Categories: all aviation bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Wed, 30 May 2007

Waiting for the Interurban is back, mostly

Just in case you've been keeping track of the progress in Fremont, the Waiting for the Interurban sculpture is even now being put back in place:

Posted at 15:21 permanent link category: /misc

Mon, 28 May 2007

The build bug

The idea of building an airplane hasn't gone away entirely. I was struck by the idea again recently, and looked around a little bit. Since I didn't stick strictly to my prejudice about building an all-wood design, I came across the Sherwood Ranger, which is an aluminum and wood design.

The key trick to the Ranger is that its wings really fold. No rigging, no re-attaching stuff. You pull four pins and swing 'em back. You're done. Setting it up again is the opposite -- pull them forward, insert pins, done. Now that's my kind of setup!

I was thinking, previously, about building a biplane that would fold up, that's nothing new. The problem is that every other design I've come across has a folding process which takes 30 minutes, and involves re-attaching controls, tension wires, electrical wires, etc. It's an involved-enough process that it would quickly become a mental barrier to flying, and it would either languish in a garage, or I'd end up blowing $300+ per month on a hanger for the plane.

The Ranger is no more of a travellin' plane than anything else I've been considering. Its economy cruise speed is 60 mph, and max cruise is around 85. Climb is impressive, though, and its payload is actualy more than its empty weight. Being a two-seater with 460 lbs payload capacity, it's actually got enough weight-room for me and another person and a couple gallons of gas.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much expertise about it available on the web, although I'm sure a few of them must have been built in the US. Unfortunately again, the kit maker is in the UK, and our exchange rate is terrible right now. I wouldn't do anything about it in any case for a year or so, but it does mean that purchase and shipping would be expensive.

So, it's interesting to have found such an appealing kit. I'll have to see if I still find it interesting when I'm in a better position to start such a large project.

Posted at 00:16 permanent link category: /aviation

Sun, 27 May 2007

Xtra-problems

The Xtracycle is having teething problems. It turns out, due to the way I have to attach it to the frame, the chain is grinding into the frame. The Xtracycle attachment can be attached either above or below the frame behind the crank. Right now, I have it below, because that makes a favorable angle with the frame, so that the attachment point of the X's nose is naturally self-tightening. If I put it on the other side of the frame, the angle is such that it's naturally self-loosening, which is definitely not a good situation. This picture shows the mounting angle reasonably well:

I'm not sure how to solve this problem. The real, correct solution is to find a different frame. However, this is an expensive-sounding solution, because I'm unlikely to settle for a cheap frame. The much cheaper, but technically more challenging solution, is to move the X to the other side of the frame, and figure out some kind of angled spacer to eliminate the self-loosening problem.

For a very short-term fix, I've put a series of zip-ties around the X's frame, where it's being abraded by the chain. However, that won't last for long, and they'll need to be checked frequenty. I have pondered getting a piece of teflon to go there, which may end up being the best/easiest solution. It's far from ideal, but it would solve the problem in a permanent-enough way that I could live with it.

I'll have to check in with the local plastics store, and see if they can sell me a small strip of teflon.

Posted at 23:52 permanent link category: /bicycle

House-paintin' progress

So, for a few weeks now, I've been working towards painting the inside of the house. It's been delayed by all sorts of things, including flooring work (fumes!), schedule conflicts, and pure laziness. However, I've finally gotten to it.

My first room, which was something of a test, is basically done. A solid wash with mineral spirits, followed by a coat of primer and two coats of paint. We'll see if that's enough; hopefully I don't need to put on a third coat (that'd throw my paint quantity estimation all out of whack).

It's pleasing to finally make visible progress. Still, it probably took over a week from the first wall-washing until now. That's not very encouraging. Of course, once I had all the bits and pieces together, things went a lot faster for subsequent work. I expect, for instance, that I can have the hallway (which is the next area to be painted) completely primed if not with a first coat of color by the end of tomorrow. As a bonus, I might even get room number two ready for wall washing (it still needs random stuff like shelves, hooks and curtains taken down). My ambition knows no bounds! (Unlike my actual abilities.)

Anyway, yay progress!

Posted at 23:41 permanent link category: /misc

Tue, 22 May 2007

It Lives!

Around 11 last night, I got the Xtracycle finished. Well, "finished." There's more to do, but it was finally to the point where a bike shop would have been comfortable selling it as a complete bicycle.

Its first ride was a very brief ride from work to home (around .7 miles -- maybe a whole kilometer!). No headlight, no mirror, but it was all there.

Its first real ride was tonight. I rode the four and a half miles from my temporary dwelling to my house. It was something of a non-event, really. Everything just worked like it was supposed to, for the most part. The rear derailleur isn't adjusted quite right, so there were a few spastic moments as the chain jumped between gears, but I think I got that sorted out. The seat wasn't adjusted exactly right, so I shifted it around -- it's still not right, but it's closer. But, other than that, everything was fine.

The bike definitely feels different. Compared to my commuter, it's a bit more steady (due to the considerably longer wheelbase), but turns feel odd. There's something strange about the geometry, but I can't quite figure out what it is.

After its proper inaugural ride, I spent a few minutes installing the horn. This is a great horn, I'll have to take a picture of it in daylight. I got it at Aaron's Cycle Repair, at the same time I got the Xtracycle add-on. It's a hand (or foot) operated manual pump, which directly operates a pair of car-type air horns. It's impressive looking, with two full-size air horns strapped to the legs of the fork, and this big red plunger up near the steering head. Once you get over how it looks, the sound is even more impressive. It's deafening, and being a two-tone like it is, sounds exactly like a car horn.

I'll have to see if my installation will be durable or not -- the horns are strapped to the unsprung side of the forks, and they may bobble too much in actual use.

In any case, a pleasing enough first ride. Hooray for cargo capacity!

Posted at 23:22 permanent link category: /bicycle

Mon, 21 May 2007

Cello search

Finally, years and years after getting my first cello, it's time to get a better one. My current cello was a gift from my parents, and one for which I hope I've sufficiently expressed my gratitude. However, it's actually decreased in value since they bought it for me, which is not really how these things are supposed to go.

Add to that the fact that I'm actually playing again (not good, just playing), and I find that I'd appreciate having a better cello.

So, I spent some time on Saturday in David Stone's shop in the U District, playing some cellos (celli? cellae?). This one in particular caught my ear and my eye:

It's a pretty cello, in addition to which, it has a very nice, open tone. It was made in Budapest in 2004, so it doesn't have any cool antique value, but that probably also means I can afford it. ;)

David had another cello which has potential. It was made by a Boeing machinist in 1991, in Kirkland. That is, about 5 miles from my house. It needs to have the neck shaved down, and some other modifications, but it seemed like it might be pretty nice once it's ready. I'll be headed back in a few weeks to try it out next to the Hungarian cello.

I'm curious to try these next to my cello. I know I want to sell it, if only to avoid the pain of any future repairs (I found out that it was put together with some very unfriendly and difficult to work with glue, which will dramatically increase future repair costs, or may rule out repairs entirely). I'm just interested to hear the difference in tone right next to each other. Certainly when I went home and picked up my cello, I couldn't really tell a difference, but a good hour or two had passed since playing the Hungarian.

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens. My mom (also a cellist, and considerably more skilled than me) advocates getting a carbon fiber cello. I'll have to hear one in person, although their testimonial list is pretty impressive.

Posted at 14:15 permanent link category: /misc

Sun, 20 May 2007

New video

This weekend was a total bust for working on the house -- the newly finished floor produces such fumes that my eyes and lungs were burning within a minute of being inside. So much for any plans to get painting done!

So, I had what amounted to a free weekend. Lacking anything else to do, I decided to put together another video.

Enjoy!

Posted at 23:36 permanent link category: /motorcycle

Fri, 18 May 2007

Xtracycle pictures

Ok, I've got an unannotated gallery set up.

Check it out.

Posted at 10:08 permanent link category: /bicycle

Thu, 17 May 2007

Xtracycle update

I was chastized tonight for not writing in my journal about the Xtracycle build. Allow me to correct that!

I have been making slow but sure progress. It seems like most of my progress is being hampered by a lack of parts, at this point. Something about using specialized parts like tandem hubs and disc brakes makes everything more complicated.

Two nights ago, I had a very frustrating evening of working on the thing. I had just received the adapter which would allow the rear hub to use a disc brake, and eagerly spun it on. In my eagerness, I also cinched down the set-screw, and immediately bent the hub enough to cause considerable drag when spinning the wheel. I swore under my breath, and tried to get the bend out, but only succeeded in making it worse. Totally grumpy, I strapped the raer wheel onto my shoulder bag, and rode over to Recycled Cycles for help -- I was missing one of the wrenches I needed to take things apart enough to fix it myself. 10 minutes of work later, and the problem was sorted out. I was not best pleased with that little episode, although the tech at Recycled was (as usual) great to work with.

Yesterday, my new tires finally arrived (again, using funny parts means waiting for things...). I brought the bike, sans tires, down to the shop at my work on Sunday night, and very gingerly set it down with glorified paper towels wrapped around the rims and a large "please do not touch" sign laced into the spokes -- I could just imagine someone rolling the bare, aluminum rims across the hard, knobbly concrete and making them impossible to ever true again. Fortunately, there was no problem.

Once the tires were on, I gingerly sat on the saddle and paddled down the length of the bike cage -- no chain, no brakes, only one derailleur hooked up. It was still pretty cool to be rolling on this weird frankenbike. The rear disc rattled slightly as it wobbled on its un-tightened bolts (I couldn't find a Torx driver among the bike shop tools, so finger-tight was the best I could do). Fortunately, the bike looks a bit more normal with tires on the rims. The bare rims looked weirdly small, particularly with the huge 8" brake rotors on them. My other bike, with 29" wheels and 6" rotors, appares to me now to have comically small brake rotors.

I've been taking pictures as I make progress, and I'll try to get them posted later.

Right now, although it's not done, I've got the cargo carrying hoops attached to the rear frame for Bike To Work Day tomorrow. I'm going to bring the mostly-complete bike up to the lunch and show it off. Already tonight, I've spent a good solid 30 minutes talking to 5 or 6 interested people who were passing by. I figure at lunch tomorrow, I'll be lucky to shovel any food in my face for all the talking I'll be doing about it.

As it stands right now, the bike has the following major problems to address:

• Front brake caliper can't be attached for a missing bracket (on its way)
• The rear brake, although hooked up, is completely ineffective; it needs to have spacers installed to move the caliper 1-2mm closer to the disc
• The cassette is too far outboard on the hub, and the rear derailleur can't quite keep it comfortably in top gear; new thinner spacers are called for
• The steer tube is still uncut until I can spend some time riding and determine if I like the handlebar height

Once I get those things taken care of, the bike will be essentially done. I'll have lights and such to install, but nothing else will prevent me from riding the bike around normally.

And now, downstairs to take some pictures!

Posted at 20:06 permanent link category: /bicycle

Mon, 14 May 2007

Photoshop fun

My copy of Photoshop arrived today, and I was playing around with filters. It's hardly art, but I thought this was a cool effect:

Posted at 23:02 permanent link category: /misc

Fri, 04 May 2007

What's He Building In There?

I realized that I dropped the Xtracycle project on here yesterday as if I'd fully explained it. Apologies, it's been running around in my head for long enough that I figured I'd bored everyone to tears with it.

The background is this. In September last year, I went to set up my old Norco Cypress mountain bike with a disc brake front end. I wanted to get back into bicycling more, and what better way than with a bit of bikey bling. In readying the bike for the swap, I noticed a little crack in the head tube (where the steering tube goes). A moments' thought made me realize that the bike was condemned. I lost hope of utilizing the lifetime frame warranty, figuring I'd never find the receipt for it, so it was just trash. I went out and bought a new Gary Fisher bike, which I've been riding a lot since.

The Norco sat in forlorn dispair in the basement for a few months. As I was cleaning out my house in preparation for a move (an entirely different story), I chanced across the original purchase receipt. Hooray! I taped it to the bike, and resolved to deal with it Real Soon Now. That would have been about December. Needless to say, I did not deal with it for a few months. Finally, around March, I pulled it out, stripped off all the extraneous stuff, and took it to a local shop for the warranty replacement.

Said local shop basically sat on it for a month, and after some vicious prodding with a sharp stick (including several calls to the Norco headquarters, one to retrieve the correct correspondence email address... sigh), they finally got off their asses and got the warranty replacement going. I got my new frame after forking over $25 plus tax for the favor of doing the free warranty work. Great. I'm not going to mention their name, because they were kind of out of their element on this, so it's not entirely their fault, but I'm still pretty annoyed that I had to do almost all the work for them.

Anyway, Norco sent me this beautiful new frame, from a Bigfoot model. Apparently they don't sell any $400 bikes any more, so I got a frame from a $900 bike. Darn?

Somewhere along the way, I'd formed the definite idea that I wanted to turn this windfall bike into an Xtracycle. In summary, it's a neat attachment that moves the rear axle back 15 inches, and adds some massive cargo capacity by way of giant panniers and a sturdy frame. My friend Josh built one up, and seems to love it, and I liked the idea of being able to carry big stuff, like my cello, on a bicycle.

So, about a month ago, I started researching and buying parts. I now have a bunch of parts (listed yesterday) with a few more on the way, and more yet to be ordered. I'm reusing some of the stuff from the old Norco, which is still perfectly functional. I don't even want to think about what all this is costing, but I should get a really nice bike out of it. In particular, the rear wheel is composed of a $140 hub, about $45 in spokes, and a $35 rim. However, being a 48 spoke wheel (the more spokes, the stronger the wheel, basically), it should be able to handle anything I can throw at it.

And throw I will -- I weigh about 220 lbs in normal clothes, and the Xtracycle attachment is rated for 150 lbs of cargo. So that's potentially 370 lbs of static load, and when you add in dynamic stresses, I could be putting thousands of pounds of load on that wheel. It'd better be strong.

So, that's the Xtracycle project, to which I will be referring with increasing frequency as I start to actually put things together. This is the first bicycle I've built (not terribly daunting) and the first wheels I've built (much more daunting, but not all that hard now that I've given it a try). I'm sure I'll end up turning this into a slightly easier-to-read web page detailing the build process and with the pretty pictures and all. Check in here for updates.

Posted at 10:32 permanent link category: /bicycle

Thu, 03 May 2007

Wow, 48 is sure a lot of spokes

I have successfully laced both wheels, and started tensioning them. I don't have an adjusting stand at home, so I'll take them in to work tomorrow or over the weekend and work on them there.

The rear wheel, at 48 spokes, is pretty impressive. It's not any harder to work with than a 36 or 32 spoke wheel, except that there are more adjustments to make, and the finger clearance is less. Lacing it up was exactly the same procedure, except it took longer. I was wrong to think a 48 spoke wheel would be hard to deal with.

I'm taking pictures as I go, but bed sounds a lot more appealing than uploading pictures right now. Later.

Posted at 23:04 permanent link category: /bicycle

It Begins!

All my wheel parts arrived today. I now officially have enough parts to start building things for the Xtracycle.

I'll probably put together a webpage about all this, but for now, you'll have to be content with a list, and maybe a picture later on.

Things I have purchased specifically for this project:

• Rims (Sun Rhyno Lite, 36h front, 48h rear)
• Hubs (Shimaho HF08 tandem 48h rear, Shimano XT disc front)
• Spokes (261 and 260mm DT double-butted front, 268mm DT DB rear)
• Rim tape (Velox)
• 203mm brake rotors (Alligator round -- $17 each? sure, I'll try)
• Headset (FSA "The Pig")
• Front fork (Rock Shox Dart 3)
• Rear gears (7 speed Shimano cassette, 13-34 tooth)

Things I already had for whatever reason:

• Frame (new Norco Bigfoot, warranty replacement)
• Brake calipers (castoff/upgraded Avid BB5 from the Gary Fisher)
• Cranks and front sprocket (from the original Norco)
• Miscellaneous other parts from the original bike

Tonight, I'll try lacing the wheels. With an offset front wheel and a 48 spoke rear, I have set myself an excellent challenge. Oh my. I'll be posting here more or less frequently as I make progress. I know a number of people have said, "Oh, let me know how that turns out." I will, in future, direct them here.

Posted at 17:58 permanent link category: /bicycle

Wed, 02 May 2007

Bad Night

As we all know, the real reason anyone reads blogs or journals is to revel in others' misfortunes. Well, have I got an entry for you!

The night started well enough. I had brought up laundry to do at my house, as long as I still own the washer and dryer. I was going to meet my friend J. and try riding his new motorcycle, a KLR650. He arrived a minute or so after I did -- I was a bit late because I was frantically taking notes on what I wanted to film that evening, in case I got inspired to do some talkie shots for the next video.

I excused myself, and dashed into the house to drop off my laundry. I figured I might as well start it, so it'd be done earlier, and quickly got the laundry in the machine and set it going. I must have set it just on the "waiting" side of the dial -- it'll wait up to 6 hours before starting the cycle, and if the dial is on the "wait" side, it'll wait a couple minutes before starting. Whatever. I ran back up.

We rode down to his destination, me on his bike, he on mine. It was fun. The KLR is a pretty cool bike, although it's very very different from my current motorcycle. I could probably easily live with it for a trip to somewhere rugged like Alaska, though.

That done, I headed up to a gas station, to fill my bike's tank and gather some footage. Within 10 seconds of starting the tape rolling, my phone rang. I stopped the camera, and answered the phone. It was work, calling to tell me that a server was down, and could I please take a look at it? I explained that I was 30 minutes from a computer, and asked them to call a coworker. I hung up and continued filming.

The phone rang gain. Coworker said it's not a big deal, downgrade the urgency (as I had initially asked them to do), and I get to deal with it. Ok, sure. I hung up and finished up the fliming, packed up, and headed down to work. The last thing I wanted to do was go back into work -- I was planning an evening of doing laundry and working on the house. But into work I went.

The problem wasn't a difficult one to fix, but it's the kind of problem that indicates the machine needs to be replaced soon, so that resulted in a generalized sense of doom forming. I finished up, turned in the virtual paperwork, and headed out. I considered getting dinner near work, but decided it'd be better to get to the house and put some stuff in storage before the storage place closed. I could get dinner on the way back from that.

I headed up to the house. Packed up a few things, rolled up a rug. I loaded it into the van, damaging a finger on the shredder that was coming back to the apartment. Not too bloody, but surprisingly painful. I washed my hands and went down to change the laundry into the dryer.

Wait a minute, why is that light still on? Oh, crap. The laundry never started. The door was stuck open. Glance at watch: 8:40. I had to get moving, the storage place closes at 9. Laundry actually going this time, I headed upstairs, took a quick look around, and decided I was ready. I got in the minivan, and turned the key.

Click!

Blackness.

Ohhhhh-kay. It's done this once or twice before. Usually it comes back on the next key turn. There's some loose relay or something. I tried again, foot off the brake this time. Nope. Shift to neutral from park? No such luck, it's locked. This sure looked like a dead battery, so I grabbed the charger out of the garage, and set it to the "jump start" mode. Hooked it up, got back in the driver's seat. Turn key. Click! Hmm, those lights on the dash are really bright... I've never seen them so bright! Try again, turn key, k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k! That ain't right.

I spent the next 10 minutes trying different combinations of charger and starting, to no avail. I opened the relay/fuse panel and swapped around relays, trying to feel for which one was doing the cricket impression, but nothing made a difference. It was now 5 minutes to nine, and I clearly wasn't getting to the storage unit. The charger kept its "charged" light on no matter what I did, suggesting that the battery was actually in fine shape, but it definitely acted like a dead battery. I even got to experience the joy of a weakened alarm siren going off 3 feet from my head as I was working. And it won't. Listen. To. The. Off switch! I was returning with a very large wrench (to detach the battery terminal, I swear) when it finished its cycle of different obnoxious alarm sounds ("weeoooweeeooweeoo! beep! beep! beep! beeeeee boooo beeeee boooo! aank! aank! aank! booooeeeeee! boooooeeeee!"). I need to find that alarm control box and throw it in the garbage.

Enough. I left the battery charging, and headed to the pizza joint that's walking distance and open late. I needed food, the nine hours since lunch were taking their toll. I ordered a couple slices of pizza and a fountain drink. I grabbed the cup, and hit the ice dispenser, accidentally brushing one of the taps with my knuckle. My hand was covered in Diet Pepsi, while the cup filled with ice. Grand. I selected Sierra Mist, in the mood for something new and not based on the kola nut. Filled to about an inch from the top, not interested in sucking down an entire huge cup of sugarwater. I turned back toward my table, when I heard a spattering noise, and felt my hand dampening. The soda was volcanically overflowing the cup, drenching my hand and spilling all over the floor.

Ok, really. What did I do wrong? This is payback for... what, exactly?

The pizza lackey grabbed me a clean rag, and I cleaned myself up. Dinner was very subdued. Amazingly, I managed to eat the pizza without choking to death, or having it squirt an ecstatic gush of tomato sauce and grease all over me.

I walked back, speculatively sucking on my now-quiescent sugarwater. The van received another bout of sullen attention, but it still wasn't starting, just clicking relays at me like a gigantic angry insect. I left it charging.

Determined to get something positive out of the evening, I swapped the laundry (finished this time) into the dryer, and loaded my "to the apartment" stuff into the sidecar. Ah, the trusty rusty sidecar. I thought evil thoughts toward the 1995 Toyota van in my driveway that was doing considerably worse than the 1983 Honda with the unexpected, off-balance weight it'd been draging for its entire life. Simplicity has its virtues.

Fortunately, the trip to the apartment and back was entirely without incident. I didn't even get bitten by the shredder again.

Back at my house, I pulled my clean, dry laundry into its mesh bag, and gave a last check before leaving. The laundry safely loaded in my little rear-seat basket and bungie'd in, I rolled the bike out and got ready to leave. Then noticed, in the final being-pissed-upon moment, that it had just started raining. On the clean, dry laundry.

Hoo boy, did I ever get what I deserved. Or something.

Posted at 11:18 permanent link category: /misc

Tue, 01 May 2007

The Worst Ride of Them All

Yesterday, I had a dentist appointment. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of the dentist. It's uncomfortable and expensive (since they always seem to find cavities no matter how careful I am about brushing), but that's a story for a different time.

My dentist is what I have in the past considered to be a kind of frightening distance from my workplace -- all the way to First Hill, which is, as it turns out, about 5 miles. It's not so much the distance, though, as the hill.

Since I've been going there, I've ridden my motorcycle to get to the dentist, which most commonly involves taking I-5 downtown, and then going up what must be an 8% or more grade, James Street. At the top, after having worried that my bike might stall in first gear on this hill, I've made it to the dentist's office. It feels like a long slog on the motorcycle, although it's probably only a lateral distance of 3 blocks.

So, that's a pretty daunting idea on a bicycle.

I was prepared for the worst. I left myself an hour to get there (I normally cover the 5 miles between house and work in around 30). I went at a very even pace instead of pushing myself, so I'd have energy for the inevitable hellish hill-climb. I made sure the water bottle was full.

Then, I was on top of Capitol Hill before I knew it (First Hill and Capitol Hill are divided by a hazy sense of where the hipsters stop and the hospitals begin, more than any actual geographical feature). First Hill was just over there, only there wasn't actually any more uphill to do. Huh.

So, I ended up getting there 20 minutes early, even after slowly locking up my bike and heading to the wrong floor on the elevator.

I guess it wasn't so frightening after all.

Another strike against riding the gas-guzzlers (although the Ninja 250, at 48-55 MPG, is hardly a gas-guzzler).

Posted at 15:53 permanent link category: /bicycle

Categories: all aviation gadgets misc motorcycle theater

Written by Ian Johnston. Software is Blosxom. Questions? Please mail me at reaper at obairlann dot net.