A little music to mount a tire by. As the old dude said in the Tom Selleck movie I watched recently: "Take your time. You'll get a more harmonious outcome."
And it worked, too. I went two out of three falls with the Dunlop and came out on top. I put 45 pounds of air in it to make sure the bead seated properly. I'll check it later today to make sure it's still holding at 45, but I'm sure I didn't pinch the tube.
If money was no object, I would get the hub powder coated and get the rim relaced with stainless spokes. I've laced a wheel or two, but again, if money was no object, I'd send it out and let a pro do the lacing. But as my old saddle pal used to say, money is no object, it's the subject.
There was a comment a couple of posts back on how nice these wheels look, and I have to agree. The wheel is stamped Made in Italy on the inside, indicating that it's a Borrani. The high valance, drop center wheels do look nice on these Sportsters. There's a short history of Borrani motorcycle wheels here. There's also a photo of a real nice looking Aermacchi with a high pipe, solo saddle, headlight grille, and, of course, high valance Borrani rims.
I bead blasted the brake drum yesterday and got it painted. I also ordered a new chain and brake shoes. The braking surface inside the drum looks good, so nothing to worry about there. I started cleaning up the backing plate also.
The Missus wants a bird bath to sit on the tree stump. so I planted a ring of tulip bulbs around it yesterday. I'm planning on getting a few other things to plant around there inside a ring of some sort separating the flowers from the lawn.
I took one the window air conditioners out of the window yesterday and a few other little piddly chores. Starting to take care of all the seasonal things I normally do this time of year. It was a beautiful day yesterday for just that.
I'll do a little more on the bike today. I want to finish tacking the rack together and get the tire mounted. Maybe buff the backing plate up. I wasn't planning on doing a primo job of a restoration, but it won't hurt to get most of the oxide coating off it.
Cool song - fits right in with our times. I forgot the link to the site I got it from, unfortunately. There were a couple other songs there that were worth listening to also.
This one is from the Running 'Cause I Can't Fly2 blog listed on the side. I'm not familiar with the lady doing the interview but I've listened to several of Gerald Celente's diatribes, if you will. He's very accurate with his predictions, as well as being very profane, however, as a guy who swears like a stevedore, I can relate.
The primary point that I took away from the interview is we need peace in this world. It's obvious we can't rely on the hawks and warmongers in Washington who line their pockets and distract the voters from other issues. Gerald says it's up to each of us to stand up, speak out for peace and quit supporting the bozos spending billions of our hard earned money killing and maiming millions of young men and women. I don't have a very large audience on the blog, but I'm telling everyone who reads this, it's long past time to stop this foolishness. Gerald's absolutely correct on this.
Meanwhile back at the shack, I took the rear wheel off the Sportster yesterday.
It took a bit of work to break the bead loose but drop center wheels like this one make removing the tire fairly easy. In the right of the photo you can see the tire irons. The three on the right are factory made but they really aren't long enough to wrestle most of the tires off or on the rim. The two long ones are a couple I made. They make the job go a lot easier, just too long for an on the bike tool kit.
I'm going to finish polishing up the rim and paint the brake drum before mounting the tire. When I bought this pig it was supposed to be just straighten out a few things and go for a ride. Since that didn't happen, I keep getting in deeper and deeper, but I'm planning on keeping it which is why I'm going to put a new chain on it also. What's another hundred bucks, right?
Went to the health club again yesterday. Feeling more comfortable using the machines and I've got a routine established that I can follow for a while. I'm starting slow and easy but by Christmas I should see a big difference. The shoulder hasn't been complaining and the range of motion has come back nicely. I should be able to go to the beach next summer without the bully kicking sand in my face.
Cuzzin Ricky and I went to IRP yesterday for a race - midgets, sprints and Silver Crown cars. Unfortunately, we got rained out. The rain started about the time they were singing the Star Spangled Banner. The rain date is today but we're going to take a pass since the weather's still looking a little shaky. Too bad - it promised to be a real good show.
I went out to the shop yesterday to make the missing fastener on the ruck sack and on closer inspection, the right side in the photo never had a hook arrangement. It's got a buckle and collar that are sewn to the ruck. I'm just guessing here, but I think the one side is supposed to stay attached after adjusting to length. After slinging up that side, it's possible to then hook up the other side making it easier to put the ruck on.
The inside is divided into two compartments and it has two sets of flaps to seal it off after loading it up. The flaps are fit with grommets that have a drawstring running through them. Pull the cord and it closes up the flaps. The inside set of flaps is missing the drawstring but I think some 550 cord will work nicely.
There are two big pockets on the back and two almost pockets on the sides. I'm pretty sure those were for the bedroll. The bedroll would go under the top flap and then into the side pockets and cinched down.
The ruck is heavily wrinkled and smelling pretty musty. I'm going to stuff it full, hang it on the line and hose it down. Hopefully, that will take some of the wrinkles out and make it smell better. I'm not certain but I think it has some sort of wax coating on it which eliminates the possibility of using an iron on it.
Now that I've got this thing, I'm thinking a wool blanket would be a nice addition. I've got a bugout bag in the truck, but it wouldn't hurt to get this set up with essentials for a day hike. Since I'm planning on using this as part of my strength and cardio training, just get it loaded up with about 20-25 pounds worth and get moving.
I'd never heard of Ally Venable until the other day. I saw another video she was playing on - The House is a Rockin' - and was impressed with her and the other two musicians. As luck and YouTube would have it, I found this one where she plays with Buddy Guy. It's a rocker for sure - give it a listen.
No doubt about the contents here. Now that I've got fresh rubber front and rear for the Sportster, I shouldn't have any more big-ticket items for this thing. This is like a government contract. - both cost and time over-run. I'm planning on working on it a bit today so I can keep inching forward.
Hit the health club in earnest yesterday. I took it easy for the most part. No heavy weights but spent 5 minutes on a bike to warm up, 20 minutes on the treadmill, a couple of shoulder specific exercises, and two rounds on the heavy bag. It's rather obvious that I've lost both muscle mass and cardio during the "pandemic" and the last couple of months due to the frozen shoulder. However, I'm making a move in the right direction from a health standpoint and to be able to perform the chores required to maintain the homestead.
Ran a bunch of errands while I was out also, so the day was pretty much shot when I got home. I did get the nesting boxes outfitted with new straw, and some other things done around the shack. One of my stops was at the library to return some books. They had a book sale going and I found a bicycle book and a motorcycle book. The bicycle book is by David Byrne about bicycling in general and his travels on one. The motorcycle book is about a tour of South America. Both of them look to be interesting reads.
Friday the 13th today and there might be some trouble around the country. Don't let your guard down.
A couple of interesting photos taken from the social media site that starts with an F. The braze welding in the top photo is fabulous. Lots of talent and skill to get to that point. Bottom photo, I never knew anyone that collected and displayed drum brakes before. Not really all that surprising, though.
Though photo doesn't show enough detail of the front wheel, but the hub is one that I made myself. It was quite a bit of machine work, but it runs true and stops well. The frame is made from aircraft strut tubing, engine from my 350 Sprint/Aermacchi vintage racer.
Front tire for the Sportster arrived yesterday - tube should be here today. It's an all weather tire which is important since 99.9% of the time the bike be parked where it's dry.
I was ordering a few things from Midway, and as I'm wont to do, I perused the surplus stuff. I came across this rucksack and decided I'd take a chance. It was listed as Grade 3, so I knew it wasn't going to be primo, but it matches the duffle I bought years ago I take on my bicycle trailer. Both of them are Italian army surplus. If you look closely you can see the two straps. The one on the right has a fastener like on the strap on a pair of bib overalls. The strap on the left has none. There's a grommet that has pulled out where the cinch cord closes up the inside of the pack but everything else seems to be A-OK. I'm pretty sure I can reinstall the grommet, if not, I've got a grommet tool. As for the missing strap fastener, that should be easy enough to take care of as well.
I didn't really need this thing but my other pack is really too big for rucking or day-hiking. Rucking is part of my new fitness routine. However, I'm going to have to heal up a bit first. I aggravated my mysterious chest ailment the other day. So when I went to the health club Monday, things didn't go quite as planned. I did get the line-up on the different machines. I'm heading there again soon but the chest is still annoying me. I'll take it easy, do some leg work, put my "girdle" on and work the heavy bag for a couple of rounds.
