26 May 2014

German auto fuses, who knew?

I've always used this type of fuse in my vehicles and never realized it was racially specific


25 May 2014

Memorial Day


Named in tribute forevermore


23 May 2014

BULLITT, MONKS, DISNEY, IMM, and DUCATI

Eventful month so far.

Drove the family to Disney for a long overdue vacation. I'm glad I did because it convinced me never to take I-95 that far ever again. 1100 miles of a straight line is exhausting, if I ever visit my retired uncle in SC, I'm taking the long, windy way. Adam from IMM says if I made that trip from Britain I'd end up in Mandello del Lario - Guzzi factory. Hopefully the next time I drive a trip that long I'll be doing just that. Speaking of which...


I got presents when I arrived back to beautiful NJ. A buddy of mine, Bill, sells these towelettes and donated buckets of them - they worked fantastically removing 60 years worth of sludge from the R60's timing cover. More exciting though, issue 6 is here from England.


Well worth the wait, they just don't make quality magazines like this very often. I just found out that Adam that publishes Italian Motor Magazine is the brother of Guy that publishes Greasy Kulture, another top notch magazine from over the pond. Me and my brothers don't share any common interests, let alone do anything as remarkable and publish our own mags.

And look at this clown... The first 2 pages of a 7 page article. I'm just getting over being bashful about the whole thing


 I finally realized my head is worth more than $40 and gave up the vintage half helmet.


I fought getting a full face helmet for many years now, but I'm happy I made the switch. I wanted something with a more vintage look as modern Shoeis and the like still just look wrong to me. The Bullitt seems like a better quality helmet than the Biltwell Gringo (solely based on simply holding them in my hand and trying them on), yet retains the vintage look, and feels very comfortable while riding. I thought I'd remove the face shield and use the goggles, but my field of vision is better with the screen and I'm kinda digging it. I used to have a bell half helmet years ago and I hated it and swore off any future Bell helmets, but this one pretty damn good, at least so far.

Never seen a Paul Smart Edition Sport Classic in person till this week. $19K will buy it. Don't have the money and don't want a modern bike, but maybe I can convince a someone to buy it so I can at least test ride it.


That new BMW RNineT was just to the right of this picture again, cool bike, but when you own a REAL R90 that you built yourself, who cares?



02 May 2014

NJ MVC

Like most of America, I dread going to the MVC (DMV). It is a bureaucratic abyss of Dantean proportions, but NJ more than most...

Every time I have to title a vehicle, particularly if it's an out of state vehicle, I feel a deep dread. The kind of feeling you used to get as a kid when you break something and are anxiously awaiting your parents to make the discovery and punish you.When all goes perfectly and I'm presented a good NJ Title without a fuss, I leave feeling like I've just gotten away with something or broken out of jail. Looking at the process in a logical manner, it shouldn't be this way. You bring in legitimate, legal documents and fill out fairly straight forward forms to obtain new, legal documents expressing your ownership of a vehicle, but it doesn't work this way.

For example... With the R60, I was trying to get a NJ Title after purchasing the frame+case with a clean VT Title, notarized Bill of Sale, appropriate form, and the seller standing right next to me, at the state MVC headquarters in Trenton. After waiting a half hour on line, and then about another 3-5 at the counter waiting for the worker to come back out of the back room, she said to come back with a pencil etching of the VIN. I've never had to do this before, but it was 1600 and the DMV closes at 1730, so we drive back to the seller's shop, get an etching (actually 3), and come back. After waiting another 45 minutes, everything they asked for is presented to them. The worker responds that she can't read the numbers on the etching and to see her supervisor. Supervisor responds that she can't read the numbers and to come back with a photo. Much arguing ensued as the numbers are clear as day, but they were closing in 20 minutes and as a bureaucrat they pretty much hold you up as long as they want, and pretty much do whatever they want. So I leave in a rage saying I'd bring the engine case in so they could trace it themselves, but they refused. I pick up my frame and case, drive an hour north to get back home, and plan to go to my local MVC to repeat the process the next day. Upon arriving at my house, I ask my 3 year old if she could read me the numbers on the etching, which she does to perfection. My 3 year old has better eyesight and reading capabilities than the Trenton MVC employees.

Fast forward to this morning, go to my local DMV, bring all the same paperwork, plus a photo since I didn't want to have to make any additional trips, and try the process over. While handing over the etching, I ask the employee if she could read it which she does on the first attempt, never even mentioning that it was in any way illegible, and seemed confused that anyone could argue it was illegible. Good so far, but then came the VT title, which she wasn't familiar with. After 3 talks with her supervisor about it and 10 minutes elapsing, I see her come back to the window with a plate in her hand and a title. I exhale, relax, and then get anxious to get the hell out before someone comes and fucks up the process. It shouldn't be like this, I had all the appropriate legal documentation and shouldn't have had to stress in any way, but this seems to happen all the time. It's good DMV employees don't work in hospitals, because I swear they could witness a baby being born and invalidate the birth certificate because the doctor said birth was 0845 when the clock really said 0844...

I think the DMV employees are a sadistic bunch, and I can't blame them for it. I'd probably be the same way if I had to deal with some of the nonsense they run into. Just this morning I saw a woman ask a man 4 times if he had his fingerprints done (HAZMAT endorsement), to which he never responded a single time, someone throw all his paperwork on the floor and leave because he didn't have the required insurance and got mad, lots of people who couldn't speak English, and maybe 4 or so people who came up to the window without forms filled out even though they had a woman whose only job was to hand out those forms and remind the people on line that they must be filled out before getting to the window, at least 3 times in the half hour I was there.

I might be that way if I had to deal with all of that, but then again, I'm trying to apply logic to the DMV process...



28 April 2014

Gathering of the Nortons 2014

I spent so much time talking with people I haven't seen in awhile and checking out rare stuff, that I neglected to take any pics.

so here's some I stole from the internet

via Bill Braile. All the cool kids have black leather and sunglasses, I guess that's why BMW riders aren't cool . On arrival everyone was chipper, Chris swore he saw Wayne Carini, but it wasn't


Then there was a lot of good conversation with good friends, good bikes, good beer in New Hope, some other things, and then...

Like Philly Rockers vs Mods, Chris' magneto shaft broke on Rt. 33, so it was a roadside shaft replace and retiming. 77 Bonnies have an appetite for hardened shafts... I'm just checking plugs and showing off my ass. Dolce's Triumph won a Trophy for best Norton, and then won a trophy just resting on the side of the road

via Tommy Dolce


And then I got home and the bike died in my driveway. Thought that was weird, but it started right back up. Went to take it to work today and I couldn't get it to start. Puzzled at why my bike has been acting so un-German this month, and running late, I had to drive in in my car. Got home and did a basic mechanical check, valve lash good, carbs looking good, plugs looking good, but couldn't find the issue. Then noticed the tach bolt at the trans (where the bike grounds) was backed out and the threads in the trans case were stripped, the bike wasn't making a good ground - common Airhead issue. Relocated the ground cable to the sub-frame and voila, I'm ready to invade Russia.

Also found out today that the title work is in for the 57 R60, looks like I'll be picking up the frame and bare case on Friday

Come play at war, man, and bring your best toy


22 April 2014

American craftsmanship...

There are only two parts on the Aermacchi that are American, Harley Davidson built. The tail light, and the bracket for the tail light. These are also the only parts on the bike that aren't metric, which made me add another wrench to what I thought was a complete tool kit for the bike.

When I built the Aermacchi, I actually planned on putting on a smaller CEV tail light and making my own bracket, but having found a cheap NOS Guide one still in the box, and already having the stock bracket I figure why not retain the only American flavors of the bike and this is how H-D rewarded me.


This happened after a 6 mile ride, at the end of my block (thankfully). The tail light bracket sheared off, and the whole assembly got caught in between the wheel and the frame, seizing the bike. When this happened I initially thought I really had seized the engine, or the chain jammed up somewhere. Since everything was stuck, I literally lifted up the bike and moved it to the curb to muscle out the housing.

The real kick in the ass is this isn't the first time this bracket snapped... Back in August 2013 it happened, but just sorta hung off the fender. I welded the bracket back together (see below)



and attributed the whole thing to a possible existing crack in the bracket that I neglected during the build of the bike. Well, this time it sheared about a cm behind the weld I made. So it's just a crap part that obviously wasn't engineered for the vibrations of an Italian thumper.

Now I will be making my own bracket, and putting that CEV light on the bike. I hope the steel is Chinese and the light is made in India.


Good thing the starter for the BMW came back from rebuild is whirring like the turbine on an ME262.

16 April 2014

Germans...

They love manuals.

From my old VW, my new VWs, to my BMW Motorräder I've never seen such wonderfully technical shop manuals and detailed parts catalogs. Need the size of a locknut an obscure one year model reflector, they've got you covered.

I had to take out mein alter BMW Behelfs-Katalog from to research the front bearing bushing and bolt lengths for the unusual 3-bolt bearing carrier/oil pump housing that was used in the transition from /3s to /2s (Germans do weird things with model ranges too), and everything was there, in 4 languages, clear as day. Took all of 20 seconds.

It took me a 20 minutes looking for torque values on the Harley-Aermacchi shop manual after I stripped the threads on the head where the oil line banjo bolt goes when I was reassembling the top end only to realize that they weren't in the book. No where. I don't know if this was left out when Harley made their manuals or if it was never included in the Italian Aermacchi originals. I completely forgot about THIS too...

So kudos Germans, I'm proud to have descended from your tribes







27 March 2014

Limbo

Starter in my BMW R90/6 went... no kickstarter for 75s, and I don't feel like push starting this all the time. So now the starter is out for a rebuild - just in time for the spring weather...

BMW R60 title work has been stalled. Seems the DMW wants more money before issuing a title to the seller, waiting on that, and then hopefully I'll come into possession of the frame and case. In the meantime I've been scoring some excellent deals on ebay. /2 tank for $101,axles and top cover for $11, front bearing carrier $27, stuff like that, but still no important stuff. I think I'm going to offload some of the R69S stuff I bought at the swap meet to buy a complete R60 bottom end that I can transplant into my case, as it stands now, I can't afford what I've seen on the internets. More waiting...

The Aermacchi is running great though.

This may be the first time in history that an Italian bike persevered in reliability over a German built machine, though saying that may have jinxed things.

All I know is the Gathering of the Nortons at Washington's Crossing is coming up at the end of April and my riding buddies are going to be very disappointed if they have to slow to the pace of the Aermacchi. Besides that, NJ drivers don't take kindly to vehicles that max out at 65-70 mph, going on a 100 mile trip on that bike greatly increases my chances of getting killed enroute. We'll see what happens, but for now all I can do is wait.

18 March 2014

Italian Motor Magazine Issue #6

It's been no secret that I love this magazine and not just for what I'm about to mention.

Issue #6 is coming out in the next week or so and the Aermacchi I built is being featured. I'm totally pysched, and to be quite honest a little bashful at the same time. Check the mag out, and I've said it before, it really is the best. Great home built bikes, no pretention

ITALIAN MOTOR magazine: Issue 6 on its way - and Happy Birthday Dave!: At last, finally, amazingly, Issue 6 of ITALIAN MOTOR is off to the printers and we hope to have the magazines back in a week - watch ...

25 February 2014

'54 radiator and swap meet

Finally found a company that had a radiator for the '54... Well, they had to build one custom for it, and it wasn't cheap.

Griffin radiator on left, stock on right


Very clean, very light, and from what I can tell very good quality. That being said, for the astronomical amount that I had to pay for that radiator, they should have included fan shroud brackets on the side and top and pre-drilled the mounting holes... But they didn't, so I did

I don't have the setup for welding aluminum right now, so I bought a piece of aluminum bar stock and cut, bent, and bolted it to make the side fan shroud brackets. Then I had to bend up a piece for the top to secure the top of the fan shroud. It's not the cleanest, but it works.

Behold its glory! All the holes I drilled and flange modifications worked perfectly, the problem was with the lower hose which was in the most inconvenient position in the hood. This hose took about 45 minutes to just to hook up, and left me with cut up hands and arms. My father-in-law came over to help and was actually the one to get it secured on with a combination of channel locks and brute force. Once that was out of the way, filled up the radiator and went to start the car, and it won't crank. So that's charging now, maybe I'll get it to turn over by midnight...

Oh well, at least the swap meet on Sunday wasn't a bust

For $15,900, this Ducati racer could be yours


I passed... But bought this box of goodies for $50


Well actually $100... The '45 Harley jockey shifter was $50, everything else in the box was another $50, and the MOA anonymous books were free. I appreciate the thought behind the book gift, but they're pretty much like old phone books...

It's difficult to make out the contents of the box, but it's all internals for an R69S (crankshaft, camshaft, NOS con-rod, one of the two pistons, valves, springs, oil slingers, timing gears, and this and that). Now for $50 that was a steal to me, but I didn't have anything to use it with at the time of purchase. Now, however, it looks like I'll be getting possession of a '59 R60 frame and engine case, so now that box just got interesting.

I had originally planned on building a conversion bike with my spare R90 parts, now I'm thinking R69S. Pretty psyched about this project, more to come later.

06 February 2014

BMW / Avon Full Fairing (police?) for sale

comment with your email address and I'll get back to you, $500 $400, !SOLD! off to the West Coast

It came with my 75 R90/6 can be found in the microfiche as P/N 46 63 1 234 863 (can also be found on maxbmw under full fairing in diagram 46_0061). Comes with all lights and mounting brackets - it also comes with special crash bars that are required for the mounts. 






Ikon shocks

Seems like I've been on a spending spree lately... Can't find any replacement radiator for my wife's '54, so the only option left is having a custom one built. Griffin radiator is doing the work, should be a couple weeks for it to come in.

Then I treated myself to some new shocks. Wound up going with Ikons, essentially a modern take on the Koni sport shocks of old, and rebuildable to boot.

Bask in their magnificence


Look stock-ish on the bike, albeit missing the aluminum shroud on top. Plus they look like they dropped the stance an inch or so, but that might just be an illusion.


Won't have a chance to test ride it until this ice and snow clears up on the east coast, hopefully we miss the storm currently predicted for the weekend. There's not a lot you can do to adjust these, but more than the stock ones. Just sitting on the bike feels better though...

01 January 2014

Happy 2014

20 degree morning commutes the past 2 days, and the first bike on the road this new year is a BMW... Where have all the Harleys gone? Happy New Year everyone


10 December 2013

Toasted coil packs and Triumph Gyronauts

This is what a busted VW Revision "C" Coil Pack w/ spark plug looks like


At least it blew at the end of my block instead of on the highway. About 10 minutes of work and 5 new Revision "F" packs and spark plugs gave me a car that runs like brand new. I didn't realize how down in power I was up to that point, I have a feeling a couple more were on their dying legs. I think I'll finally get a CAI and lose that ridiculous MKV engine cover and idiotic stock intake system.

but more exciting...

Saw this at Wayne's Speed Shop Toys for Tots Car Show on Sunday


Triumph Bonneville speed record bike, powered by 2 Triumph twins in tandem, never seen anything like it in person. Actually heard then when they were rolling it into position, one of the outriggers wasn't locked and they tipped the bike on its side! Just a beautiful piece of engineering, and my buddy Ranger sent me this video giving the entire back story of the bike. Nice piece of American history




Gyronaut X-1 Restoration Preview from GreeneHouse Creative on Vimeo.