ugh...

Whew! I'll tell you what, some of those bolts can be a real pain. I got the bike stripped down to almost nothing but the frame, not counting of course the twenty pounds of grease and grime so closely attached, I didn't have the heart to seperate them. Well, maybe I'm just too lazy. Coming inside and writing this post took a lot less energy than firing up the power sprayer and hosing down the frame.Anyway, at this point the SR500 is almost unrecognizable as a motorcycle, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll be able to remember how to put it back together. I may have to break down and actually read some instructions online. Blech.
I'm really starting to enjoy having a dedicated space to work in. Big improvement from the driveway in front of the garage. There's something to be said for working in the shade with all your tools easily accessible. Having my homemade iPod dock playing Frank Sinatra and Norah Jones doesn't hurt. Music is just about the best thing God ever thought up. So far it's shaping up to be a great night. Motorcycles, music, and now I think it's time for some ice cream and a good book.

Resurrecting a Memory

So I've been working over the past few weeks trying to get my dad's metal construction building in order, throwing out the useless junk and organizing the less useless junk into some semblance of order. I finally got everything just about how I wanted it last Thursday, so my cousin Noah and I decided to pull out an old Yamaha SR500 I'd tinkered with before I left for college in 2008. It'd been over a year since I had cleaned the carburetor and at least six months since I last started it, so I had no expectations that we'd get it running. Engine starting fluid works miracles. About fifty unsuccessful kicks and half a can of starting fluid later, the thing roared to life. Needless to say, I was ecstatic. Of course, the fuel mixture was way off and it wouldn't idle for more than five seconds without a lot help from the choke, but my hopes were high.

I wasn't going to put a bike that looked as bad as this one did on the road, though, and I figured with the amount of rust and grease I was dealing with I'd probably have to go with completely taking the whole thing apart. I've never really done much mechanical work beyond cleaning carburetors, changing oil, or replacing brake fluid, so I figured this would be an opportunity for me to learn something new. It hasn't been that much of a challenge, but so far I've only been taking things off. My next step is to finish stripping it down, then sand and repaint the frame.