NickDG

It took me from December of 2008 to May of 2010 but Nina is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's see what happens on the first start up! I checked everything three times and I have two big fans going to keep her cool . . . http://www.blogtv.com/Shows/1260225/Ze7EZ27GbWFwZuPFbe_&pos=ancr NickD

>>red 2004 Honda CBR

For better (or worse!) NickD

Dead at 97 . . . http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/26/obit.art.linkletter/index.html?hpt=C1 I knew his son Jack (before he too died from cancer) and used to work on his airplane. He always spoke highly of his father and from all accounts Art was a class act. It was a shame he had to bury three of his children. Art Linkletter Lindsay Lohan = I've lived too long! NickD

Here's the "club" in more recent times . . . http://picasaweb.google.com/howard.clark.jr/HappyBottomRidingClub# NickD

Here's a tip for anyone contemplating a build project be it an airplane, hot rod car, or motorcycle. The last ten percent is a bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There will always be several places where the last piece of the puzzle will give you fits. "This" won't work because "that's" in the way. Move "that" and all of a sudden "something" you did six months ago needs a move or complete re-design. I finally have the front brake working. I put it together from the four front master cylinders I bought so far. Two from E-Bay that were junk on delivery and a new one that royally sucked in both look and design, and the first one I stripped out. Using the parts from all four I managed to cobble something together that works. UPS is dropping off a new black rear brake cable (I had a silver braided one but it didn't make the "looks" cut) so I'm hoping like hell it fits and works. The worst thing happened last week (the biggest mistake I made thus far) was while putting in and taking out the oil tank for fitment. (And getting the oil lines cut to length.) I made a stupid rookie mistake and touched the tank to the starter lug and fried my brand new battery. And there, in an instant, went 150 bucks down the frigging rat hole! I have a new one coming this week but damn that hurt in the pocket book! I asked Julia that night how they put those million dollar spacecraft together she works on and she said they use a committee approved flow chart where installing each and every nut, bolt, or wire goes through a dozen PhD's who approve the procedure six months beforehand. And then they practice it on a dummy spacecraft before actually doing it. "Why?" She asked, "how are you doing it?" I just open a beer and go to work! At the risk of this turning into a bad reality show with a drama added deadline I'm planning on (and dreaming about) a Memorial Day first start up but that's only six days from now and I'm not entirely sure I'm going to make it . . . NickD

I passed on the Coopers in favor of Frappe hats. But I sold a lot of them when I worked for Square One. I recall sometime in the '90s they stopped selling them to us for resale to skydivers because they were sued by someone who was injured while jumping. Always thought they were the epitome of ugly anyway . . . NickD

Well, well, well, what? Haven't you heard this site is dying. LOL! Actually I got a lot of small detail stuff done on Nina over the last week. I ran all the wires I couldn't put through the frame into looms. And I just need to wire up the tail-light and the wiring is completely finished. I ran the battery down some with all the tests and checking I did so it's on the charger right now. I'm waiting on a clutch cable as the one I had didn't fit right but after that's installed all I have to do (I hope) is wash the anti-rust oil out of the fuel tanks, mount them and the oil tank. Then re-install the exhaust pipes (removed them for better access) and that should be it. I'm going on a photo strike though until we get to embed photos into our posts. That's why this site is dying. It's so frigging stuck in the 90s . . . NickD

In that "Perris back in the day" photo isn't the girl Jody Ownens (spl?) who ran the gear store at Perris with her husband? That was the very first "gear store" I ever actually saw on a DZ. And the first time I met her she gave me a ration of shit. With the older gear we used back then we went through a lot of rubber bands so I needed a couple and went inside the store saw a coffee can full of them so I grabbed a few and walked out. Man, she came after me like I just made off with the Crown Jewels. "That's a quarter a handful!" She yelled at me. I was kind of stunned (and embarrassed) as most DZs put out boxes of rubber bands for free. Of course, I didn't fully realize it at the time but this was the very beginnings of the commercialization of skydiving. Everything bad that came after that, Boogie registration fees, the end of the ten dollar reserve repack, Skyride, and the final nail in the sport, tandems, was all my fault. Instead of sheepishly handing over my quarter I should have bitched more . . . NickD

You've got to show up with your own helmet, gloves, and over the ankle boots. At least that's how it was for my GF when she did the course about two months ago. NickD

>>...iNina don't cha blow, Nina don't cha blow...Nina don't cha blow your head gasket.

Go Speed Racer . . . NickD

I'm thinking how as I get older my memories distill into just sound bites in my head . . . My first time flying a sailplane. It was beautiful and serenely quiet with a rising and falling wind song that made it unnecessary to ever peek at the airspeed indicator. I never had so much fun playing around the edges of clouds in something that flies. But that’s just how I think it was. All I actually remember is a rather nerve wracking tow to altitude on a very bumpy day. And my CFI Ted’s only instruction being, “Keep the Cessna’s vertical stabilizer centered up on ol’ Earl’s bald spot and don’t do nothing else!” And I could have very well just imagined the rest . . . NickD

Harley V-Twins are about the only air-cooled vehicle motors not equipped with baffled cooling systems. All the Cessna piston aircraft use them and so did older Volkswagens. One could install some type of ram-air induction ducting to cool a Harley's rear cylinder but then, ironically, you'd lose the cool factor . . . NickD

Steve McQueen and Jonathan Winters are Marines. Wow, how would you like Bea Arthur, USMC, telling you there's not enough starch in your shorts . . . NickD

AggieDave posted while I was writing the below but I agree you might think about Honda at first. The Shadow 600 VLX or the bigger Shadow 750 (Ace or Aero) are cheap, plentiful, and damn close to maintenance free. And more in line with the "cruiser" you want than the Buell. It's too bad though as Harley Sportsters are so dirt cheap right now it's kind of a shame not to snag one. But you'd need tools . . . Ebay Shadow VLXs: http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Motorcycles-/6024/i.html?_nkw=honda+VLX&_catref=1&_fln=1&_trksid=p4506.c0.m282 Ebay Shadow 750s: http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=honda+shadow+750&_sacat=6024&_dmpt=US_motorcycles&_odkw=honda+750+four&_osacat=6024&bkBtn=&_trksid=p4506.m270.l1311 However you go have fun! Congrats on passing your course!!! NickD

Or this one . . . NickD

Yeah, that works. The first 23 times or so. Then it's, "Oh no, you're not thinking, you're just drinking?" Just? NickD

After that, didn't get much done today . . . NickD

Boy, did this scammer pick the wrong target. . . LOL Dan would just find the local DZ and guest coach for a week. Then fly his entire family home first class. Never-minding the fact he'd have kicked the stuffing out of any mugger. Plus (and this is the big tip off) Dan would never "admit" to crying . . . NickD

Thanks, that's what I figured. There were crush washers already in the ports from when the motor was factory run, but I replaced them with new ones anyway. NickD

I think Nina was getting a little too chromey looking. So I ditched the heat shields but even so I might still black wrap the header sections of the exhaust pipes. But I'll leave the headers bare for a little while and see what color they turn. That'll help with dialing in the Micky Rooney . . . NickD

Naw, I've got the oil tank out whilst wiring. Hey, on the exhaust flanges, (little diffy than the old Shovel) - the flange goes on the head pipes first then the circlip (the snap-ring thing) so when tightened down the circlip is facing the head and away from you? NickD

Want to hear how Nina sounds . . . ? Run One: (2nd pre-test-run #3 of 4.) http://www.blogtv.com/Shows/1260225/date/Ze7EZ27GbWFwZm3xZmT NickD

The early UPS guy brought me Nina'a pipes this morning . . . I put six inch baffles in the end-pipes and also torque cones in the head-pipes. Yeah, I know doing both sounds like overkill. But the pipes are 2 and a 1/4 in diameter so to get the return exhaust sonic pulse to linger up around the exhaust port you need to slow it down. I can always pull out one or the other after I see how she runs. I might find she runs better with either or neither taken out . . . NickD