My two favorite things.

Today was take half a dozen kittens to work day, so I brought 5 and hoped no one would notice. Gorilla came in and honed out his brothers siezed up Metra65, to which this Metra kitten takes a look and approves the overbore. Joel came in on his first day off in 4 weeks and worked on making a seat for his Pinto that hopefully wouldn't fall off like mine did on moped monday. This is how you gauge if the seat brace will be big enough. Gorilla also came in and converted his snowflake to sealed and made some spacers, then made spacers for mine as well. What a nice fellow.

Also, Gabe, make sure your roommate sees this, I was thinking of him while I played with kittens all day.

Swinger2 Glam Edition pt 2

So I finally got around to building this bad boy up from last year, as right after I posted it last fall, ol' John Elkhart (formerly known as Kansas John) blued up his rear wheel, so I donated one until he could get his rolling again, and it happened to be off this bike. Now it's together, and stupid and ridiculous. It's like riding Elton John down the street. Here are some pictures to prove it happened, and it will probably be sold off soon enough, as I just scored a sweet free spirit frame and a nice tank.

Pacific Cup Race #2

Strangely enough, we have two moped racing events going on up here in the North West. The Pacific Cup and the Oregon Series. This was the 3rd race I've attended, and it was the 2nd race in the Pacific Cup. Naz got himself a first place finish, even beating a 50cc watercooled 6speed Derbi, and Travis low-sided in a corner while out front on the second lap, and then high-sided trying to get his bike started again, putting him a full lap behind. Too bad, he had the fastest qualifying time. Joe, Jesse and myself had a great 3 way battle throughout the day for first second and third of what some might refer to as "The Busch League" or perhaps "Scrub league", and I managed to pass and stay out in front of Joe by about 2 lengths, with him nipping at my wheel the whole way. What a fun race! There are no good pictures of my wheel, sadly, but you can kind of get the idea of what my bike looks like at the moment. I need to get some lightning bolts put on the tank and perhaps my number.
Racing makes for tender moments.

Interesting Burn Pattern

The BFW Maxi wasn't running too well recently, and it was making a terrible squeaking noise from the magneto side. After pulling it in for service, I noticed a few things. The chain was super crusty and stiff, and very lose. New chain solved that problem. The clutch bell was trying to escape, and the outer circlip had come off, but was trapped by the clutch. The piston had this really gnarly stuff growing on it.
It seems like some kind of rust that might be running through the engine from the gas tank that is causing this weird carbon texture, but it remains a mystery. Some of that stuff was in the lubrication channel for the bearing, but it seems to be no worse for the wear at this point.
Also, since the Wizzard and I have taken that step in our relationship by moving in together, it left a small space open in the building which was promptly snatched up by some other moped lovers, and now right next to Responsible Jon's DeLuxe Powdercoat is this wonderful little space.

If only...

#1 If only I had a nickle for every time I heard a new moped owner say "I'd love to get some low bars on this thing and cafe it out."

#2 If only I had a dime for every time I heard "I like this bike a lot, but I'm really looking for a top-tank" followed by #1

KHZ @ WB3

KHZ Whiskey Business 3 Trip from Andy Lauzier on Vimeo.

I missed the release of this video, but it's shot and edited very nicely.

Race Bike 2

Travis might be a pal and loan me some of his extra hobbit ding-a-lings, which could perhaps make my bike faster for the next race. Even if he doesn't, my bike will look hella faster. Just FYI. Gorilla is going to be jealous of my blingin' purple rims. I also am pretty sure that I've crossed the line from funny banter about how slow he is to actually making him mad. We will see how the anger works itself out on the track. Also, Travis believes that Race #2 of the Oregon Series takes place June 13 at Pats Acres. I believe Race#2 for the Oregon Series takes place May 16 at Mac Track.

Here is why I believe I'm correct:

Oregon Series
4/24, 25 – Mac Track – Post noon practice day on Saturday, race on Sunday
5/15, 16 – Mac Track – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
6/12, 13 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
7/3, 4 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
8/7, 8 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
9/11, 12 – Mac Track – Practice Saturday, race Sunday
10/16, 17 – PARC – Practice Saturday, race Sunday

These dates make for one a month, which only seems to make sense for a series.

Here is why Travis thinks he is right:

Pacific Cup
Race 1 April 11th Seattle, PGP
Race 2 May 15th & 16th Portland, MAC
Race 3 June 13th Vancouver, GMR
Race 4 July 25th Seattle, PGP
Race 5 Aug 7th & 8th Portland, PARC
Race 6 Sept. 5th Vancouver, GMR
Race 7 Oct 16th & 17th Portland, PARC

As you can see, both Series claim that the race May 16 is their own. Perhaps they overlap? Which is it, then? I will be attending the May 16 race because I will be unable to make the June race in the Oregon Series because of a prior commitment. :( There goes my points championship.

Mistakes and Breaks

What does Naz do when he forgets to charge his phone? Tomos powered phone.

Look at my Proma Circuit pipe, cracked in the header. It's welded now.


Don't screw up powder coating, it's a pain to remove.

And finally, this is a nice looking bicycle I did. Gold flake and transparent rootbeer brown.