Ola Companeros

4h30 in the morning. Can't f.. sleep. Hv just taken few days off but too many things going throug my mine. So drinking an herbal tea and surfing the net looking for new ideas. Looks like I need to take a road trip to get things out of my head. Taking about road trip: am still having problem with my shovel. I have looked at the charging system and it works, I have ran a couple of test and it seems like when the battery voltage goes below 12,5v then there is not enough power for the manual starter to kick in. it's a bit of a problem which means that if the bike stays more than 2 days idle and the voltage stettle around 12,5 which is usually very good then it work start. Now don't come with your usual shit about kick start. I only manage to kick start it when the baby is hot so don't try it. The rocker head are also leacking like you wouldn't believe. I will have to put some more silicon and see if it work. And to finish the subject, the oil is also taking an hike out of the oil tank. Well usual shit for a rigid shovel. Ah yeah one more thing. My little drilling and bolting in the handle bar is barely working. Lots of ideas, lots of work but still in the trial and error phase. But I am bonding.....

Meanwhile, I have been doing some work on the XS650. Before I tried to put the motor back in the frame for the 3rd time, I welded some part which had only been point welded.

When this was done, I went back into the exercise of putting the engine back in. And third time is a charm. I finally managed to put the engine back inside the frame and with the help of my son who helped me put the bolt in. It is now bolted in allowing me to do a proper mock up. I still had to grind some part but it worked.

I could now start working on alignment, spacers

and try different scenario to reach that one.

well still work in progress, got get the front and back spacer now, and fix the fenders. Will have to work on the "future" wiring system. And then, it will be time to dismantle everything and rehaul the motor. That will be a first and will probably keep me busy for month. Will keep you posted. d

Ola Chicos

All right Chicos, Back in business again. Moved into a new house and build myself a new "repair of El Vis". Will take some pics next time, just haven't been able to due to this fricking change of clock. By the time I get home it's already dark (its a bollony excuse but w.g.a.s.). I hate Winter timing, it simply sucks. Anyway, have not been travelling lately so feel nice to be spending time at home. So, nice that I have procrastinated and spent my time on the couch watching TV. The only time I got my fat ass out of the couch was when Andy convinced me to drive down the Galveston to wander around the Lone Star Rally. Pick up my rigid shovel, to realise the battery was dead. I started getting pissed off as I had just changed the stator and the regulator, but after doing some testing it turns out the positive on the battery was loose, which resulted in the battery not been charged. When I figured this out, I went out for a ride. Within 5 minutes I could feel HOT engine oil populating my legs, so I stop on the side and looked at the damage. Wtf..

it turns out the bolt holdin the rocker was loose and all the oil was escaping the engine. I did not have much time to fix it, so tighten the bold, drop the rigid chopper home, and pick up shovel #2 to head for Galveston.

Same shit as last year, lots of people, lots of chrome, lots of ganster wanna be, and some insanities.

Best part of the day, was strolling around small shops selling souvenirs. That's where I bought my new patch of Texas

And finally, in the middle of Twinkie jungle, something nice.

That little stroll gave me some adrenaline to go back to the new "Repair of El Vis" workshop. To start the mock up. My biggest challenge, been alone, was to put the engine back inside the frame. My last try had ended up in a total mess with the frame bouncing off the stand and falling onto the ground. I was ademant to succeed this time. I worked on it for 20 minutes and finally gave up. I really need to find myself a friend in Houston to help me out. I did place the motor in the middle of the frame but cannot put the bolts holding the motor to the frame. I am still inches away and it frustrate the shit outta me. Guess I'll have to wait..

Then I started working on the seat mechanism. As it turns out, the weld on bungs were too big for the rear seat suspension, so I had to grind them before placing them on the bike and welding them onto the frame.

And then try to bolt on a peanut tank.

I am still unsure which gas tank I will end up using. I will need to try few combinations. Well that's all for now folks.

Ola Hermanos

Jeeeee, feels like forever since I last wrote. Life has not been kind with me. Too many things to do, too much stress, too much shit…. Did not even find the time to ride and when I did, it did not go right. I took my rigid shovel it for a ride 3 times since I had it repaired. On my first ride which took place 1 weeks after I got it back from Southern, it did not start. So, I changed the battery which was dead but that did not do it. So, I took the carb apart and realized there was a problem with the jet. Gasoline was not getting to the cylinder which resulted in the bike not starting. I ran over Autozone and purchase some carb cleaner and after few try the bike started.

On my second ride the bolt on the rocker heads were seriously leaking.

I have the o-ring changed during my visit at Southern, but there were leaking even more. Mind you, I had not ridden the bike that much before it went to Southern, so this was problably there before. But oil was pouring on the engine like you would not believe. Even time I stopped at the light (yes I do somethimes!!!!) the engine would blow out in smoke as a result of the oil leaking on the engine. Really made me look good at the redlight... I also notice there was also a leak at the gear box

Finally on my last ride, the gastank decide to take a hike on the highway. My poor welding skill had come to light and I finish my ride with the gas tank in between my knees.

Anyway, all of this is expected when you rebuild a bike of which you don't really know the origin. So as a start, I decide to re-do the welding of the tank

and while I was at it, I remove all the starter electronic component.

From now on, I will start the bike with the kick. Then I went to AutoZone again and bought some Seal all cream. Put some on the rocker head bolt and let it dry. I have not started the bike since so I am unable to tell you if it worked or not, so will tell you next post. So, while I was spending some time in the garage, I decided to play a little with the XS. I am still too weak to put the engine inside the frame, so I did a small mock up without the engine.

. Considering I will be moving out of my rental house soon, I dismantled everything and started moving gradually to my new house. So the only thing I hv done over the last 3 weeks was getting the frame ready for a proper mock-up and then for painting.

So next time I write, I will be in my new workshop in the back of my new house. See you then old pals...

Ola Amigos

F..& A.. man. Am finding it hard to keep you guys updated. Actually, am finding it hard to keep myself updated. So, it's been almost one month since I posted. Can't hardly remember what happened since then. Let me back track a bit and see if my memory serves me well. uhmm, yeah... last time we spoke I was thinking of buying a mobile crane so I could move heavy stuff around, such as my XS motor. Well, it's still in the planning phase as I have not purchased it yet. Am waiting to move into my new house (that is if the banker is nice enough to lend me money). So, not much as happened on the XS 650. I played around with it and purchased few items but have not done much except mounting the front end, the back wheel and some leftover to see what it could look like.

Well the shape's all right. I purchased a faked oil tank for TC Bros to hide the electric as well as a 2 gallons gas tank.

I want to give her a moto cross look so I also purchase some half and half tires.

I have a head light which bought few years back from See See Motorcycles in Portland Oregon which I have had on my shelve for a while,

and bits and pieces laying around such as weld-on gas cap from LA Chop Rod which will look good when finished.

. I have dismantle a few thing on the motor and there is no ignition on the bike. The guy that sold it to me was just a liar. The stator and charging system will have to be changed, and I have yet opened the engine to see the status of the pistons and valves. We'll see when the time come. At present, I need to get this bloody motor in so I can do all the alignement. In the meantime, Sam from Southern was still working on my Shovel.

It turned out clutch plate/bolt (don't know how you call this thing) was cracked and need to be removed. Since it was an after market spare it had to be ordered fm Rivera or DBL

, and to make the matter worse the gear shifter was also bent and needed to be replaced. Anyway, after 3,5 months in the shop for an 8 hours job, I sold half of my kidney and pay the bill. I am kidding here. They did a fantastic job and it is money well spent. Remember folks, HD will never work on such bikes so pls do the favor of always supporting your local workshop. I took it home on saturday and damm did it feel good. The handle bar was a bit loose which was surprising considering I had put some brand new bushing. I took it apart when I got home and can find the cause.

It might be the holes on the triple tree are to wide. It's seriously strange, never had that happen. I need to find a solution. Anyway, it is still rideable and I have rode over the week end like I had stole it.

And it sounds good too. Need to figure out how to upload videos and I will make you listen. That's all for now.

Ola Hijo

Wasn't gonna write for few days, but it's 3pm and need to stay at work till 5pm so need to kill couple of hours. I did go to Harbour Freight to check out mobile crane and they got one that seems ok. 179 bucks for 1,5 mob crane ain't too bad.

Did not buy it though. Am in process of buying a house so if I show up at home with over 100 dollar purchase, there is a high likelyhood am gonna have to give some explanation and can't be bother those days. Anyway, so went into my garage last night and looked at what I could do. First I needed to pick up the motor which was still laying on the floor. So with help of my son I brought it up on the bench.

Then I said to myself, let clean the fucker...

and so I started.

For some strange reason the previous owner has painted the cylinder and made a mess of the lower case. It really looks bad.

So I decided I would try my miracle product. This tips was given to me by some BMW builder who used Aluminium BBQ paint color to pain cylinder. It does f..g work and make parts looked like they have been sanded or repainted. So I tried on the XS. and yeahhhh, it works too.

So I put the engine up and cleaned it some more. Now I wait to receive the engine stands so I can put it up and start working on it.

Alternatively, I will buy the mobile crane, put the engine in and work on the mock up. The purchase of the house will dictate.

Ola Ombres

Just a quicky today. Decided to go back in the workshop and cleanup my mess. Picked up the motor and made it stand up and took the grinding machine and chop some of the leftover from previous owner, so I could start with a clean sheet.

It took a while to get this s.. out, and even longer to grind the frame to clean state. But aftre couple of hours of hard labor, looks like the frame is ready to start the mock up. I have kept the back fender plate holder in case I need it but if not I will just cut it and toss it away.

Now am face with same issue. I need to get the bloody motor inside the frame. Considering I got no life; hence no friend, looks like I'll have to buy one of those mobile crane at Harbour Freight to get it in. Let me sleep on it.

Ola Companeros

There you go, could not wait to be back in the US. Vacation in Europe was a nightmare. Am not longer used to sleep without AC, I sweated like a pig over there. Luckily weather wasn't that nice. Anyway, next year I will try to stick around and ride my bikes. So what has f.. happened since I left. Not too much am afraid... I did sell my Redneck chopper in France to get some quick cash.

I sold it for a bargain (for France that is) but need to get rid of the thing. I was not gonna ride it and my wife felt it was too much for her. So, without regret I let it go. So long my friend and have a good life. The guy that bought it is fully in love with that type of machine, so at least I made someone happy. My happyness comes from the fact that it wont take anymore space in my garage. So, as I said I flew back to Houston. First thing was to check with Southern about the Stator change. As usual, when they opened the primary

they found out, one of the Rivera primary belt drive part was cracked and that it was only a matter of time until it came apart. So here it goes again, gonna have to sell one kidney to replace the bloody part. But worst part of it is the bike won't be available for a while. One other thing, was that my welding of the safety gas tank and on the licence plate holder was not as good as expected and that it was already showing some signs of weaknesses. So much for my welding skills... At least I was happy to present Shovel #2 to Madam.

but as I was expecting it was not exactly what she had expected. The colour was nice and all, but it was simply too heavy for her. Indeed it was. She sermoned me to look for a sportster after selling the shovel. So, I will wait to get Shovel #1 back, and probably sell shovel #2. We'll see. So I was left with my longhaul XS650 project. To start with, it wanted to get rid of the tank holder.

So I used the angler grinder to get it off. And then I took bits and pieces off which I know I won't need

And as you can see, I try to put the engine back into the frame and fucked it all up. After approx one hour of battle, I gave up and decided it was time to go to bed. I will need to figure out how to put it back in or alternatively buy a mobile crane. This was the sad story of my evening. will get back to you with new adventure