Things Are Good On The Right Side

 

Right side motor mount bolted on. You can't see it in this view but the mount extends down below and has two more bolts and a gusset - should be hell for strong. The next step is to get a couple of tack welds on the part that goes on the frame rail. I need enough strength to support the engine so I can remove the piece I have bolted to the front of the engine supporting it now. I need to get that out of the way so I can get the water pump and fan on. I get that taken care of I can figure out my radiator and start coming up with what I want to do with the grill shell. I'm also going to get the cockpit fastened down. I can then work on everything in between the two. 

Went to the dentist yesterday and of course I need to have a root canal done. So now that I've gotten over the pain from the recent extraction, more dental fun and games. On the plus side, however, the Missus and I stopped on the way home and had a late lunch inside an actual restaurant. No carry out - real live dining in. The first time that's happened since somewhere around the end of February. The Missus is still very much concerned, as she should be, but you can't put every restaurant in these small towns out of business by restricting them to carry out only. We've still got the mask requirement but unlike the craziness you see on the news, no-one around here seems to care whether you're masked up or not. Hopefully it won't get too extreme again when the flu season starts. Was sure nice having a nice meal in a sit-down restaurant once again.   

Right Side Mount.

 

Right side motor mount finished up. I painted the finish color after the photo and I'll bolt it on to the engine today - paint should be dry enough. I've got a dentist appointment that'll blow a big hole in the day but I should be able to get a little something done in the shop. It's going to cool off this week and get some rain, so depending on the weather, I'll work in the shop or paint the house.

I found a transmission but it's in Indy. The price is right so it would be worth driving down there. Hell, it would be worth driving down there just to get out of the house. The governor relaxed the rules as of Saturday so it's probably even more important that I take some precautions if I go but I'll contact the guy and see if it's still available. Now that I've got the front mounts taken care of, with a tranny I can make a cross member and then work on everything forward of the seat. I also need to finish the repair on the tube bender and finish up the roller I started on a couple years ago. I'm going to need it one of these days.

Have a good week but don't let your guard down.

Himalayan Review

 The new Cycle World magazine came in the mail Friday. There's an article on the Himalayan by Peter Egan. If you've been reading motorcycle magazines for any length of time you'll recognize the name and know that he's been around a long time and knows his motorcycles. Anyway, he bought a Himalayan and put 3,600 miles on it this past summer. In his review he mentions how much he enjoys the bike as well as a couple of the quirks - like the compass has only a vague correlation with the actual direction and that the bike won't idle until it's warmed up. Same as mine.

He didn't mention the kickstand being a bit too long but, coincidentally, there's an advertisement for the Himalayan in the magazine and it mentions a shortened kickstand and an updated compass on the 2021 model. I was thinking of shortening up my kickstand this winter. Probably only have to take about 3/16" out of it to fix it. The Missus said I should call the dealer and see about buying a new one. I may do that but as a welder of some experience, it would be embarrassing to have to tell someone I bought a new one rather than doing the job myself.

 Egan bought the factory panniers and crash bars like I have and he also bought a new seat cover and foam from Seat Concepts. They offer two seats for $180.00, both use the stock pan. He bought the tall one. Egan and I are about the same height and age, so if it works for him it would probably work for me but I'd like to try one before buying one. As it is, I'll probably just fix the kickstand and call it done.

The magazine also has a nice article on the Harley XR-750 by Allan Girdler who is the guy who literally wrote the book on these bikes. I haven't read the rest of the articles yet but this looks to be an especially good issue. I don't know what I'm going to do when they stop publishing bike magazines in print. I spend way too much time on the laptop as it is - especially since I just finished a book on the dangers of EMF from laptops, cell phones, smart appliances, etc.    

New Stairs

 

I got the new stairs made yesterday. Not that big of a job, especially since I had the other ones for a pattern. Two pieces of treated lumber was a tick over $50.00. I don't know what all happened with the treated lumber supply but the local lumber yard was out of it for a while - maybe they still are. I got this from Menards and at least I saved the 11% this week. 

When I got ready to start on the stairs, I was gathering up all the tools and threw them in my old carpenter's box. I made this maybe 45 years ago. When I made it all my woodworking tools would fit in there but like most handyman homeowners, the tool collection continued to grow. I'm at the point now there's very little I don't have and not much of anything I would like to have. A planer would be nice but I don't I don't do enough woodworking to justify having one. I was pretty proud of myself yesterday with the tools I threw in the box. I had most everything first trip out - only had to make one trip back to the shop. Energy conservation is becoming more important all the time.

The left side motor mount is done. Looks pretty good. After I get the right side made up, I'll weld the parts that support the rubber biscuits to the frame rails. I'm going to have to go on the hunt for a transmission one of these days soon so I can make a crossmember and finalize the engine placement.

My metal order arrived yesterday. A sheet of aluminum for the firewall and a couple of small flat bars that the local guy I normally buy my steel from doesn't carry. I'm not ready for this stuff but they had a 20% off sale, so the time was right.

I'll juggle my time in the next couple of days between finishing the right side motor mount and doing some painting on the shack. Supposed to cool off next week but also calling for rain. Still got about another month of painting weather so too soon to panic.

Go Driver, Go Go

 

Been on the road the last couple of days. Not far with the cooties, of course, but a couple of grocery stores, credit union, bank, lumber yard, dog groomer, and a gas station. And in two different counties. The governor is relaxing the cooties rules as far as restaurants, gyms, etc. as of this weekend but the mask order is still going to be in effect until the middle of next month. Lots of people are already disregarding the mask rule. I wear mine when I go into a business mainly because I don't wish to have a confrontation. I don't need to be arguing with anyone about my rights or the effectiveness of the masks or anything else under the sun. Just want to be left alone to do my own thing.

The Missus and I have cast our ballots for the November election. In Indiana if you're over 65 that's all the reason you need to vote by mail. There was a Libertarian presidential and gubernatorial candidate on the ballot, by the way. Neither one of them has a snowball's chance in hell of getting elected, I would guess, but I'm glad to see a third party option. I'd like to see Jo Jorgensen, the presidential candidate, be part of the presidential debates just to spice things up.

Left side motor mount for the jitney project. Lovely looking weld, even if I do say so myself. It's a half open corner joint welded with the TIG process using ER70S-6 filler on A36 steel - that's welder talk right there, Brother. However, I'm going to have to see about having the cataract surgery done pretty soon. My vision isn't what it should be when I'm driving now, nor is it what it should be when doing most every thing else, like TIG welding small parts. Since I'm near sighted, I wear glasses all the time except for close-up work like TIG welding. I can't raise my head up to look thru the bi-focal with the welding hood on, so I usually just take my glasses off and stick my nose down in close. Even that's not working all the best now with the fuzziness in my right eye. I'm going to see next week about getting the surgery scheduled. Get it done before the bad weather hits.

I'll bolt up the left side mount today - paint should be dry and make a set of stairs for the deck. I'll have to make them on the deck so I won't have far to go to install them. That treated lumber is heavy. It was about all I wanted dragging a 2x10 x12' up on the deck. Definitely need to get this job done before the weather closes in along with some painting on the shack. I do have some material ordered for the jitney and I've got the right side motor mount figured out. So like always, doing my best to keep all the balls in the air. 

A Bit of Progress +

 

I saw this over at Handverker. He hadn't posted for quite some time but I checked it out on a whim yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to see he had been pretty active. He hasn't posted again in about a month but he put up lots of good stuff prior to that. He and I have much in common, so I'm always interested in seeing what he's been up to. He seems to have settled into his new teaching position and new homestead quite nicely. Glad to see it.

I got the motor mounts bent - came out pretty nice. I bead blasted them afterwards to remove any scale to facilitate welding and give a nicer finish when it's time to paint.

Next up is the make the mounts that bolt to the engines. Each side of the engine is different. This is the left side and should be pretty straight forward. The right side will be a bit trickier but I need to get them finished up so I can move on. When I get the engine located on the mounts I can bolt on the water pump and fan which will allow me to start figuring out the radiator. I saw one in the Speedway catalog that might work for me. It's got a long filler neck that will allow me to have it stick through the top of the grille/housing like in the top photo. In fact, I'm looking to build the jitney along similar lines. Good looking automobile. I especially like the louvers. Be nice to have a louver press but this project will probably be the last time I would ever need it. 

While I had the torch out I straightened out the piece for my tubing bender. I bent it while bending the tubing for the cockpit. That was only 3/4" square and the dies go up to 1" square. I'm going to plate the out sides of the bender and then tackle a piece of 3/4" round for the Rickati project. I'll keep the torch handy and heat the tubing up if need be. I'm disappointed in this set of bending dies but it's what I've got.

Roamin' in the Gloamin

 The movie Harry and Tonto was on the other night. I've seen it a half dozen times at least but watched it again just the same. The older I get the more I appreciate the movie. Plus it's got Art Carney and Arthur Hunnicutt both doing a short bit about being cat salesmen. I don't know if that was something from an old vaudeville skit or what, but it's funny when Carney does it during the cab ride but it knocks me out when Hunnicutt says the same thing later in the movie. Watch the movie to get the Roamin' in the Gloamin reference.

When I took my last load over to the storage shed Saturday, I got a fault code on the truck dash saying a turn signal was out on the carrier as I turned in to my drive. When I put this thing together I soldered all the wire connections and used brass screws for the grounds to prevent corrosion. The light is an LED so it should last at least my lifetime. I turned on the headlights and the the taillight didn't work either. I took the carrier off the truck and I'll have to get out the volt meter one of these days to see what's going on. The only other time I used it was a trip to Indy. What the hell, 2020? 

I got the motor mounts cut out and ready to bend. Cut some grass and did my walkies. Eyeballed some of the projects, read the paper, did my chores - good weekend.