hmmmm…

things have been going pretty well. the magnum did well in sacramento and i’ve been riding it to work and around seattle every day.

this weekend i’m going to just go over the whole bike and make sure everything is solid. i need to go over the cylinder as there’s a minor airleak somewhere. the clutch needs to be tuned a little bit too – i see some paz clutch springs in my future. planning on a bigger carb at some point, once i sell a few more paintings. sounds like naz is going to modify my exhaust pipe for me and shorten the header and take out a built-in restriction.

the rest of my life right now is all art, some work and a lot of really nice moped rides. <3

she’s home :)

she’s finally home and in the process of being tuned.

many thanks to Naz for all of his time, work and help and many thanks to Ryan for his help and inspiration, i would not have been able to do or finish this project without either of you. thank you!

it's love.

more photos of this project can be found on my flickr page here: custom 1978 puch magnum project

magnum tuning

last night after grabbing some pedals and crank pins from Harvy’s bikes up in Lynnwood, Naz came over and put together a temporary makeshift exhaust mount since there’s a large misalignment from the mounting bracket on the bike verses the mounting bracket on the exhaust. then, after getting the crank arms, pedals, pedal chain on, Naz hacksawing off the rear fender tab underneath the seat so that i can run the 280mm heavy duty shocks, makin a quick killwire, filling up the transmission fluid and getting a gallon of gas and premix –

the magnum officially runs. now for lots of tuning, though it sounds like a larger phbg carb may be in my future instead of the current 16 SHA.

magnum details..

ever closer to being finished…

close up on the wheels:

if all goes well tomorrow, tuning should start mid-week.

also, many thanks to Naz for all of his incredible help with this project.

magnum project

well, here’s a sneak peek of what i’ve been so busy working on.

the tank has been painted a dark gray metallic with small flake with matching headlight bucket and trunk plastics. the spoke wheels have been rebuilt and painted aqua and black. clip on bars. 300mm rear shocks. new front EBRs. michael mike did his magic and did the cables and levers for me and was a huge help with a ton of stuff. the engine is done and complete.

magnum sneak peek

only a couple things left to do:

x – nuts, bolts, washers &other hardware replacements from tacoma screw
x – crank arms, pedals
x – mounting exhaust pipe
x – painting with high heat black spray paint: cylinder head, stabilizer bar and pedal drive sprocket
x – gas line
x – transmission fluid
x – wiring
x – decals
x – tuning tuning tuning

i should, in theory, be riding and tuning this bike by sunday or monday. crossing my fingers.

1978 puch magnum build: begin.

Puch Magnum acquired. 1978. Originally the gas tank was a shade of very ugly red… now painted a fancy dark metallic gray, thanks to Rick at Peterbilt over in the Industrial District. I’m picking up the matching trunk plastics tomorrow. Stoked.

A few weeks ago Ryan came over and helped me put a new set of Maxi EBRs on the magnum frame. There was a dremel involved in getting the headset cup to fit correctly. Cleaned up the loose bearings and packed ‘em full of grease.

Took the bearing off of the main gear and replaced it although I still need to put the bearings and seals on the new crankshaft.

In a couple of weeks I’ll have enough time to match the transfer ports, rebuild the wheels and get the bike mostly together. I’m missing some controls and levers but pretty much have everything else. The other thing I have to deal with is getting a plate and registration and now that the laws have changed a couple of times recently, I’m not sure how to do that anymore.

Anyway, I’m hoping to have this bike finished and running by early September.

art happenings:

Art: First Thursday is tomorrow, in Pioneer Square, 6-10pm.

I’ll also be hanging my art at Freshy’s in West Seattle for the month of September. More on that later.

… hm, an update.. how odd.

Long time, no news…

Phil fell down in the beginning of February and broke his hip and was in the hospital for quite a while. His shop closed and I moved all of my bikes and parts to a friend’s house up in Shoreline (which is pretty damn far from where I am, unfortunately — and I still don’t have a key, so I only get to work on bikes by a pure stroke of luck). I visit Phil on the weekends and hope to go and visit him more often as my schedule opens up more.

So, mopeds.. Ghost Puch is back together but needs a wiring harness and then tuning. Which would be easy if I had the time, or the access to the basement.

Other life stuff.. hmm. I broke my lease at my apartment and have rented an artist studio downtown in Pioneer Square. It’s part of the Pioneer Square First Thursday Artwalk and gets very great foot traffic and I have been able to sell quite a few paintings because of it(!). It’s been absolutely amazing being in this building, surrounded by artists with a monthly deadline for new work. Still work at the bar — picked up the Saturday shift at the bakery I used to work at, which has made my schedule a little tight and a bit messed up so far as sleeping habits. Lots of new tattoos. Lots of new art.

Enjoying the weather very, very much.. nice long moped rides with friends and all.

Photographic update this coming weekend, f’realz.

updates…

Puch engine is back together. Have to do the timing. Transmission fluid. Put the kickstand back on. Mount engine back up on the bike. Mount Puch Estoril exhaust pipe. Wire. Change out 30 year old tires for some new rubber. Modify long seat bracket to lower it further, double check all cables & connections. Need to transfer title and get plate/tabs. Go?

Peugeot 103’s electrical was torn apart and fixed by Brandon earlier this week. Previous owner’s wiring schemes on the bike were a damn nightmare, ugly. Need to put it back together and rewire the bike. Purchased a 70cc cast iron Malossi kit from Treats HQ and a 70cc head from Malossi Direct. Still waiting on the cylinder head to show up. Changed out the old reedblock with a nice Polini set up suitable for the Dellorto carb.

Other stuff going on, but it’s boring, and not very interesting, unless there are pictures. Soon.

Also: art updates here; http://www.skeletonandkey.com

puch/moby&103 build;

Puch; I have everything to finish this that I’m aware of except for time. I’m hoping I’ll have time this weekend. Then it’s just machining a different bracket to lower the seat some.

Motobecane; Everything but the exhaust pipe, and it sounds like Ian will be letting me borrow his Ninja G3 so I can see how I like it. Otherwise, once again, I have everything except for time. AV10, Varplus, new belt, dellorto, etc. I’d like to rebuild the old AV7 engine once the AV10 is put together and functional, but I’d also like to paint the bike a different color other than yellow. Maybe.

103; Need cylinder kit, Puch coil, and to rebuild the entire electrical system.

Obviously, I have a lot to do, and much to learn. Thankfully I’m no longer busy sewing stuffed animals for the holiday season and I don’t have an art show planned until early spring. Glad.