Speaking of riding again, it looks like the bike might have it’s new paint job just in time for riding season.  I was talking to a friend this week who does custom paint.  He and his girl have been engaged for 3 years now, and they’re finally getting married.

They want a cheap wedding, so while I was asking him about painting the bike the cheapest way possible, he was asking me if I’d be interested in giving his wife some tips on how I planned our wedding for less than $2000 (including dress & venue).  No, my wedding wasn’t a redneck cheap wedding.  It was a rather nice one, but we managed to pull it off for a cheap price because I don’t believe in breaking the bank just to get married.

His wife called me yesterday, and we decided to work out a deal.  I’m going to design her wedding invitations and help with some of the wedding plans in exchange for her Hubby painting the bike. We’ll each pay for the materials for each job, but the work will be free.

I’m all for the barter system, and I’m more than willing to help someone out who’s willing to help me. We’ll both end up saving a ton of money.

Now, I just have to hunt down another tank since the guy I found on the forums was trying to charge me full price plus shipping for a beat up tank with a tank slap dent. Not going to happen! If I’m going to pay full price it better be brand new!

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Hubby’s wreck last year when he broke his ankle and severely bruised his other ankle. He couldn’t walk for weeks, and he still has a limp in his left leg because of it.

He was hoping he would have the bike back together in time so he could ride up to his crash site on the 1 year anniversary of his wreck, but of course he couldn’t. The bike still isn’t complete. Even if it was, it’s been pouring rain for 2 days now, and that would put him right back in the same situation he was in when he wrecked. The good news is all the parts we were waiting on showed up yesterday!

I’ve been trying to find a replacement brake lever and front master cylinder for months. That’s the part that’s been giving me the most trouble because we only need the one little nipple on top of the master cylinder. It’s also the only part that isn’t available by itself. You can only get it in the master cylinder rebuild kit that’s $95 from the dealership. I finally found a guy on Ebay selling the front master cylinder and brake lever. He had exactly what I needed for a great price, so I saved myself $60 by returning the rebuild kit. That part has driven me crazy, and I’m thankful to have it now. Hubby put it on the bike last night, and all we’re waiting on now is the rest of the welding.

We still haven’t welded the blocks to the frame, but that’s because we’ve been short on time. We just haven’t had time to do it. Hubby can’t work today or probably not tomorrow because of the rain, so he’s going to attempt to get that done today.

If we can get the bike in and out of the paint shop by our beach vacation we’re going to take it to the beach with us. I went to some Wilmington NC real estate sites to see which ones offer beach rentals, but we couldn’t find anything in our price range. We settled for taking a trip down state this year instead. I was trying to save a little cash so we could go to Road Atlanta this weekend for the Suzuki Superbike Showdown and still make a trip to the beach, but that just isn’t happening. Road Atlanta is out. Oh well, maybe next year!

I’d love to be able to say I had some news to give you on the bike being finished, but I don’t. We’re yet again waiting are parts that are taking longer to get here than expected. We were able to finally get the correct set of springs for the forks. I guess 3rd try is a charm. The mounting blocks have been machined, and they’re ready to be welded to the frame…we just need that master cylinder rebuild kit to arrive. Now I just need to find a seat lock or figure out someway to securely rig my own. There are still a few minor parts here and there, but for the most part everything is ordered or soon to be ordered. As soon as the blocks are welded to the frame the bike will be back in one piece again.

With everything we’ve had to do I still can’t believe I’m sitting below budget! I might even have enough left over to pick up a few pair of Asgi shoes I’m scoping out right now.

What? Just because I love motorcycles doesn’t mean I’m not still a woman. I love shoes just as much!

So, what do you think about the new layout? I know a few things are still off. The header isn’t anywhere near what I want it, but I’m working on it. You might see a few more things change over the next few days. I just thought it was time for a change. I was really getting tired of the old one, so I decided to work on a new one a little today.

Anyway, we finally got the completed forks back this morning, and I helped Hubby install them this afternoon. I’m glad I ordered that extra lower triple I found for $10 because we needed it. You couldn’t visually tell the lower triple was bent, but it was. We had to switch that out to get the forks to line up correctly. Things are finally coming together. All we need on the front (besides plastics) is the master cylinder reservoir. The little nipple broke off the side, and unfortunately the part the holds the nipple is the only part on the bike that isn’t available individually. I’ve looked everywhere online, but no one has as used on for sale. I can find all the rear ones we could ever need, but not a front. It looks like I’ll be buying the whole rebuild kit for $90 just to get that one little part that probably costs .20 to make.

I’m really starting to think I need to find some motorcycle parts dealer stocks to invest in. I don’t know the difference between a commodity broker and a futures broker, but I do know if other people are needing as many parts as we do, the stocks should be pretty good.