I’ll start off with my appreciation for @jminer and the rest of you who helped set this place up. We have some Opponauts (this one included) going through some shit this year, and it’s been very uplifting to see people get support on a car forum of all places. Here’s to hoping everyone can harness some of those positive vibes into the New Year.
If an older guy with lots of toys mentions to you that he’s going through a divorce, work their asking price down. He even let me test ride it, which is something I’d never do when selling a bike. This was my first time riding a Harley, and holy shit are these things heavy. Feels like riding a cement block with a diesel engine attached to it. I wouldn’t want one as my only bike, but it should be good for lazy cruisin’.
2000 883 Sporster custom with a dealer installed 1200 “kit”. I called the dealer and they said their kits include the cylinders and valve work, but there is no paperwork to verify, so I’m going to install an SS kit along with a new head so it can actually breath. Fires right up and runs smooth. Gonna wait until I’m a bit more seasoned on it before making it faster, as these things do not handle like motorcycles are supposed to handle. It’s nice to have modern brakes again, though!
I told this guy I really liked his Jeep as he was loading his groceries hoping to get a laugh out of him. He just stared at me like an asshole and drove off. He was wearing a Triumph shirt, and I was dismounting my Harley, so maybe he just has a searing hatred for American iron. I guess you can’t expect much from people in a Whole Foods parking lot. Guy loading up next to me said it’s a Bronco, which nearly put me in tears. Stay excellent, Oppo!
@gin-san That's what happens when you trust an oil filter company to deliver packages.
The driveline is completely redone with lots of custom stuff. She’s rocking a tuned up 350 with some sort of manuel tranny attached and higher gears in the rear. Very fun cruiser.
I’ve been searching for a used camper shell since I got the Tundra. I really wanted an old school looking aluminum one, but they didn’t seem to be too popular, and all the fiberglass ones I kept seeing were beat to hell. I finally found an aluminum one today. The CL ad had a picture of it on the same style Tundra as mine. Seemed to be in great shape and had a front sliding window which I really wanted. I lucked out and found a sane person on CL. We negotiated the price in person and he helped me swap it from his Tundra onto mine (took fifteen minutes). We talked Tundras for a bit and I was on my way.
The only OCD areas are the non rounded rear corners, and a bit of mismatched contour with the cab. But both do give it a bit of an old school look, so I can deal with it. We’ll be leaving in a few weeks for a month long camping road trip, so this guy showed up just in time.
Is Scotland on the way to Moscow?
I wanted to push the hog a bit today to try and find anything that may be close to failure. I finally got the ignition really tuned in and she’s been making very nice potato sounds. I headed fifty miles north into a 15mph sustained headwind with lots of big gusts into the forties. I was on the highway at a speed of 75 mph for most of the time. Ten miles before I reached my destination I headed due west, and that headwind turned into a crosswind, which feels wonderful with my bike’s solid rear wheel.
When I got to where I was going I stopped for a cigarillo and took some time to inspect the bike. There was a bit of oil spray on the back of the transmission, and a bit collecting on the swingarm. It wasn’t actively dripping, but I could see where it had exited one of the oil tank lines. It seems the line developed a curve, which pulled it a bit off the nipple. I checked my oil, wiped her up a bit, and headed back home. She’s still damn clean for a twenty year old Harley.
The ride back was much more enjoyable with the wind now at my back. While filling up at the gas station, I noticed some oil on top of the ignition cover, which seemed to be dripping from the air filter. This is just something most Harleys do, especially with modified motors. Overfilling the oil can make it worse, as can a worn out motor. The crank vents into the heads, which also serves to oil the air filter. I have an aftermarket air filter, but the holes where the crankcase is vented are circled below.
Knowing the design, I cleaned my filter, and applied very little oil, hoping it could soak up enough blowby so that it wouldn't drip unless it was really dirty. Well, the oil isn’t even touching the filter media. It just drips straight down to wear the rubber seat meets the carb mount. The breather holes are angled up so that any oil will drain back into the crankcase, but it looks like the oil is collecting at the seam of the hole until it eventually drips. The bike is running great, with no smoke and beautiful plugs, so I’m going to try and find a way to keep that oil from dripping out of the filter (I might try putting a breather on the return oil line).
Anyways, the looks of this bike are growing on me, especially after removing the chrome heat shields and installing retro grips. I’ll probably leave it as is a while longer. Only thing I might add is a sissy bar, so my kids feel more comfortable cruising around our neighborhood (buncha sissies!).
I just heard that Paul Van Doren, co founder of Vans, passed away on the 6th. RIP, Paul, and thanks for helping giving us one hell of a shoe. Pretty interesting life. Dropped put of school, went to work in a shoe factory, then created one of the most iconic shoe brands with his brother. He seemed to be a pretty solid dude.
@spasoje My guess is it’s a family deal and that’s what’s owed on the note.
@musashi66 said in This is kind of big news... John McAfee found dead in his prison cell:
@dipodomysdeserti He live like there were no consequences, admitted to not paying taxes, and then consequences hit him in the ass. I stand by my point.
He’d be in a Belize prison if he lived like there were no consequences. Suicide is also not a thing carried out by people who don’t think they’re facing consequences for their actions. He admitted to not paying taxes as a taunt at the IRS to come after him, so he could live out his libertarian fantasies of fighting the US feds, not because he thought there wouldn’t be any consequences. He was fucking nuts. Much different than knowing there aren’t going to be consequences for your actions (a la Trump). McAfee had already been denied entry into the US embassy in Guatemala years ago. He knew he was fucked for a while, and I think was having some fun with it.
@musashi66 said in This is kind of big news... John McAfee found dead in his prison cell:
@mr-ontop Just another rich guy living his life like there are no consequences. I don’t care one bit.
Found dead in a jail cell kinda runs counter to that description. More like, crazy person who managed to make a lot of money.
@texturedsoyprotein said in Someone is operating a fake In-N-Out Burger food truck in DC:
@zhp-sparky-the-5th I don't see any veggie burgers on that menu.
Real In and Out sells grilled cheeses, but they aren’t on the menu.
@forsweden said in No matter how you feel on taxes...:
@dipodomysdeserti Trump already tried to build a wall to keep the Bad People out.
Gotta start throwing Californians in concentration camps.
@forsweden said in No matter how you feel on taxes...:
@dipodomysdeserti Would you prefer the ASU students rent other housing?
I’d prefer if they stayed in California and continued to ruin their own housing market and tuition rates. But that’s a lost cause. They never would have lived in the available stock, hence why Mr. Crow lobbied to turn downtown Phoenix into a giant luxury college campus.
@partypooper2012 said in Jeep Wrangler Front Brakes:
@looseonexit How do you compress caliper on those? Good old channel lock pliers or do you need a caliper compression tool?
I've never changed a damn thing on a jeep... but I think that's a thing worth knowing.
Channel lock pliers work as well as those cheap compressor tools from HF. For a “modern” vehicle, they’re very easy to work on, although pulling the tranny in your driveway is a bit of a pain.
@forsweden said in No matter how you feel on taxes...:
@distraxi said in No matter how you feel on taxes...:
Wealth imbalance is becoming a real problem
You know what would reduce the wealth imbalance?
Building more housing
We’ve put up a shit ton of luxury apartments for ASU students from California in Phoenix. Hasn’t seemed to help.
@carsoffortlangley What’s really funny is it’s 75F and raining in Phoenix right now. I brought the heat with me.
@rusty-vandura Very easy disc brake job. However, did you check the rear pads? Wranglers have a very aggressive TC, and my 2011 always burned up the rears before the fronts.
