The Almost 10 by Almost 15

[Strouty]

Do you have the other end of that connector? It is a fairly common plug known as an “Anderson” plug, they have lots of sizes, based on amps, so there should be something on the plug, I am guessing that is a 50 amp or less.

 

[Squashfest81]

I’ll check the cord for identification. The cord stayed with my father as he has a second generator that he will modify the cord to work with. I’ll need to make a cord for this guy. Luckily, the previous owners of the house had an electrician wire up the connections for a planned generator that never happened, so I’ve got everything I need to just plug in once she’s running and a cord is made.

 

[Strouty]

Merry Christmas!

 

[Bob Heine]

Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Squash!

 

[Squashfest81]

And a Happy New Year to you gentlemen! I hadn’t noticed any bumps on my thread, but I’ve been lurking. Boiler, that latest barn idea is a fine one. Bob, corner shelf looks all triangly. Strout, don’t buy that truck! Or buy it, what do I know.
We’ve got some biggish house plans coming up this year. Now that the holidays are over I need to get the generator cleaned up and running. I will also be gutting the downstairs full bath once the wife decides on the materials and fixtures. This spring I will be re-decking the deck. It spans the entire house, so I’m not excited to price out decking!
Wishing all the best for 2019!

 

[Squashfest81]

Too excited to not share. I’m always on the hunt for the next bike deal. Lowballed on a fat bike and tossed it in the minivan today. Pics tomorrow. She needs brake levers and some reassembly. Can’t wait to get her going on the snowy bike path and sandy beaches!

 

[Strouty]

I do like the way those look, can’t wait to see the pics!

 

[Squashfest81]

Here she is in the sunshine. Corsa Mammoth. She came with all parts except the brake levers as the previous owner used them on another project. Now to decide what to do? Think I’ll go hydraulic brakes on my Gary MTB and toss those on the fat bike. Once that is done I can get her out on the trails and beach. Thinking this may become my main ride.
And no, I have no room for this bike either.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Jump online and just pick up a set of clearance levers and new cables.

 

[Squashfest81]

Thought I’d get further on the generator tear down this weekend, but... Had to make a trip out for longer metric bolts to use the puller, but she’s off. Now I can at least see the starter bolts. Hopefully that starter is her only issue.

 

[Strouty]

I thought you said it would start when it was jumped? If so, I wouldn’t think it was a starter issue at all. It sounded like it just needed a battery.

 

[captain14]

[\QUOTE] And no, I have no room for this bike either.[/QUOTE]

Nice bike. Hope you got a deal. But now you may need to plan for an ANNEX for the bike storage. You know easy to get to without moving all the other stuff out of the way to take a quick cruise.

 

[Squashfest81]

Strout, my father had investigated the starter years ago, but went no further. I’ve verified the starter is bad. The flywheel needs to come off to access the starter bolts, which are also the motor mount. The motor mount must come out with the starter as it wraps around the starter. Now I need to pull some shield buried behind the panel as the upper motor mount is behind it and o can’t sneak it by.
This is a case of I really should have listened to the internets and just started stripping that whole side. Radiator, panel, everything, cause now I’m doing it anyway. And it’s cold out there.

 

[Squashfest81]

Captain, grabbed the bike from a guy who wanted it out of his basement. Thinking she may need some real braking power to slow that rolling mass so I ordered up a hydraulic brake kit for $50. I won’t be into this thing for $175.
I’ve got 8ft of hanging bike storage in the garden shed with like 8 or 10 bikes hung, mostly kiddo bikes and a few long term storage bikes.
The shop shed got a few more hooks, so at least I can get them off the floor. The fat bike I moved to the basement so I can get her back together in comfort. She’s a concern for storage. Not as long as the tandem, but big.
My dream bike storage is an 8ft lean to off the shed about 3ft deep with bikes hung like clothes in a closet. Open the doors, choose the bike of the day, and go.

 

[captain14]

I believe I saw a photo of something like that here or some place else. Multi fold doors or separate 36” doors would provide access to the entire “bike closet”

I hate that exploratory surgery trying to get access to a malfunctioning part. And the trying to remember the sequence to return all the parts to the correct location without “extra or leftover” parts. Good luck on the generator.

 

[Grumblebum]

Cool looking bike. I'm still nowhere trying to store bikes. I like the closet idea though.

Hopefully you get the genny sorted, a nice honda like that should last you plenty of years.

Cheers GB

 

[Squashfest81]

Too cold to mess with the genny, but I tossed the bike in the basement to tinker.
The Park Tools crank remover showed up this week. That’s a fine tool for 14 bucks. Pulled those crazy tight cranks right off. Now I need to get that Trek chainring over a little so it sits where the stock ugly crank did. I think I’ve got a plan.

 

[Squashfest81]

The boy turns 6 at the end of the month. He’s on a Nerf kick and I’ve been thinking scopes and lights. As luck would have it I found this at a second hand store this morning. Grabbed some longer little screws from the hardware store before heading home as I knew I’d need them. A little test fit and dove in with the grinder. The plan:

 

[Squashfest81]

Ground the stock mounts to catch on the Nerf rails.
Daisy 4x15 scope ready for battle.
First person shooter game style photo!

 

[hangfirew8]

Cool, but isn't that on backwards?

-HF

 

[Squashfest81]

Hangfire, I left the little caps on in the photo. Are those what’s throwing you? Or maybe I’m just backwards. You look through the little end, right?
Thought my first player photo was cool, but now that you pointed out the flaw... Damn internet.

 

[Squashfest81]

And I don’t shoot lefty. Ahhhhhh!

 

[hangfirew8]

On low power scopes, the Ocular (eyeball end) is usually larger. On higher power scopes the Objective (see out end) is usually larger.

Daisy scopes are generally low power. Most of us are used to seeing the higher power "sniper" style scopes. So the confusion is understandable.

 

[Squashfest81]

Yeah, must be I’m just so used to my super expensive high powered sniper scopes.
I’ve got to switch that thing around before my boy makes a fool out of himself on the internets in front of millions when he shows off what his dad made him on his Garagejournal thread.
That’s good stuff. Laughing over here. Thanks Hangfire.

 

[hangfirew8]

Just lookin' out for your kid. You're on your own!

 

[Squashfest81]

Good to know you’ve got my back Hangfire.
Found this guy online who added a small chainring to his fat bike for the low gear by just bolting it to his chainring and manually moving the chain when he wanted to be in super low. I kind of like this low tech approach.
Here’s the middle ring of the Trek chainring being cut to be used as a spacer and a mount to retain the small ring.

 

[Squashfest81]

Back on the bike. What we did here. Used the Trek cranks and chainrings to replace the crappy fat bike one with the same 42 teeth. The main ring was flipped to get it in line better, middle ring cut, and low gear mounted.
I need to modify some hardware, but I’m liking the setup. Looks way better that the giant cast **** of the fat bike.
Thoughts? Oh, hydraulic brakes show up Wednesday.

 

[Strouty]

Looks pretty good to me, is there room to use button head hex screws? They would be flatter, but bigger head diameter.

 

[Squashfest81]

Thanks Strout. Grabbed some more stainless from tractor supply. 4 bolts with nuts yesterday for 11 bucks. Another 6 today. Just used standard bolts and ground to fit.
The hydraulic brake stuff showed up today so I spent some time on that after the kiddos went to bed. Got the front brake on, but there is something up with the bracket. Either I grind it to fit the caliper or add a spacer to the mount. Not sure yet what I’ll do. Here’s a pic to show where we are heading.

 

[Squashfest81]

I figured out that the front caliper mount fit the caliper better upside down. Or maybe it was right before as I don’t think the mechanical caliper cared. The hydraulic needed it flipped. It’s still not right as I had to space it out with washers as it bottomed out. Got to look into that.
Saw this setup online. No fancy bike stand, grab a couple ratchet straps and hang her up. Perfect. Shifting is not quite right, but we are getting somewhere.
So pleased with the low gear mod. That will get a ton of use.

 

[Squashfest81]

Got that buried starter out this morning. Going to have a buddy confirm the starter is bad before I order one. That should happen Monday. Might have the genny cranking next weekend.
To celebrate that success I attempted to adjust the fat bike. The rear axle was cocked a little and was throwing my adjustments. Fixed that in 5 seconds and she was shifting smoothly. Test ride in the drizzle and she’s good to go. Now I need a free minute to get her out on the sand as I’ve got no snow.

 

[Squashfest81]

Been fighting the front brake on the fat bike. You’ve all been following closely so I don’t need to remind everyone that I had to flip the caliper mount to work with the hydraulics. The caliper still snugged right up against the mount so I decided to do some grinding on the mount to make sure that it wasn’t forcing things out of place. I also switched a disk off another bike to rule out a bent disk. With all this it was dragging like a *******. Figured out it was grabbing the tips of the funky shaped disk. Tossed a washer spacer in on the caliper and we clear.
Snugged things down and took her out on the path.
Someone chime in with hydraulic brake experience. Still need adjustments.

 

[Strouty]

That is a really cheesy kickstand.

I have never done any retrofits, but the theory is simple, if the rotor can't move or fall off and the caliper clamps down without falling off or rubbing, I think you have it.

 

[Squashfest81]

No love for the stick kickstand? Like a true bike snob, every ounce counts.
I’ve still got a little rub on the front. All the adjustment videos show simply get the caliper loose and centered by squeezing the brake. Then tighten up. One problem is I’m questioning the front hydraulic brake, like not as much pressure as the rear...? Maybe air in the system. That could mean I’m not centered by pressure. Videos show visually adjusting the caliper, but with the fat bike tires you can’t get a visual through the caliper.
So, I’ve got an email to the hydraulic brake people to see what I should do next. They are a sealed system and I don’t want to dive in without the go ahead.
The rear brakes adjusted perfectly and brake pressure is immediate.

 

[Strouty]

The new eco friendly way to support your bike, the “Stick-Stand”, patent pending.

 

[Squashfest81]

Strout, just PayPal $6.95 shipping and handling and the “Stick-Stand” can be yours.

 

[Squashfest81]

Tossing in a pic as I haven’t posted in a while. Stole the brake levers off a parts bike to fix the bent ones on this 24in roadside find Mongoose. Now it’s ready for the kiddos and their friends to beat on the bike path. I particularly like the alloy wheels.

 

[Squashfest81]

Generator update. Brought the Honda starter to a knowledgeable friend to bench test. Definitely something wrong so he opened her up. Figured out a stuck brush in seconds. Little disassembly and sanding and she was spinning. Haven’t thrown her back on the motor, but I’m feeling optimistic.
Fatbike update. Front brake drags at a few points. I’m going to order a new disk and see. She’s ridable, so I did take her out for my first real snow ride. It’s surprising how well those big tires manage the snow. More stable than I expected.

 

[Strouty]

Great news on the starter, fingers crossed that was the only issue. I am really interested in a fat bike, maybe next year. The mongoose looks nice, never would have guessed that they had alloy wheels. Spring has almost sprung, can't wait, hope all is well with you.