Back in the Groove

Thursday, March 11, 2026

I was up early this morning – not for any special reason, but I’m at that age where this sort of thing happens regularly now. I had arisen around 6:30, after having some strange dream about something motorcycle-y that I can’t remember now – don’t you hate it when that happens? – but if I have to dream about something these days, I’d rather it be something motorcycle-y than something that has a different impact on my life – like bills, for instance.

It was probably related to the 1972 JDM Honda CB500 Four in the garage I’m trying to get rebuilt after getting rudely interrupted by winter, which arrived here last November just as I had taken the bike apart and left everything on the bench because it was too damn cold in the garage – so I was up early, dewy with anticipation about getting back out there and getting my hands dirty after getting started yesterday, when I finally got pulled back into the orbit of the garage and managed to get some stuff done.

Last fall I had stripped the bike down to the frame and gotten it painted, so it had plenty of time to sit up over the winter and cure. So far I’ve gotten the wheels back on in preparation for getting the engine back in the frame, as you can see here:

It’s amazing to me how you get back in the groove in the garage after having a long hiatus...in my case I have two bikes going at once (not good – yes, I know), tons of crap everywhere and there is literally not a single horizontal space in the whole garage that does not have a mound of crap on it – but I know where everything is!

                      A Place for Everything and Everything In Its Place! 

My wife once wanted to ‘straighten up a bit” and I was horrified that she would and I would lose track of where everything was if she did – so we worked out a pact: the garage is mine, the house is hers. So far it has worked out nicely!

One of the things I accomplished was fixing my vapor blaster pump. Over the winter, I had forgotten to take the pump out of the steel bucket it sat in and the water froze all the way down to the bottom, freezing it in place and popping the base off…

Maybe you can see it here, but I wasn’t sure if the bottom of the pump motor part was concave, flat or convex, like you see it here – so I pounded it flat and stuck it back on the base with some 5200 Marine adhesive and sealant...it seems to be working fine, but we’ll see how well it holds up.

Good Stuff!

Here’s the pump bucket – all the ice had popped the bottom out slightly, making it leak, but I popped it back into place and hit it with the 5200 Marine – that 10-gallon bucket is full of water, so it appears to have sealed it up tight. It’s good stuff. (Expensive, but good!)

But just when I was making some good progress on my bike, these little bastards make an appearance!

I was putting the wheels back on my CB500 frame when I looked up and saw a wasp silently floating around near the ceiling of the garage – okay, no worries, one or two always manage to find their way into the garage and buzz around – but then I noticed two – and then THREE! And then saw that A WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM were flying around, swooping down occasionally and hanging out on the roof panels high above me! 

Polistes Fuscatus, better known as paper wasps, have decided that the roof of my garage looks like a beautiful place to set up shop! No Sir! Uh-Uh! Not in MY garage! I blasted the ones I could with brake cleaner - it kills them almost instantly - to the point I was beginning to catch quite the 'buzz' myself from all the fumes. I don't see a nest anywhere, but I think I've discovered where the little bastards are hiding, up in the apex of the roof panels. 

So that’s the situation as of this writing. I have a bit of a work-stoppage going on while I figure out how to nuke these little bastards before they get out of hand and pose a serious threat to me and mine – so I can get back into the groove!

Stirrings

Bigfoot, maybe...??

February 4, 2026 

I don't know if you've felt it or not, but something is different outside these days...it's very subtle, but it's there - a slight difference in the frozen wasteland that's enveloping almost every state on the East Coast right now on this frigid day in February...all the snowcrete is getting softer and I am now falling through the surface a bit when I walk on it and the air is certainly warmer, so I think and hope that all this crap will melt soon. 

Unfortunately, nothing 'bikey' to report today. I need to get some new rings for the 1972 JDM CB500 I'm working on anyway, and those will take some time to come in. I'm kind of torn as to whether I should get just the rings, or a whole new set of rings, pistons and the like. The rings are $50, and the whole setup is $85...I don't need the whole setup, but it'd be nice to have...decisions, decisions. But here's the bench where I left it when the temperatures dropped into the basement...

Just waiting for me to get back to it. Parts Is Parts!