So been feeling a lot better the last few days and so decided to start on Pearl and the transformation is now under way. One box of parts are to the powder coaters, seat frame is being welded this week, once I get the front fender off that will be all the parts going to get done. Then do the front springs and replace them with progressive 1500 Drifter springs with an extra 3/4" to stiffen up the ride a bit. Lots more to follow........
Looks like you're gonna be busy this winter... ;)
Enjoy yourself!
Never busy, this is the best form of therapy there is, sitting inside, watching the hockey game, seeing it snow outside, I have all day to tinker and to putter around with the bikes.......so much fun.......
Me I think better therapy is to actually get out and ride the girl but I guess if you live in the frozen north you can't just yet ;D. In that case tinkering is the next best thing
;) I used to be a really snow person, snow machine, downhill and cross country skiing, now because of my arthritis, I sit in the living room watch hockey and tinker on the bikes, in the summer I can spend my time riding and not worrying about having to do maintenance or upkeep on the bikes.....
Yep I hear you. For me I need to have two bikes in order to always be able to ride because here in western Washington you just got to take whatever you can get. If one of them is up on the lift for a tire change or whatever you always got the other one ready to go. So for me the maintenance tinkering is just support for the main therapy which is riding :)
Quote from: CDNRatMan on December 21, 2017, 12:39:37 PM
Never busy, this is the best form of therapy there is, sitting inside, watching the hockey game, seeing it snow outside, I have all day to tinker and to putter around with the bikes.......so much fun.......
That's my dream retirement job.... :)
:o Really bad night last night and could not sleep so used my time to putter on the bike, front hub cover is done and ready, and front end is ready to be rebuilt.....pictures to follow after supper.....
and an FYI that today is chilly outside, ambient air temp is -24*C or -11*F and because we live 2 blocks from the lake the wind chill factor is a must take into account issue here it is really -31*C or -24*F and my neighbour's battery stopped to day on his vehicle, an original and he has been messing with it for a few months......one would think to replace it with a new one before winter.....oh well....
Wow that's pretty darn cold. Sorry to see it on the news that everybody over there is in a deep freeze. Here in western Washington we got to the high 40s and no rain so I took an hour and a half ride. ::)
Man! That is way cold!
Here in the east cost of central Italy we got +15°C and a shining sun, so yesterday I went out for a short ride, after playing beach volley in the morning with some friends of mine... 8)
you suck...can I come over for a visit? LOL ;D
Well here are the pictures......
My friend, that is miles (okay kilometres) beyond tinkering.
Ratman, it looks like a hurricane has passed through your living room... ;D
What mods are happening to the seat? And I see the hub sitting on the floor near the front wheel, any issues with fitting it? I also noticed the Ratman symbol on the wall map LOL! :)
:o This is my form of therapy if only I could get VA to understand and buy me another bike to work on........
that is only till I am ready to stop for the night and everything gets cleaned up and tucked away.
The seat is being made with a custom frame, I bought this one and am using it.....as picture #1. The stock seat frame has been modified by the PO and I am going to do a bit more of a mod and add a travel trunk.....
Right now seems I have an issue with the hub cover and I'm sorting it out.....should be an easy fix I am hoping......but soon the wheels are off to powder coating......
Interesting, my hub cover won't work in it's present shape. I will make a new collar that isn't so loose and make it so it has a slight inference fit with the hub , then glue it. But first I will remove the wheel and get proper measurements. A project for another day.
I sorted out my hub cover issue and it works perfect now........
So today I remover the rear wheel and then removed the sprocket and rear disc. Found out that the rubber dampeners in the rear hub is just starting to show its age and wear, so going to order new ones and replace them now while I have the rear end apart. Once I commence the rebuild I'll check the calipers and pads for the brakes. But first the rims are off to the powder coating place........
what colour are the wheels going to be? rims only or you changing the spokes to a new colour as well?
i'm planning to powdercoat the wheels next tire change...i've watched rockinrollins video on the subject, great info!
:o Here was me thinking my good buddy tj has skipped the country, but nice to see you back again. I am going to powder coat the wheels and spokes black, to go with my theme and to incorporate the spoke covers I bought from the UK and to use my front hub cover. I am also getting the front rotor powder coated. Because the rear is so hidden I am only doing the rims and using the spoke covers the rest will be untouched.
RockinRolly's vids are awesome. I was told if the rims were trued and the spokes tight then the powder coating would not be affected. So going to go that route.
lol, i did skip the country. i'm in florida til april. brought the drifter with me. :)
will you be delacing and relacing the wheels yourself? i've watched some vids on that...seems to be doable.
Man must be nice to have the funds to travel like you do.....Poor retired disabled Vet like me having to stay here and shovel snow....anyway....no not going to do all that work. I am not able to do a lot since my last bout with my legs so I am going to have to farm some of the work out.
Yeah, once you put the bike together and put the hub cap on the front why bother powder coating the hubs, no one will see them after that.
:o because I might want to change it up......lol.........
Quote from: CDNRatMan on January 16, 2018, 09:21:50 AM
Man must be nice to have the funds to travel like you do.....Poor retired disabled Vet like me having to stay here and shovel snow....
I make it a rule to never feel bad for a guy that has 2 bikes...lol
Quote from: tj on January 17, 2018, 05:46:39 AM
I make it a rule to never feel bad for a guy that has 2 bikes...lol
What if he's too old or it's too cold for him to ride them? Then all he can do is Tinker. Of course I'm not thinking of anyone in particular ::)
Tj when you get home you should come up here for a visit or wait till the summer and ride up here, really nice ride would be to go up to Tobermory and take the Ferry across to the islands, and then over to Sudbury and then from here go down the back way to Perry Sound and then again the back roads over to London.........
Quote from: CDNRatMan on January 17, 2018, 17:17:10 PM
Tj when you get home you should come up here for a visit or wait till the summer and ride up here, really nice ride would be to go up to Tobermory and take the Ferry across to the islands, and then over to Sudbury and then from here go down the back way to Perry Sound and then again the back roads over to London.........
A summer ride sounds good!
Quote from: Tfrank59 on January 17, 2018, 11:10:08 AM
What if he's too old or it's too cold for him to ride them? Then all he can do is Tinker. Of course I'm not thinking of anyone in particular ::)
LOL. I'm thinking of a name...
Steering head is back in place and tonight I removed the old springs and cleaned the forks. Hanging to drain and will finish them tomorrow.......
Quote from: CDNRatMan on January 27, 2018, 22:48:10 PM
Steering head is back in place and tonight I removed the old springs and cleaned the forks. Hanging to drain and will finish them tomorrow.......
I feel like I might foresee this in my future. How did you know you needed new springs?
Well at 230 lbs and I can bottom them out, and they are 18 years old. New 800 (Drifter) springs should be 18" long and they will get shorter as they get older, the progressive both measure 18.3" and so they are good, and then I took the old ones and the right one is 18.00 and the left is just shy of 18" so time to swap them out.
The progressive springs are, in theory, an upgrade to the stock springs - in addition to the stock springs being old and worn out (like Ratman). When I did the swap to progressives, with new fluid it greatly improved the ride and handling. This is one of the Top 3 upgrades to the 800, IMO.
Let me refresh everyone on this I am swapping the stock springs out for springs for a 1500 and have added 0.05 " to the spacers so instead of 3.5" I am going with 4" and sticking with 10 w oil and the recommended amount.
Quote from: CDNRatMan on January 28, 2018, 15:18:45 PM
Let me refresh everyone on this I am swapping the stock springs out for springs for a 1500 and have added 0.05 " to the spacers so instead of 3.5" I am going with 4" and sticking with 10 w oil and the recommended amount.
Question, does progressive not make front springs for the 800? Is that why you had to increase the spacer by 0.5 in?
Reading some of your past threads regarding the front springs, a lot of you guys opted for the 1500 due to being a better spring (built for more wight). Looking at the web site, I don't see an option for an 800 drifter, just 1500. I'm assuming that the front ends of the 1500 and 800 are basically interchangeable. The only question i guess is why add the 0.5 spacer? Maybe i'm missing something.
You are correct in that the 1500 and 800 front ends are near interchangeable. The extra 0.5" on the spacer is for personal preference. On Red I had added 1/4" more and found that it carried my weight better and as a 2 up rider it was that much better in my opinion. So when I decided to build Pearl to the theme I am going with and as a solo rider I opted for a stiffer ride.
When I did Red a few years ago I called and talked to the techs at progressive and they were extremely helpful, we talked about body weight and what I was after and they had a few suggestions. On the rear shock I added 2 full turns to the preload and that was bang on so will do that again on Pearl.
Ok that makes more sense. Thanks for clarifying that.
You were talking about your solo seat and wanting to do some modifications to it. What where you looking to do? I'm assuming this is on pearl.
you watchin' a porno while you drain your tubes? 8)
Quote from: Pilgrim on February 12, 2018, 13:22:48 PM
you watchin' a porno while you drain your tubes? 8)
In my opinion that's the best way to drain a tube...
Mr. Pilgrim, I was watching wholesome American TV about your wonderful president and his ideas. I also left them hanging to drain properly, no rush in life it is to short to rush around......
I know you was...I like your set up. I imagine the longer they drain the better. I dont know if this was proper but I rinsed mine out with kerosene then a final rinse with fork oil...then filled. Black gunk came out.
Went with 10w also.
Well you did this correctly. Always use kerosene to rinse the forks out, as it will not harm the seals. I also have a pair of baby bottle brushes on a long wooden dowel........I poured out the old oil, poured in a bit of Kerosene and then ran the brushes up and down a few times, added some more kerosene and shook it up, careful ass it might expand forcefully. Then I drained them and hung them for a good overnight hanging. Also used 10w for the fork oil.
You should notice a nice ride, and perhaps time to take the grandson for a ride, bet he would be thrilled..........might consider bringing him to Rendezvous 19 in the Soo.......
Rendezvous in the Soo, that's kind of catchy! ;D
:onTo which I really hope my favorite Aunt shows up and she can even drag her old man along.........
Well my progressive rear shock came this morning and so one more step forward, then the people doing my cover called and said everything was done but the tank so I went to pick them parts up and when I got home the powder coater called to let me know that all my parts were done so in the morning off to collect those parts, so now just the custom seat frame and the seat getting reupholstered and we can slowly start to transformation.......
:o one teaser for you....
Oh I like that! Can't wait for the powder coating people to call me.
:o depends on what they call you.......so only thing left is the seat frame and then the seat itself.......everything is now here and waiting to get mounted and the build to start......
Quote from: CDNRatMan on March 07, 2018, 23:46:27 PM
:o one teaser for you....
Cool...is that a Raven, Pigeon or a Dove?
:o boy people can not tell a Raven from a dove or a black bird......really glad I am not hunting with you people.......
Maybe a chicken-hawk? could it be a chicken-hawk?
That's one cool bird, Ratman.... so far my favorite part of the new build....
Chicken Hawk.....you are now showing your age because not many on here remember the chicken hawk from the FogHorn Leg Horn cartoon shows.....and the little boy with the glasses who is the widow woman's son.......
Quote from: CDNRatMan on March 08, 2018, 21:52:01 PM
Chicken Hawk.....you are now showing your age because not many on here remember the chicken hawk from the FogHorn Leg Horn cartoon shows.....and the little boy with the glasses who is the widow woman's son.......
LOL, one of my favorite shows
Quote from: greenbarn on March 08, 2018, 21:25:56 PM
Maybe a chicken-hawk? could it be a chicken-hawk?
That's one cool bird, Ratman.... so far my favorite part of the new build....
Could be a "Rare Bird" like Ratman...lol
Well the valve check was completed today on both bikes and happy to report that both bikes have fallen will within the specs.
Red has now 66,394 km or 41,256 miles on the clock
Pearl, now due to the transformation will be called Raven has a mere 18, 193 km or 11,304 miles on the clock.
So now to button up Red and she is ready for the road, and now to start on the actual build on Raven, and the new rear shock is here and so we are good to go......
Will you be known as Birdman or Ratman? ???
Quote from: RockinRollin on March 19, 2018, 08:46:03 AM
Will you be known as Birdman or Ratman? ???
I guess it depends on if he rides Red or Pearl... ;)
After 63 year of taking up space and having the moniker of RatMan since even before kindergarten I will always be RatMan to my friends....... Tracy H. however can still call me sweetie.........
Really? She doesn't call me sweetie! >:(
:o But then she is married to you...lol....and she wants her horse trailer...........so she can call you anything she pleases.....lol....
Well last night I took the rear shock off, well tried, but the lower bolt would not budge and ended up taking the whole swing arm off. You want to talk about dirty and full of grease and chain lube and gunk. So about 2100 I took the whole part and off to the car wash and pressure washing, so got it clean till I got it home......there was some really caked on goop.
So got it cleaned and now top repair the missing zerk (grease nipple) fitting......that container had clean kerosene in it at the start and once it was used to clean the what I thought was clean tie rod it was not so clean. So just to clean the old grease out and repair the damaged hole and install a new zerk fitting, replace the grease with a good marine grade grease and then we can reinstall the swing arm......
Looks like you're really getting into it! Good job gettin that baby clean. 8)
Thanks Gene, but I now know that all the PO's were not worried about under the visual for getting things clean just what people could see in a walk by. I am getting it cleaned and right to the metal less of course the paint. This will hit the road in about 30 to 40 days if I do not run into anymore snags. Once I can get it outside and get some really nice pictures I will post them.....
Can't wait to see them... ;)
:o and another teaser picture.....tonights project......
::) and this from my Uncle Malcolm in the UK....
Quote from: CDNRatMan on April 06, 2018, 23:35:15 PM
::) and this from my Uncle Malcolm in the UK....
Wow!...that's sharp.
Thank you TJ you can see it in person in 2019 at the Soo Rendezvous .......
Andy, Sir, may I ask you how much it took for both of them?
If the price is not very high, I'd like to buy them...
Marco are you after the spoke covers? I can ask Malcolm if he has nay more left, and you would want them what polished steel or in black?
Marco I just got an email from Malcolm and he is got a set of front ones ready and is waiting for a set of rear ones and they will cost about 110.00 GB and about 30.00 GB for shipping, so around 140.00 British pounds for the set. They are either really easy to slip on or a bit of a pain but they do look somewhat different, and with the black powder coated rims they look really awesome. I have asked Malcolm if I can pass his personal email on to you or you can go on FB and find him on there......
Thanx a lot, Andy, for your kind help.
I'd like to go with the blacked ones.
I'm not on FB (and seein' what is happenin' there because of the datagate, I'm happy with my decision... 8) ), so if Malcom is willing to pass me his personal email that's OK for me.
BTW: 140 BP are 160 Euro... a bit pricey!
I think I'll have to justify the purchase as a personal gift for my next birthday, or my wife will be very disappointed! ;)
Quote from: mittico68 on April 12, 2018, 01:54:22 AM
I think I'll have to justify the purchase as a personal gift for my next birthday, or my wife will be very disappointed! ;)
Or better yet.... buy them as a birthday gift for your wife!!! I'm sure she'll love them 8)
8) buy them and then tell your wife that GreenBarn is paying for them and you just are waiting for the cheque to clear......
Quote from: CDNRatMan on April 25, 2018, 22:53:32 PM
8) buy them and then tell your wife that GreenBarn is paying for them and you just are waiting for the cheque to clear......
Now that is a GREAT idea!
GB, I'll email you my bank account... ;D
Quote from: mittico68 on April 26, 2018, 01:36:27 AM
Now that is a GREAT idea!
GB, I'll email you my bank account... ;D
OK, make sure to provide your electronic password, so I can make sure the deposit goes through, LOL!!! :o
Marco.......another teaser picture........
Andy, looks like a real good job!
I can't wait to see the whole bike together...