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

[grcamna2]

Hang in there Kelly, we like having you around. Hope the scans come back favourably...

+1

[Alan F.]

+2 you're a very inspiring individual.

[Terry in Australia]

I'm happy to make it back home after getting an MRI, a bone scan and my cancer shot all in one day. I had to drink some kind of vanilla smoothie dye stuff this time. It wasn't as bad as the last time but that's not saying much.

All the best mate, and stay busy, it's working for my Ma, she's 94 and has a busier schedule than I do, I'm pretty sure she'll outlive me!

[Kelly E]

Thanks guys, and Terry I'll try to keep up with your mom.

[Alan F.]

My wee 80mm rotary table arrived while I was out working this afternoon, it's got a groove at the edge of the table where someone got careless, and it's got a little backlash in the 0 or 360 degree area that I'll have to keep in mind.

[Kelly E]

Can you just add 10° to the settings like 10° - 100° - 190° - 280° to avoid the sloppy part?

[Alan F.]

Yes, it seems pretty tight everywhere else.

[Gurp]

Got back in the gym for the first time in 8 months.
Injury in my last fight had me out 8/12 weeks then I just never got back. Mental slump and such.

It wasn't good but the act of getting in there again is.

[Terry in Australia]

Well done mate, don’t knock yourself around too much, or you’ll have the rest of your life to regret it. I was never a professional fighter (or professional anything, really, unless bullsh1tting is considered a profession?) but I managed to hurt myself a lot when I was younger, and now I’m paying for it. Luckily the VA pays for all my medical, operations and drugs etc, but it’s not much fun when my fingers lock up with arthritis and I can’t actually make a fist with either hand now.

I was feeling a bit miserable at work yesterday after getting shafted with more work to cover for a person who’s resigned from her job and as I’m the only other person who’s qualified, I “inherited” a ton of work. Anyway I came home and opened a ginger beer and started admiring my RC51 that I’m in the process of recommissioning, and I couldn’t help myself, I turned the key on, and thumbed the starter, and was immediately rewarded with the raucous cacophony of a race bike’s mechanical symphony. Fcuk it sounds sweet. That really cheered me up!

The new Motobatt battery was delivered today so I can unhook the huge truck battery and reinstall the tank, seat, and other parts I removed to de-rust the tank and replace the in tank pump and filter. I’ve replaced the clutch master cylinder assembly as the one on it was knackered (luckily I have a spare RC51 in pieces) and just need to do the oil and filter change, and I can take it for a sneaky lap, but not too far as the Metzler semi-slicks are rock hard, and need replacing with some sticky rubber. I don’t like a lot of people, but motorcycles make me happy.

[BenelliSEI]

Well done mate, don’t knock yourself around too much, or you’ll have the rest of your life to regret it. I was never a professional fighter (or professional anything, really, unless bullsh1tting is considered a profession?) but I managed to hurt myself a lot when I was younger, and now I’m paying for it. Luckily the VA pays for all my medical, operations and drugs etc, but it’s not much fun when my gingers lock up with arthritis and I can’t actually make a fist with either hand now.

I was feeling a bit miserable at work yesterday after getting shafted with more work to cover for a person who’s resigned from her job and as I’m the only other person who’s qualified, I “inherited” a ton of work. Anyway I came home and opened a ginger beer and started admiring my RC51 that I’m in the process of recommissioning, and I couldn’t help myself, I turned the key on, and thumbed the starter, and was immediately rewarded with the raucous cacophony of a race bike’s mechanical symphony. Fcuk it sounds sweet. That really cheered me up!

The new Motobatt battery was delivered today so I can unhook the huge truck battery and reinstall the tank, seat, and other parts I removed to de-rust the tank and replace the in tank pump and filter. I’ve replaced the clutch master cylinder assembly as the one on it was knackered (luckily I have a spare RC51 in pieces) and just need to do the oil and filter change, and I can take it for a sneaky lap, but not too far as the Metzler semi-slicks are rock hard, and need replacing with some sticky rubber. I don’t like a lot of people, but motorcycles make me happy.

Congrats Terry. That will be a fun ride!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks John. I discovered 2 more issues with the magnificent beast last night, the left side blinker switch wasn’t working and the rear brake master is seized. I dipped back into my RC51 spares tubs and found one of each off the crashed bike (the PO hit a Kangaroo at warp speed and only just survived, but the bike didn’t) but the switch housing was pretty rashed, and the rear master was also locked.

I went back to the switch on the bike and disassembled it while still on the bike, which was tricky, but was able to clean the spiders nests and what looks like petrified grease out of the housing using rattle can degreaser and a small paint brush. I then just gave it a liberal spray of WD40 and tested it, everything works again, so I called it good, and if I decide to keep it (unlikely) I’ll re-open the housing and splotch some grease in there.

The rear master cylinders might be stuffed, but I’ll make an attempt to free up the one off the spare bike before I pony up the dough for a new one. I also found an in tank fuel pump and filter in the bottom of one of the boxes that came with the spare bike, so using my shiny new “Power Probe 3” I powered it up and it worked fine, so I could have saved a couple of hundred dollars if I hadn’t just bought a new one. No biggie, if the RC51 sells I’ll reassemble the spare one into another frame that I imported from the US and build a “Track only” bike out of the bits.

I’d love to build a comfortable cruiser style bike using that magnificent 90 degree “L twin” DOHC EFI engine with gear driven cams, but I’d probably never get it on the road legally, I have a VTR1000F “Firestorm” (poor mans RC51) but the engine, although similar in configuration and appearance, uses different mounting points. Of course, I do own a shiny new AC/DC TIG, so I might revisit that thought at some point…..

[BenelliSEI]

Terry…. You’re going to have to live to 100. Keep up the fine work. It keeps us all alive! J.

[Terry in Australia]

That’s very true John, my Ma is 94 and has a busier schedule than mine, so she should be good for a few more years. On the happy-ish side, I just spotted a really nice Oz built  “Peerless” V twin air compressor for sale on FB for $100. Known seller, looks like she’s clearing out a deceased estate, unit comes with a long hose, a separate filter/regulator and an air blaster gun.

I owned a compressor just like it for many years and loved it, but needed one with a bigger tank so sold it to an old guy who I was painting cars for back in the 90’s, then bought a bigger one which has been a piece of junk sadly (never buy Italian machinery unless you like tinkering) so I’ll now use this compressor piped to the bigger units tank to use as a reserve air tank. FB “bargains” make me happy.

Terry's new old compressor 20 Jan 2023 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

[Gurp]

Finally got back in the gym. Should be fight ready and down 20 lb in 6 weeks. Definitely looking forward to looking and feeling like I should and really excited for the prospect of stepping through the ropes again.

[70CB750]

Finally got back in the gym. Should be fight ready and down 20 lb in 6 weeks. Definitely looking forward to looking and feeling like I should and really excited for the prospect of stepping through the ropes again.

You aren't the typical SOHC4 guy 50+ years old? 

What's your weight category?

[grcamna2]

That’s very true John, my Ma is 94 and has a busier schedule than mine, so she should be good for a few more years. On the happy-ish side, I just spotted a really nice Oz built  “Peerless” V twin air compressor for sale on FB for $100. Known seller, looks like she’s clearing out a deceased estate, unit comes with a long hose, a separate filter/regulator and an air blaster gun.

I owned a compressor just like it for many years and loved it, but needed one with a bigger tank so sold it to an old guy who I was painting cars for back in the 90’s, then bought a bigger one which has been a piece of junk sadly (never buy Italian machinery unless you like tinkering) so I’ll now use this compressor piped to the bigger units tank to use as a reserve air tank. FB “bargains” make me happy.

Terry's new old compressor 20 Jan 2023 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry,that's a nice,old HD cast iron air pump/compressor and 5hp? single phase motor on such a small tank.. You going to run the compressor directly into the large tank and bypass the small tank?

[BenelliSEI]

That’s very true John, my Ma is 94 and has a busier schedule than mine, so she should be good for a few more years. On the happy-ish side, I just spotted a really nice Oz built  “Peerless” V twin air compressor for sale on FB for $100. Known seller, looks like she’s clearing out a deceased estate, unit comes with a long hose, a separate filter/regulator and an air blaster gun.

I owned a compressor just like it for many years and loved it, but needed one with a bigger tank so sold it to an old guy who I was painting cars for back in the 90’s, then bought a bigger one which has been a piece of junk sadly (never buy Italian machinery unless you like tinkering) so I’ll now use this compressor piped to the bigger units tank to use as a reserve air tank. FB “bargains” make me happy.

Terry's new old compressor 20 Jan 2023 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Parallel lives! I’m searching around for a cast iron “Webster” compressor for the house garage. My shop compressor is too far away and I’m sick of dragging the air pig back and forth. I had one years ago and it was very reliable. It died and ugly death; fell off the back of a buddy’s truck. Snapped the barrel off the crankcase!

[Terry in Australia]

That’s very true John, my Ma is 94 and has a busier schedule than mine, so she should be good for a few more years. On the happy-ish side, I just spotted a really nice Oz built  “Peerless” V twin air compressor for sale on FB for $100. Known seller, looks like she’s clearing out a deceased estate, unit comes with a long hose, a separate filter/regulator and an air blaster gun.

I owned a compressor just like it for many years and loved it, but needed one with a bigger tank so sold it to an old guy who I was painting cars for back in the 90’s, then bought a bigger one which has been a piece of junk sadly (never buy Italian machinery unless you like tinkering) so I’ll now use this compressor piped to the bigger units tank to use as a reserve air tank. FB “bargains” make me happy.

Terry's new old compressor 20 Jan 2023 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry,that's a nice,old HD cast iron air pump/compressor and 5hp? single phase motor on such a small tank.. You going to run the compressor directly into the large tank and bypass the small tank?

Thanks Bill, well I'm hoping to use both tanks, that'll give me a 150 litre capacity which will be good for bead blasting and spray painting, and I want to be able to disconnect the blue compressor and still use it if I need to. I've never done this before, so if you have any tips, let me know?

John, I bought my first Peerless compressor just after I got married in 1982 and as I was living in an Army Married Quarter "Patch", all my neighbours started to come to me for paint/rust repairs on their cars. Before long I was doing full paint jobs, and it got to the stage where when I wasn't working my day job, or my part time job at the gas station I was painting someone's car.

The Peerless compressor was a brilliant machine, nothing ever went wrong with it, but the tank was a bit small so in the 90's I sold it and I spent a lot more money on another compressor that failed miserably a year or two into it's life. Many years later I did some lathe work for an engineer and in return he replaced the air pressure control switch thingie on the compressor, and it worked beautifully again for a month or two, then died again.

I'm not one of those guys who smashes things with hammers when they don't work properly, so I've just left it in the hope that one day I'll sort it out, and have bought several $200 cheapies that I've located around the garage for use with my lathe and mill, and one in the patio "Winter workshop" too. They've worked fine, but are pretty useless for doing big jobs, so it'll be nice to have another Peerless back in my garage.

[grcamna2]

Terry,I hope you install a quality brass check-valve(the type which can be taken apart and repaired/cleaned,then re-assembled)of the correct size to your compressor output air pipe where it enters the tank/s;check-valve problems have caused compressors/pressure switches/motors grief for quite a while..
The check valve has the function of only allowing the air pump's output to go one-way Into the tank/pressurized air line and when they malfunction it causes problems,mainly on start-up.
I like the ones which connect to the pressure switch(shuts the motor off at a certain preset pressure,then restarts it again when the pressure gets low)that have the 'unloader' feature which unloads the compressor outlet pipe of any residual air so that your compressor starts with no-load. The feature is excellent;one quality check-valve I know of is Kingston and I've used them:they last. My father used to have a large air compressor company in Milford,Ct.
I'm originally from Ct.
Terry,what brand is that air compressor/pump ?

[Gurp]

Finally got back in the gym. Should be fight ready and down 20 lb in 6 weeks. Definitely looking forward to looking and feeling like I should and really excited for the prospect of stepping through the ropes again.

You aren't the typical SOHC4 guy 50+ years old? 

What's your weight category?

I usually walk around at in shape 131/133lbs
I fight 126 130 135 pro boxing

I'm 32 years old been a member here since 2011
4 kiddos and a full time job. 65 hrs a week average. Keeps me going.

[Terry in Australia]

This year I start selling off the bikes and parts that I won’t need/can’t find room for. The RC51 SP1 is almost ready to go, next will be the Fireblade, Valkyrie, then probably the Suzuki T500, the K2 “Bitsa” will be transformed into a pretty standard K2 by the end of this year, and tubs and tubs of parts will continue to move out the garage door.

A guy in the Australian CB750 Faceplant pages asked if anyone had any K7/F2 carbs for sale so I said that I did, and sold one guy a set before I realised that he wasn’t the OP of the original post, but luckily I had another reasonable set to sell the OP. (Who hasn’t paid me yet, anyway) There were other guys who said that they had some for sale but I’m guessing they were asking too much? People are asking stupid money for this crap nowadays, but I digress.

Last night I saw that the Vevor rotating welding fixture was being discontinued, so I bought one. The carb sale easily paid for it, so that’s given me even more incentive to sell my crap, I can use the money to buy other things that I may never use!

[Don R]

 I sold the 750 F1, the guy picks it up tomorrow.
  The win is that I talked him into taking a free windjammer too. I pulled the three black ones off the shelf, he can pick and choose parts but has to take the entire fairing that the parts are on. L0L. I even had a super sport bracket.

[dave500]

yeah Terry FB can be good for bargains,im on 2 weeks holiday so this arvo went and picked up this running belt drive 3 horse vee twin compressor for $25 bucks!!bloke said it has trouble starting some times and i found the start capacitior has a broken wire,no biggie,ill clean it up and plan to use it in the garage thats attached to the house and replace the good but #$%*ing noisey as hell direct drive vee twin i have there already,ill try and sell it for coupla hundred bucks,in the shed i have an old belt drive pro air with a swan air pump and a betts motor on it,old but still does what i need it to.

[newday777]

yeah Terry FB can be good for bargains,im on 2 weeks holiday so this arvo went and picked up this running belt drive 3 horse vee twin compressor for $25 bucks!!bloke said it has trouble starting some times and i found the start capacitior has a broken wire,no biggie,ill clean it up and plan to use it in the garage thats attached to the house and replace the good but #$%*ing noisey as hell direct drive vee twin i have there already,ill try and sell it for coupla hundred bucks,in the shed i have an old belt drive pro air with a swan air pump and a betts motor on it,old but still does what i need it to.

Great find for $25!

Hey Dave and Terry
Don't you guys watch the Ausi group for posts? I replied to a new member posting in it an hour ago looking for a carb body for his first 750 he just got.
And then I found another post from last June where no one replied to the new member in his looking for a mechanic in Sydney.....

When I get on the forum I click on the upper left "show unread posts since last visit" , next to your avatar, which is how I happened across them...

[dave500]

ok thanks ill take a look.