It Just Keeps Getting Better

I took off Monday this past weekend to make my Fourth of July weekend four days long. The band was only playing on Saturday night (shocker!), so I was able to take advantage of a pretty open schedule this weekend. Man, I was oh-so-ready for it!

Friday night I worked on the wheel for the Chevelle a bit more. I got to a stopping point with the stripping/derust process and managed to get both primer coats and both finish coats on it before I went to bed. In between all that my buddy Andrew showed up and helped me get the front wheel remounted on the R90S. By the time I got the second finish coat on the Chevelle wheel I was toast and so was Andrew, so we called it a night.

Early Saturday morning I cleaned up my cluttered back hall just a bit by taking two hubcaps for my minivan out of the corner and putting them back on the van where they belong. It still looks ugly, but at least I have more space in the hallway. After that, I was back out in the garage. The new/used flourescents from dad were going to need a power source, so I wired up a new outlet. I put it on the switched circuit so that they would come on with the rest of the overhead lights when I flipped the wall switch from the door. I then got down to the business of wiring a new cord onto the light that was positioned near the doorway over the motorcycle. I managed to get all of this done, plus some other general cleanup work, before having to leave to go play a gig. Just having the one light up and burning was amazing. It was so much easier to see! Both lights would be fantastic!

Sunday was a day of rest, quite literally. I awoke for church to the sound of Andrew firing up his '76 Honda 750. What a great way to be awakened. I caught him before he took off to meet his brother and told him I might catch him later. The weather looked like crap on the forecast, but by the time I got back from church it had improved dramatically, so I hopped on the S and took off for Brownsburg, Indiana. I met with Andrew and his brother, David. We talked a while, David took off for Tipton, and then Andrew and I spent the rest of the day riding around the near south-westerly portion of the state. It was great to have the S back up and running again. Although hot, the ride was invigorating.

Monday was spent out in the shop again, of course! I got the second flourescent wired up. Once plugged in I found that this fixture was, unfortunately, a dud. I lamented that fact for about five minutes, and then decided I'd just buy another one. Andrew showed up about that time, having graciously agreed to lend a hand that day, and he accompanied me to the hardware store. Checking my numerous lighting options at the store, I chose one of the new low-temp fixtures that will light up at temps as low as -20 degrees. That'll be a big help on the occasions in the fall and early spring when I'm out there cussing the cold. The new fixture came without shades on it, but Andrew and I found that the old shades fit on the new fixture with almost no additional work. Bonus! From the look of it you'd never guess the light fixture was brand new, and that's how I like it!

We made two other stops on our trip to get the light fixture. We had brought the wheels with us and were going to try and get some tires put on them to finally get the Chevelle fully street-ready. The first shop got a size for me, but they were out of stock. The second shop nailed the size and had it in stock. Fortunately, our second stop was to be at the auto parts store for cleaning products for the bikes, and the parts store was in the same parking lot. While the tires were mounted we went and ogled stuff that makes machines shiny. I picked up about forty bucks worth of liquid and not-so-liquid products and we hit the door.
Back at the tire shop we grabbed the goods, paid the damage, and sped off with a back seat full of new hides.
The rest of the day was spent finishing up lighting chores, mounting wheels, taking the Chevelle to Steak & Shake, and doing some cleaning of the bikes.

By the end of the day there had been great progress. The garage is now really starting to look like a shop with all its snazzy full-brightness. The Chevelle is capable of doing some more extended cruising and testing of the brakes. The R90S is (somewhat) cleaner than it was on Sunday.

On Tuesday I wired up yet another switched outlet which feeds the light over the work bench and a radio, so those will also both come on when I hit the wall switch. In addition, I made some progress on installing a new door lock. The lock should be finished up probably next weekend.

With all the improvements out of the way I think there's going to be some opportunity for both motorcycle riding and drag racing before too long.