I lied. I've let you down, and I'm sorry. I promised a wheel-building article, and I told you I would post before and after pictures of the big projects. With my newest bike, I did none of these things. I was so caught up in the building of it, so focussed from hours and hours of sanding and polishing, that I just let it all go by without a single snapshot.

By way of apology, (and also because I am helpless in the grip of pride over this thing) I am posting pictures of it all finished.

Owning and driving an old car---if it's by choice---is a lifestyle sort of thing. Like going to thrift stores instead of the mall for clothes; not because you can't afford new jeans but because you are a scavenger, an adventurer, a conservationist. Old cars give you endless trouble, but there is nothing cooler or more fun than pulling up to church or a busy gas station in a rusty, modified, tattered hot-rod-of-sorts. I reality you end up spending significantly less money and significantly more time in repairs and upkeep...but you get the added bonus of learning how to keep it on the road through your own resourcefulness. And the occasional mechanical breakdowns give you an excuse to notice things around you that you wouldn't have while whizzing by; you gain an appreciation for what you have and a confidence in your ability to deal with a tough situation. Pain and accomplishment. Frustration and satisfaction. And you feel as if you really have the right be proud because there is sweat, fatigue, tears, blood, and laughter wrapped up that car...you have worked on it, hated it, burst with pride over it, slept in it, cursed at it, caressed it, and ignored it...and you tell yourself you could live without it if you had to...but deep down there is no way you could be satisfied driving something of a lesser complexity, something with less aged class, less subtle seduction. It's a choice and a way of living; and it's something of an art. Something both wonderful and foolish; tragic and beautiful; perhaps even poetic.

When we founded this blog, I remarked to crashbox that I hardly fit the profile of the shadetree mechanic who took pride in his recycled machine, which was of necessity seriously dented and scraped and composed of new and used parts.

My primary transport in those days was an (almost) pristine 2007 Suzuki V-Strom motorcycle.  It was scraped in several minor places by a wind-driven tip-over in a parking lot, the radiator and fairings being shifted to one side by 3/4" by the fall.  I chose to let it bear the scars rather than repaint and replace. Other than that, it was perfect.  I kept it perfect.  And felt like a hypocrite.

Well, fast forward a few months and the V-Strom sits in the darkened caverns of CalCoast Motorsports, bits of it bent and broken, awaiting a professional's touch.  

It had been backed into in the parking lot where I work, and tipped over AGAIN.  This time, though, it was more than a few scrapes.

Broken turn signal;

seriously bent handlebar;

seriously bent end weight;

bent passenger footpeg;

scraped but intact crash bar.

Would have been far worse without the Givi crashbars which saved the tender $500 radiator from harm.

But now, I think the ol'Strom, young in years as it may be, can rightfully take its place amongst the rest of the bent and chipped machinery we're pushing here....

Imperfection

Recently I have been spending some time getting O.B.'s '67 Volvo 144S road-worthy for when he comes back to school. It has been sitting since the end of last semester with a bad master cylinder, broken rear brake line, leaking brake booster, and a bad driveshaft support bushing---and that is just the stuff that was keeping it off the road---all of which we are now in the process of rectifying. I will be leaving the cosmetics and upgrades to its proud owner, but since I love 140s more than any other car, I am very pleased to be helping to resurrect another one.

Here are a few shots I wanted to share: there are specifically of this car's many, lovely, imperfections...

Dear Suzi:

I will bolt you back together some day soon. I promise. I'm sorry I've neglected you so horribly over the past month. You wouldn't know, being a finely crafted machine imbued with a single purpose (go far and fast) but we humans occasionally get distracted by our fellow humans and generally speaking, we are fickle. I admit it. I'm fickle and lose focus. And I did.

So.

To make things right the best I can, I will pull that disgusting dust ridden cover off of you this week, reorganize and box up your components, and have a go at your engine. Here is my plan:

1. remove your cylinder head and crankshaft and send them in for machining.

2. put your fuel tank back together and fill it with fuel to prevent rust.

3. paint your fender and tail cover flat black

4. put in that massive 400 dollar order for parts on BikeBandit

I hope this will go towards amending things between us.

Yours,

DenimRider

...the end of the summer is clearly not a happening time for projects....

Well, I was going to put out a detailed writeup on the installation details of the Headlight Relay Mod for the V-strom, but all the photos I took were complete rubbish.  Impossible to orient, impossible to tell what was what. I now have far more respect for the photographers who produce service manuals.  Technical photography, like technical drawing, is an art form, truly.

So you get the frosting instead of the cake.

Before

After

Kinda hard to tell from these shots but the headlights ARE brighter.

At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Nishiki

Well, I'm working on fixing up this old Nishiki...

I got it off of CL for $60 -- some kid's older brother had it in the garage and the statute of ownership apparently had expired.

I didn't take any "before" pictures dating back to the time of purchase, so you see it here in a 50/50 state.

Got the seat, handlebars, grips, cranks, and pedals it came with (when I got it), a new (used) binder bolt from my stash for the seat, new tyres on old rims, a new chain ring (but also one of the old sprockets because I didn't find any spacers yet...

 

All the gear levers and such have been removed, but I haven't got a rear wheel built yet and I can't break down the rear hub so it's got all the extra gears on it now...

I was going to make it a dual-braking single-speed, but as you can see to the left in the pic of the chain ring, this model has an underslung rear brake (my bikie neighbor says that means it's an '86 frame, 'cause they only did that for one year). As you may be able to tell from the picture, without a derailleur, the path of the chain cuts right through where that brake would be so... this bike's going to be a fixie.

Now, I *could* mount a BMX-style brake on the top of the wheel, but... I'd rather make it 

a fixie.

Which means that these lovely old orange smashed once-basketed pedals have GOT to go.

Here's what I've done so far:

• Bored out the chain-side dropout (it was half-filled with Cromoly, because this was a multi-purpose frame apparently)
• Unbolted as much stuff as possible
• Chain ring and adjusted chain
  

And what I need to do:

• Build a rear wheel (fixie)
• Slap some new pedals on
• Decorate!

Well, I finished putting together my first fixed gear bike this weekend. Laced up a rear wheel with with new spokes to a Formula hub and an old 27" rim. Practice will be needed before I can produce a really good wheel, but for a first try it isn't too bad; just doesn't like to stay quite perfectly true! The goal in building this bike was to assemble a dirt-cheap beater, ride it a bit to see if I liked riding a fixed gear, then ebay-it and make a nice one for myself. So far I have only ridden it a very little, but it's a blast! A little scary trying to stop from speed going downhill though...

I know i promised wheel-building pictures, but I for got to take them! Maybe I'll manage to document the builds for my next fixie.

ehhhh....

Money and busyness have conspired to put an end to progress, likely until the end of this month. So much for finishing "by August". My summer's travel plans changed to involve a "car" (shudder) and this being rented and thus expensive has exacerbated the money problem. My boss being on vacation has reborn the busyness problem; so, although I haven't gone away, any new stuff is going to be limited to fits and starts of polishing, spraypainting and a bolt here or screw there. Unless I am seized with a fit of virtue this weekend and finally install the V-Strom's updated headlight wiring.

(I DID fix the brake light in the topcase last weekend, while talking on the phone. That was pretty satisfying. I heart Bluetooth.)

on a COMPLETELY unrelated note (well, okay it's nominally related to bicycles) here is a cool link lilossoljr found: www.littleredbikecafe.com