Wheeled things... my other hobbies
Bicycles
I've been fortunate enough to have been bike commuting since college... I've also been fortunate enough to have been biking for fun since as long as I can remember. Road biking, mountain biking, tandem-ing, unicycling, its all great.
Biking combines my loves of wheeled transportation, physical activity, and fixing things up and I spend as much of my time possible on and around bikes. After taking an awesome welding/brazing class at Davis, I'm beginning to make my own bikes from scratch... a fun learning experience. Collection cut down in the move from CA to MI, but still biking a ton. 
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1974 Auranthetic Charger
The FIRST production electric motorcycle, by a little company in LA that lasted a few years during the gas crisis. Runs on two car batteries and had a claimed range of 25+ miles at 25 mph.
Found on craigslist - it was a rusty mess, but only took a few days of work to get it back to decent. Converted it to 1000W motor (from 750W), put a real motor controller and throttle, and upgraded to 48V for increased range. I also replaced the brake shoes and rear shocks (rusted solid) and converted it to LED lights and turn signals to keep the batteries going longer. Finally, I welded the seat pan back together, sewed up a bright orange seat cover to replace the old ripped one, and stuffed in a bit more foam. Running on 4 12V golf cart batteries in series currently. Slow but quite fun; it seems to get to about 20 mph. I haven't yet calculated it's range with this set up, but I expect it is about 10 miles per charge.
Now continuing its SLOW journey with a new owner in Miami!
The FIRST production electric motorcycle, by a little company in LA that lasted a few years during the gas crisis. Runs on two car batteries and had a claimed range of 25+ miles at 25 mph.
Found on craigslist - it was a rusty mess, but only took a few days of work to get it back to decent. Converted it to 1000W motor (from 750W), put a real motor controller and throttle, and upgraded to 48V for increased range. I also replaced the brake shoes and rear shocks (rusted solid) and converted it to LED lights and turn signals to keep the batteries going longer. Finally, I welded the seat pan back together, sewed up a bright orange seat cover to replace the old ripped one, and stuffed in a bit more foam. Running on 4 12V golf cart batteries in series currently. Slow but quite fun; it seems to get to about 20 mph. I haven't yet calculated it's range with this set up, but I expect it is about 10 miles per charge.
Now continuing its SLOW journey with a new owner in Miami!
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Really fast (not).
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1970 Citroen DS21My dream car for a long time, I drove a '70 DS in college. 25-30 mpg, cruising for 5 (or 6) at 70 mph, the most cushy interior ever put into a car and all the other oddities that a 40 year old French car comes with.
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1972 Saab 95
This sturdy little wagon gets 30 mpg, holds 7 (tiny) people and is generally a fun car. I had one of the best roadtrips of my life driving it up from LA the day I bought it. The weak transmission finally went, but after a new (old) transmission, a carburetor rebuild, a brake MC rebuild, a new fuel pump, new head gaskets, and more... it is running and fairly reliable again, now with a working freewheel clutch! It awaits a proper name (the previous owner called it "the frog", but that was my name for the Citroen, so that won't work). |
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1967 Yamaha YCS-1 180 twin, "cafe racer"-esque
Bought as a stripped frame/engine, as the previous owner had cut frame down and stripped all unnecessary parts for racing (though I don't think he ever did). Made a fiberglass seat/tail section, put on all the missing parts. Runs and rides nicely. Sold 8/2018 - living its life in the Davis sun! Another 1968 YCS-1 restoration (to factory specs) in progress. I was pretty much finished, including a .5 overbored, balanced, top end and all new paint, rebuilt autolube system, etc., but when all together, the transmission was bound up somehow. Need to get that straightened out. |
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Newest project - 1973 Honda CB125S
Cool little bike I picked up from an estate sale. Been off the road since ~1976 (!) and still has parking stickers from CSU-Long Beach and the Battle Creek VA hospital. Cleaned up the tank, put new battery, tires, ignition components, carb gaskets, air filter, rebuilt throttle, etc. and it is back running around at slow speeds, getting ridiculous gas mileage (50+!). Tops out at about 45; compression seems to be the issue - so I guess a top end rebuild is in order eventually. |
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