Let There Be Light!

Lights in the Barn!

My buddy came down last evening and gave me a hand pulling the wire for the barn lights. It all went rather smoothly and before you could say Nikola Tesla, we had power. And to make it even better, everything worked, even the three-way switch for the lights upstairs. Now that we've got power, I'll try to get the garage doors hooked up today. That'll make things nice for the Missus. She's probably going to want some type of lighting by the service door but I've got the switch already wired and ready to go for that. I'll just let her go in and out a few times in the dark and see what she prefers. I've got a motion sensor light with a pair of flood bulbs I can put over the door. Maybe a post light would be better. We've got one out front with an electric eye. That seems to work well. Whatever she wants.

I did a little work the other day on the upstairs trying to get things organized and serviceable. Nothing big, just some odds and ends but I'll be able to do a little woodworking up there now. I still need to move my saws up there but no hurry on that right now. If you look at the back wall in the photo, you can see one of the fold down tables I built and the legs for it. Now that the miter saw is up and running, I'll cut the legs to length and get that job done today as well. I still need a few more things upstairs before that's complete and I need to replace a couple of the damaged roof sheets but with the electric being finished, I can just about call the barn done..

I Con-Duit, Can You?

I got the conduit in the hole and I'm ready to pull the wire for the barn electrification project. After all the time that has elapsed since this project got started, it's kind of like the old rural electrification days back in the 30's. I'll have lights, the garage doors will go up and down with the touch of a button, and I'll be able to use my miter saw (which I might add, I got mounted up the other day). It won't make any difference, night or day, I'll be able to go into the barn and do things without stringing out the extension cords. Me and the 600 million who lost power in India are really going to appreciate improvement in the electric power infrastructure. I've got a buddy coming down Saturday to give me a hand pulling the wire - should be golden on Sunday.

Not much else exciting going on this week. I had a visit from a former student, actually that was exciting. I hadn't seen him in several years. It was great to get caught back up a little. I got a few papers filled out for my insurance coverage through the school and finished the Real Food book.

Excellent book. Lots to digest here, pun intended. She did a pretty thorough job of covering the subject and her conclusions were supported by a review of a lot of studies and literature on the subject of What To Eat And Why, as stated in the sub-title. One of the more striking points she makes is how a lot of the studies and conclusions that doctors and lay people use to guide their health decisions are just plain bullshit. The one study that got everyone in an uproar over the cholesterol in eggs was done using powdered eggs, not even real eggs. Powdered eggs and powdered dairy products naturally under go changes in the process of changing them from wet things to dry things. If you were going to release a study that was going to have a huge effect on people and the entire poultry industry, wouldn't you run the study using eggs as they came from the chicken or at least put a huge asterisk at the end of study? That way everyone would know what the real story is. The bottom line here is like I stated the other day. Stay away from industrialized food. If it's been processed in a factory, it's probably not good for you. Stay away from hydrogenated fats, high fructose corn syrup and most vegetable oils, especially corn oil. Eat grass fed meat, lots of vegetables and fruit, fish for the Omega-3's. It sounds almost too good to be true. That's probably why it is true. It eliminates all the big industrial agriculture and the resulting need for pharmaceuticals. Like most things, it's always about the money.

So now I've got more to think about with my diet decisions. Still can't justify cheap sandwich cookies anywhere in the diet plan. Desserts are about the only thing I miss eating. I did find  Vegan Pie in the Sky at the library the other day. There may still be hope.

Can You Dig It?

I did a little trenching yesterday. It looks like a long haul in the photo but it's really only about 50 - 60 feet. It was easy digging until I got to the tree roots. I chopped and dug until I had a good sweat built up and then called it a day. I'll do a little more today and see how it goes. I've got the pick out already for digging through the gravel drive. I'll get most of the digging done and then I'll tackle breaking out some of the old foundation. I got the conduit run from the panel inside the barn and through the wall already (if you look closely, you can see the pulling ell on the barn sidewall). Depending on the weather and a few other things that are going on, I'm hoping to have power in the barn this week. That'll be a big one to check off the list.

On a totally different subject, I read the Scott Jurek book Eat and Run. The guy's an amazing ultramarathon runner. He's also a vegan. The book relates his life as a runner and includes vegan recipes at the end of every chapter. Since the heart attack, I've been following a vegan diet myself. I make no political statement with this. I still wear leather shoes and I have no problem with other people eating meat/dairy. What I do have a problem with is trying to get a decent meal while on the road.

I took the toll road across Indiana and Ohio when I went to Belfast a week ago. We stopped both coming and going to grab something to eat and stretch a little bit at the plazas. On the way out the best I could come up with was a small garden salad at Hardees that I scraped most of the cheese off of. On the way back, we stopped and this time I tried the Manchurian Wok, seeing that they listed a vegetarian carton on the take out menu. Turns out however, that the only vegetables they had also had beef mixed in with them. I ended up getting a carton of fried rice, even though that had a little egg in it.

While at Belfast, the street festival had some food vendors but once again it was slim pickin's. The guy with the sausage, grilled peppers and onions fixed me up with some peppers and onions on a roll. Actually pretty tasty but didn't stick with me for long. After Pollywogg Holler, we all went out for a beer and a sandwich and the best I could do there was an order of sweet potato fries. Seems like there's no problem at a regular sit down restaurant, but fast food or a bar is going to present an issue. I had made some trail mix and packed a couple of Clif bars along but I need to figure out something better when I'm on the road. 

However, the book I'm reading now, Real Food by Nina Planck, says that veganism is uncalled for and the thing to eat is non-industrialized food. I've always maintained that there was a reason the people in the old days could eat plenty of red meat, eggs and dairy products without getting a heart attack or cancer. According to her, the answer is pretty simple. Just eat food that hasn't been screwed with by industrial agriculture. Of course, finding that along the toll road or at a street festival is going to be pretty damn hard to do. I'm a little more than half way through the book and what she's saying makes sense. Hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup have no business entering our bodies. Raw milk and raw milk cheese, grass fed livestock, fruits and veggies without all the drugs and chemicals are the way to go. Where's a guy going to find all that stuff at home, let alone on the road, however? If what she's saying is the truth, it would be worth pursuing. 

I've got some photos taken here on my place almost 100 years ago. One of them is of a guy milking a cow out back. One shows the house with a field of cabbage as the front yard and another one has a little kid holding up the biggest Canada goose I've ever seen. That was the lifestyle here way back when, farm and hunt. Between the the hard work and all the walking associated with that hard work and the wholesome food they consumed, people lived a good life, had a decent life span and when it was time to go, they went quickly and at home. I just wish I knew for sure who to believe and what path to follow. In the meantime I'll continue to stay away from the cheap sandwich cookies and anything with high fructose corn syrup in it.

Have a good week!

900 Superbike

Here's Looking At You

Click On It

I got the turn signals and headlights taken care off. The bike looks close to being done at first glance. The more I look at the front end, the more I'm thinking Surly is right, dual discs. It would be nice to have a little wider rear wheel as well. I widened one of those mags way back when but I had access to a big lathe at the time. Kosman used to do the wheels and sold all kinds of drag and road racing stuff. Brakes, offset countershaft sprockets, swingarms, complete frames. You name it, he was the go to guy. I did the Internet search and it appears he has sold his business. He still does the wheel widening, it says on the website. It might be worth the phone call to see what it would cost to add an inch to the wheel width and see what he says about buying  an offset sprocket and brake parts. If I start going down that path I can see this project looking like a military  cost overrun but I could have a really cool scoot when it's all done. Still probably half what they're asking for the Sportster I was looking at.

While I'm kicking all of that around, I'm going to work on the clutch release plate. I need to make a couple of spacers and see about rounding up a couple of long metric Allen bolts. I need to see what I've got for tubing. If I'm going to bridge the swingarm, I'm going to need tubing. I'm also going to try and get a few more things done around the shack. I need to start digging the trench for the barn electricity. We've got sand here, so it digs easy. I will have to break out some concrete to get through the old foundation wall but I can handle that. Lots to do but lots of time to do it now. Finally standing right smack dab in the middle of Easy Street with a shovel in my hand.

 

She's Got Dimples

Since I already had the side panels made for the 900, that looked like a good place to start. The panels are held in place with Dzus or 1/4 turn fasteners. Installing them is easy enough if you have all the right tools. First thing is to rivet the springs to the mounting plates, locate the place you want them to go and tack them on. If you look at the mounting plate in the photo, you can see the transfer punch inside it. That makes the job real easy. You put the transfer punch into the tack welded mounting plate and then put your sheet metal in place and tap it lightly and you get a center punch mark where you need to drill your hole. I use a chassis punch to make the holes. That's it on the top right. Then you dimple the hole and the Dzus fastener fits nicely in place. Nothing to it.

I also tacked the chain guard on. Nothing too tricky here either. Layout the first bracket, clamp an angle to the swingarm and clamp the bracket to that. That keeps everything in place and at 90 degrees. Get the first one on and repeat the process for the second one.

And this is what you end up with: two side panels and a chain guard. Not bad at all. I do need to clean up the shop before I do too much more. It's been a long time since I did much fabricating at the house. A little clean and organize session would pay off some big dividends in the long run. A lot of the stuff I brought home from school just got thrown in a pile, basically, and I've still got a bucket of tools in the new barn that I need to put away. I'll get a little more work on the 900 and start the cleaning process. It's always so much easier when you can find the tools and the top of the work bench.

It's Starting to Happen

Forgot the link on this one

Since I've started working on the 900, Surly has put up some ideas at his blog as to how I should proceed on this project. He rode to Kentucky in the sidecar with me when he was a pup so he's been down the road with the old 900. He's got a much better artistic eye than I have, I certainly value his opinion and I've wanted to collaborate on a bike project with him for a long time. That being said, I'm not so sure this is going to be the one. He's leaning more toward the old Superbike days and I was thinking a little more drag racing/street fighter look. I did a lot of drag bike work on the 900/1000s back in the day. Raked a ton of frames, made all kinds of parts and repaired lots of aluminum bits. However, Cycle magazine ran a feature story way back when about the bike in the photo and if I could find a copy, I'd think seriously about building a replica.

It's the Racecrafters Superbike from 1977 with Reg Pridmore aboard. In 1978, the bike had Vetter splashed across the tank. There are plenty of pictures of that bike all over the Internet (check Surly's site) and the later Harry Klinzmann ridden ELR version as well. The magazine article showed all the frame modifications, the big bridge fork brace and all the other things that made the bike successful. Cycle magazine went out of business quite a few years back. They were incorporated into Cycle World if I remember correctly. They might have the article. Regardless, I started working on the thing yesterday and I made some decent progress.

Surly is voting gold wheels like on the Vetter edition. If that's the case, we need to see about the rest of the paint scheme. Bright red like a Hailwood Replica Ducati would look good. I'm a long way from paint but what I really need to decide is how deep I want to go with this project. Double brake discs and calipers on the front would set me back a pretty penny. As it is, I'm only looking at a master cylinder and a brake line. Bridge under the swingarm? A little more work and ,maybe a tubing purchase. If I do go all in with the Superbike look, it's gotta be there, though. Since I'm building a street bike, lights and turn signals rather than a number plate are in order. I'm planning on tacking on the rear turn signal brackets and starting on the headlight mount today. When I get all the bits that I already had made up tacked on, I'll post some photos and then we'll all take a look.

Belfast Recap

Bitchin' Tattoo

I saw this young guy sportin' this thing last September when we were out there.

Jimmy and The Bleeder flanking the # 4 world heavyweight contender, Mariusz Wach.

Double Vision at Pollywogg Holler 

Chris Guzman from Guzman Gloves doing the vocals.

My Indian clubs and bib number

First 5K since the heart attack and a good "race" to make my comeback.

The proceeds of the race will be going to help older boxers in need. Livingstone Bramble and the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame are setting this up. I'm going to find out more about it and I'll let you know. You might want to make a contribution.

The new William Muldoon statue

The lady in the photo is a direct descendant of Muldoon. Muldoon trained John L. and also is credited with inventing the sweater, medicine ball and shower bath. He was also an undefeated Greco-Roman wrestler. The first fitness guru, he trained fighters and big shots like Teddy Roosevelt at his White Plains, New York location. I'll never have my own statue but I did get the Indian clubs. 

Small town America politics

There were several of these in the windows of a little building by the barns. Sign on the door gave the hours for the Tea Party meetings. I rarely agree with anyone's/any party's politics but grass root movements that get more people involved are good for America. My views are more strict Constitutionalist/Libertarian - the less government is the best government. Fix the roads, deliver the mail, regulate interstate commerce, if you must, then go home. Obviously, I find trillion dollar deficit spending a little upsetting.

Smokin' Joe robe at the auction

I would have liked to have the autographed robe. Just the thing for a newly retired shop teacher. Hef can lay around the mansion on the round bed in his smoking jacket but layin' around the shack in a Smokin' Joe jacket is something else all together.

Thanks Belfast. It was a fun weekend!