sweet mother of God!

Yesterday we picked up the crankcase from BnC and grabbed a few supplies, including White Castle. Then we headed to the shop to start work. The new clutch pack is in, new gaskets all around and the engine is now assembled! I skipped working on the wiring harness so we could install the engine. It took some serious effort and I think a shoe horn was involved but we finally got the 140lb chunk of metal wedged into the frame.

From here on out, it's a lot of minor things like sprockets, headlight, reconnect the wiring harness and other misc things. But getting that engine in felt like a major step. There's still about 3 months left before prime riding time starts up and I think it might actually be running by then. Still needs to be tuned and timed but we'll deal with that once everything else is done. I was going to switch over to a solid state ignition module but I'm gonna wait until after it runs.

The Red Queen got some cool pics of us working and there will be more to come once she gets her film developed and I find our scanner. We're still trying to find a CL or CB 450 for her, so if you know of one for sale, let me know. There's gotta be a few sitting around the midwest that I can pick up for a couple hundred bucks.

Here you go, a real pick of my 1973 CL450 Frankencycle:

woohoo!!

BnC just called, the crankcase is done and in great shape! They went through checked, tested and cleaned everything. The oil pump is working great and even the old clutch pack is still good. But, I'm gonna replace that since I already have a brand new one. So, the plans have changed a bit for Saturday's wrenching session. Shouldn't take us long to assemble the engine and get it thrown in the bike. The hardest part will be finding all the mounting hardware! We'll have to tackle the wiring first. Then move on to the engine transplant. Pictures will be taken, fun will be had and there might even be some tool throwing. I'm giddy like a little kid before Christmas! There's still plenty to do after the engine is in but it's pretty rinky dink stuff.

hehehehe....

nice!

Busy busy weekend ahead, lots of shop time, dinner with friends from out of town and misc other things to accomplish. Still no word about my crankcase but I've got a handy dandy list of what needs to be done this weekend. Hopefully the RedQueen will be feeling well enough to go with us, she's been sickly. Maybe I'll return with some pics from this weekend.

I found a couple of Sportys that are pretty kick ass. It would be a hell of a project to build one of these. But I think it might be my next goal. Won't be anytime soon but something to look forward to. I don't hate HD or even dislike them. I dislike the rolling billboards and the Harley snobs. Unfortunatly this town is full of them . I could definitly cruise one of these monstrosities. I wonder how the V-Twin, in all it's shaky glory would hold up as a "sport" bike, like these.

Hmm..... wonder how much you could get an older, perhaps slightly damaged sportster for. I don't think it would take much to do this conversion, but that tank has got to be atleast $400. Probably take a load of cash to convert it to chain drive as well. Definitly have to stick with the spoke rims, the look so much better than mag style. That's one of the many factors that made me decide not to do the CBR disc swap on the CL450. Gonna go with an older CB disc for the front and keep the rear drum. But that all depends on how bad the front drums are, if I can tolerate it, then I'm gonna keep 'em stock. Save the swap money for other ideas.

Behold the coolest Harelys ever to tear up the asphalt:

break something, fix something

Made it to the shop today and did a little work. I picked up a pair of new (to me) shocks from Cycle Recycle and a universal brake lever. But the micro switch in my old lever was smoked so I guess my brake light won't work except w/my rear brake. No big deal, use them both at the same time. Got the new on/off switch control module thingy installed but not wired. I had to literarlly destroy my headlight housing (cheap plastic that was already broken). I refuse to try to connect all those damn wires behind my headlight and jam that rats nest in there. So, I'm gonna go with a universal headlight and just heat wrap all those wires. I also pulled the harness apart and decided to rewire it another time. The new ignition switch has to be extended and I found a switch holder from some other Honda that I need to go back to CRC2 to buy. So, I guess I made some progress but also set myself back a little bit.

No matter what I do it just doesn't seem to get me any closer to being mobile. But I think a big portion of that is the large gapping hole where my engine will go. Seems to make all the work pointless. Oh well, BnC is gonna start on my crankcase next week. So, maybe I'll have the damn engine back and ready to rock in a week or 2. I'll post some pics once it's in. Monday, we're putting the big ass work bench in the shop. I won it for $20 at work in a silent auction. Here's a pic but it won't have the big white flimsy shelf on top.

to the dungeon with you!

So I'm working at the other hospital now, doing the E911 thing again. Oh the joy.

The Red Queen and I ended up making a hurried trip to TN due to a family emergency. Things aren't as bad as we thought but time will tell. Funks, the Queen and I are gonna try to get some wrench time in this weekend. I've got to take my manual up to BnC and maybe hit the parts shop for some misc items. I'm gonna try to get a universal brake lever and bar end mirrors. Still no word about my crankcase but I'll ask while I'm at BnC. I got my cam chain and ignition switch in the mail. Now I need to get a good chain breaker so I won't ruin another cam chain. There's lots of little rinky dink stuff I need to buy but I'm waiting to get the engine installed first. I need custom cables made, brake shoes, sprockets, a chain and new tires. I found some kick ass Dual Sport tires by Avon. I believe they're called the Distanzas. Still need to order my brainbucket, sticking with the Simpson GS3-MX. The weather is still flip flopping like mad. Yesterday it was 20-something with snow and ice. Today it's gonna hit the mid 50's. I think Mother Nature needs some meds because she seems to be a bit bipolar. Hahhaa..that's a pun, laugh dammit, it's funny! Probably the best pun you'll hear for the next 5 or 6 years.

back to work...

shop time

This weekend Funkz and I will be hitting the shop. He's pulling his rotors and prepping them to be turned and then cross drilled. I'll be hiting Cycle Recycle to grab a few items I need to finish before the engine comes back. Thankfully, I found a camchain on ebay that uses a master link and even a new ignition switch with not one but two keys! I have some wiring to tackle, parts to prep and other misc odds and ends to take care of. Funkz has the most work to do but it's better than not having anything to do. The RedQueen is heading to TN tomorrow so she'll miss out on the grease monkey time but I told her there's plenty of things to do. I'm still in awe that she had fun helping me rip apart the old engine and wants to help work on my bike. She even still wants to get one of her own someday. Definitly super cool!


-red

mission complete

The Queen and I dropped off the crankcase to BnC. They're gonna check through it, clean it up and possibly build me a 16mm locknut socket. This mythical socket is required to change my poor excuse for an oil filtration system, ye olde centrifical sludge trap. Many hours of searching has yielded no sources for such a socket. I was going to have my grandfather make one since he's the head machinist but he's being forced into early retirement. So that's a bust but maybe BnC can make one. Probably cost me an pretty penny but I'll need it.

I think the crankcase might be done in a few weeks. To bad I'm being transfered to a different hospital. Now, I can't skip lunch and leave a little early to pick it up when it's ready. I'll have to do it on a Saturday. I'm not happy about going to the East hospital but I'm a contractor so I have no choice but to obey. Plus it's why they hired me on. Time to build another 10,000+ phone number database with location and user info. Oh the joy! Last one took me about 7 months, I hope this goes much much faster. I'm trying to get the boss to assign someone to help me with the project so I can get my scrawny ass back to the North hospital. Anywho, enough of this, time for breakfast.

I picked up my new crankcase yesterday. While I was digging through the backroom of the shop, something caught my eye. At first, all I saw was the vintage Honda tank w/the rubber knee pads. Then I noticed the scrambler exhaust.
So, I wheel it out and I'm in shock. Sitting before me is a 1965 Honda CL72! I tracked down the owner and he said it runs and he'll take $800 for it. We tried to kick her over but no go. So, they're gonna clean it up a bit and see if she'll start. I'm gonna check back in month or so.
If they still have it then I'm gonna make a low ball offer. It definitly needs a good once over, a tail light and some signals but nothing too bad. My better half recently said she wants to find a cool bike (cue the heavenly music) and ride with me. So, I'm thinking that would make a hell of a first bike! Definitly need to make some changes, like a standard ignition instead of points and some other mods but nothing major.

So what do you guys think? Worth the $$$? I'm gonna try to low ball him starting at $500 but only if they get it running.

Tomorrow, The Red Queen (my better half) and I are gonna play grease monkeys. We'll be tearing down the new engine I bought so I can get the crankcase to the machine shop. I'm still pretty stoked about that CL72. It's a rolling piece of history. She'd definitly be the only person in town riding a 41 year old Honda. We'll probably fight over who gets to ride it some days, it's just too cool not to ride. But, I'm trying to not get my hopes up about it because they might not have it by the time I get my tax check. If not, I'll find something equally as cool for her.

In non-vintage news, yesterday Funkz (owner of the CB750SS) and I gave stripper bike (the EX500) a good rolling start and slammed her into 2nd. The gates of heaven opened up and rained heavenly light upon us as we heard the engine cycle over and try to start! She's not locked up but will probably need a rebuild regardless. It's not my project, it's my buddy Mark's when ever he gets around to starting it. It's a pretty sweet little scoot, especially without all that stupid plastic. Looks hella MadMax meets Akira. So, if he never starts working on it, I might take it over. But that's all just speculation. The CL450 has full priority until the day it runs. Still pondering the full disc swap but one thing at a time.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun New Year's Eve. Here's to 2006, it's gonna be a great year!