"Socialism, then, as experience has shown, leads to an increase in consumption, to the dispersions of capital, and therefore to poverty. Of what avail is it, then, to build a social machine that will more justly distribute wealth if this very wealth is destroyed by the construction of the machine?"
wake up and get to work
25 January 2013
23 January 2013
22 January 2013
Radaelli re-work
Typical of 60s Italian bikes, ther Macchi came stock with Radaelli chrome steel rims, with the thinnest possible chrome plating. Between Italian chrome and paint, I think they wanted their bikes to decompose at an accelerated rate, probably good for keeping up sales.
The Macchi appeared to have been stored properly for the 46 years of its existence, there was minimal rust and the original Pirellis didn't even have dry rot cracks, but the rims were rusty and chrome was peeled off all over the place. This is the front rim, the pic is bad, but everything that doesn't shine is rust. Actually the pic makes the room look much better than it actually was...
What you also can't really see are broken spokes and seized nipples, they are all being replaced by stainless, expensive, but worth the money in my opinion... I figured I had three options for cleaning things up 1) wire wheel it and respray black, probably the cheapest option but the least desirable 2) media blasting and powder coating, sounded good but I never had anything powdercoated and was concerned about the price, and 3) Replacing the rims entirely with alloys
Option one was out of the picture pretty quickly, I'm building this for my daughter, I don't want the paint to chip and flake after only a few thousand miles of use.
Option three was looking like the way I was going to go, but was the most expensive route. I could source new Borranis for about $150 a piece, but they'd be blank stock that would need nipple holes punched through the dimples right off the bat. That cost would work out to about $50 per rim, so going with alloys before I could even factor for lacing and truing, I'd have about $400 spent on the rims (with the punching) and $200 for the stainless spoke kit. I like the look of black rims, so maybe even tack on the cost of black anodizing... The one way to justify the expense would be the weight savings and trying to eke out every last bit of HP from the 250 engine, and the fact that I'd be rolling Borranis, and that racing pedigree would really fit the bike.
The cost got me thinking more and more about option 2. I'd already spent the $200 on the stainless spoke kit, but by using the existing rim I wouldn't have to worry about getting new rims punched out or the $300 for new rims, and I assumed powdercoating black would be cheaper than anodizing aluminum. The deciding factor would be the cost of powdercoating, if it was close enough to $300 I'd just go with alloys, but having never gotten powdercoating done I didn't know what to expect. As it turns out, it wound up being only $35 a wheel which included all the prep (blasting, sanding, and cleaning). Option two won out, big time, and I'm really pleased with the results.
Nice semi-gloss black finish, smooth as glass. I told them not to worry about the inside of the rim since the tube and tire would be covering it, so you do see evidence of pitting there, but the stuff visible when the bike's in use is beautiful. Powdercoating is definitely the way to go.
When I dropped them off I wanted to make sure the Radaelli stamp would still be visible and they said they couldn't guarantee it, but it made it... Now the world can easily tell just how cheap, errr shrewd, I am. Hey look how greasy my fingers are too!
Since I'm not shedding any weight by keeping the stock steelies, I figured I'd drill out the hubs. I probably only shed about a gram of weight, but it looks good.
The Macchi appeared to have been stored properly for the 46 years of its existence, there was minimal rust and the original Pirellis didn't even have dry rot cracks, but the rims were rusty and chrome was peeled off all over the place. This is the front rim, the pic is bad, but everything that doesn't shine is rust. Actually the pic makes the room look much better than it actually was...
What you also can't really see are broken spokes and seized nipples, they are all being replaced by stainless, expensive, but worth the money in my opinion... I figured I had three options for cleaning things up 1) wire wheel it and respray black, probably the cheapest option but the least desirable 2) media blasting and powder coating, sounded good but I never had anything powdercoated and was concerned about the price, and 3) Replacing the rims entirely with alloys
Option one was out of the picture pretty quickly, I'm building this for my daughter, I don't want the paint to chip and flake after only a few thousand miles of use.
Option three was looking like the way I was going to go, but was the most expensive route. I could source new Borranis for about $150 a piece, but they'd be blank stock that would need nipple holes punched through the dimples right off the bat. That cost would work out to about $50 per rim, so going with alloys before I could even factor for lacing and truing, I'd have about $400 spent on the rims (with the punching) and $200 for the stainless spoke kit. I like the look of black rims, so maybe even tack on the cost of black anodizing... The one way to justify the expense would be the weight savings and trying to eke out every last bit of HP from the 250 engine, and the fact that I'd be rolling Borranis, and that racing pedigree would really fit the bike.
The cost got me thinking more and more about option 2. I'd already spent the $200 on the stainless spoke kit, but by using the existing rim I wouldn't have to worry about getting new rims punched out or the $300 for new rims, and I assumed powdercoating black would be cheaper than anodizing aluminum. The deciding factor would be the cost of powdercoating, if it was close enough to $300 I'd just go with alloys, but having never gotten powdercoating done I didn't know what to expect. As it turns out, it wound up being only $35 a wheel which included all the prep (blasting, sanding, and cleaning). Option two won out, big time, and I'm really pleased with the results.
Nice semi-gloss black finish, smooth as glass. I told them not to worry about the inside of the rim since the tube and tire would be covering it, so you do see evidence of pitting there, but the stuff visible when the bike's in use is beautiful. Powdercoating is definitely the way to go.
When I dropped them off I wanted to make sure the Radaelli stamp would still be visible and they said they couldn't guarantee it, but it made it... Now the world can easily tell just how cheap, errr shrewd, I am. Hey look how greasy my fingers are too!
Since I'm not shedding any weight by keeping the stock steelies, I figured I'd drill out the hubs. I probably only shed about a gram of weight, but it looks good.
I saw a guy with a Sprint H that made an Ala d'Oro replica and he added a brass mesh behind the holes, it looked sharp, gonna have to try some things out...
Now the question is, do I polish the aluminum to match the stainless spokes, or make the hub black to match the rim? I'm leaning toward the latter
15 January 2013
13 January 2013
Infidelity and Italian sex
A strange thing happened the other day after a longish ride on the BMW. Had a good ride, parked the bike on the centerstand in the garage, went to bed. A couple days later I want to take the R90 out for a midnight run and the rear tire is flat. So flat I could take the tire right off the rim with one hand... Fuck me, put some air in it and couldn't hear any leaks, spin the tire and can't find any punctures or tears, check the rim for cracks and the like and nothing... Decided to let the bike sit overnight and see where my tire pressure winds up... Wake up fresh and head to the garage where the tire pressure is exactly where I left it. It being exceptionally nice out for a January, I just want to make sure my tube is good, without spending the time myself to whip out the tire irons and dunk the tube in our claw foot bathtub - I think my wife would've killed me anyway - so I take it to a shop.
The whole ride I keep looking down at the rear tire, waiting for a flat and the inevitable dilemma of limping along or getting a tow - it never came. Made it to the shop, checked the pressure, awesome. They dunk my tube, can't find any leaks, but I tell them to replace the tube anyway because all that air had to get out of the tube somehow and I don't want to risk it blowing out going 110mph on rt. 440 - took all of 20 minutes and a little chunk taken out of my wallet. Honestly my pride wasn't hurt that much because tire mounting isn't something I pride myself on, in fact I've only had to do it once. Since I've owned my BMW I've replaced most of the electrics, clutch, rear main seal, trans. input seal, had my flywheel lightened, redid the top end (well a machine shop did the major stuff I didn't have the tools for), rebuilt my final drive, and alot of other crap I can't remember now. Part of those involved the complete removing of the entire drivetrain and trans, or taking apart the engine and that's cool, I don't shy away from mechanical stuff, but I did rip a tube my first attempt at mounting a tire.
The thing that did hurt me, quite a bit actually, was seeing someone else test ride my bike. It's how I imagine it'd feel to catch a dude banging your wife, well maybe not. Here's a bike that I built, that I've been inside so many times it's now romantic. There's not a part on the bike I haven't had my hands on and I know every detail like it's in my DNA, and some stranger is taking it out for a couple miles. I never want that to happen again.
There was one benefit though. I've never seen how my bike looks with a rider on it because it's only been me on it and the roads in NJ aren't curbed with mirrors. I've also never heard the sound of it from any other perspective of being on it, along with the wind and other vehicles. That was something... my pipes sound damn good, and the bike looks good with a rider on it. It was interesting to see the riding posture assumed by the test rider, and it was cool seeing him come back with such a huge smile on his face... This brief spat of moto infidelity sucked, but it offered me a fresh perspective of MY bike and made me appreciate all my work that much more...
And that got me thinking about sex... kinda
Sex in general is probably on my mind more than most, I blame it on the fact that for half the year I can't sleep with my wife, it's the nature of working rotating shifts. I really never think of it relating to machinery though. I've always had an affinity for German stuff, and that's about as unsexy as it gets. Function over fashion triumphs every time and I love that. I love the boxer engines on my old VW and my BMW, I love that the BMW one looks pretty much just like an aluminum box with cylinders sticking out of the side. I get it and scoffed at people who referred to their cars and bikes as she, especially the harley guys.Then I saw a show on MagRack about Italian bikes...
They featured this guy with a collection of vintage Italian motorcycles and he was breaking down how the early designers (the Benellis, Tonti, Bianchi, etc.) were designing bikes in the feminine form. He had a few backbone frames like the Macchi I have an was going over the details.. "See this is the spine, see the shapely curves in this tank and how the frame narrows at the waist..." Now I see it, now I get it... If any culture could be said to be opposite the Germans it'd be the Italians, I only have to look at my mom and dad as proof. They also take the cake in the category of appreciating fashion over function.
I am enlightened, and richer. Thanks to a football pool I won (first time ever), I should be able to swing some Borranis to replace my rusty Radaellis :-)
The whole ride I keep looking down at the rear tire, waiting for a flat and the inevitable dilemma of limping along or getting a tow - it never came. Made it to the shop, checked the pressure, awesome. They dunk my tube, can't find any leaks, but I tell them to replace the tube anyway because all that air had to get out of the tube somehow and I don't want to risk it blowing out going 110mph on rt. 440 - took all of 20 minutes and a little chunk taken out of my wallet. Honestly my pride wasn't hurt that much because tire mounting isn't something I pride myself on, in fact I've only had to do it once. Since I've owned my BMW I've replaced most of the electrics, clutch, rear main seal, trans. input seal, had my flywheel lightened, redid the top end (well a machine shop did the major stuff I didn't have the tools for), rebuilt my final drive, and alot of other crap I can't remember now. Part of those involved the complete removing of the entire drivetrain and trans, or taking apart the engine and that's cool, I don't shy away from mechanical stuff, but I did rip a tube my first attempt at mounting a tire.
The thing that did hurt me, quite a bit actually, was seeing someone else test ride my bike. It's how I imagine it'd feel to catch a dude banging your wife, well maybe not. Here's a bike that I built, that I've been inside so many times it's now romantic. There's not a part on the bike I haven't had my hands on and I know every detail like it's in my DNA, and some stranger is taking it out for a couple miles. I never want that to happen again.
There was one benefit though. I've never seen how my bike looks with a rider on it because it's only been me on it and the roads in NJ aren't curbed with mirrors. I've also never heard the sound of it from any other perspective of being on it, along with the wind and other vehicles. That was something... my pipes sound damn good, and the bike looks good with a rider on it. It was interesting to see the riding posture assumed by the test rider, and it was cool seeing him come back with such a huge smile on his face... This brief spat of moto infidelity sucked, but it offered me a fresh perspective of MY bike and made me appreciate all my work that much more...
And that got me thinking about sex... kinda
Sex in general is probably on my mind more than most, I blame it on the fact that for half the year I can't sleep with my wife, it's the nature of working rotating shifts. I really never think of it relating to machinery though. I've always had an affinity for German stuff, and that's about as unsexy as it gets. Function over fashion triumphs every time and I love that. I love the boxer engines on my old VW and my BMW, I love that the BMW one looks pretty much just like an aluminum box with cylinders sticking out of the side. I get it and scoffed at people who referred to their cars and bikes as she, especially the harley guys.Then I saw a show on MagRack about Italian bikes...
They featured this guy with a collection of vintage Italian motorcycles and he was breaking down how the early designers (the Benellis, Tonti, Bianchi, etc.) were designing bikes in the feminine form. He had a few backbone frames like the Macchi I have an was going over the details.. "See this is the spine, see the shapely curves in this tank and how the frame narrows at the waist..." Now I see it, now I get it... If any culture could be said to be opposite the Germans it'd be the Italians, I only have to look at my mom and dad as proof. They also take the cake in the category of appreciating fashion over function.
I am enlightened, and richer. Thanks to a football pool I won (first time ever), I should be able to swing some Borranis to replace my rusty Radaellis :-)
09 January 2013
Gas tank fab part 1
I've been thinking about how to go about cutting up this tank for two days now, trying to determine the least amount of cuts and thereby the least amount of welding. This is my first shot at welding up a gas tank and I only have a MIG welder
The pitch of the tunnel makes a vertical cut pretty hard to get straight. I had to use a sawzall just to get in there and sure enough it was uneven, but this it the part of the tank that needs 1/2" of widening to accommodate the 250's wide frame.
The rust on the inside wasn't nearly as bad as it looked from inside the tank
I welded a 1/2" piece of 18ga mild steel to the left side, you can see on the right side that the sawzall didn't cut so straight... unfortunately the tunnel is so deep in the middle/front area that my angle grinder couldn't get in. There's a couple tiny pinholes that'll need patching, but a pressure test when all is done will reveal just how much more work I'll need to do to make this leak proof. I'm going to have to make a horizontal cut to deepen the tank, so I'll fix that gap still
I put a few tacks on the top to hold it together as the widened bottom looked good with the top of the tank in the original position. You can see how the widened bottom affected the front of the tank
I still need to cut horizontally across the tank to deepen the tank by about 2", but that's going to have to wait, my neighbors will kill me if I start up with the angle grinder at this point in the evening. Once that's cut, I'll get a better shot at joining up the two sides of the tunnel area, from the inside of the tank. Then after welding in another 2 inches to deepen the tank, I'll finish the welding on the vertical cut on the top side of the tank and start pressure testing. This is a little intimidating being my first tank job and having to weld something not for structure, but for holding liquid, but I think I'll be able to work through it and have something neat
put it on the bike for fitment and the tunnel area is just right, though the rest of the tank is a little out of proportion
a little work with photoshop came up with this
A little off, but a lot closer to the direction I want to go
more to come when I get some more free time, lately it seems to be harder and harder to find my way to the garage
The pitch of the tunnel makes a vertical cut pretty hard to get straight. I had to use a sawzall just to get in there and sure enough it was uneven, but this it the part of the tank that needs 1/2" of widening to accommodate the 250's wide frame.
The rust on the inside wasn't nearly as bad as it looked from inside the tank
I still need to cut horizontally across the tank to deepen the tank by about 2", but that's going to have to wait, my neighbors will kill me if I start up with the angle grinder at this point in the evening. Once that's cut, I'll get a better shot at joining up the two sides of the tunnel area, from the inside of the tank. Then after welding in another 2 inches to deepen the tank, I'll finish the welding on the vertical cut on the top side of the tank and start pressure testing. This is a little intimidating being my first tank job and having to weld something not for structure, but for holding liquid, but I think I'll be able to work through it and have something neat
put it on the bike for fitment and the tunnel area is just right, though the rest of the tank is a little out of proportion
a little work with photoshop came up with this
A little off, but a lot closer to the direction I want to go
more to come when I get some more free time, lately it seems to be harder and harder to find my way to the garage
06 January 2013
Leggero style
I've been mulling over the stock tank on the Macchi again, especially after seeing a nice Motobi Barracuda one up on ebay all cleaned out and ready for paint. The guy wanted quite a bit and I thought the tank might fit the 250 SS, but the measurements the seller sent me just won't jive unless I cut up the tank and widen it.
If I'm going to cut up anything it's not going to be a rare tank like that in such nice shape
Now, I've got a rare Aermacchi M65S Leggero tank at home which is pretty beat up and rusty that I wouldn't mind cutting up.
At the least I'm going to have to widen it a couple inches down the center to accommodate the wider frame backbone of the 250SS, then I'll probably have to make it a little bit taller so it looks good on the bigger bike, and then I'll have to change the mounting ears on the front, but those are easy to make (or I could cannibalize them from the other Macchi tank I have that came with the bike)... Maybe it's my taste in vintage racers, but I like the longer style tank with knee pockets as opposed to the stock one on the bike which could pass as a 60s Sportster tank. I just hope there's enough meat to weld to because it is definitely rusty on the inside
5dBOi6L0vnHw~~60_57.jpg)
"Styling as fresh as a sudden smile," who can argue with that kind of ad gimmick. I'm surprised they didn't push the "Italian design" angle
Naturally the tank change would probably force me to change the seat style as well, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes, maybe the stock flat tracker seat will look alright... I like the typical cowled single style but that look is kinda overplayed and I don't necessarily want another cafe bike in the garage, my BMW is more than adequate.
There's more stuff I should be worrying about with this bike right now, like sourcing Borranis or some other alloy wheels, and new spokes/nipples so I could actually mount the Heidenaus and take the bike for a real ride... butttttttttt... my budget it super tight and I have all the metal for welding sitting around the garage
and this came in the mail yesterday...
Choppers don't fit my riding style, but I can respect and appreciate them. I like their look and their attitude, but you've got to value comfort even less than I do to ride one. It's great seeing guys building amazing bikes in their garages and hearing the stories that go along with them. More importantly it's great seeing old bikes resurrected and worked on by hand, using swap meet parts, and American ingenuity, instead of just getting a new S&S engine and parts fabricated with a CNC being bolted on to a pre-made frame.
I've been looking forward to seeing this film since Lou Metal posted the kick start trailer, maybe I'll see if Max wants to get drunk and watch it after I get out of work tonight, or save it for another Moto Wednesday at VW Dan's, along with the 1956 Isle of Man TT DVD for a repeat showing. I really hope it doesn't disappoint
Now back to work and moping around about Manny BaDildo winning today's football pool... prick
If I'm going to cut up anything it's not going to be a rare tank like that in such nice shape
Now, I've got a rare Aermacchi M65S Leggero tank at home which is pretty beat up and rusty that I wouldn't mind cutting up.
At the least I'm going to have to widen it a couple inches down the center to accommodate the wider frame backbone of the 250SS, then I'll probably have to make it a little bit taller so it looks good on the bigger bike, and then I'll have to change the mounting ears on the front, but those are easy to make (or I could cannibalize them from the other Macchi tank I have that came with the bike)... Maybe it's my taste in vintage racers, but I like the longer style tank with knee pockets as opposed to the stock one on the bike which could pass as a 60s Sportster tank. I just hope there's enough meat to weld to because it is definitely rusty on the inside
5dBOi6L0vnHw~~60_57.jpg)
"Styling as fresh as a sudden smile," who can argue with that kind of ad gimmick. I'm surprised they didn't push the "Italian design" angle
Naturally the tank change would probably force me to change the seat style as well, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes, maybe the stock flat tracker seat will look alright... I like the typical cowled single style but that look is kinda overplayed and I don't necessarily want another cafe bike in the garage, my BMW is more than adequate.
There's more stuff I should be worrying about with this bike right now, like sourcing Borranis or some other alloy wheels, and new spokes/nipples so I could actually mount the Heidenaus and take the bike for a real ride... butttttttttt... my budget it super tight and I have all the metal for welding sitting around the garage
Choppers don't fit my riding style, but I can respect and appreciate them. I like their look and their attitude, but you've got to value comfort even less than I do to ride one. It's great seeing guys building amazing bikes in their garages and hearing the stories that go along with them. More importantly it's great seeing old bikes resurrected and worked on by hand, using swap meet parts, and American ingenuity, instead of just getting a new S&S engine and parts fabricated with a CNC being bolted on to a pre-made frame.
I've been looking forward to seeing this film since Lou Metal posted the kick start trailer, maybe I'll see if Max wants to get drunk and watch it after I get out of work tonight, or save it for another Moto Wednesday at VW Dan's, along with the 1956 Isle of Man TT DVD for a repeat showing. I really hope it doesn't disappoint
Now back to work and moping around about Manny BaDildo winning today's football pool... prick
30 December 2012
Night shift can turn you philosophical. The world is still and you and a small minority of people are awake, left with nothing else but your work and your thoughts.
Every once and awhile I question paths my life has taken. While I have no regrets concerning marriage or becoming a father, my occupation is an entirely different bag of hats. Between operating pipelines out of two facilities this morning, I also had the displeasure of writing up three procedures and "best practices," to be read by my peers. They concerned new startup steps with new equipment coming online, how to interpret unfamiliar data, and tracking surge relief flow to prevent overfilling tankage and causing a release. Light reading...
They won't read them, but they'll sign their name and say they did. Then everything I outlined in said documents, I'll have to explain repeatedly over the next few weeks and then maybe my point will finally sink in... It's not like we could kill someone or destroy an ecosystem by fucking up at this job right? Oh yeah, we can...
I left field operations for a supervisory role, so I guess it comes with the territory. I guess business owners deal with incompetence and apathy on a more regular basis than I do, but then again their employees likely can't blow something up or destroy a town's water supply with a fuck up.
I miss swinging valves, climbing tanks, I even miss what I thought was annoying PPE, and standing by for cuts while getting drenched during a thunderstorm. I'm imprisoned at a desk now, doing a thankless job.
I find myself taking walks around this facility when I can, going outside and looking up at what stars the light polluted NJ skies will afford me to. Orion is most reliable nighttime friend.
Someday I want to ride my motorcycle out to the desert, if nothing else just to see an unobstructed view of the heavens. I don't think I've ever seen that in my lifetime and as a human that bothers me. Though even in NJ, working out in the field on night shift for 7 years, I've seen more shooting stars than most people will see in a lifetime. I've seen glorious sunsets and sunrises from the tops of petroleum tanks, someday I'd like to enjoy that without the fumes and chemicals around me.
When I'm in my garage rebuilding carburetors, welding up something, putting a motorcycle together and all that jazz I feel useful and at peace. If I didn't have so many dependents and responsibilities in my life I think I'd get out of the pipeline world and open up a shop somewhere. Apparently making sure the Northeast's infrastructure stays afloat doesn't rock my world, but it does pay my bills and affords my wife to be a stay at home mom.
I always tell people that even though my job is really important, it's not the least bit rewarding. When I worked summers doing masonry, I could finish a day covered in sweat and dirt and look at the job and tell myself, "there, I MADE that today." My work could potentially stand for generations to enjoy. The same reward comes with working on my bikes. Moving hundreds of thousands of barrels of petroleum product daily doesn't come close to matching that feeling.
When a guy in this industry tells me an opportunity arises in their life and are questioning it, I tell them to jump at it as this industry has a way of trapping you. My shift-mate is doing just that and becoming a police officer, taking a serious pay cut, but good on him. I'm envious, and I tell him that.
I'm certain that when G-Wagen gets older, I'm not going to push her into college or what I consider to be a high paying field. That was the story of my generation. A generation that can't think or do anything for themselves. A lot of times I feel like I'm 20 years older than my peers because of just this. That's why G-Wagen's gonna have that Macchi, and wrench on it, and learn what it feels like to think and work with her hands. By the time she's ready for a career, the trades are going to be damn near extinct.
I don't want her to wind up behind a desk, on night shift writing philosophy to keep from going insane. I don't want her wondering what it'd be like to ride somewhere remote to see the stars the way we're supposed to see them. I don't want her to have to see the sun rise in a petroleum plant with Nomex on. Fortunately I don't think I'll have to worry.
She's already smart and defiant. She's gonna be the tattooed girl with a hot rod daily driver like her mother, kickstarting her Macchi with a blunt, independent attitude like her father... I hope so anyway...
See where your mind wanders when the rest of the world is asleep.
Now back to the batches, making sure the rest of the world stays cruising
Every once and awhile I question paths my life has taken. While I have no regrets concerning marriage or becoming a father, my occupation is an entirely different bag of hats. Between operating pipelines out of two facilities this morning, I also had the displeasure of writing up three procedures and "best practices," to be read by my peers. They concerned new startup steps with new equipment coming online, how to interpret unfamiliar data, and tracking surge relief flow to prevent overfilling tankage and causing a release. Light reading...
They won't read them, but they'll sign their name and say they did. Then everything I outlined in said documents, I'll have to explain repeatedly over the next few weeks and then maybe my point will finally sink in... It's not like we could kill someone or destroy an ecosystem by fucking up at this job right? Oh yeah, we can...
I left field operations for a supervisory role, so I guess it comes with the territory. I guess business owners deal with incompetence and apathy on a more regular basis than I do, but then again their employees likely can't blow something up or destroy a town's water supply with a fuck up.
I miss swinging valves, climbing tanks, I even miss what I thought was annoying PPE, and standing by for cuts while getting drenched during a thunderstorm. I'm imprisoned at a desk now, doing a thankless job.
I find myself taking walks around this facility when I can, going outside and looking up at what stars the light polluted NJ skies will afford me to. Orion is most reliable nighttime friend.
Someday I want to ride my motorcycle out to the desert, if nothing else just to see an unobstructed view of the heavens. I don't think I've ever seen that in my lifetime and as a human that bothers me. Though even in NJ, working out in the field on night shift for 7 years, I've seen more shooting stars than most people will see in a lifetime. I've seen glorious sunsets and sunrises from the tops of petroleum tanks, someday I'd like to enjoy that without the fumes and chemicals around me.
When I'm in my garage rebuilding carburetors, welding up something, putting a motorcycle together and all that jazz I feel useful and at peace. If I didn't have so many dependents and responsibilities in my life I think I'd get out of the pipeline world and open up a shop somewhere. Apparently making sure the Northeast's infrastructure stays afloat doesn't rock my world, but it does pay my bills and affords my wife to be a stay at home mom.
I always tell people that even though my job is really important, it's not the least bit rewarding. When I worked summers doing masonry, I could finish a day covered in sweat and dirt and look at the job and tell myself, "there, I MADE that today." My work could potentially stand for generations to enjoy. The same reward comes with working on my bikes. Moving hundreds of thousands of barrels of petroleum product daily doesn't come close to matching that feeling.
When a guy in this industry tells me an opportunity arises in their life and are questioning it, I tell them to jump at it as this industry has a way of trapping you. My shift-mate is doing just that and becoming a police officer, taking a serious pay cut, but good on him. I'm envious, and I tell him that.
I'm certain that when G-Wagen gets older, I'm not going to push her into college or what I consider to be a high paying field. That was the story of my generation. A generation that can't think or do anything for themselves. A lot of times I feel like I'm 20 years older than my peers because of just this. That's why G-Wagen's gonna have that Macchi, and wrench on it, and learn what it feels like to think and work with her hands. By the time she's ready for a career, the trades are going to be damn near extinct.
I don't want her to wind up behind a desk, on night shift writing philosophy to keep from going insane. I don't want her wondering what it'd be like to ride somewhere remote to see the stars the way we're supposed to see them. I don't want her to have to see the sun rise in a petroleum plant with Nomex on. Fortunately I don't think I'll have to worry.
She's already smart and defiant. She's gonna be the tattooed girl with a hot rod daily driver like her mother, kickstarting her Macchi with a blunt, independent attitude like her father... I hope so anyway...
See where your mind wanders when the rest of the world is asleep.
Now back to the batches, making sure the rest of the world stays cruising
24 December 2012
No presents for Christmas
Merry Christmas everyone, may your stockings be filled with rusty gold and forgotten relics
22 December 2012
Success! Kinda...
Needed to make a few modifications for fitment today. Drilled out the angle irons to accept a 10mm bolt, had to reshape the center stand's feet to sit at an angle, had to cut off a segment of angle iron on the right side mounting tab for engine clearance, and then I had to weld additional tabs on the stand to stop it from moving forward too much (I thought the angle iron top tabs would do this naturally, I was wrong)...
This pic was taken with the bike running, hence the rear wheel is in motion...
The only thing that kinda pisses me off is that I got rough measurements to build this from an old cached ebay auction and I think the guy wasn't using a 19/18 front/rear set up. There isn't a tire mounted on my front rim right now because I'm going to be switching to alloys, so on a naked rim I only have about 1-2" of room to lift the front end with the centerstand in use, that can't be right... Easy fix would be to cut the steel bar sides and weld extensions, but I'm gonna wait until the front and rear rims/tires are all replaced... in the meantime I still have the "jiffy stand"
The only thing that kinda pisses me off is that I got rough measurements to build this from an old cached ebay auction and I think the guy wasn't using a 19/18 front/rear set up. There isn't a tire mounted on my front rim right now because I'm going to be switching to alloys, so on a naked rim I only have about 1-2" of room to lift the front end with the centerstand in use, that can't be right... Easy fix would be to cut the steel bar sides and weld extensions, but I'm gonna wait until the front and rear rims/tires are all replaced... in the meantime I still have the "jiffy stand"
21 December 2012
Aermacchi Center Stand & Google+
I really hate not having a center stand on the Aermacchi, this became even more apparent when I took the front wheel off. Why'd the European models come with one standard and in the USofA we're left with just a "jiffy stand." Bullshit.
Apparently aftermarket ones are a one man show, at $250... this is what I came up with with about $13 of steel and some scraps and a rough parts diagram pic of what it's sorta like
Apparently aftermarket ones are a one man show, at $250... this is what I came up with with about $13 of steel and some scraps and a rough parts diagram pic of what it's sorta like
I don't know why it looks cocked in the pic, I measured twice and it's within 1/16" of parallel
Anyone who tells you you need a TIG to make a stack of dimes is full of shit
Yeah yeah, I know, flux core. I may as well be using a stick welder, but it works, I just need to clean it up, a lot...
I didn't bother drilling it out for bolts yet, that would require a trip to the hardware store and I'm already in Dos Equis Ambar and PB&strawberry jam land.
Luckily, there are already mounting tabs and a nub for the spring on the stock frame, some old VW bolts threaded in nicely, don't even have to worry about welding in a nub for the spring to attach to
Also, what's the deal with this google+ thing>? I'm getting hassled to implement it all the time, is this a facebook substitute? another way to homologate google services? Anyone else using it?
Having gotten off the facebook black hole last month, the last thing I need is another one of those...
19 December 2012
More Tommaselli
Was looking for some vintage matador levers to complement the Condor bars and all I could find was the cheap pot metal repros. Then I scored this for a price I couldn't refuse, should be arriving any day now:
Not matadors, I think they're from a Ducati 900SS, but NOS and beautiful
The Macchi has a Tommaselli Super Practic throttle stock, thinking of replacing it with a QA type throttle, but not sure if I want to give up the vintage look and feel. The Super Practic would require drilling into the Condor bars and tapping a fine thread for the locking screw in the throttle housing, the Quick Action throttles just use a bolt to tighten on, on the fence... If I go new, I could probably sell the old one and come out ahead, decisions, decisions...
Also got a tach drive cable for the '67 for a whopping $14, again new old stock... MotoMacchi quoted me around 80 bucks for a German repro of one of these, so I planned on just welding a tab into my old one, 14 bucks saves me the effort
9IV2w~~60_57.JPG)
I do have some welding planned in my future. Gonna be fabbing up a center stand for the Macchi, and since there's only one other guy making these (for $250), I think I might make a few and sell them for $100 each... We'll see how mine works first, more to come later
I finally manned up and spent the 2 minutes to replace the lever bushings on the BMW (#5), got really sick of the slop.
Not matadors, I think they're from a Ducati 900SS, but NOS and beautiful
The Macchi has a Tommaselli Super Practic throttle stock, thinking of replacing it with a QA type throttle, but not sure if I want to give up the vintage look and feel. The Super Practic would require drilling into the Condor bars and tapping a fine thread for the locking screw in the throttle housing, the Quick Action throttles just use a bolt to tighten on, on the fence... If I go new, I could probably sell the old one and come out ahead, decisions, decisions...
Also got a tach drive cable for the '67 for a whopping $14, again new old stock... MotoMacchi quoted me around 80 bucks for a German repro of one of these, so I planned on just welding a tab into my old one, 14 bucks saves me the effort
9IV2w~~60_57.JPG)
I do have some welding planned in my future. Gonna be fabbing up a center stand for the Macchi, and since there's only one other guy making these (for $250), I think I might make a few and sell them for $100 each... We'll see how mine works first, more to come later
G-Wagen and the BMW, she calls the Macchi her "Hummmm"
I finally manned up and spent the 2 minutes to replace the lever bushings on the BMW (#5), got really sick of the slop.
It's amazing how much adjustment the cable were out when the levers are actually aligned correctly
10 December 2012
09 December 2012
Tommaselli
There were 2 main reasons why I bought the Aermacchi. The first is that I wanted a departure from German stuff (mainly VW and BMW boxer engines) and a quirky Italian single fit the bill. Don't get me wrong, I love my German stuff, I love their elegance in engineering and function over fashion design, but I'm just a little bored with them right now.
The second, most important, reason is that I wanted a bike that my daughter could work on when she gets older, learning mechanical basics and then when she's old enough to ride, she'll have a vehicle that she not only would be able to work on, but it'd be something she built herself. A light Italian single seemed convenient in this respect as well.
Being that it's going to be awhile before she can ride on the street, like 14 years awhile, I'm gonna be riding this bike and working out the major kinks. I'm 6'2" and a tad large for the bike, but still don't like the cruiser riding position of the bike, I'm thinking rear sets and sport bars should fix that. Clip-ons worked out awesome on the R90, but a little too forward for this little bike, I have euro bars, but didn't like the look, and then I started thinking of angling clubmans to various positions. With this in mind I found a source for NOS Tommaselli Condor sport bars. The beauty of these is that they're fully adjustable. While I'm riding I can mount them tilted back and then pull back the bars, making a nice Z-bar kind of set up, when my daughter (or anyone smaller than me) wants to use it they can go with a race position, move the bars forward and have the typical cafe clubman look - they can be made to fit any riding position.
Test fit, not bad. A bit of a chopper look, but position is a lot more forward and comfortable for riding in a sport position
I wish I bought these for the Beemer instead of the clip-ons. These Tommasellis feel a lot better built, I like the adjustability and natural angle of the bars, and it saves you from having to remove the triple clamp and modifying the headlight ears - though I changed the triple clamp with a beefy, billet SJ one anyway so I guess that point is moot.
The second, most important, reason is that I wanted a bike that my daughter could work on when she gets older, learning mechanical basics and then when she's old enough to ride, she'll have a vehicle that she not only would be able to work on, but it'd be something she built herself. A light Italian single seemed convenient in this respect as well.
Being that it's going to be awhile before she can ride on the street, like 14 years awhile, I'm gonna be riding this bike and working out the major kinks. I'm 6'2" and a tad large for the bike, but still don't like the cruiser riding position of the bike, I'm thinking rear sets and sport bars should fix that. Clip-ons worked out awesome on the R90, but a little too forward for this little bike, I have euro bars, but didn't like the look, and then I started thinking of angling clubmans to various positions. With this in mind I found a source for NOS Tommaselli Condor sport bars. The beauty of these is that they're fully adjustable. While I'm riding I can mount them tilted back and then pull back the bars, making a nice Z-bar kind of set up, when my daughter (or anyone smaller than me) wants to use it they can go with a race position, move the bars forward and have the typical cafe clubman look - they can be made to fit any riding position.
Test fit, not bad. A bit of a chopper look, but position is a lot more forward and comfortable for riding in a sport position
I wish I bought these for the Beemer instead of the clip-ons. These Tommasellis feel a lot better built, I like the adjustability and natural angle of the bars, and it saves you from having to remove the triple clamp and modifying the headlight ears - though I changed the triple clamp with a beefy, billet SJ one anyway so I guess that point is moot.
Too much information for handlebars, unless someone wanted to rip them off
The one issue with using these bars is that Aermacchi rubber mounted the stock bars and welded on a tab to secure the bars from moving forward and back. With the Tomms on there and tightened up I noticed just about as much play in the bars as I did with the stock, but I think they could still be studier either by putting in a couple spacers to further tighten the clamp, or by completing removing the top triple clamp, making my own, and then going to solid mounts, haven't decided yet.
Going to need to replace the levers/controls with the new bars and I've got my eyes on some 1960's NOS pieces, we'll see how that goes
04 December 2012
you know it's Christmas time when...
There's a Kübelwagen on the tree
I took the tach drive apart on the Aermacchi since the tach wasn't working when I test rode it. Half of the problem was that there was no grease, that problem is solved
The other half, and main problem, is that the tach cable's end that connects into the drive is sheared off. Simple fix.
Wondering if I should lose the dash pod and get a nice Veglia race tach and just run that. This 250 is so slow I think I'd rather just know the rpms and listen to the engine, thinking I'm on at Bonneville. Despite considering all this I took apart the stock dash panel, cleaned up the instruments, cables, and wires, and then implanted all of them into a nicer '68 panel which I'm digging. The stock '67 was just plain aluminum and mine was cracked, chipped, and beat to death. The '68 is a little bigger and better designed, still aluminum but with metal hammered black paint on the top, and has an all important SS sticker. Same P/N and everything went in nicely.
Speaking of stickers
250ccs of Italian sex
I took the tach drive apart on the Aermacchi since the tach wasn't working when I test rode it. Half of the problem was that there was no grease, that problem is solved
The other half, and main problem, is that the tach cable's end that connects into the drive is sheared off. Simple fix.
Wondering if I should lose the dash pod and get a nice Veglia race tach and just run that. This 250 is so slow I think I'd rather just know the rpms and listen to the engine, thinking I'm on at Bonneville. Despite considering all this I took apart the stock dash panel, cleaned up the instruments, cables, and wires, and then implanted all of them into a nicer '68 panel which I'm digging. The stock '67 was just plain aluminum and mine was cracked, chipped, and beat to death. The '68 is a little bigger and better designed, still aluminum but with metal hammered black paint on the top, and has an all important SS sticker. Same P/N and everything went in nicely.
Speaking of stickers
250ccs of Italian sex
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