Friday, June 30, 2017

A Lesson in Fluid Dynamics

Prior to our misbegotten vacation to Japan, which resulted in Lady LaFong being hit by a bicycle and spending over two weeks in the hospital with a broken pelvis, the bike experienced, yet another, catastrophic failure. Excess fuel, from the previous, leaky carburetor, flooded one cylinder and caused a hydrolock, which bent a connecting rod. So, upon our return from Japan, I, once again, reduced the bike to a pile of parts. The new rod and gasket set arrived the other day. My plan is to replace the rod and button the engine back up. No drama, no complete rebuild, just the one bad hole. In the meantime, I've stripped the frame back to bare metal. My plan was to have it powder coated, probably in a hammertone finish. I took it to the guy that I've been using and he quoted me 500 bucks for the job, up from the 350 he quoted me a few months ago. Additionally, I was told that the Lab Metal filler, which is recommended for powder coat use, would be blown away when the frame was sandblasted. So, I am going with plan B, against the very good council of a friend. I will have the frame coated with Linex bed coating. The concern my friend had was, that it will turn gray in time. I don't think it will, since it will spend very little time in the sun. Time will tell. I have already spoken to another friend about painting the rest of the bike