homade sin 3

Dang its been a while since I posted anything. Oh well back to the bike.

As the cursing stopped, the smoke cleared, and I sobered up from the alcohol and the mental beating the lockup brought on me. I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, not a bright one, more like a small pin hole, but it was light none the less. I saw a chance to expand my knowledge a little with a complete rebuild of the engine. I started as quickly as I could and it became clear this thing was unlike any other engine I had ever graced with the turn of a wrench. The tear down went great, I had diagnosed the problem (oil pump was stuck due to sitting for an unknown amount of years), had every thing labeled and cleaned and waiting for assembly. I go down to the local Honda shop to order the new rod bearings, crank bearings, rings, and a gasket set. The only problem is Honda bearings are color coded, who knew. What color do you have?...Uhhhh I dont know what color are they supposed to be?...Well you have black, brown, green, yellow, and blue for your choices.....ok what does that mean?.....They are all the different sizes to chose from....ok...how do I find out what size I need?.....I dont know let me ask one of our mechanics.....he said he dont know other than measuring them......ok well let me do some research and I will be back. Ok now I need to measure the crank journals. So off to get the measurement no problem. I was back the next day ordered the parts and was feeling pretty good about the whole rebuild and reassuring myself it was worth it. Looking back on it now I would not have the knowledge I now have about a SOHC Honda engine if it wasnt for the misfortune of the lockup, so in actuality it was a good thing. If you would have told me that then....I dont know what I would have said, but you probably wouldnt want your mom to hear it. So I waited for about two weeks to come in, and when they finally arrived I was just as happy as I could be. I think I may have actually sang a song and skipped on my way to the truck with my box of goodies on my hands. When I got home the door had not even even closed behind me before I began to tear into the plastic wrapping the parts were so carefully enclosed in. Blah Blah Blah. So after a few days of careful assembly I had it back together with no major problems. Within a few days I had it back in the frame and life was lookin good. So the day had finally come for me to test my competence in engine building. I turned the gas on, pulled the choke lever , crossed my fingers, and reached down and pushed the start button and it happened................................it had hardly turned over 3 or 4 times, then it roared to life just as before. But now it was running on my new found skills, on what I had done with my two hands. It was in that moment I fell in love with that bike. Now I was about to do what I had worked in the basement so long for.All the hours of day dreaming of blasting down the road on a rigid chopper I had built with my own damn hands was about to become a reality. I pulled the clutch in and clicked it into gear and slowly let the clutch out. At that very second I was lost in a pinhole in time, I could feel the clutch disks beginning to take hold and the chain slowly gain tension and forcing the rear wheel to rotate upon the axle and propel my body forward in to the warm summer air. It was in that moment all was right in the world, my feet were off the ground and the motorcycle I hand built carried me away. It was also in that moment I knew what it was like to be beaming with pride. It was like no other feeling I had felt. I HAD done it all by myself.