Topic: 1976 CB500/550 Project "Squirrel"

[riverfever]

I appreciate any nice car but I am definitely more of a Chevy guy than anything else. But...my lovely wife has a soft spot for early Fords. She particularly likes the 49 "Shoebox." At one point (before we met) she bought a basket case and was in the process of converting it from 6V to 12V when we met. She got divorced shortly after and the car was sold in the process. Her husband at the time liked video games. This one had a lot of work in it and I had to pull her away.

73A69E90-801A-469E-BCE1-1498BDADA704 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

Great color on this Studebaker.

D6935EE6-920C-4C86-B9DB-521D979FA1F4 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

Who doesn't like a clean T-Bird?

96990BBF-AEC9-4571-BA0E-1FC91CBA9E95 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

This Apache wasn't at the show but I saw it in Carlsbad and pulled over to get a look. This was the closest I could get and it was behind a gate. I think it was a 58. I hate to say it but I think it was almost too clean. I'd feel bad throwing waders in the back and running it down a dusty fire road.

7B023024-0E23-4959-A1D0-6B91685AEFBF by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

I love old trucks and wish I could have one but it would have to have 4 wheel drive up here with all the snow we see. I saw this Cheyenne in traffic on the 101 right after getting to the show and it was one of the last vehicles I saw that night. Guy had both of his little boys with him. Cool to see. And I would toss nasty waders right in the back of this thing or plop down in that bench seat in them to race to the next hole before the sun set.

54CE99D7-18AB-4063-A63D-3E1D2D2C7EDB by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

Now I'll share some pics from today's ride. I did a loop from the house up to Jefferson (there's literally nothing there but an ice cream stand) and then went up over Kenosha Pass and dropped down into Bailey. Then I made my way to Pine and then to Buffalo Creek before hitting Deckers and coming back to Woodland. Not a cloud in the sky all day. This is heading north, about 30 miles from the house and you're seeing the Divide there looming in the background. Over those peaks is Breckenridge and Summit County.

B4D940F3-2D46-4CC0-B835-37BBE194434C by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

Normally, there's no shortage of water here but, like the rest of the west, we are in dire straits now. This is one of my absolute favorite creeks but it's sad there's barely any water in it this summer. Believe it or not, there's a reservoir upstream a bit and, normally, it spills over so hard in the spring that big Northern Pike get washed down into the creek. In year's past, I've pulled big fish out of this area.

C53E8F11-940A-4707-8CF0-6364A5856746 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

Here's one from a few year's ago.

12839747-3980-496C-BE61-C4604D9E67CF by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

Near the top of Kenosha Pass.

5837C1A5-3515-4F38-8197-52DDB7F487FE by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

This is looking towards home. You can see Pikes Peak in the distance.

56474953-30D8-469E-B6B0-273F867693D6 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

Incredible day on Squirrel. The Woodcraft clip on bars look awesome but the bike is not comfortable at all and I'd really like to be able to do some longer trips (if I can get past it getting wet in the rain)and some touring/camping/fishing. Hopefully I'll have it dialed in next summer. I'm going to deal with the bars for the next few months. I'm back at work on 8/10 and then it won't be long before snow flies.

Here's the bike with the 400 bars on. I keep talking about painting the side covers but Steve digs the faded piss yellow color.

1378FED0-9A7E-4995-9477-38FFFFD4DFB6 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Great photos. I didn't realize it was microbus night. 

John Benton of Benton Performance (aircooled Porsche shop in Anaheim) has a super cool every day patina'd 1956 Volkswagen Type 2 pickup truck as his daily shop truck.  https://www.bentonperformance.com

[flyinelvis]

Tom the show we went to happens every third Thursday evening from May through September or October right on the 101 in Encinitas. It was awesome! I bet there was 150 cars there. From what I understand, they do some themes or emphases from month to month. The night we were there was Bus night. It was stupid how many great, early busses were there. I believe the name of it is Encinitas Cruise Night. And absolutely no shortage of good places to eat, drink, or grab coffee right there either. I’ll go through some pics tonight and post up some stuff from that night.

Wow, ask a simple question!  Thanks for all the links, info, pics, etc.  I guess one of the reasons I’ve missed out on our visits is we generally arrive on Friday AM and depart Monday.  Shame on me for the short stays (well, we have stayed quite a bit longer, but those are stories for another day).  Suffice to say I love the 101 vibe in Encinitas and your pics bring that feeling to me, 3,000 miles away.

BTW, I did a conference presentation in Colorado Springs several years back.  We landed in a blizzard and when we awoke the next morning, Pikes Peak was standing proud just outside our hotel window.  What a beautiful dreamland you live in!  Garden of the Gods was unbelievably beautiful.  I’d love to come back and do some cycling in the area, but that’s probably just a pipe dream...

[Stev-o]

Yes,  I love that piss yellow side cover on squirrel!

Cant wait for cooler temps and car show season here...

[riverfever]

Don that Type 2 is nice. It's got a lot of character.

Tom...bummer you've probably missed out on some cool shows! But...now you know. It's always a surprise to wake up and see snow on the peak. Since I've lived here, I've seen fresh snow up there every month out of the year.

I hooked up power to the new gauge the other night. Can't wait to get this functional. 

7EB320EB-1288-49FF-A5A9-9D34E74B0D8D by cneumann2000, on Flickr

I've been chewing on how I want to deal with the speed sensor. I know that a lot of people epoxy the magnet to a rotor bolt and then come up with a way to mount the sensor and are done with that part. My idea right now is to mount the sensor higher up on the fork. I still need to take some careful measurements but I'm looking at drilling a hole through the fender bracket (left and backside). Then I want to mount the sensor to the bracket using the lock nuts provided and epoxy the magnet to the side of the rim. I should have enough adjustment on the sensor to get it close enough to read but, again, I haven't actually measured yet. If this location works then wires can simply follow the brake line up and to the gauge and it should be really hidden. This pic is of the front of the bracket but the back of it is nice and flat where I want the sensor. Any concerns?

E1045848-9A03-4443-BA06-BC85F7EC2329 by cneumann2000, on Flickr
 

 

[riverfever]

Oh and Jerry...the next time I'm down there tooling around I'll have to stop by.

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Just because . . .

[riverfever]

Hahahaha. Outdone by a varmint.

[riverfever]

Yeah I knew the sensor needed to be at least 4mm from the magnet. Distance from inside fender bracket to rim is 18mm. Threads on the sensor are 21mm and the magnet is 2mm. I think there’s room. I’m a little worried about interference from the fastener holding the bracket to the fork but using a slightly ground down button head might help.

[riverfever]

Dwarfed by one of the giant beds of the trucks used to haul the pay dirt in the mine nearby.

20997112-B817-41AA-93A6-A7F6CF420B16 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

And keen eyes will notice that I finally got around to painting my new side covers. I got them cleared after dinner last night and, of course, one of the dogs got to them and licked one of them but I'm leaving it as it is.

[riverfever]

Another angle of the bed. The dozers to fill these are equally as impressive and it only takes about 7 loads before a truck heads up.

A36121E0-F69D-4B4A-8B29-F28527C9D30F by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

Looking down into the pit.

959F0A1B-164F-4E4E-B542-DF7B4771DFC9 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

A panoramic shot of the pit and pile of tailings. IF you look just right of center you can see one of the loaded trucks making the slow haul back up and the dozer right of the truck a bit.

1D339090-8DCC-4707-B0EA-A9E162388C82 by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[riverfever]

And one on the way home.

6A035FB9-73D9-4796-ACE2-9D94D74A672F by cneumann2000, on Flickr

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

This is inspiring me to take a long ride.  Me and my better half have been talking about taking a trip to a few of the national parks on the western half of the states next year.

[flyinelvis]

Hey Chris, the bike continues to impress.  I like the painted side covers (but not as much as your dog probably likes the taste of clear lacquer). They really tie the room, er, bike together.

I hate to be one of those guys that won’t go back through 80 pages of a build thread (I have read the ENTIRE thing, it lulled me gently to sleep on many an evening), to find what he’s looking for, but I’ll pose this anyway:

It’s getting close to frame chop time for me and I was curious about your exhaust mount.  I have the same MotoGPWerks pipe and was curious about how you stabilized the can. I will be removing the rear pegs (and mount tubes from both sides - it’s a ‘77) and was considering leaving some of the horizontal bar from the lower right side of the passenger peg tubing, to create an exhaust mount.  Did that make sense?  I won’t know for certain til I reassemble the bike following the engine re-build, frame chop, etc.  A little forethought might go a long way here. 

Many thanks, and again, great build.

-tom

[Stev-o]

I have read the ENTIRE thing, it lulled me gently to sleep on many an evening

That good a read, eh?!

I too have a MotoGP pipe [but on a 750] and contrary to what Cal may post shortly, I do not feel it necessary to mount the back of the pipe.  As you know, there does not seem to be a good way to do it.