NickDG

If your cutter in under a top flap or on the bottom of the container (like on a Racer or Reflex) take a penlight and LOOK down into the grommet(s). In most cases, and very likely in this one, you would have seen something amiss . . . NickD

While cameras were already in hot air balloons for years here's the first motion pictures shot from an airplane . . . Wilbur Wright, in France I think, in 1909! http://www.europafilmtreasures.eu/PY/322/fiche_technique.htm?ID=322 Notice how pitch sensitive the Wright Flyer was! NickD

Why, the stash, of course . . . NickD

Got a tank panel in the mail this morning. It was on Ebay and the advert said America made from "Dallas" leather so I took a chance I'm stoked! (Do people still say that?) It's a very well made piece, it's real leather, and I got it for only $15 . . . NickD

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I knew guys when I was in the Marine Corps who couldn't do it this fast . . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-bYD6nrlkk NickD

>>Just a thought, but where's the GF gonna ride?

http://www.youshouldhaveseenthis.com NickD

>>Just curious. I a non stalking kind of way?

More Pickies . . . (No, I didn't really blow myself up . . .) NickD

I spent most of my last day's off at the Crate & Motor . . . No, it's not a bar or something like that. I wish! Upboard I mentioned picking up a used 1000 cc Kawasaki Cop motor for my buddy Jaybird whose building a drag bike. Well picking it up was the easy part. Another friend of his was supposed to come get it from me, but that didn’t happen so yours truly had to build a crate and drop it off at the freight company. Now I'm a metal guy and I don't know nothing from lumber. In fact, I'm a lumber Jack-Ass. Maybe it has something to do with it once being alive or something but I just can't make it do what I want like I can with metal. I had to hang a wooden door once at my house in Perris. I kicked the old door in because it was locked on that side of the house and someone was shooting at me. It's a long story but you know . . . Perris. Actually that was the second time I got shot at in Perris. The first time it happened I was in the Perris Ghetto sitting in Jack Flash's trailer. His trailer butts up alongside Mapes Road and we were inside just minding our own business smoking a bong load after a long day of jumping. Suddenly three or four rounds ripped through the trailer about a foot above our heads. Normally the Ghetto is a rowdy but peaceful place, if that makes sense. So when we picked ourselves up off the floor I asked Flash just how far behind he was in his rent? We then ran outside to see some locals in Chevy lowrider disappearing into the night. It was the townie street gang on a drive by and they were pissed at us skydivers because someone in the Ghetto was selling pot in their neighborhood. The very next day the Otter crashed at Perris. That evening was a rough one and a few of us were standing out on Mapes Road trying to come to grips with things. And all of a sudden I looked up and here comes that same Chevy lowrider slowly cruising towards us. It was too late to run so we just held our ground. (But I did notice we all unconsciously spread out a little bit). But instead of shooting they flashed us the peace sign as they went by. I guess they thought with sixteen of us dead it was even ups . . . So I'm trying to hang this door and it was sticking so I started planning it down but no matter what I did on one side it got worse on the other side. I was about to take a frigging axe to it when I did what I should have done in the first place. Call a skydiver who's got the side skill you need. Eric Finney came by and had the door swinging closed clean in no time. He still laughs at me over that one . . . But despite being a lumber-moron I managed to get a crate built for Jaybird's cop motor and got that shipped off yesterday morning. I had Julia, my aerospace engineer girlfriend, do all the math so maybe that's why it worked out, LOL . . . Had a day and a half to work on Nina's tank mounts. But this time I did the math myself and sure as heck made the bottom mounts a half inch too long so I'll have to do those over. I got an inner tube for my front tire so that full of air now. It's actually the second tube. I punctured the first one putting the tire on. I made myself a better set of tire irons than the ones I bought and that solved that problem. But it's too cool, I can actually roll around on Nina now . . . I also fabbed up a headlight mount from thicker steel so now that's bullet proof and my twenty dollar swap meet headlight looks pretty neat. And I also scored some old school three inch round mirrors from a local indie shop for 5 bucks apiece! And I chucked on some cheapie BMX hand grips to make it easier to roll Nina around the garage. This week I got promoted to driving the ambulance at work. So maybe they'll take me off the night shift. I'm totally tired all the time because unlike daytime when the calls are mostly back to back at night it slows way down. So we sleep in the rig between calls. But it's not really sleep, it's more like twilight sleep because you have stay awake enough to hear the radio calls. And then I don’t sleep during the day and I'm all screwed up. When working on Nina I have to force myself to stop when I'm so tired I start screwing up. That's about all for now. The only other thing I'm going to do tonight is I'm getting a used gas oven for the garage so I can powder coat some of Nina's smaller parts. I've got the new gas pipes so now all I have to tap into the existing gas line. Should be easy. All I have to do is unscrew this part of the gas li

I always use B.A.S.E. NickD

The best part . . . NickD

Nice . . . I bought a Super Beetle brand new in 1971. I paid cash at the Volkswagen dealer and it costs me $1798.00 out the door! NickD

>>The corner stitching is designed to contain the bag for a reason. That's to allow the pilot chute and bridle to reach full extension before yanking the bag out of the container.

That's good to hear. Now Racers are PERFECT! NickD

>>I've heard on the other hand, that the racer is one of the worst rigs out there

I see two versions of that advert. In one the gal says, "Oh, it's so much bigger than I thought." And then she says, "I'd like to kiss it." In the other one they deleted the second line. Never noticed the RW pickies . . . LOL NickD

Thanks! But I had a change of heart on the Chubby Drag Bars . . . I'm going with these babies! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBONFCX3UCE&eurl=http://www.clubchopper.com/forums/showthread.php?t=74143&feature=player_embedded LOL, and I thought the below pic was bad . . . NickD

Nina's sitting on her own gear . . . She's off the jack and rolling !!! I finally got the black anodized Hawg Halter Triple Trees on today and got a new rear fender too. I originally went with that trailer fender I mentioned upboard but it was too flat for the low profile Metzler (you know the Germans make good stuff) 200 mm tire. This one is still flat on top but it's got more of a radius around the edges which is just what I wanted. I still need to shorten it and cut out the left side for the chain drive. Then make the bungs to mount it. Final placement will be more like in the last photo which I photochopped. The Chubby handlebars are installed now too. And LOL I think I put a few tenths of a mile on Nina just rolling around my garage like a kid on a Big Wheel . . . I'm going to lift the front of the fatbob tanks another three inches and what that will look like is in the last photo too. One problem with the kickstand, I noticed right away, is it doesn't lean the bike over far enough. In fact if the front end is hard over to the right the bike will fall over. Either I have to heat up the kickstand and bend it up or wedge the fitting where its attached to the frame to get a higher angle. I think someone even sells those wedges just for the purpose. Oh, and here's the best part, I got a cop horn ! ! ! You know like in the Blues Brothers where Elwood says, "Its got a cop motor, its got cop tires, cop suspensions, and cop shocks." Well, I got me a cop horn . . . I went and picked up a 1000cc Kawasaki motor this week that was local to me for Jaybird. He's going to punch it out and put it into the drag bike he's building in Colorado. And the motor came out of a cop bike. And among the parts was this horn that I was hoping Jay wouldn't need while ripping up the quarter mile. And he was nice enough to let me have it. In fact the whole exchange went like this: Me - I have a request. In with your parts was this horn. I'd like to buy it. Jaybird - Although your photograph shows the pork horn to be in excellent, nearly new condition, and very likely worth several hundred dollars, or maybe even more, I'd consider it an honor if you would install it on your scooter, and accept it as my gift. (Pork Horn, I luv it!!!) Thanks Bro! I tested the horn with a voltmeter for continuity and then hooked it up to a battery, and oh man is it loud! Instead of that anemic beep beep sound most bike horns emit this one has a real growl to it. I'm sure it was meant to accent the other "Pull the fuck over" sounds that cop bikes make. But I think I'll just use it in the, "Hey, sweetie, take a look in my direction," sense . . . More fun in the garage tomorrow! NickD

"1ST OUT" is kinda cool, but if I went that way it would have to be "Last Out" And Jimbo, you know what's mine is yours. But you'll need to leave an ole lady deposit to ride though . . . And I luv this picky - shows there's all kinds of bikers! NickD

We've been hearing about guys getting those thousand dollars fines for vert plates in Fla . . . WTF, welcome to the regime! Its a grey area in So Cal with them. The law just says the plate must be readable. But a copper can interpret that however they want. Sold on the rivet idea, thanks AD. I might even run some brass trim too . . . Now I just need to cut out a square from the bottom of the tail light housing so some whiteness shines down on the plate. I already have "BASE 194" on my truck so does anyone have any suggestions for Nina's new license plates? (And no, I never use that truck to go B.A.S.E. jumping). NickD

And . . . NickD

I spent this morning fabbing up a mount for my tail light. I started with using steel but that was an epic fail. It was just too hard to cut and file into shape. So instead I went with aluminum, but I'm not sure it's not going to be too vibratey, but we'll see . . . I started with a cardboard template for the layout and thank god for the fraction dividing calculator I found online. (I was the clown that was too cool for school and now its biting me in the ass). I used some French curves to get the angles right. Once I got the cardboard into shape using sandpaper I blued up the piece of aluminum and transferred the template with a metal scribe. I roughly cut that out with a jigsaw and finished it off with files and burnishing tools (old screwdrivers). I then cut the mounting holes out on the drill press. I still have to fab up some mounts for it but I'm not sure exactly where it's going to go yet. So I tied it on with some line just for giggles . . . Man, the weather in So Cal is just bitching! It's in the 80s today and blue as hell. I just wish I could hurry this process up. Days like this you just don't get back. I'm getting that new Ultima Shovelhead motor for sure. It's five large so it may be another month or two before I'll have the dough, but life's too short not to ride what stokes you. Its, from what I understand, an Evo bottom end but with heavier flywheels so it should be the best of both the old and new. I'm finding that with regular Evos if you idle them down enough to sound decent the oil light starts flickering. Can't hang with that . . . Hey, my UPS guy just showed up with my new black anodized Hawg Halter Triple Trees so now I can get the front end sorted. If I don't hit the beers too hard this afty I might just have myself a roller . . . NickD

Peaceful Jeffery? Crazy Thomas? Not sure if they were self banned or banned banned or what . . . ? NickD