weimieman Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 Morning all Just a quick few lines to catch up with you lot. I think it was towards the end of November when I last posted so I would imagine that a lot of you will be cringing now knowing that I have a couple of months worth of blah blah to bang on about but sadly, no. Nothing to exciting to report really. The usual slowed me down from posting and keeping up with everybody's projects. Christmas, work, etc etc. You know the score. I have kept dropping in from time to time seeing how everyone was but just from google so I have been around, just not putting any of my ramblings on the screen As for my trusty DT, she's well and currently in a slow charge due to lack of activity over the past few months. To be honest, she's been in the garage in bits again due to an ongoing petrol leak that I just couldn't get on top of. Long story short, fixed it at the weekend with some super duper petrol resistant rubber. I made a up a couple of gaskets and within 30 mins no more leaks. If anybody is experiencing the same sort of issues, drop me a line for this miracle product. I need about two square inches but the minimum order was two square METRES so if you need some, I'm here MInd you, the petrol leak was the least of the DT's worries. Remember that really bad wind we had before Christmas? Well I'd bought one of the larger plastic greenhouses for the back garden so the DT could have her own personal space. Apparently she didn't get on the with Goldwing in the garage as, in her opinion, bikes shouldn't have that much plastic on them with a great big clear wardrobe door at the front. Her words, not mine. Anyway, the greenhouse was weighed down well at each corner with some patio flags as I didn't want it floating away with my pride and joy in it like a scene out of the Wizard of Oz. What I didn't factor in was the constant rocking of the thing, quite agressively from side to side. After one of my daily checks to make sure everything was okay, I noticed some white powder on the floor by the front wheel. As I looked closer, there was some red powder as well. The naive part of me thought it was just something that could have perished in the cold weather, the realistic part of me knew it was going to be nasty. It couldn't have been worse (it could obviously but I like to dramatise). The red and white powder were what remained of my once colourful front mudguard. The plastic shelf in the greenhouse had been rubbing on the mudguard overnight becuase of the high winds rocking it side to side. Rubbed down to the original plastic. I was gutted. Nevermind I thought. I enjoyed the experience of the spraying and preparing the first time. The second time I would be a little better (probably). Worse things happen at sea, write it off to experience. At least it can't get any worse. FATAL ............. LAST ................ WORDS................. A couple of days had passed and I was checking in on the old girl again to make sure everything was okay. The shelf had been removed so no more rubbing of the paint. Check. Patio flags still securing the greenhouse at each corner. Check. Overwhelming smell of petrol even in an outdoors greenhouse. Check. What? Who? How???? The leak had returned, big time. Again, no biggie. Its December now and let's face it, she's not going anywhere until the weather improves and that isn't going to be anytime soon. Off with the rad cover, seat and tank screw. Tank drained and laid safely to rest in the garage. Meh, that can wait a while, no rush. Insert nagging from wife about smell of petrol in the garage floating up into the lounge!!! Yeah you could smell it, but from a male point of view, it's not unpleasant is it? It's like the smell of a two stroke. It's a blokey thing isn't it? Right. A few layers of shrink wrap on the tank to protect it and I'm afraid you're relagated to the greenhouse. You know, the greenhouse that has served me so well so far and not caused me any problems whatsoever <insert sarcastic comment here>. The next day I did my little scout outside to make sure everything was okay and obviously it wasn't. The wind had rocked everything a little, but just enough to move the tank slightly and just enough to allow what little bit of petrol was left in to leak out and get trapped between the tank and the shrink wrap. Despited some frantic unwrapping like an over anxious five year old on Christmas morning, it was too late, the damage was done. The petrol had eaten into all of my top coats and undercoats revealing primer all along one edge. Where it hadn't gone all the way through, it's left a very creased effect in what was once a bright shiny diamond white tank with freshly laid decals. Gutted was not the word I would have used. The swear box that day overflowed and paid entirely for Christmas 2011 with a lot left over for a couple of good holidays in 2012. Even my wife said that I enjoyed doing it the first time so just strip it again, respray and put new decals on. "Just" she said "just". I know she didn't know how many hours of blood sweat and tears I put into that tank so I think she was kinda feeling guilty for kicking the tank out of the garage in the first place and giving me her "blessing" to spend more money on a bike she hates was a way of easing her guilt! Anyway, to be honest, Christmas came and went, my job changed at work and both bikes took a back burner so to speak (not to mention, this forum). After fixing the petrol leak with the miracle rubber last weekend, I have kind of accepted the tanks new rugged looks and I think I'll leave it. It looks, well, rugged. There was a danger last year that the old girl was looking a little too good to be used on the roads again, let alone the beach which really was my sole intention of getting the bike in the first place. I'll be honest though, the mudguard is annoying me but rather than a complete respray, I think I'll just be doing some nice touching up to fill in the gaps. My wife even bought me book on spraying and pinstriping for Christmas. I quite like this new guilty version wife. I bet I can milk this for a while. "Guilty wife" lasted until about the 4th of Jan and "old wife" returned asking me when I was going to get rid of the bike as I hadn't ridden it yet! Ho hum, it was nice while it lasted. So thats pretty much me up to speed. If anyone would like to see the pics of the various damages, I'll post some over the weekend. It might even brighten your day when you realise things could be worse. Much worse. You could have bought a greenhouse for your bike So to summise, I hope you're all well and your projects are going great guns and I vow to do better with my forum activity from now on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ttaskmaster Posted March 2, 2012 Share Posted March 2, 2012 I hope you're all well and your projects are going great guns Well, my current projects do involve some great guns... M1 rifle, M2 mortar, 30cal machine gun and, if I'm lucky, a couple of things mounted on Jeeps and tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weimieman Posted March 2, 2012 Author Share Posted March 2, 2012 Is great guns really a phrase or did I make that up on the spot Anyway, glad you're having fun with all things lethal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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