Getting A Grip On Things

After fighting with the wiring for weeks and weeks, and experiencing abject failure each time, I have concluded that the Grip Ace control system that I installed must be defective. I called them and they said to send it in and they will check it out. I was surprised to get through to a human voice and shocked that the tech didn't have an accent. They are a local, California based company. They seemed anxious to help and promised it back to me next week. We will see. I feel pretty good about them and their product. Attitude is crucial. In my own defense, the wiring is done and looks better than what I began with. I would have taken a picture of it, but it was too disturbing and may have offended those with a weak constitution

I'm Ready For My Close Up, Mr. DeMille

Well, almost anyway. The bike is coming together slowly. Most of the paint is done and just needs a final polishing and a bit of wax. The right side cover needs a respray. I should have it done tomorrow. It looks a bit dull in the pic, but out in the sun, it should really pop. I still have a few more wires to pull along with a few, minor, detail issues.

Fire In The Hole

Yesterday was a red letter day. I fired the bike for the first time in way too long. The new fuel system seems to work fine. I had a few minor leaks (ya gotta tighten down ALL of the fittings). Once again, I have to give props to my Odyssey battery. It has sat, unused, since I tore the bike down. I put the charger on it for 20 minutes or so and it started immediately. The real bonus was the clutch. In a previous post I outlined how I redid the bell crank from the cable to the booster. I'm not sure why, but the pull on the handlebar lever decreased markedly. It now feels like a normal HD clutch. Very light and smooth. I'm stoked over it. I may play with the ratio a bit to see if I can get a little more stroke. It will increase effort at the lever, but a bit more won't be an issue. For the few clutch bikes that are still out there, I really recommend the piggy backed booster and mousetrap. It was simple to build and it works.

Monkeying Around

It's said that man's opposable thumbs and his tool making/using abilities separates him from the lower primates. I have found that I needed a few special tools to work on the bike. The first is a 9/16 inch hex key to remove the new swing arm bolts. Nobody stocks one and, online, they are too expensive for the Po' Boy. I went to the hardware store and picked up a 1/2 inch coupling nut, took it home, ran a bolt into it and welded it up. I now have a small hex drive that I can insert into the head of the bolt and put a socket or wrench on the other end. The second one is a spark plug socket that I can use to pull the plugs without dropping the headers. I just took a cheapo 5/8 deep socket, cut it down to about one inch and welded a nut on one end. It slips on the plug and, again, I can turn it with a wrench. The last one is a 1/2 inch length of 1/4 inch hex key, once again, welded to a nut. I use this to adjust my fuel pressure regulator. It is tucked up under the neck and the adjustment screw is impossible to get at with any conventional tool. I, simply, insert the key into the screw and turn it with my fingers, using the nut as a little thumb wheel.

Breathe Deep, The Gathering Gloom..........

In a previous post, I showed how I filled in the frame, in front of the tank, to clean up the looks a bit. This still left me with that big hole in the front of the tank. I suppose the thought is, it is there to serve as an air intake. I feel BH could have done better, as far as appearance is concerned. After making a few cardboard mockups, I felt I had the look I was after. I took two short pieces of tubing, hammered a flare on each one and welded them to a piece of sheet metal, cut to the shape of the gap in the tank with two holes cut in it to match the flared tubes. A piece of 1/4 rod was formed and welded to the bottom edge. Then the whole deal was welded to the tank. As always, when I weld a tank, I connect a length of hose from an exhaust source, in this case, my Diesel tractor. The other end goes to the tank filler. The exhaust displaces the air and, therefore, the O2 and an explosion is not possible. A thin coat of plastic filler, primer and paint finishes it off. I turned the bezels for the little grilles out of some aluminum and cut the mesh from an old desk set, one of those deals with a pencil holder, a letter organizer and so on. I keep my pencils in a coffee can. Looks like two, big ol' nostrils, sorta like Paul Jr.
In the photo, the tank appears shiny, gloss black and the frame, sort of a dull gray. Actually, both need final color sanding and a good compounding and final polish. Lacquer is time consuming, but the results are worth it. Ignore the loose wires. They'll go away, soon.

Will Ya Still Need Me, When I'm 64?

It's time to pull the trigger on the new belt. 565 bucks American!!!! While this seems like a lot of dough, it's not quite as bad as it seems. It is a Gates GT Carbon Fiber Polychain, the latest hot setup. Much stronger than the Gates GT that I was running originally. The length that I need, (1750 mm) only comes in a 90 mm width, so by bandsawing it down the middle, I will have two, 45 mm, belts, which is the stock BH width. This should be the last, high ticket, item that I need to procure. I don't mind being nickle and dimed to death, but dropping 5-6 hundred clams kind of stretches the budget a bit, especially with our property tax due very soon.
The belt arrived the other day. Today I worked up the gumption to saw it in half. I'd almost rather do a root canal on myself. I have a, very nice, large bandsaw so I decided to use it rather than the tablesaw. I set the fence at 45mm from the blade and clamped another wooden fence 45mm on the other side of the blade, capturing the belt and holding it snug. I fired up the saw and began to feed the belt into the blade. I "rolled" the belt in, keeping the upper loop stationary and cutting the bottom loop only. All went well and instead of $565.00 worth of trash can filler, I have one belt plus a spare. Tomorrow, the swingarm and wheel assembly should go on for the last time. I may, actually, get to ride this thing before I turn 64 in three weeks. 64!?!?!?! Criminy!!!! I'm my own grandfather.

Polish Joke

Not so funny, really. I've been spending a lot of time in front of the buffer, polishing all of the alloy parts that I can. Both wheels, the brake calipers and master cylinder, motor mounts, etc., etc. It's filthy work, compound and lint all over everything. The results are worth it, though. I was surprised at how dingy everything had become, especially the wheels. I used Blue Magic as a final polish after buffing. It's really good stuff. Cheaper than Simichrome and much easier to use.