April already?

Well I finally solved the rim problem...I had to abandon the Sportster 21" front wheel, as it is simply too wide for my stock forks. I went with a 21", 64 hole front rim from Mike's XS, and a beautiful stock 64 hole hub off of ebay. I purchased a 6" wide flat panel rear fender, and am looking forward to welding on the plate for the ignition, rear master brake cylinder, and the fender bungs. I'm going to invest in a chain tensioner from Monster Craftsman.com

I signed up for a welding class so I can do this stuff myself rather than paying someone else to do it for me.

Not the happiest with my TC Bros hartail....

I received my frame back from TC Bros with the 3" hartail. It looks as pretty as one could hope, but the welds, without regard for the high price I paid to have them do it, are amateurish and shit. The cross sections aren't finished (single, spot welds) and the connecting welds are bulky, incomplete, or even cracked (in one spot). For the amount of press that these guys get in the XS650 world, I assumed their product would have been better than Elswick, or even a completely new frame from Ardcore. Such a pity...I was really excited too.
I'm going to see a fella about cleaning up the welds tomorrow. Grrr.

Spring Training Started today!

The greatest sport ever is back, and Boston plays tomorrow in their first spring training game. I just watched an amazing documentary by the gifted Ken Burns on MLB tonight...emotional barely covers how it made me feel.

Can't wait to get a game in at Fenway this year! Any trip to Boston is NOT complete without a trip to see the Monstah (and gallons of Dunkin Doughnuts regular). My kids are crazy excited, as this will be their first time to Fenway. I am, however, still bitter about losing Jason Bay.....

Still waiting on my frame to come back from TC Bros, and don't really have a return time. The only upside, is that I have time to put together all the other parts for the project and mock up. Need to get to work on the engines though....

Week over, thank-fucking-all-that-is-good.

What a completely shite week! Pressure was on at work, and progress (despite heroic and herculean efforts on my part) was suh-low. Over now, and I got my new router/network up and running at home.

Waiting for my frame to come home....looking forward to getting that back. Got to get a few things welded on, and then mock it up. Will wait on powder coating until I can dress the engine properly, and ensure that it all fits, and I don't need a bung here, or a tab there.

That's that, Matress Man.

Stalemate, biznatch!!

Well...I don't have my frame back from TC Bros, and I'm torn as to what I'm-a do next...
I need to start the teardown on both of my engines, and PERHAPS re-phase one or both. As well, there is the question as to do the powdercoat on my parts now or wait until the mock up is done. Oh, but what to do, what to do first? Hmmm.

Must finish XS650 by summer....but do it right.

Still to do:
create internal throttle for 7/8th bars
powdercoat frame, tanks, fender, headlight bucket
Work the kickstart
rebuild both engines and carbs
fashion triple trees to widen front tire, accepting the harley 21" front wheel hub

Short list, but damn...the hardest stuff left.

Measure once, cut twice, swear loudly....

So... So! When purchasing parts for any motorcycle build, one must abstain from impulse purchase, and certainly quell the desire to break the bank upon the starting gun. Measure twice, buy once...oh, the agony.

What - the - fuck....

I bought a brand new set of Harley Sportster wheels and tires, at a sweet as hell price, and didn't stop to measure the hub width. Jackass! Now I'm out $400 bones, sitting on some pretty (albeit useless) wheels, and need to come up with a solution. I think that a Sporty triple tree, some good tig welding, and a few beers might fix it...we'll see.

Wish me luck! Oh, and I love boobies. That must be written down somewhere.

The Project updates....

So I met a really cool cat in town today. I met up at his place I bought a motor, which is really my practice disassemble/re-build motor. He is also into the XS650s, rock-a-billy, tats, all the good stuff, as well as being a pretty down to earth fella. I hope to throw some business his way, as well to get to know him better. One can never enough good people to hang out with; beers, building bikes, etc.

The addition of this engine makes virtually everything that I need to build a second bike. We'll see...

You don't have to follow the crowd to be beautiful.

I'm so happy...a little more money down the drain!

I purchased a motorcycle lift today, so that when my frame gets back from TC Bros, I'll be able to get it on the lift and assemble the mocked up bike right away. Super excited about it, just not the price tag. Setting aside money for this project was the smartest idea yet (and trust me, those are far and few between!)

Really pumped about the prospect of riding this summer. The only real expense and issues now are powder coating, and whether or not to rebuild the engine or just clean the carbs and roll with it... To do it right, or to get it on the road quickly, that is the dilemma! Need to find a good, and not super expensive mechanic, and powerdercoating company.

The XS650 is the most exciting project I've had in some time, and the most costly as well. We shall see!