Hard Sun

Now I'm more in the mood to write, and I don't know what the difference is, or was. I don't know what subtle change there is that makes me go from there to here. 

My mate Wingnut is dating another mate of mine. They're both close, but W is closer by far. He is one of the closest friends I've ever had. 

I'm sitting here in the basement middle room, and I'm talking to him about Love, such an important subject, and my mind is all over the map. There are so few people who I love. I love my mother and my brother - of course. I love many a dead friend. I loved dad so much it hurt. I love Kyle. I love Liam. I love Wingnut. 

I need to clean my space down here. I need to really sort it out, really pull it together. I had such great plans for this space, and then my body came apart. Now my body is pulling back together and I need to get this place sorted out again. 

And just like that *poof* my inspiration is gone =[

The Doors & Wingnut

I'm sitting here watching "The Doors" and talking to Wingnut - thus the Title of the post. I'm too tired to write anymore, but I'm loving my convo with Wingnut. More later.

Motorcycles... as always.

The picture below is my father's Norton Atlas that he bought new when he was 21, and here in this picture I am sitting on it trying to be Steve McQueen when I was 21. McQueen was a mutual hero of my father and I, and I remember that day so well. It was one of those perfect days. Dad, my brother, and I worked in cleaning up the garage, we sat and talked bikes, my brother took this picture of me. It was just one of those wonderful days. I was feeling top of my game and everything was going right. 

For as long as I can remember I have loved the Norton Atlas and wanted one. Not just any, I have wanted his, that bike above there. When he died I turned it into a Triton, a bike I just haven't been able to finish yet. For some reason finishing that bike is like the final nail in Dad's coffin, I just can't do it. Not yet. 

I have been through so many bikes. Its one of those funny things, I was given the 1981 Suzuki GS550 because it was wrecked by a friend of a friend. It took some time, but yesterday I was finally able to get her on the road. It's not legal, but its rideable.

I have it idling fairly decent, and I have finally got a gas cap that I can get on and off. She fires right up, drives pretty good, stops less good - but OK. I feel pretty goofy with the current handlebars, but I think in time I'll be able to mount something flatter and easier to handle. 

Seriously though I'm thrilled with this bike. I don't know how or why, but I find that I love this bike almost as much as the Norton. She handles good, is light on her feet, nimble, and makes the same HP as the Norton. She is very much like the Norton. 

Dad named the Norton "Old Venerable Old" and I have named the GS "Jenny Lind" after a locomotive I wanted to build when I was a little kid, he was so cool that he bought me the book for building it as well as some of the plans. Always willing to encourage me. I can think of no better tribute than Jenny Lind. 

She really is quite something. More later.

New Bike: 1981 Suzuki GS550

This is the bike after I had stripped all the broken non-reusable parts off of it. 

She was pretty hammered, I got here for free. A friend of a friend got spooked in a corner and tried to straighten up while in the corner, locked up the brakes, and went down. Dented up the gas tank pretty good, ripped up the seat, destroyed the handlebars, clutch lever, headlight, gauge cluster, ignition switch, headlight, turn signals, and a bit more. 

Here are some of the parts I took off. Happily the tachometer survived thats the one clock you can see in this picture - I don't have a spare, so I was happy to find it still alive. I do have a spare Speedometer from another bike, so that is what I will use when I fix it. I had to replace just about everything in this picture.

Here is the bike at the end of the first day with newish handlebars, headlight, foot peg, and just overall what I had left put back together. 


There is a pretty serious dent in front left and right side of the gas tank. You can see one of them pretty clear in the picture above, but not so clear in the picture below. I will have to strip the paint off the tank and use Bondo to patch the dents up round. From there I will be able to spray the tank primer gray which is the color I think I will stay with for the painted parts of the bike, the side covers will also become that color.

Also in the top picture you can see a rather solid dent in the front fender where I think it slid into a curb. That will need to be hammered out. 

The seat is also a bit battered, gorilla tape will patch the holes, preventing against water damage in rain, and I will have to come up with some other form of mounting other than the locking cylinder in the seat - which I do not have a key to. 

Down here you can see the parts that I purchased for the bike already, as well as future parts, and distant future parts. 

I have another frame in the basement which has a disc brake setup in the back - which I hope to fit eventually. 

Dry Weight: 451 lbs
Engine type: 

Air-cooled 

549 cc inline-4 

DOHC, 8 valves. 

49 hp/ 9.000 rpm

I tend to REALLY love bikes that make about 50HP, so having an inline four cylinder that does it, well that's just mighty sweet. 

The TOP picture was what my 2002 Royal Enfield 500cc Bullet looked like when I bought it. The Bottom picture is how it looks at this moment.

That Royal Enfield remains one of my biggest regrets. It was absolute perfection when I got it and then I tried to make it better and better till I ran out of money and had to strip it down, then I lost the place i was keeping it and had to sell off most of it, and then well the whole thing just collapsed. 

Now I'm trying to rebuild it on the cheap. I Sold the gear box and sawed off the oil tank after dad died. Not smart moves on either scale. 

Now I'm trying to sort it all out.

The Triton is too important to me to treat too roughly so the idea is this Enfield will be the bike to take to parties, and shit like that.

Anyways more later.

I'm not in the best of moods right now, I'm sitting down here in the basement, always in the basement, always down here

no place to go but here. I'm tired as fuck. I'm hurting pretty bad. Body and soul I'm hurting pretty bad. But what is there 

but here. I'm feeling pretty hammered. I don't like it very much. I don't like it very much at all. I'm feeling like shit. I'm 

trying to figure out what the hell is going on. 

Here I sit

I have some hope of installing the magneto today. I'll get it done later in the day, it's supposed to be in the 70s today. 

I found some bolts that will fit the Magneto where I was missing two. At the bottom of the page I have posted the instructions I have to follow to do the installation of the Magneto. If I can get it installed then I can get spark. I have to get new oil lines for the installation of the oil tank, and I have to make some notes on what nuts and bolts I'm going to need to get everything fully up and running. I also need to make some spacers for the rear wheel. 

Remove spark plugs and gap .018. Remove cover (R.H. side of engine) over battery ignition points. Disconnect and tape (insulate) all battery connected wires.

Hold breaker cam in opposite direction of rotation (advanced position) and rotate engine until the points on #1 cylinder just start to open. Note: Use .0015 feeler gauge or Joe Hunt timing device.

Remove breaker plate, breaker cam advance mechanism, and dowel pin from internal taper if your model used a dowel pin to position breaker cam and advance mechanism. CAUTION Do Not Rotate Engine. If engine is rotated, reverse rotation until piston is down and the cylinder at least one inch before top center on the compression stroke.

Rotate engine in normal direction of rotation until piston is 5/16 from top center on compression stroke. Install magnetos adaptor plate and adaptor shaft in cam taper. DO NOT TIGHTEN SHAFT. CAUTION1963 to 1970 Triumph unit construction twins have a different length taper on shaft and internal threads are dissimilar. Suggest checking threads and taper. 1963 to 1970 bolt has BSF 1/4 x 26 threads. 1971 and later bolt had 1/4 x 28 thread. Early shafts are marked with the letter "A". Later shafts are marked with "B".

NOTE: Some applications will require drilling and tapping engine with 1/4 x 20 for better security. Some customers with severe service report that they heli aced adaptor to cam cover with approximately one inch length bead, top and bottom for security.

Remove Magneto cover. With shaft slightly loose in taper mount Magneto so that points are just starting to open and bolts are approximately in center of slot (for timing adjustment later).

Carefully remove Magneto and tighten center bolt in shaft. Re-install Magneto and time. Install cover and plug wires. Hook up ground wire to a separate kill switch to ground only. DO NOT HOOK ANY BATTERY CURRENT TO MAGNETO.

Point Gap .012 to .015

Above instructions are for fitting  RH mounted mags on unit Triumph and BSA twins. When fitting a Hunt mag to a Norton Commando, use the timing marks in primary case as noted in service manual. When fitting a 334-1278 rear mounted mag to  a pre-unit twin to replace a Lucas K2F or a BTH magneto, installation and timing is exactly as noted in your service manual, as the 334-1278 is a direct replacement for the original magneto.

When  in doubt, please contact BCS with exact details on the motorcycle for assistance.

Once I get all of that done. I have on the 19th some electrical stuff coming to town which will help out the bike. A headlight and some other wiring stuff which will allow me to tie it all in together. 

More later.