Building a workbench

I finally got sick of using the shaky, flimsy, junky workbench that was in the garage when we moved in so I decided to build a new one that was more sturdy and bigger.  I took the plans from here: http://www.hammerzone.com/archives/workshop/bench/below20xl.html and tweaked them for what I wanted and added more bracing and made it out of 2x6.  Basically I made two benches.  Both 30" wide but one is 8' long and the other 5.5' long.  I'm putting the two together to form an "L" shape for a corner bench.  On the 8' section I will have a shelf under it to store items on but on the 5.5' section I braced it a little different so the front is open without a shelf.  I'll use this to store items on the floor like my floor jack or welding cart.  I'll get some pictures up once it's all complete.  Oh, and I cut up most of the old 2x4 bench and used some of the wood for bracing.

Originally I was planning on making the bench out of steel.  This would of made a heavier and sturdier bench for sure but it would of also cost 6 times what a 2x framed bench cost.  This one will be plenty strong for the work I do.

Sonny Barger's "Let's Ride"

I just finished reading this book.  It's a great book for anyone new or thinking about motorcycling and a good read for even the advanced riders.  Sonny Barger, one of the founders of the Hell's Angels M/C, writes about everything from what to look for when buying a new bike, beginner and advance riding techniques and even tips on joining a motorcycle club.  This was the first book by Barger that I've read and I'm looking forward to reading more of his books.

Cold!

Bikes all done and now it's too cold to ride.  Too cold for me anyway.

Almost done

Well, my winter project looks to be done before winter even hits.  Knock on wood.  This weekend my dad and I got the carbs back on the bike, the coolant system back together and got it running.  At first the bike did not want to start and the battery was pretty dead.  But once we got it running and got the idle speed adjusted properly it ran really well, knock on wood again.  It seems to fire up instantly now and the throttle seems much more responsive.  I need a new choke cable, mine is busted, but luckily it seems to start up without the choke now so I might just wait on that and just get one when I get the new battery.  Hopefully when Spring comes the bike fires right up and I can head out and enjoy it without having to do a single thing to it.  Fingers crossed.  I'm hoping to get it out a few more times this year.  I for sure want the carbs synced but I have to find either someone I trust to do it or someone with a carb sync tool that trust me to use it.  It was a learning experience for sure and not only did I learn how to almost tear this bike down to the frame but I also learned I need to look harder when buying a used bike. LOL  Although i still would of taken this bike because I love it.  Hopefully no more surprises.

Honda East in Toledo Ohio

I have to give credit to Honda East in Toledo Ohio.  I've bought a few parts from them over the years and they are always very helpful and easy to deal with and just generally on top of things.  I live around Detroit, MI and refuse to do business with any of our local dealers any more.  Our local dealers are rude, pushy, and never helpful.  And if you have to order a part or drop something off for service, like wheels or tires, good luck getting a call to tell you they are in or done.  Honda East always called me when the part got in and I'd go get it and was always met with great service.  I just ordered some carb parts off of their site.  It was the first time I've ordered from them online.  I got an email every step of the way and it was fast!  Got an email to confirm the order, got another one to say the ordered had been processed, another one to say the shipping label was printed and the last one saying the package shipped.  I did not need to call them every day to find out what was going on, it was nice.

Check them out if you need ANYTHING and that includes new and used bikes.  I've never bought a bike from them but I know a lot that have and keep going back.

http://www.hondaeasttoledo.com/

p.s. Their prices are the lowest I could find as well so that is a huge plus!

Publish Post

Front End

Got the front end of the bike back to stock height.  No more flat footing at stops but I think it'll handle better and the front and rear are what they should be now.  We'll see how it goes.  It might get lowered again. LOL

Front Axle Tool

Here is the little 19mm tool I made.  The head of the bolt goes into the axel and the two axel and a 19mm socked goes on the bolts.  Or visa versa.

I did not want to spend the time or money hunting down a 19mm hex socket or an actual axle tool so I threw this together from what i had in the garage, complete with paint to match my frame. :p

Painted the frame

Since I had the bike pretty much torn apart I decided to paint the frame.  I chose to go with Dupli-Color "Graphite".  it was close to the stock frame color but a little more silver/grey.  I'm really happy with the way it came out.  I also got a set of stock dog bones from a guy on the FZ1 forum and raised the bike back up to stock height in the rear.  This weekend I'm going to try and get the front raised back up to stock as well.

Here are pics of the frame paint:

Bike is done for the season...

I've been having a gas leak problem on the bike so I finally decided to put the bike away for winter already and start pulling it apart.  Got the carb bank off and found that ALL 4 carbs had cracked float bowls to to over tightening of the drain bolt.  The #3 bolt was in so tight I can't get it out and the #4 bowl had silicone in it to try and seal the cracks.  WTF?!  Of course the bowls are like the only part on the bike that you can no longer buy so it looks like this winter I'll be trying to find either new bowls or new carbs.

FZ1 "Project"

Not really a project but here is a list of things I've done to the FZ1 so far and some plans to come:

• Wired the rear brake light to act as tail, brake, and turn signals
• Got a set of bar end mirrors
• Added a Fiamm Highwayblaster horn
• Fixed the throttle from sticking

Things on the way

• Have a new clutch lever and perch coming, the stock one was loose
• Have a set of Driven grips on the way
• Have a set of LED front turn signals coming

This winter

• I plan to rip out the emissions junk and while I have the radiator off I'll change the plugs
• I might do a new handlebar or repaint the current one, if so I'll do it before I do the grips
• New brake lever

And I think that is it.  I want to do as little as possible on the bike because I want this to start a street fighter / naked bike and don't want a lot of junk on it and I don't want to get into modding it and dumping a bunch of cash into it.  Then hopefully come Spring ride it more. LOL 

Carbon Fiber Is For Strength And Weight Reducion

A little ranting...

I sort of thought that the carbon fiber fad was dying, until I was reading a motorcycle forum today.  One guy is using stick on vinyl carbon fiber looking decals over a bunch of parts and another guy is applying real carbon fiber over his fuel tank and other various parts.  I could see if you were actually replacing your stock parts with pure carbon fiber parts and was doing it for weight reduction.  But these posers that use it just for looks drive me nuts.  Ok, sure, it used to be cool to see carbon fiber parts years ago because they where expensive and rare.  Then you had every kid in a Dodge Neon and Honda Civic getting junky carbon fiber hoods off eBay for $300 shipped and the rest of them buying rolls of carbon fiber decals.  And I'm willing to bet less than 1% of those ever TRULY got the hoods for weight reduction.  Now it's not even "cool" to see a REAL carbon fiber parts on a car or bike so why are people still doing the fake thing?
 

The guy was not a flake!

Hahaha!  The guy I traded bikes with ended up riding his FZ1 an hour down to me last night.  Very nice guy and I love the new FZ1 so far.  I won't be able to really take it out until this weekend after it's registered though. :(  I've never really been attached to a bike but I will admit it was sort of sad seeing the Vulcan driving off.  I always knew it was loud but never really how loud until we listened to the new owner riding off for blocks. LOL  Well, here is the new bike, 2001 Yamaha FZ1.

Possibly a new bike coming...

After putting in all of the work into my Vulcan and getting it to where I wanted it, it makes sense to get rid of it and get something else right?  Seems to be my pattern anyway.  I think I've liked working on bikes more than riding them but now I'm getting to the point where I just want to ride and not have something that I feel the need to modify year round.  My goal was to sell my bike and use the money to build an early 70's Honda chopper for a winter project.  But a guy emailed me this week that got me thinking in a totally new direction.  He offered to trade me for his 2001 Yamaha FZ1.  I almost said "no thanks" but after thinking about it and reading up on the FZ1 I think it'd be a perfect bike for me.  He's done some modding to it already and I don't see myself doing much more to it.  It'll be a bike I can walk past in the garage and say, "I'm going for a ride!", instead of  "What can I do to the bike next?"  I love projects but sometimes the bikes end up being in constant project mode.  So,  I'm really hoping this guy does not flake out on me and hopefully the exchange happens this weekend.  I've never been on a FZ1 but I can't find a single bad review on it so I'm excited to get on it.  If I hate it I'll sell it come Spring and be back to square one.

But what to do this winter when I'm stuck in the house?  I think I'm going to try my hand at building custom handlebars.  I was going to build a set of ape hangers for the Kawasaki this winter but instead I might just start tinkering with building some generic bars and see how they turn out.  Who knows, maybe I can end up selling them and having a little side business.

To be continued....

Michigan riding roads

Man it sucks to hear people coming back from vacation in the southern states bragging about how great the roads are for riding on and how scenic the rides where.  We have VERY few of those roads in S.E. Michigan and the ones we do have end up being packed with cars, motorcycles and bicycles on any given nice day.

Police and Fireman

I'm sooooooo sick of hearing cops and fireman piss and moan about taking pay cuts and layoffs lately.  If you would not of milked the cities dry for years, with your pensions and b.s. over time, you'd not be in this situation.  It's funny to see all of these cops out writing tickets and actually getting out and doing work to try and justify their jobs.

Weather finally breaking!

Finally it looks like the rain is going away and the nice weather is finally starting to get here!  I can start riding in my shorts and flip flops again! 
Kidding!

I need a helmet or jacket to match my bike...

These people crack me up when they are more interested in finding a helmet or jacket to match the color of their bike over a helmet or jacket that offers any function.  I had a yellow and black helmet for years and never had a yellow and black bike.  But here is a little tip...If you REALLY want to have gear that matches the bike you ride.....Buy a Harley!  You'll be in heaven!  You'll be able to get "riding" gear everywhere from the Harley dealer to K-Mart!  You'll be able to suit up so that EVERYTHING matches from your sucks to your helmet.

Finished!

Here are the pics from tonight that I promised.

Been a while

It's been a while since I've had the time to update this blog.  Since my last update I've done a few things to the bike. 

• Got a set of Avon Venoms in wide white wall from and installed by DTP Muscle in Northville, MI.
• Installed a Tour Master tool bag I got from a guy selling it on one of the forums.  I've actually had this bag for a long time now and just could not make up my mind on where I wanted it mounted.  I ended up mounting it right above my headlight, which I think was the best choice.
• Removed the 4" baffles.  The bike was blowing some black smoke (running rich) so I figured it had to be from the baffles.  I removed them and instantly the smoke went away.  So the bike is running on straight pipes only.  It's loud but sounds sweet.  Hopefully I can get by without a ticket.
• The bike was running like junk so I drained the tank and put in fresh gas.  Seems to run fine now.  Why I don;t drain the tank and carb every winter I have no idea.  It's so easy to do on my bike but yet I don't.  I've tried Stabil and Sea Foam but still have troubles come Spring, although Sea Foam does seem to work the best. 

I've also learned a very important lesson.  When using Dyna Beads to balance the tires...they are NOT all equal.  I picked up some Dyna Beads from the local Jeep store and found out the hard way that the Dyna Beads for cars are HUGE compared to the ones for bikes.  I somehow managed to get 2 ounces in the front tire though but had the rear balanced old school.

I should have pictures to upload tonight of the bike, as it now sits, ready to ride.

Finished....for now

Here is the bike all done now.  New Harley headlight and rear Blue Collar Bobber rear fender.  If I still have this bike next winter I'll probably lower it.