Reworking the lights, rewiring, top tube tank, etc

[GearNut]

I wear them over my glasses. At first I would swap out the lenses depending on weather it was day or night. Tinted lenses are illegal at night in my neck o' the woods.
I eventually decided that simply wearing my sunglasses during the day and regular glasses at night was faster and easier than swapping out the lenses in the goggles.
My sunglasses are aviator style though and are a tight fit (they rub) inside the goggle frame. I have to position them so I do not get painful pressure from the nose pads of my glasses.

Before getting the Guard Dog goggles I used regular off road motorcycle goggles.
They work/ look fine if you are wearing a full faced off road motorcycle helmet. If you wear a 1/2 helmet with the off road goggles you end up looking some cast extra from Revenge of the Nerds. The Guard Dog goggles are much smaller and look alot better without sacrificing comfort.
I must admit that the off road goggles are much more convenient though due to their larger size and ease of fitting over glasses. If your glasses have smaller frames/ lenses I doubt that you will find any advantage to the larger goggles though.

If you feel like getting yourself an early Christmas present you can also get prescription goggles. These particular ones would fit well with the theme of your bike too:
http://prescriptiongoggles.com/
I share them as an example only. There are many companies who make prescription goggles. Do a web search on them if you want.

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks again GearNut. Whew, $220 for the Rx goggles might be a touch more than I was hoping to spend but they sure look nice. Maybe I could get them in a bifocal and wear them all the time (my associates already think I'm a little odd so what the heck). I didn't see where the non Rx can be worn over over glasses and that's too bad because I like them. The Guard Dogs are the best idea for my budget since I haven't worn goggles in a while and I might not acclimate to the change in field of view. I'll give this some thought.

 

[GearNut]

Re-read the description of the non RX Guard Dog goggles I linked to in post #179.
They are specifically designed for fitting over glasses, $47.50. They are a newer model of the ones I have. I think the ones I have are the best goggles I have owned, better than my old Scott goggles for sure.

 

[Harold_B]

Something else I've been considering is designing my own goggles. I have several old pairs of glasses laying around and we have a demo on a rapid prototype machine at work. One of the ABS printer types. I'm wondering if it is possible to design a goggle frame to accept a pair of Rx lenses from my old glasses and have them hold up and not distort my vision too much. I might have more time to think about my options than I'd like. I heard something about snow in the forecast for this week! Most likely just sloppy rain but I'm still not riding in it. Managed one more ride today though.

 

[Harold_B]

One more note on yesterday's ride. Same big hill by the river where my brake arm twisted off. Thought I was going to T-Bone a big white SUV at about 30mph. Driver was pulling out of the side road, looking the other way, and talking on a cell phone. She looked my way as I was crawling all over the brakes. I don't think she would have spotted me had I not had a bright headlight on the bike. Hooray for my big headlight (although that's not exactly what I was saying at that exact moment)!

 

[GearNut]

I am glad to hear that you came out unscathed!
I agree that your big headlight helped you. I have a really bright strobe light mounted on my bike for the sole purpose of being an attention getter.

How well did the brakes work? I am guessing that your frankenstein brake arm held up well.

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks, I'm mighty happy about not going splat into that SUV as well! The Frankenstein arm held up fine. I didn't lock up the wheel but the brake was putting plenty of drag on the hub. The rebuild/re-packing of the hub probably helped a lot there. The grease was really thin and very black.

I've been thinking about adding more lights on the front. Perhaps smaller bullet lights with clear lenses that I can strobe in the daylight. I think during the day a strobe makes a big difference even if the main light is really bright.

 

[Harold_B]

Looks like I'll have plenty of time to think about what's next. One last ride for the year when the temps were to be in the low 50's all day. The bike ran fine going in to work other than tossing another master link. Waves and smiles. A nice start to the day. The ride home, not so much. Checked the gas and oil before heading out then maybe two miles down the road the engine seized. She be dead. I'm much too busy to be messing with it for a while so it's going to just sit. The Zen rebuild continues just not right away.

 

[GearNut]

Ouch man! That really sucks!
I wonder what went wrong with the Doodlebug. I am sorry to hear that it quit on you.
Is it a side valve or OHV?
Are you going to try and rebuild it or use a HF one?

 

[Harold_B]

It's a flathead. I'm not sure what I want to do next. I have been happy riding yet I have been conceptualizing a new bike. In other words the Felt may get a new engine or it might be a donor-cycle. Either way I am buried with work and need to stay on top of that before commiting hours to my hobby. Although at some point I will need garage time just to decompress. All work and no play (in this case) makes Harold a cranky old man.

 

[silverbear]

If it had to happen then this is the best possible time for it, at the beginning of winter. I wonder what happened? I'd be tempted to buy another running Doodlebug and just plug it in, then do a rebuild of the dead one when you have the time, set it on the shelf when finished and have a back up engine. It is so easy to get bogged down in a bike make over as one thing leads to another. Might be better to simply start fresh on a second build and have a go at something different. This way you'd always have a back up bike and something for a friend to ride.

Just was realizing that when you do a build with an engine no longer being made and a little harder to find it is good to have a running spare. I have two Jacobsons for my "kindalikeawhizzer" build. Wish I had a spare for my Indian Hiawatha tri-car (antique 98cc Fichel & Sachs) as it takes forever for a part to get shipped from Germany if the part can even be found. The engine was made in 1934. My old Elgin is almost as bad with a Villiars midget engine. I've watched for one on ebay and they are not to be found. And again, shipping from England is not cheap even when you can find a part.

If you use an antique motor it is better to have it be American to make it easier to keep it running or find a spare.

It is a disappointment, I know, but you'll make things right.
SB

 

[Harold_B]

As always, thanks Gents. I had envisioned keeping this bike as a spare and taking my time on a new build so perhaps keeping an eye out for another DB engine will be my path. It will be an opportunity to make a couple of improvements without it becoming a major rebuild. It is a little disheartening but in the scheme of things no big deal. Certainly a DB is relatively easy to find! I'll wait until I find another one for cheap though (only paid $35 or so for this one).

I have started the next bike if only in my head and on my computer. I'm in no rush.

 

[Harold_B]

I think the line from Monty Python is "But I'm not dead yet!". Close enough because I'm buying this engine from MotoMagz: http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=56229

I haven't been around much but I've been nearby. Anyway, bike most likely won't be ready for this year but that's fine. Tinkering time again but I should clean out my garage first....

 

[Harold_B]

I have been super buried at work in the past year. No complaints just saying I'm not spending as much time in the garage as I'd like. Too bad because tinkering is great stress buster for me. Anyway, finally had a few minutes to kill today and disassembled the dead Doodlebug. It's been a while since I've torn down one of these little engines and I've forgotten how much oil can hide in every nook and cranny. Just when I thought it was empty, nope. Cause of death seems to have been a spun rod bushing (or bushing surface since there's nothing there but some messy aluminum).
Oil was pretty black despite not having many miles on it. Could have been over heated, not sure. This gives me something to think about over the winter while I plan either a rebuild or new build with scavenged parts from this bike.

 

[Slogger]

Wow. That bike wouldn't last an hour in this neighborhood. I'd keep it in the house. Nice job!

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks Slogger. If someone were to take it they would need to be strong since it weighs in at about 104. They'd be disappointed once they got it home in its current condition. Fixed by spring is the goal.