Suicide clutch, Jockey shift

     I hear people say suicide shift all the time but it's the clutch pedal that deserves the moniker.  I was at work about a month ago and a fellow came into the store to get machine work done on a 4.6 V8 from a Lincoln.  He had this gnarly looking bent connecting rod he was looking to replace to fix the engine in the car.  The head gasket had leaked a bunch of coolant into the cylinder and when the car tried to start it hydra locked and bent the connecting rod.

     John was back in the store again on Friday and I asked him about the bent connecting rod. He said he was just going to hang it up in has garage on the wall.  I told him I thought it would make a great clutch pedal on my chopper.  I traded him a case of Bud Light for it.

     When I was at my folks house today I brought it with me and told Roger what my plan was and asked him to help me make it.  I already had a nice chrome bracket to use as the pivot point I just needed to re do the big end of the rod to size it correctly.

     Roger had a nice piece of 1 3/4" shaft in his stash and he used his portable band saw to cut a chuck of it off.

     He chucked it up in the lathe, trimmed it to length, and drilled a 1 inch hole through it to match the pivot shaft.  It fits perfectly on there.

He used the bandsaw to cut the big end of the connecting rod off and welded the two pieces together.  I now have a perfectly bent connecting rod suicide clutch pedal.  I would like to find some small I beam stock to make my fender support struts out of to keep a matching look.

And then there were 2...

     Last Sunday, the day after our long ride to Grand Rapids,  Troy texted us that he would not be riding today because he scorched his face with sunburn the previous day.  Tony and I were also pretty beat up but did not want to punk out and just stay home.  We decided to go to Jordie's Trail Side cafe in Bowlus http://www.jordiestrailside.com/ for lunch and decide where to go from there.  It was the perfect opportunity to take my old '74 out for an easy Sunday ride.

     So Tony and I were in my garage talking about where to go and I said "I should take my old Ironhead out today."  Then I realized I would have to move a lawn chair to gain access to the bike and said "fuck that  I'm riding my hot rod."  I decided right then and there that it was time to sell the bike.  I listed it on craigslist the next day.  The money from the sale is going to fund finishing my chopper.  Riding with Tony and Troy on their choppers has lit a fire under me to get mine completed.

     I got a couple calls even had a guy come check the bike out this morning but still no sale.  I was down to Mom n Rogers today for family photos and dinner.  I was talking about selling the bike.  My step dad said for $2200 he might as well park it in his barn and wrote me a check on the spot.  I'm going to deliver it to him tomorrow night after work.  It's nice to have it sold, but even nicer to sell it to him because I know he will take good care of it.

Pierz first Thursday car show

     The city of Pierz has a car show once a month.  The first one of the year was a couple days ago.  We rode over there and checked it out.  It was pretty cool.  I had My Ironhead for sale so I rode it over there in case anyone wanted to buy it.

Random Photos

     Last Saturday we left semi early, had a big breakfast and took all the curvy roads we could find between Little Falls and Grand Rapids.  It was a 340 mile day and the first time Troy had ridden his chopper more than 15 miles.  It was also his first ride this year since tearing a ligament in his shoulder a few months ago.

Out with the old and in with the new.

     I'm proud to say Ton'y bike is finished!  He took it home tonight and is probably freezing his ass off riding in the crap misty weather we have had for the last week or so.  It might be 45 degrees out at the warmest.   We (Tony, Troy, and myself) got the bike running Saturday and I finished up the last few things Sunday afternoon.

     The finished wiring job:

     A shot of the bike.  2001 Buell motor in a Paughco frame.  I think it is +6 in the down tubes and 40 degree neck.  So far I have rebuilt the front end, replaced the rear wheel bearings, rewired the whole bike, and serviced it a couple times.  I'm pretty familiar with it now.

     I rode it around the block in the rain yesterday and put 12 miles on it tonight before I returned it to Tony.  It sure is a fun bike.

     My next project belongs to another friend.  Troy's bike needs a stator and voltage regulator replacement, a new front tire and a few changes that he has in mind.  He just bought the bike this spring and this will be his first summer with it.

We've got spark!

     Last Friday night we quit for the night a little disappointed.  The headlight works, the oil light works but the bike didn't have spark when we cranked it over and the neutral light does not work.

     I traced the neutral light wiring all the way back to the switch behind the front sprocket and when I ground it i get the N to light up.  Bad neutral switch bad.

     Then we tested for spark.  I had not completely by passed the bank angle sensor at the ignition control module.  I did some google research and found that the green/yellow wire at the ICM needs a path to ground for the bike to have spark.  By connecting that wire to chassis ground voila we have spark.

     After I verified the ICM was functioning  I spent the rest of the night routing and installing the wire loom for the back half of the harness.  Everything is coming together nicely.

     This is where I left off for the evening.  Back at it again tomorrow

The starter works

     Just a quick update today.  I didn't take any new pictures.  I got the starter relay wired in and enough of the bike is wired I was able to test the starting circuit.  It worked!  On the first try.  I used some information from this website to make sure I hooked the relay up correctly and it was VERY helpful.     http://www.ripper1.com/tech/wiring.php     Ripper is a guy on The Horse forums.  He's always willing to help people out with tech questions.  His diagrams made hooking up and explaining the theory of how to use a relay easy to understand.  More pictures tomorrow.