Topic: Squirrel 3.0

[Stev-o]

Nice work, Riverman. I'm sure you are making Cal proud!

But, you should be riding now, the snow has melted, right?!

[river]

Thanks Steve. I would love to ride the bike right now but still got a bit to go.

[river]

Little more progress tonight. I reinstalled the rear sets so that I could install the rear master cylinder and try to get a measurement for the rear brake line so I can get that made. Squirrel got wheeled out to enjoy the evening Alpenglow.

56 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

The rear rotor showed up after Godffery worked his magic on it. It's stunning and I can't wait to get the twin fronts on as well. Couldn't be happier and the turn around time was next to nothing. I also got phenolic pistons for the rear caliper and a speedo delete up front (which is a really nice piece Jeff!). Thank you again.

57 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

58 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Here's the master cylinder for the rear. Thanks to Don and Cal for helping me get it all installed correctly. I can admit that my head may have been in my a$$ but I had also been trimming out the house after a long hiatus from that renovation project and I was pretty cooked.

59 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

60 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

And this is how I think I'm going to route the brake line. Through the frame and then run it along the top of the torsion arm all the way back to the caliper. Shaun isn't doing brake lines anymore (Slingshot) so I'm going to call Galfer in the morning and see if they can help me out.

61 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

I'm very close now and super excited to ride Squirrel. I just need the rear brake line, rear brake caliper rebuild kit, and the offset front sprocket. Then I'll put it all together one last time and use Loctite on the rear set fasteners, and grease the swingarm and be done. Although...I am still waiting on the front rim and spokes and have no Earthly idea where in the hell they are or when they will be here. And although I am officially on vacation for a bit, I did take a new job as a Dean and have a lot of work to do over the summer with that. Now that we believe Heather is in the clear with cancer, I want to finish the renovation on the inside of our house (she's already three steps ahead and has me gutting the bathroom to the studs and building a new wrap around deck along with some other smaller stuff), I have several friends coming in town that I promised to take fishing for several days each as well. So I'll be busy but life is good.

[RAFster122s]

Chris,great news about your wife's cancer being in remission/beaten. Squirrel is looking good. Apex is a good source for lines in Galfer doesn't work out. Have fun with the fishing guide work as you do love that aspect of your life and it is refreshing for the soul to do that which you love.

Hope summer is kind to you and the family. Look forward to seeing more...share some pics of big rainbows and browns you guys catch...

[Godffery]

 I've been very pleased with CorMoto lines and there Banjo ends will swivel, so getting the proper 'clocking' is not an issue.
https://www.coremoto.com/category_s/4085.htm

[river]

Not much to report but a little. Got the rear caliper all rebuilt.

62 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

63 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Rear master cylinder all mounted up. Suppose I could add fluid and bleed it and the caliper.

64 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

While I'm waiting for the last few bits like front sprocket, rear brake line, and the torsion arm to get powder coated, I'm staying plenty busy with finishing the renovations on the house (which I took the last year and a half off from while Heather was sick) and fishing. Right before Heather was diagnosed I decided to make my life a little easier and hire a contractor to install all of the new doors/casings. After 8 hours he finally threw in the towel and said they were as good as they were gonna get. Not one of them closed properly. They had massive gaps and most were almost 1/2" off and looked like absolute #$%*e. Said all the doors were warped. Had to have the door manufacturer come out and look at them because I wasn't paying the contractor. Doors were all straight but after going back and forth with the contractor, I ended up either needing to go to court or pay the $800 for labor. So I paid him (made sure to write something nice on the memo at the bottom of the check) and then pulled all the doors out and re-hung them myself. Got them all trimmed out and finished painting yesterday. Still have touch up on the walls to do.

 67 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

69 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Pleased with this transition.

68 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

And David...here's a lovely little brown for ya from the other evening.

65 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

[river]

Ahhh what the heck...some of you may be nature lovers here so I'll share this. Was out fishing earlier this spring and found a nice looking shed so I lashed it to my pack. About three weeks later I was in the same area with a buddy and I found another shed. When I got home later that evening I realized they were a matched set. Fairly rare to find and only the second set I have (one is from a nice bull elk). I wanted to do something nice with these so I worked with a taxidermist out of Texas who makes dead head skulls and then I mounted the rack to the skull and did a little art project. Should look rad in my office this fall.

66 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

[river]

Here's a closer shot showing the detail as I started.

70 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Nothing but excellent news on your front Chris !!!   

[river]

Boy that Jeff Stephens character is a real eagle eye. He spotted that the caliper pistons were in backwards. It was actually a test I was running. Jerry…you got work to do. Don…you’re in the boat with Jerry along with anyone else who looked at that reply and didn’t catch it. Perhaps you were just too distracted by the raw trout beauty and my artistic talent?? I could see that. Anywho…the pistons have been turned the appropriate way but all is still very wrong in the world. Thanks again Jeff!

[RAFster122s]

Chris, that was a pretty brown...
Nice bit of art work too.
Glad Jeff was on it!

Stay safe and healthy and happy...

[Godffery]

 Well... Here I am Private Messaging Chris, to save him from any possible embarrassment he might feel, and he goes and calls Himself out on the faux pas to the gang anyway.  Now that's the honesty if a saint!

 Now that we have established the level of Chris's integrity... I have even MORE respect for that Jeff Stephens character from Godffery's Garage, that he keeps raving about.     

[river]

Oh please. I fear no reprisal. The pistons were not in this caliper when I got it from Jerrys House of 750s so I just assumed they went that way. I gotta tell ya...I'm a little concerned about how the piston is sitting in my front caliper. May have been backasswards the last 6-7 years. Maybe I'll stick to fly fishing. I've never put the reel on backwards.

[RAFster122s]

Hear about the Hammerhead sharks that circled a bunch of swimmers near shore in Florida? Was a safe encounter, just freaked out people. Hammerheads don't usually attack humans unless provoked.

The photo of a big grizzley bear behind a fisherman showing off his brown trout always made me wonder. Ex-boss shared photos from his fishing with big bear that decided to start fishing about 25 -35feet from where he and another fellow were fly fishing in either Canada or Alaska. Forgotten where they were... I think I might decide to move further away...
If a bear wants to be close to you, not much you are gonna be able to do about it realistically...they can out run and out climb you and climbing or running is likely to provoke an attack.

National Parks recently put out some funny bear warnings to people with tongue heavily in cheek...

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Hey, I've never seen phenolic pistons.........   I'm used to shiny pistons 

[Stev-o]

Well... Here I am Private Messaging Chris, to save him from any possible embarrassment he might feel, and he goes and calls Himself out on the faux pas to the gang anyway.

Funny!

PS Riverman:  The wall needs slight touch up paint where is meets the trim...no pain no shame!

[river]

Oh there’s a lot of touch up paint that needs to be done throughout the house where all the trim meets the walls. I left it that way so I can do it all at once. Unfortunately, Heather just found a sliding door design in Crested Butte that she wants for our bathroom now.  But I’m chasing trout all week so I’m not worried about anything other than matching the hatch.

[RAFster122s]

River,catch a nice big one and lunch of the fish decides to escape...

[river]

Progress has been slow but I need to offset the rear sprocket so that the chain clears the tire and to address chain line issues. The studs aren't long enough to allow for this and I knew that I would probably have to pull the studs but I put it off for months now. Yesterday they finally came out but it was not an easy task by any means.

71 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Rear brake line also showed up and I got it installed.

72 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

73 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

And yesterday, the front rim and spokes finally showed up.

74 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

[RAFster122s]

Looks good!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Hot damn! The front rim and spokes arrived!!!

[river]

Been a busy last week and a half as we entertained some out of town guests in two shifts. Some parts did arrive but they just piled up in the garage while we spent the days searching for trout. Here's a few fishy pics.

Lovely little stick of butter with spots on it. Seeing a lot more browns in one section of river that I seem to frequent a lot this year and that's A OK by me as they are my favorite.

76 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

I don't wanna marry a Bow but I like them too.

81 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

My favorite part.

78 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

One of the more colored up Bows I've seen in a bit.

80 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Always good to be on the water and even the guys who had never touched a fly rod were able to fool fish on some very challenging water.

79 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Got to spend two days with this character. He's my Uncle Gene and, at 86, he's still got a lot of piss and vinegar in him. He's a bait fisherman but I don't hold it against him. There was a time when he would work the moving water but now he sticks to the still. I threw a few dry flies but mostly helped him drink Budweiser and talk about old cars and young women. He was the only one I saw who was catching anything. He's one of my heroes and the only family that I have (outside my wife and dog).

 82 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

Alright, here's a motorcycle picture to mix it up. I was able to get the front wheel laced up. Jeff's updated speedometer delete piece is lovely and I'll get a pic of that up for everyone to see. I dropped the wheel and tire off this morning and hope to have it back in a day or two. Also got the rear brake system bled today and the garage cleaned up.

75 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

[river]

Here's the speedo delete from that Godffery character. Thanks again for everything Jeff!

83 by Chris Neumann, on Flickr

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Glad you got some time in with your Uncle Gene.  FYI - it looks like you hooked a couple of flies on you trucker hat, but maybe that's all part of the hipster look you were going for.   

[river]

Oh Don. You do enjoy inserting anecdotal comments but it’s got nothing to do with trying to be hip and more to do with simply making sure that I always have those two flies whenever the opportunity presents itself. I’d try to explain but I know the mere thought of fish slime getting on your dainty hands probably repulses you.