A Savage Experience

Crap.

2011-12-09T17:39:00.001-05:00

According to the Clymer's manual, the wiring harness for a 1988 Savage is the same as a wiring harness for a 1987 Savage. The part number is the same as well.

Why then does the damn thing I bought off eBay not have the correct connections? It's missing more than a few . And I'm more than a little pissed.

It's too fucking cold to ride anyways.

Wired

2011-12-08T11:52:00.001-05:00

The new wiring harness arrived yesterday. Slow-ass shipping, zero communication from the seller, but hey... the part is here and it even had the CDI box with it. (I have two already.)

So, this weekend, finally, Eileen will be running.

Good Lawd...

2011-10-09T08:16:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I haven't put any updates in a while, so...

1) The bike is not running yet. Al I have left is the wiring but for some reason I just can't get my ass down in the garage to finish. I really don't know why.
2) I had about four videos worth of raw footage that was mistakenly deleted from the video camera.

One reason for the lack of progress could be my job. That shit is just getting crazy. The work load keeps increasing. The schedules keep changing. We've added head count, but of the three, only one has really caught on and ran with it. Another is trying, but they're getting discouraged by the whole atmosphere of the place. The third is a smug liberal from up north who, even though they lack even the basic understanding of digital file management (i.e.- moving one file from one folder to another folder) they want to be the boss. I think the powers that be are grooming him for just that.

The day that one's made a supervisor over me is the day I quit.

But I digress. I bust my ass at work and when I get home I just don't want to do anything.

Another reason could be that if I do finally finish, I have to find another project or I'll go nuts. I can't afford to move on to another bike at this time. And the while the little projects I've thrown together could evolve into something bigger (hand-stitched leather holsters built up on a Serpa paddle-mount platform) but my hands can't really take much more of that. They hurt like hell just typing this update.

Speaking of typing, I have been working on a book every other day- that Jackson 'Red' Horne thing. It's moving along. Sort of. I drew a map of the fictional county everything takes place in after dreaming up a new opening scene. But, like I said, my hands hurt like hell. Years of fighting and working with hand tools and such, the arthritis is really starting to ratchet up. Typing for any length of time just makes me want to kick a puppy.

It truly does suck getting old.

But I will finish Eileen. Soon. I maybe even get to ride her once this season before it is too damn cold to hold on to the throttle. And regardless of what I said, I would never kick a puppy.

Paint it again, Sam

2011-07-13T09:27:00.000-04:00

So I repainted the tank.

It looks like shit.

I did an absolute horrible job on the body filler. So, it's gonna get stripped again. I need to pick up some really good body filler and go over the whole damned thing. Again. I do have enough copper to shoot it over, but I'm really thinking hard about changing the paint scheme. Not sure to what, but it's in the back of my mind.

Anyways...

I won't get to it this weekend. Familial obligations arose. I don't think I'll get to much of anything this weekend. My knees have been killing me for almost a week. I'd love to sit around with a bag of ice on each one while sucking down a beer or two while munching on Ibuprofen, but... today I have to work. Tomorrow, I have to work. Friday, I have to take care of the household chores. Saturday, I have to drive to South Carolina. Sunday, I get to drive home and start the work cycle all over again.

At least I'll be on vacation for ten days in a couple of weeks. I only get half of that to do any work on the house and bike- the second half of that week, we're driving back to Texas for a high school reunion.

At the rate I'm going, Eileen will be finished by the end of November.

Quick Shot

2011-06-30T08:02:00.000-04:00

And an accompanying picture...

Slackass

2011-06-20T07:51:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been busy with other stuff and it's too damned hot to be out in the garage all day.

I have gotten a few things done on the build- welded up a new license plate mount and I had to strip the gas tank. Seems the primer didn't stick too well and a lot of paint came off with the tape after I put the stripe on it. I needed to do a better job with the body filler anyways.

So that's where it's at. The tank has Bondo all over it and I just about melt whenever I go out there. 98° in the shade with 60% relative humidity is too freaking nasty for painting and sanding and welding.

I need my shed built, the one with insulation and air conditioning...

More Accurate Displiction

2011-06-04T23:23:00.000-04:00

While prepping and painting, some things got changed around. Also, the headlight in all previous version of the concept art was wrong. In reality, it looks like Astro Boy's head...

Time Line

2011-06-04T17:00:00.002-04:00

So for the past few weeks, I've been working on something bigger than the bike- a business plan.

I don't want to give away too many details at this point, but, suffice it to say, it involves building bikes. Or rather, rebuilding bikes.

I have a series of bench marks set out on the way to achieving my goal. And I have a time line.

Read more »

After Action Report

2011-05-30T09:07:00.000-04:00

Eileen V4.2

2011-05-13T16:24:00.000-04:00

This... I like.

Nuts

2011-05-08T00:23:00.000-04:00

There is more coming...

2011-05-06T21:14:00.000-04:00

... I promise. It's been a busy week doing other things. A new episode of the video is coming soon. More is being done on the bike, but the brick wall I hit trying to come up with a bracket for the electronics is a bitch. And then, I have to come up with some way to mount the new ignition key (it's a barrel key, old skool.)

And Thor was just released.

Awesome flick. I thought it had a very good balance of humor, drama, and action. Watching him throw the hammer around was... just freaking sweet. Beautifully shot. Very good acting- Loki... man... talk about sibling rivalry.

Really looking forward to The Avengers.

'Til then, true believers... stand by.

Subtle Changes

2011-05-01T00:03:00.000-04:00

Version 4.1 Concept art...

Gonna paint the rims with the copper pearl.

\m/('o')\m/

Dinner Break

2011-04-30T09:02:00.000-04:00

My buddy from Ireland, the handsome soap star (and second prettiest thing to grace the swing out on my deck) Ian Cooke, has a new short film available on YouTube...

Enjoy!

(Oh yeah, if you're watching at work, you might want to plug in some headphones)

Episode 6a and 6b

2011-04-25T10:28:00.003-04:00

Re-Run

2011-04-23T18:39:00.000-04:00

Minor (major?) setback...

2011-04-16T15:42:00.001-04:00

So this afternoon, I decided to modify the apes I welded up.

After I got them back together, they promptly fell apart.

I rushed the welding, this time and before. I dropped the damned thing and they broke in half. I grabbed my mallet and every piece just snapped apart like a twig.

So, I did it again.

The fucker ain't coming apart this time. The welds look like a row of miniature dimes, laid over, side to side. Mostly...

I know the penetration was good this time.

But... now I'm terrified the welds on the frame are shit.

I pounded on it with the mallet, but I couldn't get it to budge, just... dent.

Nevertheless, I am seriously considering cutting out everything I've done and starting over.

Don't know where to begin...

Let There Be (Head) Light... Bracket...

2011-04-12T09:52:00.002-04:00

So, yeah... if you haven't noticed...

2011-04-03T10:59:00.000-04:00

... I'm doing video now. Moving picture updates on the build-out of Eileen, my 1987 Suzuki Savage LS650.

Don't expect any kind of regularity- when I get to a stopping point in the build, I'll edit together something and throw it out there. Could be every other day, could be a week will go by without any progress.

So check back often. Comments are more than welcome.

As always, thanks for looking.

Episode 2 - Prequel Sequel

2011-04-02T00:06:00.000-04:00

Episode 1 - Playing Catch Up

2011-03-29T19:47:00.001-04:00

Doubt

2011-03-16T08:34:00.000-04:00

I am now within five bucks of having spent a grand on Eileen's make-over.

I don't know why, but it depresses me a little. Probably because I start doubting my abilities to do a good job on shit like this and that's an awful large chunk of change to spend on a 24 year old motorcycle. I could have just put the money down on a new Harley...

This is the fourth fucking time I've re-made the bike...

I have the vision in my head of what she should look like. I drew a damn picture, but I worry because there is more than often a disconnect between what I see in the mind's eye and what coalesces in reality. Usually it's because I get in a hurry, driven by eagerness and a strong desire to just be done with it.

This build, I am taking my time. I've already been asked by several people what the time line is for completion. I have set no time line. I will be done with it when I'm done with it. If I go the entire season with the bike sitting in pieces in the garage, so be it. I want it to be perfect this time. I want something that people will literally drop their jaws over when I'm done.

Thinking about it this morning, throughout this current project, nobody has asked me why I'm doing this again...

Framework

2011-03-13T12:09:00.000-04:00

I'm committed now...

The one on the left is the stock Suzuki Savage frame (don't ask why I have two frames.) The one on the right is Eileen.

I welded the new backbone in place before cutting the two smaller tubes out. It's a 1 3/8" steel tube. It's inserted about four inches up into the square tube of the original backbone. I cut four four-inch steel slats and welded them on the tops and sides of the junction between the square and round tubes. The rear part, I coped out and welded another piece of the 1.375 tube at 90 degrees. The smaller piece is welded in-between the existing frame struts.

My welds aren't really pretty, but they're solid. I beat the hell out of it and it didn't fall apart...

I'm still noodling out what I'm going to do with the two side tubes- they have an OD the same as the ID of the 1.375 tube, so I'll probably bend a piece of the big stuff, cut it in the middle of the bend, cope it out, slip it over the smaller frame tubes and weld them all together. Whatever I do, it's all going to be covered with a piece of sheet metal.

A little bit of work done this morning...

2011-03-09T10:32:00.000-05:00

Did some paint stripping this morning- chemically stripped most of the swing arm (the other side is still black.)

My dumbass wasn't really thinking when I pulled on some nitrile gloves and picked up a wire brush and went to town on the piece.

Paint stripper will definitely eat through nitrile gloves.

I knew that and yet... I now have some nice chemical burns on my hands.

Not much accomplished...

2011-03-07T10:01:00.000-05:00

... the last two days.

It was a combination of nasty, nasty weather conditions and an issue with motor vehicle registration that disrupted normal operations.

That, and my 38th birthday.

Sorry, but I'd rather go watch Kid Rock, eat steak and ribs and drink beer than fart around in the garage all weekend. Or work on my web comic. (The newest episode was supposed to go live today, but I'm a week behind.)

I did order a couple more parts for the bike over the weekend- a new starter relay and some fork boots.

I am not at all looking forward to disassembling the triple tree, but I have to anyways for paint. May as well install the fork boots while I'm at it.

Still waiting on a couple of other things to arrive- the mandrel-bend pipe to construct an intake manifold and the new air cleaner. Both are somewhere in transit- tracking information pretty much ceased updating last Friday. Shit was supposed to be here Saturday and then tomorrow.

I'll begin again tomorrow morning, bright and early: finish tearing apart the front end & start stripping paint. I need to sort through the files on the other PC and find a wiring diagram I downloaded a couple of years ago. It's a simplified version of the Savage electronics. The stock harness is pretty much a rat's nest.

Concept Image

2011-03-05T17:09:00.000-05:00

Final concept image, which is good, since the bike is in pieces and being stripped of the current paint scheme...

Disassembly

2011-03-03T22:23:00.000-05:00

It only took me two hours to get to this point. Stripped off the wiring harness, pulled the engine, removed the front end...

Most of the work this afternoon was getting the platform for the motor ready...

Just some 2x4 and 1x6 lumber, some turnbuckles, eye bolts, and some casters. The thing is solid. Very stable, won't tip over. I'll load it up in the truck tomorrow and head down to the car wash, hit it with the engine degreaser; frame, too.

At some point, I'll pick up a larger air compressor and a grinder and take the frame down to bare metal.

The next step will be to brace the frame and modify the backbone. Shouldn't be too hard. Got some 1.375" OD tubing, 1020 steel, for the backbone. Also bought some 1" OD tubing to make some ape hangers.

Pardon my French, but it's going to be fucking cool.

Good Lawd o' Mercy...

2011-03-03T12:11:00.000-05:00

I may have to put off tearing the bike to pieces...

Yesterday when I left for work, gas was $3.23 a gallon.
Driving home last night, it was $3.35 a gallon.
They're saying by the Memorial Day, it'll be around four bucks on average...

Of course, that was before every single country we rely upon for oil went absolutely bat shit crazy.

What is our Commander in Chief and his energy secretary doing about it?

The Bamster is brewing beer in the White House and the energy sec is saying our reserves are fine- reserves that are still in the ground in Saudi Arabia, that is.

They both have gone on the record saying they'd love to see gasoline prices in the States at the same levels as Europe- about $8 a gallon.

Why is that?

They (Democrats in general, especially Obama) want to force "green energy" and high-speed rail/mass transit on the masses by making it too cost prohibitive to live out in the suburbs. Force the people into the cities, cities that are for the most part controlled lock stock and barrel by Democrats.

Obama has already put a halt to drilling in prime areas of the Gulf. They're working hard to eliminate any possibility of drilling in Alaska or to continue natural gas exploration and recovery of shale oil in Colorado.

They want to progress to solar and wind power.

Yeah, we already progressed past wind and sunshine to get things done... it was called the Industrial Revolution.

But in the end, all this "green" energy bullshit really has squat to do with "preserving the environment". It's about power and control over the masses. Al Gore has gone on record himself, stating that his deciding vote on ethanol subsidies was purely political.

I just want to ride my damn bike where ever I damn well choose to ride it without having to spend twenty bucks to fill up my 2.8 gallon tank.

With or Without...

2011-02-27T22:47:00.001-05:00

...white walls.

Not sure if I want to bother with a) the hassle of changing the tires again so soon or b) the ridiculous expense of white wall tires for an '87 Savage.

But damn, they would look good in my opinion.

What say you?

$$$

2011-02-27T16:52:00.000-05:00

So the quest for parts continues...

So far, I've bought a used front fender, new rear fender (to extend the current one) tubing to modify the frame and build a set of apes, good paint for the frame and sheet metal, high temp paint for the motor, a mini mechanical speedometer, and some vintage tank badges.

Over the last two days, I've bought the battery mentioned yesterday, a new ignition switch - one with a barrel key, a new horn - a new reproduction of an old Triumph horn, and a 180° mandrel bent piece of mild steel exhaust pipe to make an intake manifold (need to move the carb off to the side) and a 14" Milwaukee cut-off saw.

The total so far?

With shipping: $663.27.

What do I still need?

Wire. Various spools of wire, electrical connectors, some more cut-off wheels...

Probably another hundred bucks.

With various incidentals, I'll probably wind up spending as much as I originally paid for the bike.

Again, I ask myself... why?

Because I can.

Eventually, I'd love to be able to take old Japanese cruisers, chop & bob them, and sell them for profit. This is practice. Versions 1 through 3.3 were done to get my bearings, so to speak. To hone the skills I needed to do it absolutely perfect this time.

I want Eileen to be a showroom quality custom.

Just remembered- I need to order the custom license plate... "EILEEN"...

Cannot Stop the Battery

2011-02-26T11:52:00.000-05:00

So another part of the upcoming build- a mini-battery mod.

I ordered one of these this morning:

It measures 4.4375 x 2.75 x 4.125 and has 130 CCA. It will be mounted down on the old muffler bracket, below the swing arm, hidden away, out of site.

I kind of wanted to order an Odyssey PC130, but they run about a hundred and fifty bones. As it was, the Yuasa was ninety.

I'm going for a clean look. I want to open the bike up, where you can see right through the thing. Moving the battery will definitely go a long way towards achieving that. The next thing I need to get is the raw wire to do my own wiring harness; get rid of the rat's nest under the seat.

But right now, I have to get the rest of the supplies to re-tile my laundry room and replace the lower set of stairs going down to the laundry room. Fun. Fun. Fun.

I may go buy a Taurus .38SP +P instead...

Re-Cap

2011-02-22T09:31:00.000-05:00

I bought my 1987 Suzuki Savage back in May of 2007. I paid $1100 for it and towed it home on a trailer. One, because I didn't have a motorcycle endorsement on my license, two- the bike didn't even run. The previous owner had left the petcock open and flooded the engine with gasoline and then, after he had drained the crank case and replaced the oil, he ran the battery down trying to start it with the petcock closed.

So I bought a bike I wasn't even sure would run.

But it looked damned cool...

What really pulled me in the simplicity of the bike. One cylinder, one carburetor, one spark plug. Electronic ignition, Japanese solid-state electronics. A six-fifty single with a four-speed tranny, a total weight of only about 500 pounds, and a seat height of 26 inches. Perfect for banging around town. Or as many a listing on craigslist puts it: a perfect beginner's or lady's bike.

Being a beginning rider (technically, I've been riding for years, but not in a licensed and legal fashion) and only 5'6", it was to me a perfect choice. I looked at a couple of other bikes that day- a Kawasaki KZ1300 with full fairings and a Yamaha 750 Triple. The K'waka was too fucking big and the Triple looked too damned complicated to work on. They both ran great, but the little Savage seemed a better choice for someone learning to ride in Atlanta.

And thus began the tinkering.

I stripped the bike almost immediately, painted it a horrible color combination and installed a rather shitty looking handmade seat. The handlebars probably would have killed me if I'd left them on (it was a drag bar made out of copper, of all things) but it looked great in black & white photos:

I rode it to work a total of one time before it got too damn cold that year. So I tore it apart again.

This time, I had a much better idea of what I was doing. And I had a theme:

Very G.I.Joe. It even had an ammo can mounted on the other side.

And then I went nuts again:

Changed the paint, put a sprung seat on it, built a new muffler myself, new head light and turn signals.

But I can't stop. Not yet anyway. I got a new tank for Christmas. A mustang tank with the dual caps. I love it. but to make it work right, I have to redo the backbone.

I have a cut-off wheel, bench grinder, a welder, and a hefty tax refund. After four years of tinkering, I think have finally obtained a level of competence that will allow me to achieve the look and style I really wanted from the beginning...

So stand by.

V4.0 Mock Up

2011-02-21T10:51:00.000-05:00

Kind of a lame Photoshop mock-up of what the final build on Eileen will look like.

The mustard color will actually be copper. The frame will be black cherry. Twelve inch apes, mustang tank with dual caps. The logo on the side is some vintage tank badges I found on eBay (more on those later.) And there will be a front fender. The rear fender will be extended back over the tire. I might mount the rear lights on the fender, but probably not.

Resurrection

2011-02-21T08:44:00.000-05:00

I forgot about this blog...

It is being re-purposed, or rather, taken back to it's roots. It began long, long ago as a motorcycle diary- chronicling the modifications and upgrades done to my 1987 Suzuki Savage. I'm beginning another, final, build on the bike and am going to use this to keep a record of my progress.

So check back in the near future for pictures, videos, updates, etc on Eileen v4.0.