Going to Move on Down the Line.

 And it shouldn't be too much longer .......

since the ignition kit showed up in Saturday's mail. I just need to get the installation done before Thursday. Also in the photo is the attachment I made for pulling the muffler inserts out of the drag pipes.

The weight rack is almost done. I need to pick up a piece of angle Tuesday morning in order to finish it but only a little bit of welding and some touch-up with the flap wheel and I can deliver it. Rather than welding caps on the ends of all the tubes, I'm going to see about some plastic caps that push in. Coach Jen can do the painting.

The weather is still holding. Got out on the bike and put in 11 miles this morning. The local church is sponsoring a bike ride next weekend. 10, 15, or 20 miles. No entry fee. According to the website it's for their bicycle club. I don't know anything about the club, but I'm planning on riding either the 15- or 20-mile ride so I can get more info then. 

The church has a really nice recreation center with a walking track. I was thinking while on my bike ride, if I wanted to do the 50-mile challenge, I could do that inside this winter.

Also, there's a 5k coming up locally in about 3 weeks. They have a walking class and I'd probably be the only one in the 75-79 age group, so even though I'm not in any kind of competitive condition, I'd be almost certain to get an age group win. I did this event last year and they had nice tee shirts. It's not like I need a medal or another tee shirt, but this is the first time in a long time I haven't done any running or walking events all year. Maybe it's time to lace up the shoes and go for a brisk walk. 

Keeping Busy

 I've been staying busy the last few days - the nice weather helping my motivation quite a bit. 

I assembled all the parts of the drill press except the head. The base has 4, 10mm threaded holes to fasten the column to but the threads were pretty rough. Fortunately, I have a pretty good selection of metric taps, so I chased the threads and then put a little thread locker on the bolts when I bolted the column down.

My sister-in-law gave me a small refrigerator that her father had in his shop prior to his passing. It was in need of a good cleaning and a place to call home. I cleaned it up inside and out, blew the works out with the air hose and made a shelf for it so I could put it beneath the metal table next to the mill. Seems to work well, but I need to get a power strip to plug it in under there. 

I got the pieces for the weight rack laid out. It was going to be a slow process trying to weld it together with the TIG, so it was time to break out the MIG welder. I haven't used it in years but I had a new roll of wire in a sealed package, so I blew the dust off everything, installed the new roll of wire, plugged it in, and pulled the trigger. Success! Since it had been a while since I had used it, and it had a different size wire on it last time, it took me a couple of times of twisting the knobs to get it dialed in, but it's set to go now.

I also worked on the muffler inserts for the Sportster. They're just a bit too large but the other sizes would be either too large or too small. I worked them over a bit with a hammer and they'll go in now but they're a tap fit. I made a quickie attachment for my slide hammer so I can get them back out again if I so choose. I need to pull the pipes off and drill a hole in them to keep the insert in place and that job will be done.

The electronic ignition was supposed to come yesterday but it was a no show. Hopefully it'll show up today. I want to get it installed and timed so I'll be ready for the birthday shake-down ride.

I've been out on the bicycle for my morning rides again since the weather has been so nice. The swelling has gone down on the wrist from the yellow jacket stings. It was still itching a bit yesterday though. I sprayed what I thought was the nest in the woodpile but I'm planning on doing it again today.

More nice weather on tap for the long weekend. Yippie-skippy!

Drill Press

 Busy day yesterday - burned the brush pile and started over again with trimmings from more trees, started moving some pieces to the lean-to for the firewood and got stung on the wrist several times by yellow jackets. That hurt! Wrist was sore the rest of the day and I woke up with the wrist itching this morning.

The new drill press was delivered yesterday. I had to pay a little extra for lift-gate service and the gate ended up being on the ass end of a 45 ft. trailer. The driver called before heading down the long lane to make sure he'd be able to turn around once he pulled in. With the corn up on both sides of the lane you can't see what's at the end now. Anyway, he made it in and got turned around without too much trouble - professional driver on a closed course and all that. Next up is to move the old one out of the way and get the new one installed. Since it came disassembled, I can easily handle the individual pieces except the head. I'll probably need some help lifting that up and sliding it onto the column. I could have done it years ago, but I'm not even going to try it now. Between the loss of muscle and the chest issue, the last thing I want to do is drop it or hurt myself. I'm paying enough for the sins of my youth as it is.

I bought a couple of muffler inserts for the drag pipes on the Sportster. I haven't checked the fit yet, but if my metric conversion was correct the 42mm should fit the inside of the 1.75" OD pipes correctly. The inserts have a removeable cap on the intake side. I'm going to take the caps off. I have some muffler packing material I could wrap the perforated tube with, but I doubt that'll be necessary. I just want the bike to be a little more user friendly to me and the neighbors.

Polishing My Legs

 

I ordered the new electronic ignition for the Sportster. The kit comes with a new coil and I bought new plug wires as well. While I'm waiting for that stuff to show up, I went back to work on the forks for the vintage trials bike. The one is almost finished, as far as polishing goes. When I get the second one shined up, I'll install the new seals and get the front end back together. I should be ready to put the motor back in after that and call it done. That'll make two bikes done this year. I'll start on the BSA after that.

I cut all the pieces for the weight rack yesterday. I've got a delivery coming today and I want to take advantage of the beautiful weather to get some more outside clean-up taken care of. Fortunately, the high heat and humidity has abated and it's really nice for working outside. I need to take advantage of it but still need to work in the shop - hard to keep on top of everything. Lots of projects to do and Mother Nature never takes a day off. 

Amazing Dyna Power

 

Since I've got a lot of time and money invested in the Sportster, I think I might as well go the "Full Monte" and spring for an electronic ignition set-up. I'm planning on keeping this thing until I can no longer ride a bike. If I install the Dynatek, it should be a lifetime fix. No messing with points or condensers ever again - not like that was going to be a real problem as often as I'll ride this thing, but why not? 

But what it really needs is the amazing Verne Gagne Dyna Power for weight control. It's definitely not a light weight, but the weight seems to distributed nicely so it's easy to control at low speeds. I remember watching Verne Gagne on TV when I was in high school with his ads for Dyna Power. If I install the Dyna ignition, I too will have Dyna Power. 

After I get a few miles on it I'll see about getting some new fork springs and new pipes or mufflers of some sort. Actually, I'm already thinking about quieting this thing down, since I say "huh" way more than I should. Weld shops, loud bikes, loud music, and old age have resulted in some hearing loss, mostly in the range of normal conversations, especially if there's much background noise. I really don't need any more hearing loss.  

Sportster With a Side of Dragline

 

Yes, yes it is! And it fired right up after adjusting the points and dropping the float bowl.

It sounds kind of tinny in the video - lot's different from the backside. The noise from the drag pipes was probably bouncing off the sheet metal sides and rattling everything. I need to put the timing light on it. I think it's a little advanced. However, it's a two-man job unless you can stand on your head. You need to shine the timing light into the inspection hole to see the mark on the flywheel on one side of the bike while rotating the point plate on the other side. 

Now that I know it's going to run, no pressure on taking it for a ride in a couple of weeks on my birthday.

I took a ride yesterday morning to look at this old crane. The owner's wife called me to take a look at a problem with it. I had no idea what it was or what I could do prior to showing up, but she thought I might be able to help. When I got there it became obvious rather quickly that I wasn't going to be able to help. The owner knew that as well. In fact, he knew before I got there. I think he just had me come over to make his wife happy. Not a problem. The lady of the house used to help out with fundraising for the gym when her son was boxing. I owed her one. Nice people both of them. Wasn't out of my way and I got a chance to look over an 80-year-old Bucyrus-Erie dragline and an invitation to fish the pond.

Shiny Nuts but No Spark

 

It was a nice day for being outside yesterday - especially after the high heat and humidity we've been experiencing lately. Actually, pretty close to ideal in my book. Because of that I pulled the truck out and finished swapping out the lug nuts. The shiny chrome looks good in the sunshine. I know they'll rust up if I don't stay up on the maintenance, but I can't imagine pulling all 24 of them off to scrub them with some steel wool. Anyway, they're all on and I put a breaker bar with the proper size socket in the cab.

I did some yard work as well and then I got busy on the Sportster. I got the bike off the stand, put the pipes back on, and did the pre-flight check. I put a gallon of hi-test in the tank and hit the starter button. Nothing. I pulled a plug and grounded it to the head, no spark. While I was doing that, gas was leaking onto the floor. Apparently, the float is stuck besides not having any spark. I checked the wire running to the coil and there's power there, so the run/off switch is fine. I'm scheduled to help someone this morning, when I come home I'll see about trouble shooting the points and condenser. I was considering installing an electronic ignition - might be time to just go that route.

Poco a Poco

The Amazonian showed up yesterday bringing gifts. - the box of lug nuts for the truck and the oil filter for the Sportster. I filled the bike up with oil and put in the new filter and then installed the new hand grips. After that I swapped out the lug nuts on the truck wheel I pulled off the other day. 

It was a bit of a problem since one of the sheet metal covers on the lug nuts spun around on the nut. I chiseled the cover off of it so I could get to the hex underneath it and could then spin the nut off. I'm going to swap out the rest of them in the next few days and then get a 4-way wrench that'll fit the new 13/16" nuts or carry a breaker bar and a socket with me.

I did a little chicken coop work, some housework and a little running of errands to complete the day.

The weather was beautiful, with more nice days on tap. Planning on piddling around some more on the bike today - get the primary oil taken care of and then give it a good once over to make sure everything's set to go before I try to start it.

 

Life in the Country

 

I classify myself as a country boy and I wouldn't want it any other way. However, that doesn't mean it doesn't come without some problems.

Like a big branch of an oak tree that fell on another of my small trees. We had a big storm Saturday night. Thunder was almost constant for about 20 minutes as it rolled through. There was a lightning strike that shook the house - had to be real close. I don't know if it hit the tree in the photo or not, but it was a doozy.

I got the oil tank on the Sportster cleaned out. I rinsed it out with some kerosene and then I scrubbed it a bit with a rag on a stick as seen in the foreground above. I've got oil for the engine and the transmission, however, I don't have the proper oil filter. The one on the left is one I bought when I first started working on the bike, but what I need is like the one on the right, which is what I took out of the bike. The new, proper one should be here today. Closing in on it.

Sportster Progress

 

I made a couple of sketches with the dimensions of the weight rack I need to make for Coach Jen after boxing the other night. I want to get all the pieces cut to length so's I can at least get the long pieces of stock off the floor. The paper weight is something I found in the driveway gravel. I've got no idea what it was before it became fossilized but it's pretty neat.

The new hand grips for the Sportster came in last week. The soft-ties are for lashing down the Go-Go onto the carrier - should make the job go faster, especially after I shorten the straps on the ratchet straps.

The front brake on the Sportster is now operational but I'm going to drain the master cylinder and bleed the system once more. The fluid in the master cylinder looks a little cloudy. Since everything about the braking system seems to have been half-assed, I'm assuming whoever worked on it didn't necessarily use the right brake fluid in it. After all, if the master cylinder had gasket sealer in it, who knows what kind of fluid they put in it. I'll work on that today.

I didn't get the master cylinder rebuild kit installed on Friday like I wanted. I ran over something on the way to Cuzzin Ricky's and cut a tire down. Fortunately, I was close to home so I turned around and made it back before it went all the way down. I pulled the tire and wheel off when I got home from lunch and took it uptown to the tire shop. Unfortunately, its sliced too deep to be repaired so I need a new tire.

After wrestling with the lug nuts and loading the tire up in the car, my chest started hurting. So that, plus the heat, sent me into the house instead of the shop. I worked up a good sweat yesterday working on the brakes, the temp was up into the nineties, the heat index close to 100. It's supposed to be about the same today but I want to finish up the brakes so I can move to the next item, which is rinsing out the oil tank. 

"Belly" Roll Blues

 I got to thinking about physical fitness, which is not all that unusual for me, but especially so after hearing President Trump is bringing back the President's Council on Physical Fitness. President Kennedy started this back in '62, but like a lot of things it went by the wayside. Apparently, those in Washington thought it was too much work to make sure our young people developed the good habits of exercising regularly, following a good diet and getting a good night sleep - much easier to have them sitting on the couch eating junk food while watching television. And look where that has gotten us. Thank you President Trump for putting the wheels back in motion to get our young people back in motion.

Going along with this, I got to thinking about the 50 Mile Challenge again. I've written about this several times on the blog. This was started by President Teddy Roosevelt, who was a great proponent of physical exercise, and brought to life once again by President Kennedy. I've kicked around the idea of tackling it more than once but never seriously enough to make a concerted effort. I've quit doing the race walking this year other than the one 5K in town I'm planning right after Thanksgiving. So once again, I'm kicking the idea around of the 50 Mile Challenge.

I went to the doctor on Monday and the vitals are all good - blood pressure right at 120/80, O2 % 98, pulse 60, weight fully dressed with my book in my hand and my pockets loaded, 178 - wouldn't hurt to lose five more ponds, though. That'd take care of the "belly roll". If I was to start training in September or October after things cool down a bit, I think I could be ready to tackle it after 4-6 weeks. So as Vince said above, success boils down to will power. Something to think about, especially since I've been getting pretty comfy here in the loafing shed staying out of the heat. 

I went out to the shop after it cooled down a bit yesterday afternoon. The goal was to rebuild the master cylinder for the Sportster. You'll notice in the top photo, the inside of the reservoir looks pretty funky. All of the brown schmootz is gasket sealer. The "membrane" gasket that's supposed to seal the cover was missing, so someone tried working some type of hillbilly magic to avoid buying one I suppose. After quite a bit of scraping and brake cleaner, I got it cleaned up. The front caliper had some evidence of ham-fistedness when I worked on it. Since the majority of your stopping power comes from the front brake, you would think whoever worked on this thing would have tried to get it right.

Cuzzin Ricky and I are going in search of pork tenderloins today - planning on putting the master cylinder back together after I get home.

Busy Doing Nothing

 

That's definitely true. It's the Missus' birthday today, mine's coming up in about three weeks. Neither one of us are as spry as we used to be, but still kickin' just the same.

I was going to work on the master cylinder of the bike on Saturday, but ran into a little snag on getting the brake fluid. The annual festival was going on in town so I wanted to steer clear of the parade and the rest of the activities until later in the day. By the time I got out and about, the one auto parts store was closed, the next one didn't have the Dot 5 I needed but the third time was the charm. 

About the time I was ready to get started Surly and a few of his buddies showed up. They were doing their annual motorcycle ride and one of the stops was near the shack, so they came to my place instead. They all were riding nice bikes - three Harleys and a Ducati. We had a nice visit - glad they stopped by. I got the turn signals squared up on the bike after they left and then I called it a day after that.

The sister in law brought her bicycle down for me to put some new tires on it, so I took care of that on Sunday and cut some grass. Doctor's appointment, grocery shopping and ham radio club meeting on Monday, along with more heat and rain. Yesterday more mowing, more heat and rain again. 

I'm going to have to pick up the pace, regardless of the weather, if I'm going to be able to take the Sportster for a ride on my birthday. 

Spinning Wheel

 

I re-assembled the Sportster rear end yesterday. After hooking up the brake cable I turned the rear wheel over by hand while pushing down on the brake pedal. I can tell the drum is a little off center after being turned, but I don't think it'll be a problem. In addition to being out of round, the drum was tapered slightly. Now the taper is gone, as is the out of roundness. It is slightly off center, but I'm not concerned about it - good finish on the drum and new linings, it should give good braking and, most importantly, be safe.

I installed the new shocks while I was in the shop. I still need to reinstall the chain guard and align the rear wheel. I usually run a straight edge along the wheels or pull a string line for that. Since the heat was climbing again, I left the tools out and headed for the shack after getting the shocks installed. I'll get out to the shop this morning and get things cleaned up before it gets hot and then install the rebuild kit for the front brake master cylinder. I need to check the manual to see what brake fluid it requires before I can bleed the system.

Another two-tone green Ford pickup truck. I'm still considering a similar combination for the jitney. Maybe light green with the dark green for some accent stripes. That's a long way off, and if the temperatures don't cool down some, it'll be even longer.

I managed to finish this one while escaping the heat. I bought this one and another of Least Heat-Moons' books recently from Abe Books. They were dirt cheap and came with free shipping. I read Blue Highways by him years ago and re-read it not too long ago - one of the few books I've ever read twice. It's a great story of traveling across the United States. I've covered a lot of the same ground using the blue highways myself. One of these days I'll try Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for the third or fourth time and see if I can force my way through it. 

Brake Drum Resurfacing.

 

I decided to check the runout on the drum since I had the gizmo I made to do just that. It wasn't as bad as the quick check I did the other day. The indicator said .007". 

Instead of making an arbor of any kind, I chucked the drum up in the 4 jaw on the lathe. The outside of the drum was machined at the factory because the sprocket is riveted on. I indicated the outside of the drum and then started machining the inside braking surface. After the initial pass, it didn't look quite right so I measured the wall thickness of the drum and the inside and the outside measurements looked good. However, after I got done I put it the wheel back together and checked it with the indicator again. Unfortunately, it has a nice finish but it runs out some. I'm going to put it all back together on the bike and adjust the brake pedal to see if it pulses when applying the brake. If it's not acceptable, I'll make an arbor and skin cut the surface again. I know HD had some quality issues back in the day. This might be one of those.

Political Science

 

Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the anniversary of the Nagasaki bomb a couple more days away. Extremely devastating to the people of Japan with both the immediate and the long-term effects. I'm not qualified to comment on the decision to drop them both but now there's talk once again of a nuclear strike involving the Russians and Ukraine and the NATO countries. Seems it will never stop. 

On the home front, I met with my financial advisor for my annual review yesterday. He said I've got enough money to last the rest of my life - as long as I die by the end of the week. Actually, I'm doing pretty well. I should be able to keep buying motorcycle and car parts - especially at my glacial pace of working on them.

 

I made this tool when I first started working on the bike. I have to remove the exhaust pipes and the support bracket for the pipes to install it, but that only takes about 5 minutes.

With the support bolted on and up on a pair of jackstands, the bike is supported well and up high enough to easily remove the rear wheel. I'm going to install the new shocks while I've got it raised up, in addition to correcting the problem with the brake drum. 

After pulling the wheel off I checked the runout on the drum. The difference between the high and low is about .015", with the largest diameter being right at 8.000". Cast into the drum it says the maximum diameter is 8.046", so I've got plenty of stock to work with. The drum bolts to the wheel with the sprocket riveted to it. I'm going to make an arbor to bolt the drum to and then chuck it up in the lathe to true it up - shouldn't be too tough.

I've got a rebuild kit for the front master cylinder. When I get the back end back together, I'll get the front brake working, and then I should be able to see about starting this beast. I might yet be able to go for a ride on my birthday.

Sporty Time Again

 

Beautiful weekend - weather quieted down from the hot and muggy to nice and pleasant. Saturday there was some smoke that drifted in from the Canadian wildfires, but nothing that would keep you indoors. I took advantage of the nice weather by relaxing some with my new book, mowing some grass and working a bit in the shop and in the shack. 

Shop work included a bit of planning for the mailbox bracket. The rough drawing above is how the planning sessions usually go. I run some things through my mind, come up with an idea and then sketch it out with a soapstone on the bench top. If it looks good, I proceed, if not, erase it and either modify the design or erase it and start over. With this one I've got it figured out as much as needed to start fabricating. I need to pick up some material first, however. I'll do that today and get the tubing for Coach Jen's job while I'm there. 

I put the ground cable for the welder together, sharpened the spare mower blades and cleaned the shop. If you look closely at the top photo, you'll notice the floor is exceptionally clean. Since I was going to roll the Sportster out to work on it, not only did I sweep, I also ran the shop vac. I'm only about a month away from my birthday, and the goal is to be able to go for a ride on my 75th. The only real problem as I see it now is the back brake drum. Since I had never ridden the bike before bringing it home, I made the mistake of assuming the drum was round - wrong-o!. When I went to adjust the brake after putting everything back together, it became very clear that there was no way I could adjust the brake properly where it would be safe to use. I've been thinking about how to machine the drum in my shop with a minimum of hassle, and I think I've got it figured out. It'll take a bit of fixturing and making some tooling, but I think I can get it done. I dug the stand out I made when putting it together and I'll get that bolted to the frame and get the rear wheel off. After that, make some tooling.

Of course, now that I want to get back on the bike projects, I need to get the mailbox project and Coach Jen's project done, and I got a phone call Saturday about something else I may end up being involved in. I need to check it out this week but I told the party I can only give her a couple of days. And I have to help the Missus take the dog to the vet and meet the financial guy for my annual review this week as well. As it stands now though, it looks like the weather is going to be cooperating with decent temperatures. Hallelujah for that! 

Here We Go Again

 

Or as Rosanne Rossana Danna used to say  "It's always something."

I went to start the weedwhacker the other night and it was being a little reluctant, so rather than pulling until my chest hurt, I went to the big barn to get the can of starting fluid only to discover the cap was off and the nozzle was gone. Also, something had chewed the gas can vent cap. I found the cap and nozzle for the starting fluid but the vent cap no longer fits on the can well enough to seal it. 

And then on Thursday afternoon I was going to spray the yard with the pull behind sprayer to kill the broad-leaf grass that is taking over. I don't like spraying herbicides, especially since the farmers around me do, I have a shallow well, and the Missus and the dog have already gotten cancer. However, no other way around of dealing with this fast growing and aggressive grass. So, I hooked up the sprayer, turned it on to check it out and nothing. I followed the wires down to the pump and sure enough, something had chewed the wires in half right above the pump. Fortunately, there was enough of a stub I could solder the wires back together and slip a piece of heat shrink tubing over the joint. 

I bought a hunk of welding cable that arrived the other day. When I bought my new welder a few years ago, the ground cable that came with it was only about 8' long - not quite long enough to reach the vise on the bench or a job on the middle of the floor. This 15' cable will be much handier. I do have a nice ground cable for my portable welder, but it's got a different kind of connection on it and it's longer and heavier cable than what I need in the shop. One of these days I'll break down and buy another TIG torch. I should have bought the 25' one instead of the 12-1/2' when I bought the machine. What I really need is a bigger shop.

I saw on the news the President is bringing back the President's Fitness Program to schools. I'm thinking healthy young people is a good beginning to making America great again, especially since the latest Epoch Times has an article U.S children have an 80 % higher death rate than their peers in 18 other developed countries. I'll be interested to learn more about the details of the program.