Donation Cessation

That's right I tanked the donation button. Turns out it makes me uncomfortable taking money from people I know. And truth be told I am at the best spot financially than I have been in a long time so it just strikes a funky chord with me. I appreciate it but there are people out there in this economy much more in need of your help than me.
For everyone that has donated I have something special for you when this is over. Thanks again I really appreciate it!

Order of progression

Well the fender mounting block showed up yesterday. But I don't really need it until the back wheel is on. Here's how things are going to progress as I see it. I need to get the back wheel on the axle and centered and spaced out. Then I can get the correct offset tranny sprocket to finish up the drive line. Then I have to get the gas tank and mounts. Because once I have that set up I can call the dreaded mobile welder so he can come out and weld on the rear caliper anchor, the fender mounting block and the tank mounts all at once.
The it will be handlebars and foot controls. Then the wiring. And maybe on last poll to decide on a seat style. But my reach to the bars will be the biggest factor in deciding the seat. Then the wiring. And someone please in the next 30 to 45 days remind me about the kickstand. I swear this thing will come back from paint and I will have it all together with 5 minutes to spare before leaving for work and I will put my foot down and start fishing for a kickstand that isn't there. I just can't for the life of me remember to find and order a kickstand!

Todays Update

The sprotor arrived today at 6pm by UPS but since it was the only thing all I could do was bolt the sprotor to the rear wheel. Without the axle or spacers I couldn't do anything else.

Earlier I also reordered the spacer set, I found someone who had it in stock for a buck or two cheaper, so I ordered it. I also found a fender for the front tire for a real cheap $25 dollars so I ordered that as well.

Now if the spacers and the axle could just show up before next week I can back in the swing of things. I do know if that axle doesn't show by Monday I am going to be pissed. How do you just forget a order?

I really don't get this industry, one guy forgets my order completely, another company in pompano beach I ordered a fender mounting block from the same day I ordered the sprotor from a guy in Van Nuys California and the sprotor gets here first. The tracking info for the mounting block still says they have received info to expect the package for mailing but they don't have it yet. Of course it sat in "to be shipped" status for 4 days. But the guy in Manchester New Hampshire sends my fender supports so fast I got them before the money left my account. Literally by United States Post Office Priority mail from New Hampshire to here in 5 days.

I tell ya if you were to open a shop in the Southeast somewhere and just ship fast and be fair with prices you could make a fortune. Just by being reliable you would strike it rich.

Oh, here are the fender supports, beautifully chromed excellent workmanship. This guy will get my repeat business.

Watch Repair Anyone?

As you may or may not have known, to remove the transmission pulley and change it to a sprocket you have to remove what is called the super nut. This nut is 1 7/8 inches. Unless you routinely work on aircraft carriers or Abrams tanks you will never in your life, with the exception of a Harley have a need for a 1 7/8 inch socket.

Most of us have the standard 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 inch drives. This socket is a 3/4 inch drive. We are now in the BMF range of sockets. This socket was $28 just for the socket at Sears. So I went to harbor freight and got the set below on sale for $44. Not the same quality but when am I ever going to use it again? On the plus side the ratchet is so big that nut gave it up like a schoolgirl on prom night and I have a new self defense weapon to carry in the car. I threw the quarter in there for comparison.

The nut is now off and the pulley also so its back to waiting on parts for some forward movement! I was planning on it taking a little longer so I would have something to do all day. Oh well I guess I will walk the dogs around the lake.

Oh and did someone mention schoolgirl? Remember these important words of advice...

Two ups for screw ups!

Well I finally got tired of waiting for the axle I ordered 20 days ago so I dropped the guy a email and he said he has no record of the order so he has no idea what happened to it. He is making me a new one and shipping it UPS. And the spacer kit I ordered is on back order which explains why the money never came out of my account. The notice email of the parts being on back order was for some reason routed to the junk folder and just discovered by me this evening.

So this week is pretty much a write off. When the rear brake set up gets here I will be able to bolt it to the wheel but I have no axle to hang it all on and no spacers to space it out with so I won't be able to order the correct offset tranny sprocket. So I am now a week behind. The upside is if the axle ever does make it I will just measure out the spacers I need and buy them separately. I had ordered a 23 piece kit of varying sizes in the interest of saving time and having what I needed on hand; and needing the others somewhere down the line but oh well.

So once again we have proven that the squeaky wheel gets the grease and the quiet patient one gets fucked. So once again here's my sign...

A quicky for King Richard

Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics professor and says, "I don't understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?" The professor replied, "I don't have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I'll be glad to explain it to you." The student agreed. At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor's house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool. They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, "First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can." The student did as he was instructed. The professor then continued, "Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it." The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told. The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool. The confused student asked, "Excuse me, but why are we doing this?" The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper. The student didn't think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough. However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad. The student finally replied, "All we're doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you'll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!" The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile, "Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill."

Thank You!

Thank You! Thank You! You know who you are, and what you did has been done precious few times. Thank You again, may karma pay you back sevenfold! Number one is already on the way! But more of that later in person!
But now if you all will excuse me I have had a incredibly, itchy throat since Wednesday and I am going to see if I can't get the toilet brush down there and give it a good scratching!

Just for Fun!

Another graduate of Tom's school of parenting on the loose!

Da Tank!

This is the tank I have decided on, but the seller has a crappy reputation around the forums. So I placed a small order with them earlier this week and we will see if they can handle that before I drop anymore coin on them!

It has a flush mount hotmatch pop up gas cap installed and they go for $60 apiece by themselves. The tank looks like it was made for my frame, I hope they come through!

Poll Complete!

Thanks again to everyone who participated as I mentioned in a earlier post I ordered them already because it was payday and I wanted them to get on their way. Thankfully I did order the machine gun style. They took a pretty good early lead so I was pretty confident in the outcome!