I've made enough money to justify a real motorcycle. It's summertime and the weather is fine. I can reach right up and touch the sky. The two bikes that call out to me are a 1976 Suzuki 750 with a full touring package to allow me to make the trip to Labrador.
The other bike is a 1981 Honda CB750 with a luggage rack that is begging for a tent.
They are both listed for $800 which is reasonable since they are in good condition. I've offered them $600 for the bikes. Maybe I'll get both of them but neither will fit in El Conquistador. Driving around in a box is exhausting. Portsmouth is becoming like Los Angeles with traffic lights every fifty feet and Walmarts and Targets and planes flying around. It used to be a nice town.
In other news I'm taking design submissions for a new bridge downtown that would avoid Market street. I want to close down Market Square to car traffic so the route 1 bridge has to connect to Bow street or to Prescott park. No cars downtown. That's it! Let's pretend we give a shit.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
The Van is Back on the Road
After 6 months of stagnancy in a field in Stratham I have The Van back on the road. You are all warned.
Of course, it took two days of labor to get the thing to start but I got well acquainted with the points, the vacuum advance mech., the condenser and the distributor cap and rotor. It needs new oil filter and oil and some better tires and an alignment to be drivable. I feel this is a mode of transportation that is coming to an end. As long as it is running right I can maintain it but the endless labor to keep it working does not correspond to a diverse lifestyle. Only by living in the van was I able to have the time to keep the van running. Now it's like a bitchy mistress who demands more time than I want to give her. For instance, the points were not opening anymore. They had burned a hole in the contacts. And the gap was supposed to be .17 inches. Well, it didn't open at all so the gap was 0. Now, I only have feeler gauges in millimeter. So you multiply .17 times something like .2453 and I got .04mm, which sounded about right. Anyone have an opinion about this? So I gaped the points and put an old rotor and dist. cap on (since the old one suffered damage when the points stopped opening) and it fired up. Good old girl. I need to borrow an oil bucket to change the oil. Anyone have one?
But it did feel good riding in a legend. Maybe I should sell tours of the van. "Ride the Legend!" I can tell stories of the van's adventures in Mexico.
Of course, it took two days of labor to get the thing to start but I got well acquainted with the points, the vacuum advance mech., the condenser and the distributor cap and rotor. It needs new oil filter and oil and some better tires and an alignment to be drivable. I feel this is a mode of transportation that is coming to an end. As long as it is running right I can maintain it but the endless labor to keep it working does not correspond to a diverse lifestyle. Only by living in the van was I able to have the time to keep the van running. Now it's like a bitchy mistress who demands more time than I want to give her. For instance, the points were not opening anymore. They had burned a hole in the contacts. And the gap was supposed to be .17 inches. Well, it didn't open at all so the gap was 0. Now, I only have feeler gauges in millimeter. So you multiply .17 times something like .2453 and I got .04mm, which sounded about right. Anyone have an opinion about this? So I gaped the points and put an old rotor and dist. cap on (since the old one suffered damage when the points stopped opening) and it fired up. Good old girl. I need to borrow an oil bucket to change the oil. Anyone have one?
But it did feel good riding in a legend. Maybe I should sell tours of the van. "Ride the Legend!" I can tell stories of the van's adventures in Mexico.
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