Explosion time...

Please forgive me, friends, but I haven't done a lot of blogging lately because...well, my life is in explosion mode.

I finally got the Sgian Dubh (now dubbed the Black Pearl, for reasons you will soon see) fixed up the way I wanted.

I got the airbox situation squared away. I tried removing the airbox and affixing the Uni pod filter directly to the mouth of the carburetor. Could never get it jetted right. So, I put the tube that had previously connected the airbox to the carb back on the carb (still no airbox) and bolted the Uni filter to the end of it...where the airbox WOULD have been. Better. But I still couldn't get it jetted just right and besides...the weight of the tube kept pulling the carb out of the manifold. Finally I put the airbox back on, removed the stock air filter and put the Uni filter on the stock air intake into the airbox. One jet size up and VOILA! Success! Works splendidly!! Apparently, with the open airbox, I have all the volume I want and with the Uni filter on the air intake I am drawing cool, outside air in through a low restriction filter. SWEEEeeeet! By the way, I also drilled 5 holes into the end of the muffler for less restriction and, of course, more noise. Doesn't sound half bad!

Then, I bought a bar-end mirror since the original was just too big and ugly, but since there were some bar weights in the handlebar I had welded on, I couldn't get it in. I messed around and messed around and finally found a place I liked down low on the cowling. It looks good and I still have good vision...around my air filter...

And of course, I couldn't forget the weaponry. A few chunks of PVC pipe and the judicious application of glue and paint and I had machine guns! Of course, the chrome skull on the front proclaims this one-man assault module to be a Pirate Ship. Hence the "Black Pearl" moniker.

Okay. Now comes the heavy stuff. Yesterday my wife filled out the divorce papers. No anger. No hatred. Not even any mild dislike. No infidelities or abuses. Let's just say we are fabulous friends, but not very good at the spouse thing. So, my mind was not really where it should have been yesterday afternoon. The day before, I had ridden the 50 or so miles through Oak Creek Canyon to Flagstaff to renew my CDL license, then I had ridden the hundred or so miles to Phoenix to meet the Scarabs at the Rose and Crown (our new unofficial clubhouse). Fabulous shepherd's pies! Okay, so here I was the next day, about to head to the courthouse to do things that make me very sad when I decided to check the oil. I removed the dipstick and found the level to be a wee bit low, so I hunted around the garage for a bottle of 10W-40. Nope. I could only find 20W-50, which I use in my pickup. Crap. So I fired up the pirate ship and headed off to the courthouse (some 10 miles away), figuring to get a jug of oil on the way home. About 3 or 4 miles down the road, the engine quit. I looked down and discovered in my distraction, I'd never replaced the dipstick. All the oil blew out and I no longer had a functioning engine.

I called my friend Heather who came and picked me up and dropped me off at home so I could get the pickup and go get my scooter. I got it loaded okay and took it home. Dropped it off at D&K Service this morning so they could do a blow-down test. No compression at all. Dave stuck his little camera down in there and found a minute hole in the top of the piston. I hope that's all that's wrong...now I gotta scrape up the cash for a top-end job as well as deal with the rest of the crap in my life.

Although, the job is going better than it has any right to do...I've been chosen over several more senior officers for a couple of key postitions including Officer In Charge when there are no sergeants or lieutenants in the building, thereby putting me in charge of a 400+ inmate jail. Kinda sobering...

So, anyway, I've included some pictures of the latest incarnation of my one-man assault module...

C-ya...ride on!

--Keys