This may not seem like much but it’s pretty exciting for me. Bending tubes is an important part of making things out of metal. Everyone that works with metal needs a bender of some sort or is looking to find one. I’ve had one for a long time, an old DiAcro #4 but because of … Read more PVD-JD2-32 Bender Cart
Going faster on a motorcycle is an interesting proposition because we need to also talk about when and where we are going faster. As a commuter in the traffic rich San Francisco Bay Area, my speed lane-splitting is very important to me as I spend an awful amount of time in that state. The CTX700 … Read more Going faster…with mirrors
It’s time for my entry into the world of old man bikes. The sport bike kid has grown old. Still riding, just differently. I commute by motorcycle/maxi to San Francisco about 4 days per week these days. About 20 minutes on the highway and 25 minutes in real traffic. Highway in the afternoons is all … Read more Old man bikes
I came across this design in my hard drive this weekend. Back in 2004, I was elbow deep in suspension nerding. I was riding my sportbikes hard and tearing through tires. I probably had my forks apart twice a month for a year or so. The rear shock also. I was learning a lot. Of … Read more Suspension nerds
I recently came across an interesting situation with pedals and I figured that this would be a good opportunity to look into some fun topics: blind bearing extraction, slide hammers, and strange bearing sizes. I have a set of Spank Spike pedals. I don’t use them regularly but will on flow trail or jump park days. They are … Read more Blind Drivers and the Spike
One of the most important tool in a mechanics toolbox is the hammer. Yes, the hammer. Such disrespect it’s seen in its time that it rarely get’s mentioned. Today, I am sharing three important hammers in my arsenal that make a real difference to me. Two of them have been on my bench almost every … Read more Hammer Time!
Years ago, at an early Maker Faire in San Mateo, I was lucky enough to see and touch an early test mule and prototype for what is now the Lit Motors C1 vehicle. It was so cool. It had gyros and batteries and computers and sensors. It balanced on it’s own and corrected itself when … Read more Bad engineering
I have some serious motorcycle lust right now. The new 2015 Yamaha YZF-R3 has arrived and it looks fantastic! I want to love this bike. I want to ride it at redline all day. I want to take 30 pounds off it and tune it for hard sport. Somebody just give me one!!! As the … Read more Superbike 300
I’m a fan of the WTB line of saddles. The company is local to me and they’ve been in the game since 1982. Legit. My current favorite is the Silverado. The long nose and thin line give me what I need on the trail. I can sit in comfort, hold fast, and slide forward on … Read more Remanufacturing
I just got a Nightrider Lumina Micro 250. It’s an amazing little light. The purpose of this little lamp is to use it head mounted for night riding. I have a Nightrider Pro 1800 Race for my handlebars. I just need a crawler and a scouter. The crawler is a very low powered light that … Read more Light bright
This last Saturday, I drove out to Sacramento from Fairfax and back over the course of five hours. Upon returning, I had a crashed up 2000 Honda Shadow A.C.E. (VT750CD2). $600 with a bill of sale for the ‘Junk’ titled vehicle plus a spare set of pipes in superbe condition, a set of saddle bags, … Read more Chopper!!!
On my way to work this morning I passed a television or movie film crew on 18th Street near Valencia Street in the Mission District of San Francisco. They were busy setting up so I didn’t get a chance to talk to anyone about what they were specifically filming. Of course, I had to get … Read more Limelight
Late last October (2013), I had a pretty bad crash on my Yamaha Majesty Scooter. I was headed home from work around 5pm on Park Presidio in SF heading North to the bridge and then Marin. Just as I was passing Geary Boulevard, I was momentarily distracted and didn’t see traffic stopping short ahead of me … Read more Scooter crash repairs
There are right ways of doing a job and wrong. People talk about this a lot but somehow few really stick to it. Recently, while trying to solve some gearing issues, I ordered a custom chainring from Warhawk Industries. I wanted to get a 32t and 34t ring in 80BCD. I ordered the part with 2.5 … Read more Finishing the job right
My new (to me) Yamaha Majesty scooter had an issue. The gearing was way too tall for it. It kept the bike feeling pretty mild. Something many people like in a scooter but not something I do. I want every bit of the bike working. This gearing was so tall it left a lot on … Read more Fast and furious…scooter
We often hear about the search for the vehicle of the future. Americans like to believe that it’s an electric car and that we are still years away. It’s not that. It’s not even a car. It’s the lowly scooter and it’s been very available around the world for over 60 years. The truth is the … Read more Two Scooters
I went down to Fox Racing Shox for Dealer Day. It was pretty cool. We were able to see the new museum, R&D, and HQ in Scotts Valley and tour the manufacturing and service in Watsonville. Defiantly worth doing if you never have. I was impressed. I wish that we were able to see the machine … Read more Fox Racing Shox tour
“I can make a streetfighter out of anything!” That was the title of a post made by some internet clown in the BARF-Garage forum a few years a go. It really stuck out as the whole “streetfighter” thing was in full bloom around then. Essentially, this guy had ‘invested’ in a $3.60 hack saw and figured … Read more Doing things right.
I just changed out my insanly worn out tire from my 2001 Honda Reflex 250 scooter. It’s such an amazing commuting machine. I had to get it back up and running asap. Nothing can really match this thing for the job it does. I could live without my motorcycle but not my scooter. I decided … Read more Weight loss of scooter tires due to wear.
The 2012 Rock Shox SID RLT on my new 29″ mountain bike needs tuning. Because of my injured hand, I’m really not hitting the front end as hard as usual and it’s resulting in a ride that is too harsh and not using all of the travel. I’m going to change the oil in it to a … Read more Special tools are just so fun! Especially suspension tools.
I finished working on the forks from my GSX-R750 K8 this Sunday. I was able to take a short ride on the bike that afternoon and a longer ride on the way to work this morning. The results are simply awesome. Not just in the functioning of the forks themselves but completing the whole bike … Read more Back in focus, finishing the GSX-R forks
I’ve got an amazing motorcycle. A 2008 GSX-R750! It’s pretty well modded and specifically put together for my needs and goals. I’ve done everything to it that I’ve wanted to except for one last detail, the fork. Typically, tuning the fork of a motorcycle is one of the first things that I do, not the … Read more The Gixxer fork – A loss of focus
Ask anybody that has studied physics about springs. They’ll tell you about Hooke’s Law, the linearity of coil springs, and brush them off as the most simple topic. They probably got great grades. Some of them probably got masters degrees or PhDs. The problem is is that they don’t know what they are talking about … Read more SPRINGS…cause it’s spring!
Since getting my wrist completely shattered at RFT and not being able to do much of anything, I dropped my motorcycle off to BRG Racing to have some work finished that I had started on my motorcycle. I had the motor half apart already but there was no way that I’d be able to continue the job … Read more The Gixxer is back!
I’ve been quite busy lately… The modular throttle project is just about done. Final testing takes place this weekend but this revision is assumed to be the last. Prototyping has been a long process for this. The engineering was quite a learning experience for such a simple little part. A 60 degree variable rate cam that … Read more These are the fun days of development
2008 GSX-R750 Tie Down Tabs for rear end. mounts under the passenger peg bracket. A nice feature for transporting or working on the bike.
Math and numbers rule! You can learn a lot from them. This weekend I put my nose to the grindstone and measured the weights for my bike and weight distribution. Bike weight (full of fuel) – 444.5 lbs. Ride weight (no gear) – 203 lbs. Gear weight – 18 lbs. Weight distribution – 49F/51R (note … Read more fiftyfifty
Here’s a fun little project. Motorcycles have engines. We all know that. What few truely understand is that we use our throttles and gearing to access and make use of those engines. Asside from gearing issues that I will cover later, throttles typically need modification so that we can get all that power we have … Read more The PVD 60 Degree Throttle Prototype
Here’s the new bike. Soon you’ll be seeing a lot more tuning projects based on this. I’m super stoked.
You don’t know anything unless you’ve measured it. A very wise tuner passed that statemet down to me. I learned a lot from him. Dan Kyle. Look him up. People get pretty spooked about suspension. They get lost. They get confused. I used to. Then I bought a spring scale and everything made much more … Read more You don’t know anything unless you’ve measured it.