DEATHtank and various other things.

Oh man! DEATHped is getting close. Yesterday I went to the wizard lair and got a lot of work done. I got the tank, magneto cover, and headlight bucket all powdercoated in a deathly wrinkle black.

I'm not entirely positive what the deal is with that bike, but when I held that tank in it's completed form something happened.

It's probably nothing. Anyway, the bike is starting to come together nicely, I still need some essentials; forks, shocks, seat, tires, chains, etc. But really, I swear, it's coming together.

The wheels are pretty much done, just truing remains. Just for info sake, the final equipment needed to convert loose bearing leilu (sp?) wheels to sealed bearings are:
-180mm M12 bolt x1 + washer and lock nut
-150mm M12 bolt x1 + washer and lock nut
- 6001zz sealed bearing x4
-.5mm shim stock
-Loctite 262
-.5" Nom. Aluminum Pipe
Estimated cost, ~$30.
I also got an 18 tooth freewheel which should give me a little more pedaling speed. Probably unnecessary, but neat nevertheless.

LA

Whenever I get home from LA there are never enough photos to fully illustrate everything that went down. But on the other hand, maybe it's better that way.
Here is a couple of rad dudes that always treat us right.

I'm the sort of person that doesn't really like arguments or overly opinionated people. Usually if I disagree with someone I'll just keep it to myself. But for some reason there always comes a moment at parties when I'm yelling at everyone within earshot about how Dick's drive-in is far superior to In-n-Out, or how the Seahawks were robbed by the refs during Supersham XL, or sometimes I'm just screaming "Everybody Dance Now!" Rosanna thinks it's obnoxious but I think I'm awesome. I'M AWESOME OK!? Why's everyone leaving the room? Oh yeah, the reason that I'm saying all of this is because at some point at this party I was screaming about the Seahawks. And then the next day, surrounded by Chicago transplants, I witnessed the Seahawks beat the Bears. Booyah!
Anyway, Jed of the Latebirds has recently begun honing his tattoo skills and what better way to practice than on your poor decision making friends?


Here Craig and I are modeling the latest design from Altru Apparel, Cam makes a great model.

The next day Nik took Rosanna and I to the Getty. I must say that I was blown away by the architecture. What an amazing place. If you have the opportunity to visit I would highly suggest it.




And lastly, a photo of Cam on his first day at Folsom Prison.

Converting to sealed bearings

Converting loose bearing wheels to sealed bearings has always been a difficult and time consuming effort for me. But I really think that if done correctly the product is worth it. The leleu wheels that I am using have an OD of 29mm. That's a problem because the bearing sizes I want come in 28mm or 30mm.
Yesterday I stopped by the wizards lair and asked phil if they had any pipe I could turn in order to make a shim for 28mm bearings. If you were keeping track that would mean I'm making .5mm shims. That's small and probably too difficult to turn in a lathe. Phil suggested I go get some shim stock. I didnt know that this stuff existed! It's great. I was able to stop by online metals and pick up some .5mm shim stock and since it was scrap they just gave it to me for free.

Anyway, I got the shim material, cut it down with my dremel and trimmed it fit.

All in all it's been super simple and easy. I still need to use some red loc-tite to seal it in place and I need some length of pipe to keep the bearings from being pulled in on each other.


The bearings i used were 6001zz. With this setup I'll be running 12mm axles. Stoked!

DEATHwheels

DEATHped progress

I'm back from Catalina for a few days so I've been working hard on the DEATHped. Man, with a name like that, it would be a real shame if I actually died on it... anywhoodles, it's coming along swimmingly.
I started by meticulously cleaning and assembling the engine, then I wanted to see how it would look with the yellow sebacs I had laying around, and then I figured I should throw some wheels on it to check the stance, and now it's actually looking like a moped. Amazing!

I am for sure not going to use these wheels or these forks, I'm waiting to buy some black EBRs, (unless some benevolent soul wants to give me some?) and Phil is currently powdercoating some spokers for me.
Phil said that he would work on perhaps getting me my wheels this evening. Fingers crossed.

It is really nice to build a bike without rushing it. I can disassemble and reassemble things as I discover issues rather than building it with my usual, "I have to get this done tonight or I won't have anything to ride!" For example I don't want any wires showing if I can help it, so I drilled a tiny hole in the frame near the motor mount and that is where my taillight wire pops out. Another pet peeve of mine is when someone does a meticulous and beautiful pinto build and then bolts the coil right above their front wheel. Like this:
Gross. So I spent some time figuring and I managed to bolt my cdi coil onto the case nice and discretely. There is a small section of case that sticks out like a tab in-board of the flywheel. I just drilled a mounting hole and bolted it in.

And lastly, here is my motomatic N8p all bolted up. They made me this pipe way back in the day and it had gotten really dented and gnarly so last year when we headed to the Latebird Invitational I dropped it off for a restore. They did a great job. They replaced the header, angled the flange to fit a gila, took out all of the dented sections, and generally cleaned it up, as well as giving it a nice new powdercoat job. Their fit tolerances are perfect. I told them it was for a gila on a pinto frame and the mounting bracket fits just right. Also, I'm a big fan of pipes that kick up a little bit, so this thing really makes me happy.


Oh yeah, I threw those sebacs on there. I can't decide if they fit or not. I was starting to feel that when this thing is done there might be too much red and black so the splash of yellow might be a racy contrast. Any thoughts? Bear in mind that I'm color blind so most of the time my color choices are cranked to the max.

Football

It's sunday and I'm watching the Seahawks. I love football and for me the Seahawks represent the old, blue collar days of Seattle. Before Amazon, Microsoft, and the general tech boom transition this city has made.
The ultimate Seahawk will always be Steve Largent. He was white, small, and a real nice guy. But he was an amazing wide receiver and was the coolest when I was a little kid.

Here's what wikipedia says: When Largent retired, he held all major NFL receiving records, including: most receptions in a career (819), most receiving yards in a career (13,089), and most touchdown receptions (100). He was also in possession of a then-record streak of 177 consecutive regular-season games with a reception.

In 1988 Steve Largent proved what a badass he was. Earlier in the '88 season Denver player Mike Hardin threw a right forearm to the left side of Largent's face, shattering the facemask, dislodging teeth and leaving Largent briefly unconscious and with a sprained left knee. The next time Denver played the Seahawks you could really see the tension. Check out 1:19 when Largent gets riled up at the refs call and yells into the refs mic. And then at 2:08 Largent demolishes Mike Hardin after Hardin intercepts a pass. Man, what a guy.

Catalina Dive, September 29th

Whoo! I've been on the water a lot these past few days. At night I feel like I'm still swaying on the boat and I rock back and forth in my chair.
The snorkeling in the cove right here on the USC campus is really incredible. I've seen Bat Rays, Leopard sharks, Garibaldis, and lot's of other kinds of fish. The Bat Rays and Leopard Sharks were huge! Unfortunately, I don't have an underwater camera housing so you'll just have to take my word for it.
Here is some photos from our sub operation on September 29th:
Sunset 9/28

Sunrise 9/29

Ryan getting the shot.

Gearing up and heading out for the dive.

Antipodes by the caves.

Sunset 9/29

I've also gotten really good at handling an outboard motor. Here I am transporting people in the tender boat.