Re: Reasons To Be Grumpy thread

[xSilverPhinx]

Cracked skin from all the hand washing 

Ironically, too much washing can leave your skin literally open to infection.

[Asmodean]

I've used more alcohol in the last two months than in the preceding 34 years.

Not to consume it, mind you, but still. It's getting ridiculous. And expensive.

[Tank]

Cracked skin from all the hand washing 

Ironically, too much washing can leave your skin literally open to infection.

I know!

[xSilverPhinx]

Cracked skin from all the hand washing 

Ironically, too much washing can leave your skin literally open to infection.

I know!

What moisturizer do you use?

[Icarus]

Note to the Asmo:  Do not waste alcohol on external parts.  When taken internally it kills the worms and other parasites.

[Tank]

Cracked skin from all the hand washing 

Ironically, too much washing can leave your skin literally open to infection.

I know!

What moisturizer do you use?

Burts's Bees.

[billy rubin]

dammit

i'm rebuilding the brake on my racing motorcyle to try to keep th epads from dragging on the disc.  bought two new stainless pistons and a seal kit.

i only use the brake once, to stop the machine so i don't overrun the pits. but i don't want anything that drags during the run.

went to the warehouse opened the doors and took th ecaliper apart. scrubbed everything clean and then when i went to put it back together the wind had blown the inter-caliper seal away, right off my bench in front of me. couldn't find it anywhere.

luckily th eold one was almost brand new anyway, so i put it in instead. doesn't seem top leak yet.

[Dark Lightning]

dammit

i'm rebuilding the brake on my racing motorcyle to try to keep th epads from dragging on the disc.  bought two new stainless pistons and a seal kit.

i only use the brake once, to stop the machine so i don't overrun the pits. but i don't want anything that drags during the run.

went to the warehouse opened the doors and took th ecaliper apart. scrubbed everything clean and then when i went to put it back together the wind had blown the inter-caliper seal away, right off my bench in front of me. couldn't find it anywhere.

luckily th eold one was almost brand new anyway, so i put it in instead. doesn't seem top leak yet.

I despise it when something like that happens. Did you install return springs on the caliper? I know (automobile) drag racers who use stronger springs in order to release the friction sooner. You have to be careful with the setup though, since worn pads mean you have to pump the pedal. Not fun in a panic situation.

[Randy]

I probably have a few reasons to be grumpy. Not being able to eat is one of them.

It's been a while, I'm losing track of time now, but I'd say around five years since I've been able to eat a pizza. On a Friday or maybe Saturday night, I'd pick an old movie on YouTube, order a pizza, and crack open a beer. I'd be in my robe or pajamas and it would be dark. I had a 65" plasma screen television at the time in my entertainment room.

I'd order the pizza the way I wanted it which was almost everything on top, barbecue sauce for the topping, and of course it came with garlic butter sauce which I'd pour on each slice. I'd order it with extra cheese too.

Anyway, I miss those days. I'll never get them back. So that's my reason to be grumpy tonight although I'm not. I'm about to watch another couple of episodes of Runaways on Hulu while I drink a new taste (for me at least) of Starbucks Frappuccino called "Brown Butter Caramel". I usually find a way to keep cheerful.

[billy rubin]

dammit

i'm rebuilding the brake on my racing motorcyle to try to keep th epads from dragging on the disc.  bought two new stainless pistons and a seal kit.

i only use the brake once, to stop the machine so i don't overrun the pits. but i don't want anything that drags during the run.

went to the warehouse opened the doors and took th ecaliper apart. scrubbed everything clean and then when i went to put it back together the wind had blown the inter-caliper seal away, right off my bench in front of me. couldn't find it anywhere.

luckily th eold one was almost brand new anyway, so i put it in instead. doesn't seem top leak yet.

I despise it when something like that happens. Did you install return springs on the caliper? I know (automobile) drag racers who use stronger springs in order to release the friction sooner. You have to be careful with the setup though, since worn pads mean you have to pump the pedal. Not fun in a panic situation.

no, no springs at all.  these old lockheed calipers are too primitive for that, although they're fixed, with opposing pistons. apparently they're the same ones used on the old mini coopers. there's no diaphragm in the actual caliper, just two wiper seals against the pistons, square section. the only return force is the elasticity of the deformed wiper seal that pull the pistons back a fraction when you let the hand lever retract.

[Dark Lightning]

dammit

i'm rebuilding the brake on my racing motorcyle to try to keep th epads from dragging on the disc.  bought two new stainless pistons and a seal kit.

i only use the brake once, to stop the machine so i don't overrun the pits. but i don't want anything that drags during the run.

went to the warehouse opened the doors and took th ecaliper apart. scrubbed everything clean and then when i went to put it back together the wind had blown the inter-caliper seal away, right off my bench in front of me. couldn't find it anywhere.

luckily th eold one was almost brand new anyway, so i put it in instead. doesn't seem top leak yet.

I despise it when something like that happens. Did you install return springs on the caliper? I know (automobile) drag racers who use stronger springs in order to release the friction sooner. You have to be careful with the setup though, since worn pads mean you have to pump the pedal. Not fun in a panic situation.

no, no springs at all.  these old lockheed calipers are too primitive for that, although they're fixed, with opposing pistons. apparently they're the same ones used on the old mini coopers. there's no diaphragm in the actual caliper, just two wiper seals against the pistons, square section. the only return force is the elasticity of the deformed wiper seal that pull the pistons back a fraction when you let the hand lever retract.

OK, then. Here was a question posed on the test for National Institute Automotive Service Excellence (NIASE- precursor to ASE- yes, I'm old) certification for brake mechanics. There were 4 answers but I only remember the correct one. I worked at an auto parts store at the time and the manager (not a mechanic) argued with me about my answer. The mechanic who had taken the test agreed that I had the right answer. The question was, "A vehicle was driven along a bumpy road, and when the driver applied the brakes, there was a lot of pedal travel. What was the cause?"

OK, I'm remembering more as I write, so I'll play with the answers a bit-

A. The fluid in the master cylinder was agitated with air after the bouncing around.
B. The brake pedal went higher because the return spring pulled it up more.
C. Loose wheel bearings.

I pretty much made up the two incorrect answers. They were that lame, though. I don't recommend that you leave the wheel bearings loose, but if you did, the small amount of wobble would push the pads away from the rotor, just by steering the bike left to right, maybe a couple of times. Maybe only a little lash would be all that it would take to remove the pad friction from the rotors The gap wouldn't be enough to cause a lot of travel in the brake lever...and you know that the lash would be there when you went into the pits. At 130 MPH during your speed trial, a little friction goes a long way. I'm also thinking about how you might shape the pads to reduce aerodynamic drag. If you only use them going into the pits (slowly?), they don't need a lot of surface area. You could make an aerodynamic shape of the friction material portion exposed to the air. Would it help? This is back of the envelope, so that's hard to say. It's not like you're cornering hard and need lots of brake pad, like in roundy-round racing.

ETA- the aerodynamic drag I'm referring to here is that of the air between the rotor and the pads, not from the forward speed of the bike- just to be clear.

[billy rubin]

That Is Fascinating. wheel bearings.

i never would have thought of that. i never did brakes for ASE, just engine performance and machining while i was a technical writer at an automotive publishing company.

the bearings i'm using front and rear are caged balls, rather than tapered rollers, so there isn't any way to fudge the tightness. but the friction is significant. you'd never notice it pushing the machine around, but if you jack up the rear and spin the wheel by hand it takes a firm push.

id never thought about the aerodynamics of the pads themselves, but they've got that disc spinning between them, and it's pretty large, way more than i need. but its what the wheel was designed for.



i tossed the spoked wheels specifically to go to a smaller and less turbulent wheel design. ill have to think about the pads.

[Dark Lightning]

Looking at that picture, it's probably a moot point. There's a lot of lumpy stuff out in the wind already.

[billy rubin]

absolutely.

the naked class has no way to get through the air clean. everything is out there-- cablez, nutz and bolts, elbowz and knees. theres nothing to hide the parts behind.

there are things you can do by tucking stuff in. my pipes hang out, and for august ill be making new ones that tuck in behind the front wheel and go back underneath. but the biggest obstacle iz the rider. riding position is critical.

[xSilverPhinx]

So...yesterday my phone died. It was so unstable it heated up really quickly in this 13 degree C weather and started rebooting like literally every 30 seconds. I had to reset it to factory settings to keep it from blowing up in my face and keeping it on long enough to try and figure out what the problem was.

It might be the external MicroSD card with all my backups. I was worried I would lose those.

My music playlists are in that external backup. After resetting the phone and installing the apps again I tried to access the music files and was wholly unsuccessful.

Fuck!

Many hours later, when I was finally able to grant the music app permission to read the file I put on my headphones to enjoy some tunes and there was this obnoxiously loud screeching noise where the music should have been.

I have been told before that my musical taste sucks, but that was definitely not my song!.