Skateboards are fun

I met this dude, Khalid, at the park by my house the other day. He asked me if he could film this little melon transfer thing I was trying… here is the clip. It was super fun… Thanks, Khalid!

In other news, my ’71 BMW R60/5 is insured and legal, cleaned up and looks really great cosmetically, forks are rebuilt… it is going to rule. I rode it around the block the other days and it just wouldn’t rev up… needs the carbs cleaned, bad. I will get to that next week because I will finally be done with classes for the spring term! THEN I CAN RIDE ALL THE TIME!!!!!

Stoked.

I spent some time in the garage tonight…

and the Magnum lives again! It is running rich but my Bing jet range is lacking so whatever, it is good for now. I am getting it ready to sell (already have a buyer, don’t email me). I love this bike but other projects are telling me it is time for it to move along to someone else.

Here’s a picture I snapped on my phone just before I put everything away.

That’s all for tonight, these updates will probably become a lot more frequent now that summer is so close!

BMW magnet…

as it turns out, I am one… More to come on that note later. Short story: I picked up a titled ’72 r60/5 a couple of months ago for a pretty good deal and just found another one that is a much better deal that is going to be a lot less headache in the end… first one is a parts bike and then parted out probably. All I will say is I will have a pretty fun little commuter bike pretty soon… here is a couple fun teaser photos from what is now my parts bike, undecided on what happens next, but I am getting pumped for some sunny days and free afternoons!

11/1/10

Concerning a Moped… Having fun with the dremel.

Concerning the BSA… stripped shift lever- REPLACED

Where it all goes down.

Oh, it’s on. (Concerning the decrepit BSA living in my garage)

The last few months I have been wrestling with whether or not I want to go through with building this motorcycle. I’ve decided that yes, It is happening. I have an idea of the time frame I would like to complete it in, but if that doesn’t happen it isn’t the end of the world. I just placed a couple of orders on some parts and tools (One of the main reasons I haven’t torn into it yet… no whitworth wrenches, haha) that will allow me to finally move forward.

I have been slowly selling off other projects I have decided aren’t important to me anymore, clearing space mentally and physically (sharing a garage with 5 other guys gets a little cramped, especially when a good chunk of the stuff in there is yours…). The list of things to be rid of is winding down and the feeling that I really need to complete something is at an all time high.

This all goes to say that this is the real beginning of the project. For real this time. I don’t know what pace I’ll be working on this thing but I will post as I make progress.

Oh, it’s on.

-MG

LOTS OF THINGS ARE HAPPENING

For real, life is crazy right now. It’s nice, sometimes. Most things are good though not all. Lots to figure out. Lots to explore.

I freaking love summer.

I have been pretty busy, but it has been nothing but great.

I haven’t been able to ride mopeds as much as I would like due to work, but that is ok.

I have been riding bicycles more than I had anticipated though, which is nice… healthier too, I suppose.

Yesterday was July 4. We drove over to Wisconsin to buy fireworks and beer. We went to a sit-down A&W with servers and the whole bit… That was weird. We grilled out at my brothers house and shot roman candles and threw bottle rockets. We biked down to the stone arch bridge to watch the Minneapolis fireworks show. It was shorter than a lot of shows I have been to, but I enjoyed it all the same. Yesterday was just such a fun day.

Yesterday I gave Brigette the bike I have been building her, slowly, over the last few months. I put together in a day, because bikes don’t take long… the slow aspect was parts collecting which is half the fun. I am pretty happy with how it turned out, and she is too. This is the only picture i have of it and it is from my cell phone which has a pretty crummy camera, but you get the idea.

I am slowly checking projects off the list… mostly bikes at this point, then I can get going on my next moped build… then finally start putting together the BSA- I haven’t done anything to that yet. Partially because of money, partially because of time, and partially because of lack of space. I should have more time in the near future, work is going well, and I am making space… I’ll consider that progress, haha.

WE’RE READY NOW!

Well, for the most part, at least. Let’s get some moped status updates, shall we?

Michael’s Mopeds? RUNNING!

Ross’ Moped? RUNNING!

Drew’s Moped? RUNNING! We were having issues getting good spark, did a whole bunch of crap involving swapping parts from other bikes… turned out that the timing was off. OOPS! Whatever, it’s good now.

New projects? YES- 1980 Honda hobbit, soon to be in the possession of good friend Andy, yet another convert. Also I am going to swap some engines around and get going on an E50 stock tuning project here in the near future… should be funsies for sure.

In other news I had my last official class meetings of my undergraduate career! I just have to turn in a few papers and walk when they say my name and I am golden.

The guys at the house and I have decided we are going to call our little gang the “Northern Radicals Moped Collective” (possible “coalition” in place of collective, haven’t decided for sure yet…) and membership is on the rise! Ross is working up some designs for a logo then we can be awesome and stuff. Until then we’ll just keep having fun, doing just what we’re doing- being friends and liking mopeds. It is pretty great.

I’ll be out of town this weekend for a friend’s wedding in Northern Wisconsin. I am really excited, hopefully some fun pictures are ahead for this sad little blog in the near future… that’s right, NON-MOPED topics. I do have a life, you know.

Hairs were cut

yep.

Creative guy

My room mate, Ross, is a graphic designer, and a real good one at that. Check out his site: HERE!!!!

Ross recently got a “Diana Mini” camera and has been taking lots of pictures. He took the picture that is now my header (me, on his moped, on a ride a week or two ago.) here is a full frame of it. I like it a lot.

Photo by Ross Bruggink

He also took this one of me while riding bikes the other day. I like this one too. THANKS ROSS!!!