Modern Vespa

SteelBytes,

I love you man, but, Australians as precision work "Champions"? Perhaps you are. When I think of Australians, I think of Kangaroos, Wallabies, and a whole lot of beautiful empty outback. Blame it on "Crocodile Dundee".

So, here's to you mate.

Bob Copeland
Minnesota I think of to dam cold - why does anyone live here?

Skids,

Bizarre, eating dog food and milk bones as a kid. So, did your parents have to lock up the pantry to keep you from drinking the vinegar?

Just kidding! Good on you for admitting it. Final note: hopefully you stayed away from the dog poop in the back yard. I may have sampled the dog poop when I was real young.

Bob Copeland

The first great thing is that you know what you are doing. The second, is that the tranny is rebuildable and you can still get parts. It seems like on today's modern machines, any part is part of an assembly. Something goes wrong and the whole assemble needs to be replaced, not rebuilt. Which usually leads to a big hole in your wallet.

I may be wrong, but I see the need to buy assemblies instead of individual parts is this: A lack of truly competent mechanics. Many of them are now just parts changers, so replacing an entire assembly is faster and easier and better quality.

Also, it lets the mechanic make better flat-rate time, which helps his income.

Just my pessimistic 2¢.

That, sir, is a true work of art!

I was looking at my progress towards my degree earlier this week and was happy to see that I'm now classified as a College Senior.

That's not what's cheering me up, though.

I was confused by some of the numbers. According to the progress report, I only need 30 more credits. But when I tallied up the remaining courses, I couned 39 credits. So I emailed my advisor for clarification.

She looked it over and said that the 30 credits is correct, and guessed that I miscounted something as three 3-credit classes, instead of one 3-credit class. Regardless, that was good news. But that's not all she wrote.

She also looked over my entire transcript and saw that I had a random transfer class that could possibly be applied to the one remaining elective needed for my degree. So she submitted it to the Registrars office to see about getting it to apply appropriately. An hour later she got a response - they approved it, and now I'm only 27 credits away from graduation.

I only have one class that is not required to be taken through SNHU, so if I can take it elsewhere and transfer it in, I'll have everything completed by the end of this year, instead of end of February 2026. I could also take three classes one term instead of two and get it completed that way.

Essentially, due to me being confused by the progress report, my advisor found a way to save me close to $1k in tuition, and potentially two months worth of studies.

I started a new job on Monday and my first week as gone better than I expected and now I'm sufficiently relaxed on the sofa having consumed two pints of 7% ABV Porter/Stout and now on the other halfs own made red wine.

Life is good

Agreed. Most repairs today are done by replacing complete components. You don't hear about transmissions in vehicles being rebuilt much anymore. They simply get replaced. But usually, the old broken transmission is shipped off and remanufactured so someone else can buy it later. In the case of antique motorcycle parts, you'll find a lot of guys rebuilding them. The labor gets very expensive if you can't do the work yourself though. Luckily a Harley-Davidson transmission designed in the 1930s (and used all the way up until the 1980s) is simple by comparison to a transmission in a modern car.

Thanks for the encouraging words. I'm really not anymore talented than anyone else. I have some specialized knowledge focused on vintage Harley-Davidson motorcycles and I have acquired the tools needed to do this kind of work. I could easily transfer my knowledge and tools to the next guy/gal.

Neither, it's an extortion fee the state charges to make sure it has things like turn signals and an exhaust. Because obviously only the people who pay the state to be "certified" to inspect are the ones who can say "yes it has an exhaust and turn signals, they're right here." Nobody else knows what that is without paying the government to say they know how to identify them.

Looking forward to that Montana LLC in a couple months, then putting everything under it instead so we never have to deal with it again.


All that ranting aside, the Motone tail tidy is on along with their 3-in-1 taillights, and some Motogadget pins up front. Also threw a second pair of the Motogadgets on the shock mounts, because Maryland drivers.

Oh, the irony.

We moved out (escaped?) thirty-one years ago, but the winters were only part of the reason...not a small one, but definitely part.

Relative to Kiwis

They certainly can build fast sailboats.

true, but we won the cup before they did back in the '80s

If you are going to go there, the Americans held the trophy for 132 years before you guys took it to Australia.

What's the difference between Australia and a Yogurt ?

Our culture is better

I was going to make an infantile reference to Tasmania.

Hands up, Punctuation not a strong point.

So funny.

The ride video I posted on Instagram yesterday* has in less than 24 hours got more views than my previous dozen combined.

Yet it ain't even my favourite recent vid (see my previous on insta).

Guess people just like cops.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DEqymOPPV3V/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==


* Recorded more than a week ago but only just edited it

nope

Hey, unlike many others I'm quite happy to admit when I've misjudged something.

It shows strength of character

nope

Speaking of errors ...

We had a leaky bathtub faucet. We've been in the house nearly 21 years and I know it was old when we moved in. I should mention I hate plumbing.

In fact, we have another project already - the sink faucet replacement - that was put on hold because the shutoffs are completely stuck and need to be replaced. I hate sweating copper pipe.

Anyway, last night I tackled it. There are no shutoffs at the shower, so the whole house gets turned off. The screw that attaches the knob to the cartridge was so seized that it twisted off. The puller you can rent to remove the cartridge uses that hole, so that was out. I managed to get the old cartridge out with vise grips, the new one in, water back on and now cold is hot and hot is cold. I swear, I held the new cartridge side by side with the old one as the old one came out. Apparently they are pretty symmetrical. But hey, we have water and no drips. All in about an hour and a half with two trips to the hardware store.

The next time we shut the water off to do the sink I'll pull it apart again and fix it right. And I plan on using compression fittings for the shutoffs on the sink so I don't have to sit inside a cupboard with a torch.

All in all, feeling pretty accomplished.

I hate plumbing too.

One thing I have learned about being a homeowner is a whole slew of things I would never want to do as a career.

Two trips to the hardware store is under par for the course, too.

HAH! I actually went to two stores. The first one because I knew they'd have the part. The second one was for a slightly longer screw to reattach the handle. They are closer and it saved me the embarrassment of returning to the first store.

I woke up this morning and MV was still here.

+1

Aaand, I feel your pain. Definitely my least favorite tSk. I'm good with wood, electricity is usually done mostly upright and ( hopefully!) dry, but plumbing is a whole 'nother category. Done my stuff, but also watched my guys do the stuff I'm at least smart enough to know I shouldn't, and happy to pay the bill.

Years ago, I lived alone, my mom would pop in frequently, and she was on a roll with sticky traps for mice. I was replacing a kitchen faucet, lying under the sink with my arms extended for way too long. I laid my head back, exhausted, and when I lived it I realized she'd gifted me a trap. Fortunately a) she was there, and b) she could cut hair.

Anyway, on track to replace countertops and sink, and instead of volunteering to connect things as I might be tempted to, I'm going to let my guy sort things out. And that's making me happy already!

Seamus, the compression fitting are the way to go. I don't mind sweating the joints, but the sharkbite plumbing system makes it so easy it's not worth firing up the torch.

That's what everyone tells me. I look forward to that.

The best part of the story is after saving all that cash, I didn't feel guilty about spending $20 on beer.

My plumber didn't like the Sharkbite fittings I had, but he was invested in his $1300 crimping tool.

This forum has provided more entertainment value than Netflix & YouTube combined the past couple days.

Marbles Mahoney's hate mail private message he just sent me is cheering me up today.

Why am I not surprised ?

The new Dylan movie.
I thought those singing as Pete, Bob, Joan and Johnny did a pretty good job.

O.S.