Blogger Fatigue

After the wash

I've been doing this for a little over a year and I think fatigue has set in.  I don't think I will continue posting every ride but instead will only post rides or events out of the ordinary.  The daily upkeep has become too much and, frankly, it is not as much fun as it once might have been.

Since I last posted, I took the MG to Gene's and it had to have the rear brakes replaced.  Some spring had broken off on the rear left drum and destroyed the pads.  No wonder the brakes were starting to feel mushy.  We took a handful of rides in the MG since I got it back last Wednesday and everything has been working great.  The repair cost for the brake job and oil change came to a little over $400.

On Friday afternoon I took a ride on the dragon with the Bullet.  Everything went well except that I took a curve to the left a little fast, fixated on the apex, and ran off the road.  Didn't dump or stall the bike but it sure gave me one hell of a scare.  The lesson, keep my eyes on the turn and avoid target fixation.  Simple but easy to forget when fear sets in.  After I got back, I washed off the dirt and everything ended up fine, no damage, and no worries.

Over the weekend we took some rides on the MG and went to the HCCP annual picnic.  We met a lot of nice folks and had a great time.

I refueled the Bullet yesterday, I put 2.36 gallons of Ultra in the tank at the Sunoco on the West Chester Pike and Strasburg.  The odo read 4470.2.  Next refuel should be at around 4620.

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Replacement Tank - Part II

Shortened spout

Last Tuesday morning I got up early and headed out to Angelo and Son's before work.  The trip had to be made because they had not returned any of my calls since I dropped off the tank at the beginning of the month and I was afraid that they hadn't done anything at all.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the shop open and that they had already cut the spout.  They hadn't finished welding it back together but they promised to have it done later that same day and although I was skeptical I was glad to see a little progress.

Much to my surprised I got a call at work a little after 14:30 saying that the tank was finished and that they would be in the shop until 16:30.  I wasted no time to head out there as soon as possible.

The job looked great and they only charged my $40.00 for it.  They recommended that I put some tank sealer around the inside of the welded joint as an extra precaution which I did this morning.

On my way form from Angelo & Son, I stopped at Gene's and made an appointment with Harold to bring in the car next Tuesday to have the tank installed, the oil changed, the headlights fixed, and get a complete check up before Carlisle.  Harold said he would keep the car for two days but that I should have it back by Wednesday afternoon.

Below I have some photos of the sealing the seam process.

Fuel Tank Repair Epoxy

Bead of epoxy compound

Sealed seam 

Shortened spout

Tank

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A Boy and His Car

Pep Enric & Montse

The starter on the MGTDr has gone to a better place and left me stranded in the garage.  I could have probably started the car by coasting it down the hill and popping the clutch but what would have happened at the bottom of the hill if it hadn't?  So another ride on the back of a tow truck.  This time I didn't bother with AAA and called Bob & Joe's Towing, in Haverford, first.  What a difference.  I called at 07:00 and by 08:05 the car was in the back of the truck.  Mike, with whom I had spoken on the phone, came out with the truck, loaded it up, and had Montse on the way to Gene's Foreign Car Service, in Broomall, in the blink of an eye.

Gene's has been fixing VWs since the 70s and they only work on VWs, Audis, Hondas, and Acuras.  I got a recommendation for them from a friend and I want to try them out.  Hopefully they can get this thing rolling soon because I want to take advantage of the good weather.

The photo above is of my grandson enjoying Montse.  I did some changes on the badging, removing the Union Jack on the radiator grille and replacing it with a MG badge.  I also removed the Great Britain badge from the badge bar and replaced it with a Real Automóvil Club de Cataluña (RACC) antique badge that I found on eBay.  I would have liked to have found one with the writing in Catalan but those are really rare.  While in Catalunya, I looked in a couple of places and was unable to find one so I guess I will keep on hunting.  To see the rest of the Montse photos with Pep Enric, please, check out the Flickr set.

New Badges

No bike commute to work today.

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First Casualty of the Thump

Missing rear shroud round head bolt

I noticed yesterday that the rear round head bolt holding the muffler shroud had fallen out with the shake of the Bullet.  Figured that it was around a 6mm bolt, I tried removing one of the others to checked the length but at the time they were both still firmly attached so I judged from the cavity that it would not be very long.

Today, on my diagnostic trips around the neighborhood, I took a jaunt to the True Value Hardware Store in the shopping center on the West Chester Pike and 252 to get some bolts.  The shortest I was able to find was a 6mm x 12.  I settled for that and brought it back home.  Once home, I was able to remove the side bolt and it turns out that it's probably a 6mm x 6.  I put the original bolt in the rear hole of the shroud, where I have lost the original, and the replacement 6mm x 12 in the side hole.  That fits much better there, I could probably get away with a 6mm x 10 in that spot but in the rear spot it really stuck up.  I used blue Loctite on both bolts.  When I next go to big box hardware store, I will look for a 6x6 or a 6x10 to replace the 6x12 I have now.  I will also have to keep an eye on it just in case.

Original front shroud round head bolt

Replaced rear bolt with original side bolt

Hardware store 6mm x 12 temporary on the side bolt  hole

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