world. The Stoic philosophy looks like it could be helpful. Of course, reading about it and implementing it are two totally different things. It's going to take some work to "get my mind right". 

I bailed out on the 5K Saturday morning - still fighting my cold and it was cold. It was only about 32 degrees at starting time and I saw no reason to suffer through the cold while hacking and coughing.

Back at the AMA Museum, a Ducati 900 SS. This one ranks right up there with a Jaguar XKE on my personal wish list. Probably should just finish up the Sportster and count my blessings.

Husky 400, but not just any Husky 400. This is the one Malcolm Smith rode in the movie On Any Sunday. I've got my Malcolm Smith signed autobiography that I haven't read yet. That's on the list for the winter.

The Triumph X75 Hurricane designed by Craig Vetter of Windjammer fairing fame. Vetter's an interesting guy. Besides the fairing business he was involved in a high mileage contest years ago. He put on a presentation at Mid-Ohio years ago that Brother Johnny and I attended. I talked to him after the presentation and explained that my high school class was involved in an annual high mileage contest and he gave me his contact information. I was hoping for a bit more money from him for sponsorship, but he did send us a little something. 

It snowed most of the day today - not cold enough to accumulate but it put a lovely coating on the pine trees. I spent most of the day sitting on my ass reading and watching old cowboy movies. I'm going to have to start moving again or I'm going to get bedsores. If it's not too cold tomorrow, I'll try to get the brake pads fiddled so I can get the Sportster front wheel bolted back up. I need to get it out of the doorway so I can close the curtain and get some heat up front. It's winter for sure now. 

Thanksgiving

 Happy Thanksgiving one and all. Looks like it's going to be busy traveling, so be safe out there!

I'm getting over my cold after a week of hacking and coughing. I'm signed up for a 5K Saturday morning, so I'll tackle that one for sure. There's also a new event at the golf course by me tomorrow. I'd like to do that one as well but don't know if that's feasible - I'll see how I feel in the morning. 

Here's a couple more shots from the AMA Hall of Fame Museum:

Harley pumped out a lot of these things. You could buy a street bike in a couple of models as well as motors all set for competition usage, both 250 and 350 cc displacements. This one is a typical setup - spool front end, hardtail rear, solo saddle and a remote float Dellorto carb. The Bultaco and Yamaha two stroke bikes took over from the pushrod Sprints. Harley did have some two stroke single racers. Even won world championships on the road courses.

You can see Springsteen's leathers with the number 9 to the left of the photo, but this one was ridden by the other famous # 9, Gary Nixon. I would guess Nixon was probably more closely associated with the Triumph brand, but he, like most all of the professional racers of that era, raced whatever gave you the best chance at the title and paid the bills. I've got a signed photo of him racing a Kawasaki in the World Formula 750. He would have won the championship had it not been for some hinckiness with the scoring rules.

Flat track, road race and drag racing: Leo Payne's Turnip Eater. '57 Sportster powered drag racer ran 9 second elapsed times with speeds of 150 miles per hour in the quarter mile. He also set a record of 200 miles per hour at Bonneville. Somehow or another he managed to get the weight of that thing down to 300 pounds - my Sportster weighs 500 pounds wet and had a rated top speed of 111 mph. Leo knew his stuff.

I'll see about posting a couple more photos. In the meantime be thankful for all you have and Peace to all of you.

Motorcycles

 Cuzzin Ricky and I took a road trip over the weekend. We went to Ohio on Sunday to pick up a family heirloom from my brother and met up with him, his wife and another cousin for a lunch date. We had a great get together - haven't seen my brother in quite some time. 

We met in Pickerington, Ohio, which is the home of the AMA and their Hall of Fame Museum. Rick and I spent Sunday night in Ohio and then went to the Museum Monday morning. They had a nice collection of motorcycles - many more MX bikes than I would have displayed  if I was in charge, but that's just a personal prejudice with me.

They had a little display on Evil Knievel including these x-rays of a few of the broken bones he managed to accumulate during his career. It wasn't an easy way to make a living, obviously.

Heavily modified Harley 165 that was a giant slayer. I've got one of these and it looks nothing like the bike in the photo. The head looks too big for the cylinder. They either cast a new head or shaved the fins off the barrel. It's been converted to a twin shock set-up also. The original suspension is a single spring mounted under the engine. Cool little bike.

Cal Rayborn's XR750. Rayborn was one of my motorcycle idols back in the day. He was one of the best road racers of all time in my book. Rayborn died in '73 in a crash when the Suzuki he was racing seized up. 

I'll post a few more photos from the museum in the next few days. 

Brake & Light

 

I took the front caliper apart to get it cleaned up prior to replacing the pads. If you look closely, you can see a couple of grooves in the one pad. I'm not real sure how those got in there. There's nothing on the rotor that would do that, as far as I can tell. The other pad had about half of it covered in grease, as were the rest of the caliper parts and the fork leg. It's hard to imagine how this thing could have been so screwed up with less than 5,000 miles on the clock. Regardless, I need to get the front wheel back underneath it so I can close off the front part of the shop so I can heat the space. It's getting colder and my old bones and fingers don't care for working in the cold.

I got the outside light installed on the south wall of the shop Wednesday. I still need to run the wiring on the inside but I can do that most anytime, regardless of the weather. 

I seem to have caught a cold or something - all the classic symptoms. I don't actually feel all that bad but my chest is sore from all the coughing. It's slowing me down a bit but other than getting the front wheel back on the Sportster, I don't have anything pressing going on.

Muscles

 

I occasionally look at The Art of Manliness web site. He put up a post on Mike Mentzer who I remember from back in the day. When I worked at the Career Center, several students were into weight training and there was always a muscle mag of some sort floating around the classroom. What little training I've done over the years has always focused on body-weight exercises and humping heavy things around in fab shops. Nothing like a 9" hand grinder to give you Popeye forearms. 

Bodybuilding was more mainstream back then. In addition to Mentzer, most everyone knew of Arnold, of course, but also Franco Columbo, Lou Ferrigno, and Chicago cop Sergio Oliva. I saw Sergio in person once. I was in Chicago for a ball game or something and he was working a corner. There were muscles on top of muscles with that guy.

I'm working the weights now a couple of days a week to continue with the shoulder rehabilitation, and to gain some muscle mass. The shoulder specialist recommended weight training not only for the shoulder but as a way to lower my A1C number. As those of you who have read the blog for any length of time know, I'm always doing some sort of exercise, but it's mostly the aerobic suff. I've lost quite a bit of upper body muscle over the last couple of years, so I'm going to be trying to get some muscle back without irritating my mystery chest ailment. I'm not ready to try body building, but I am looking into becoming more of a "stoic warrior" - "get your mind right, Luke." 

We'll see how it goes. 

More Parts

 

Shocks and brake disc came in last week but I didn't open the box until yesterday. I like the looks of the new drilled disc. The holes are not chamfered, which would lead to rapid pad wear. However, it insures that pads never get glazed. I'm contemplating doing a light chamfering on the holes with a countersinking tool. Maybe yes, maybe no.

I bought this light to install on the new pole in the back yard. The pole man brought me a new light, so the one in the photo is left over and it's been long enough I can't return it. I'm planning on installing it on the south end of my shop. I've got an identical one on the north side of the shop and I'm quite pleased with the amount and color of the light it gives off. It turns on automatically at dusk and the installation was pretty easy to do. I should get the outside part done before it gets too cold. In fact, I should have done it when I had the ladder and the tools out when I replaced the window trim. 

I made another pie last evening. I had a hankering for a pie of my own after baking the other two and giving them away. I was a little short of apples from the original batch, but I had some still on the tree that were useable. There were three different varieties of apples in the pie - don't know what they actually are but the pie tastes good. 

Spending some time in the shop today. The weather is still unseasonably warm - need to get out and get some things done.  

Fight Night!

 

A group of us associated with the boxing club went to Louisville for the fights Saturday night. We know the promotor and several of the fighters on the card. Had some good fights and a couple of turds. This was the first show by the promotor and Nick had a good turnout. There were several 1st round KO's, two coming from the guys we were rooting for. We spent the night and came home Sunday. I took a couple of the guys home but I was still back at the shack by 1:30 on Sunday. Didn't do much the rest of the day but planning on hitting the gym, doing some grocery shopping, and tinkering on the Sportster a bit today. 

Pies & Vets

 

Friday was pie day! A pair of apple pies, both of which are for friends - took quite a bit of restraint on my part to keep from cutting myself a slice, though. I had planned on baking three of them but came up a bit short on apples. Maybe Monday I can scrounge a couple of them still left on my trees so I can bake one for here. I usually bake a couple of loaves of persimmon bread this time of year but I didn't get enough fruit for that - it goes in cycles, so next year probably.

Off to the boxing matches with Coach Jen and Nikola, and a few more. Long drive, so it'll be an overnighter. Should make for an interesting experience, regardless of the boxing matches.

And of course, it's Veterans Day. Thanks to all those who are still around and a moment of prayer in remembrance for all those who are gone now. 

Busy

 

Actually it's 20 minutes, but then there's 40 more minutes of the work out. 

Busy day yesterday - picked up the veggies, went to the doctor to get the big toe checked out, Menards, Aldi, and the college. Got home and piddled around a bit, then put in my 30 minute drive to the health club, hour workout and then to the boxing gym for a sparring session to get our fighter some work before the Silver Gloves, home by 7:00. 

The brake disc showed up yesterday but I didn't even take it out of the box. I'm baking a couple of apple pies today - might get out to the shop later.

Brake Pads

 

This lady has a beautiful voice and I especially like the piano work at about the halfway point in this number. I took piano lessons a long, long time ago. We've got a piano at the house now and I started playing again a couple of years ago but the piano broke. There's a little piece that transfers the energy from striking the key to the string to make the note. The little gizmo looks to be made from plastic of some sort. When I stuck my head up in there to see what was broken, I could see that a couple other of the keys had suffered a similar fate and had been repaired using hardwood. Getting the piano useable is on the list of things to get done this winter. Either fix it or send it down the road. 

The brake pads and the rebuild kit for the master cylinder came yesterday. I didn't get to do anything with them - busy getting caught up on the mail, paying bills and welding with the grandson later in the day. We started him on TIG welding aluminum. He did well. Surprisingly enough, he didn't stick the tungsten down into the soup even once. Usually, the first couple sessions are spent more on the grinder cleaning off the tungsten than on actually welding. New shocks and brake disc should be here on Friday. 

I get the front wheel and the pipes back on I'll put it away for the winter, do a little shop clean up and get back on the jitney, the vintage trials bike and a project or two in the basement workshop. I'm going to be plenty busy this winter - teaching a class at the college once again, working with a couple of boxers, hitting the gym a couple of days a week, and keeping up with all the chores around the shack. Better than sitting on my ass doing nothing, though. Lazy Boy is definitely a good name for that recliner.

Front Wheel

 

Front wheel cleaned up with the new tire installed. I had a helluva time breaking the bead on the old tire. I finally resorted to using a couple of "C" clamps to squeeze the sides of the tire together which broke the bead loose. Again, the install went fairly smoothly with the drop center rim. New brake pads and master cylinder rebuild kit should be here today. I'll get the caliper and forks cleaned up. I'm going to order a new rotor and some shocks also. Even if this thing never runs, the chassis will be sorted and the bike will look good while sitting in the shop. I'm still thinking about replacing the drag pipes - good wintertime project.