I think I'm gonna build a new bike.......

GoldenMotor.com

djpass7

Member
Oct 13, 2014
52
1
8
Chico, CA
Great job. That bike is going to look sweet. That motor fits perfectly in there. I love all the carrying capacity, you can really load that bike down.
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
5,071
783
113
UK
Gout - avoid meat and protein generally for a week or two, and you might want to see a doctor about a diuretic or something to improve the filtering function of the kidleys. It's crystals of uric acid building up in your joints (usually feet, but I had it in a little finger of all places).

And yes, it ain't nice, is it?
 

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,581
6
38
Central Illinois
Great job. That bike is going to look sweet. That motor fits perfectly in there. I love all the carrying capacity, you can really load that bike down.
Thank you, djpass7. I'm a definite believer in cargo capacity. Without that, my bike just isn't practical transportation. I've been using this 'system' on my current bike. So I think I've got all the bugs worked out. It works quite well.
DSCN0305 02.jpg


Gout - avoid meat and protein generally for a week or two, and you might want to see a doctor about a diuretic or something to improve the filtering function of the kidleys. It's crystals of uric acid building up in your joints (usually feet, but I had it in a little finger of all places).

And yes, it ain't nice, is it?
No, it's not nice. And my case doesn't seem to be as bad as the photos I've seen. Some of those 'symptom' pics are ugly.

I can still do most anything that I need to. But my walking pace is definitely slow. My job is not particularly strenuous. But it involves a lot of walking. And it aggravates the feet. It's only in one foot. But the other is taking a beating by taking so much of the load for a couple of months now.

I'm not too worried about it. But if it stays with me, in a chronic sense, then I could have troubles.
 

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,581
6
38
Central Illinois
Progress has been a bit slow this week. My troubles started when I decided to check for spark. I had no reason to think it wouldn't. But it doesn't hurt to check, right?

Yesss.......weeelll...........

I couldn't see any spark. The way my bike is hung up it's hard to get much oomph on that wheel. But I might as well go ahead and check those components out. I had suspicions about my multimeter from the start. I just didn't like what I was seeing.

The next day I bought a new battery for it and started again. I don't need to describe what happened. You can picture it. Long story short, checking and swapping two magnetos, three CDIs (2 new, 1 used) two spark plugs, two or three spark plug wires got me absolutely nowhere. Each component would show good readings at times and bad readings at other times. Intermittent seemingly open circuits, when I should have been reading xxx ohms or kilo ohms was most common. Also resistance readings that were suspiciously 'off spec'.

Spending all that time checking and re-checking yet still not being able to actually prove one darned thing is frustrating. Obviously it's near certain that all of my trouble is in my multimeter. But there's still that small possibility that there's a gremlin lurking in my bike.

So this evening I buttoned that electrical system back up. Tomorrow I'll return to things like mounting chain guard #2, securing cables, stuff like that. The bike'll be finished once I get those things done.

One other thing that's slowing up progress. And this is better stuff. I've had a sore foot for nearly three months now. This past week it's gotten clearly and obviously better. This means that I'm happier on my pedal bike than I had been. The need for a motor bike has grown less urgent.

This will give me a bit more leisure to make sure that everything is just right before taking it on the road.

Oh! And this bike handed me one surprise. I only just managed to solve this. It looks as though the seat tube is some non-standard size. It was a shock to find the my 25.4 mm seatposts wouldn't go in there. The few other sizes I have on hand, either. The calipers showed seatpost I.D. as 24.4 mm. I got one old straight seatpost to fit by taking it to the bench grinder and turning, rotisserie fashion, until I had ground off one millimeter. I also found a 7/8 " bent back seatpost online. Took long enough to arrive. I was getting worried. But that plus two 1 mm shims fits this seat tube well enough that I'm sure it'll work.
 

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,581
6
38
Central Illinois
Thank you, Intrepid WW and Dan. I'm glad, too.

This episode contained an illustration of one of the problems with modern health care. My foot started aching on Wednesday, Oct 8. For about a week, it hurt. Then I went through a two week period where it was so bad that I was within sight of being incapacitated. So I made an appointment to see my doctor. (He's been my family physician for 26 years and counting. This is the first time, I think, that he's actually treated me for anything. It's been nothing but routine physicals to this point. I've been pretty lucky on that issue)

The moment he saw my foot he thought it was gout. I could tell that he had no doubts about it. Since then I've looked it up on Wikipedia. The photos and description left no doubt in my mind, either. So he had his nurse draw some blood and tested it for high levels of uric acid.

About a week later the nurse called and said that the tests came back negative and the doctor suggests an X-ray. (I've learned since that a negative blood test happens about half the time.)

I called a few places for quotes and figured out that an X-ray was going to cost me a couple hundred bucks. Perhaps more if I chose the wrong place. I asked questions like, "Can I have the X-ray taken and then have that forwarded to my doctor?" I've forgotten her exact wording, but I do recall that there was clearly going to be some third party involved. And, no doubt, another invoice. I just wasn't going to go to that kind of expense merely to learn that I don't have a fractured bone. I was as certain as I needed to be of that already.

So imagine I'd gotten that X-ray and it had come back negative. I'm speculating here. But based on the experiences of others, I feel pretty confident in this speculation. The doctor, perhaps, would have said, "Okay. We'll have to go with test such-and-such". The problem is that this test, though more precise and certain than a simple uric acid blood test, is much, much, much more expensive.

And perhaps I'm wrong about that. Maybe if the X-ray had come back negative he'd have said, "Still, it's gout. There's no point spending a bunch of money to confirm something as obvious as this. My diagnosis is gout and I recommend that we treat it as such". I'd have been fine with that. But I don't trust our medical system to get me there the easy way. I'm afraid that this system will squeeze every penny out of me before it'll give me answers. Even easy answers like this.

I suspect that my doctor, fearful of the accusation of malpractice, can not give a diagnosis on the basis of the evidence of his eyes plus tactile impressions and instead must, really must, get any documentation or conformation that he can. Regardless of cost.

If my impressions are correct, then we have a truly dysfunctional system here.
 

Ludwig II

Well-Known Member
Jul 17, 2012
5,071
783
113
UK
Our Conservative Party want to import it here so their members and their sponsors can make money out of us.

I am somewhat opposed to this.
 

bluegoatwoods

Active Member
Jul 29, 2012
1,581
6
38
Central Illinois
Our Conservative Party want to import it here so their members and their sponsors can make money out of us.

I am somewhat opposed to this.
My apologies to all, though. By telling that little story, I was inviting this thread into political territory.

You are correct, Ludwig, to oppose it. But if I can think of anything to add, then I'll so so by PM.