Guilty of being white...

Got my new grips. I don't remember the last time I got to squeeze a new pair of grips on one of my bikes. Pretty awesome.









My steering has been feeling fairly sloppy. So I decided to check out the neck bearings.





The bearings looked good and there was no scoring on the races, so I re-greased the bearings and called it a day.





Now to finish cleaning up the front end, adjust the neck bearings, front brakes, and that'll wrap it up out front for a while.



Stay tuned...

Gimme a...brake?

No real pictures from today, but I whipped the rear hose on, bled all four corners, and now the brakes are operating as a sealed system instead of...well, a greasy leaky death trap.



Now we'll replace a couple fuel lines, toss the new intake on, and we're almost there for now.

I'll have some more pictures of progress on the bike later in the week as well, but for now here's a look at the lip I'm taking off the inner primary.



Stay tuned...

Start with 40...

And work your way up to a gorgeous polish. It would be nice to have some power tools to smooth this out...but I don't.













More tomorrow.

You know what they say about using old rubbers...

I spent the first half of the day over at Snohomish Tattoo with Jake getting rid of some empty space. I highly recommend that place if you're looking for a good shop. Click the link or check their facebook. Jake does some pretty bad ass art too, especially if you're into horror. Make sure you check him out.



After that, I got onto brake hoses.

In case you're doing hoses for your first time, this is NOT how it should look when you're done...



It was pretty awesome. If you follow the seam of the hose, it does a complete three hundred sixty degree twist from the frame to the wheel cylinder. So I got the new hoses, but they weren't quite the same where the hose lock goes...



But after a quick run with a bastard file, they fit like a glove.








If you're fitting custom hoses for the first time, always make sure they're not being pulled too tight at their longest possible extension and won't get hooked or pinched on anything at their shortest. The fronts I picked out fit perfect.



After that, I got the master bolted up under the frame so next week I'll just slap the rear hose on, bleed some fluid, and adjust the shoes and we'll be good to go...or stop...whatever.

Also, if you don't have any plans for Friday night, come down to Studio 7 for the show.



If you do have plans for Fridany night, cancel them and come down to Studio 7 for the show instead.

Stay tuned...

While drinking my coffee this morning...

waiting till the UPS will call opens in Everett so I can get my insulin pump, I realized I don't have anything up about my buddy Red's rigid unit Triumph.

I met Red back when I hung out at Old Strokers all the time. He's a real hoot to be around. He really knows his brit shit and even if he wasn't a stand up guy, his little chop is clean. I took these back May 15th of 2010 at the little party/show at Old Strokers.








I miss that shop and those days. Hopefully they'll swing back around.

Stay tuned kids...

The best birthday since...

Never. It was pretty lame. I got to spend the day in the trauma ward at the hospital after collapsing at work and having a seizure. So a couple days of recovery were ordered, but with no internet and only golden girls on tv, I had to do something. So I satrted dicking around little bits in the garage and polishing dull shit into shiny shit on the bike. Mounted the two dollar scores from a couple weeks ago, and straightened up my work bench. Nothing crazy, but I had to do something. You know, the whole idle hands thing.









So now I'm just killing time until they get my insulin pump and get me all dialed in so I can be safe to ride again. So in the mean time I'll just tinker with small shit until I get well-ish.

Stay tuned.

So if you are replacing your wheel cylinders...

You should always check your master cylinder, hoses, and fluid.

I've been dealing with some health issues, so progress is slower than I would like since I'm not moving as quick on the new kidney meds. But in slowing down, you notice things you might not have seen in a quick inspection.

I was told that they put new wheel cylinders on right before my father in law bought this car. I assumed that that meant they looked everything over and did the job right. On the other hand, that would break the mold for all the rest of the work scabbed together by previous owners so we look a little closer and...



We have a master cylinder that holds no fluid...so out it comes.



To my surprise I found some brake fluid...in the boot, which was holding more fluid than the master cylinder itself.



And with a quick look inside to see all the grit and broken down rubber chunks, the decision was made to replace it and rebuild the original later since the pitting is pretty minor.





Luckily, Hagen's had a reman unit ready to go...for a healthy price.



I figured that for the cost of this master, it would at least include replacement crush washers for the banjo bolt fitting in the end...but no.



So if you are watching and saying "gee, I have that same set up but don't know how to find those crush washers." DON'T REUSE YOUR OLD ONES! I'll make this easier for you. There are two sizes. The United part number for the outer washer is 1245 and the smaller inner is a United 1244. These are pretty common and most parts houses should be able to help you get your hands on these if you need to take the distribution block off the end of the master cylinder for any reason.



So that's all the steam I had for today. The hoses look pretty rough and the rear is pulled way to tight for any kind of significant suspension travel, so I'll match up the fronts and find a longer one for the rear, flush the lines, slam the new washers in, and the she'll stop like new.

That's all for this week kids.
Stay tuned.