Born to be Mild

 

Surly and the boys gave me a hand delivering the treadmill last evening. It's a good thing those boys have got some muscles. That thing weighs about 2 pounds less than a switch engine. We had to go up some steps and then lay it on its side to snake it through the door. Seems the door opening was an inch less than the treadmill was wide. I had measured it prior to taking it off the truck and it was less the 36" by a couple. Unfortunately, the door opening was less by 3". Regardless, it's done.

While we were there, Surly showed me the bell collection that we, meaning me, need to work on so he can finish the job. Since it was dark I didn't get a good look at everything, but enough to get me thinking on the best way to get the job knocked out. I'll run it by Surly and if gives me the go-ahead, I'll try and get it finished next week.

Surly brought me some pipes for the Sportster he got from a buddy of his. Unfortunately, they look pretty rough and I don't imagine they're going to be all that much quieter. The one in the top of the photo is straight through, the one in the bottom has the baffles in it still but someone slash cut the end of the muffler off. If I was to sandblast the paint off, fabricate a new end for it and then paint it, it might not look too bad but I'm thinking it's going to take chrome to make me happy.

The chrome on the drag pipes looks pretty good - a little blue next to the engine but that's OK. I ordered a pair of these shorty mufflers to install after I shorten up the drag pipes a bit. They're straight through pipes but they have a perforated pipe wrapped with fiberglass inside, so they'll still be rather loud but not obnoxious. At least that's the plan. I might have to make or modify the support bracket, but at this point in time I'll get the pipes squared up, install the electronic ignition and I'll be ready to ride come spring.

I don't know what happened to all the stock pipes that came on these Iron Heads. I checked Marketplace and eBay and there are plenty of used drag pipes and plenty of new drag pipes but stock take-offs are nowhere to be found. I did see a N.O.S set but they wanted $1,200.00 for them. That being more than I paid for the bike, that was a hard no. There are a lot of older Sportsters on Marketplace, though. A few nice ones and a whole bunch that would require a pretty serious investment to ever get them to move down the road on something other than a trailer. And like motorcycles in general, who the hell loses their title? You people never heard of a lock box?

Delivery With Dignity

 

If you have a pickup, sooner or later someone will want you to haul something for them. I got the job of moving a treadmill for my wife's sister. It gets delivered tonight when I meet up with Surly and the boys to get it off the truck and into the house.

I saw the following at the Running 'Cause I Can't Fly 2 blog - link on the sidebar. Nice little opinion piece about those of us in "the productive class". 

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"The Dignity of Work"

by Paul Rosenberg

"At one time I lived close to the Field Museum of Chicago; I had a membership and spent a good deal of time there. One evening, about ten minutes before closing, I noticed that workers had begun preparing the first floor for an evening event. I had a panoramic view from where I stood at the second floor balcony, and what I saw has stuck with me ever since.


What I saw was a lone man setting up tables and chairs – simple work, the kind that a teenager could do. But what I watched this man do was every bit as beautiful as dance. He moved with integrity, with precision, and with intent. He carefully spaced the tables in a precise geometry, he moved every chair with efficiency. This was more than just work; it was art. This man knew that he was doing his job well, and, perhaps most importantly, he enjoyed doing it well. I was transfixed by it all, and I stood there until the guards asked me to leave. And even then, I moved very slowly until I lost sight of him.


There is real beauty in doing a job well, even a simple job. It is our great loss that this form of beauty is never mentioned in public these days – double-sad, because at one time, such beauty was acknowledged.


The Virtue of Productivity: It is productivity that improves life upon Earth. What I call “the productive class” are the people who build and repair our cars, our houses, and our computers; the people who provide us with air conditioning, electricity, plumbing, and food; the people who make, clean and repair our clothing; the people who treat our sicknesses and wounds.


If you can drive around town and point out places where you repaired things, or delivered things, or fed people, or made human life better in any of a thousand ways, you are a producer. And if you are a producer, there is an inherent dignity in what you do. You are actively making the world better. You are directly creating benefit for yourself and for other human beings. What you do every day is morally virtuous and worthy of respect. And you should never let anyone tell you otherwise.


And, it’s worth pointing out: Money is not a measure of your worth. Money is certainly useful, and getting it should matter to you, but merely having money is no measure of your dignity. Actively improving the world, however, that conveys dignity.


What, Really, Is Work? It’s important to look at things directly; to clarify what they really are, not just what people say about them. This is what I see when I focus on work itself: Productive work is the insertion of creativity into the world. It is the birthing of benefit into the world. It is, in a word, beautiful, and people who do it should be deeply satisfied with what they do.


Compared to productive work, status is ornamental puffery: a shiny coat with the word “Important” emblazoned upon it, worn by a sad little man. If you are a member of the productive class, please work at re-arranging your assumptions and stop revering status. Instead, start respecting things that actually improve human life. Creating things, improving things, or making it possible for other people to create… these are noble, beautiful, and important. Please start giving yourself credit for them."
- https://freemansperspective.com/

Welding in the Gloaming

 

It was a great evening for welding yesterday. It started getting a little cool when the sun went down, but my student was doing well with the 7018 electrodes. 

Yesterday was an anniversary of sorts. My buddy Kevin sent me an email asking me if I remember what we did 20 years prior. Of course I had no idea. I've never been one to remember the dates of any event of my life other than my anniversary and a few birthdays. I can remember the events but since it happened in the past, I never bother trying to remember exactly when. Anyway, the event was Kevin and I running the Detroit Half Marathon. We ran into Canada over the Ambassador Bridge and back into Detroit through the tunnel. All of the runners had an underwater mile split time. Mine was 11:11, and we finished on the 50-yard line of Ford Field. It was a great weekend for both of us, but even better for Kevin. I dropped him off on the way home to meet up with a friend of his to go to the White Sox play-off game that got them into the World Series. 

Ham radio antenna scheduled for installation this morning.

Readouts

 

The digital readout kit came when I was out of town, so I opened it up yesterday to see what I had. After thumbing through the book a bit, it looks like it will do everything I want it to do plus a whole lot more. It'll be nice to be able to do a bolt circle layout to the gnat's ass, as well as engine turn a part with accurate stepovers.

Laying on top of the manual are the snap rings I was looking for. I ordered them from Grainger. They came in a five pack for less than $5.00, and the shipping was cheaper than I could drive up and get them. I ordered them on Monday and they were here Wednesday. 

I'll be getting back to work in the shop now, but it's going to be requiring heat. Frost warnings from the weatherman for a couple of days. I got my spare propane tank filled Tuesday, so I'll be ready to spend some time out there putting the finishing touches on the trials bike and the Sportster, and getting the mill worked over. I've still got some outdoor things to take care of and the guy is supposed to come tomorrow to help me get my antenna up in the trees. I'm going to have plenty to keep me busy this winter.

Grand Canyon #2

 

A couple more shots of the Canyon. I probably should have walked back down there when the sun started going down. The evening light and shadows would have made for some lovely shots. These were taken on the Rim Trail as we approached the Kolb Brothers Studio. The studio was built right on the rim of the Canyon. I bought a book about them and their work. Those boys were something.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, Surly located a set of pipes for the Sportster that look like those in the photo. Those would be just the ticket. They would look like they were made for the bike, because they were, and be much quieter than the drag pipes.

I didn't do much on Sunday - unpacked the suitcase, did a little laundry, and then went to the gym. After spending 36 hours Flagstaff to Chicago and then a few more on the second leg, I figured it would be a good idea to exercise something besides my fanny. 

Did a little catch-upon the computer yesterday - emails and a survey from the brain research group I'm in. Swapped out the mower blades and proceeded to get the mower stuck on the first pass along the edge of the corn field. Between the rain yesterday and the apples on the ground I spun the rear wheels and it sunk to the depth of the mower deck right now. I had to get old Allis out and pull the mower free. However, if you look closely at the above photo, you'll see a couple of apples still hanging on the branches and apple blossoms like it's spring. Crazy stuff happening these days. 

Grand Canyon #1

 

Made it home from the Grand Canyon trip Saturday night about 9:00 pm. There's no easy way to get to the Canyon by rail. The Amtrak runs to Flagstaff but then you need to get to Williams, and then you can catch the Grand Canyon Railway to the National Park. It wasn't too bad on the way out but on the return trip we had to catch the bus at 3:00 am to get to Flagstaff to board at 4:00. We had a roomette on the Amtrak, and they had our room all made up for us, so all we had to do was crawl in.

This is the train that runs between Williams and the Park. They give you a spiel on the way up about where to eat and things to see, as well as entertaining you with a musical act. On the way down they had some "hold-up men" come aboard and a mandolin and guitar player singing a few tunes. 

We had vouchers for the Fred Harvey restaurant where we ate a breakfast and a dinner. Big buffet loaded with just about anything you could want. Excellent service, as you would expect, since the Harvey restaurants were always about excellent service since day one.

In addition to the train taking us into the park, we did a bus tour on our first day. The bus stopped at only two places, but the views were spectacular. The following day we did some walking and got a look at the canyon from a few additional vantage points. 

I'll put up a few more photos in my next post.

Heading Home

 Surly's birthday today. Momma's and my pride and joy.

Meanwhile back in Arizona, Cuzzin Ricky and I are beginning our trek home. We both enjoy traveling by rail, but it's not the fastest way, especially when the train doesn't actually stop in the town where you wish to go. However, our traveling philosophy is similar to the toilet paper commercial - enjoy the go. 

It'll be good to be back home. Need to find the snap rings for the trials bike, try wrapping the muffler inserts on the Sportster with some packing and there's more bell hanging work to be done as well. The digital readouts for the milling machine should be at the house when I get home, so that'll be on the agenda as will be getting the antenna up for the ham radio. 

 

“You go up to a man, and you say, “How are things going, Joe?” and he says, “Oh fine, fine… couldn’t be better.” And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn’t be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody’s having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much.”
- Kurt Vonnegut

I saw this at the Running 'Cause I Can't Fly2 blog - there's a link in the sidebar. This is one of my daily haunts. He puts up a good variety of financial and political things so you can see what's really happening here in this country and other countries that we're involved with. I don't know when Vonnegut made the above quote, but I'm sure it applies equally to what's happening currently.

According to the itinerary, today Cuzzin Ricky and I should be riding on the Grand Canyon Railway trip and the Motorcoach Freedom Rim Tour. Since I couldn't figure out how to post using my phone, this one is prerecorded. So, I'm going out on a limb and say we're not having a perfectly lousy time of it. There'll be an after-action report coming later.

Harvest Time

 

Harvest time! 

The farmer showed up on Saturday to pick the corn - beautiful day for it. It was a good day to be a farmer. It takes a special breed to be a farmer, whether you deal with grain, livestock or a truck patch. Out here in the country, the equipment will cause some holdups on the roads during planting and harvest time and you have to be careful coming around the corners on your motorcycle due to spilled grain or dirt from the fields, but as long as I'm able I'm going to live in the country. 

Traveling

 Google is adding some new search features - so that may throw me off my game when I'm trying to write up a post. Going along with that, I've got a new computer. Windows 10 will no longer be supported after the 14th, and my current computer decided to add a new feature all on its own. When I log in now, the initial screen comes up, when I click to go to the log in screen nothing happens unless I do the control, alternate & delete procedure, which is why I ordered a new computer. Might take me a bit to get everything transferred over.

My welding student is making progress. He started with E-7018 electrodes on the second section of his paddlewheel. The first section with the E-6011 looked pretty rough, mostly because he hadn't mastered overlapping his beads. You can see in the photo he's still having a bit of the same trouble, but he's getting there.

Cuzzin Ricky and I are boomin' out on the Southwest Chief for a trip to the Grand Canyon. Amtrak doesn't run there directly, but it can be done, or so they tell us. We'll be gone for a week, so blogging will be light. I've never tried writing a post using my phone, but I imagine it can be done, maybe not with photos but we'll find out soon enough.

Amtrak runs the Texas Eagle directly to Dallas, which would be nice if I wanted to take the train to see the Haas Moto Museum. Also, Cuzzin Ricky wants to take another trip out west to ride a couple of tourist trains - steam powered I believe. We can talk about that one on our way to the Grand Canyon.

Hanger Brackets Done.

 

I welded up the bell hangers yesterday. The leg they're resting on in the photo will be vertical when installed. I'm going to clean them up today and then send them down the road. 

Heading to the doctor first thing this morning, however. I've got a big red spot on my shin - maybe a spider bite. Doesn't look good and itches like crazy. 

I got a lot of piddly things done yesterday in addition to the bell hangers. Still have plenty to do yet, in the shop, in the house and around the yard. Some big jobs and some little nuisance jobs. Just need to keep picking them off the list. It does keep me off the bar stools, though.

  

Bell Hangers and Muffler Inserts

 

I picked up the plates for the bell hangers yesterday. Beautiful job and I didn't have to do anything other than drop off the drawing and pick up the finished parts. I'm going to try and get them welded up today but there's a couple of other things on the schedule that might take precedence.

The muffler inserts for the Sportster's drag pipes were a little too big to fit in the pipes. I hammered on one for a while, but it wasn't working like I wanted it to. I chucked up a scrap piece of heavy wall pipe and bored the ID to just a bit under the ID of the pipes. I drove the muffler insert down into the pipe and it shrunk the OD on the insert right nicely. You can see the insert inside the pipe in the bottom photo.

I got the inserts installed into the pipes and started the bike. It seems to be a little quieter but it's still noisy. I have some packing material, so I might try wrapping the insert with a little of it and see what happens then. If it's still obnoxiously loud, I'll shop for some mufflers.

I laid out the plates for the skids on the grader blade for the Allis yesterday as well. Again, depending on how things shake out, I'll try to get those cut out today as well. 

Moto Museum

 

Surly was in Dallas over the weekend and went to the Haas Moto Museum - the photo is from his visit. I'd like to hitch up my teardrop and head east to the Wheels Through Time Museum in North Carolina, then head west to the Barber Museum in Alabama, and finally, the Haas Moto Museum in Dallas. And sometime during the trip stop at a Buc-ee's to see what all the hoopla is all about. 

As it stands right now, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving the Missus home alone for that length of time. And if she came along, we would have to put the dog in the kennel and neither of us would want to do that. Last time he was kenneled, it was for only one night and when I went to pick him up he wouldn't take a treat from me or even look at me. When the Missus was in the hospital last week, he spent most all of the time in the bedroom waiting for her to come home.  

I got the ham radio connected to the ground rod the other day and I talked to the guy from the club about getting the antenna up. We're shooting for the end of the week.

I called the closest Fastenal store to see about getting the snap rings for the forks on the trials bike but no luck there. I'll call Grainger. They list a 5 pack. I only need 2, but if they have them, I'll make a trip.

Looks like I'm going to be pretty busy this week. Need to catch up a bit from last week and start making ready for the cold weather.

Gaiters

 

I found some gaiters that fit the forks on the trials bike. I'm thinking these will work better on a dirt bike than the short caps that were on them, especially since there was lots of evidence of water and grit getting inside. The forks are 32mm and aren't near as plentiful as the 35mm ones, meaning I couldn't find the stock Ceriani ones easily, but the gaiters are a good snug fit and should look good on the bike.

I mentioned the other day when I finally got the second fork apart that I couldn't see the holes in the snap ring. Come to find out, that was because there was no snap ring in there. I found them listed with Fastenal and Grainger - just a matter of picking them up. Hopefully things will be OK with the Missus and I can resume getting the trials bike buttoned up. She did come home from the hospital yesterday. Nothing really conclusive as to what happened, but no damage to the heart, fortunately.

I did pick up a ground rod for the ham radio. I'll go through the bin with the wire in it and get the ground wire connected to the radio this week. I'm also hoping to get my help lined up this coming week to shoot the antenna up in the trees as well. 

Project Pause

 

A little psychedelic number for your listening pleasure. 

Nothing project related to report due to a medical emergency on the home front. I had to rush the Missus to the hospital early Wednesday morning due to chest pain. It wasn't a heart attack as typically diagnosed but since the doctors weren't sure exactly what it was, she stayed overnight to run a stress test and then stayed overnight Thursday night so they could run an angiogram today. She's not in any pain now but she has some medical history and insurance, so the doctors are checking things out thoroughly to make sure she's not at risk of having a grabber when she goes home.

One of my favorites and in this day and age it applies to not only your spiritual health, but all phases of your life - physical, financial, security and just plain getting your mind right. Keep the tank topped off, the cupboards full and remember the government is not coming to help you.

It's happened before, and it'll happen again.