This was a major surgery. I was under for five hours with complications. Lots of hardware put in there. Some might be CBR parts for all know.

 

Hopefully they were metal CBR parts and not rubber ones! You have my sympathy. Sounds like when I busted my leg. That royally sucked.

 

I had clean out the disc surgery twice over the past 2 years. It's the reason the bike has taken so long. Those surgeries were pretty easy compared to his one. Feels like being hit by a truck this time. Sucked all my energy and pain level is much higher. I'm improving slowly tho. Still depressed and frustrated that I can't wrench on the bike...it's part of my life blood. I just love to work on my bikes. This time it should be different. The theory is once bolted together it should stay.


I am planning a beam trolley lift over the bike work benches so I can have assist with heavy lifting....should be pretty awesome.

 

If it's anything like my deal, it's takes some time for your brain to rewire to manage the pain of the new hardware. It's one hell of an intrusion on your body tissue. After they install screws and plates the bone eventually fills in around the sharp edges. In my case time has really made a difference. If I remember correctly the first week home was a bitch, then it started to get more tolerable. You just need to lay there and let your body regroup for a while. I do remember a stunning amount of boredom, but only for a month or so.

A trolley is a great idea! Another idea would be good rollaround seating. I just put an old office task chair out in the garage and find it nice to park my butt on when I'm working on one item on the bike for a long period of time. Keeps my bionic leg from being crabby the next day. Another huge one for me is soft floor mats. They make a huge difference on my legs and back when I have to stand in one spot working for more than 20 minutes.

I got the new carb boots on the intakes last night, ready to mount the carb rack. Man the old ones were hard and brittle, particularly the middle two. Did a particularly careful pre-adjustment of the pilot screws and ran all the jets thru the carb cleaner one more time.
Gonna put in fresh plugs too, and hopefully this time she will be a little more willing to fire up cold and stay running.

 

"dennisgb" forget your bike for now, you on first, get well soon and joy live
your hurricane have time!!

 

Yes...maintaining pain control has been tough. Twice I slept like two hours past when meds were due...God! Horrible pain. I get what your saying about all the extra stuff in there. I feel like I can feel the screws. This is the first week home so get that too. Mornings are a bitch.


I got one of those reversible creepers that turns into a rolling chair. It is awesome because there is a spot for tools and parts. I am thinking through shop ergos while I'm laid up...should have it worked out. The overhead trolley lift was in the plan all along....perfect if I can get two or maybe even three work tables under it. Have all the dimensions worked out just need to play with the layout. The shop building is actually a double wide prefab house, the kind that are split in two pieces and then assembled on your foundation. It has high ceilings right in the middle which will accept the floor mount trolley height. It really will be an awesome work space...heated, air conditioned and the living room will extend into the master bedroom because I will take that wall down. Main work area will be 30 feet, by 25 feet. Man cave will be kitchen and dining area. Extra bedrooms will be paint booth and welding space. Chomping at the bit to set it all up.

 

I hear ya! But I'm one of those guys that needs to be moving and doing something all the time. At 62 years old that has gotten harder, but my heart and mind is still 20. I love to be wrenching and I have so many projects going. When this happened everything stopped and it's just hard for me to look at all the stuff ready to go and I can't do anything....the other problem is when I'm sitting here I start buying more stuff just to have something to do. Get's expensive. Plus I keep finding more cool projects.


My whole plan was for this to be a fun hobby when I retired and maybe make a little income on the side. I have been very successful at my buys and actually turning a profit. A while back I bought a Suzuki Trike that was mis-listed on Ebay and wasn't planning on buying but end of auction it was $4000 off of value. I bid what I thought I could handle and got it for $400 less than my max bid. Paid $8100 for it...had to go to Chicago to get it, but brought it home, Polished it up and sold it for $12500 in 2 weeks...there is money to be made out there. So there is a reason I am going crazy...

 

Careful man, you keep talking about that shop I'll want to move in! My garage is falling apart. Bought three bags of blasting soda a few weeks ago and managed to park them right under the single hole in the roof. Found out about the hole when we had a gulley washer last friday. Then there's this one rotten little rat that comes in every once in a while to taunt me. He's evaded my laser sighted pellet pistol twice now. Wife is starting to gently suggest it might be time to work on the 73 yo house a little more and the bike a little less. Women, don't they get it?

I my experience it seems like you are feeling the screws because you are. If it's like mine you won't want anyone to get within six inches of them for quite some time. Nowadays mine don't bug me much unless I whack the one that's on the point of my ankle on something. That makes me see a little lightning bolt in my vision and speak in tongues for a few seconds. But other than that I don't really think about them anymore.

So here's my latest chapter:
Realized I needed the bike to run realiably before I could work up a way to get the Chinese tach to work properly. So I tore down the carbs and replaced the diaphragm I repaired badly, did a little more cleaning inside, put on new boots and fresh plugs. Still wouldn't start! Arggh.

OK, check fuel. Fuel in bowls. OK, check spark. Spark good. OK, try again with starting fluid. Starts right up, then dies. Hmm, fuel seems to run out. And hey, why is the battery running down? OK, put a little more fuel in tank. Check stator and R/R. Both fine. Battery takes charge fine. Ah hah! What about checking the switch points in fuel pump? I was going to check those months ago and forgot! Open the pump, dress the burnt points, and well, here is the result:

 

Ah yes..the fuel pump. That's why mine wouldn't run when I first got it. I have like six fuel pumps now.

 

I had two hours of daylight left, so it was time for a test drive. Spent about an hour and a half bolting on enough parts to make it rideable. She drove down the long driveway and back in a well behaved manner. Started and stopped smooth and nothing fell off. Actually rode it before winter came! I was beginning to doubt if I would.