Fiddly Bits

Well today didnt go completely as planned. Paint guy went awol again. But the sale of DR Zook will cover the cost of the paint. I'm getting close to the point of simple repossession and painting over the whole mess with hammerite

After trying to get a hold on the guy for a couple hours, I took off for the guzzi shop. I got the wrong clutch cable somehow. And I got some locks for the toolboxes that will go on the bike If they Ever Get Finished Being Painted

Then I went up to Harbor Freight. I needed some odds and ends. Primarily an exhaust expander tool, shrink tube and a heat gun for the wiring.

Finally another stop at the Ace Hardware for some hardware odds and ends. I love my local Ace Hardware/Feedstore. They have a bit of everything.

I finally got home and discovered that as we were trying to figure out which cable was the right one...somehow I walked out the door with a *brake* cable . Okay I need a spare to take with me...but damn. And that was my own fault. I didnt pay close attention to what was in my hand when I left.

Harbor Freight was a chore too. I get all my crap. Get in the long line with all the other sweaty guys and finally it is my turn. Cashier dude spends 5 minutes on the phone whining that he was supposed to go to lunch and wants someone to relieve him. Finally he gets around to ringing me up. Now a c note buys a lot of crap at Harbor Freight. So I swipe my credit card. He asks for ID. I hand it over. Then says he wont take it because it has my wife's name on it. Dude, who the hell do you think that is on the card? It's my wife. WHo the fuck do you think pays the card bill? Yeah..ME. THis is a direct quote "Well she aint here, so I wont take it" with all the snotty attitude that implies. So I whip out the debit and swipe that. Done. I grab my bags and as I turn to go I tell him "Hey pal...My wife's name is on that debit card I just used. Have a nice day." He gets puffed up. I dunno, maybe it was the look I had or something. But I was hungover, hot, sweaty and pissed off. He didnt look much better. Then the moment passed. He went back to his thing and I went off to do mine. I had to laugh as I drove away, imagining a pair of dudes going at it in a hardware store like that. Axes, Mallets, hammers..wheee!

I finally got myself home and went to work on an idea I had.

First...the new headers seem to be outsized a hair. The mufflers stop short by about 2" on on and "3/4 on the other. I dond want to knock them into place because I would never get them off again. So I figured on using a pipe expander to nudge them bigger. *sigh* no go. Either I wasnt using the expander correctly, or there simply isnt any give to chromed steel. So I might have to figure something else. I'm thinking I could either....sand down the headers a bit (stainless)...thats a lot of work. Or I could cut longer slots in the mufflers so that that give more. Good chance of making a mess of that and having to buy new mufflers (ouch). I'm open to suggestions.

So I gave up on that.

I also found some interesting bits in the hardware store. one is a set of bronze "bearings". Just bronze sleeves. By luck I picked a pair that fit just right onto the pedal mounts. THis means I might be able to machine them to the odd size that the pedals now need since the stockers dont fit anymore. But thinking on it a second time, I might have the wrong size. See the peg I tested is *painted* once I sand the paint off they wont be the right size anymore..I bet. But they had a bunch of other sizes too. So I might go back with some calipers in hand and try some others.

SPeaking of machining... I found some rubber stoppers there too. Now this inspired me to fix something that has been bugging me. The stock rear shocks are long history. I had found some BMW progressive rears. Just the right length. But the eye width on the bottom is narrower by something north of 1/8" I dont like having that much potential play if I can help it. So...here we go

Out comes the mini Unimat lathe














First a hole is drilled down the middle so I can get in there with a tool to hog out the ID














Something I discovered quickly is that the soft rubber wont take a lot of stress in the chuck before it pops out. So the order of the day was high speed and slow cuts. once the ID was cut, then it is a simple parting at the proper depth














then mount on the bike. tada, spacer. I had to use the rubber because they didnt have nylon in the right size. You can also see here how far the muffler is off on the header. *sigh*














That was enough for one day. I think I will tackle the wiring tomorrow.