( Part the First: Riding )

( Part the Second: Roaming )

( Part the Third: Mariah Carey )

--B.

mood: contemplative tags: korea, miscellany, motorcycles, video

Just for shits and giggles I put the VFR up for sale on Craigslist yesterday for a pretty hefty price (compared to what I bought it for). I didn't think I'd get any takers, but I've had a few calls today on it. Who knows, I might just sell it and make a profit.

I could definitely fix the carburetor leak and keep restoring the bike, but I think fixing it would necessitate removing the carburetors again. This isn't a technically difficult job, but it's very time-consuming and frustrating and I just don't want to do it.

Well, we'll see. If I sell it for my asking price I'd be making a 200% profit (maybe 150% after parts). Now, I've put a lot of time into the bike but it's not like I was doing anything else.

I'm not dead set on selling the VFR -- it's a neat bike and I love fiddling with it -- but I don't want to pull out the carburetors again.

Hrm.

--B.

tags: vfr

Working at the shop has given me an excuse to take some time off intense studying for the ACSM test. As it turns out, this may be a good thing; I went back to re-take one of the comprehensive exams I'd botched badly, and this time did much better. I'd re-prepared by studying the questions I'd missed and why I'd missed them, and then going one step further to figure out the implications of each choice (versus just memorizing the answer). Progress. It's progress. I'm just not killing myself over it, is all.

Though I don't like to make an issue of it, I do have tons of friends who have managed to remember that today marks the day that I successfully failed to die for yet another year. It's not a milestone birthday (no drops in insurance premiums, and there are no age-related sin privileges of which I can elect not to take advantage) but it is Cinco de Mayo. The shop's closed on Mondays so I get to have my birthday off work; that's spiffy, I guess! I always had my birthday off in Korea because of the national holiday, too.

Tonight T and I head over to Tempe for the Abstract Rude and Atmosphere show.

Excellent.

--B.

I picked up the KZ1000P (cop bike) on Friday.

I spent just about all day Saturday working on the bike. By the end of the day I had it starting and running.

Sunday was spent outdoors, hanging off ropes and rocks and getting sunburnt.

scarybaldguy came over around 10:30 this morning. We wrenched and pried and fiddled until about 2PM.

. . . and then we went for a ride.

The KZ's on the road again! It runs beautifully! There are only very minor things to be done at this point -- left floorboard, headlamp, maybe blinker relay, mirrors -- but it's on the road! I drove it a little bit this afternoon and was just chuffed. It's big, but it's comfortable and just has torque by the bucketload.

Right now it's insured and it has temporary tags; it needs emissions (and a hose clamp on the prime hose), but hey, I (guess I) work at a motorcycle shop now.

Spiffy, huh? In two days and under $100 the bike went from a non-running 600lb. garage ornament to a roadgoing motorcycle.

Rock. Just rock.

--B.

tags: motorcycles, shop

1: I'm employed. There's a moto shop down the way where I go and buy parts, and, after I put in enough face time there, they extended a job offer to me. It'll be a stopgap until I build a good client base training; plus, I'll get hefty discounts on moto parts.

That's good because:

2: I bought another bike. This one is a 1996 Kawasaki KZ1000 Police Interceptor.



It needs, well, not much. A new battery, and some work to the handlebars. I'm undecided whether I'll keep the huge stonkin' fairings/windscreen (I can get a new one for $25) or whether I'll strip it down. It's a decommissioned cop bike so it's been cared-for well. I also have a line on picking up another one of these for $300, so, well. . .

--B.

mood: hungry like the wolf music: Gadjits - Today Is My Day (in my head, because I can't find the CD) tags: motorcycles, shop, work

585 pounds (263.4kg), 8 reps.

--B.

tags: gym

( UFC 83 comments and opinions )

--B.

music: Parka - I Don't Wanna Fight You Tonight tags: sports, ufc

5:50 PM: Bike is fixed.

It took 8 hours, 2 trips to the auto parts store, roughly 954 curse words, and 1 patient wife to hold things for me but the bike's fixed.

I buttoned everything up and apparently did it correctly the first time. The bike fires right up and purrs like a kitten. I took it out and, lo and behold, the rattle was gone, daddy, gone.

Tomorrow I'll clean up the garage, but no working on bikes for Brandon!

--B.

tags: motorcycles, shop

I JUST got the bolt loose. This involved purchasing $30 worth of tools (U joints, ball-head extensions, an 8mm wrench, and a pick-up) and working for hours in a tiny-ass recess between the frame and throttle body.

Look at where the lower of the two yellow circles is in this picture.

Yeah.



Now all I have to do:
-Tension the old cam chain tensioner lifter
-Remove old CCTL
-Retrieve dropped washer and fuel rail bolt with the pick-up
-Install new CCTL
-Reinstall fuel lines and gas sensors and gas tank
-Reinstall lower air box and trumpets
-Clean air filter and reinstall upper air box
-Reconnect EVAP hoses and MAP sensor and air ducts
-Reinstall right fairing
-Pray to god in heaven that I didn't fuck anything up

--B.

tags: motorcycles, shop

GODDAMMIT FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT BOLT!!!!!

tags: motorcycles, shop

God damn fucking tiny clearances! Do I look like I have itty-bitty Japanese hands! What the fuck? How the hell am I supposed to get a JESUS FUCK can't I get a simple Allen key on the bolt? Who designed the frame so that it acts like a second fucking lever if someone's trying to remove this bolt? Take off the entire fucking THROTTLE BODY to remove this one thing? You have to be fucking kidding me. Bolt-on part my ass.

--B.

mood: >:( tags: motorcycles, shop

This is from the ACSM's Health and Fitness Comprehensive Exam.

34. Cardiac muscle is similar to skeletal muscle except for its ability to
A) Summate.
B) Tetanize.
C) Contract.
D) Relax.

Now, how should one answer this question? Muscle summation is when two contractile signals overlap, resulting in the muscle "adding" the two impulses to create a longer, tetanic contraction. A tetanic contraction is a smooth, prolonged contraction.
Obviously the answer is neither C nor D; without cardiac contraction/relaxtion there would be no systole/diastole, and the heart would not pump blood; similarly, skeletal muscle must have the ability to contract and relax.

Cardiac muscle cannot summate because its action potential is very long in comparison to skeletal muscle, and thus cannot tetanize, whereas skeletal muscle can both summate and tetanize.

So what's the answer? The book gives the answer as "tetanize," but I just can't figure this out. Cardiac muscle CANNOT tetanize, but the question clearly states: "Cardiac muscle... [has an] ability to (tetanize)." What the hell? I'm aggravated, confused and frustrated by this. Shouldn't the question read, "Cardiac muscle is similar to skeletal muscle except for its inability to ..."? Because as it stands, with "ability to" referring to "cardiac muscle" and without a negative, the question is entirely misleading.

--B.

tags: school

On the scale today, I weighed in at 241lb (109kg). This is, so far as I know, the heaviest I've ever been.

My goal is to reach 250lb (113.4kg). Once I get to that point I'll diet off some of the fat that's come along for the ride. In any case, though, I've noticed that I've been getting stronger.

Brandon can has smash?

--B.

tags: me

Okay, a moment of candor.

I'm getting awfully fucking sick of cramming for the ACSM exam. I just took the first of two practice comprehensive exams and I didn't do NEARLY as well as I thought I did, but that's in large part because several of the questions were ambiguous or outright misleadingly worded (one question referred to the cardiac muscle's ability to tetanize, which is clearly FALSE, because the distinguishing feature of cardiac muscle is that it CANNOT tetanize).

I think if I just took the goddamn test already I would probably pass. At this point I'm past my desires to do really, really well; I just want it to be over. I don't want to have to give a flying fuck about ECG leads -- I will not be working with ECGs -- or the Transtheoretical Model or the ACSM's confused interpretation of "informed consent." I know the American College of Sports Medicine is one of the (if not the single) most highly-regarded certifying institutions for trainers, but jesus tits, I'm getting tired.

Perhaps I will sign up to take the test next week. If I pass, I pass; if I don't, I'm out about $200 but at least I'll have the experience and knowledge of what to expect from the actual test rather than the study book's endless series of practice exams.

--B.

mood: hungry and smashy tags: rant, school

I occasionally miss Korea rather a lot.



This is not one of those times.

--B.

mood: 아편 주세요~~! music: 나는찐자남자랍니다 tags: korea, music, video

I went out with a few bikers this morning to Tortilla Flat, a town surrounded by very, very scenic and twisty roads. Now, I wasn't riding my best today; I felt like I was having a difficult time getting the CBR planted like I wanted, even after some suspension adjustments. The bike seemed to want to be a little squirrelly in deep turns, but I still put my toe sliders to decent use.

But really, forget all this "word" stuff.



--B.

tags: driving, motorcycles

Okay, I seem to have put all my comments in the motorcycles community and Coinneach's LJ so I'm going to consolidate here. scarybaldguy, you may want to bookmark this if you plan on troubleshooting with me. Everyone else, feel free to skip this, as it's mostly just a notepad for me and for anyone who cares to help me restore the VFR.

That said, if you are interested in motorcycle mechanics/restoration I could definitely use input.

( 5 April: In which I am dumb with electricity )

( 6 April, in which the bike starts with the button )

( 6 April, fixing the button and fuel pump wiring )

( 6 April, objectives )

( 7 April, Carburetor: Day 1 )

( 8 April, Carburetors: Day 2; Removing the carbs (What, is this an Atkins diet?) )

( 8 April, photos so far )

( 9 April, Beginning carburetor disassembly )

( 10 April, Carburetor cleaning )

( 11 and 12 April, repairing and reinstalling carburetors )

( 13 April, mounting carbs, trying to fire )

( 23 April, the last few days; electricals and carburetors )

tags: motorcycles, shop talk, vfr

I have the fuel rigged on a gravity feed (as you can see) and I have to start the bike by using a screwdriver to jump the starter relay, but it runs. IT RUNS!

--B.

mood: enthused tags: happy, vehicles, vfr, video

[Welcome to my garage]

--B.

tags: automobiles, photos