Category Archives: fun

Putting Spiky Bike back together

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Real progress! Yay!

Today three friends came over and helped me do a bunch of stuff to my RD.

We got the frame stabilized and whew, that was tough. Time for a break and some homemade beer!

Ah, that’s better. Now to install the motor!

I’m sure there’s a joke here… “how many guys does it take to install an engine into an RD350?”

Ba-dum-cha!

Success was ours!

I’m probably going to need a new kickstarter at some point. This one has cracks.

We got the swingarm and rear wheel on – and for some reason I have no photos of that.

Next we tackled the wiring harness. What a tangled mess we weave…. Oh, wait, that’s something else. We got the harness set up pretty good, but ended up losing our light before we got to really get into troubleshooting it. So, more work on that soon.

I’m not sure what Dino is doing to my bike here, but I’m sure it’s something naughty.

Okay, so I do know what he was doing with his arm up to the elbow in my bike. He was hiding some electrical bits under the tank!

from a different angle:

More hidden electrical bits:

With a little help from my friends

I’ll be tearing around on my RD around soon!

track days

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Watching the dark morning sky lighten while packing last-minute almost forgotten items into the car. Driving to the track early in the morning before church-goers, while the late-night partiers sleep… It is often cold on those mornings and staying snuggly in bed might seem like a more comfortable alternative, but we have a disease that compels us out of the warmth into the brisk morning.

There is fog rising from the road today as I turn off the main road to the racetrack. It is beautiful swirling low and cloudy thick. I haven’t seen fog since I left Illinois and even though it means the air is cold, it makes me a little giddy with delight.

I pull into the pit area and scan around for a space to park and set up. I’m late and the pits are already pretty parked up. I drive through and find a perfect spot sandwiched between two friends.

One of the draws to this life is the camaraderie. I pull out my canopy and without a word suddenly there are three people helping me unfold it and set it up. A mug of hot coffee appears in my hands as a welcome warmup.

I sit in my little set up watching bikes ride by. People wave, friends stop by to chat. It’s social with a purpose.

The sky is clear and it has finally warmed up to the point where we can no longer see our breath. The ever-present squeak of race boots and the stiff leather-clad walk of riders walking by are familiar and always make me feel a little like I’m home.

Aug 18

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Today was a garage day full of swearing and pain and some success.

Started the morning by taking apart my top tripple in my hoopty set up.
Would have been easier if the vice was attached to anything.

Then I pulled the swingarm to check the bushings.
Stock ones are plastic, so people usually replace them with either steel or bronze.
Mine still has the plastic bushings.

Of course I got a little over-excited about taking something apart (yay disassembly or destruction!), and I forgot to check the swingarm play before I took it off. Der.

So, guess I’ll put it back on (hell, it’s only three nuts) and check. Then I’ll take it back off and paint it.

Now this is a naked bike:

I wanted to take the wheels in to get sand blasted, but first I had to get the rotor and sprocket off the rear wheel and the tires off. I needed leverage cuz the damn thing kept rolling around! So, I set it on a box and wedged it between the wall and some shelving.

There are little tabs that hold the nuts in place. Since I have no chisel… I had to make do.

Each time I hit the screwdriver, I thought, “please don’t shatter the handle!” It worked great! I got the rotor off with only a little swearing.

The sprocket proved to be a little more stubborn. I got the nuts off with only minor injury to my pinky finger from it crashing into the sprocket after a particularly stubborn nut decided to loosen abruptly. I probably should put some ice on it. It’s still kinda swollen.

It took me a while, a lot of sweat and swearing, but I got the nuts off. (that just does not sound right)

However, there is a pesky and rather large circlip holding the damn thing on. I also have no circlip pliers and my round-about efforts were in vain.

Luckily, the fine folks at Apache Motorcycle Scottsdale (7340 East McDowell Road) got the circlip and sprocket off for me when they took my tires off.

Once that was completed, I dropped them off at the Arizona Powdercoaters to get sandblasted. Whoohoo!

It would cost $45 per wheel to get powdercoated, so I’m just gonna paint em with the hardcore PJ-1. (and do touch-ups when necessary. heh)

Onward and forward.