BITCHES!

PURRS LIKE A FUCKING KITTEN.

More motorbike.

So the starter turns, that's a good sign. Problem is the main fuse gets really hot. I couldn't find any wires that were improperly grounded, but I found a number of wires that were... Weird? The previous owner did something goofy with the wiring; he soldered some together and wonky things like that. Anyway, the high beams don't work, the turn signals don't flash and the brake light doesn't work. The horn doesn't work, but that's because there isn't one ha. I'm sure it all just comes down to dirty and corroded connections in the wiring which won't be too much of a fuss really. I did lose a blade terminal for one of the plugs because the wiring had a hole in the insulation and the wire was rotted/corroded inside; I cut it and took out the terminal for the plug and dropped it (damn). That might be the only issue to be honest because it was a main wire. I'll be picking up some new wiring things at Transistor Hut today.

I have to figure out the clutch adjustment because right now the kick start and the starter motor do not engage the engine with the clutch in. And the electric start doesn't turn unless the clutch is in. Oh my.

Motorcycle is nearly resurrected

My motorcycle is nearly resurrected. Today I got the engine back into the frame. Tomorrow I'll be bolting it in; at the moment it's only in position which was my goal today.

I have this idea that most humans are probably stronger than they think. My engine probably weighs 3x of what I do. I carried up a set of stairs. I think this goes to show that, regardless of the fact that other apes are much stronger for their body sizes, humans are still pretty fucking strong. We live in such a cushy world with technologies that make things easier and less painful we don't realize it. And come to think of it the motorcycle itself is a good example of that. Transportation. We could all easily make our way on foot across continents, we did it before. Now we've just gotten lazy.

That's silly. I'm not right in the head for now.

PS: I just read the average pair of shoes lasts from 300-600 miles? That's a huge range really... But anyway. It'd take more than one pair of shoes to walk across the states.

Today is career day.

Yet another.

I've decided on what I'm going to do with this blog, I think. I'll continue regularly putting up the collages and if I start seeing a show of interest in them I may eventually set up a proper domain separately for them. Personal thoughts, journals and various blurbs will be regular on here as well.

When things eat at you, eat away.

Eventually there will be a schedule to this, but for now I want to get input and interest people so here's another for your viewing. Again, let me know what you think on here or by other means and if you like the page and such tell a friend.

In The Heat of the Day

This is experimental 'comic' number one. Comments will be appreciated, criticism and input will be read and considered.

Purpose

I'm still unsure what the purpose of this blog is. I'm considering my options of leaving it as a personal blog/journal thing, but at the same time I would like Mystery Spoon to become something else, something more amusing. I've had an excellent idea (at least I think, and Froglady thinks) for a blog/comic/thing and I'm tempted to give it a go. It's been a while since I've tackled a large project other than my motorcycle, and never since I've tackled an art/expressive/graphic communications thing aimed at the general public. Perhaps it will be a combination of both? We'll see what happens by the end of the week, perhaps Mr. E. Spoon will have a stroke of genius and build something excellent out of Mystery Spoon. Overtime if it is a success maybe I'll make a 'real' domain of it.

Bat Number Two

Bat number two infiltrated my room from the closet last night. It flew around for a while and finally came to rest on my window. I put a pint jar over it and put it out the window.

At least it didn't land on my head.

Motorcycle Progress

I woke up at 9:30 today and put an hour and fifteen into my bike.

I managed to get the rear tire from the 1973 CB550 onto my '77 without there being a huge gap. I used some washers and bearings; the bearings inner diameter was too small so I widened them out and managed to get them over the axle with just the right clearance. It added a total of about 1 cm to the spacer, 2 washers and 2 brass bearings. I hope this doesn't screw up the tracking too much, but from the looks of it the chain side of the wheel is exactly the same it was only the brake side that was different between the models. I'll have to draw some lines and do some measurements to be sure, but for now I'm just happy that I have wheels and brakes on it. I'll be able to get it out of the basement and back into the light of day. In regards to this, I have ordered a brake panel assembly from ebay so eventually I will have the proper hub and rim back on the bike without the need for spacers. The whole idea of that seems mildly unsafe (even though I know it's really not that dangerous) and I'd be more comfortable with the proper hub. For now, this will be good enough. I probably won't switch back to the other rim until I need new tires. The same goes for the front so I don't have to switch the tires from the '73 rims over to my '77 rims. They're just stock tires from 1973 so it's not a big deal, I don't really need them on my good rims.

The other work that was done was the front brake caliper. The original one that was on the bike I managed to crack, damn aluminum casting. I ordered a nused one on ebay but the pistons from both were rusty/pitted. That ended in me buying a new piston and seal. Anyway, I finally got the piston in the mail (it arrived while I was in London) and I put that much back together. I struggled with the brake pad however. I couldn't get it to line up properly because of the guide in the caliper. The pad is recessed into the caliper and it's round with a flat side; on the flat side there is a little round indent for a guide pin. The pin can't be removed from the caliper really and the top of it had a bit of a gouge in it. I think that was the main problem, I sanded it down a bit and used a C-clamp to properly push the pad in. Initially I managed to get it in there severely crooked. I used the piston/brake pressure to push it back out. Thankfully the piston, caliper housing and pad were not damaged. I have front brakes, huzzah! Soon enough I'll have a daily rider.

In regards to the Goldwing which I inheritted from my great uncle - It does not turn over. Something in the wiring is bad or the starter is bad. We'll see, right now this one will remain on the backburner as I want more riding experience before I put his pride and joy in the face of risks.

A Change

I've been using livejournal off and on over the years and I'm starting to use google things more and more. It's just easier to have everything in one spot, really. Calendar, email, maps, documents and collaborating with friends and coworkers through gmail is just easy and effective. Anyway, point being I may end up keeping this updated unlike livejournal. Livejournal's layout also tends to get on my nerves quite a bit for whatever reason. Sometimes things are in stupid locations and the way the site is mapped just.. Yeah, I'm not really sure if this will be any better. I don't actively blog as we've all seen so maybe this is just silly to do.

If you would like to access my old blog it is:
Http://www.livejournal.com/~conclusivefault