sometimes it turns out that way

I have been able to spend a lot more time in the garage lately. After building the bar, I had room to work on the Bandit that has been parked in the garage and has been worked on at various points throughout the winter. Most of the work done so far was basically cleaning up the carburetors.

That didn't take but a day and a half or so, but when I went to re-install them I hit a wall. I had been totally fighting trying to get the throttle cables installed. Earlier last week a buddy showed up and he is a better wrench than I, and I asked him if he wouldn't mind seeing if he could slip the cables into place.

He fiddled with it for less than a minute and then snaked the carbs up *through* the frame. All along I been trying to put them in with the carbs IN the bike rather than ON it. Within 5 minutes he had the cables on. I have been working at this for many HOURS by now ... literally ... and got nowhere.

FIVE MINUTES ... VOILA! It was unbelievable. I was glad they were now in place, but disheartened that it NEVER occurred to me to bring the carbs up on top of the bike where it would be easier to work on.

Anyway, so I finally got back into bike mode and got the carbs on and the vacuum lines routed properly (it had been so long I had forgotten where they all went. I actually had to consult with a friend of mine who owns the same bike to verify where two hoses went). Filled the tank with some fuel and tried to get her running.

After about 10 minutes of trying, it fired up. It runs rough, but I was floating on a cloud. It's been at least 3 years since I last heard it run. Exhaust can had vibrated loose, so it was LOUD. However, it was waaayy too hot to mess with at the time.

So I got back out there the other night and was going to re-secure the can. Nope! the pipe itself has rusted in half and where it is I don't believe a weld will hold it as it is right at the joint of the can and pipe.

Oh well. So I turned my attention to a tap handle I had turned a while back and just needed to drill the hole for the threaded insert and apply a finish to it.

Well I managed to botch that. I made the hole a bit too big for the insert. DAMMIT!

I started scrounging through some bins of odds and ends looking for a "spacer" so that I may still use it for a tap handle. Luckily, a spare spark plug boot was just about the right diameter to take up the gap. I glued it in place,  slathered some glue on the insert and put it in the boot. It is not centered right, but it does work.

After that I picked up a scrap piece of black walnut I had lying around. It is very green wood as it has only been cut for about a week now. The guy who brings us firewood told me that he had just cut down a black walnut tree that he had no use for and knowing that I like to turn, asked if I wanted any of it. I figured he meant a few sticks, but no, I netted a whole truckload of it.

Sweet! Black walnut is such beautiful wood. I have been itching to turn something out of it.

I had tried to turn a goblet out of it the other night, but it has already started cracking. So back to the scrap piece (which was an end of the goblet that cracked on me). I chucked it into the lathe and began roughing the piece. This is what I wound up with ...



I never turned a mushroom before and I think the dark color of the black walnut is a perfect candidate for my first one.

I know it hasn't finished drying ... by any stretch, but figured I would go ahead and sand it down and slap a finish on it. If it cracks, it would have anyway, so why not?