A Lengthy Insanity

[Ulu]

Some outdoor shots with the modified stick.




The new leaf spring arrangement worked quite well, and the shifter stayed in whatever gear I put it in.

But there is no positive detent, so you have to know where the gears are, or you will start slipping cogs.

 

[Ulu]

 

[Ulu]

I found a nice brass plunger that came out of a tire inflator and somewhere around here I’ve got a box full of little springs.

I want to make a detent device but I’m afraid I will have to carve the housing out of a block of aluminum.

Initially I was planning to mold the housing from JB Weld and a little brass tube, and just paint it silver, but the alignments when I finished were not what I initially imagined and there was no room to do that.

Initially I was going to include the detent in the spring. Unfortunately this was impossible to do without cracking metal.

This was one of my failed attempts and you can see where it broke off.

Ragged edge at the upper left is supposed to have a “U” bent on it. Snapped it right off.

This was at a different park than the one I went to this morning. It’s the one called Railroad Park. They dedicated a bicycle rack in the park to this fellow.

There’s not a lot of bicycle traffic in that part of town, so it’s rarely used.

(I realized that they were too many Initiallys in this post, but I only wanted to change it initially, then I changed my mind.)

 

[Ulu]

Rusty Death Noodle from the Canal Rescue bike. I only post this pic as a tribute to the fact that I think I’m going to build the worlds largest brake noodle.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Rusty Death Noodle

Know what comes after Death Noodle?

 

[Ulu]

No work on the bike last night. I was totally exhausted. I will get back on it today after I recover from my morning ride.

This is the Greenbelt that runs along the main Boulevard south of our neighborhood. This is the beginning of the Blossom Trail but you don’t see fruit trees until you get to the edge of town.

This pointy gingerbread building used to be a railroad depot. I bought furniture there when it was a furniture store. Now I think it belongs to the city, and it hides some public works stuff.

This is what deputy Festus sees as he looks down Polasky street on a quiet morn.

 

[Ulu]

I spent most of the day working on a broken garage door, and I didn’t get around to much on the bicycle.

I did decide today that I don’t need the large front sprocket or a front derailer and I got rid of them.

To make it work I had to cut down the hardware to the crank arm. It turns out that the little Shimano hardware has the same threads as a common valve stem. I used that as a rubber handle, and shaved those nuts against the belt sander.

It wasn’t much trouble to do and it sure looks better without the big sprocket.

Now I want to polish that sprocket.

 

[Ulu]

I decided I wanted some fancy valve caps, and I almost bought some chrome dice at the Lowrider store.

Instead I used these Dungeons and Dragons dice that I somehow inherited from a worthless ex-son-in-law.

This one is all prime numbers. That makes it especially important.

I drilled these out, and reamed them by hand. Then I tapped them with a bottoming tap I made from an old valve stem, sliced 4 ways with a Dremel tool and shaved to a taper.

I have some chrome stem covers but they are fatties. That will work for the rear wheel but never for the skinny front.

I’m afraid that’s about it for today. Unless I get real lucky I’m going to be moving my sister-in-law’s furniture in the truck.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

My guys would love that dice cap set!*






*because those tens are used as a substitute for a hundred sided die

 

[Ulu]

I have never played D&D. My friends were not into boardgames, and neither was I after the age of 12.

But the dice are extremely cool. I thought they would make nice bicycle ornaments.

They really are purple but I photograph them with blue LEDs on chrome and white paper so they look very blue. Then I put them on the red wheel in the warm sunshine, and they look very purple.

But photographed from the back you can see the threads and this spoils the affect entirely.

 

[Ulu]

Zoom in…



This is the demon trapped inside the crystal. That’s what makes it powerful.

 

[Oldbiscuit]

More pics from Way-Past Midnight Metrics-R-Us . . .

I don’t play golf. Not even computer golf, so I got rid of the stupid golf ball. This is the ball from my boss’s old Logitech trackball from work.
View attachment 204870
I ground down the tip of the shifter by eyeball until it was round enough to thread with an M8x1.25, and I tapped the ball out the same.

I had this rubber sink washer in the assembly for tension but it was insufficient and wearing out quickly so I took it off.
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I made this leaf spring out of part of an old windshield wiper. It took about five tries to get one bent that worked. I snapped two of them. This is strong spring steel but it is quite brittle.

It’s painted black and I need to trim it & buff all that black paint off of it.

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This might hold the transmission in gear, but there’s no positive detents yet.

So….. Nobody remembers this whiskered deputy? The actor that played him was born here and he’s kind of the town mascot.

I guess ya gotta be over 60 . . . View attachment 204867
A couple more views of old town Clovis.
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Festus Haggen, from Gunsmoke. Played by Ken Curtis

 

[Ulu]

My dad never missed that show. I don’t remember Gunsmoke from before Festus, but but I’m sure the episodes with Chester are all up on the Web.

 

[Shrunken_Head_Pedaler]

Crappy indoor photos from Way-Past Midnight Modifications. . . . . .

Here’s the shifter complete, except that I don’t have a gate. No detents either
View attachment 204572

Right now I rely on really good bearings and a stiff rubber clutch made from a green sink trap washer.
View attachment 204573
I sure don’t like the black phone holder, or having the water holder on the bars. The water is going to go back on the downtube. It’s all too cluttered right now.

The traditional Schwinn water bottle holder. This was on my motorcycle for about 15 years.
View attachment 204574
I’ll probably ditch the golf ball. I needed something quick and easy for tomorrow’s ride.
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This could all use more buffing. Here is the left side.

(By the way, I made that brake lever from a combination Shimano shifter & lever, which came off the fake Schwinn.
View attachment 204576
That side could use some more buffing for sure.

Right (Drive) side: There’s still a little red anodizing on the inside of the clamp and you see reflections of it here. Also you can see the green rubber sink washer.
View attachment 204577

Oh yeah, I put on some new clamp-on handle grips, but I forgot to put in the plugs. They need glue.
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I really wanted to build a shifter gate for this tonight but it’s just too late to continue working. I have to work on that tomorrow.

Awesome shifter work!

 

[Ulu]

Awesome shifter work!

Thank you, and I’m glad you appreciated it. I didn’t know how many people would bother to click on the photo and look at the little details.

I was hoping to have enough time to do touch up paint on my bike after the welding, and some pinstriping on too. I don’t know if any of that is going to happen right now. Time will tell.

 

[kingfish254]

My brother in law passed today at the age of 91. It was pretty bad. End stage diabetes and dementia, heart failure etc. They sent him from the hospital to hospice, and he didn’t make it 24 hrs.

Sic transit gloria…

I wasn’t motivated to ride or work on the bike today, but I did both anyhow.

The plastic clamp on the bell was cracked. I trimmed it off, opened the bell, cleaned it up, then got it dirty again drilling and tapping the post for a screw.
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This is tempered alloy. It was the seat post clamp from the aluminum Trek BMX frame I picked up.
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Somebody had beat on it with a hammer, and here I’ve been shaving the damage off with the belt sander. I’m planning to use this as part of a shifter.

View attachment 204301
That bearing in the middle is actually a motor from my collection of computer hard drive motors.

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Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother.

 

[kingfish254]

Love the shifter!

I remember Festus and Miss Kitty and the gang.

The new knob reminds me of the old Klackers

 

[Ulu]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your brother.

Thank you Kingfish.

It wasn’t something that I expected on a particular day, but it was something I expected soon. He was quite old.

 

[Ulu]

Love the shifter!

I remember Festus and Miss Kitty and the gang.

The new knob reminds me of the old Klackers

Are you a Mac mouse guy?

 

[Ulu]

Sayonara old sissy. We always knew ye were just a stand-in.


Every time I use this Park stand, I decide it was the best $200 I ever spent on tools.

OK I’m going to work on the fancy new sissy bar. It too may just be temporary.
If I don’t like the way the bike handles, I may just put this all back (Geometrywise.)