A Lengthy Insanity

[Ulu]

I wire brushed it off after grinding and hit it with a little 220 here and there. I wiped it down with acetone and shot it with some self priming Krylon.

It didn’t come out great because I was trying to use up the last 2 ounces of paint in an old spray can. Also I did not bother to DA anything.

But it didn’t come out bad and it’s all gonna be covered with upholstery after the paint cures. It’s about 110 F in the oven I call my boatyard, so by tonight it will be hard.

Tomorrow I’m going to start tearing down the Kawasaki, and I’ve got a couple guys coming over just to polish the chrome pieces as I take it all off and put it back on. I think my next motorcycle might get silver paint rather than chrome.

Also the upholstery on the seat may not get finished for a few days or a week, because I have a seat on my bike. If I wasn’t able to ride, I’d be in much more of a hurry.

 

[Ulu]

I had to strip some of the stitching out of the seat cover in order to get a good flat layout but now I have one on heavy tracing paper.

I also have sketched a possible mascot to embroider into the seat.

I warned you guys that I wasn’t into all the snakes, skulls and bloody dagger stuff.

 

[Ulu]

Well, maybe a witchdoctor . . .

Previous mascots sketched for the grandkid's skateboards.
Atomic Butterfly

Hello Ninja Kitty, some mouse, Turboduck and Rocket Penguin

Of these, only Rocket Penguin saw paint, but that's enough here.
I'll go start an art thread for the color stuff.

 

[threeforks]

I like the rocket penquin

 

[Ulu]

I like the rocket penquin

https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/kiddy-art-and-various-skateboard-art.116148/
I still want to develop Turboduck.

 

[Ulu]

I got a nice wrinkle finish, which covers up some of the scars I didn’t bother to sand out.


In the old days we used to bake parts in the oven and then shoot the paint on while they were still hot.

It was 105 in the boatyard today, so I baked it on top of a metal trailer before painting, and cured it in the hot sun. She’s all ready for upholstery.

 

[Ulu]

So this is Baggins The Nomad, and this is why I’m not working on the project bikes today.


Back in 2004 I held a contest on the old motorcycle USA forums to name this bike and that was the winning name.

When my motorcycle is back together, I can go back to work on the project bikes.

So I hired some guys to come & polish all the parts as I took it to pieces.

Getting cleaner than it’s been in years….
Even the upskirt shots show little dirt.


But Baggins has some scars that will not go away. The gage face is a decal and it is peeling up.

You can see where the rear wheel throws dirt on the exhaust pipe.


Anyhow it is jacked up six ways and we will be working on it again tomorrow. I don’t know if I mentioned it in this thread yet, but this is a 2004 Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad1500 L5L. I bought it at Clawson’s in Fresno, August 2003.

 

[threeforks]

I still want to develop Turboduck.

"Turboduck" is a bit small to see clearly.

 

[Ulu]

"Turboduck" is a bit small to see clearly.

Those are all thumbnails and will enlarge, but here's a low-rez blowup of Turboduck, that is displayed full size.
He's pretty sketchy...

Now I'm thinking about Rat Fink with a jetpack and minimal Rocketeer helmet.
I shouldn't . . . I don't have time to draw all this! . . . I have bikes to fix.

 

[kingfish254]

I like the idea of a Finketeer

 

[Ulu]

After seeing the Tiki Ratfink I’ve been trying to figure out Rattfink on Easter Island. (Why do I get the feeling that has been done before?)

 

[threeforks]

. I don't have time to draw all this! . . . I have bikes to fix.

Simple,
Just build a bike that follows the "Turboduck" blueprint.

 

[Ulu]

A twin jet pack tanker?

But I don’t think I have a proper frame for that bike right now.

 

[Ulu]

Maybe it should be Turbogoose??

I ride a mongoose, and we are right on the Canadian honker migration path. My house lies centered between four different ponds and so the geese are constantly flying over.

 

[Ulu]

I’m having one of those cognitive disorder problems today. I shouldn’t be having problems with this clutch dragging.

This clutch fans open readily and has 1.4mm travel. I measured with feeler gauges between the plates and it doesn’t seem like the clutch should be dragging the way it was.

I think Kawasaki calls for 1.3 mm, A difference which shouldn’t be a concern in my mind on a clutch with this much travel.

Maybe I miss read the manual, because they give a very complicated inspection procedure which I cannot perform. All I can do is work the clutch and look at the plates and see how much they open and close.

But I was on a bike with brand new plates and brand new oil and it was probably too thick. I usually run 20w-50 synthetic oil in the desert in the summer. I will put it back together with some 10w-30 and see what happens.

Also, I had changed the fluid in the clutch and I think that there might have been a little air in the clutch system. It feels very good now but it’s been sitting for a long time and it has had time for the air to come up.

Tomorrow morning I’ll take it out before it gets hot and we will find out what the real story is.

 

[kingfish254]

 

[Ulu]

My wife declared that today was shopping day, and therefore I can’t work on the motorcycle.

But she got to walk her dogs, so she has to go riding bicycles with me for 5 miles. It’s like a game of monopoly where we make up the rules as we go along.

Anyhow it’s only partially reassembled.

Also the windshield is total garbage and I just don’t think I can buff it out. Nonetheless I’ve got a plastic restore kit and I’m gonna give it a shot before I spend an unbelievable price for a genuine Kawasaki windshield.

 

[Ulu]

By the way, I can’t tell who painted this but if you guys tell me it was Roth I will shart.

 

[Ulu]

Too many things have been going on here and I decided I needed to take a day off from, well, basically everything except loafing around at the computer.

One would think that because I am well onto 6.5 years retired that every day is a day off.

If that was true I wouldn’t feel like I needed a day off.

 

[hamqqea]

By the way, I can’t tell who painted this but if you guys tell me it was Roth I will shart.
View attachment 199980

It's titled Rat Fink Goes To Tiki Island by R.K. Sloane. Rat Fink Comix artist.