what did you wrench on today??

[Buffalo Bill]

Olde school kayak project finished

Olde school kayak project finished

No wrench or steel used for this project, except a heavy duty needle to sew the seams.
14 ft Greenland style kayak. this is my third version trying to get it right for the choppy wave conditions on Lake Michigan.

 

[storm 64]

Oh, that thing will never float... Just kidding, very nice!

 

[dorkburger]

That is so cool. Very impressive.

 

[trevor]

Hey, that's not a Suzuki...it's not even a motorcycle... It's nice though.

 

[Charlie G]

Very nice!

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Thanks y'all.
Working with wood is a nice getaway from the frustration of engine tuning.

 

[sharpy]

Didnt wrench, played on computer and drew this of a starter clutch gear......

 

[wymple]

Moved the floorboards on my Moto Guzzi out and forward some for better fitment. I also made some new rubber pads for the passenger floorboards on my GS850.

 

[Carter Turk]

Didnt wrench, played on computer and drew this of a starter clutch gear......

Can you design me a new one with better steel?

I have an friend who designed a new transmission for the Indian Chief,
"Chief Overdrive", I think it was a 4 speed vs. 3. I want to contact him to make a better, longer lasting starter clutch. Probably be expensive to do just one.

 

[Grimly]

Bike related, in that I was starting to weld together the bike dollies for shifting bikes across and around end-to-end on the floor.
Unfortunately, my ebay cheapy auto-dark welding helmet died today. It lasted ok, about ten years, but much of that time it wasn't used, so I could have had much more use out of it in terms of inches welded over the years.
I think I'll go up a step in value this time and get something with replaceable batteries and a brand name.
I'll keep the old shell and get a cheap insert for it, as a spare, as it's still in very good condition overall, and fitted me quite nicely. It might still revover if left out in the sun for couple of day, but I'd not trust it now.
Was quite unpleasant, getting a blast of intense green arc. Just glad the native darkness of the LCD kept out a lot of it.

 

[sharpy]

Can you design me a new one with better steel?

Wow. hoping you heard that rattle. hehe. Wasnt the bolts (that are mangled) coming loose letting the gear run astray in its hosing that make it shatter? Either way thats a fair bit of damage.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Bike related, Unfortunately, my ebay cheapy auto-dark welding helmet died today. It lasted ok, about ten years, but much of that time it wasn't used, so I could have had much more use out of it in terms of inches welded over the years.
I think I'll go up a step in value this time and get something with replaceable batteries and a brand name.
I'll keep the old shell and get a cheap insert for it, as a spare, as it's still in very good condition overall, and fitted me quite nicely. It might still revover if left out in the sun for couple of day, but I'd not trust it now.
Was quite unpleasant, getting a blast of intense green arc. Just glad the native darkness of the LCD kept out a lot of it.

Having the just right level of shade is so critical for arc welding. My auto dark is also cheap, seems like they're all made in the same factory, where they slap on your preferred brand sticker.
I was thinking of just going old school with a single level lens shade.

 

[wymple]

Pulled the caps off the tops of my forks on the GS850, and pushed back together with 1 3/4 inch slugs installed. Just enough that I can quit screwing around with the air assist junk.

 

[Carter Turk]

Wow. hoping you heard that rattle. hehe. Wasnt the bolts (that are mangled) coming loose letting the gear run astray in its hosing that make it shatter? Either way thats a fair bit of damage.

It was fussy starting one morning, actually at a 2 day track session. The first day it snatched loudly in the morning, then fired every session after that. The next morning it snatched, then came to a halt. It refused to start after that, so had a track neighbor who was more than willing to help keep the oldest bike on the track running by bump starting in full leathers. The first session, I heard a gulping sound braking hard into the 13th corner of a 16 corner track. I pulled into pits thinking "no" my day is over, then decided to do one more lap. I heard sounds on deceleration, but performance seemed normal. This was all after getting a new left end on the crank (Pearson Racing) new starter clutch, used rotor, new pistons, and a rebore.

When I pulled the stator cover a few days later, most everything was resting right where it shattered. I found every piece.

 

[storm 64]

After finding the stripped out shock mount studs on the 1000, I had to make some custom nuts. The left side I was able to just run a 10mm x1.25 die over the threads. The right side I had to go down a size to 3/8-24 I stamped the nuts with a R and L so they don't get mixed up. I made the nuts a little longer for the bungee cord hooks.

 

[Charlie G]

Very nice work! I always wanted a set of those but never found them for sale. Nice to be able to fab something up for your bike.

 

[steve murdoch]

Nice bit of fab work, Storm.
Functional and they look great too.

 

[wyly]

After repeated frustrating attempts to reinstall my carb diaphragms over the past week the best I could do when testing them was, one at 100%, a 2nd at maybe 75% another at 50% and a forth 0%. Even when installed correctly they'd leak, maybe that's as good to be expected with 32 year old diaphragms. The forth just wouldn't seat or seal. I checked them all for tears and holes all were good so that wasn't the problem. I could've ordered replacements but instead I used a tiny amount of non hardening Permatex gasket maker in the bottom of the ring where the gasket seats. Success! all passed the test 100%! The diaphrams may not withstand another cleaning/removal cycle without tearing but they'll work. Next cleaning I'll order a new set.

 

[dorkburger]

All my wrenching starts with...... fundraising...
Made a trip to the scrap yard yesterday. Should now have enough to cover my needed for work. Sweeet.

 

[Grimly]

DIY Bike Dolly.

Or, how to turn some scrap into useful stuff.

I wanted one of these... but the price of the heavy-duty ones was too much for my tastes (being a notorious cheapskate, an' all).

So, starting with this...

I ended up with this...

It's just rough and ready, and provides a good starting point to modify subsequent ones from. I'll make another two or three, so that every bike here can sit on one full time.
Cost about 20 quid so far.