Saturday, March 2, 2024

Chrome won't get you home.

But it does look really good. After the first round of chrome plating, there were some details that stood out even more and needed some attention, and here they are:

First of all it was the kickstart lever (which had been "forgotten" the first time around, don't get me started), then the small bracket for the blue marker light, the domed nut and washer for the avionics box and finally the actuating rod for the rear brake, complete with the little coped spacer and wingnut. It all comes together like a French pastry...
These may all seem like very small details (a nut, a washer...) but believe me, they add up to that "quality feel" I'm going for. That's not to say that the Rising Star will ever be one of those gleaming, impeccable, world-famous show bikes but that's fine, I don't need it to be. This bike will always be very much a shed-built special and I'm ok with little imperfections here and there, but I will still try to make it as neat as possible. Rather than pour effort into making it perfect, I want to look at it immersed in nature somewhere and think "man, what a cool ride". Isn't that the point to it all?

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Electricity, nostalgia.

In the context of the ongoing upgrade of the Rising Star, another thing that seemed simple enough was to go over switches (the headlight dip switch and the three toggles on the avionics box) and check all light bulbs: the one above the license plate didn't work properly so I chased down the gremlins with a multimeter until I found an oxidized connection at the actual bulb. Cleaning contacts and grounds, making sure connections were tight and well insulated took care of most things. In the end though, the real culprit is the battery: it's fine while the bike is running (the alternator is up to snuff and the Boyer-Bransden Powerbox🗲 certainly helps) but it just doesn't hold much of a charge anymore, poor thing. Eventually I will replace it, but I can live with it for now.

I also checked the horn, which works just fine: beep! 
All this dealing with the devil's spaghetti seemed like the perfect time to go for something I've secretly liked since I was a rebellious youth, so I've decided to finally go for it and fit the coolest of accessories... a blue marker light. Heck yeah.

This running light is something that may seem tacky at first (and I have to concede, it is a bit!) but this is pure nostalgia materialized: in the early '90s, some people were fitting these to their rides, be they motorcycles, choppers or scooters. Once in a while you'd catch a glimpse of a cool blue light in the stifling hot nights of a Roman summer... it always looked amazing going down a quiet street late at night, and it conjured up thoughts of freedom and the open road.
Time passes, and things fade out of fashion and away from memory (and because there was no internet and no digital photography back then, there really isn't much in the way of records of this cool trend left behind for us to look at).
But I always thought those little blue lights were cool, and so now, finally, I can have one too.
Uncle Fester cut a very simple bracket out of mild steel, then mounted it to the rear brake stay bracket. Sandro (no, the other Sandro. No not this Sandro either, the other Sandro!) then ran the wiring along the hardtail and over to the "avionics" box, plugged it into a switch (it can be switched on independently of the other lights) and tidied everything up. I am so stoked with this. 
Another thing I did, that can still be filed under "electrics" is that I flipped the ignition coil over so the leads are now pointing up. I think it looks better this way and it's a good thing I did it, as I was able to spot a problem: one of the HT leads had obviously been rubbing against the cylinder head and the insulation was almost completely gone in one spot; you could just see the core wire strands starting to come through, which probably explains why the bike had been hard to start when I got it out of storage. Add to that that both leads were stiff and prone to cracking, it was time to make some new ones.

These are much better quality leads with a copper core, and the way I routed them makes them be much shorter than they were before, I like how they look.
Lots of small improvements add up to a more noticeable "quality feel" overall; it's important to do this stuff!
There is more coming, just a matter of finding some time to do it...

Monday, November 27, 2023

We ain't done yet!

There are a few more things I want to do on the Rising Star, some parts are already off to get chrome-plated and I'll move on to more involved tasks as soon as I can get the "gift horse" BMW off the lift...

Saturday, October 7, 2023

Singing in the rain.

I set off on another solo trip on the Rising Star not long ago, but it ended up being a 300km excursion in the rain, which wasn't much fun at all.
There were still moments of pure riding joy as the machine handles so well and is just so cool, but all in all it was not the most satisfying experience.
With no front fender, as soon as the road is even slightly wet, the front wheel shoots up a plume of water droplets that must be at least 2 meters high, much to the horror, confusion and delight of oncoming traffic. It also provides a refreshing, tickling sensation on my face and beard, but eventually you get soaked to the bone and it's not that much fun. Or all that clean.
On the plus side, I think I've figured out an improvement I can make to the luggage using the enormous, yellow Touratech bag, or even the Famsa. I think I might also have a pad made for the rear fender, to match the seat and provide extra support for luggage.
Other than that, I have rediscovered the SR666 that goes from the town of Sora all the way to the border with Abruzzo and eventually leads to Opi; don't let its satanic designation fool you, this is a beautiful road with a rich and varied scenery that's well-suited to a slow bike. I will make another attempt whenever I can, as the itinerary I had in mind should make for a fun three-day outing.
For now, time to rearrange the workshop so I can bring the Rising Star in for the next part of the upgrade, hopefully soon.

Monday, September 25, 2023

Toolkit & Spares

While I was waiting for parts to come back from chrome plating, I finally got around to putting all the Rising Star spare parts together and organized in a single crate. It's not a lot of stuff but there are some interesting items, especially that Cyclone head. Maybe one day I'll get it refurbished and swap it out on the bike, who knows.

For the road, I'm limiting the "kit" to clutch and throttle cables, carburetter spares (a banjo bolt with fiber washer, a float, four float bowl screws, a float bowl gasket, a mounting flange O-ring, a float needle, a needle clip, idle and air screws with o-rings), one or two copper/neoprene washers in case of a leaky fuel tap, and of course always bring extra fuel:
I thought about adding a spare pilot jet (just for my own records, the size is a '17') but I think the chances of it falling off are pretty slim and practically null if I put some aluminum tape over it, this way it'll stay put:
There are a couple of spare fuses tucked into the battery box, a length of fuel pipe that goes with the extra control cables and spare sparking plugs on the special carrier mounted to the frame (that little accessory always seems to captivate people's attention to a degree that surprises me). As part of this exercise I was able to take stock of our Amal spare parts, and we have way too many jets especially in sizes that make no sense at all; so many jets...
In terms of tools, it's a small selection of spanners, allen keys, two screwdrivers and my trusty tongue and groove pliers. As for the Fastback, this is really limited to effecting basic repairs and tightening up anything that might come loose on the way, but the thing that's gonna make the biggest impact is doing all maintenance and going over the bike in the shed before you set off on your adventure.