The VR that showed up won't be going into the bike. Way too big, also not the one I was expecting. I did order it, I was just expecting a different one.
Here it is in all it's glory.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-06180729.jpg
Dandy little unit, AC and DC inputs, big heat sink, LED. No output fluctuation until I dropped the input to 7.5 volts. Just too darn big.

So, being bored Sunday afternoon, I threw another one together. I used a different schematic and tried to get stuff as close as my sausage fingers would let me. This was the result.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-06182756.jpg
Does everything I want it to. No output fluctuation until I drop the input to 7.5 volts and no more fluctuation the bigger board. And it's small.

A size comparison.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-06182947.jpg

Now, all these pics were taken Sunday. Today, the VR I was waiting for showed up. No pics yet because the phone/camera is being charged. But all I can say is, "Wow". It's no wider than my pinkie and maybe 30mm long and maybe 15mm tall. It works as well as the other two VRs on top of that.

Decisions, decisions.

You did a great job fabricating the small VR, Cheesy. :) I'm eager to see the even smaller VR you just received . ;)

Spud :)

Here you go, Spud.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-08170927.jpg
I had a hard time finding it this afternoon. It's so small it was hiding in plain sight. :roll:

Wow! That's tiny! 8) How much did it cost, and where did you buy it?

Spud :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LM317-Low-Ri...item2320c5b616

I ended up paying $5.83US, so I think I done good. The shipping wasn't blinding quick but for coming from halfway around the world I ain't complaining.

In other news, the LEDs for the dash arrived today. :D Barring any surprise honey-dos, forgotten about weddings, baptisms, funerals, any unpaid weekend work(I'm salary :( ), or a tornado, I just might might get it back together this weekend.

That's a great little VR for $5.83, delivered! :) Indeed, you did well, grasshopper. ;)

I hope you get the bike together soon! Please continue to keep us updated. :)

Spud :)

Thought I'd get there today, but alas, an electrical gremlin sidetracked me today. No right rear turn signal. :? Not getting any juice back there so I've got a break somewhere. Glad I checked before I hung the tank, seat and rear rack on there.

I did decide on the tiny VR. Made a container for it from a bicycle patch kit box. Took a couple of tries to get it right but, there it is on the upper right
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-11165127.jpg

Got all the LEDs installed but I'm not thrilled with the fit. They fit fairly loose but that can be dealt with by narrow o-rings or shims from an inner tube.

Maybe tomorrow but need to deal with a rattle on the high zoot exhaust system I put on Mrs. Bs Audi before I touch the bike.

That headlight bucket reminds me of my TS185. It was a terrible mess when I got it, and I did my best to tidy it like you did.

Extra points for the term "high zoot". You'd make Gray Baskerville proud.

:D There is tempered happiness at Chez Fromage today. The electrical gremlin was a cut wire up near the fork. In fact, it was every wire to the rear lights except the left rear. Got to ride the Maggot around the yard today and it was fun. Too bad I only have a suburban lot, couldn't go past second gear. Probably just as well, street tires and dog poo, don'tchaknow.:wink:

Couple of things need attention. The replacement seat doesn't fit, apparently its for the Custom and not the Standard. It 'almost fit' enough to take it for the short spin.

The previous owner rode the bike for a couple months without a functioning front brake. 8O So, either the adjustment is WAY out of whack or the shoes are shot.

I routed some cables wrong when I put the stock bars on.:oops: Wasn't noticeable until I hung the tank.

Lastly, another fuel leak. This time it looks like one of the o-rings between the carbs. Those were new. Means I have to take almost everything I put on today, back off. :?

Anywho, here are some more pics.

Hacked fender and cowl I pulled. At least I got spare tailight assembly out of it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-12114049.jpg

Replacement fender and cowl.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-12114117.jpg

Mounted fender and cowl.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-12115036.jpg

Test fitting the seat and not losing my cool finding it 'mostly fits'.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-12123917.jpg

Shroud on the radiator. Need different bolts.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-12155016.jpg

Back together.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-12163051.jpg

I made my goal of having it together this weekend. Next goal is to have it on the road by the middle of next month, followed by a trip to N. WI before the end of October.

It's too bad about the saddle, but I'm glad you find the shorted wire. :) Keep up the good work!

Spud :)

Thanks, Spud. Another saddle is on the way. This time correct and off a 3200 mile bike. Still will need some black duct tape for the balance of the riding season, though, until I can get it recovered over the winter.

Someone had been in the wiring harness in the past and I had to do about an hours worth of corrective surgery. At least it didn't look like this mess I had to deal with in FL earlier this year.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...2-28074647.jpg
Sheesh! :x

Farted around on it again tonight. Fuel leak is bowl gaskets or the crappy soft steel phillips head screws on the bowls that I can't get tight. Either way, new bowl gaskets on the way and will check at ACE for M4x12 Allen head screws. I think I have a box off 100 sitting at the shop someplace but quicker to go to the store than to find those. Also got the rear brake squared away but will be doing new shoes in the spring.

Ran really nice and we did a mile around the yard in first and second gears. Did wonders to the drought staved grass.:oops: Let me tell ya, she ain't no ChinaBike when it comes to weaving through the garden, though. Really top heavy.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-14192933.jpg

Won't be doing much the rest of the week as my boss is headed to Mexico in the morning and that means I get to handle all the stupid....er....umm.....technical questions from the sales staff and customers. Usually means I'll be cracking open a cold one and plugging into my ipod for an hour or so of sanity rejuvenation :D when I get home.

Love those Comstars. 8)

Indeed, I had the Comstar wheels on my 1979 Honda Hawk II; I liked those wheels. :)

Spud :)

Well, these are my first. My brother worked for a Honda dealership for a bit while he was in college and he told me that they were skeptical of the Comstars when they first showed up. They couldn't wrap heads around a tubeless MC tire.

My brother also gave me a first person report on the six cylinder CBX, and I quote, "Holy sh*#, it's scary."

Woot, new seat arrived today. :D Had exactly enough time to move the box from the front porch to the garage. Didn't even get to open it. Carb gaskets should be here by Saturday. New screws are bought. Need some ME time.

I hear that, brother! I've got many projects and little time to do them. Saturday will be spent working on Son of Weldangrind's Ranger and Mrs. Weldangrind's car. Oh well. At least I can go for a ride after. :D

Surprise, the bowl gaskets showed up a day early. I'm now leak free. :D
The new to me saddle dropped right into place and looks like it was born there. Camera/phone did it's Friday afternoon crap out so no pics til tomorrow.

September needs to get here so I can do a real shakedown ride.

Well, the Maggot is officially completed. Looks good to me.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-18151724.jpg

One thing is missing, though, and that's a luggage rack for the trunk I kept from the Hi-Bird. And here it is.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-18151745.jpg
:lol: Next week it should actually look like one.

Do you have a tubing bender?

At my shop, not at the house.

The CX500 looks good, Cheesy! :)

Spud :)

Your luggage rack reminds me of the old Native American philosophy towards making a canoe from a tree. Simply carve away everything that's not a canoe.

Thanks, Spud. The two week wait I still have before I can register and insure it are going to be long.

WNG-You were the one I had in mind when I took that pic. The tube is zip tied to my old Monark for the ride into work tomorrow. With a bit o' luck, the basic shape will come back home in the big old Wald basket.

:lol:

Well, crap. One o' my boys at the shop managed to break the tube bender and never said anything to the boss, aka, me. :x Apparently, broken for a couple of weeks, too. :x :x
I'm not big on punishment but this time there was a collective butt ripping with the understanding that should something like this happen again, THERE WILL BE SUSPENSIONS. Ssssiiiiggggghhhh. :? I wasn't totally pissed that I couldn't do my tube but I have tubing jobs starting week after next and I gotta get this antique fixed.

Had to send the MIG out for repairs today, too.:( It's Monday, right.

Anyway, bit o' change of plans. Heat, bend, and braze. All that I can do at home. Won't be pretty, but will be functional. Which is the cheesy way.

Do you have the budget at work to buy the HF tubing roller? Perhaps it will make a good substitute for awhile. I think I paid $160.00 for mine.

I have the budget. Getting the OK is another thing. Should have seen the hoops I went through to get a plasma cutter.

The HF unit could end up in my garage, though.

Basic shape.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-23130115.jpg

3/4" tube, expanded metal, a few other bits, and lot's of brass.

Not pretty, but then again, I don't do pretty. It will have the old Chinabike trunk hiding the ugliness for those who value that sort of thing, though.

Beauty is as beauty does. :wink:

Get 'er done. Gas welding? Oxy-acetylene?

Oxy, mostly because I'm out of practice.

Secondly, because my Dad is handing his 'I don't know how old' Craftsman oxy-acetylene set to me. I have a Victor set with pony tanks, which is nice for 'around the house' repairs but the full size set means I can do some real damage* to a piece of steel.


*My flame cuts look like a fractal image. :oops:

Flame cuts are always nasty. Even plasma cutters have that flame-cut appearance, which is why I gravitate towards free-handing it with a cut-off disc in an angle grinder.

I've decided against a Victor setup on my property, due to insurance reasons. I think that a homeowner could get away with an oxy-propane setup, and it's certainly good enough for silver soldering, etc. I have a cheap oxy-map setup, but haven't tried it yet. I bet it's hotter than blazes.

Expanded metal is a good choice for a rack surface. BTW, if you wish to accomplish a radius in tubing, you can have reasonable success in bending it around a pulley that is chucked in a vise, after unmercifully heating the tube. The pulley size determines the bend radius.

I'll opt for the RA grinder most of the time but if I have a lot to cut I'll break open the plasma cutter. Still cleaner and straighter than a flame cut and still makes sparks. :D
I was going to do the pulley trick but the pulleys I had were aluminum and for a serpentine belt. So I said the heck with it and just bent.

Here it is sans paint and radiused corners. I have about $7usd in it and never set paper to pencil.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...8-25122439.jpg


Quick story about my Pony torches. I'm one of three guys in my neighborhood that works with their hands, everyone else is either in finance, upper management or has a bunch of letters after their name and I'm not so sure they know what they do. Anyway, I was replacing my mailbox post with a hunk o' 90lb rail on a Saturday. I got it sunk and set, then realized that it was a heck of a time to have forgotten to weld the plate for mailbox in place. Well, I couldn't reach it with my MIG, so I dragged the pony oxy-actylene unit to the end of the drive and started welding the plate on. After starting my second filet, I smell coffee. I look up and six of my neighbors are watching me weld. 8O I thought they were there to bitch (someone had about my antics in the past, I know who and it wasn't any of these guys) but they just wanted to watch, they'd never seen anyone weld before. By the time I was finished, the coffee became beers and the welding demo became the fence behind Hank Hills house. :wink:

That's awesome! What a terrific way to get to know the neighbours. I weld outside all the time, but only one neighbour has shown any interest.

Antics :lol:

Yeah, I guess some people can't stand seeing a 1991 Escort GT 1.8L up on stands for ten days while waiting for a replacement 1.8L specific trans. :?

I don't think I will be bothered in KS.

Wouldn't bother me none. :wink:

BTW my buddy Jim had a 1st Generation Escort GT. GREAT FUN but did not hold up well... :roll:

Was my youngest daughters car. Her ex-boyfriend borrowed it and lunched the ring gear pulling hole shots.:evil: That was the last straw that made him the ex. The fact that I threatened to do him serious bodily harm may have sped up the decision on his part. :twisted:

The Emergency Backup Boyfriend showed up at the house the day the replacement trans arrived. Didn't offer to help, just crawled under the car and started wrenching. He's been my son in law for 7 years now.