mr_magicfingers
Well-known member
Oh and what a lovely article over on Garret Wade 
Between 485 & 705 SQ/FT Mid-Century Moto Mecca Makeover
- Thread starter sakurama
- Start date
Workspaces between 485 and 705 squarefeet.
monsterbronco
Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2008
- Messages
- 10
Watching on IG this morning, what's the watch on the drill press for? You are so methodical and everything seems to have a purpose so I'm a little lost on this one!
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk
Growlertdi
Well-known member
If you make it, they will come..
I would absolutely subscribe on YT.
I would absolutely subscribe on YT.
elvee
Well-known member
I wasn't trying to pick on you, it is more muscle memory. Any time I see swages being mis-used, I try to let people know. Just trying to propagate correct methods as most people aren't familiar with how to use aircraft cable, and don't realize there are specific tools for the job. I do like the idea of putting a safety on the levers though. Makes sense for something that is going to get bashed through the woods and trails.
No problem.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Awesome article that was written Gregor.
I too got my son in the shop early in life starting at around 4~ish and now he is 27 years old and we tackle larger projects together. It is a great feeling to see him walk to a piece of equipment and use it safely and properly knowing that he has learned that skill from you. I think you will soon get to experience that yourself.
I too got my son in the shop early in life starting at around 4~ish and now he is 27 years old and we tackle larger projects together. It is a great feeling to see him walk to a piece of equipment and use it safely and properly knowing that he has learned that skill from you. I think you will soon get to experience that yourself.
slodat
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I noticed the watch on the drill press column, too!
dwysywd
Well-known member
First, that was hilarious...sorry Gregor, but I laughed when I heard that.
Second, I too am learning to weld. Gregor, you might not realize this but I’m thinking you are inspiring a group of budding fabricators.
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rd65
Well-known member
Making cables is a lost art, or more likely most shops don't have the tools (solder pot) to do any longer. We used to be the only shop around that did them. We used muriatic acid as flux since we had it on hand for removing aluminum from plated cylinders.So yesterday was a busy day. I had placed my bearings and the bushing into the freezer when I went to bed so they'd be cold in the morning for pressing in.
I left the swingarm in the mill overnight and decided to just use the mills arbor to press in the bushing since it was still all set up. A frozen bushing and the mill's quill was just able to press it in smoothly. Motophile mentioned making go/no go gage blocks which is probably a good idea. I don't know if that would help with press fits though.
Anyway, I used the press to install the bearings in the swingarm. I sometimes will make a puck in the lathe that helps to press the bearing in on the outside race but usually I'll just use a big socket.
I posted this on Instagram and it's really only something a true BMW nut would appreciate. It's also why I need to organize my stuff. In true hoarder fashion I knew I'd had a spare swingarm but didn't know I had a spare bevel drive. I brought the pair down so I could use the extra swingarm for the modifying and then yesterday when I was getting ready to install the drive unit I figured I'd check to see if the extra was a different ratio. It was - the lowest ratio BMW ever made and it's pretty rare and hard to find. Score! I want a bit more grunt from the bike, more power and a little slower 1st gear so now this bike will have all that.
Lara is like a whirlwind. She can't sit still and if she's not working she's cleaning. It's awesome. It's inspiring me to be cleaner and neater. Always goals but now more than ever.
We installed the new 37/11 drive unit in and the shock and torque arm. Most of the work I did to modify the swingarm was so the yoke would clear at full extension. I also needed to grind back the battery box mount a bit too for the spring. It's all very tight.
One thing I've been putting off was making new cables. The original bike used a BMW combo brake/throttle which is nice for it's clean integration but is generally never the right master cylinder size, too large to give much flexibility in control position and clunky. I ordered a Motion Pro MX throttle so it would have a quick 1/4 turn but they are all single cable pulls. I found a kit on Amazon that had the splitter and cables so I bought that for the parts. I probably have enough cable supplies to last a lifetime but I'm always running short of certain ferrules so I wanted to make sure.
Not many people know about Flanders Cables but they're where you can order your cable ends and ferrules and stuff. I'll make mine from brass on occasion but it's nice to just have them ready to go. You can make control cables for anything with this stuff: lawnmowers, bicycles, motorcycles. It's a solid skill to have.
There's two real concerns you have when making a new custom cable: pull and exposed cable length. I measured all of the existing cable lengths and pull so I could get the right amount of free cable but every one one is different. Here's a quick tutorial on how you make the ends.
When you have the right length of exposed cable measured add to that the length of your ferrule. Put the correct ferrule on with the larger end to the end of the cable. On round ones there's a small opening for the cable on one side and a larger opening on the other. That larger part is to accept this little bit of destruction. Flare the end. Some people like to put it in a vise and peen the ends but I use needle nose pliers to bend the cable out in all directions. The goal is an even mushroom sort of end.
Pull the ferrule down into your frayed ends being careful to not pull it off (then it's start over time) and then dip it into the correct solder flux. I've searched for years for the right flux and this is the best stuff I've found for making cables. Without the right flux it's really difficult. Be very careful to not dip any farther then the top of the ferrule. If you do the solder will climb up the cable and you'll have no flexibility to the cable.
A solder pot is really the right tool for this job. A soldering iron has a hard time making the cable ends hot enough. I've done it with a soldering iron and a torch but nothing is as good as a soldering pot. It holds a mass of solder in liquid form and you just dip your fluxed end in and let the flux cook out for a few seconds.
Be careful to not disturb it for a minute until the solder cools. What you've got now is a very solid mechanical connection. The space inside all those frayed wires is now replaced with solder so it's nearly impossible to pull the end off. Now you dress the end on the grinder or belt sander.
Don't take off too much, just enough to restore the shape and trim any exposed cable so the ferrule will fit where it needs to. That's the basics of making a custom cable and now I have a nice quick and light 1/4 turn throttle on the bike.
Finally after a bunch of noodling around we got the wheel on. I had to replace all the hardware for the shock and torque arm so I'm getting tired of making special trips to the hardware store.
I've got the rear brake installed now with a new custom brake line and we're using a Galfer wave rotor like the front.
It was a very long way to put this giant *** tire on this bike. BMW's are just not designed for this. They're designed for 17" rims and tires but the best dirt wheels and tires are 18" and just like the trend towards 29er's and 27.5+ mountain bikes the goal is the larger rolling radius making the wheel better at going over things.
The other aspect of dirt wheels is the narrow rims. The Excel A60 is narrow at 2.15" and the tire is large at a 140 width. When you put them together you get a very round, tall tire profile that turns quickly, absorbs bumps and rolls over obstacles better. All good things. I think I can probably say that this is the largest tire ever put on a BMW. I had to really push the pivot back quite a bit to make this happen and I'll be curious how it works.
So now we're into fettling all the details of the bike. Cable management, brake bleeding, small brackets and finally checking torques and replacing the oil in the rear drive. There's still a lot to do but I'm seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
Gregor
polexican23
Banned
as much as I would love a youtube channel to add to my ever growing distractions, it is going to ADD a lot of time to anything you do. like a by a bajillion. i am sure you know that but incase you forgot.
AND...i almost fell out of my chair when you cursed on IG on that mounting plate. it was hilarious.
AND...i almost fell out of my chair when you cursed on IG on that mounting plate. it was hilarious.
polexican23
Banned
side job money maker. Make a **** ton of cables for VW guys .anyone that runs a shorted chassis for dunebuggies need them.
dwysywd
Well-known member
So true so true. I had never subscribed to an IG feed like that. I didn’t even know you could video and post. Where do you find the time to edit this stuff all together.
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Whoa, what a bunch of responses. Thanks all for following along on Instagram. Locul, you are obviously right. I have gotten dozens of messages on IG on the videos so I think it is time for me to do this. Be patient as it's going to be a learning curve and however I start out will most likely **** but will get better.
As for the watch on the drill press...You guys don't time all the holes you drill? Really? I'm the only one?
I think I took it off a rally bike years ago and put there because I didn't want to throw it away. It's now invisible to me. I'll throw it away tomorrow.
So today was the day that I wanted to finish. Lara seems to be coming down with a cold but buckled down and worked on the fairing and exhaust. There' no way I'd be this far without her amazing help. Thanks Lara!
Deutsche connectors are hard. And small.
The beauty is that they are almost infinitely reusable. We took apart the fairing so that we could paint the inside and like most tasks I realized that was a good time to also get rid of the button heads that I used to replace the socket cap screws that were there before. I'm working my way to flush rivets I guess.
Countersinking the flat head screws is an improvement in that they just are less obvious. Fussy details detract so this made the fairing more... "of a piece" as they say.
The exhaust was nicely built but the stainless was never prepped or "grained" before it was welded. It looks more raw that way but again the way I prefer to build an exhaust is to scotchbrite scuff all the pipes around in order to give a nice, uniform grain to the tubes. Smaller tube can be done by hand, straight sections on the lathe and the big gun is the Flex LBR 1508 VRA pipe belt sander. Once you see one of these things work you want one. It's uses are limited and nonetheless awesome.
I can't quite get the whole pipe with the various brackets and stuff but putting a consistent grain on the pipe front to back made a nice improvement.
It's a small detail but the look of the bike is as important to me as the functionality of the bike. I want both to be perfect. You can engineer a perfect functional solution but if it looks ugly no one will notice or care. If you make something beautiful but not functional... well, you're just another custom motorcycle builder. The only way to do it is to make both of absolute importance.
I also did a poll on IG to see what valve covers people thought I should use. Spoiler alert - I was going to go with the old ones no matter what. I know the new style (what was on the bike previously) are stronger but I just like the old ones. Just do.
It's curious what people respond to on IG. Everyone loved when I fucked up my dash - note to self: this will be easier than I thought since ******* things up seems like a net positive.
The other thing was the video of cutting and polishing the gas caps. It's a pretty simple thing to polish something on the lathe, well, round things, but it's nonetheless pretty magical to see how fast it happens.
I installed the blue dash and instantly regretted it. I'd consider doing it again in a powder blue but honestly I was distracted by making a "custom bike" and forgot that I'm making a motorcycle I will ride and use. It should be black. I'm an idiot. I will fix that when it comes apart again next time.
It's all together. I couldn't help myself and tried to start it the garage and I got nothing. Pulled a plug and there's no spark. I'm a bit bummed to have to pull it apart again but I'm sure there's just a wire that got disconnected.
I hope.
Gregor
As for the watch on the drill press...You guys don't time all the holes you drill? Really? I'm the only one?
I think I took it off a rally bike years ago and put there because I didn't want to throw it away. It's now invisible to me. I'll throw it away tomorrow.
__________________________________________________
So today was the day that I wanted to finish. Lara seems to be coming down with a cold but buckled down and worked on the fairing and exhaust. There' no way I'd be this far without her amazing help. Thanks Lara!
Deutsche connectors are hard. And small.
The beauty is that they are almost infinitely reusable. We took apart the fairing so that we could paint the inside and like most tasks I realized that was a good time to also get rid of the button heads that I used to replace the socket cap screws that were there before. I'm working my way to flush rivets I guess.
Countersinking the flat head screws is an improvement in that they just are less obvious. Fussy details detract so this made the fairing more... "of a piece" as they say.
The exhaust was nicely built but the stainless was never prepped or "grained" before it was welded. It looks more raw that way but again the way I prefer to build an exhaust is to scotchbrite scuff all the pipes around in order to give a nice, uniform grain to the tubes. Smaller tube can be done by hand, straight sections on the lathe and the big gun is the Flex LBR 1508 VRA pipe belt sander. Once you see one of these things work you want one. It's uses are limited and nonetheless awesome.
I can't quite get the whole pipe with the various brackets and stuff but putting a consistent grain on the pipe front to back made a nice improvement.
It's a small detail but the look of the bike is as important to me as the functionality of the bike. I want both to be perfect. You can engineer a perfect functional solution but if it looks ugly no one will notice or care. If you make something beautiful but not functional... well, you're just another custom motorcycle builder. The only way to do it is to make both of absolute importance.
I also did a poll on IG to see what valve covers people thought I should use. Spoiler alert - I was going to go with the old ones no matter what. I know the new style (what was on the bike previously) are stronger but I just like the old ones. Just do.
It's curious what people respond to on IG. Everyone loved when I fucked up my dash - note to self: this will be easier than I thought since ******* things up seems like a net positive.
The other thing was the video of cutting and polishing the gas caps. It's a pretty simple thing to polish something on the lathe, well, round things, but it's nonetheless pretty magical to see how fast it happens.
I installed the blue dash and instantly regretted it. I'd consider doing it again in a powder blue but honestly I was distracted by making a "custom bike" and forgot that I'm making a motorcycle I will ride and use. It should be black. I'm an idiot. I will fix that when it comes apart again next time.
It's all together. I couldn't help myself and tried to start it the garage and I got nothing. Pulled a plug and there's no spark. I'm a bit bummed to have to pull it apart again but I'm sure there's just a wire that got disconnected.
I hope.
Gregor
Matt Johnson
Well-known member
My vote is leave it for a couple reasons -
1. Use it as a reminder to those using the drill press that the feed rate with any tool is key. Maybe even use the watch to help teach that to your son & time him (when the time comes, pun intended).
2. It's a Gregor "Easter Egg" at this point for all of us "in the know".
Plus, if you throw it out, there be the investment in explaining to more people that will ask "what happened to the watch/timed drilling".
Just though that cut down was appropriate.
I don't want to sound creepy & hope everyone reads this that way...
She is Amazing... her willingness to jump in, clean in chaos & keep any man "on task" with these types of ideas & skills is very special.
Must be great genes, since you both rock!
INDEED, this should be required reading for anyone that "modifies" anything.
Form & Function in Harmony.
As others have said before & in the future,
Thank You so much Gregor for your hard work, your entertainment & your inspiration.
Keep on Keepin' On.
sent from my MCM Tri-level "Flying Wing" design a few hours up the 5 from you
rk_tek
Well-known member
I'm always amazed at the pace you maintain through these builds yet still fit in side projects like repairing a broken tool or cleaning and organizing your shop. One of these days when I am visiting my brother in Portland, I will have to buy you a beer or six. The dedication you have to perfection is truly inspiring.
The article on GarretWade (didn't know about it until now, F'n Gregor) brought back a lot of memories. I don't have any tools made by family members, but I have a special place for the ones passed down. Many of my best childhood memories with my father take place in the garage working on British sports cars and fixing the things that many would throw away. My daughter plays with a wooden semi truck that my dad and I made when I was 6 and it won't be long before she is the 4th generation in our family to use the same tools.
The article on GarretWade (didn't know about it until now, F'n Gregor) brought back a lot of memories. I don't have any tools made by family members, but I have a special place for the ones passed down. Many of my best childhood memories with my father take place in the garage working on British sports cars and fixing the things that many would throw away. My daughter plays with a wooden semi truck that my dad and I made when I was 6 and it won't be long before she is the 4th generation in our family to use the same tools.
Baroquenstrings
Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 15
I would encourage you to cover up those handguards if you're going to do ANY woods riding whatsoever. Last summer I was up on the Barlow trail riding behind a guy who had those and with no covers. A limb was protruding out of the forest and due to the width and uneven nature of the trail he accidentally hit it just right and it poked right through jerking the front end out of his hands. He was hurting enough that he cancelled the rest of the ride that day and rode back to camp. Fortunately he was still able to ride back to camp and wasn't injured more severely.
The Highway Dirtbike handguards went in perfectly. Paul includes roost deflectors but I prefer to run them naked as the mirrors tuck into the opening and I mostly run the mirrors tucked in.
It doesn't look done but right now I just need to get the tanks back on and see where I'm at. I've already discovered one issue with the new rear brake master switch just touching the rear tank so that will have to be clearanced tomorrow and then it gets buttoned up and I should do a once over on fastener tightness to be sure I haven't missed anything.
I'm actually a bit ahead of schedule which is rather worrying...
Gregor
Baroquenstrings
Member
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2008
- Messages
- 15
LOL, I'm single and was kinda wondering if she was too when you posted a pic or two of her in your house about a year ago but I didn't want to be 'that guy'. I'd love to meet a nice woman that isn't afraid to get dirty. I too am working on a house just across the river along with several mc's and I even have one or two she could use! 
Wait, doesn't she live in FL or something??? Is she moving out here?
Sadly, I don't think I'll make it this year to The One as it's just gotten too big and that's my Guard weekend once again. Usually I'm there right at 5 to rush through the entire exhibit and be home and in bed by 10p. I tried meeting you last year but your buddies said you had stepped out for a bit.
Anyway, I don't post much but I always look forward to updates on this thread. Actually, it's the only reason I come here and I'm usually on ADV. Do you have a link to the build on ADV?
Wait, doesn't she live in FL or something??? Is she moving out here?
Sadly, I don't think I'll make it this year to The One as it's just gotten too big and that's my Guard weekend once again. Usually I'm there right at 5 to rush through the entire exhibit and be home and in bed by 10p. I tried meeting you last year but your buddies said you had stepped out for a bit.
Anyway, I don't post much but I always look forward to updates on this thread. Actually, it's the only reason I come here and I'm usually on ADV. Do you have a link to the build on ADV?
sakurama; [IMG said:
laralovesmoka
New member
Thanks! Like everyone else here, I’m just curious, like learning new things, and don’t care about manicures. It’s great to have some free time to help and Gregor is a great teacher.
laralovesmoka
New member
p.s. I did live in FL but left a couple years ago and have split my time between CO and Portland. Gregor is lobbying for Portland. If you have a favorite reason why the west coast is the best coast, tell me at the show on Friday. See you there!
So I woke to an inch of snow and of course in Portland any snow is a snow day.
I had to take my bike out of the living room and put it outside for Nadia's birthday party and we haven't put away things so the bike stayed out. It just makes me sad. We don't leave out kids out over night...
One thing that I want to do on my bike is to try to make the bike easy to work on. To get to almost anything on this bike you have to strip off the seat, all the tanks, fairing and subframe tank. It reminds me of my KTM 950 - I got very good at taking off the tanks in order to do anything.
I could not find any loose or unattached wires and the coil was getting power. I called up EuroMotoElectric and talked to Matt. I have to say that they've been great to deal with. He walked me through a check and then determined that my ignition pickup was bad and sent me a new one for free. I paid for over night shipping.
Next up was just cleaning the hot mess of tools that had covered the counter. It's boring work to put tools away. So time lapse.
<iframe src="https://gregorhalendaphotography.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=SGBnrH&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=0&playButton=0&randomize=0&speed=3&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=2" width="800" height="600" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
Is it possible to embed video in here so it doesn't link out? Sheesh.
Since I had this extra day after I had cleaned the shop and put away tools I decided that I needed to do the right thing and paint the dash. My heart was in the right place but I forgot "my brand" as John Roderick likes to say. My "brand" is utility and thoughtful attention to detail. A dash should not distract or call attention to itself - it should disappear. It is on a need to know basis. When I think of efficient dash layouts I'm reminded of the planes my father jumped out of - that's the first place I saw black wrinkle finish.
I had a can of that. It's sort of fun to use because all the rules are out the window. None of this light dusting coat and then a medium coat. No, on wrinkle paint you lay down as heavy a coat as will not drip and then you put that thing in the hottest spot you have. Under a heat lamp, in front of a space heater, the hot July sun. I went with space heater.
Lastly, I had been thinking about watching Heath weld and so I pulled out some scrap aluminum I was going to put into recycling and ran a few beads. For some reason it made more sense today. I had a better feeling for the puddle. And for the first time ever I was able to get a good T-joint weld. Baby steps but they're forward.
Tomorrow, fingers crossed tightly, it will run.
Gregor
I had to take my bike out of the living room and put it outside for Nadia's birthday party and we haven't put away things so the bike stayed out. It just makes me sad. We don't leave out kids out over night...
One thing that I want to do on my bike is to try to make the bike easy to work on. To get to almost anything on this bike you have to strip off the seat, all the tanks, fairing and subframe tank. It reminds me of my KTM 950 - I got very good at taking off the tanks in order to do anything.
I could not find any loose or unattached wires and the coil was getting power. I called up EuroMotoElectric and talked to Matt. I have to say that they've been great to deal with. He walked me through a check and then determined that my ignition pickup was bad and sent me a new one for free. I paid for over night shipping.
Next up was just cleaning the hot mess of tools that had covered the counter. It's boring work to put tools away. So time lapse.
<iframe src="https://gregorhalendaphotography.smugmug.com/frame/slideshow?key=SGBnrH&autoStart=1&captions=0&navigation=0&playButton=0&randomize=0&speed=3&transition=fade&transitionSpeed=2" width="800" height="600" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
Is it possible to embed video in here so it doesn't link out? Sheesh.
Since I had this extra day after I had cleaned the shop and put away tools I decided that I needed to do the right thing and paint the dash. My heart was in the right place but I forgot "my brand" as John Roderick likes to say. My "brand" is utility and thoughtful attention to detail. A dash should not distract or call attention to itself - it should disappear. It is on a need to know basis. When I think of efficient dash layouts I'm reminded of the planes my father jumped out of - that's the first place I saw black wrinkle finish.
I had a can of that. It's sort of fun to use because all the rules are out the window. None of this light dusting coat and then a medium coat. No, on wrinkle paint you lay down as heavy a coat as will not drip and then you put that thing in the hottest spot you have. Under a heat lamp, in front of a space heater, the hot July sun. I went with space heater.
Lastly, I had been thinking about watching Heath weld and so I pulled out some scrap aluminum I was going to put into recycling and ran a few beads. For some reason it made more sense today. I had a better feeling for the puddle. And for the first time ever I was able to get a good T-joint weld. Baby steps but they're forward.
Tomorrow, fingers crossed tightly, it will run.
Gregor
Last edited:
Hostyle
Well-known member
Great to see you're ahead of schedule and making amends with the dash. Looks way better in black. Is "90% done, 90% left to do" still correct?
Looking forward to seeing your shots of the One Moto Show and what Walt is going to build in your shop. I really really dig his custom Ducs. I must head stateside one time and attend. For now I just have to wait for all the media coverage.
Looking forward to seeing your shots of the One Moto Show and what Walt is going to build in your shop. I really really dig his custom Ducs. I must head stateside one time and attend. For now I just have to wait for all the media coverage.
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Nice progress on the aluminum welds Gregor.
Also, I prefer the wrinkled black dash as I didn't care for the blue as much, but it's your bike.
Also, I prefer the wrinkled black dash as I didn't care for the blue as much, but it's your bike.
Today was one of those best of times worst of times sort of days.
First thing in the morning I get packages from Euro MotoElectric and from Woody's Wheel Works. Woody worked out how to get the rim in line, didn't have a rim in stock but found one and had it overnighted to him, built (Superlaced) and trued the wheel in 4 hours and got it shipped out that same day. Amazing.
What's more amazing is that our collective measurements and building turned out a wheel that was dead nuts accurate. It fit exactly as planned with just the hairs of the tire touching the swingarm. I was so thrilled.
We have plenty of room between the caliper and the spokes - 5-6mm at least - and the wheel is very close to being perfectly in line.
Sadly most of my day was spent like this. The pickup arrived from EME early but it didn't solve the problem of no spark. I called Matt and we worked out that the black box wasn't working. There was also a 2 volt drop between the battery and the coil.
Derek at Cheshire Motorsports had a spare black box and I picked it up, got back, tested it and got spark and then buttoned up the bike, thrilled to be finished.
After putting it all back together it wouldn't start. No spark. I took it all apart again and found the black box wasn't testing good. I also found a bare spot on one of the leads from the starter that most likely was rubbing the tank. I can't be sure that's what did it but I'm hoping that's it.
Sadly I called EME but couldn't reach them before they closed so at this point the best I can hope for is maybe getting parts on Friday. Maybe they work. Maybe. I'm bummed.
Nonetheless there's always one more project on the bike. I found a set of Fastway foot pegs that were missing the hardware on ebay. Since there was nothing else I could do anymore I decided I could relax a bit by making some parts.
I've had a set of these on almost every bike I've had. I like them. I'm also pretty familiar with them so it was easy to draw up what I needed.
The footpegs are made of stainless so I made all the hardware out of stainless.
I'm finding that I rarely scrap parts anymore. I generally nail the dimensions on the first try which is nice to notice.
I slipped off the old pegs plenty of times - I don't see that happening any more. Plus the look of them fits the brake and shift levers - sparse stainless.
So, it looks like I can't do anything tomorrow on the bike. We're hosting a dinner party on Saturday so I'll need to put some time into prepping for that so it's probably for the best.
Still, I really wanted that bike to run today. So much.
Gregor
First thing in the morning I get packages from Euro MotoElectric and from Woody's Wheel Works. Woody worked out how to get the rim in line, didn't have a rim in stock but found one and had it overnighted to him, built (Superlaced) and trued the wheel in 4 hours and got it shipped out that same day. Amazing.
What's more amazing is that our collective measurements and building turned out a wheel that was dead nuts accurate. It fit exactly as planned with just the hairs of the tire touching the swingarm. I was so thrilled.
We have plenty of room between the caliper and the spokes - 5-6mm at least - and the wheel is very close to being perfectly in line.
Sadly most of my day was spent like this. The pickup arrived from EME early but it didn't solve the problem of no spark. I called Matt and we worked out that the black box wasn't working. There was also a 2 volt drop between the battery and the coil.
Derek at Cheshire Motorsports had a spare black box and I picked it up, got back, tested it and got spark and then buttoned up the bike, thrilled to be finished.
After putting it all back together it wouldn't start. No spark. I took it all apart again and found the black box wasn't testing good. I also found a bare spot on one of the leads from the starter that most likely was rubbing the tank. I can't be sure that's what did it but I'm hoping that's it.
Sadly I called EME but couldn't reach them before they closed so at this point the best I can hope for is maybe getting parts on Friday. Maybe they work. Maybe. I'm bummed.
Nonetheless there's always one more project on the bike. I found a set of Fastway foot pegs that were missing the hardware on ebay. Since there was nothing else I could do anymore I decided I could relax a bit by making some parts.
I've had a set of these on almost every bike I've had. I like them. I'm also pretty familiar with them so it was easy to draw up what I needed.
The footpegs are made of stainless so I made all the hardware out of stainless.
I'm finding that I rarely scrap parts anymore. I generally nail the dimensions on the first try which is nice to notice.
I slipped off the old pegs plenty of times - I don't see that happening any more. Plus the look of them fits the brake and shift levers - sparse stainless.
So, it looks like I can't do anything tomorrow on the bike. We're hosting a dinner party on Saturday so I'll need to put some time into prepping for that so it's probably for the best.
Still, I really wanted that bike to run today. So much.
Gregor
Hostyle
Well-known member
"Can't do anything on the bike..." Bet that's the first time that you've typed those words. Lol.
I'm going to give them a final go over but they aren't polished to a high degree. Also...
I finally got the bike running. Or, more correctly, I gave up and took the bike to Cheshire Motorsports.
I just couldn't see it any more and I needed fresh eyes on it. And that was exactly all it took. He found a couple of bad crimps that I didn't find, got it timed and balanced and it was ready to go.
Meanwhile I was hanging out in the shop with Walt swapping forks. After that I think we did about 10 trips around town. Ikea to buy chairs for the too many people I invited for dinner, pick up my good friend Tom from the airport, pick the the bike up from Cheshire.
Tom and I put the bike together for the last time before the show. We looked over it for details we could iron out. We countersunk the headlight shield bolts to get them below the surface. Added some fresh gas and called it a night.
This has been a hellacious few weeks trying to get this bike dialed in and ready for the show. Tomorrow I'm hoping to take it out and get it a bit dirty after taking some final shots and then we'll head down to the show for load in.
Then beers. Probably more than one.
Gregor
douglawrence42
Active member
Congrats on the build! And thanks for taking the time during the high stress build to let us follow along.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
zmotorsports
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Glad you got the bike ironed out Gregor. Good luck at the show and hope you get time to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor over the past few weeks.
Finallygotit
ALLIANCE MEMBER
YES!!
Now go enjoy it with a few adult beverages.
(Ooops, have the adult beverages after you enjoy it.)
Now go enjoy it with a few adult beverages.
(Ooops, have the adult beverages after you enjoy it.)
newcastle3
New member
You have great attention to detail, I wish I had the patience and time to do this many projects that turn out so nice.
slik560
Well-known member
No substitute for experience....or talent....or sheer perseverence....
YoungMedic
Well-known member
rk_tek
Well-known member
Saw the video on IG of the bike at the show. I love that it is being displayed as it will be ridden, not a polished jewel to be admired(which it is) but a tool to be used.
mr_magicfingers
Well-known member
Saw the photos of the bike at the show, I love that you left it muddy, not perfectly polished, it's rare to see show bikes that look like they're actually used for their intended purpose
shirk
Well-known member
Gregor you're going to need to you dive right back into another project. Us addicts need our daily updates we've come to expect.
Awesome work on the bike.
Awesome work on the bike.
Phew, what a weekend. Sorry to not post up but from Thurs night until Sun night it was just a constant flow.
Friday morning we loaded the bike into the van. The web magazine ADVRoad had done an interview with me and wanted to publish it before the 1 Show as a tie in but they had been watching my Instagram and the unfolding of the build and emailed me to say they could wait until after the weekend if that would help me. Very nice. Check the link there - it's live now.
Still, since the bike was "done" I wanted to shoot some nice photos. One of the difficulties of shooting a bike is to find a location that works. It was snowing in the mountains, the bike is a dirt bike so the usual urban locations wouldn't work. I decided a quarry would be a good option and spent my morning calling all of them. Eventually I found one that didn't say yes but didn't say no either so we headed there.
Like most shoots our hosts started off a bit confused as to why we'd want to photograph a motorcycle and why in a dirt pit. Once we got started and they saw the bike and decided we were alright people we had the run of the place.
The quarry worked out great because it's a background of varied shapes and one color in multiple shades so the bike, through low depth of field, jumps off the image. These are shots where I'm "working" with the intent to build the image of the bike. These are the final shots that will get picked up by blogs and websites so I want the images to be consistent, a little aggressive and slick in a way you don't notice. I'm also using a 70-200 zoom at f2.8 to help make the bike pop. I'm using all my psychology on you here. Well, not you, I'm explaining it to you.
The other aspect of a quarry is that it's a pretty good place to rip a bike.
My friend Scott rode the bike and he's a talented flat track racer so I knew he'd be able to give me some good shots.
We weren't gentle on the bike.
So the good news is that it's almost like I knew what I was doing because the bike worked perfectly. It's completely transformed from it's previous state, it's quicker, more nimble and handles much better. It no longer feels like a clunky, 30 year old vintage motorcycle on knobbies - it feels like a big dirt bike. That's a pretty miraculous transformation. I credit that to the wheels first and foremost. We lost 20lbs of rotating mass and I think the accepted calculation is 1lb of rotating mass is equal to 3lbs of static weight. So it's like losing 60lbs but really it feels like 100lbs. The geometry changes also make the bike feel lighter. It's pretty different.
Walt called us as we were wrapping up our shoot to invite us to lunch and while we were really pushing it to get to the show on time we weren't going to miss lunch. We joined Walt and his friend Chris who is the design director for Singer - the Porsche company. It was, as you might imagine, a pretty amazing lunch with two luminaries of their respective worlds. Cool stories for sure.
We finally get to the show and I found a space upstairs in my favorite room. The bike immediately got a lot of attention and it was encouraging to have so many people remark how much they liked it.
We hosted a really amazing little dinner party Saturday night with friends and some other builders and Sunday we unloaded the bike and Walt came over to the house to hang out until our respective flights Sunday night. I am quite wiped out but extremely happy - it was an amazing weekend.
Interestingly only a few people I met had ever read this thread but many people had seen the bike on Instagram. One of the builders that came to dinner Saturday was Michael LaFountain of Raccia Motorcycles and he also encouraged me to do a YouTube so you can count on that. I've been on the fence about what bike to start with but I think that if I'm going to build a bike over the next year it should have a good story arc. I will use my fathers bike - he'd like that.
So it was quite the weekend. The last few weeks of working on the bike were the absolute best. I want to do that all the time - this year is all about seeing if I can make that happen.
Gregor
Friday morning we loaded the bike into the van. The web magazine ADVRoad had done an interview with me and wanted to publish it before the 1 Show as a tie in but they had been watching my Instagram and the unfolding of the build and emailed me to say they could wait until after the weekend if that would help me. Very nice. Check the link there - it's live now.
Still, since the bike was "done" I wanted to shoot some nice photos. One of the difficulties of shooting a bike is to find a location that works. It was snowing in the mountains, the bike is a dirt bike so the usual urban locations wouldn't work. I decided a quarry would be a good option and spent my morning calling all of them. Eventually I found one that didn't say yes but didn't say no either so we headed there.
Like most shoots our hosts started off a bit confused as to why we'd want to photograph a motorcycle and why in a dirt pit. Once we got started and they saw the bike and decided we were alright people we had the run of the place.
The quarry worked out great because it's a background of varied shapes and one color in multiple shades so the bike, through low depth of field, jumps off the image. These are shots where I'm "working" with the intent to build the image of the bike. These are the final shots that will get picked up by blogs and websites so I want the images to be consistent, a little aggressive and slick in a way you don't notice. I'm also using a 70-200 zoom at f2.8 to help make the bike pop. I'm using all my psychology on you here. Well, not you, I'm explaining it to you.
The other aspect of a quarry is that it's a pretty good place to rip a bike.
My friend Scott rode the bike and he's a talented flat track racer so I knew he'd be able to give me some good shots.
We weren't gentle on the bike.
So the good news is that it's almost like I knew what I was doing because the bike worked perfectly. It's completely transformed from it's previous state, it's quicker, more nimble and handles much better. It no longer feels like a clunky, 30 year old vintage motorcycle on knobbies - it feels like a big dirt bike. That's a pretty miraculous transformation. I credit that to the wheels first and foremost. We lost 20lbs of rotating mass and I think the accepted calculation is 1lb of rotating mass is equal to 3lbs of static weight. So it's like losing 60lbs but really it feels like 100lbs. The geometry changes also make the bike feel lighter. It's pretty different.
Walt called us as we were wrapping up our shoot to invite us to lunch and while we were really pushing it to get to the show on time we weren't going to miss lunch. We joined Walt and his friend Chris who is the design director for Singer - the Porsche company. It was, as you might imagine, a pretty amazing lunch with two luminaries of their respective worlds. Cool stories for sure.
We finally get to the show and I found a space upstairs in my favorite room. The bike immediately got a lot of attention and it was encouraging to have so many people remark how much they liked it.
We hosted a really amazing little dinner party Saturday night with friends and some other builders and Sunday we unloaded the bike and Walt came over to the house to hang out until our respective flights Sunday night. I am quite wiped out but extremely happy - it was an amazing weekend.
Interestingly only a few people I met had ever read this thread but many people had seen the bike on Instagram. One of the builders that came to dinner Saturday was Michael LaFountain of Raccia Motorcycles and he also encouraged me to do a YouTube so you can count on that. I've been on the fence about what bike to start with but I think that if I'm going to build a bike over the next year it should have a good story arc. I will use my fathers bike - he'd like that.
So it was quite the weekend. The last few weeks of working on the bike were the absolute best. I want to do that all the time - this year is all about seeing if I can make that happen.
Gregor
964haus
Well-known member
Nice work!
What Rev'it combo is Scott wearing? I currently have the Cayenne Pro but looking for a new one and like the nice fit look of that jacket.
Cheers,
Matthew
What Rev'it combo is Scott wearing? I currently have the Cayenne Pro but looking for a new one and like the nice fit look of that jacket.
Cheers,
Matthew
I'm not sure if that's the original Sand or the Sand 2 - it's one or the other. I like them - they ventilate really well. My favorite piece of kit is the Adventure boots that they make. Those are prototypes that I've been using for a year or so and I love them.
Gregor