Topic: The Happy-ish Thread. Share your small wins and mixed blessings.

[Gurp]

Daylight saving time starts tomorrow!  I love it when it gets dark later, but alot of people whine about loosing an hour of sleep. It's worth it to me.

As a 3rd shift worker it doesn't make a whole lot of difference to me either way.

Unless you've got good seniority or you're blowing the boss it's all 2nd and 3rd for any job you can raise a family working.



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[Tracksnblades1]

That old axe looks like a good tool. Both hammer and axe. A carpenter's best friend.

Or for defence. No silencer needed

Habit of mine since boy scout camps to use axe instad of a hammer.

I’ve got the same hatchet… Mine has the original handle…it’s a bit straighter handle on mine…

[Terry in Australia]

Nice job buddy 😎

Today I got distracted, the boy broke the handle off the small axe. After I put a new handle on the axe I remembered that I have a 100yo H H Co hatchet head so I cut down the old axe handle and fitted it to the hatchet head. It took about 4 hours to get it cut down and fitted to the hatchet head. Now the handle is done with 2 coats of polyurethane clear and I have to paint the head satin black like old tools.
It will be going back into service making kindling.

Thanks mate, and I love that old axe, I must see if there's one like that at my Ma's place, I'm pretty sure I've seen one there, I guess it came from my Grandfather's place after he died. Ma's nieces (religious nutbag farmers) stripped his garage like a plague of locusts, but probably didn't think they could hock some of his old handtools for any money, so left them behind, and my Ma and dad had to clean up what was left.

[grcamna2]

All this about a hatchet  and I'm thinking about that movie the Shining.   
Bury that thing,and Whatever you do,keep it away from 'Johnie'/Jack Nicholson     

[Terry in Australia]

Well I sent all the paperwork and pics of the DT250 to my bike club “Club permit coordinator” for his sign off, and with luck will have it back in a day or two so I can take it to VicRoads (our version of the DMV) and get my club plate. I did some more fettling on it on Monday and it seems to be going well now, so hopefully I’ll be riding it to work in the city in the next week or so. That should give me some incentive to go to work.

[spotty]

my shiny delkevik 4-1 headers and ciollector arrived yesterday and joy of joys, the supertrapp muffler ( thanks to terry for that ) slides straight on

it'll have to wait a while to get trial fitted to the bike as theres an 80 model zzr600 ( zx600d to you lot ) on the bench at the moment, its an orphan that got donated to the spotty home for derelict and unloved motorcycles, hopefully a few new hoses, charge the battery and a clean up it should be running and i can flog it off to provide more $ for the ongoing honda addiction

and when thats gone terry is bringing over an BMW K100 for a turbo attachment session , i've just got to make sure he brings over at night so no-one sees it going into my garage.....

got an auto elec who specialises in bikes coming over this week to get the indicators working on the valkyrie and do an assessment of whats still needed electrically to wire the trailbike

 once the valkyrie is sold that should give me enough money to finance buying/building a chopper, i've been offered a quite expensive deal on an amen frame, motor forks , wheels and other stuff including a spare frame to steal the number off but i really want my old digger frame back that i never got to build along with a K4 donor bike and loooong springer front end, not sure if i can persuade him to sell though a big wedge of cash waved in front of his wifes face should help matters along. they're off on a round australia caravan trip with their daughter this year and i think they could well do with the money

[Terry in Australia]

Well done Spotty, I saw a reel on FB of a guy with a Supertrapp muffler on a bike, that had a screw on cap on the end of the muffler that he could take off to allow for less restriction when racing, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

Speaking of mufflers, the DT expert I’ve been chatting with said that the end baffle/spark arrestor on my DT250 is a very restrictive design and to think about replacing it with something less restrictive. I did a search on EBay and the only one listed for a DT250 was $269. I contacted the seller to see if it’d fit my bike and he didn’t know. Bugger.

I did another generic search and found a very similar muffler (without the joining pipe) for $31 with free shipping. There’s only a small amount of bending required to make the joining pipe, and so I’ll see what I can knock up to make the cheapo muffler fit. Should be a fun project.

[jgger]

Just put an expansion chamber pipe on it with a silencer and wake it up.

[grcamna2]

Well done Spotty, I saw a reel on FB of a guy with a Supertrapp muffler on a bike, that had a screw on cap on the end of the muffler that he could take off to allow for less restriction when racing, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

Speaking of mufflers, the DT expert I’ve been chatting with said that the end baffle/spark arrestor on my DT250 is a very restrictive design and to think about replacing it with something less restrictive. I did a search on EBay and the only one listed for a DT250 was $269. I contacted the seller to see if it’d fit my bike and he didn’t know. Bugger.

I did another generic search and found a very similar muffler (without the joining pipe) for $31 with free shipping. There’s only a small amount of bending required to make the joining pipe, and so I’ll see what I can knock up to make the cheapo muffler fit. Should be a fun project.

Terry,there's a place that specializes in exhaust systems for motorcycles in NZ? called Musket Muffler. Have you ever called them to see what they offer ?

[Terry in Australia]

Well done Spotty, I saw a reel on FB of a guy with a Supertrapp muffler on a bike, that had a screw on cap on the end of the muffler that he could take off to allow for less restriction when racing, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

Speaking of mufflers, the DT expert I’ve been chatting with said that the end baffle/spark arrestor on my DT250 is a very restrictive design and to think about replacing it with something less restrictive. I did a search on EBay and the only one listed for a DT250 was $269. I contacted the seller to see if it’d fit my bike and he didn’t know. Bugger.

I did another generic search and found a very similar muffler (without the joining pipe) for $31 with free shipping. There’s only a small amount of bending required to make the joining pipe, and so I’ll see what I can knock up to make the cheapo muffler fit. Should be a fun project.

Terry,there's a place that specializes in exhaust systems for motorcycles in NZ? called Musket Muffler. Have you ever called them to see what they offer ?

No Bill, never heard of them. We have folks here in Oz who I could pay to make me a piece of pipe, but where's the fun in that? Expansion chambers are great Jim, I love the ones on my T500, but I'm not building a Motocross bike, I still have little kids living next door that I don't want to wake up at 5am, I just want to make something that's still quiet, just less restrictive, as I want to keep the bike to look as original as possible, with some nice touches.

Anyway, today I got home and there was a box waiting for me from a great guy in the US called Ian Stevenson. It contained a filthy, but complete-ish oil tank that Ian went to the trouble of buying for me on Ebay USA, and mailing to me, before I'd even sent him a dime.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I gave it a good clean.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I then spent the next two hours installing it. Isn't it funny how what you originally think will be a simple job can become quite time consuming? I initially thought I'd only need to remove the side cover, but ended up removing the sidecovers, seat, fuel tank, battery, battery box and various other bits and pieces, but finally got it installed.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I don't need no stinking workshop manuals (but if anyone has a factory manual for a DT250, please send it to me... ) but I did remember that I needed to bleed the air from the oil pump, so removed the oil pump cover and was happy that a., there was an oil pump under the cover, it's common for them to be blanked off by Yamaha guys, and b., all the screws holding the cover on were only finger tight, so I was lucky that it hadn't already fallen off. The main reason I took the cover off in the first place was because a previous owner had just cut the feed hose from the tank to the pump, so it was too short, but luckily they hadn't removed the oil tank breather hose from the frame under the fuel tank which was the same ID/OD hose, but longer, so I swapped them around. Anyway, I removed the bleed screw (the little JIS screw right there) and nothing came out, so I went for a piss, and when I came back there was 2 stroke oil all over the concrete, so I was happy to confirm that I'd bled all the air out of the oil line and pump.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Now I can't remember if I ever used the tool kit on my previous DT250MX that I owned in 80/81, but it must have been tiny (probably a plug wrench and a hex key) because the kit that I stole from my Suzuki T350 wouldn't fit in the tiny space provided. On my previous ride I wore my big winter jacket with big pockets, but we had a 4 day heat wave from Friday thru Monday (my hottest birthday that I can remember) so I wore my ventilated "Joe Rocket" jacket with not enough pocket space for tools. Hmmnn, OK, using two "Stubby Coolers" a couple of zip ties and some gaffer tape I mounted the tool kit on the cross bar of the handlebars.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

When I got home I ordered a cheap Ebay "Pleather" tool bag, and it arrived today as well, so I removed my home made tool bag, and zip tied the new one in place.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Not as pretty as my previous effort, but it'll do the job. All in all, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours. I just need to drain the 2 stroke premix from the DT tank and fill it with normal fuel, before I fog the neighbourhood in a blue mist. It'll be so nice not having to worry about where I'll find my next little bottle of 2 stroke oil while out on a ride, most of the "Gas Stations" here will sell you food, coffee, ice cream, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, but fcuk-all oil, especially two stroke oil, the arse-hats.    

[Gurp]

Getting ready for my first day of orientation at the new job.
Makes for a long day after being up all night.


My pants expired hahahaha getting into my truck so I guess they are going to learn I'm not bashful off the rip. Haha.

Ready for good change and to have the hours again to support my goals.

[Terry in Australia]

All the best with the new job mate, won’t be long before you can buy some new pants!

[Gurp]

All the best with the new job mate, won’t be long before you can buy some new pants!

I really need too. Other than uniform pants which this job will provide as well I'm down to like 3 pairs of pants
And they are all for going out. Nothing to casually wear or work in.

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

[grcamna2]

Well done Spotty, I saw a reel on FB of a guy with a Supertrapp muffler on a bike, that had a screw on cap on the end of the muffler that he could take off to allow for less restriction when racing, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

Speaking of mufflers, the DT expert I’ve been chatting with said that the end baffle/spark arrestor on my DT250 is a very restrictive design and to think about replacing it with something less restrictive. I did a search on EBay and the only one listed for a DT250 was $269. I contacted the seller to see if it’d fit my bike and he didn’t know. Bugger.

I did another generic search and found a very similar muffler (without the joining pipe) for $31 with free shipping. There’s only a small amount of bending required to make the joining pipe, and so I’ll see what I can knock up to make the cheapo muffler fit. Should be a fun project.

Terry,there's a place that specializes in exhaust systems for motorcycles in NZ? called Musket Muffler. Have you ever called them to see what they offer ?

No Bill, never heard of them. We have folks here in Oz who I could pay to make me a piece of pipe, but where's the fun in that? Expansion chambers are great Jim, I love the ones on my T500, but I'm not building a Motocross bike, I still have little kids living next door that I don't want to wake up at 5am, I just want to make something that's still quiet, just less restrictive, as I want to keep the bike to look as original as possible, with some nice touches.

Anyway, today I got home and there was a box waiting for me from a great guy in the US called Ian Stevenson. It contained a filthy, but complete-ish oil tank that Ian went to the trouble of buying for me on Ebay USA, and mailing to me, before I'd even sent him a dime.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I gave it a good clean.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I then spent the next two hours installing it. Isn't it funny how what you originally think will be a simple job can become quite time consuming? I initially thought I'd only need to remove the side cover, but ended up removing the sidecovers, seat, fuel tank, battery, battery box and various other bits and pieces, but finally got it installed.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I don't need no stinking workshop manuals (but if anyone has a factory manual for a DT250, please send it to me... ) but I did remember that I needed to bleed the air from the oil pump, so removed the oil pump cover and was happy that a., there was an oil pump under the cover, it's common for them to be blanked off by Yamaha guys, and b., all the screws holding the cover on were only finger tight, so I was lucky that it hadn't already fallen off. The main reason I took the cover off in the first place was because a previous owner had just cut the feed hose from the tank to the pump, so it was too short, but luckily they hadn't removed the oil tank breather hose from the frame under the fuel tank which was the same ID/OD hose, but longer, so I swapped them around. Anyway, I removed the bleed screw (the little JIS screw right there) and nothing came out, so I went for a piss, and when I came back there was 2 stroke oil all over the concrete, so I was happy to confirm that I'd bled all the air out of the oil line and pump.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Now I can't remember if I ever used the tool kit on my previous DT250MX that I owned in 80/81, but it must have been tiny (probably a plug wrench and a hex key) because the kit that I stole from my Suzuki T350 wouldn't fit in the tiny space provided. On my previous ride I wore my big winter jacket with big pockets, but we had a 4 day heat wave from Friday thru Monday (my hottest birthday that I can remember) so I wore my ventilated "Joe Rocket" jacket with not enough pocket space for tools. Hmmnn, OK, using two "Stubby Coolers" a couple of zip ties and some gaffer tape I mounted the tool kit on the cross bar of the handlebars.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

When I got home I ordered a cheap Ebay "Pleather" tool bag, and it arrived today as well, so I removed my home made tool bag, and zip tied the new one in place.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Not as pretty as my previous effort, but it'll do the job. All in all, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours. I just need to drain the 2 stroke premix from the DT tank and fill it with normal fuel, before I fog the neighbourhood in a blue mist. It'll be so nice not having to worry about where I'll find my next little bottle of 2 stroke oil while out on a ride, most of the "Gas Stations" here will sell you food, coffee, ice cream, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, but fcuk-all oil, especially two stroke oil, the arse-hats.

Terry,swapping over to the stock Yamaha oil injection is nice and the oil pump gives good 'oil mileage'.
I always used a light viscosity Injection Only(Yamalube  )oil in my Yamahas as the oil flows better.
I especially like synthetic Injection oil for it's protection and low smoke quality;the outboard motor boat oil always causes it to foul plugs and carbon up my rings too much.

[PeWe]

Well done Spotty, I saw a reel on FB of a guy with a Supertrapp muffler on a bike, that had a screw on cap on the end of the muffler that he could take off to allow for less restriction when racing, which I thought was a pretty cool idea.

Speaking of mufflers, the DT expert I’ve been chatting with said that the end baffle/spark arrestor on my DT250 is a very restrictive design and to think about replacing it with something less restrictive. I did a search on EBay and the only one listed for a DT250 was $269. I contacted the seller to see if it’d fit my bike and he didn’t know. Bugger.

I did another generic search and found a very similar muffler (without the joining pipe) for $31 with free shipping. There’s only a small amount of bending required to make the joining pipe, and so I’ll see what I can knock up to make the cheapo muffler fit. Should be a fun project.

Terry,there's a place that specializes in exhaust systems for motorcycles in NZ? called Musket Muffler. Have you ever called them to see what they offer ?

No Bill, never heard of them. We have folks here in Oz who I could pay to make me a piece of pipe, but where's the fun in that? Expansion chambers are great Jim, I love the ones on my T500, but I'm not building a Motocross bike, I still have little kids living next door that I don't want to wake up at 5am, I just want to make something that's still quiet, just less restrictive, as I want to keep the bike to look as original as possible, with some nice touches.

Anyway, today I got home and there was a box waiting for me from a great guy in the US called Ian Stevenson. It contained a filthy, but complete-ish oil tank that Ian went to the trouble of buying for me on Ebay USA, and mailing to me, before I'd even sent him a dime.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I gave it a good clean.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I then spent the next two hours installing it. Isn't it funny how what you originally think will be a simple job can become quite time consuming? I initially thought I'd only need to remove the side cover, but ended up removing the sidecovers, seat, fuel tank, battery, battery box and various other bits and pieces, but finally got it installed.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I don't need no stinking workshop manuals (but if anyone has a factory manual for a DT250, please send it to me... ) but I did remember that I needed to bleed the air from the oil pump, so removed the oil pump cover and was happy that a., there was an oil pump under the cover, it's common for them to be blanked off by Yamaha guys, and b., all the screws holding the cover on were only finger tight, so I was lucky that it hadn't already fallen off. The main reason I took the cover off in the first place was because a previous owner had just cut the feed hose from the tank to the pump, so it was too short, but luckily they hadn't removed the oil tank breather hose from the frame under the fuel tank which was the same ID/OD hose, but longer, so I swapped them around. Anyway, I removed the bleed screw (the little JIS screw right there) and nothing came out, so I went for a piss, and when I came back there was 2 stroke oil all over the concrete, so I was happy to confirm that I'd bled all the air out of the oil line and pump.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Now I can't remember if I ever used the tool kit on my previous DT250MX that I owned in 80/81, but it must have been tiny (probably a plug wrench and a hex key) because the kit that I stole from my Suzuki T350 wouldn't fit in the tiny space provided. On my previous ride I wore my big winter jacket with big pockets, but we had a 4 day heat wave from Friday thru Monday (my hottest birthday that I can remember) so I wore my ventilated "Joe Rocket" jacket with not enough pocket space for tools. Hmmnn, OK, using two "Stubby Coolers" a couple of zip ties and some gaffer tape I mounted the tool kit on the cross bar of the handlebars.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

When I got home I ordered a cheap Ebay "Pleather" tool bag, and it arrived today as well, so I removed my home made tool bag, and zip tied the new one in place.

DT250 Wednesday 13 March 2024 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Not as pretty as my previous effort, but it'll do the job. All in all, it was a good way to spend a couple of hours. I just need to drain the 2 stroke premix from the DT tank and fill it with normal fuel, before I fog the neighbourhood in a blue mist. It'll be so nice not having to worry about where I'll find my next little bottle of 2 stroke oil while out on a ride, most of the "Gas Stations" here will sell you food, coffee, ice cream, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, but fcuk-all oil, especially two stroke oil, the arse-hats.

Terry,swapping over to the stock Yamaha oil injection is nice and the oil pump gives good 'oil mileage'.
I always used a light viscosity Injection Only(Yamalube  )oil in my Yamahas as the oil flows better.
I especially like synthetic Injection oil for it's protection and low smoke quality;the outboard motor boat oil always causes it to foul plugs and carbon up my rings too much.

Castor oil for the nice smell?

[simon#42]

castor oil is great for premix but no good for injection systems

[Terry in Australia]

Well I filled it up with outboard motor oil Bill, so I’ll unwittingly get to test your theory, luckily I have a spare new NGK B8ES plug in my tool roll. I can’t remember what oil I was using in my old (then only a couple of years old) DT250MX in 80/81 (in fact I can’t remember ever filling it, but I must have, I rode it 50 miles a day commuting to work and back) but I never fouled a plug because I’m pretty sure I never even put a new one in it.

I’ll buy some fancy synthetic oil for it when I run out of outboard oil, or sooner if it starts fouling plugs. I bought a 5 litre container of it when I built the T350, and tipped it into both the T500 and DT and used some for premix for the RT360 and SD6, but only rode them around the block. The T500 seems to like it though.

[Terry in Australia]

All the best with the new job mate, won’t be long before you can buy some new pants!

I really need too. Other than uniform pants which this job will provide as well I'm down to like 3 pairs of pants
And they are all for going out. Nothing to casually wear or work in.

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

Have you got a Costco store near you? I bought a pair of Kirkland (their brand) jeans really cheap a few years ago and they’re really hard wearing, I also bought some Dickies overalls and work pants from them, which are pretty good and not too expensive.

[Gurp]

All the best with the new job mate, won’t be long before you can buy some new pants!

I really need too. Other than uniform pants which this job will provide as well I'm down to like 3 pairs of pants
And they are all for going out. Nothing to casually wear or work in.

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

Have you got a Costco store near you? I bought a pair of Kirklan (their brand) jeans really cheap a few years ago and they’re really hard wearing, I also bought some Dickies overalls and work pants from them, which are pretty good and not too expensive.

No I've actually never seen a Costco in person. We have Walmarts and Dollar General store all over the place around me.

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

[BenelliSEI]

Look for a Costco. You’ll have to join the “club” but they have good deals. I only wear Kirklands. Great value in all their clothing.

[Terry in Australia]

All the best with the new job mate, won’t be long before you can buy some new pants!

I really need too. Other than uniform pants which this job will provide as well I'm down to like 3 pairs of pants
And they are all for going out. Nothing to casually wear or work in.

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

Have you got a Costco store near you? I bought a pair of Kirklan (their brand) jeans really cheap a few years ago and they’re really hard wearing, I also bought some Dickies overalls and work pants from them, which are pretty good and not too expensive.

No I've actually never seen a Costco in person. We have Walmarts and Dollar General store all over the place around me.

Sent from my LE2127 using Tapatalk

I hardly ever go to my local Costco because they cater for “Bulk deals” with their food and grocery items and there’s only the wife and I at home, but great for families with lots of hungry kids. When I lost 130 pounds I donated a wardrobe full of business and casual clothes, and so Costco was handy when it came to replacing them. Their booze isn’t badly priced and they even sell tyres, gas and coffins, surprisingly. Once again I rarely buy tyres, and their gas station always has lines of cars waiting to get cheap fuel, so I couldn’t be bothered waiting in line to save a couple of bucks, but whenever we go there we end up with a trolley full of crap.

[spotty]

ordered a pair of alloy bodied konis off ebay last night, secondhand but look to be in nice condition

[Terry in Australia]

ordered a pair of alloy bodied konis off ebay last night, secondhand but look to be in nice condition

You’ll find out when you pull them apart, if they’re clagged, I have a spare set here. (Damper assemblies only)

[grcamna2]

Well I filled it up with outboard motor oil Bill, so I’ll unwittingly get to test your theory, luckily I have a spare new NGK B8ES plug in my tool roll. I can’t remember what oil I was using in my old (then only a couple of years old) DT250MX in 80/81 (in fact I can’t remember ever filling it, but I must have, I rode it 50 miles a day commuting to work and back) but I never fouled a plug because I’m pretty sure I never even put a new one in it.

I’ll buy some fancy synthetic oil for it when I run out of outboard oil, or sooner if it starts fouling plugs. I bought a 5 litre container of it when I built the T350, and tipped it into both the T500 and DT and used some for premix for the RT360 and SD6, but only rode them around the block. The T500 seems to like it though.

I hope you decide to drain that ashy outboard motor oil out after the first ride Terry;foul-up your piston rings for sure.

[Terry in Australia]

Nah, I’ve already ridden over 100 miles with that oil premixed at 25:1, then 33:1 Bill, and had no problem with fouled plugs, so it’ll stay in the oil tank until I’ve used it all.