Goodmorning everyone!!
No, I've been here!! I havent gone anywhere
You guys are awesome tho, I love this forum!! Nice to know I was missed, haha...
I've been super busy lately... As you know, Im going to school second shift at the Hobart Institute of Welding in Troy, Ohio... I absolutely love it there, the other students are really cool, the instructors are awesome, and I actually look forward to going to school now, for the first time since like second grade, haha...
But, this keeps my busy from ~2 in the afternoon, to around midnight... Its a 70 mile commute for me, and the whole thing is totally worth it but it is a serious time commitment...
Annnnyway, I usually do something shop related on the weekends, but last weekend I picked up a "new" bike...
A little while back (last spring), I bought a KLR250 from a buddy of mine... But, it had some issues, and being a 250 it was honestly kind of on the slow side for our wide, flat open back roads, but it was the first bike I ever rode, and I realized that I really liked Dual-Sports when I had it...
I ended up selling it, but I always wanted the 650 version... And once it got cold out, I started religiously checking craigslist, as in a couple times a day. The beautiful thing is, that bike prices here drop by a third to half in the winter... Then shoot back up in the spring... Honestly, if I had thousands of dollars laying around, I'd buy up a few motorcycles NOW, give them a tune up and then sell them in may when it warms up and people start buying again for a nice profit...
But anyway, I found a craigslist add for a 2006 KLR650 that was about an hour away for $2000 obo... I started talking to the guy, and he sent me some pictures... It looked clean, had a good title, and came with a few extra things (tire, windshield, etc). I decided it was worth a trip to check it out...
Long story short, I drove out there and found his place, and we looked at the bike... It has a few scratches, but it was clean and un-molested, everything was there and it was in the single digits that morning. The bike was totally cold, but cranked over for two revolutions and came to life... The aftermarket pipe sounded awesome, and I took it for a "test ride" which really just comprised of my neck and fingers going numb while I ran it through the gears, did a "U" turn and opened it up coming back. I would have liked to riden it more, but everything worked and I made it back to the guy's heated garage and thawed out, haha...
I negotiated with him a little, and brought the bike home.
It's not perfect tho, the tires were worn out (front had a little life left, but the back one was bald), and the brakes weren't the best...
But I was totally pleased with the bike. The guy didnt really know much about it (just like the guy wes bought that KLR250 off)... He said it was his commuter bike, he rode it 50 miles a day to work with his lunch in the tank bag... But, he now has a couple kids and since he cant fit himself, all this stuff, both kids and their stuff on the back of the bike, he ends up driving his car anyway and the bike just sits... Atleast thats the story I heard...
I've got a lot planned for this bike... Another skid plate, some engine guards, possibly custom panniers, etc... It's gonna be fun...
The bike itself, is very easy to handle, except in the wind... Its tall, and top heavy, and acts like a sail... Which is bad, because we have HUGE amounts of wind where I live, but I've read that removing the front fender and hand guards work wonders in the wind... Plus, someone told me that putting one knee out to catch wind acts like a sail pulling the bike the other way in the wind, which I've gotten to try, and it DOES seem to help...
Anyway, I think its a blast to ride... The single-cylinder 650 is powerful, but very mellow, predictable, and controllable, and I'd say performance wise, its not much different than the Shadow 500 I have (V-twin)... I really like it...
So, thats what I spent last weekend on, haha... I've worked on a few things lately, such as the V8 tractor project (I'll include that video), we got the engine all taken apart and cleaned up. I had to make a custom harmonic balancer puller, but we finally got that removed...
I also made some custom redneck tire-spoons... I got a set of Shinko 705's for the KLR, because they're cheap and get good reviews...
But, I knew I'd have to install them... All the local places wanted $70 or more, and that was if I brought them the wheels...
So, I called up my mechanic buddy, and he said he'd done plenty of tires... I just needed some tire spoons and a valve stem tool, and he'd be more than willing to help, which was awesome of him...
I knew from my time working at TSC that they sold tire spoons, so I went out to pick a couple of them up... But then I saw they were THIRTY DOLLARS EACH!! And I needed three of them...
Holy cow, hmmm... Come to think of it, I dont think I ever sold or stocked a single tire spoon in the 9 months I worked at that store, I guess I know why haha...
Anyway, my first thought was to shape my own from some 1" flat bar stock at the house, but I knew that would just be mild steel, and I wanted something better.
So, I wandered over to the tool isle and picked up three pry-bars for $6 and $7 a piece... I found one that I thought would be perfect, but that was the only one they had in stock, so I got two more as well....
I brought them home, traced out a radius on the end, and plasma cut them round...
Then I took an abrasive wheel on my angle grinder to smooth out my cuts, and as soon as the grinder hit, I knew I wasn't working with mild steel, SWEET!
The sparks were bright with a TON of flair, I knew this was some kind of hardened tool steel, and I was thrilled, I really hoped they weren't just hardened mild steel...
Anyway, I rounded them off and then went over them with an 80 grit flap wheel to remove any tube-slicing burrs and about that time Danny arrived...
We picked up half of the bike at a time with my chain hoist (thanks again, Rich!!), and had those tires off and on in no time...
I think the new tires are a HUGE improvement, and the new brake pads are awesome as well... I still think that front tire is on there bass-ack-wards, but we mounted it according to the "ROTATION" arrow, so oh well, lol...
How'd the redneck tire spoons work? Awesomely... Only problem was, they're a little "thick" so I think I'll grind a little "meat" off the backsides of them, to thin them down a little, then cover everything in oil so they won't rust...
Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately...
I'm surprised you all missed me, haha... Thats really pretty cool... Yes, the comments posted here by someone hiding behind an anonymous name were irrating, but I didn't take them very seriously... It wasn't really a real "attack" from someone online, just someone trolling the forum, looking for a response. He brought up a legitimate point about how I acquire tools, welders, etc on a review basis, but I addressed that for the benefit of everyone else on the forum, then let him have his fun trolling about, I don't have time to deal with that kind of thing anymore...
Butttt, I get harsher words almost daily from various YouTube trolls and occasionally on other forums as well, but after posting regularly online since 2007, I've heard a lot by now and each day, it bothers me less and less, I don't lose sleep over people who just try to provoke a reaction anymore, life's too short
Annd yes, I spent the 14th with this really nice girl I've been talking to, but no lady-friend for me, haha... Usually anytime I end up in a "serious" relationship, it blows up in my face and in the end, was more trouble than it was worth, so I just kind of gave up on that for the time being....
Thanks anyway, you guys... I really like this forum...
I'm sure I'll have more to post here soon, I'm off to shoot some videos today.
Thanks for reading/watching, everyone have a nice weekend, Yeeeehaw!!
video1
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No, I've been here!! I havent gone anywhere
You guys are awesome tho, I love this forum!! Nice to know I was missed, haha...
I've been super busy lately... As you know, Im going to school second shift at the Hobart Institute of Welding in Troy, Ohio... I absolutely love it there, the other students are really cool, the instructors are awesome, and I actually look forward to going to school now, for the first time since like second grade, haha...
But, this keeps my busy from ~2 in the afternoon, to around midnight... Its a 70 mile commute for me, and the whole thing is totally worth it but it is a serious time commitment...
Annnnyway, I usually do something shop related on the weekends, but last weekend I picked up a "new" bike...
A little while back (last spring), I bought a KLR250 from a buddy of mine... But, it had some issues, and being a 250 it was honestly kind of on the slow side for our wide, flat open back roads, but it was the first bike I ever rode, and I realized that I really liked Dual-Sports when I had it...
I ended up selling it, but I always wanted the 650 version... And once it got cold out, I started religiously checking craigslist, as in a couple times a day. The beautiful thing is, that bike prices here drop by a third to half in the winter... Then shoot back up in the spring... Honestly, if I had thousands of dollars laying around, I'd buy up a few motorcycles NOW, give them a tune up and then sell them in may when it warms up and people start buying again for a nice profit...
But anyway, I found a craigslist add for a 2006 KLR650 that was about an hour away for $2000 obo... I started talking to the guy, and he sent me some pictures... It looked clean, had a good title, and came with a few extra things (tire, windshield, etc). I decided it was worth a trip to check it out...
Long story short, I drove out there and found his place, and we looked at the bike... It has a few scratches, but it was clean and un-molested, everything was there and it was in the single digits that morning. The bike was totally cold, but cranked over for two revolutions and came to life... The aftermarket pipe sounded awesome, and I took it for a "test ride" which really just comprised of my neck and fingers going numb while I ran it through the gears, did a "U" turn and opened it up coming back. I would have liked to riden it more, but everything worked and I made it back to the guy's heated garage and thawed out, haha...
I negotiated with him a little, and brought the bike home.
It's not perfect tho, the tires were worn out (front had a little life left, but the back one was bald), and the brakes weren't the best...
But I was totally pleased with the bike. The guy didnt really know much about it (just like the guy wes bought that KLR250 off)... He said it was his commuter bike, he rode it 50 miles a day to work with his lunch in the tank bag... But, he now has a couple kids and since he cant fit himself, all this stuff, both kids and their stuff on the back of the bike, he ends up driving his car anyway and the bike just sits... Atleast thats the story I heard...
I've got a lot planned for this bike... Another skid plate, some engine guards, possibly custom panniers, etc... It's gonna be fun...
The bike itself, is very easy to handle, except in the wind... Its tall, and top heavy, and acts like a sail... Which is bad, because we have HUGE amounts of wind where I live, but I've read that removing the front fender and hand guards work wonders in the wind... Plus, someone told me that putting one knee out to catch wind acts like a sail pulling the bike the other way in the wind, which I've gotten to try, and it DOES seem to help...
Anyway, I think its a blast to ride... The single-cylinder 650 is powerful, but very mellow, predictable, and controllable, and I'd say performance wise, its not much different than the Shadow 500 I have (V-twin)... I really like it...
So, thats what I spent last weekend on, haha... I've worked on a few things lately, such as the V8 tractor project (I'll include that video), we got the engine all taken apart and cleaned up. I had to make a custom harmonic balancer puller, but we finally got that removed...
I also made some custom redneck tire-spoons... I got a set of Shinko 705's for the KLR, because they're cheap and get good reviews...
But, I knew I'd have to install them... All the local places wanted $70 or more, and that was if I brought them the wheels...
So, I called up my mechanic buddy, and he said he'd done plenty of tires... I just needed some tire spoons and a valve stem tool, and he'd be more than willing to help, which was awesome of him...
I knew from my time working at TSC that they sold tire spoons, so I went out to pick a couple of them up... But then I saw they were THIRTY DOLLARS EACH!! And I needed three of them...
Holy cow, hmmm... Come to think of it, I dont think I ever sold or stocked a single tire spoon in the 9 months I worked at that store, I guess I know why haha...
Anyway, my first thought was to shape my own from some 1" flat bar stock at the house, but I knew that would just be mild steel, and I wanted something better.
So, I wandered over to the tool isle and picked up three pry-bars for $6 and $7 a piece... I found one that I thought would be perfect, but that was the only one they had in stock, so I got two more as well....
I brought them home, traced out a radius on the end, and plasma cut them round...
Then I took an abrasive wheel on my angle grinder to smooth out my cuts, and as soon as the grinder hit, I knew I wasn't working with mild steel, SWEET!
The sparks were bright with a TON of flair, I knew this was some kind of hardened tool steel, and I was thrilled, I really hoped they weren't just hardened mild steel...
Anyway, I rounded them off and then went over them with an 80 grit flap wheel to remove any tube-slicing burrs and about that time Danny arrived...
We picked up half of the bike at a time with my chain hoist (thanks again, Rich!!), and had those tires off and on in no time...
I think the new tires are a HUGE improvement, and the new brake pads are awesome as well... I still think that front tire is on there bass-ack-wards, but we mounted it according to the "ROTATION" arrow, so oh well, lol...
How'd the redneck tire spoons work? Awesomely... Only problem was, they're a little "thick" so I think I'll grind a little "meat" off the backsides of them, to thin them down a little, then cover everything in oil so they won't rust...
Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately...
I'm surprised you all missed me, haha... Thats really pretty cool... Yes, the comments posted here by someone hiding behind an anonymous name were irrating, but I didn't take them very seriously... It wasn't really a real "attack" from someone online, just someone trolling the forum, looking for a response. He brought up a legitimate point about how I acquire tools, welders, etc on a review basis, but I addressed that for the benefit of everyone else on the forum, then let him have his fun trolling about, I don't have time to deal with that kind of thing anymore...
Butttt, I get harsher words almost daily from various YouTube trolls and occasionally on other forums as well, but after posting regularly online since 2007, I've heard a lot by now and each day, it bothers me less and less, I don't lose sleep over people who just try to provoke a reaction anymore, life's too short
Annd yes, I spent the 14th with this really nice girl I've been talking to, but no lady-friend for me, haha... Usually anytime I end up in a "serious" relationship, it blows up in my face and in the end, was more trouble than it was worth, so I just kind of gave up on that for the time being....
Thanks anyway, you guys... I really like this forum...
I'm sure I'll have more to post here soon, I'm off to shoot some videos today.
Thanks for reading/watching, everyone have a nice weekend, Yeeeehaw!!
video1
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