Extraction

The bicycle race went off well. Surly had two goals before starting his first bike race - don't fall off and come in ahead of me. Mission accomplished for him. My saddle pal/running buddy got an age group win. I had the distinction of not being scored. There was some mix-up with the timing. The final print-out had me one second behind Surly but the reality of it was that I was about two minutes behind him. He was scored as the 12th place finisher and I think I was 17th. It's a small event but there's a few fast guys who show up. My friend Don who went with me on the Cowboy Trail won the 60 and up age group. Not really much of a surprise there. The boy's a stud. I'm pretty happy with my performance. In spite of the sore back restricting my training, I was able to keep up a decent pace - for me at least.

After the race and breakfast came back to the house and Surly made a few pieces on my mill for a bicycle project he's working on. I tinkered with the Rickati a bit. I took all the case screws out and measured them up so I can get all of them replaced with stainless. Also put a new cover on the VW since it's outside while I'm working on the two bikes currently.

Getting the wisdom tooth pulled today, so won't be much else happening. I'm going to make myself a smoothie, eat pudding and catch up on the magazines.

Rickati Progress

I finished up the work stand for the Rickati project. I could have made it a bit taller but both tires clear the ground, so that works. I wish my little camera took better close-ups. I would have taken a picture of a couple of the welds on the stretchers. Beautiful looking TIG welds, even if I do say so myself. I'm fortunate that my eyesight and my hands are steady enough that I can still do this kind of work. I painted the stand with left over paint from the motorbike project. I really like that red. I'll probably paint the frame of the bike that color when I get it finished. It looks good on the motorbike. 

I shined up the tank, muffler and gear gazer while I was out there yesterday. I had the filler on the tank taped off and I wanted to make sure the new gas cap was going to fit, so I had to clean off the sticky residue from the tape. While I was doing that, figured I might as well clean up the rest of the aluminum stuff while I was at it. I had polished up the sidecovers on the engine while the bike was at the school but they got a little corroded while sitting around these many years. I might clean those up later today after I get home from the bicycle race.

I'm not planning on it being much of a race today. My sore back has really cut into my training. I got a massage on Friday to loosen it up but it tightened back up after working out in the morning and working in the shop yesterday afternoon. Today will be the cycling equivalent of jogging, whatever that is.

The tubing and the fenders will be in this week so I can work on getting the back end of the bike squared away. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do about the rear wheel but it's not holding things up yet, so I've got time to think about it. I should probably decide before I send the motor out to get rebuilt, however. Pretty happy with the progress up to this point. Don't know how much I'll get done this week - lots of stuff on the schedule, including getting the wisdom tooth pulled. I'll just keep pecking away it. 

Gettin' After It

I dug out the manual for the 900 and made a copy of the wiring diagram. Rather a crappy copy as you can see, but I copied it into Microsoft Word and cropped off the outer edges and then enlarged and sharpened it. Looks pretty good on a piece of 8-1/2 x 11 paper. Next time I head north I'll take it to Staples and see if they can enlarge it onto an 11 x 14. In the meantime, I'll fasten the printout to a clipboard and start chasing wires down on the bike. Then I can start the numerous trips to the auto parts store for supplies. Actually, I've got a pretty good assortment of connectors and wire on hand but you never have everything you need unless you do this type of work on a daily basis, and there's no way I'd want to do this sort of thing on a daily basis.

I ordered a piece of tubing for the fender loop on the Rickati project along with a couple of short pieces of cold finished round stock to have in inventory. The local steel supplier where I used to buy my material for the high school has a good selection of hot rolled rounds but not so much on the cold rolled. 

I got the quote on the fenders from Speed and Sport. Shipping costs are reasonable so I'll get those ordered in. I'm going to do a bit more searching for a comparison price first but either way, I'm going to get a pair.

Sprint Cars With A Side Of Root Canal

Cuzzin Ricky and I went to the sprint car races in Kokomo Tuesday night. This was a make-up night for the race that got rained out over the weekend. They held an autograph session with all the drivers prior to the race and even had the preprinted sheets with all their photographs on it. Very nice. The drivers were all very pleasant and courteous - that's the way to build your fan base. Meet your favorite driver and get his autograph, and if you didn't already have a favorite, they were all there for you pick from. The racing was good. They had micro sprints or something as a support race - no modifieds, all open wheel. A few heat races, "B" main and a 30 lap feature.

They had a couple of guys promoting the Brickyard 400 there. If you signed up for a chance to win a couple of free tickets, they gave you some swag. They were also promoting the midget race that will be a few days before the Brickyard. Rick and I already have our tickets for that one. Should be quite the race - $70,000.00 prize money at stake with $15K to the winner. That should bring them all out for that one.

I got a little bit of work done in the shop yesterday. Put the headlight bracket back on the 900 and polished up the headlight and turn signals with a bit of chrome polish. I think I need to start sorting out the wiring. I've got no idea where all the various wires go. I've got a shop manual with a wiring diagram. When I did the Sportster, I enlarged the diagram and then glued it to a piece of cardboard and set it up right where I was working. I should do the same on this job. 

I tacked the work stand for the Rickati together. I need some more flat stock for stretchers on the legs. I made a slight change in the plan so I need to see what I've got piled up in the corner of the shop. I checked into some tubing for the back frame loop. Online Metals has 4130 and some fancy DOM tubing but it's very much cost prohibitive. Wag-Aero has some mild steel stuff that's reasonable but they only carry it in .049" wall. I'd prefer something a bit thicker, not that it needs the strength but to be able to bend it without flattening it out. I've bought tube from an outfit in Indy before but I can't remember the name of the place. I need to jog my memory a bit or look on one of the cardboard mailing tubes I've got tubing stored in. Might get lucky there. It'll come to me eventually. I looked into buying fenders for the project. I'm waiting to get the quote on the shipping costs.

The visit to the dentist didn't work out like I planned. The tooth that caused me to seek professional assistance is a wisdom tooth. I figured it might be time for an extraction. I was right about that but also when he was poking around in there he found some bad stuff with another tooth in the same neighborhood. So I got the crown pulled off, a root canal, a temporary crown, and another visit next week to get the wisdom tooth yanked and the permanent crown installed. Really looking forward to that. Also the anti-biotics he gave me can give you diarrhea. That's just what I need. No way I can make the dash from the shop to the house if that sets in. Maybe put the manual for the 900 in the bathroom so  I can study the wiring diagram if I'm hit with a case of the grips. Always something. 

Gettin' It Done

Takin' 'em from the top:

Headlight mount for the 900. I had it tacked together and on the bike to make sure it would fit already. Welded it finish, sandblasted, primed and painted. 

New parts for the Rickati came yesterday. Throttle and cable, gas cap and grips. Surly came down on Sunday and we critiqued the bike build so far. The rear fender needs to go and the frame loop supporting it needs to be changed. I found a place that sells aluminum fenders. They aren't cheap but up until I bought the new parts and a new front tire, I basically had nothing in this thing beyond my labor. No reason I can't spring for some decent parts and have this thing lookin' nice when it's all done.

Pieces for the work stand for the Rickati. I'm going to the dentist today and maybe the races tonight, so I won't get them welded up today, but soon.

Next order of business on the Rickati is the work stand and then the back loop. I need to order in a piece of tubing for that. I'll get that on the way along with a pair of fenders. While I'm waiting for parts I'll do something on the 900. Not sure what yet but something. On a little bit of a roll - don't want to lose my momentum.

Home Owner Job

The weather has been beautiful the last few days around here. No need for the AC running - sleeping with the windows open, and as a bonus, no one in the neighborhood was burning garbage so the windows could stay open, except for last night. Thanks a lot. However, because the weather was so nice I figured it was time to make some progress on the yard and sidewalk that got torn up with the installation of the new well. I started with the retaining wall where I normally park. The top photo shows what the yard looked like while under construction. If you look where the coil of plastic pipe is, that's where the blocks for the retaining wall go.

I got that finished up without too much difficulty - meaning without throwing my back out again. The green stripe in the gravel is where the new water line runs. I sprayed some weed killer on the area. I'll give it a chance to work and then get a little more gravel and top dress the area.

I was going to form up the area that I had to cut out of the sidewalk next to the house but I think I'll try and get the triangular piece of concrete I drug out of the way with the tractor worked back in and then use it as the form. I've got a couple pieces of expansion joint material left over from pouring the floor in my shop a couple of years ago to put along the edge where the sidewalk buts up against the house. It's supposed to rain today and over the weekend as well, so maybe take a look at that part of it next week.

In the meantime, I'll work on a couple of motorcycle projects. I found most of the parts for the Rickati project that were last seen when I moved everything home from the high school. The only thing I didn't find was the work stand. I think I left that at the school when I retired. Actually, I'm lucky to have gotten as much stuff moved out of there as I did, seeing as how I was on light duty due to the heart attack. As soon as I got the release from the doctor, I gave my two weeks notice and started dragging things home. There's still a few things over there I should get home, like the pony cart frame. Not that I need a pony cart, mind you, but it'd be good to get it out of his way and sell it or give to someone who could use it.

All that aside, the first order of business for the Rickati is to make another work stand. I made a list of things that need to be done on the bike and most of the items are easy enough to do. I'd would like to have a better rear wheel. The one I've got is from the Rickman frame that I started this project with. It's got a steel rim and I'd like to have an aluminum one. Also the hub has a rather odd arrangement with the brake actuator and sprocket both being on the same side. The little Ducatis use a 428 chain as I recall and the proper rear sprocket might be a bit small in diameter to clear the brake drum. I should shop around and see if I can find something off an old Japanese motocross bike before I finish up making the spacers and getting the brake shoes relined. While I'm mulling over my options on that one, I'm going to try and move forward on the 900 a bit.

Feels good to get something done.

Wrong Way Corrigan

Went to the county fair yesterday - not much to see if you go early in the day but that's why I usually go early in the day. The chickens and the rabbits and all the rest of the animals are all there but the commercial buildings and the rest of it is pretty much buttoned down until the evening. I checked out the 4H building, the photography displays, all the animal barns and the Retired Iron Club display of old tractors and farm equipment. The blacksmith shop where I used to work was closed up, however. The club this year had some old farm trucks on display along with the tractors. 

The old Ford in the top photo is exactly the type of rig I'd like to have. The Dodge in the middle photo looks like it would be more at home in a lumber camp than on a farm out here on the prairie, but it's pretty cool, though. The bottom photo is a Minneapolis Moline that runs on LPG. Minneapolis Molines are something of a rarity around this neck of the woods but especially one that's powered by propane rather than gasoline. This one is owned by a former student of mine. He also has a Farmall M that was on display. I saw his son driving the M in the tractor parade a couple of years ago but didn't realize he had the Moline. 

While listening to the local radio station on the ride home I heard that it was Wrong Way Corrigan Day. Interesting story about how he got his name as well as what his life was all about at the link. I like his quote saying he never had any aims, that's why he never got anywhere. I would think flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean to Ireland in 1938 was going somewhere.

I ordered a couple of parts for the Rickati project - gas cap, throttle, cable and grips. I'm going to need a battery and a kill switch for sure. I'm not sure what those little Ducatis used for a voltage regulator. I do have a tail light on the old Preston Petty rear fender but I don't think it would be worth it to hook it up. The bike's supposed to be built as a vintage trials bike, so no lights required. I've got an ignition coil mounted up under the gas tank and I think I've got a new plug wire I can use. The front brake is hooked up and operational and I've got a new clutch cable already. Looks like I need to line up the rear wheel and make some spacers for the axle and weld up the foot peg mounts but that's basically it. I'm going to work on it while I'm fiddling with the 900. I can leapfrog from one job to another so if I need to wait on parts or something, I can keep going on at least one of them. Maybe sneak in a little work on the Sprint or the VW as well.