THE GOOD BUCK

I did the wet sandpaper and polish on the mudguard today. As I said, I didn’t prepare it properly, I only roughed it up with coarse sandpaper before spraying, I should have used smooth to get rid of all the scratches. But even so, you have to get within a few inches to see the flaws. I’m happy with that. As long as I do the smooth sandpaper in preparation (and do several more coats of both paint and primer) I’d be happy with that for my frame. The paint before I started And after The other thing today was finding my current fitness levels over a Half distance. On Warrington Half (10 days ago) I set off too slowly then found myself with tons left in the tank at the end. I wanted to know what a good time would look like now. I set off aiming for around 7 m/m, but every mile got slower. By the end it was a battle of will just to keep going. My first mile was 7.02, my last one was 7.39, and I was battered! I casually jogged home the 2 miles after Warrington Half, I shuffled around the corner to home today. The positives are I didn’t get any chest pains this time, I did what I set out to do, I didn’t quit, I was 2 minutes faster than Warrington time, and I was within the top 10 of my Half finishes with a 1.35:56. But bloody hell! I started on the heart thing yesterday. No biscuits, low fat food, and a statin pill. I don’t know if that has anything to do with it. I am fueled by fat, sugar and rage. I was so wasted after the run. It took me three meals to get any strength back and my calves are still all crampy.

The world is going straight to hell, but I’m still making progress with the Harley. So, swings and roundabouts. I rode it in to work after my last post. I noticed on the ride home the headlight beam was rubbish. It was projecting in a horizontal line just in front of the bike. I hadn’t moved the headlight, so I was worried it was non-UK spec and I’d wasted more money. I took it off again, to see if I’d fitted it wrong, but there is a groove in the headlight casing into which it can only fit one way, so it wasn’t that. While I I had it out I looked at the two loose wires on the headlight. There is a 3 pin plug that fits directly into where the standard headlight attaches, but also two wires. I ran a wire to them and to a powered line, one lights the headlight halo orange, presumably for indicators, the other lights the halo bright white. As luck would have it there was a taped off power line in the headlight already so I just ran a wire to that. Then I read up on headlight beam setting. 3.8 metres from the bulb to the wall, 50 -110mm lower than the bulb height. Marked the fence and rolled the bike to the correct distance, then just rotated the headlight up. I think that’s all set. Looks good. While I was at it I fitted the new handgrips. It’s really coming along. I did those jobs in between applying layers of paint. I was looking at a sexy new tank but it’s about £370 and I don’t need it. I thought about getting any old crappy one just to practice on, but they aren’t cheap (for something I’m going to throw away afterwards). Then I remembered that front mudguard I bought for the Bonnie. It doesn’t fit, so it was just sitting there. Perfect to practice on. I’ve taken my time and learned another good lesson. On the video the guy has a dented tank he says to use coarse sandpaper to prepare a good, grippy surface. I did that, then started spraying. In retrospect, he applied filler, then smoothed it all off with fine sandpaper. The scratches on my mudguard from the coarse sandpaper have remained visible as ridges in the paint. Lesson learned. Also I think I’ve picked up flecks of dust from drying the paint in the sun in the garden. Tomorrow I’m going to (very gently) wet sandpaper it, then polish it. The results so far certainly look good enough to respray the frame. I don’t know if it would be good enough for the tank and mudguards. My next job is to tart up the front end. There are decorative caps that sit on the dust seals on the forks (ordered) so when they arrive I’m going to take the forks off and respray the stanchions. I have some of the grey aluminum paint that’s on […]

Mainly just adding pictures. Spraying the plate has taught me some valuable lessons. Preparation, preparation, preparation. That was my biggest mistake. That and rushing because I was on the clock as I needed the bike back on the road for work. I ground it down and sandpapered it, but I didn’t fill or grind out all the tiny pockmarks in the metal. The paint doesn’t fill the holes in, just highlights it. Also I think I may have picked up dust. I’ve ordered some drop sheets to make a sterile tent in my shed. Another thing is it’s better to spray too little each time, I got impatient and got a drip. I only had engine black paint so I had to cure it in the oven. So, appropriate paint for the job. Possibly add more layers of clear. And finally, be very gentle with the wet sanding. I think I rubbed out some of the clear. There are some positives. The paint went on. There is a nice reflection of the bolt on the lower right of the picture. Rough as it is, it looks better than the surrounding paintwork, and it was much worse. I’m hopeful, applying all I’ve learned and with more practice, I could do a reasonable job. The other thing is the Sportster. I was struggling with it. Since I changed the handlebars I’ve been having serious issues with the clutch pull. Recently It’s become more and more difficult to find neutral. I read online that that is a clutch adjustment issue. I took the clutch cover off today and adjusted it. It was miles off. It turns out I’d put a locking nut on the wrong way around so the clutch had moved way out of position. I set it correctly and put the nut on the right, then went for a spin. The new mirrors give you a wonderful view of your gloves and forearm, but if you move your hands and head position they work adequately. And they stay in place, unlike the bar end mirrors, so I’m happy enough with them. I took it out for a 20 mile tootle in the sunshine and it was great. The clutch was (relatively) light, the gears went up and down smoothly, the riding position was comfortable, it was a different bike. That’s the first time out where I could just sit back and enjoy the ride. I’m really happy with my Harley. I have been going through some dark times with it, thinking I’d remembered it wrong and I don’t actually like Harleys after all. Which would be a huge gut punch after all the money I’ve poured into it. Now I’m thinking of respraying it, getting the wheels rebuilt, and changing my insurance next year so I can ride the Bonnie one week, the Sporty the next. Oh, and I’ve just remembered to go and test my headlight at night. It’s way bright! Cool.

I’ve had a pretty good spell since my last blog. I got the waterproof trousers and a yellow warning for rain off the Met Office, so a solid test. On the way home, through rain, constant spray, and puddle splash on the motorway the only issue was my socks got a wet patch on the top. So my boots, combat high, aren’t fully waterproof. Oh, and my helmet needs replacing. The padding has gone, so it falls down over my eyes a bit, moving the de-mist visor insert too low. I had to ride with my head tilted back. Always something. Then I had the local half marathon. I jogged the 2 miles there, and was well early (3 minutes to off) but oddly the starting pens were already full. I had to start behind the 2.10 pacer. There were about 1,700 people starting (half and 10k) and I must have been behind about 1,500 of them. It took me 6 minutes from the start gun to cross the start line. So the first 4 or 5 miles I was battling through tightly packed slow people. I was holding a 7.45ish pace which I thought was reasonable for my fitness. I picked two people who seemed to be holding a good pace for me as markers and stuck with them. At about 6 miles, up the hills around Appleton, they dropped to an 8 m/m pace. I thought I had more in the tank so I went for a neg split. I was doing 7.30 even with the hills. By 9 miles I knew I had enough left to make it, so I went for it. I threw in two sub 7s and then on the last miles, into the wind I held 7.05. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been miffed with myself for going out too slow. Usually I go too fast and blow up. That was a real surprise. I can only think it’s the beasting on MyWhoosh (cycling app) that have toughened my legs and improved my stamina. It’s a big boost for my sub 3 aspirations. That’s why I set off at such a modest pace, I didn’t think I had any more over the distance. I’m going to try again, a solo, flat-out half, to see where I am. I got my eyes tested and got a new set of glasses. I’m not so sure of the varifocal split (too much middle/ reader, not enough distance), but at least I’m rid of that annoying scratch, finally. I’ve seen a video on YouTube (got to wonder how many disaster stories start with that) on how to get professional respray results using spray cans. I had a plate on the front of the Triumph that I was meaning to respray anyway, so I’m using it as a proof of concept experiment. If I like the results I can scale it up and do the Harley. That would be cool. I’ve done what the video […]

After all my speculating on the wealth I was about to accrue, the agency have let me down. I got 5 days on the week I was expecting 6 (the 6th is where you earn £34 an hour), then last week I only got 3 days, this week I’m going to get a maximum of 3. I booked lots of appointments for Mondays as that is my day off, but the agency keep asking me for Monday, so I think I’ll add that to my available days. This makes my next thing more difficult. I’ve decided to get back to my challenges. After a year of slacking, I’m going to get back on the sub 3 quest. I don’t know if I’ll have the time to be able to train as consistently as is needed but I may never have that time, so now is as good as any time to start. I did Camille’s bread and butter 8 miles with 10x 100m strides (sprints) today. Well, most of it. I did the miles and 8 and a bit strides then tachycardia felled me for about 15 minutes, so that was that. Back it tomorrow, then rest up until Sunday’s 17 mile half. (It’s 2 miles to the local half, so I jog there and back.) I’ve had some fairly good news with the Sportster. I went out for the ride and the handlebars are in the right position now. The levers pull without pain. It’s a good riding position. I think I’ve nailed that. But when I took it out I noticed the headlight was out. It was stood for 20 years, the wiring is a bit delicate, I was fearing the worst. I got bored and decided to have a look this afternoon. I was expecting to have to start prodding wires, checking connections and generally failing to understand what the hell was wrong. I’d already looked for the number for the Harley garage to get them to fix it. Anyway, I took the headlight out, then thought I’d best rule out the obvious. I plugged a different bulb in and it worked. It was just the bulb. Unfortunately it’s a sealed unit. The bulb is built into the glass of the headlight. So you can’t just change a bulb, you have to replace the whole unit. I looked on AHR customs and they do a plug-and-play LED light replacement. I’ve ordered it and hope it will fit. If so, that’s the Harley good to go again. Now I’ve got the right handlebars I’m going to order a shorter brake hose for the front brake. The lowered bars make it bend in an upside down U shape. That can’t be helpful. Also on the bars, I’m going to look at how I can get my indicators to work with mirrors on the handlebars. At the moment the indicators are attached by a bolt that runs through the hole into which the mirrors are supposed to screw. If I […]