Tonight I tweaked the battery box a little and dropped it into the rear frame loop...







After that, I scrubbed various electrical components with dish soap and very hot water:





Guess which tool I've used the most so far in this venture.

It's not the grinder or saw, none of the wrenches or even a hammer...

It's this:

The frame's about 85% detabbed, but I ran out of sanding disks, so I gotta get some more before I can finish that part.



Meanwhile, I'm test fitting the seat, trying to figure out how best to attach it to the frame so as not to get poked by any bolts...



I called around and found a sandblasting kit at the local Tractor Supply, like $20 and the media is $7 for a fifty pound bag.

I took the plunge and started detabbing my frame tonight:







There's no going back now...

I decided that if I was going to remove my engine, I might as well take my bike completely apart and repaint the frame.









I see a lot of work in my near future...

Oh, my back...

Oh man, I'm beat to shit. It was a hell drive, but well worth it.

I was expecting a boring drive, but there were no boring parts. At all.

I set out yesterday afternoon in the Nissan Sentra. It's getting a bit long in the tooth, but is a great little car. 1600cc sixteen valve engine with variable valve timing, surprisingly peppy, but the CV axles are going away... more on that later.

It was pissing down rain the whole trip, just buckets and sheets and dogs and cats. The truckers on I-44 must be all jacked up on chickenshit bathtub crank, they drive like crack addled monkeys, throwing up these huge rooster tails of water, tailgating me, boxing me in, cutting me off, and here I am in this little white pill of a car.



I followed the turnpike to it's end, then I was in Missouri for 2.7 miles, then into Kansas. Took a wrong turn which added about 40 miles to the trip, but I eventually made it to find beck grilling in the rain:



We did our little deal, it was a good haul:







I got to meet the real Dirty Sanchez in person:





Then there was dinner!



Plus beverages and fun!



I napped for a couple hours and set out about 3:00 AM. I was hoping that the storm had gone past us, but it was just more of the same all the way home. The CV axles are just about toast and the engine used 2.5 quarts of oil to get home (that's 100 miles per quart). My theory is that the transmission shares oil with the engine, and the wobbling CV axles are beating the seals to shit and slinging oil. I'll blast the oil off at the car wash tomorrow see if I can tell where it's coming from.

Needless to say, I was really pleased to arrive safely back in East Goatfuck...

I'm driving to Kansas today to pick up (most of) another engine for my motorcycle. It's just like mine, but only has 16,000 miles on it, whereas I have no idea how many mine has on it, but my transmission is about clapped out. The valves from this other engine went into Action Man's engine a couple years ago.

I'm getting this other engine for fifty bucks and a case of Dublin Dr. Pepper, plus I've been promised a nice steak when I get there! Yummmm!

It's going to be a long, flat, boring drive, but at least the stereo in the Sentra rocks balls, which will keep me sane. Think I'll be playing the new Breeders album most of the way.



Since I have to remove my engine, I think I'll go ahead and strip my motorcycle all the way down and repaint the frame...

Stay tuned (all six of you) for more!

I'm glad I decided to tear into this thing, turns out one of my cam chain guides is broken.

Not worn out, broken, like rent asunder:







I found the little piece in the oil pan.

Who knows how long it's been like this? Probably as long as I've had it! I think it says something for the mighty KZ platform that I could ride it this way for years and it never complained...

As soon as I got home I found another one on eBay, snagged it for $15 on a buy it now. Hopefully that'll show up soon, and in the meantime I plan to thoroughly clean the head, block, pistons and pan. Maybe I'll do some light porting, just to clean up casting flash & such, nothing radical.

Also, remember how I told you guys the story of finding this bike buried in a sand dune? Well, when I was pulling the block, I found more of that sand! A little of it fell down inside the engine, but I dropped the pan and ran most of a big can of WD-40 down through there, so just cross your fingers...

Meanwhile, my back hurts & I'm tired! I predict that I'll be crippled up tomorrow...

Well, I've dropped my bike off at Action Man's garage. My baby's going under the wrench!

I find myself unexpectedly... melancholic. I suppose this must be what a parent feels like when they first drop off their child at school. I'm excited, though: Today begins the surgery!

Riding over there, the bike handled great with the new shocks, cornered like it was on rails! What's surprising is that I'm going to have to back the spring preload off a notch to soften the ride. I've always had to crank the preload up all the way 'cause I like a firm ride (and I'm a hefty fella), but these shocks came from a heavier bike so they have stiffer springs.

Brace yourselves! Many pictures of motorcycle parts to come in the following days...

I finally finished modifying these shock absorbers late last night...



I installed them in the dark... by feel...

Here you can see Goofy inspecting things:



By turning her back and feigning indifference, she signals her approval:



I haven't taken it for a test ride (it was about 3:00 AM when I finished, I was tired, it was about 50 degrees and I'm fighting a cold, plus the Kerker exhaust might wake the old man). I did bounce up and down on the seat and can say that these feel quite a bit more lively, plus they're an inch taller which I'm thinking will help the handling...

Today it's pissing down rain, same forecast for tomorrow, so my test ride will have to wait...