[AT] OT: non-tractor covid-19 activates

Wed Apr 1 10:51:41 PDT 2020

Thanks farmer... quick Google search, I see they've got a Facebook page,
and from there "Shop Now" I'm on their own site.  Will check it out!  I'll
keep them in mind, but I'm only doing 1-2 acquisitions per year, and it's
slowing down since the available floor space is starting to fill.

SO

On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 1:35 PM Indiana Robinson <robinson46176 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Steve:
> Commercial announcement:  :-)
> If you are chasing machines... A granddaughter of ours and her husband
> have such a business at Fairfax Vermont. It's called Vermont Industrial
> Supply. Our Daughter and her husband moved from Montana to Fairfax to work
> for them (and just to be close) and the three of them work at it full time.
> Our son-in-law works at Ben & Jerry's. They buy and sell all manner of
> tooling and their volume has become quite high. Most of what they sell is
> used but the spread of what they end up with is surprising. I can't
> actually make a recommendation since I have never been a customer of
> theirs.  :-)  But you might find them useful. BTW, I don't get a
> commission...   :-)
> I do think that they are good people.  :-)
>
> On Wed, Apr 1, 2020 at 7:56 AM Stephen Offiler <soffiler at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Not surprised about the compression, Spencer.   Japanese bikes are built
>> more or less like Toyotas and Hondas (go figure)... they just last and
>> last.  I see you're tooling up, and wanted to mention THE go-to source for
>> motorcycle-specific special service tools, Motion Pro:
>> https://www.motionpro.com
>>
>> So, speaking of Japanese.... at work, one of the many things I do is
>> manage and grow our CNC capabilities.  We are small, funds are tight, and
>> we aren't a job-shop so I can't just finance a sweet new piece of equipment
>> and pay for it by selling parts to others.  We build parts for our own
>> internal needs, so I pick and choose parts we currently purchase from
>> others, figure out what we can save doing it inhouse, and use the projected
>> savings to fund the acquisition of used CNC equipment.  Once I locate a
>> suitable machine and coordinate shipping and rigging, it lands on the
>> factory floor, I next get it all set up, leveled, aligned, and powered,
>> then on to figuring out what's wrong.  Bear in mind we're talking say
>> $15,000 for a machine that was $200K new in 1997, so they have some miles
>> on them.  I do all the necessary refurbish, largely myself, but I also know
>> a great independent CNC repair tech for stuff that is beyond me.  Then I do
>> all the programming, tooling, debug, and finally write detailed "cookbook"
>> setup instructions so I can hand-off to the shop floor guys for daily
>> operation.  Sorry, I'm rambling a bit... my main point was that these CNC
>> machines are Japanese, and ~25 years later, they will still happily run
>> 10,000rpm on the main spindle, and still hold tolerances in the +/-0.0001"
>> range.  I like older Japanese stuff.  Back to your Kawasaki, we've got two
>> vintage bikes:  my wife has a '76 Honda CB-200 and I've got a '75 Yamaha
>> DT-175.
>>
>> SO
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 8:53 PM Spencer Yost <spencer at rdfarms.com> wrote:
>>
>>> So I mentioned a little while back that I was doing a valve lash
>>> adjustment on my 1989 Kawasaki 454LTD. It is been awfully hard to start,
>>> and valve adjustment is a common culprit. I’m glad I did it because the
>>> adjustments were definitely out though I could tell they were not so far
>>> out to affect starting to a degree its been happening.  So I started
>>> looking for other explanations.  I seem to have spark and had the smell the
>>> fuel on spark plugs. So I didn’t think it was fuel or spark. I then did a
>>> compression test:  For a 30-year-old bike it’s got startlingly nice
>>> compression. 135 both sides cold with no oil. But I also noticed that it
>>> took 15-20 seconds of starter time to actually get the four or  five
>>> compression strokes you need to get a max reading.  Hmmm.   That’s
>>> suspicious.
>>>
>>> So while the alternator crankshaft “peep-hole” cover was off so I could
>>> rotate the crankshaft for the valve adjustment, I took a look see at how
>>> fast the starter was spinning the engine.  The engine wasn’t spinning at
>>> all except about every 5-10 seconds it would catch and turn over once.
>>> Clearly the starter clutch was slipping.   This would explain why I had
>>> better luck roll starting it than using the starter. But the engine is big
>>> enough and I’m small enough that I need a pretty big hill to roll start it
>>> and that just isn’t viable where I live or wherever I might stop so I have
>>> to fix it to be in “riding” condition.
>>>
>>> So I took this opportunity to order a few things on eBay like flywheel
>>> puller and a fuel petcock that this bike desperately needs. They should be
>>> coming in a few days.  My guess when I get it disassembled is to find weak
>>> springs in the clutch.
>>>
>>> The goal is to have this bike starting and running smooth  before the
>>> covid-19 zombie comes to get me so I can out-run it. :-)
>>>
>>> Spencer
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
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>
>
> --
> --
>
> Francis Robinson
> aka "farmer"
> Central Indiana USA
> robinson46176 at gmail.com
>
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