Flyinfool

There is light at the end of the tunnel. There are only a couple of items left on the must do list and a couple left on the wish list. I just hope that the light is not just a train coming......

Finally, the trailer itself is done. I ended up putting the axle back in the stock location. Picked up a LED lighting kit on sale from HF. I still need to acquire a cooler for the tongue and then make a frame to hold it. Now I just have to get some casters to add to the back bumper and make some kind of bracket to stand it up against the wall and secure it there.

Well I did it. Whether or not IT is right, time will tell. I got some Piobond from the hardware store, It is supposed to remain flexible after drying. It is a rubber cement I used some 80 grit sand paper to rough up the surface real good on the inside of the shell. I then painted on a coat of Pliobond glue. I laid a 1.5 inch wide strip of glass cloth into the wet glue. Then painted on another good coat of the glue. Laid a 3.5 inch wide strip of glass cloth into the wet glue. Painted on another coat of the glue to finish filling the weave of the cloth. All of these layers were done at once with no drying in between.

OK, so I now have no idea what this car topper is made from. It is impervious to MEK, Acetone, lacquer thinner, toluene and PVC pipe cement. It is obviously Vac formed, but I have no clue from what. I did use a heat gun to form the damaged corner back into shape. I think I am back to plan A of scuffing the surface up real good and finding some kind of flexible adhesive and glass cloth laid up on the inside.

A cheap BB gun will get the message across with no permanent damage or the legal issues of a silencer and discharging a firearm within city limits.

Will you foot the bill if I come to visit???

Does it have to have water and be running? Most of the fountains around here are still winterized.

Sounds like time to find the posts for resoldering the connections in the CMU. Yamy had issues with soldering way back then. This is a common issue and is not a difficult fix, if you know how to solder on a PC board. But it is somewhat time consuming to get to.

I tried a heel toe once and did not like it. My poor little brain has been doing it one way for over 30 years and does not break old habits well.

Glad to here you are back up in the saddle.

ONE !!!!! Right or wrong has nothing to do with it !!!

At least it hasn't tried to go into 2 different gears at the same time. I had a cage do that to me once when the shift linkage broke and it managed to get into 1st and second at the same time on a 3 speed manual. the first / reverse link broke so it never came out of first with the shifter and then all in the same motion it was shoved into 2nd. It was not pretty..... But did make some nice figure 8 patterns on the road....... If it is really just the nature of the beast, I think I will adjust the shifter down just a bit so that it is easier to get the full up stroke for a nice positive shift. With my new shoes the full up stroke is at the limit of how far I can bend my old decrepit ankle. It is adjusted per the spec in the manual right now. I already had to adjust the rear brake lever out of spec (as high up as I could get it without it hitting the engine case) to be sure that I could operate it fully with my limited flexibility. I know, I know, I'm old.

Is it supposed to be possible for the trany to go directly from any gear to neutral? This has happened on this bike about twice a year, where while during somewhat aggressive acceleration, I will suddenly find the bike in neutral, no connection between the engine and rear wheel and the neutral light on the dash is illuminated and the "N" is displayed on the gear indicator. I can understand it happening between 1st and 2nd if you short stroke the shifter since you are going thru neutral on the way to second. But I have also had this happen when going from 2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th. I look down and the gear indicator shows "N", the green light is on. There are never any kind of grinding or other strange noises other than a very high engine rpm due to lack of connection to rear wheel. Is this an indicator of some major trany problems coming down the line in my near future, or just a glitch in the system. I am posting because this happened 3 times on the way in to work today. All three today were going from 2nd to 3rd, no drive connection, "N" showing and green light on. Lifting up on the shifter again, and it went into 3rd like it should have done the first time one time it went to 2nd. I may be short stroking the shifter a little since I am getting used to some new riding shoes that are thinner on top that what I had before. but I still did not think there should be a full and indicated neutral between 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th.

If you decide to take the chance with these gears (I probably would to) at least make sure that you have a good strong rare earth magnet in there to collect any wear particles so that the chunks can not get anywhere to accelerate the wear. Maybe put one magnet on the drain plug and one on the fill plug. That way you will know how things are wearing every time you change the oil. When you start to see a lot of stuff stuck to the magnet, get your new gears and backlash setting supplies ready. Once a gear starts to go, it can get there quick. Good luck.

Last night I started to work on this and what I found is that the faring plastic is REALLY thin in that area. My faring already has some cracked plastic in that area also. So adding more stress to an already weak area is a no go. There is no nearby metal framework to work from to build a mount hidden there. So on to plan 2..... Since I already have 2 Wolo Bad Boy horns I figure that I no longer need to also have the stock horns still hooked up. I am making some brackets to mount the new lights onto the old horn mounts. This still keeps the lights approximately where I wanted them, they'll just be 2 inches lower. I also found out that my H3 HID bulbs will not quite fit into my H3 lights with out some mods to the housing.

I once had a terrible noise coming from the back of the bike. It was a really bad whining noise. After the divorce I never heard the noise again.........

I've never had to work on a bike rear before but from the work I've done on cars........ I would say that the pinion and likely the ring gear, needs to be replaced, which also means playing the backlash game. Can you post some closeups of the ring? I hope I am wrong.

FWIW The light manufacturer recommends that lights NOT be mounted near your line of sight. That is about where I was looking to mount mine. I was going to use that same surface but put the lights as far forward as possible. My intent is for light down the road, the more the better, hence the HID bulb replacements. I am trying to avoid the appearance of a single blob of light. I want it to appear as 3 distinct points of light. I do not want to be mistaken to be a cage with the HI beams on that is very far away. For this I need to keep the driving lights farther away from the headlight.

Ok so tonight I will look to what it takes to get the vents out (looks like just 1 screw from the pics) and see what kind of metal structure is around there that I can tie into. Looks like more parts to make.

I bought the driving lights that I will be putting onto my MK II. They are the KC HiLites series 35. I have these same lights on my truck and really like them. The lens is designed to put some light forward like a driving light, but to also fill in the sides of where the stock headlight can't reach. very little of the beam is wasted on adding light to the same areas as the stock headlight. These come with 55W halogen bulbs that I plan to replace with 35W HID. 3 forward looking HIDs should light things up pretty good at night and keep me visible in the daytime. I am thinking of mounting them to the faring on the flat area just below the air intakes. I have not taken the vent out yet to see if there is room to add a reinforcement thickness of plastic to strengthen the area. Do you think that the plastic of the faring is strong enough as is to handle the weight of the light while bouncing down the road or do I really need to strengthen it some?

Why? Just cuz my chili can eat thru the bottom of a stainless steel pot? It really can. An aluminum pot is only good for 5-6 batches of chili before it starts to leak, SS is good for around 30 batches before it starts to leak.

Glad to hear she is finally home. That is quit a list of parts. Did they mention what the dollar value of the job was? I still wonder if it would have been more cost effective To drop in a crate motor vs dealer rates to build the engine from scratch.

I went to Home Depot recently while not being altogether sure that course of action was a wise one. You see, the previous evening I had prepared and consumed a massive quantity of my patented "you're definitely going to $hit yourself, road-kill chili". Tasty stuff, albeit hot to the point of being painful, which comes with a written guarantee from me that if you eat it, the next day your butt cheeks might fall off! Here's the thing. I had awakened that morning, and even after two cups of coffee (and all of you know what I mean) nothing happened. No 'Watson's Movement 2'. Despite habanera peppers swimming their way through my intestinal tract, I was unable to create the usual morning symphony referred to by my dear wife as 'thunder and lightning'. Knowing that a time of reckoning HAD to come, yet not sure of just when, I bravely set off for Home Depot, my quest being paint and supplies to refinish the den. Upon entering the store at first all seemed normal. I selected a cart and began pushing it about dropping items in for purchase. It wasn't until I was at the opposite end of the store from the restrooms that the pain hit me. Oh, don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm referring to that 'Uh, Oh, $hit, gotta go' pain that always seems to hit us at the wrong time. The thing is, this pain was different. The habaneras in the chili from the night before were staging a revolt. In a mad rush for freedom they bullied their way through the small intestines, forcing their way into the large intestines, and before I could take one step in the direction of the restrooms which would bring sweet relief, it happened. The peppers fired a warning shot. There I stood, alone in the paint and stain section, suddenly enveloped in a noxious cloud the likes of which has never before been recorded. I was afraid to move for fear that more of this vile odor might escape me. Slowly, oh so slowly, the pressure seemed to leave the lower part of my body, and I began to move up the aisle and out of it, just as a red aproned clerk turned the corner and asked if I needed any help. I don't know what made me do it, but I stopped to see what his reaction would be to the malodorous effluvium that refused to dissipate.. Have you ever been torn in two different directions emotionally? Here's what I mean, and I'm sure some of you at least will be able to relate. I could've warned that poor clerk, but didn't. I simply watched as he walked into an invisible, and apparently indestructible, wall of odor so terrible that all he could do before gathering his senses and running, was to stand there blinking and waving his arms about his head as though trying to ward off angry bees.. This, of course, made me feel terrible, but then made me laugh. .......BIG mistake!!!!! Here's the thing. When you laugh, it's hard to keep things 'clamped down', if you know what I mean. With each new guffaw an explosive issue burst forth from my nether region. Some were so loud and echoing that I was later told a few folks in other aisles had ducked, fearing that someone was robbing the store and firing off a shotgun. Suddenly things were no longer funny. 'It' was coming, and I raced off through the store towards the restrooms, laying down a cloud the whole way, praying that I'd make it before the grand mal a$$-plosion took place. Luck was on my side. Just in the nick of time I got to the john, began the inevitable 'Oh my God', floating above the toilet seat because my ass is burning SO BAD, purging. One poor fellow walked in while I was in the middle of what is the true meaning of 'Shock and Awe'. He made a gagging sound, and disgustedly said, 'Son-of-a-b__ch! Did it smell that bad when you ate it?', then quickly left. Once finished and I left the restroom, reacquired my partially filled cart intending to carry on with my shopping when a store employee approached me and said, 'Sir, you might want to step outside for a few minutes. It appears some prankster set off a stink bomb in the store. The manager is going to run the vent fans on high for a minute or two which ought to take care of the problem.' My smirking of course set me off again, causing residual gases to escape me. The employee took one sniff, jumped back pulling his shirt up to cover his nose and, pointing at me in an accusing manner shouted, 'IT'S YOU!', then ran off returning moments later with the manager. I was unceremoniously escorted from the premises and asked none too kindly not to return. Home again without my supplies, I realized that there was nothing to eat but leftover chili, so I consumed two more bowls. The next day I went to shop at Lowes. I can't say anymore about that because we are in court over the whole matter. Ba$tards claim they're going to have to repaint the store.

Hey Frank You can stop by me and use my drill press or even the milling machine.

OK All of the mechanical assembly is done and the floor bolted down. I just have to do the electrical, and add the topper. I don't think I am even going to bother installing the incandescent lighting. HF has the LED kit on sale right now for $30. Now the issues. 1. I did remove one leaf from each side of the springs and I flipped the axle to the top of the springs. There is only about a half inch clearance from the top of the tire to the inside of the fender. I did not take much weight to make the tire touch the fender. Did those that have flipped their axle have to modify the fenders? What did you change on the fenders? Or should I just put the axle back under the springs? 2. In reading past posts on the HF trailer it appears that they have made some changes. There are many posts about needing spacers or washers between the tongue and coupler, mine fit perfect with no spacers or washers added. There are many posts about the poor job of greasing the bearings from the factory, the manual now says to grease the bearings as one of the assy steps. 3. My axle was bad out of the box. The 2 holes that fit over the alignment pins on the springs were not drilled correctly. One was drilled at the very forward edge of the axle and the other was at the very rear of the axle. The mismath would have had the axle skewed about 5/8 inch. The store pulled another axle out of a box for me. the new one was good.