Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Mid-Century Moto Mecca Makeover
- Thread starter sakurama
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
I got the foam cannon working!
I took it apart and found the jet was clogged so it was about as simple a fix as you could hope for.
If you've not used one it's a simple device that attaches to the wand of your pressure washer and ***** up a soap/water solution and then mixes it with air to make foam. The pressure really creates a very thick foam.
The advantage is that the foam sticks and soaks into all the dirt so when you follow up with the pressure washer the dirt is already loosened up and can be sprayed off easily. I generally let it soak for a few minutes and then give it one more coating of foam.
For motos or bicycles the best cleaning tool I've found is an old paintbrush. If you want something stiffer you can cut the bristles shorter and you'll get the same softness with just a bit more stiffness. I generally go over the bike with the brush to get in the tight and dirty spots.
While some people don't like the idea of pressure washing a bicycle I personally find it fine. You just take the same precautions as you would for a moto - don't spray into the bearings or seals. The pressure washer from 2-3' out isn't too strong so I just pull back when going over the wheels, crank and steering head. I would say I've never had any issues...
...but the bearings on my front Lefty wheel were making noise. To be fair to me I've owned the bike for years now and bought it used and I've never and I doubt the previous owner ever lubed the bearings. So they were pretty dry. I bought some new ones but these didn't seam too bad so I used an exact-o to pop out the seal shields and see.
Oh, and that's the bulb that was not working in the campers stove hood - go figure.
I put the bearings in some solvent in a jar in my ultrasonic and left them for an hour. I rinsed them and dried them off and then repacked them by hand. I have always wanted one of those automatic bearing greasing tools but never found one. Is there a good one to get?
So I didn't replace them. Generally when I need a bearing I'll buy a new one and then, if the old ones seam serviceable then I'll clean them and put them in my bearing drawer for projects down the road. Or an emergent replacement.
The new ones pressed in easily with my homemade bearing press.
The shop has regressed to being too crowded to work in with bicycles, motos and some trailer work. I need to get on top of that.
With restrictions easing in Oregon (but cases rising like everywhere else) I wanted to get the kids out of the house - for my sanity and for theirs. They were not excited to be signed up for bike camp at the Lumberyard but that's typically their reaction when they don't get a say in something.
The camp was great for them despite the fact that every day they said they had fun but said they didn't learn anything. I was a bit concerned until the last day when I got to see them ripping around the Lumberyard's various pump tracks.
We ride every day to get out of the house and recently we've been dipping our toes into riding in the skateparks when they're empty or at least not crowded. With the newfound confidence of camp the kids are really into the skate park. They also now know the secret language and unspoken rules which are tricky to figure out as an adult. Anyway, I'm not sure who's more interested in riding in the skateparks but I'm going to say it's probably me.
I've been getting up at 5-5:30 and while everyone is still asleep I ride over the the skatepark to practice on my own. The 6-8am time slot is when older people go. It's sort of like the showers at a campground. Anyway, the other day I went and the place was covered in glass. With a heavy sigh I turned around and went home to get a broom and dustpan and then spent the next hour sweeping up the glass.
Now I'm not looking for kudos - this sort of thing is pretty normal in my family and probably started when my dad was in the Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout as you'd guess) and the mantra that you leave every campsite cleaner than you found it. My whole life we've been picking up trash on hikes or rides. I usually fill a backpack on moto rides in the woods.
When I posted a black square on Instagram in solidarity to the George Floyd murder someone got upset and said I was "virtue signaling" and I was sort of bothered about that because it's a label being attached to a behavior that means to make something "good" into something bad.
This comes back to my thoughts on community and it ties into a lot of what we're being bombarded with lately and the slogans we're seeing, namely, "It's not enough to not be racist, you need to work to undo racism" and for a while that didn't make sense to me.
When I was finishing sweeping the park up the park employee who cleans showed up and thanked me and we commiserated at the "darn kids" who broke the beer bottles all over. It was, ironically, most likely the same people who as kids skated in this park and now they're ruining it for other kids. I was also struck by the fact that several people on their morning walks took the time to stop and tell the park cleaning guy about a bottle or can they had to step over on the path.
Really? It was important enough to tell someone else to clean up but not for you to bend over and carry to the trash can?
Really?
So back to community - my favorite topic and the thing I am constantly trying to understand and resurrect. I am not "virtue signaling" when I pick up trash - that's the condescending name that's given to what we used to call "setting an example" and that, when I was growing up (and I fear I've suddenly crossed over to old man territory here) was a good thing. It was praised by teacher and parents and it was what you wanted to do.
The concept I'm guessing was that if you model good behavior then it encourages others to do so as well. This feedback loop of good behavior then improves everyones community.
And this ties in to the next thing - how do you get people to care? In the larger context I have no idea. In the smaller context and the one that matters to me I do have an idea.
Pets.
Stay with me now. I grew up on a ranch but we also had a lot of pets. A LOT! Caring for them was better than any Tamagotchi as they could actually die. More to the point we have a living, breathing feedback loop of care and life lessons. I honestly believe that having a pet makes you a more empathetic person.
Now someone thought I was saying that anyone without a pet is some sort of heartless person - correlation is not causation as they say but there is no "first pet" in the white house for the first time in over 100 years. I'm just saying that if you grew up without a pet I think you missed out on some pretty valuable life lessons and you've probably had to work a lot harder.
So I would like to introduce you to our new empathy engine:
We don't have a name yet but it's been narrowed down to "Waffles" or "Sir Francis Bacon" and he's about 8-9 weeks old. A friend found him and his mom and two other kittens under the porch of their Air BnB in Hood River. After asking around and learning that the mom was feral they posted up some photos to see if they could find someone to adopt them. Judiaann and I saw it at the same time and we'd actually been looking around for a kitten but there is a national (Covid) kitten shortage so it went no where.
Within an hour of seeing the post we were in the truck driving to Hood River.
It's been about a week and I don't think the kitten has been put down yet. He's super affectionate, well tempered and both Biscuit and Gravy have taken a shine to him.
My kids see me pick up trash and hopefully be a kind person and so I'm "virtue signaling" to them the way I want them to be and to treat people. But the kitten is it's own thing. If you want to cuddle with it you need to feed it to create the bond, you need to play with it and you need to clean the litter box because there's always work that is no fun but needs to be done.
I hope that for Nadia and Lucas the caring that they are doing for the new kitten creates the sort of empathy in them that will not just not smash beer bottles in the skate park but hopefully set an example that keeps other kids from doing the same.
So, pets! The first step towards compassion, empathy and responsibility and a better community. And you know that I mean community in the larger sense.
Gregor
I took it apart and found the jet was clogged so it was about as simple a fix as you could hope for.
If you've not used one it's a simple device that attaches to the wand of your pressure washer and ***** up a soap/water solution and then mixes it with air to make foam. The pressure really creates a very thick foam.
The advantage is that the foam sticks and soaks into all the dirt so when you follow up with the pressure washer the dirt is already loosened up and can be sprayed off easily. I generally let it soak for a few minutes and then give it one more coating of foam.
For motos or bicycles the best cleaning tool I've found is an old paintbrush. If you want something stiffer you can cut the bristles shorter and you'll get the same softness with just a bit more stiffness. I generally go over the bike with the brush to get in the tight and dirty spots.
While some people don't like the idea of pressure washing a bicycle I personally find it fine. You just take the same precautions as you would for a moto - don't spray into the bearings or seals. The pressure washer from 2-3' out isn't too strong so I just pull back when going over the wheels, crank and steering head. I would say I've never had any issues...
...but the bearings on my front Lefty wheel were making noise. To be fair to me I've owned the bike for years now and bought it used and I've never and I doubt the previous owner ever lubed the bearings. So they were pretty dry. I bought some new ones but these didn't seam too bad so I used an exact-o to pop out the seal shields and see.
Oh, and that's the bulb that was not working in the campers stove hood - go figure.
I put the bearings in some solvent in a jar in my ultrasonic and left them for an hour. I rinsed them and dried them off and then repacked them by hand. I have always wanted one of those automatic bearing greasing tools but never found one. Is there a good one to get?
So I didn't replace them. Generally when I need a bearing I'll buy a new one and then, if the old ones seam serviceable then I'll clean them and put them in my bearing drawer for projects down the road. Or an emergent replacement.
The new ones pressed in easily with my homemade bearing press.
The shop has regressed to being too crowded to work in with bicycles, motos and some trailer work. I need to get on top of that.
With restrictions easing in Oregon (but cases rising like everywhere else) I wanted to get the kids out of the house - for my sanity and for theirs. They were not excited to be signed up for bike camp at the Lumberyard but that's typically their reaction when they don't get a say in something.
The camp was great for them despite the fact that every day they said they had fun but said they didn't learn anything. I was a bit concerned until the last day when I got to see them ripping around the Lumberyard's various pump tracks.
We ride every day to get out of the house and recently we've been dipping our toes into riding in the skateparks when they're empty or at least not crowded. With the newfound confidence of camp the kids are really into the skate park. They also now know the secret language and unspoken rules which are tricky to figure out as an adult. Anyway, I'm not sure who's more interested in riding in the skateparks but I'm going to say it's probably me.
I've been getting up at 5-5:30 and while everyone is still asleep I ride over the the skatepark to practice on my own. The 6-8am time slot is when older people go. It's sort of like the showers at a campground. Anyway, the other day I went and the place was covered in glass. With a heavy sigh I turned around and went home to get a broom and dustpan and then spent the next hour sweeping up the glass.
Now I'm not looking for kudos - this sort of thing is pretty normal in my family and probably started when my dad was in the Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout as you'd guess) and the mantra that you leave every campsite cleaner than you found it. My whole life we've been picking up trash on hikes or rides. I usually fill a backpack on moto rides in the woods.
When I posted a black square on Instagram in solidarity to the George Floyd murder someone got upset and said I was "virtue signaling" and I was sort of bothered about that because it's a label being attached to a behavior that means to make something "good" into something bad.
This comes back to my thoughts on community and it ties into a lot of what we're being bombarded with lately and the slogans we're seeing, namely, "It's not enough to not be racist, you need to work to undo racism" and for a while that didn't make sense to me.
When I was finishing sweeping the park up the park employee who cleans showed up and thanked me and we commiserated at the "darn kids" who broke the beer bottles all over. It was, ironically, most likely the same people who as kids skated in this park and now they're ruining it for other kids. I was also struck by the fact that several people on their morning walks took the time to stop and tell the park cleaning guy about a bottle or can they had to step over on the path.
Really? It was important enough to tell someone else to clean up but not for you to bend over and carry to the trash can?
Really?
So back to community - my favorite topic and the thing I am constantly trying to understand and resurrect. I am not "virtue signaling" when I pick up trash - that's the condescending name that's given to what we used to call "setting an example" and that, when I was growing up (and I fear I've suddenly crossed over to old man territory here) was a good thing. It was praised by teacher and parents and it was what you wanted to do.
The concept I'm guessing was that if you model good behavior then it encourages others to do so as well. This feedback loop of good behavior then improves everyones community.
And this ties in to the next thing - how do you get people to care? In the larger context I have no idea. In the smaller context and the one that matters to me I do have an idea.
Pets.
Stay with me now. I grew up on a ranch but we also had a lot of pets. A LOT! Caring for them was better than any Tamagotchi as they could actually die. More to the point we have a living, breathing feedback loop of care and life lessons. I honestly believe that having a pet makes you a more empathetic person.
Now someone thought I was saying that anyone without a pet is some sort of heartless person - correlation is not causation as they say but there is no "first pet" in the white house for the first time in over 100 years. I'm just saying that if you grew up without a pet I think you missed out on some pretty valuable life lessons and you've probably had to work a lot harder.
So I would like to introduce you to our new empathy engine:
We don't have a name yet but it's been narrowed down to "Waffles" or "Sir Francis Bacon" and he's about 8-9 weeks old. A friend found him and his mom and two other kittens under the porch of their Air BnB in Hood River. After asking around and learning that the mom was feral they posted up some photos to see if they could find someone to adopt them. Judiaann and I saw it at the same time and we'd actually been looking around for a kitten but there is a national (Covid) kitten shortage so it went no where.
Within an hour of seeing the post we were in the truck driving to Hood River.
It's been about a week and I don't think the kitten has been put down yet. He's super affectionate, well tempered and both Biscuit and Gravy have taken a shine to him.
My kids see me pick up trash and hopefully be a kind person and so I'm "virtue signaling" to them the way I want them to be and to treat people. But the kitten is it's own thing. If you want to cuddle with it you need to feed it to create the bond, you need to play with it and you need to clean the litter box because there's always work that is no fun but needs to be done.
I hope that for Nadia and Lucas the caring that they are doing for the new kitten creates the sort of empathy in them that will not just not smash beer bottles in the skate park but hopefully set an example that keeps other kids from doing the same.
So, pets! The first step towards compassion, empathy and responsibility and a better community. And you know that I mean community in the larger sense.
Gregor
hewey
Well-known member
THIS! I work in local government in Australia, and a key part of my role is encouraging better behaviour eg not littering. There's a huge range of social research into all of this, and the role of social norms in influencing the behaviour of the majority of the community, and the role of visual leadership in showing people what they can do themselves and that they arent just a lone nut.
To contextualise it, check out this short video of a shirtless dancing guy as a microcosm case study of leadership and influencing behaviour of a crowd.
No, influencing behaviour is never this easy (how many smokers still smoke despite knowing the negative impacts?). But modelling positive behaviour is one of the best things to do
tomstin
Well-known member
Gregor, I've preached to my kids for years "Leave it better than you found it!" It's not that hard! We've been to so many events over the years where the place was trashed as people left. I don't understand why people leave their trash behind.
My favorite expression lately "The rest of the world can't be crazy...so it must be me!"
I read an article the other day that closed with "Respect nature, respect science, respect each other." Seems like a good start!
My favorite expression lately "The rest of the world can't be crazy...so it must be me!"
I read an article the other day that closed with "Respect nature, respect science, respect each other." Seems like a good start!
BORING HOP YARD
Well-known member
You are well spoken about our community, thank you for sharing!
Greg
Greg
As someone who has packed literally tens of thousands of bearings over the years (I've worked at three different trailer manufacturers oddly enough) I can honestly say that unless you are packing bearings on a regular basis, a pair of nitrile gloves and a palm full of grease is tough to beat.
The cone packer tool works well enough, but isn't really a tool that you pull out of the drawer, use, and put away. You'll want to clean it when you are done using it, which probably ends up taking more time than just hand packing the bearing in the first place. The cup and plunger style also work well, and they are contained so you could put it on the shelf in between uses. However, if you need to use different greases, cleaning it out would again take more time than hand packing. They can also take quite a bit of effort to fully pack the bearing, so maybe a slight time saver, but whether its easier is or not is up for debate. That being said, if you do decide to pursue one of these tools, Lisle is a good brand to look for.
I could go deep on what I believe the root cause is on this issue. In short, I believe that somewhere along the way, we as a society have conflated advocacy with action.
A lot of people don't see a difference between pointing out the trash on the trail versus picking it up themselves because the trash ends up in the bin either way. The problem with that way of thinking is when you apply it to the societal issues we're dealing with today, there is simply too much work to be done by the few who are actually willing to do it. The old saying 'many hands make light work' is absolutely true. Right now, we've got many voices, but not many hands.
gearhead1960
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Lead by example....it's a forgotten skill in my opinion. Too many want to pass the buck so to speak.... Gregor, kudos on your statements....
GeddyT
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I just had to read that story to my wife. Sooooo true.
This comes on a day when I'm really starting to feel like a failure as a father, as I can't even get my kids to pick their underwear up off the living room floor (it's what I'm looking at right now. Both kids' dirty underwear. Middle of the living room, for some reason...) or not leave their own bikes out in the rain, let alone make a difference in their community. I keep trying, setting a good example, but it's a real uphill battle.
This comes on a day when I'm really starting to feel like a failure as a father, as I can't even get my kids to pick their underwear up off the living room floor (it's what I'm looking at right now. Both kids' dirty underwear. Middle of the living room, for some reason...) or not leave their own bikes out in the rain, let alone make a difference in their community. I keep trying, setting a good example, but it's a real uphill battle.
1967ChevyRagtop
Well-known member
Maybe not now, but oneday they'll remember.
Ever try to convince a kid mom or pop is a bad person?
bg
Ever try to convince a kid mom or pop is a bad person?
bg
douglawrence42
Active member
I got tired of scrolling and searching through the thread for the pizza recipe, so I copied it out to a word doc for future reference. It was a long post, but until I pasted, I had no idea. 2654 words. After shrinking all the pics to page width, that’s 24 pages. Wow. I know this thread takes a good bit of effort, but that little exercise shows me I’m underestimating how much. Thanks!
macgyver37
Well-known member
My Dad has had one of these for 40 years or so and I got one 20 yrs ago because I used his. It is the only way to go. Drop your bearing in it and push down on the handle/knob until you see the grease squeeze out the race and you are done. It is the least messy and it is quick. If you don't track the grease everywhere while handling it you won't need to clean it up to put it away. The grease stays in the cup and you put the lid on when not in use.
https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools/handy-packer-bearing-packer
https://www.lislecorp.com/specialty-tools/handy-packer-bearing-packer
Thanks for the tip on the bearing greaser. I don't do enough bearings to warrant getting one but I'll probably get one anyway.
So as you may have seen on IG I picked up the swingarm from Stack Metalurgical and I was curious what it would look like although I knew that the only change was really going to be structural. While I knew that the powder and paint couldn't stand 950F I was surprised that they don't strip the part before hand. "Nah, it all just burns off anyway" they said.
This view would be right, top side. The brace I made has two fins that hopefully will help direct some of the force back into the larger structure.
You can see that I took out the material in the middle of the fins. This was actually a mistake as I set the angle wrong when I was cutting that but then I thought that it might make it less likely to pull away in the middle if the part was welded at the location that had the most stress so I kept it.
This shows it from a slight angle. You're looking at it from the bottom. I left the plate wider because I wanted to tie it into the larger casting and bridge the gap. My thought being that would help spread the load across a wider area of the casting and reduce the stress concentration.
This is top down and you can see how that plate bridges across. I don't know why BMW didn't do something similar so I'm nervous that my idea misses something obvious. There is no projection from the shock below and the tire obviously can't get in that gap...
So I'm considering how to finish the swingarm. Considering it is already stripped and I just got a new buffer that is super powerful... I'm kinda thinking I should polish it. My fear is that it will look too bling-y as I've seen polished swingarms before on BMW's and they never look good - it's a bit like lipstick on a pig.
But I am going to remove the casting marks and I'm going to relieve all the sharp edges on the welded plate but I'm unsure how far I will take it. Part of me wants to smooth all the welds but I don't know if that's wise to reduce the material there. Most of the welds are double pass and weaves so I'm sure I'd be good.
I'll start with the casting marks and some light radiusing and see how it looks. If I do polish it I'm not going to go for a mirror shine but for a soft luster.
We'll see. My goal is to get this back together this week. But there you have it - my swingarm is braced and fully heat treated to T6 and stronger than it was in stock form but allowing me to fit the full size 18" tire.
Gregor
So as you may have seen on IG I picked up the swingarm from Stack Metalurgical and I was curious what it would look like although I knew that the only change was really going to be structural. While I knew that the powder and paint couldn't stand 950F I was surprised that they don't strip the part before hand. "Nah, it all just burns off anyway" they said.
This view would be right, top side. The brace I made has two fins that hopefully will help direct some of the force back into the larger structure.
You can see that I took out the material in the middle of the fins. This was actually a mistake as I set the angle wrong when I was cutting that but then I thought that it might make it less likely to pull away in the middle if the part was welded at the location that had the most stress so I kept it.
This shows it from a slight angle. You're looking at it from the bottom. I left the plate wider because I wanted to tie it into the larger casting and bridge the gap. My thought being that would help spread the load across a wider area of the casting and reduce the stress concentration.
This is top down and you can see how that plate bridges across. I don't know why BMW didn't do something similar so I'm nervous that my idea misses something obvious. There is no projection from the shock below and the tire obviously can't get in that gap...
So I'm considering how to finish the swingarm. Considering it is already stripped and I just got a new buffer that is super powerful... I'm kinda thinking I should polish it. My fear is that it will look too bling-y as I've seen polished swingarms before on BMW's and they never look good - it's a bit like lipstick on a pig.
But I am going to remove the casting marks and I'm going to relieve all the sharp edges on the welded plate but I'm unsure how far I will take it. Part of me wants to smooth all the welds but I don't know if that's wise to reduce the material there. Most of the welds are double pass and weaves so I'm sure I'd be good.
I'll start with the casting marks and some light radiusing and see how it looks. If I do polish it I'm not going to go for a mirror shine but for a soft luster.
We'll see. My goal is to get this back together this week. But there you have it - my swingarm is braced and fully heat treated to T6 and stronger than it was in stock form but allowing me to fit the full size 18" tire.
Gregor
I vote for smooth & polish. You can always beadblast if you don't like the way it looks after polishing.
fartymarty
Well-known member
Call me lazy (you won't be the first) but I think I'd just get any rough edges off and paint it gloss black. If you have excess energy left you can wax the paint and buff it. Polishing something smooth and shiny and then bead blasting it must violate some law of conservation of energy or something...makes my lazy bone ache just thinking about it!
=================================
I wonder how many on here thought "Wow! Gregor thinks like I do." when they read that?
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Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. Sorry Marty, my OCD can't resist the opportunity to polish something. Even if I may just bead blast it later. I have always hated that BMW started painting the aluminum on the bikes. The raw materials to me are the best and most beautiful.
Gregor
Kiwi Canuck
Well-known member
For a more satin look, try a sisal wheel with the black stick, works well for me and not too polished but it can be tricky getting it right without going too far.
Look forward to seeing how it works out.
David.
Look forward to seeing how it works out.
David.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Gregor, you have that belt polisher for pipe. Would that give you the soft luster you are looking for? I do a silly amount of aluminum polishing and have found Scotchbrite belts on various sanders works great to bring the aluminum to a luster before final polishing. There are also Trizact belts that give all different levels of luster, up to a 3000-grit shine. I use an Eastwood expander wheel with Scotchbrite and Trizact belts for the big areas and a Wen 1/2" x 18" belt sander for the tight areas. There are a whole lot of different belts available for both.
Eastwood Expander Wheel:
https://www.eastwood.com/autobody/buffing/expander-wheel.html
Wen Belt Sander:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-Var...sX8LaJQrX3YVQHWyJdoaAvivEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Scotchbrite 1/2" x 18" belts:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V4RQNO/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Eastwood Expander Wheel:
https://www.eastwood.com/autobody/buffing/expander-wheel.html
Wen Belt Sander:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/WEN-Var...sX8LaJQrX3YVQHWyJdoaAvivEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Scotchbrite 1/2" x 18" belts:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000V4RQNO/?tag=atomicindus08-20
TwoBytes
Well-known member
I'd polish it, even if you end up bead blasting it after. I'm with you, can't resist polishing nice aluminium parts.
When I clicked on that Home Depot link it told me that my nearest store is in Tamuning, Guam... Technically accurate, but not particularly useful!
When I clicked on that Home Depot link it told me that my nearest store is in Tamuning, Guam... Technically accurate, but not particularly useful!
Wow, I never thought of this! Only 4 hours away from me, I usually go to Hawaii every few years to load up on US unobtainables. This is much closer and cheaper.
TwoBytes
Well-known member
OK, I'll take it back, it's technically accurate and useful (to Bakafish)!
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Mat, apologies to you and all the other overseas GJ members for excluding them. In fairness, that Home Depot link is useless for all the countries that uses 240V 50hz power. Your local Bunnings has your version of that file sander for less than $50 Australian.
Ozito 260W File Sander
https://www.bunnings.com.au/ozito-260w-file-sander_p6290620
Apologies to everyone else for hijacking this relentlessly interesting thread.
Robust2
Member
Hey Gregor,
Long time reader here and just bumped into Paul Brodie's "new" youtube channel. Seeing his shop, way of working and the type of videos, figured it would match your (and other readers here) interests!
Haven't watched all of the videos yet, but the ones I did were quite interesting and entertaining.
Long time reader here and just bumped into Paul Brodie's "new" youtube channel. Seeing his shop, way of working and the type of videos, figured it would match your (and other readers here) interests!
Haven't watched all of the videos yet, but the ones I did were quite interesting and entertaining.
Vertigo Cycles
Well-known member
Thanks for posting that one. Paul is a wizard and a hell of a nice guy. I've run into him a few times at bike shows and it's always fun to see what craziness he's been working on.
iwantspeed
Well-known member
love it
TwoBytes
Well-known member
Thanks for the tip Bob, that'll save me the trip to Guam!
And I'll second the apology for the hijack.
kjdhawkhill
Well-known member
With the Phil Wood bicycle grease, I don't even bother with gloves, just having a shop rag around is good enough.
As far as cleaning up the physical world around us, it can be hard to convince the kids that picking up other people's yucky trash is worth it, especially with all of the virus fears currently circulating. Personally, since I ride in gloves, and don't typically touch my face when riding (particularly when its warm) I feel relatively safe picking up a few pieces of trash every time I hit the trails. My kids usually comment on how gross things are, but if I happen to be carrying a dog-shat bag, its way less gross in everyone's mind.
I took it apart and found the jet was clogged so it was about as simple a fix as you could hope for.
While some people don't like the idea of pressure washing a bicycle I personally find it fine. You just take the same precautions as you would for a moto - don't spray into the bearings or seals. The pressure washer from 2-3' out isn't too strong so I just pull back when going over the wheels, crank and steering head. I would say I've never had any issues...
I put the bearings in some solvent in a jar in my ultrasonic and left them for an hour. I rinsed them and dried them off and then repacked them by hand. I have always wanted one of those automatic bearing greasing tools but never found one. Is there a good one to get?
So I didn't replace them. Generally when I need a bearing I'll buy a new one and then, if the old ones seam serviceable then I'll clean them and put them in my bearing drawer for projects down the road. Or an emergent replacement.
The new ones pressed in easily with my homemade bearing press.
I've been getting up at 5-5:30 and while everyone is still asleep I ride over the the skatepark to practice on my own. The 6-8am time slot is when older people go.
Foam sprayer looks so so so satisfying. I don't even have a pressure washer, but I've been considering one for a while. I think you just convinced me to look around at the big box stores when the budget is a little looser.
I'm too cheap to buy a tool that I can do with my index fingers, and don't repack often enough to justify anything better or faster.
As far as pressure washing, yeah, you should be fine as long 1. you're doing from far enough back, and 2. you're paying attention to where the bearing seals are. 3. You're willing to eventually do your own bearing service and swaps rather than paying the shop labor rate for it. Cyclocross pro teams sometimes pressure wash their bikes 20 or more times a weekend... free and discounted parts, though, too.
Maybe I'm becoming a curmudgeon, but at this stage in life, I want to catch people who litter and drop it in their car, pockets, etc... The house across the street from us has been a part time gut-rehab (fire damaged)for months now, and it seems like half the crews are smoking in their cars on the street, dropping their butts onto my tree-lawn and in the street. Empty water bottles aren't rare, either. There's literally a roll-off dumpster in the driveway, why the F can't you use that?
So the other day at the skate park I saw someone else picking up trash. I was encouraged.
So I put the swingarm under the polisher to just see what would happen. It basically just polished the rough surface (middle above) and so then I hit it with the orbital sander with... I want to say 80 grit? Might have been 150, and then polished again. That's the spot on the left.
Disappointingly it was much better. I continued to sand the entire swingarm.
This worked well on the larger areas of the swingarm. I went from 60 - 150 grits.
Then to the buffer with a sisal wheel and black compound.
Polishing is a filthy, filthy business.
Like absolutely filthy. I won't clean this until I'm done as it's pointless. I really need to rig up a vent or guard and perhaps a vacuum. The trouble with those is they block the wheel.
The other trouble with polishing is that it is a can of worms. It teases you with this window into something that could be very pretty but then mocks you with all the spots you miss. This gets worse the farther you go.
The central rib is actually a casting seam that they turned into a feature - BMW is very smart like that - and so I decided to leave that (for now) but you can see that it makes actually sanding the surface down very difficult. Lots of porosity to deal with.
So I dig out a very rarely used but much loved tool - the Dynafile. It is an air powered mini belt sanding device that has a few different wheels/arbors and is great for getting into tight spots. I've owned this for a long time and rarely use it because it came with a lot of belts that are all pretty old and manage to last for all of about 3-5 minutes before breaking. I've tried to figure out a way to reglue the belts but haven't found anything that works.
This does a good job along the seams and narrow spots. I finally broke down this morning and bought new belts which I should have done 10 years ago. I can be a slow learner.
Those corners will be the bain of this part. I suspect that I'll be gluing sand paper to a stick and doing that by hand but the Dynafile has made a big difference so far.
More sanding and then hopefully a final buff and assembly this week and then I'm going to look at the rear bevel drive to see how hard that will be to strip and polish...
Gregor
So I put the swingarm under the polisher to just see what would happen. It basically just polished the rough surface (middle above) and so then I hit it with the orbital sander with... I want to say 80 grit? Might have been 150, and then polished again. That's the spot on the left.
Disappointingly it was much better. I continued to sand the entire swingarm.
This worked well on the larger areas of the swingarm. I went from 60 - 150 grits.
Then to the buffer with a sisal wheel and black compound.
Polishing is a filthy, filthy business.
Like absolutely filthy. I won't clean this until I'm done as it's pointless. I really need to rig up a vent or guard and perhaps a vacuum. The trouble with those is they block the wheel.
The other trouble with polishing is that it is a can of worms. It teases you with this window into something that could be very pretty but then mocks you with all the spots you miss. This gets worse the farther you go.
The central rib is actually a casting seam that they turned into a feature - BMW is very smart like that - and so I decided to leave that (for now) but you can see that it makes actually sanding the surface down very difficult. Lots of porosity to deal with.
So I dig out a very rarely used but much loved tool - the Dynafile. It is an air powered mini belt sanding device that has a few different wheels/arbors and is great for getting into tight spots. I've owned this for a long time and rarely use it because it came with a lot of belts that are all pretty old and manage to last for all of about 3-5 minutes before breaking. I've tried to figure out a way to reglue the belts but haven't found anything that works.
This does a good job along the seams and narrow spots. I finally broke down this morning and bought new belts which I should have done 10 years ago. I can be a slow learner.
Those corners will be the bain of this part. I suspect that I'll be gluing sand paper to a stick and doing that by hand but the Dynafile has made a big difference so far.
More sanding and then hopefully a final buff and assembly this week and then I'm going to look at the rear bevel drive to see how hard that will be to strip and polish...
Gregor
I have the Ryobi 1 version of the Ozito one, cordless if that's your jam. Great machine and very handy
Results much like the ones above from Gregor and his air powered one, which I must say are amazing as usual.zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice job polishing the swingarm.
THAT is exactly why I sold my Baldor buffer and all polishing supplies. It is absolutely filthy and creates a horrible mess. That is something I gladly hire our.
It is turning out very nice however.
THAT is exactly why I sold my Baldor buffer and all polishing supplies. It is absolutely filthy and creates a horrible mess. That is something I gladly hire our.
It is turning out very nice however.
fastev
Well-known member
Do you know what size your belts are? I think I have a few packs of 1/2" x 24" in a box of old tools from my previous life. If that's what you're running I'll dig them out. Don't have my Dynafile anymore.
Yes, it's 1/2" x 24" and I just bought a few new ones. I'll happily give them a shot and hopefully the adhesive hasn't given up the ghost. I have this big bag of belts that all seam to snap after about 3-4 minutes because the glue gives out over time. I'd like to find a way to reglue them but the couple of tries so far haven't worked.
Thanks though. Hit me up in PM's and I can give you my address and send you something for postage.
Gregor
fartymarty
Well-known member
I think both Dremel and Porter Cable make (made?) a profile sander that could be used...you know if you wanted to buy another tool....nah you wouldn't be interested in that, better go look for a stick.
Looks like some of those profiles might work like a stick?
Attachments
Vertigo Cycles
Well-known member
I've got some non-woven belts that I can pass along when I get the glass beads out of the attic. I bought a bunch of them but too many are too aggressive for my needs. They're pretty great with aluminum since they don't load up as much as the other abrasive belts.
I think both Dremel and Porter Cable make (made?) a profile sander that could be used...you know if you wanted to buy another tool....nah you wouldn't be interested in that, better go look for a stick.
Looks like some of those profiles might work like a stick?
Actually you reminded me that I have a Fien tool that can probably do the same thing. I'll look at that...
Sure, that would be awesome.
Also, I have to say that the dirt jumper is, at the moment, my favorite form of bike. The simplicity of it is pretty awesome. This might be the bike I'd like to make. You know, when we finally get around to that.
Gregor
Vertigo Cycles
Well-known member
Super simple...looking forward to when we can finally do that. I'm working on some ceiling mounted stands that will hopefully make it easier to work around the big fixture and should make it easier to have another person in the shop.
What bike are you riding now?
Kirmet
Well-known member
I built/assembled a DJ bike (I didnt build a frame) awhile ago, they are super fun, I built it just for winter trips to Rays MTB park in Cleveland. And to have a backup downhill bike. If you ever get a chance to go to Cleveland its an amazing place to play. I took a lesson from a pro for the morning and was confidently jumping and clearing tables in the rhythm sections.
The bike I am dreaming of right now is a hardtail 27.5 bike. I'm riding a 29 xc bike and it feels like a road bike. so something like a Kona Honzo, built a bit like a DJ bike but with playful geometry so I can dip & dab, and be active on my bike t corner better hop over stuff and fly through the woods. My El Mariachi is fast but I feel top-heavy.
Check out a Honzo or some of the other 27.5 playbikes. Having the ability to shift makes them nice and versatile.
Vertigo Cycles
Well-known member
Consider trying out a mullet bike with a 27.5 rear and 29 front. There's no doubt that 29" wheels plow through chunder better than smaller wheels but they can be a handful in corners. Building something into a mullet is a good best of both worlds situation.