Blood, sweat, tears & beers . . .

That would be the "look" someone else is looking for! Plain ol' black is good enuff for me.

HRK, I've seen beer cans used for air filters, too.

Hard to say. Every time I think I'll be ready to ride, something comes up. I'm hoping sometime in October . . .

As y'all can see from the pics, my bike is in pieces again awaiting the parts it needs . . . new oil pump and a crankshaft oil seal.

If I can get the snap ring off the oil pump drive shaft will the gear come off so I can pull the shaft out? (See last pic). I'm assumimg I'll get a new drive shaft & gear with the new pump.

Thanks, will do. A new snap ring should come with the new oil pump. I have to reorder my crankcase seal - ordered the wrong one.

I've done that more than once. Today it took me a half an hour to get that danged snap ring off the inside of the pump shaft! Eyes ain't what they used to be.

I talked to Rob and he said he will send me another oil pump in exchange for my old one. Nothing to lose except shipping. If it works without leaking I can save a bundle. I'm sending him the old one first thing in the morning.

Oh, how long, Lord, how long?

Still hoping you get to ride in October ...

That would be awesome - maybe I'll be riding by my birthday which would be Oct. 23rd. Yesterday I got my repacking kit from CVP for my Keihin butterfly carb. I didn't have a tiny o-ring or washer on the air mixture screw when I started it up before. Maybe now it will run better . . .

Wait to say that until it doesn't leak anymore.....:rant:

My thoughts exactly. But I got high hopes!

Mac the Wife's birthday today. I'm treating her like a queen today, even though she had to work a 10 hour day. Went to where she works and brought her some stuff to eat and drink. Now she's home - it's party time!

In the meantime, The Beast sits forlornly in the shop, some of it's vitals scattered all over the floor, awaiting new parts and a transfusion . . . it's evening and I imagine going out there and starting it up and rolling it down the ramp, switching on the headlight and roaring down the quiet street out into the warm Carolina night . . .

But I'm eating cake and ice cream and Buster crawls up my leg and tries to get some. Oh, no, you don't! Everybody laughs. I set him on the floor and we talk about the things people talk about on birthdays. I say nothing about The Beast. But it is not far from my mind.

Got some Blue Job yesterday and it works fine if you use a buffing wheel with it. But I couldn't believe how LITTLE powder was in the container when I opened it! That is just WRONG!

My front pipe blued excessively (see pic) while the back one blued very little. I'm thinking I have an exhaust leak at the gasket. I'm going to get some better gaskets. Tattoo tells me he uses evo gaskets on his shovel but you have to stretch them to fit over the flanges. Any other suggestions for gaskets?