Saturday, March 15, 2014

Weekend Projects

Some just don't like being annoyed when the sun is shining. I think the expression says "leave me alone". This is our "inherited" cat. My son and daughter in-law had her when they moved in with us and when they moved out, no cats allowed. So she is here for a while and spends most of the day in the cat tree looking annoyed.

The first project of the day was replacing the drain on the kitchen sink. I haven't been able to find a functional replacement strainer so the easiest thing to do was replace the whole assembly. Fortunately, it took all of 10 minutes. I like those kind of projects.
Todays second project was re-fastening the heat-activated velcro patch into the new Roadcrafter. It had come loose after a month or so and Aerostitch sent instructions on how to refasten it using a iron set to 400°F. I was a bit leery to hold the iron in the same place as instructed for 20 sec as I thought that the Gore-Tex would melt or something. As a result, the first couple of attempts didn't work and the Velcro patch wouldn't stay in place. I had assumed dry, i.e. no steam, but after looking on the Velcro web site, the instructions were a little more explicit. Set the iron to "Cotton" and use steam. When I did this, the patch stayed in place. Hopefully, it'll stay. I don't think it's worth the trouble to send it back.

Here are two more projects waiting in the wings. One is a set of Spiegler braided stainless steel front brake lines. I figure that the bike is now 31 years old and it's would probably be a good idea to replace at least the front brake lines. I rely on the front brake a lot as the rear simply locks up and slides. It doesn't really contribute much to stopping the bike.

The item in the upper right is a six position fuse block. I will be using this to eliminate all of the fused leads attached to the battery terminals and will use one of the relays to provide switched power instead of always on. I'm also debating on whether to run wires from inside the headlight shell to the fuse block to eliminate the need to remove the headlight when the tail lights aren't working. The circuits to be used are:

  • Heated gear outlet
  • GPS/Tank bag SAE outlet
  • Top box power socket
  • Stock Powerlet socket
  • Stock Ignition circuit (ignition, turn signals, horn, brake light, gauges)
  • Stock tail light circuit (tail, parking, dash lighting)
The last two will not be run through the relay. I use the top box power socket to recharge my devices and regularly use the Powerlet socket for the battery tender.

12 comments:

  1. Oh, yeah. That's a "Don't even think about it, buddy." look.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the look was due to the camera more than the interruption. But the interpretation seems accurate...

      Delete
  2. My Poocha has that same "bug off its winter nap time look" That's a lot of chores for one day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suspect that it'll take longer than one weekend especially with all of the other weekend chores thrown in.

      Delete
  3. I can have that look on my face, too sometimes (especially when I am at work…)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right after I took the picture, the car rolled over to see if I had anything tasty, like bacon...

      Delete
  4. 10 minute household projects.....the very best kind, the ones you can finish a number of in that all important Project Hour.

    The S.S. brake lines are a good idea; it's time for me to do some upgrading around here on the machines that actually do some going.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish all household projects were only 10 minutes. But then again, I've been meaning to work on the sink for a couple of months but I kept forgetting to pick up the part.

      I was thinking that the stock brake lines look fine but since I rely on them a lot more with the side car installed, replacing them seemed to be a good idea.

      Delete
  5. It sounds like instead of spring cleaning you have spring projects.

    And I think kitties just always have a perpetual disgruntled look on their faces, unless they are sleeping of course.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think these are normally Winter projects and I thought that I needed to get to them before I run out of Winter.

      Delete
  6. It's always good to have a list of projects just in case you finish one in 10 minutes - one wouldn't want to be idle, unless you are, of course, a cat basking in the sun - then idle is the ultimate goal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought that idle was the ultimate goal for everyone! Not just the cat...

      Delete