COCONUT CUSTOMS

start them young

2012-02-05T19:30:00.002-05:00

very little progress...

2012-01-30T22:13:00.000-05:00

very little progress has been made towards the next attempt at salty greatness. mostly this is due to a complete unwillingness to pay for materials but also because i keep busting knuckles and catching fire at work. things like that put a bit of a damper on my enthusiasm to wrench on my own time; and my dog bit me on the ass today. in spite of that the west campus of coconut customs is slowly trudging along. the new gas tank is starting to take form, just need to make the proper bungs and think out a few other bits.

the frame has also been added on to. this is the forward mount for the additional 87 pounds of steel added to help keep traction on the salt. on a side note; 3 phase welding machines are quite erotic. something about blasting through 3/4" plate just gets me all bothered.

and a little dangling...

little nostalgic lately

2012-01-15T04:51:00.020-05:00

yo dylan, remember this? first trip out to the salt with andy? remember that time you vanished on his Dahk Kustum?

dylan getting some in moab, we totally need to get back there

one of my favorite campsites: Ouray, CO in their outdoor hockey rink.

the Tetons in WY. there were no motorcycles involved but there were a few bears.

my old haus on peak 7 in Colorado. this sparked a debate between my roomie and i about what smelled worse: burnt fork oil or his hockey gear.

new toys finally working

2012-01-09T10:13:00.001-05:00

this post is kinda lame and considering how busy we've all been lately and the resulting lack of posts, it is no wonder no one is reading this thing. anyways, todays lesson is that with a bit of persistence a motivated person can force the square peg into the round hole. case in point: my gear welding 3/4" mild steel. according to the welding rep i deal with at work, my torch set up is almost twice my age with tips that are well beyond beat. and i have finally reached a point where my welding machine cannot keep up with my projects. either way, with a little time, a bunch of pre-heating, the wire feed all the way down, electricity at 11 and right off the breaker; 3/4" became one with 1/4". yay.

belated happy new years

2012-01-05T22:47:00.000-05:00

leaving work on friday was better than usual, the dudes i work with and the general job description can hammer on people like no other.

i made her my bitch...

and on to the Boiling River in Yellowstone. almost 3 hours of soaking does a body good

and fireworks and booze ensued.

happy new years.

new rule...

2011-12-27T20:16:00.000-05:00

there is a new rule for the shop, both at home and work: the toilet will no longer be used to quench metal, the smell can be disturbing.

Needed...

2011-12-24T23:50:00.000-05:00

I am in need of a Sportster fuel tank; it has just the right shape for something i want to try on the Salt Bike. if you would like to donate one to the cause or are will to sell it cheap send an email to whathappenedtotheduck@yahoo.com. it doesn't have to look good or even hold fuel, rust is not a problem. it just cannot have any huge dents in it.

the weight is a sign of reliability...

2011-12-10T13:52:00.000-05:00

sometimes working for a drilling company comes in handy, especially when you need to make things heavier. my employer bases much of the machine design in the notion: if the part can be made well out of 1/4" steel, it will be indestructible made from 1 1/2". this line of thought inevitably produces plenty of waste both figuratively and physically for me to pick through and salvage. lord knows that my current budget does not allow for the purchase of 100lbs. worth of steel just to be strapped to the underside of a seldom-used motorcycle. so with a bit of patience i have gotten almost all of the components together to make something happen; a year ago at a swap i swindled a dude out of a torch outfit and a handy book all about gas-welding, months ago i salvaged some oxy-acetylene tanks out of a dumpster and now i have the raw materials in hand. all that is needed is some gas and rod and a little instruction. and it just so happens that i have a local pal, experienced in the gas-welding process, who will instruct me in an exchange for a face-crushing burrito.

what did you do today?

2011-12-01T09:31:00.002-05:00

the snow is here, F motorcycles for awhile

this is probably a bad idea...

2011-11-29T00:16:00.029-05:00

this post may be one of the worst ideas i've had in awhile. these are pictures of the Salt Bike's engine mods for our last trip to the salt. to put up what i've got in my engine is kind of a racing fuax pas because now anyone can try and copy them or whatever. but realistically, without the measurements, anyone who tries this without knowing what they're doing will just end up uncorking their motor so have at it. one picture that i lost or may have already posted was that of the piston's mods. the piston was windowed to match up with the expansion of the intake ports. a way long time ago i mentioned that the intake never really closes and these are what make that happen. the only thing between my race motor and a 20 pound paper weight are the reed valves. and those are pushed pretty far too. the cage of another make and model were modified to be sharper and wider and accept i wider petal. this is where Chris Carter came in. he made us a few sets of different weight reeds just for this engine, sweet deal. all this nonsense resulted in 36hp at the rear wheel while running 2:1 final drive. i have yet to figure out how that translates to what the Factory lists as the stock HP, mainly cause i can't find what they listed so who cares what the comparison is.

anyways, there is zero moneys in the bank but i've been trash picking for materials.

FUCT

2011-11-27T08:58:00.002-05:00

Allow me to explain how bad this actually sucks(because yes, it's actually worse than it appears). After years of riding on borrowed time, my top end finally gave up the ghost about a month ago. My rear exhaust valve just gave up and tried to become one with my piston and my piston rejected the valves love and ran away into my lower end. Where this gets even better is that my motor is a 1972 with shitty thin walled cylinders from the factory and a unique head bolt pattern meaning I now need 2 new cylinders and heads.

Fast forward to now, and the cases are completely empty and there are 2 standard bore cylinders and pistons on my bench with heads to match. Still on the horizon are new andrews cams and a freshly balanced rotating assembly.

i need this, right?

2011-11-16T23:18:00.000-05:00

i don't know what the numbers mean but someone smarter says this is faster.
sure, whatever, just do what i tell ya. HANDBANANA, NO!!!!!

shifting gears... again

2011-11-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

it snowed, ready the fleet! only 5 of those are mine, i swear.

the grand tetons.... scariest mountains i have ever seen.

shifted gears...

2011-11-03T22:54:00.000-04:00

no pun intended. but the shop has shifted gears back to a long-lost love. rallying around with an obnoxious, smoke-belching turd under your ass is one of the greatest things ever. but rocketing through trees or blasting through red lights is better, sorry, its a fact. if you don't know, try to figure it out.
so posting has slowed but progress is happening. send emails to dylan and jeff and kenny to put up what they have going on, its really some cool stuff.

easy now...

2011-10-30T11:29:00.001-04:00

Dyno time, finally.

2011-10-18T22:37:00.001-04:00

i wanted to take a picture or two while on the dyno but it was way too much fun.
granted, no one reads this blog, but a huge thank you goes out to Yellowstone Harley Davidson. they treated me like gold; 3 power pulls for a 24 pack of Peebers. AND, there was something about my bike that continued to shut down their computer, as soon as i hit power band, the whole thing would freeze up. in the end we had to clean out a bunch of drain pans and shield the CPU with them in an effort to deflect some of the electromagnetic hate spewing from my stator.
so the way it breaks down is this: 36 HP 33 ft.lbs. of torque in 2nd gear at just under 6krpm. kind weak but that is at the rear wheel running 19-28 gears. i was able to do two more pulls in 3rd and 4th gears and the HP dropped a little with each shift. so now i can map out my HP throughout the transmission. it all sounds kinda stupid but i promise, Mouse (my smarter alter-ego) says he has a plan.

Party foul

2011-10-09T07:00:00.001-04:00

Some CR500 hate.

swedish madness

2011-10-09T06:48:00.009-04:00

i'm not sure how well these guys did but the most interesting part of this bike is the absence of a trans. engine-->primary-->clutch-->jackshaft-->final drive

You will never party this hard!

2011-10-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Sissy bar fab

2011-10-07T07:00:00.000-04:00

Always wear the proper eye protection. In steady's case this would be Dolce & Gabana.

Maintaining an organized, clutter free work environment is crucial.

Score!

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

aaaaaaand, more fast.

2011-10-05T01:48:00.002-04:00

so my engine guy said i should get a temp gage to monitor how hot the plug is getting, the idea being so that i can shut it down if i see a spike. but no one seemed to know how hot these things get. shit, i still don't. but i do know how hot the thermometer gets before it stops working.

NBFD

2011-10-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

fast, fast and more fast

2011-10-03T13:47:00.002-04:00

Fill in the blank

2011-10-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Scattered showers my ass!

2011-10-01T19:33:00.002-04:00

1 of 52; completely unrestored...

2011-09-29T16:04:00.001-04:00

and racing on the salt like it was born to.

HRD: original badass.

2011-09-23T22:05:00.000-04:00

a few salty rides...

2011-09-19T14:29:00.000-04:00

story of my life...

2011-09-15T02:22:00.000-04:00

all hooked up and out of gas

in my own defense, i didn't think i could blow through 2 gallons of 104 octane that quickly. and i did get one pull in but the computer messed up and didn't record the data. i should have seen this coming.

the foregone conclusions

2011-09-13T01:13:00.001-04:00

wow, weird, out of gas, again, in Utah, again

the salty family! deny any recognition of the fools on the left. the fine individuals on the right are Ed, Brian and Tucker; anyone would be lucky to know these folks.

time to go, and act like idiots.

it took a solid 45 minutes to wash most of the salt from my under-carriage, getting the van cleaned was even harder.

blahblahblah

2011-09-12T05:31:00.001-04:00

the main thing you do on the salt is wait in line. first you wait to register, then tech inspection, then pre-staging, then at the starting line. about the only cool thing with waiting in line is that it seems to be your only time to BS with other teams.

these are the cats that made life way better. we met them a few years ago and apparently made enough of an impression.

on our way to the hardware/solution store

so our main issue out there was holding traction. a tire swap was out of the question so many we did what the older guys were doing, adding weight. the only option was conduit filled with cement. it got us 22 pounds heavier and 4mph faster. too bad the tech-guys said they were only letting us back on the track because we promised this would be our last try.

searching for the very elusive "good angle"

continued...

2011-09-09T02:01:00.001-04:00

some of the shit that was torn out: the water pump, fuel pump, timing cover and all the appropriate hoses and bullshit. that lucky duck earned himself a few burritos

some rain on our parade

livin large bitches

on our way to staging

an idiot's trip the the Bonneville Salt Flats

2011-09-07T01:42:00.001-04:00

after driving for most of the night and camping behind an 18-wheeler we finally made it to the salt. on the trip there dylan had installed the new radio, pointed out our need of "more modern and not filled with water" headlights and noticed a slight oil leak from the depths of the van; 2 quarts every 150 miles. either way, we got there again.

seeing the sun come up over this church of speed should be on every gear-head's bucket list.

as luck would have it we found a familiar face at the "the bend". this is Ed. Ed is awesome. Ed makes up 1/3 of Speed Team Doo (STD) and races an old triumph 250 in the partially streamlined class. the be more specific, he owns the current record. if it were not for him and the rest of STD, our trip would have been far more miserable.

waiting for them to open the event.

dylan assigned himself the dubious task of chasing the leak and plugging it. this was no small task by any means and in the process he managed to mummify is backside from lying on salt all day.

the story is coming soonish

2011-09-04T18:32:00.000-04:00

my van fell apart as soon as i dropped dylan off at the airport. i see that as a sign that the van fears him... anyways, once i finish washing the salt from my socks we will post up the intrepid tale of fortitude, disaster, romance, shark attacks, a cursing santa clause and an epic fail.

hmmmm....

2011-09-03T10:46:00.000-04:00

http://saltflats.com/traction.html
considering our troubles, this was a brief but good read.

Bonneville

2011-09-01T00:13:00.001-04:00

gone racing...

2011-08-26T01:17:00.001-04:00

if all goes well, we'll make it back. if all goes superbly, we'll make it back without incident. if all goes to hell, we'll have more stories to tell. either way, all bleeding stops eventually.

good lord, what is all this garbage?

2011-08-23T02:54:00.000-04:00

not even counting wrenches, paperwork, and "normal tools" we have the just-in-case stuff: one extra motor, 3 intake tracts, 22 jet sizes, 2 complete sets of top-end gaskets, 1 extra piston, 3 different drive gears, 7 extra spokes, 5 different exhaust gaskets, several sized axel spacers, 2 extra coils, 1 extra CDI, 1 extra stator, a spatula, my ex-room mate's thong, number paint, 2 extra throttle cables, 2 extra clutch cables, 1 extra throttle twister-thingy, another clutch lever and perch, shift lever, master links, spare chain, an assortment of pre-mixes and a mess of extra sponsor stickers.
okay, i think the first tool box is packed...

makes me shutter...

2011-08-22T15:17:00.001-04:00

waiting just another moment...

making hot-laps.

2011-08-22T14:42:00.001-04:00

a run was made under the wire this weekend and the results were encouraging. i think i got up to almost 70mph with the easy gearing installed; i would have gone faster but my brakes are just decorative fixtures and the sun was not quite up yet. with this new development coupled with being able to cram some gnar'd fingers into a glove, its time to pack.

presenting a new segment...

2011-08-19T01:59:00.000-04:00

i would like to start putting together a new segment here, unfortunately my riding season was a piss-poor one this year so i am hoping my co-conspirators will contribute. i present to you "sketchy-ass hard tails".

2011-08-17T02:29:00.000-04:00

s'mor beartooth rally pics...

2011-08-15T14:17:00.000-04:00

what's this?! a beaver-fur-covered hoola hoop?!?!

'why' was not the question of the moment....

the real question was: is chris gonna git down with the git down on this lady who was heaving sizable boulders in his direction? i am sworn to secrecy, but...

after feverishly scrubbing his hang-down in a port-o-crapper, i found chris sobbing under this van.

way to blow it jackass

2011-08-08T21:55:00.000-04:00

yeah, thats my hand. small accident at work turned into a few hours at the Belgrade Urgent Care Clinic. with a little under 3 weeks till race day and a ton of tuning to do, i now have 13 stitches and one broken finger. now things are a little complicated. it hurts a bit but what concerns me is getting my gloves on to wrench and race. i should be healed in time but to be safe i have Dylan on standby as the pinch-hitter. lessons learned: make sure your best friends are about the same size as you, so when they have to be you, they can fit into your tight leather suit. i'm sure there is another lesson to be learned but one a day is enough for me. f this day.

IT LIVES!

2011-08-05T02:18:00.001-04:00

considering the intake never completely closes, i feel like the motor actually running is a huge win. although, when i was thinking it through, i am sure glad that we have extra reed petals. i couldn't wait to start it till the next day, my world would have come crashing down. so i closed the garage door and started kicking.

its so down to the wire.

2011-08-03T04:44:00.005-04:00

things over here are deep in the crunch. i very recently got my motor back from the Porter and the inside is a thing of beauty, the ports are so smooth that they feel a little sticky. he went all-out on this and consorted with several "dudes who know their shit" and has incorporated several ideas that should work. emphasis on the 'should'. this is racing after all.

he also called in several favors from back in the day and tracked down a bounty of NOS parts in addition to getting a few other dudes on board with the project: Chris Carson Marine
our new dude hooked me up with 3 sets of 3 different weights of reed valves custom cut to fit my cage! i will put up picks of the motor's internals later.

fortunately the boss was away for the week and i was able to set up in a sanitary spot to measure the port angles and such.

sneak-peek

one major problem from last year's race was clutch slippage. a call to Barnetts solved that with man-sized springs and all new disks.

and now the down side: spark. i tore the whole thing down for paint and to install the new motor. when i put it all back together electrical activity came to a standstill and i have yet to remedy the issue. i had tested everything prior to disassembly and it all checked out, now who knows. i can read a multimeter as well as i can read Brail so things are a bit tense. some parts are on order but this is a make or break thing.

still on the list is to finish the fairings and dial in the exhaust...

oh and the chariot that was to carry me to glory (the big stinky van) has decided to throw it's 2 cents in and blow the brake master cylinder. FML. so if i am not around, you know what i'm doing and updating this blog is not a priority within this mix of tasks. unlike many other idiots on the innerweb, we actually wrench.

beartooth rally

2011-07-31T16:13:00.000-04:00

so i got a call from chris on friday afternoon asking if i wanted to go camping; sure why not. 150 miles east and southeast we find ourselves at a splendid little get-together known as the Beartooth Rally. as far as i could see, there was a minimum of silly "bad-ass wannabes" and a whole lot of nice folks around.

once off the super-slab... we may have gone down the wrong road.

back on track

ballin'. that blue thing is chris wrapped up in his tarp.

and the only mechanical failure was a rouge seat spring.

slowly progressing

2011-07-23T09:32:00.001-04:00

just cruising the innerweb...

2011-07-23T09:31:00.004-04:00

i forgot about this account,
2008 was a good year...

decisions decisions...

2011-07-21T23:53:00.000-04:00

my brain hurrrrrts. motor is back from porting, bike is stripped to the frame for paint, exhaust mapping starts saturday, carbon fiber is on order and a 58 hour work week is almost done. in my free time i paruse this garbage: fuel charts

he may not admit to it...

2011-07-21T01:06:00.000-04:00

but, there is no doubt in my mind that this is Dylan's dream ride.

sprint cars 101:

2011-07-19T06:50:00.000-04:00

first they whip around in a circle

then the inevitable happens and one ends up tits-up in the fence

at least he walked away.

Remember...

2011-07-17T09:48:00.000-04:00

smell the roses. Zion National Park, i think.

BRAAAAAAP and a RING-DINGDING!!!!!!!!!

2011-07-15T21:47:00.000-04:00

this was as in-focus as i could get. i fired up the B-side motor in the salt bike this week to test out the carb mods i've been working on. so far so good. the carb is working wonderfully and the cloud of death was concerning the neighbors. i heart 2-strokes.

Horse Mag B-sides

2011-07-11T14:06:00.000-04:00

so, the horse backstreet choppers mag was nice enough to publish the article i sent them. it was a feature done on a local chopper hero named harry. anyways, these are some of the photos they decided not to use, enjoy.

what a knob

2011-07-09T23:52:00.000-04:00

you would be hard pressed to find a bigger dork but i think riding bitch is super fun.

Horse Mag B-sides

2011-07-07T14:57:00.001-04:00

Operation MOVE

2011-07-04T18:22:00.002-04:00

Haven't had much time to post. Spent the last month scrambling to find a new apartment after we jumped the gun and gave our notice without having a new place lined up. I'm finally out of fishy New Beige and livin' la vida low-cash in sunny Hanover. Once I get my ikea furniture assembled correctly I'll be back in the garage. I hate moving.

Warren, if your bearing won't stay in you can lightly peen the bore the bearing presses into and use a little wicking grade loctite. Don't peen it too much though or it will be too tight and the bearing will drag.

going fast is stupid

2011-07-03T18:00:00.000-04:00

i have decided that going fast is for losers who stay home on saturday nights. i base this on my last saturday night spent repacking bearings. i wanted to run ceramic considering i apparently know a dude who knows a dude who makes them. but the budget is nothing but an eviscerated, emaciated, decapitated, fenestrated corpse bereft of an resemblance to its former, steadfast manifestation. so the old bearings are being cleaned and repacked with chrysler approved wheel bearing grease. all is well and good except one side resisted extraction and scored the seat. a consultation was held with the machinist at work. i imagined my hub chalked up in the lathe being trimmed back to pristine goodness. to my surprise he suggested that i lay off the caffeine and have a go at it with the dremmel. then pound it home with some red thread locker. seems to be in straight and spinning so hopefully i will forget about this shade-tree fix by race day.

craberating the portrations

2011-07-01T02:05:00.001-04:00

some ideas i have about how things work are spot-on while others are... not so much. in finding some speed in my carb, i hope that the generous application of 2k grit and JB weld will work out.

don't forget something this summer....

2011-06-29T02:03:00.000-04:00

stop and smell the roses

You Deserve A Good Blogging...

2011-06-25T21:33:00.013-04:00

I have not really posted anything on here in a while. That is not for lack of motorcycle related activities that I am involved in, or that I am too busy to take a couple pics and post them. Mainly, a local self-proclaimed bike builder/blogger/bullshit artist has ruined it for me. I am embarrassed to somehow mistakenly be associated with that scene.
I do this because it is kind of like writing in a journal that interested friends and family can look at if they want to see what kind of things I am working on. I am not trying to create a scene, or piggyback on someone else's deal. Warren invited me to contribute to his blog. I am not interested in being part of the fake Coconut Customs motorcycle shop/club/racing team. (okay, well, maybe just a little) Self-promotion is not my goal here. None of this should be taken very seriously. We all have real jobs and real lives here at CC. This is what we do the other 90 percent of the time. No Hype, No Bullshit.

Here is a tank I have been working on for the Wheelie Monster Sporty. I laid the basecoat and the flake on it over a year ago, when I painted Dylan's bike, then put it on the shelf. After a lengthy battle between Scallops and Flames, the Flames came out on top.
This coming week I will back-mask and spray the flames so that they will be popping with Candy Orange goodness. The background is a purplish-black candy that my boss mixed up for me. I wanted flat black, but he punched me in the mouth. He has been painting Harleys since before I was born. Never question the master. It looks black unless you are looking at it in the sun. Or under the bright lights of a paint booth. That's cool though, the Purple/Orange combo reminds me of a Mescaline trip I once had, anyway.
Earlier this year, I broke my shifter shaft detent spring in the Period Piece FXR. Fairly common problem with the five-speeds. It is a $2.00 part that took me a week's worth of lunch breaks to replace!
I decided (against the advice of the local elders) to replace the whole pawl assembly/shift shaft with a Baker unit. They supposedly have re-designed it to prevent broken springs. Baker uses a square spring, for some reason they don't snap as easily as the round cross-sectioned ones do. Time, and my reckless, speed demon driving style, will tell.
Hopefully my next post will show a nearly completed Hot Rod Sporty. I just buttoned up the combustion part of it today, and will be assembling the trans in the morning. Maybe I can sneak some pics of the progress tomorrow. If I were to be seen taking pictures of my motor rebuild, I would probably get stabbed with a screwdriver for being such a pussy. Old gearheads have very little tolerance for blogging or blogging-related activities. Somehow, Warren gets a free pass though. He must be doing something right.

chris' sled

2011-06-23T02:41:00.004-04:00

so its "done". technically its been in one piece for a couple weeks but he was breaking in the motor and shaking it down so there was a little suspense. a few things fell off in that time and several were adjusted but now its running strong enough. the other day was about a 100 miles round trip and nothing was played around with so confidence is at an all time high. his friend Molly took these pictures and i hope to work with her in the future to do a real spread featuring this ground-up build. well done to everyone involved.

remember when i was cool?

2011-06-22T13:51:00.001-04:00

nah, me neither. but i remember being a bit delusional.

i know, i'm a dweeb, but still dig tractors

2011-06-21T02:28:00.000-04:00

between Norris and Ennis

2011-06-19T14:27:00.002-04:00

2011-06-11T02:45:00.003-04:00

biker mean-muggin

90 miles of some damn fine roads and fantastic moose-tracks ice cream courtesy of Big Sky.

every friday night...

2011-06-09T02:37:00.000-04:00

look closely at the picture and note that out of four cars in the shot; 3 have let the smoke out and 1 has a front wheel that is FUBAR'd. and they all kept the hammer down till the checkered flag.

the montangya ice-cream survey has begun

2011-06-07T02:32:00.000-04:00

lets not take ourselves too seriously. we ride these stupid machines for fun so don't try to be a hard-ass about it. go get an icey-mouth party and settle down. PS: the Pickle Barrel may not have soft-serve but the mint chip is amazing.

spotted...

2011-06-05T12:32:00.002-04:00

"street-legal"

thank you TCI Auto and raceabilene.com

2011-06-03T03:39:00.000-04:00

paid and registered

2011-06-01T04:20:00.000-04:00

coconut customs is officially registered to compete at the 2011 BUB Speed Trails this August. the bike will be in the 500cc A-AG class where the record is currently at 137.532mph, and has been standing since 1971; probably for a very good reason.

i really don't think i have a snowball's chance but anything worth doing is never easy. the daunting task of bitch-slapping an antique to go 60mph faster than it was ever meant to go is compounded by a huge to-do list and a very tight budget.

cripes, the bike alone needs enough work to keep me busy for the next 2 months. to add to the challenge, i need to persuade a 40 year old van to carry me to wendover and back; what the hell am i thinking? i really hope dylan comes along this time...

company at last

2011-05-31T04:19:00.000-04:00

always wear safety glasses...

2011-05-29T16:19:00.000-04:00

it goes without saying that i am a dirty kid.
i did an engine swap with a friend awhile ago and was only there to lend him minor assistance and encouragement; he did the whole job wearing designer jeans and walked away each day mostly spotless while i basically stood there and magically attracted dirt. no matter what i seem to be doing, i end up covered in whatever i'm working with, in, on or around. so it comes as no surprise that working at my new job, being a welder and mechanic on off-road drilling rigs, has landed me an eye infection. normally not a big deal; with a few hot-compresses it should go away right? nope, not in my case. apparently when you are constantly covered in welding soot, and hydraulic oil all the TLC in the world wont make things better. so off my uninsured, pathetic self goes to the community clinic. usually it is some form of hysterical debauchery that lands me in places like that but such was not the case. with the application of some needles and a scalpel, the Doc managed to cut out most of the dookies that made my eyelid droop like a half-assed boxer. but it rendered me handicap for the last week-ish. couple this with my typical mental handicaps and i was pretty useless. so why tell all this? who the fuck even cares? no idea. maybe there is a lesson to be learned here. more over i just wanted to explain to my groupies out there why i've temporarily vanished. ha, yeah, okay...

finding some flow...

2011-05-21T06:57:00.001-04:00

with the careful application of a file and epoxy maybe i can find some more fast

the season is upon us...

2011-05-19T02:05:00.000-04:00

get pumped and don't forget to stop and smell the roses, or the cowpies, such as it is

the ordeal...

2011-05-17T06:54:00.002-04:00

so coming up with the money to purchase this chariot was a piece of cake compared to making her seaworthy. and had it performed as poorly during the test-drive as it did on the trip home i doubt i would have made the purchase. this whole thing was at least a small lesson in the importance of being an informed consumer. admittedly i know very little about cars and trucks. i know how all the bits work and how you go down the road but the specifics of makes and models are lost on me. one thing i do know is that it takes quite a bit of force to blow out all the seems on a muffler. that backfire scared the dookies out of me.

the dude said that it had a different motor than the straight-6 it came with. it was the dude's brother who owned it so he was not sure what kind of motor was stuffed in there. i thought i had taken a very close look at the engine. i could have sworn i only saw 6 plug wires coming off the distributor and 3 pipes coming down each side. and i positively remember dylan telling me that a V6 was not an option, but i apparently was not listening. i should have pulled the dog-house to really see. oh well, a 302 is still a decent enough motor.

gotta fix that window so it can go up AND down. every time i fart its an instant dutch-oven.

oh yeah, almost forgot. i had made it a mere 2 miles with my new purchase before things began to cascade, starting with the depletion of my fuel.

moose-knookle rides!

2011-05-15T06:37:00.000-04:00

anyone who can build a bike literally from a heap of parts from the crank-pin to the spokes deserves a round of applause, truely. this week chris' ride hit the streets. although it took more that the predicted 3 kicks to initially start the fresh rebuild, it runs like a champ now.

setting the timing...

getting back to normal, relatively speaking.

2011-05-14T18:33:00.000-04:00

okay so the truck was a ton of fun but it just wasn't working out. i needed a stool to reach anything under the hood, the motor was huge and so was it's fuel consumption and getting a bike into the bed was like playing Russian Roulette. it had to go.

now this is a superior machine. this turkey wagon was originally used to tote around a puppet show put on by firefighters. cruising around montangya teaching elementary kids about not piping yayo and "stop, drop and roll". 1970 one ton; handles like a beach ball full of water. 40 year old chassis and suspension design ensure nothing short of a thrilling ride while the all-drum brakes fade away like your immediate future.

functioning console features include: a horn. features not included: seat belts, a radio, GPS or Onstar.

"work back". and as soon as i get some black paint, OSB, insulation and tie-downs i should be ready to cruise the local truck stops...

critical ebay score

2011-05-13T04:30:00.000-04:00

so ray called me the other day and said the jug i sent him is already on its largest available piston size and that he is hesitant to port out a motor that is on its last legs. fair enough and i couldn't agree more. fortunately i was able to bag this delightful item at the price i deemed reasonable ($50 shipped). stock bore is 85mm and this puppy is out to 85.15mm; F'n A.

i think this is why it was affordable but with a new piston already worked into the budget its no big deal.

and this is why it was valuable in addition to the smaller bore; un-messed-with ports. not easy to find 30 years later.

kinda bored lately.

2011-05-11T04:13:00.000-04:00

progress has been slow lately due mainly to no days off and the sudden need to sleep more than 4 hours a night; getting old sucks and i do not recommend it. however, to keep my hands out of trouble...

the blue light is a Whelen light head used behind the grills of most police cruisers, now it resides under my seat. all i need now is a quartz watch and i can fit in with the other "custom dudes". and with dylan's guidance i managed to get my clutch adjusted properly. i also noticed that i did not have in my tool bag the proper do-hickey to adjust my clutch. this oversight was immediately remedied. ALWAYS be ready to fix your own shit. i also made use of some of the taiwan-ted wrenches i have lying around for just such an occasion.

Specialty Clutch Adjustment Tool, part #: 33950 available now through this site. send $40 via paypal and you will not only receive this American made custom piece but also a brown paper bag containing a mystery prize that may or may not instigate divorce and or imprisonment.

ha, i forgot about this...

2011-05-09T04:06:00.001-04:00

a friend found this and sent me the link. i guess tour wasn't sooo bad. that same bike carried my silly ass from El Paso to Phoenix in under 5 hours. when paul asked how fast i got it going i told him: "i chickened out and rolled off the throttle at about 155, but it still had tons of head room left. if i had more than a t-shirt on i would have felt braver, maybe next time." his reply was: "i hate you." as i recall, i never got to ride it again.
http://blackcarboncustom.tumblr.com/post/4532197075

Couldn't get shit done in the garage today..

2011-05-08T21:58:00.002-04:00

but I owned the pond.

crucial garage equipment upgrade

2011-05-07T11:15:00.001-04:00

i have not had this stereo hooked up sense college, dad came through in the clutch and sent it to me. so sweet. yeah, thats a tape-deck.

hmmm

2011-04-29T02:56:00.000-04:00

there has got to be some more go-fast in here somewhere...

i wonder if this is what george smith had in mind?

2011-04-27T02:48:00.001-04:00

turns out S&S stacks fit perfectly on mikuni craberaters, kinda. just gotta make the two stick together.

this puppy is gonna look sick behind my YZ motor.

so silly...

2011-04-25T11:16:00.000-04:00

coming along nicely

2011-04-23T02:48:00.001-04:00

so chris called me up and said he had something special to show me, something he's been working on for a little while. imagine my disappointment when it was not potato-powered jet-ski. that not withstanding, he did manage a dope paint job. all done by him using nothing special for materials but through time put in he now has something remarkable. fantastic job.

its gonna suck to watch him pull in the trim with this sled while i scavenge for sun-baked balloon-knots on my rusty pile. maybe i should be taking notes.

LISTEN TO SUNN O)))

2011-04-21T17:05:00.000-04:00

Now available in pocket size!!!

2011-04-20T20:30:00.002-04:00

Feeling confident? Pretty proud of your sweet motorcycle? Just pull out your travel-Lumpy and scribble a quote on his sign! Quotes like : What the fuck do you want faggot?, Oh its that queer with the holes in his ears again, where's your gay sidekick with the flipper feet?, You retards read too many comic books!, I have one but I'm not selling it to you!, Eat me!, This is America you asshole we don't use the fucking metric system...AMERICA!! Understand? English?

Crunch time 'til lunch time!

2011-04-20T19:08:00.025-04:00

I've once again found myself too busy doing things to blog about..the things I'm doing. So rather than try to formulate some interesting, bullshit story that portrays me as someone capable of exercising good judgment, proper planning, and excellent(if any) blogger skills, I'm just going to indiscriminately dump all the pictures from my shit cell phone into one post and try my best to explain what I was doing and why it seemed like a good idea at the time.
I finally got my trans working again and then decided to do something about that stupid 4" stretch my weld on hardtail added.
Unique Ison and I hacked it off and had it mocked up shortly thereafter.
I made some time to finish a tank I started a couple years ago. I may end up using it on my sporty.

Pulled my motor to replace some gaskets and take a look in the cylinders as I had never had the heads off this motor since I got it. Everything was straight.
Since I had the motor out I decided to tig the frame up all nice and fill in the 30 thousand holes Ive drilled in this frame over the years.
When I first welded the hardtail on years ago I welded the seat stays to the back of the seat posts so I actually had to slug and extend them in order to make the frame shorter...

Finished the frame.

Bought another gun.

Got some new rubber.

Sand blasted and painted my heads while they were off.
Hardtailed an XS650 frame for Nate Dogg.
Spun up some 304 ss counterbores at work for my sissy bar and Jazzy Jeff's. Ordered a 7 metal west aluminum fender.
Got attacked by a rogue tree while 4wheeling and fucked my door up.
Got a used door cheap and murdered out my truck.
Got the new motor in the CX running and bought another gun..

Cut up some swap meet z bars for Crack rock Steady Jeff and made them 5" more comfy and 2" more cozy.

whoops..

That's better.

Bought a really dumb Czechoslovakian moped and brought it up to my apartment in the elevator. (totally spelled Czechoslovakian without spellcheck! I knew I woke up for a reason today!)
Pulled the head and cylinder and found the piston to be gnar as fuck. Its the original standard piston so my best guess is the monkeys that made the motor didn't chamfer the ports. The cylinder was actually in great shape and measures within spec so I honed it and ordered a new standard piston from Budapest, Hungary for $15! Win.
And finally I find myself eating rice and beans and having a very involved conversation with my pet flying squirrel about her day. I hope this peek into the last couple months of my life and my cell phone has answered all your meaning of life type questions, etc. I'm going to bed...

nice chris, nice

2011-04-19T22:10:00.000-04:00

i just had to go for a ride...

2011-04-15T05:24:00.001-04:00

must have angered the gods so to punish me they sent more white stuff, gah.

so, he wants to powder coat...

2011-04-13T06:43:00.000-04:00

so chris went and got a "home kit" for powder coating. i was really skeptical about the results he would get considering how inexpensive the gun was.

the c-list oven competed the package. i think the total investment was under $50.

and as with many things, its all about the prep work. he did a great job prepping and was very careful to read and fallow the directions; as a result he got fantastic results.

tore down...

2011-04-11T06:43:00.000-04:00

wheel needs to be power coated, pipes to be wrapped...

thingamajigs to be sorted out...

fishing

2011-04-10T14:28:00.003-04:00

http://bozeman.craigslist.org/cto/2316742429.html

chris' paint booth...

2011-04-09T06:36:00.000-04:00

chris is in tear-down and final assembly mode.

he is also in "wanna get it done so i can ride" mode

slight bumout...

2011-04-07T06:25:00.000-04:00

so i want for some small rides this week and deemed my brakes to be inadequate. good thing i did. i found a perforated piston boot, brown fluid, frozen fittings and spent pads.

fortunately i had a spare caliper collecting dust and managed to salvage the pads and fittings from this.

it knocked me off the road for a couple days but the piece of mind feels good. now the front and back stoppers work well enough going by vintage standards. and i forgot to take a picture but i thought i should remind or inform anyone reading this crap that you should always use some form of mechanical locking if you run any kind of mechanical actuation for your brakes. what the hell is that you ask? if you have a lever that moves to make something happen and that action makes you stop, it should have a locking mechanism. loctite is okay, nylocs are okay but remember that those are technically only to be used once, lock-washers are pretty good too. but through having to go through AMA tech inspections and listening to Dylan's advise, my new standard is safety wire. if there is a nut or bolt that could cause catastrophic damage then that shit is wired, end of story.

What a gem

2011-04-05T19:20:00.005-04:00

I chose to leave the trunk shut...