Ola companeros

Back from a well deserved vacation.  And guess what???  It was too tiring.  I rather stayed home in my garage.  Anyway, this is what happened since last update. 
To start with the vacation, Vegas

Then, a nice little trip to the Historic Route 66

Then the city of Angel where I stopped by TriCo home of Dice and Deus Ex Machina

But everything needs to end, and on this case, it did end well.  As I was to board the plane to fly back the the Great State of Texas, I got a msg from Emilie advising me that she was finished with painting the tanks and fender for the XS. 

And what a beauty. 

So, now its time to get it clear coated, have ACE workshop to check all my poor work, mount everything back together and finally have it states inspected.  All should be done within the next few weeks.

Last but not least for this update.  I think that I have finally made up my mind with the Triumph.  And I think I will make a flat trak.  So I started looking for parts and found something really attractive but it turns out, this is out of my budget, but if anyone got something similar for sale, I am open for discussion

Ola Amigos

Just a quick on before taking off for few weeks vacation in Southern Cal.  So, here it is the FHL Police Special is finished exactly 3 months after getting it.  Here is how it was when I got it.

And here it is when I finished taken in it apart, cleaning, sanding, and repainting and damn nuts and bolts. 

Not bad hey....

And same for the XS, finally got the 2" fork lowering kit from Hughes Handbuilt and lower the front end.   Just need few things to be fixed and it will go to Ace Motorwork to have final inspection and tuning, before receiving Emilies's painted tank and fender. 

Am going off, with peace of mind........... See you in August to start work on the Triumph Trophy. 

Ola Amigos

Just a quick update. Work more or less non stop over the week-end. So here are a few pics.

now that was for the FLH. For the XS, I took the fork apart to lower it by 2"

Now all things going well, I will be finished with the FLH next friday when I get my seat back, as well as with the XS which is now waiting for the painter. So, went on Craigslist and got myself a nice little project, with a Triumph TR6R from 1969, and while I was there I fell in love with a 4 wheelers beggining for new life. Just need to get some dough for that one.

Ola Chicos

it's been nearly one month since I posted, so sitting tonight to give bits of info on my life. First and foremost the shovel is back in the shop for the same recurring problem of charging. For the 3rd time this year the stator and rotor have gone burst and the charging system is not charging anymore. there must be something seriously wrong. For some reason the magnet seems to take off. May be too much vibration. don't know really.. it pisses me off. Anyway, Goat fm Osborn will take care of it. We'll see how that works out. Meanwhile, I worked a bit on the XS by doing all the electricity

I also ordered a lowering kit for the front fork from Mike XS which I will mount sometimes over the summer while I wait for Emilie to come back with the painting of the tank and fenders. I also pick up the painted wheel from the painter who sandblasted them and painted them gloss black.

then I went on to work on the FLH. I spend some serious amount of time cleaning the engine and repainting it.

then I hid the engine and painted the frame

I seized the opportunity of going back to france to order some special painting cream for BBQ to paint the cylinder. The results turned out to be amazing. Check out the front cylinder

Result is great. And finally I changed all the oil hoses.

and before mounting everything back, I started to polish all the part to bring them back to life. First with 220 sanding paper, then 400, then 1000, and I applied some polishing cream.

the tank gave me some serious work and the result was not as I wanted it to be but it's the best I could do. see what it look like when I started

and how it turned out when I was finished

but all together I managed everything with some serious elbow oil.

that's all for now. I will mount everything back sometimes in July.

Ola Toreros

Hey, well hope you folks doing awright. Here is ssdd (same shit different day). So let me try to remember what has been going since I last posted something. Let us start with my rigid. I started hearing a weird sound coming from the primary. After opening it, it turned out that lack of oil in the primary covers extended the chain and it was time to change it. As luck would have it, I notice a small little crack (with no consequence) on the lower case. Had I carry on like this it could have become a nightmare.

and to make the matter worse the chain had already attack the starter.

And considering the drain bolt of the primary was loose, decision was quickly taken to move away from chain and go toward belt. So for 700usd I got myself a brand new belt and no leackage. I did consider riding with open belt, but felt more confortable put the cover back on... Took the opportunity to do a tune up and up I was for some good rigid riding. Up to ytd when battery died on me. At first I realise I might have left the light on so I used cable to jump start it, but when I got home, I check the charging system. And guess f... what. It is no charging. I have changed that bloody things twice already in less than one year. Something is f... wrong here. Will need professional advise. Luckilly for me Travis was done with the XS650 engin. He brought it home and we tried to start it up. We did not manage but it did fire which was a good sign. We agree that I finish to build it up, he will come over to do the final tuning. I put the engin in the frame

and started on the painting job.

The idea with the painting job is to give it to a professional artist and let the artist do what he wants. Originally I wanted to used my cousin who is a professional street artist but he resides in France and it just takes took and has too much risk to ship everythng to him and ship it back to the US. His work is simply amazing

but I met another french artist in Houston who was willing to give it a shot. So I did the prework and the first layer and dropped it at Emilie's to let her magic work. We'll see how it turns out but am pretty excited about the whole things. Meanwhile, I went to check up on the wheell of the FLH who could not be grinded because they were to damage. So I had them sand blasted and painted in black. According to the historian, wheel and spoke came in chrome or black. So, I was still within the restauration guideline

And I carry on working on the FLH

that's it for now.

Ola Companeros

Just a quicky to keep you updated. I have been extremely busy at work so have not had time to do much. So, as for the XS who is the good hand of Travis. Well, it turns out that right cylinder with piston wear measured .0038 and the left .0047 meaning I had to order 1st over bore piston and rings.

which also means that cylinder will have to be bore at the machinist. Let us hope all will be ok after that. I should get the engine back shortly. Meantime, I ran into trouble with my shovel. For some reasons it started firing up and loosing power, and considering the primary chain had to be changed because I could hear it bounce on the primary case, I dropped it off at my friend Go who will look at it. I have a suspicion that pistons and rings will have to be changed as well as cylinder rebore.

Meanwhile, I carry on working of the Police Special and started cleaning/grinding parts.

and after some grinding, this is how it will come out.

and finally I took more or less everything apart except the engine which stayed in the frame.

The grinding will continue for a long long time...That's all for now yall...