3Hundredand65 Days of Cereal

2011-08-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

D&D Encounters

2011-07-07T13:00:00.001-07:00

About a month ago Matt , Jihee, Trina, and I got to be in a D&D video promoting their in-store play program, D&D Encounters. The shoot was fun. I mean, all I had to do was play D&D with some of the R&D people that work on the game, and do a short interview.

The end results look pretty good. And if I can somehow make this even slightly moped related, watch for Matt wearing a Creatures shirt in the interview.

Warmachine Con

2011-06-20T09:56:00.001-07:00

This weekend my friend Dan and I attended Lock & Load Fest, the first Warmachine con in the country. Warmachine is a Seattle-produced miniatures game that's seen a huge boost in popularity in the past few years. Free from any of that pesky role-playing, it's boiled down to just skirmishing where you smash armies against each other, in an attempt to kill the opposing unit leader. Think of it like chess, but with magic-wielding casters and steampunk robots.

Yeah, its probably more nerdy than D&D. I started playing a few months ago, and its been mildly addictive.

The best part of the con was getting to play on some amazing custom terrain in the free play area. Dan and I battled each other in a snowy village, and in a mineshaft.

A few other tables.

...In which our hero embarks on an adventure

2011-06-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Hey folks. I'm back. I took a break from the blog. I figure getting married is a good enough reason to be busy.

The wedding was really nice, and a lot of fun. People ask me what my favorite part was. It was the part where everything went as planned. Steph did an amazing job planning the event, and I'm glad everything went smoothly and everyone had a great time.

My mom and two of my sisters flew out for the day.

And my best friend/man, Chris came out for a week.

This kinda sums it up:

And so do these:

A week later was the honeymoon. A trip to my childhood stomping ground, Newport RI. No real itinerary, other than seeing the sights and relaxing.

We saw huge mansions,

And rocky cliffs along the Atlantic,

and the house I lived in when I was twelve.

When I was four (circa 1979), I had really long hair, and would always run past this barber shop because I was convinced if the barbers saw me they would pull me inside and force a reasonable haircut on me.

Unfortunately some of my childhood memories didn't quite live up. My favorite milkshakes as a kid are no longer made with real ice cream, nor was my favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip still available. Some things should stay in the past.

I drowned my sorrows with a regional microbrew at the oldest tavern in America.

And saw an old tower built by vikings.

In short; my life rules.

Reality Is Broken

2011-05-02T12:17:00.000-07:00

This is a really fantastic book on why gaming is important. I'm about half way through, and I've learned a lot. It's really given me a different perspective on why gaming isn't a waste of time, and how it makes our lives richer, and makes us better people. I highly recommend it to anyone, gamer or not.

If you don't read the book (which you probably won't) at least check out this TED presentation that the author did. She makes a lot of the same points she makes in the book, although much more abbreviated. It's inspiring stuff.

Big fat strikes again

2011-04-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

This makes the third Puch swing arm I've destroyed in six years. Two stock and now this aftermarket one finally bit the dust after about 3 years.

At least I caught this one (or had it pointed out to me by Hucker Steve) before it completely broke while I was riding, like the last two did.

Game of Thrones

2011-04-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

I had been waiting for this new HBO show to premiere for a few months now, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Around 7:30 last night I hit up a torrent search, and the first episode had just been uploaded. 45 minutes later it was playing through my Xbox. I love technology.

This is excellent fantasy for people that aren't really into fantasy. Looking forward to next weeks episode.

Mopedia

2011-04-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

This documentary has been talked about for well over a year now. Threads for it occasionally pop up on the gen forum. I didn't really think much of it at first. Most of the time when someone discusses doing a moped film, nothing ever comes of it. That, or it looks really amateurish, or not very interesting, or they just plain miss the mark in trying to capture why we waste our time with these antiquated, little bikes.

These guys from Baltard territory seem to actually be serious about this, and its starting to look really good. I, for one, hope that they finish the film and their 7,000 mile trip.

I don't plan on donating money to the project, but if you'd like to a kickstarter has been set up for the effort.

Good luck on the project, guys.

Dungeons & Caverns

2011-04-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder how far down the nerd hole I can go. Case in point: D&D games have been sparse over the past month, so I decided to take advantage of the down time and start building terrain for the game. These are modular sets I've cast from high-density dental plaster in silicone molds that I procured from the interwebz.

The plaster is relatively cheap, and I'm mostly using latex house paint, so more than anything it's just finding the four or five hours it takes to cast, glue, and paint a set. I think they turned out rather nice for the first sets.

Also, with Seattle's vast gaming community, I should be able to dump something like these on Craigslist for $50-70 a piece.

Hobbit progress and helmet merkins

2011-03-28T08:52:00.000-07:00

I got a little further with the Hobbit this weekend. Hydro EBRs went on really easy. I need a spacer for the headset, but other than that they're ready. As hard a rubber compound as the Michelin Pilot Sporty tires are, they went on super easy. I thought it was going to be like wrestling with a Gazelle tire (or like wrestling with a live gazelle for that matter, although I think I could probably take one in a fight). Flat clubmans look good on the bike, but I still need to chop down the seat.

Front brakes are being a pain in the ass. I haven't worked with this style in years, and can't remember how to install them on the brake plate. If any of my gentle readers out there have fun suggestions, I'm all ears.

Everyone knows I love Treats, and that I never have a disparaging word toward them. But a blight hit their webstore this past week: the helmet hawk.

They sold out in a matter of days.

If you are reading this please, PLEASE, for the love of god, do not attach one of these to your helmet. This is the grommiest of grom things to do. YOU WILL BUM OUT ANYONE WHO RIDES BEHIND YOU AT A RALLY THIS SUMMER. This is worse that strawberry scented 2-stroke oil. This is the merkin of the two-wheel world. If you breakdown on a ride, and are wearing one of these, I will not stop for you. In fact I may kick you as I ride past, and I will most certainly laugh at you.

Cuddle Puddle Birthday Ride

2011-03-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was the 5th annual Puddle Cutter Anniversary Ride. I've been to four out of the five anniversary rides (including the first Puddle Cutter ride five years ago), and this one was fun as usual.

Since selling the bus, getting mopeds from one city to another has been problematic. It's good to find out that with some disassembly the Ciao fits neatly in the trunk of my car.

We arrived in Portland Saturday morning, and after putting a moped back together, and eating a giant burrito, we headed to Powell park for the meet up.

The ride went along the Clackamas river with lots of water and back roads. As many rides as I've done in, and around, PDX this one was completely new to me. I'm slightly jealous of Portland and how much backwoods-y riding they have that's still only a short jog from the city.

The weather held up for the most part as we dodged the rain storm that loomed over us most of the day and knocked out about 60 miles of riding.

The party later that night was nothing short of classic dumb Cutter fun. Including muddy moped dirt bike jumps in the backyard, and far too much booze. I'm amazed the cops never showed up.

A short trip, about 24 hours in Portland, but that's fine. Hopefully, I'll be back in a few months for a race or two.

Speaking of moped racing, this showed up on the general forum last week. It looks like a terrible game, but I'd still play it.

Procrastination and the importance of deadlines

2011-03-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

By habit, I'm a procrastinator. In fact, the only reason that this blog gets updated on Monday mornings is because if I didn't give myself a deadline, it wouldn't get done.

I've been pretty lazy lately when it comes to working on the race bike. Weather has been cold, the garage is drafty, and I've been in cocoon mode for a few months. Spurred on by the arrival of my MLM ST Ripper pipe, early last week I gave myself a requirement; get in the garage on Saturday and work for a solid five hours to see what I can get done.

I skipped on a Fleet fix-it day (which I heard was awesome) to toil away, cleaning parts and figuring out how a Hobbit fits together. I didn't get as far as I wanted to, but now, at least I can see the bike taking shape, and that's always exciting.

I need to figure out when my next free weekend is and schedule myself a block of time to work on bikes because it felt super productive.

ECCC

2011-03-07T10:26:00.000-08:00

This weekend was the 9th Emerald City Comicon. This was the fourth one I've been to, and probably my favorite so far. It was expanded to three days this year, but I only made it to Friday and Saturday. Not much was scheduled for Sunday, and by Saturday afternoon I had spent all of my budgeted con money.

Friday, I got off work early and lined up for doors.

Once in, I made a bee-line to the media guest area to get in another line for Wil Wheaton. Lines at comicon and PAX last year were far too long to wait in to meet Wheaton, but this year getting there early paid off as I was fourth in line for Wil.

Dude was super friendly, and excited to be there. He took a couple of minutes to talk to me and we even got an unfortunately blurry picture together. He's a genuine guy, and as nerd-famous as he is, he's really just another fanboy like the rest of us.

His autograph is full of awesome, too.

The other person I really wanted to me was Scott Kurtz of webcomic PVP. He started the whole webcomic thing back in the late 90s and has the longest running webcomic around. Yet again, a really genuine and nice person. He even remembered my name at a panel the next day. I thought that was classy.

Saturday I got to shake hands with Jeff Lemire, the writer/artist on Sweet Tooth, which is probably my favorite comic out today. Its about a little boy with antlers living in a post-apoc America. Fantastic stuff. He offered to do a Sweet Tooth sketch for me which was really rad.

Panels were a mixed bag this year. My only complaint about ECCC is that it's a little light on panels compared to something like PAX. Wil Wheaton's Awesome Hour was entertaining as usual. He told some great stories and I filmed the strangely awkward Q&A portion of the show (which I'll post up once I figure out how to get a video off of my Ipod Touch).

I popped into the Boondock Saints panel for a couple of minutes, but it wasn't very interesting. I liked the first movie, but I'm not a big enough fan to sit through a whole panel.

The Vertigo Comics panel was pretty good, although they seemed to only cover the Vertigo titles that I don't read. Some interesting stuff on the way this year though.

The webcomics panel was one of my favorites. Scott Kurtz and crew sat up on stage in suits, drinking the whole time, and cracking jokes. Really funny stuff.

The William Shatner panel was the biggest draw for the weekend. The line to get in was moving quickly so I popped in for a minute, but the dude was just rambling on about Mr Tambourine Man and Ben Folds, and it really wasn't my cup of tea. The Marvel Comics panel after that wasn't much better.

Nerdprov later on that afternoon was pretty cool. Its exactly what it sounds like. I really don't need to describe it much beyond that. Pirates vs. ninjas, Inception in three minutes, and a bad first date as a D&D game.

Last hurrah for me was the Rainn Wilson panel. That was almost as packed as the Shatner thing. He was there promoting his new indie film, "Super" about a guy who decides to become a superhero after his girlfriend leaves him. In the middle of the panel, local costumed crime fighter Phoenix Jones shows up. Rainn was super excited as he had been trying to get in contact with Jones for a couple of days. Turns out its tough to get a hold of superheroes. Who would have thought?

A great time. Now I just have to wait another six months for PAX.

Cops and mopeds

2011-02-28T06:15:00.000-08:00

Nope, it's not what you're thinking.

About six years ago, I was coming home late from Moped Monday. I lived in an apartment on the Ave, and was locking up to a bike rack in front of the Radio Shack. I was more than a little intoxicated, and ready to hit the sack.

From the corner of my eye I spot a cop car slowly roll up and stop. A warning goes off in my brain, but I ignore the car. I fumble with my keys, hoping that he moves on and doesn't try to give me a hard time about parking on the sidewalk. Regardless, no one wants to talk to a cop when you've got whiskey on your breath.

The window rolls down. I don't look up.

"Hey!" Okay, I finally look up. "Is that a Kinetic?"

Puzzled, I respond, "No, it's a Puch."

"Oh, I've got a Kinetic. I ride it all the time!" Turns out a fellow moped rider just wanted to chat.

Cops and mopeds rarely collide in a way that works well. Usually it's just a recipe for frustration on both parts.

It's like the joke goes: What do you call a moped rider in a suit? The defendant.

This is an oddball article from Moped Biking magazine, circa 1977. It's worth reading. It's pretty clear that, just like today, most cops hate mopeds. Officer Friendly, who's spotlighted in the photos, is obviously not a fan of these moped-things. I can only imagine how much he must have hated riding away from the precinct on the Puch. I can almost hear the ribbing Im sure he took. I'd love to see a conversation between this NYC moped cop and my Seattle cop-moped-enthusiast.

As if cops on mopeds in NYC isn't weird enough, the whole article has a renaissance fair as its backdrop.

Think about this one next time you're pulled over.

Mopeds are dangerous...so are zombies

2011-02-21T07:05:00.000-08:00

I snapped this photo in one of the parking garages at work. I haven't thought about the Martha's Vineyard protests in a while. Thanks for reminding me, ultra-safety driver.

Here's one of the best game trailers I've seen in a long time. I think one thing that has been missing with most zombie games is a lack of emotion and humanity. Although, we don't see any actual game play here, they certainly capture a feeling that we've never seen in a game of this sort before.

Speaking of zombies, check out these amazing Walking Dead figures that Mcfarlane Toys will be releasing in September.

One more zombie-related thing. The best $3 you will ever spend is for Plants vs Zombies for your space phone. Utterly addictive game play. Damn you PopCap games!

Spent your last $3 on beer? Download Zombie Dice for free instead.

Or maybe you just think zombies are played out at this point.

Nerds only

2011-02-14T08:15:00.001-08:00

It's been over a year since my gaming group stepped into a post-apocalyptic landscape.

Late last year the newest iteration of Gamma World was released. This is the 7th edition of the game since it's initial release in 1978. The RPG has been around almost as long as D&D.

Last night we sat down for a session of the new game, and it was a blast. It's post-apoc, but with a tongue firmly planted in the cheek. Everyone played as a randomly-created strange mutation, be it a vampiric plant, or a reanimated doppelganger. Oh, and a pony that road shotgun in the pickup truck.

They battled sentient, walking potatoes with a grudge against humanity, zombie rednecks who wanted beer more than brains, and biker pigs on motorcycles. They met the mayor of the town who was a ficus tree from Walmart, who couldn't speak, but rustled his leaves at them. You get the picture.

It was a good time.

I am a splicer killer

2011-01-31T10:26:00.000-08:00

I was going to make a decent post this week, but my Sunday was utterly consumed by Bioshock 2. I had plans of working on mopeds, taking a bicycle ride, and going to the grocery store, but none of that happened. I sat down at 10am for a short gaming session and next thing I knew it was 7pm.

And now all I can do is think about the sequel that's forthcoming.

Edit: If you haven't bought this game, it's on sale right now at Amazon for $13.99.

Feats of strength, busloads of gypsies, and other marvels of the modern age

2011-01-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

This week, Mosquito Fleet said goodbye to our beloved Awful Hen. Our poultry pal served us well, and many fine voyages were had upon her dirty, yellow wings. People flew in from Arizona to buy her. I'd like to believe that they were a band of Polish gypsy school bus drivers, taking her back to a mobile Polish gypsy school district.

Maybe they'll escape their nazi pursuers and make their way to a new world. Who knows. Hopefully it won't just become a "burner bus" and end up at Burning Man every year. All I know is that the people that bought it were most certainly confused as shit on the drive back by the inside-moped-joke graffiti that cover the walls.

This week I installed springs on a Hobbit clutch. After cutting my hands to shit and getting nowhere, I tried a different approach. I put the clutch in my bench vise, hooked one of the stock springs around the red spring, hooked the other end around an m6 bolt I had laying around, and performed a Travis-impressing feat of strength as I pulled back the spring over the eyelet on the clutch arm. Once hooked I tapped it into place with a rubber mallet.

Safety suggestion: Use eye protection as the stock spring stretched out pretty far

and would have most certainly flown into my face if it stretched any further. In fact, at one point I wound the excess spring around the bolt just to make sure that it wouldn't hit me in the face-parts.

This weekend I finished Mass Effect 2. It's one of the finer examples of what a video game can achieve. One of the best sci-fi stories I've seen in years, and one of the most fully realized game worlds I've ever experienced. Really amazing stuff.

Now that I'm done I'll either start playing Bioshock 2 or Dead Space 2. Speaking of Dead Space 2 this ad campaign hit the internet last week.

I'm still not sure how I feel about the trailer. My initial reaction was to be offended. Mostly because EA seems to be playing into the violent video game controversy. I know they are trying to move units with a viral-type video, but it bothers me when this sort of thing just gives the anti-video game alarmists more ammo (so to speak).

I wish they would focus in on how brilliant and original this game is. How well done and interesting the story is, and how it's some of the most solid game play out there. But really they'd rather just showcase how this game will turn twelve year olds into psychopaths.

EA could attempt to make a case as to why the gaming industry is the most profitable industry in the world, and how sophisticated games have become, rather than just focusing on the grotesque nature of a game, thereby stripping away everything that makes it a compelling and interesting form of entertainment, and when it's at it's best; an art form. Maybe I just don't get it.

Rear-facing zombie phonebooks

2011-01-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Not too much to talk about this week. I have two running bikes again with two brand spankin' new kits installed. The Ciao has another DR kit, and the Maxi has another Metra 65.

After cracking the old Puch intake,

I was trying to figure out how to use another 19mm intake I had laying around. Rear-facing didn't seem like it would work, but after a little case-grinding, moving my CDI electronics, and a new air filter (bought with my Treat Tacos); it's tight, but I got it all to work.

It's not ideally the way I'd like it set up, because it makes rejetting more difficult than before, so if anyone knows where to get one of the above "Scooter Parts" intakes, I'd be grateful.

There's been a lot of talk about the Walking Dead recently. Not just because of the new semi-decent AMC series, but it seems like everyone is zombie-crazy these days, not just geeks like me.

If anyone had a hankering to check out the comic book series, this is the easiest way to get into it.

The compendium reprints the first 48 issues/first 8 trade paperbacks. (Don't call them graphic novels. Graphic novels are originally published, longer format stories self-contained in one published volume. Trade paperbacks collect story arcs of single issue comics in a reprinted format. There's your geek lesson of the day.) It's over a thousand pages and is a heavy volume. Look how thick this thing is. It's like a phone book.

High quality glossy pages, and it's a solid read. It contains the first major arc of the story, and is more than half the length of the series thus far. I picked up mine on Amazon for about $35. Well worth the cash.

Meat suit...nuff said

2011-01-10T08:23:00.001-08:00

Vespa head-scratcher

2011-01-03T06:41:00.000-08:00

A pile of parts showed up this week from Treats. Enough to get some bikes back on the road. I decided to start with a non-runner: the Ciao. I pulled the engine apart to clean out all the bits of needle bearing left in there from the seize. Installed a new crank bearing since more metal found there way into it.

I put everything back together, went to install a brand new needle bearing that was in said pile o' Treats, and it didn't fit. Huh? I have a 10mm crank, and this was a 10mm bearing, but it was about a millimeter too wide to fit. Well, enough had gone wrong in the garage up to that point that I was done for the night.

I came back fresh the next morning, did some work space cleaning, and organizing, and lo and behold, found the proper size bearing in a box of parts. Here are the two, side by side.

On the left is the bearing that fits in my Top crank. On the right is the Malossi replacement. The Malossi is a perfect fit for a 10mm DMP Vespa crank I had laying around, but is the wrong size for the odd-ball Top crank I have. The left one is a 10x13x14, the right one is a 10x14x13. Wrist pin fits in both.

More comparisons.

I dug around the Treats and 1977 websites, and my crank looks slightly different than the other Top cranks being sold. This is the second Vespa Top crank I've run in the past four years and they have both been the same style. Anyone encountered this?

It's been sunny in Seattle for days now, which reminds me that I wanted to make a post about rain-riding. I don't particularly enjoy riding in the rain, but I don't hate it either. Along with good rain gear, and warm clothing, I always keep these two items nearby: Rain-X and anti-fogger.

Rain-X works amazingly well on a face shield. The rain beads up nicely so you can still see, and if you turn your head to the left or right while riding, the rain slides right off. I re-apply about once a week during the rainy season(s).

Anti-fogger is just as awesome. Face shields fogging up on cold, rainy nights sucks. Again, I re-apply about once a week. I like stuff that keeps me from dying on a moped.

Hobbit headz

2010-12-27T07:56:00.000-08:00

I plan on running the super-blasty Athena 70cc kit on my Hobbit, but to keep the piston from smacking into the head, you have to re-work the squish band. I haven't really seen too many pics of the process, so I documented what I did to mine.

Used the head gasket to outline.

First couple of passes with a high speed cutting bit on my Dremel.

A little further out, and deeper. An attempt at keeping an even surface.

And the final product after Naz smoothed and polished the surface for me.

I'm missing a pic between three and four to show what it looked like after I got done with a stone grinding bit. The results look decent for doing it free hand with a Dremel.

Hells Satans are going to Sundance with this ridiculous, and barely accurate short film about moped culture in Richmond, VA. Check out the trailer here. Directed by the producer from MTV's True Life series. Haha. I feel partially responsible for this. This guy initially contacted me about doing an episode of Real Life on Mosquito Fleet. We passed on it, and I got him in contact with a few other Moped Army branches. That short film is the result. It doesn't surprise me since Real Life is nothing, but retarded drama anyway. Hope the Satans have fun at the film festival.

I've always preferred this version of Hells Satans.

A rad crew, for sure. I'm hoping to get back to their rally in 2012.

For all my dirt bike ninjas

2010-12-20T08:44:00.000-08:00

The best thing about Xbox Live is the indie game section. There are some really fun and innovative games out there, and they all cost a buck. The other day I was perusing the new releases, and happened upon a game called Toy Stunt Bike. After one demo play through I was hooked and plunked down my four quarters to own it. It's super addictive gameplay. Think Toy Story meets Excite Bike. The game is gorgeous, and makes me wish I could get a helmet and Evel Knievel costume for my avatar. Now if only there was a moped skin for your stunt bike...

And that was going to be it for the post. I had no intentions of talking about mopeds this week. Which, apparently angered the moped gods. Here's my punishment.

Two weeks ago, leading a Moped Monday ride, we shot down a big hill toward the end of the ride. Somehow I didn't feel the bike seize, but at the next stoplight, the Ciao sputtered out. I thought I was just out of gas. I flipped to reserve, and started the bike again. Only to die a couple of blocks later. I ended up pushing it to the bar we were meeting at.

I had no reason to suspect a seize, so several times over the next ten or so days I tinkered with it, obviously to no avail. Eventually, I nailed it down to a compression issue. I dropping the engine to check for a blown head gasket or blown seal, finding nothing wrong. Bolted everything back on. Bike still wouldn't start. The only thing I hadn't checked was the cylinder and piston.

As you can see the needle bearing failed. Taking the cylinder and piston with it, and leaving bits of metal throughout my case. That's two kits ruined in two weeks (don't ask about the metrakit).

Big pile of fail. Treats will be seeing a big order from me when I get paid.

Moped Army, 1962

2010-12-13T06:12:00.000-08:00

So I've got a bunch of old moped magazines, and I thought I'd occasionally reprint some of the articles here. Here's one from a 1962 issue of Cycling and Mopeds magazine, a British weekly.

This article discusses the lack of moped clubs and how that can be remedied. If you read it closely the author puts forth some ideas that seem very similar to how we do things today. It talks about forming local clubs that operate under a national organization, holding national rallies to get everyone together, and forming racing circuits. Nothing mind-blowing really, but it's interesting to see these ideas formed some 40 years before it finally took place (and on different continent, too).

Murray makeover

2010-12-06T06:55:00.000-08:00

This week I got my Murray frame back from Responsible Phil. He and I had been talking about powder coating this for a while. The idea was a UPS brown Magnum-type color. After searching for the perfect powder, he came up with this. The results are beautiful.

As is often said, the pictures don't do it justice. It'll be sex on wheels, and nicer than any Murray deserves to be.

Completely unrelated; this is the right way to get some gamer dice blessed.

(PS: Everyone in this video is nerd-famous).

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-02T12:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Hanukkah, gentle (and gentile) readers.

(Yeah, I know it's a scooter, but when you find a scooter menorah, you post the fucking picture.)

A week in review

2010-11-29T08:22:00.000-08:00

Not really much to report for the week. I finished Fallout: New Vegas last night. I put about fifty hours into the game. About half the time I spent on my first play through on the previous, Fallout 3. There's an unfathomable amount of side jobs and quests in the game, and I spent the majority of my time playing through quite a few of those. Overall, I really enjoyed the game. I think Fallout 3 was a better ride, but this one didn't disappoint either. I miss the vast subway systems and epic views from the crumbling highways of '3, but this one offered a wider variety of options for game play. The ability to align with different factions throughout the game was far more interesting and satisfying than the very black and white morality of the karma system in the Fallout 3. The ending didn't disappoint either. I won't give away any spoilers, but the ending (which I get the feeling is different for every play though) really showcases how vast the game is. You interact with a hell of a lot of people and groups throughout the game, and they all have their own story going on. It's nicely tied up at the end. It's also got Matthew Perry and Wayne Newton, two of the most unlikely people to do voice acting for a post-apocalyptic video game, and that counts for something in my book.

As I was pulling the Puch out of the garage this morning, I realized that it had been almost a week since I had ridden a moped. Ouch. I can't remember the last time I went that long. Snow at the beginning of last week put the kibosh on Moped Monday, the following two days I drove the car to work, and during the four-day weekend, I didn't really go anywhere that didn't involve the grocery store, or going places with Steph.

The other night I discovered the varied nuances of Vespa gears. I have three different transmission main gears and all of them are the wrong size for the rest of my gears. What the hell? I had no idea. Isaac has a set of gears that he pulled from his Bravo. I'm going to try those and see if they line up properly. If not, I suppose I'll be switching over to the race gears.

The Hobbit continues to move along slowly, but surely. Digging through my crate o' Hobbit, I was able to assemble a starting clutch set up, most of the rear pulley, and a variator that is soaking in carb cleaner as we speak. Once I notch it, it should be ready to go on the bike. I need to take some time this evening before Moped Monday and cut a squish band into the head. I spent a little time last night chamfering the ports on the Athena with a file while I watched The Walking Dead. I still need to gap the piston ring, and widen the exhaust port a half millimeter on each side. By the end of the week I should have a full-operational death star engine.

Of Hobbits and Pac-Men

2010-11-22T07:00:00.000-08:00

I knew as soon as I bought a kit for the Hobbit that I would change my mind. Only a week after picking up the DR kit from Treats, did the fabled Athena 70cc kit come into stock at 1977. There were a few minutes of debate with myself until the tuner in me won, and I was placing the order for the Athena. A few days later, it showed up.

My first impression was that it had to be one of the lightest cylinder I've ever held. Which makes sense because it's less a cylinder and more a few pieces of aluminum holding a ton of swiss cheese holes together. Which is a good thing. When it comes to transfers and ports, we're really paying for what's not there anyway. Lotta flow.

The quality seems excellent. With any cylinder there's always a little flashing that will be filed off, and some chamfering of ports, but looking at this thing, I can't wait to fire up the Hobbit in 5 or 6 months.

Next step is to make a head fit. I have several options and I haven't decided which way I'm going yet.

I did read that there need to be some case mods done to make this kit work. I've scoured the forums, and mocked it up to the case, but for the life of me can't figure out what needs to be modded. Anyone?

*********************

I love Xbox 360. And with it, I love a whole slew of Xbox games. I could talk about the same games that you're probably playing, but that's not so interesting, so I'm hoping to write about some games you might not be playing.

This time around I want to talk about good old Pac-Man. I've been playing Pac-Man in one form or another since about 1981. Some versions have been good (classic Ms Pac-Man arcade version) and some haven't been so good (Atari Pac-Man).

I'm sure when I say "Pac-Man reboot" most people will scoff, but hear me out. The Championship version from a few years ago was excellent, and gave a different twist on a game that needed a new twist. The game play was fast, and using fruit to introduce a never-ending new set of pellets to munch was much better than clearing screen after similar screen.

The new Pac-Man Championship DX game does it one better. The game play is some of the best I've ever seen. It is, hands down, the fastest Pac-Man ever. The problem with ultra fast Pac-Man play has always been that there comes a point when it becomes unplayable due to the ghosts matching your speed. DX has a solution. Ghost close calls momentarily slow down game play, allowing you to figure a way out. If there's no way out, drop a "ghost bomb" and the ghosts are all sent back to jail. This sort of thing might make the game a little too easy if you weren't in a time trial, and if it is, there's always expert mode.

IGN gave it a perfect score last week, and I'd say it's pretty close to the best/most addictive Pac-Man experience I've ever had.

Speaking of games, the holidays approach, and game deals can be found left and right Here's a great blog that keeps track of the best deals going on. The holidays suck, don't forget to buy yourself something fun along the way.

thriftynerd.com

Lastly, if you've ever wondered what my D&D game looks like, here's a human fighter about to be blasted into oblivion by a Beholder. Spoilers for a future game session.

First steps out of the Shire

2010-11-15T07:55:00.000-08:00

Amid copious hours spent playing Fallout: New Vegas this weekend, I was able to peel myself away long enough to start building my Hobbit bottom end.

First, I hand-milled the head. Of the two heads that came in the box o' Hobbit this was the better one. Unfortunately it looked like it's previous piston mate had exploded causing some pretty serious pock marks. I milled it down until I had a decent mating surface; going from 220 grit to 400, and finally 600. Not a mirror finish, but it looks better than it did before. Yeah, I'm not certain its going to work, either.

I gave the case halves a bath in some engine degreaser, and they cleaned up nicely, carefully taking off the old gasket material that had fused itself on.

Bearings pressed onto the crank.

Nice noob mistake with the press caused some nicks in the shaft. Urgh.

Case halves in the oven for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. This will not (I found out) melt the engine mounts.

Everything slipped together like butter. Bolted down, and step one is complete.

Other than the nicks in the crank, the only mistake I made was installing the large seal on the wrong side of the crank. I tapped it in and lost it as it dropped onto the bearing. Pulling it out with a micro screwdriver ruined the seal, so I'll be purchasing another one in the next wave of parts. At least next time I'll know better.

Don't Call It A Comeback

2010-11-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well, well. Here we are again. It's only beeeeen...over a year. Hopefully I'm back with more frequency. The blog has gotten a makeover (thanks to my fiancé Steph and her non-colorblind eyes).

Along with that facelift, I'll be expanding to a broader range of topics. The focus will still be mopeds, but I'll delve into my other interests, too. Comics, video games, D&D, and the occasional fresh box of cereal will be discussed. I'm also cooking up a few ideas that I haven't seen in the mopediant blogosphere before. I'm a trailblazer, bitches! Well, we'll see.

Anyway. Mopeds. Yes.

I'm embarking on my first Hobbit build (that's what all the hip kids ride, right?).

One of my greatest downfalls has always been the impulse buy. I've worked on it. Really I have, but sometimes a "deal" still gets the best of me. Case in point: late summer, this year, I'm innocently working in my garage when I get a call from Vic from Portland. He's in town and is unloading moped stuff. He heard that I had some inkling of building a Hobbit, and he had a parts bike with him. $75 takes it home. I hemmed and hawed, saying I didn't need another bike in my garage. He insisted on coming over anyway. I'm strong, but when a moped shows up at my door, and I'm told to take it and Paypal later, I take it and Paypal later.

Responsible Jon later sold me his trike frame http://mopedhq.blogspot.com/2010/08/rip-hobbit-trike.html, and now I'm going to spend a rainy, possibly snowy winter building another bike.

This

plus this

plus maybe some of this

and a whole lot of this

should, fingers-crossed, become a street-scourge of Seattle by the spring. Hopefully it'll lap a race track or two before the end of next summer, too.

Specs are simple; 70cc DR kit, Motomatic pipe, 21mm PHBG, race crank, some sort of CDI set up, and other bits along the way. I should have the bottom end built this coming weekend. I'll snap a photo or two of the process.

It's interesting how five years ago in Seattle, no one wanted Hobbits (or Hondas in general). They've always been plentiful, but if it wasn't a Puch, Sachs, or Minarelli, no one wanted it. Oh, how times have changed. The level of tuning knowledge has grown substantially, and people are willing to wrench on anything.

brb. In a week or so.

moped: the rpg

2009-09-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

This:

Plus this:

Plus this:

Should equal a good way to waste time with friends this rainy winter.

Malossi kit RIP

2009-08-27T18:59:00.000-07:00

Ciao was running so well last night. With the new Polini clutch spring I was hitting higher RPMs than I ever had before. The entire RPM range was spot on. Until, after a couple of miles of blasting, I took off from a stop. The bike ku-chunked and the belt squealed as the crank completely locked up.

Alas, my first seize ever.

Also, note the double circlips. The imbedded clip is from the other side of the piston. My guess is that it came loose, shot through the cut outs in the piston and got stuck when it hit the cylinder wall. Rad.

Manventure 09

2009-08-04T08:54:00.000-07:00

210 miles to Portland with near and dear friends. I'm currently 29 hours away from departure. Tomorrow 4 of us will hit the road, traveling light, on mopeds headed to P-town.

Wednesday, we'll ride 100 miles to Centralia, WA, and stay overnight at a vintage hotel with old hostel-style rooms, a brewery, and movie theater.

Thursday, we'll finish the last 110 and ride into Portland for the sure-to-be-epic Puddle Cutter rally.

Can't wait...

On Any Sunday

2009-06-27T17:50:00.000-07:00

There are films that I've been meaning to get around to seeing. On The Waterfront, Citizen Kane, Roadhouse. Also on that list was On Any Sunday a film about motorcycle racing in 1970.

Last night, with nothing better to do, I sat down with a few beers and watched it. I can't believe how good it was. These are some of the most awesome you'll ever see. If you thought you were a half-decent rider, you may as well forget that. Watching these guys rip will either make you never want to ride again or begin riding even harder. It's just that bad ass.

Mini Bearing Press

2009-06-23T14:55:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to do a write up on this for a while. I've tried explaing this to people on the Moped Army repair forum before and it hasn't translated very well, so here goes in detail with pictures.

A bearing puller is a must have for any moped workshop. A lot of people swear by the freezing the crank/heating the bearing method, but this works a lot easier and is way quicker.

So, bearing puller. Sure, it pulls bearings. But swap a few things around and it'll work as a mini bearing press, too.

Here's what you need:

Two piece bearing puller, several different lengths of bolts, a few sockets, and a couple of spacers (lengths of handlebar tubing or exhaust pipe work great.

Place the bearing puller flatside against the underside of the crank, wide enough that it's resting on the crank cheeks, not the bearing itself.

Rub a little bit of grease on the bearing's inner race. Place the bearing onto the shaft and make sure it's level.

Place a socket over the shaft against the bearing. Make sure that the socket's only contact is with the inner race of the bearing. Ensure that you've got plenty of distance between the inside end of the socket and the threads on the shaft. Otherwise, as you torque down the bearing, eventually, the socket will come in contact with the threads and your expensive race crank is now hosed.

Thread on the top half with appropriately length of bolts and it'll look like this.

It doesn't take too much force to press the bearing on. You should be able to hold the wrench in one hand and the puller in the other. Again, as you torque it down keep an eye on where your crank threads are at. If need be, switch out the socket for a spacer and shorter socket halfway through. All in all, it should only take a couple of minutes, tops, to swap out a set of bearings. Super easy, and it doesn't require an over, freezer, flat head screwdriver, and hammer. My bearing puller is from Grainger and ran about $60. Cheaper ones can be had from Harbor Freight. Definitely one of the most handy tools I own.

Clutch-be-gone!

2009-06-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

This is not what you want to see when you pull your clutch.

Damage from the freshly built Metra 65 engine.

The clutch pads themselves are showing some minor wear from only about 6 miles of use. Obviously way too much slip. I knew the clutch was engaging super late. It was revving out like a chainsaw engine and grabbing hard. The low end was fantastic, but I knew they springs needed to be adjusted. The arm that sheared was probably engaging first and taking the full strain of the clutch which caused it to break free.

Prior to the clutch exploding, it wasn't fully disengaging causing the bike to insta-die at idle and pushing the bike forward, not running, would cause the clutch to chug-chug-chug without even pulling the starter clutch.

I suspect something else is the culprit here as this is the second clutch that's given me problems in the past couple of days. Possibly some issue with the main gear which seems to be making more noise than it should, although no teeth are missing and it seems to be in good shape. Or possibly a spun bearing on the crank since I'm using the crapped out Rito that spun a bearing previously (stator side). I used some bearing compound which is designed for that sort of thing, but it may not have been enough or the crank is just too far gone.

I'm going to install another stock 2-shoe with stock springs and see what happens. If that doesn't work, I'll be time to crack the case again, and replace the crank.

Moped Garage Sale

2009-06-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Matt Coles threw a moped garage sale Saturday morning, getting rid of new and old parts he'd had stashed for years.

My purchases:

Vespa engine top and bottom end (turns over freely) $4
Complete 14mm Bing w/ intake $5
Various Puch & Vespa sales pamphlets $10
Ciao top cover bracket $0.25
2 sets of handlebars $3
Sito Vespa pipe $1
Bing Hi flow filter $5

Pretty sweet score for less than $30.

Snordly's Interceptor

2009-06-19T12:19:00.001-07:00

Snordly always blows me away with his perverse creations. This one is no exception. It started out life as one of these:

And became this:

Purchased from Dean for the price of a burrito, and after quite a bit of freakish work is now a ripping little pike bike-looking thing. Complete with non-functional pedals, top tank, and 14mm Bing carb. Genius stuff there, Steve.

Moped Rally by Colin Clary

2009-06-16T10:04:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool little song I found about riding mopeds with friends on a Sunday afternoon. Hadn't heard this one before.

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow?

2009-06-15T15:57:00.001-07:00

Yeah...I probably still won't find anything good.

...is another man's moped treasure.

2009-06-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

This unspeakably heinous mess quite literally (okay not literally) dropped into my lap on Saturday. An abandoned Kinetic moped.

Steph and I were walking to the park the other day and saw this hobo-ped parked on the street with the seat laying on the ground next to it. I though nothing of it, other than to comment on the Mosquito Fleet sticker on the headlight bucket.

Jump forward to Saturday with Tiffany posting a message, from a friend, on Moped Army that the bike was abandoned and that the "M.F. President" should come get it. I walked down the street, grabbed the bike (which was now halfway in a bush, leaned up against a telephone pole), and walked it back to the garage.

Maybe I'll find the owner (it looks stolen), if not I'll strip it for parts (CDI, carb, handlebars, fenders, wheels, etc), and sell/give away the frame.

Addendum:

Let's be honest here, I really hope I don't find the owner. The Kinetic CDI is the only thing holding me back from getting the Ciao (aka Drunker Ciao aka Big Yellow Joint) up and running again, and I could use some of those parts to get the Bravo running to sell for big summer dollars. I'm hoping that by grudgingly trying to locate the owner that karma will smile upon me and let me keep the heap guilt free.

I need to get to work...

2009-06-11T08:03:00.000-07:00

In more ways than one.

I've been staring at this pile of parts on the bench for a couple of weeks now. The plan is to build it up, swap out engines on the Puch, and ride it in Reno. Then swap out the stock engine on the Murray, and have it ready for MoSTP/Portland Rally in August.

Specs are:

Metra 65 kit
70cc high comp head
Rito crank
Original mid-80s three shoe clutch with Paz springs
20mm PHBG with 21mm Intake
Some sort of air filter that will fit in the frame that is yet to be determined.
Stock gearing (probably)
I'm still undecided between another Boss pipe or another Estoril pipe.
And if the the bugs get worked out with the cheap Treats/1977 CDI boxes, I'll throw one of those on, too.

Here's the case match:

Shooting for Saturday to get it done.

Big Fat welcomes Bill Murray to the clan

2009-06-04T09:12:00.000-07:00

This is Bill Murray in 1982.

This is Bill Murray in 2009.

Got him off of Craigslist for $150. The bike is complete, except for a rear brake cable and the left side cover. And it included a title, which was worth the $150 alone.

I was the first of about 20 phone calls, and, thankfully, the guy didn't try to jack the price once he realized that it was worth more than he was selling it for. He was selling it for his dad and I think just wanted to be rid of it.

The moped was located in the middle of nowhere, luckily I work with people that live in the middle of nowhere and I gave one of my co-workers $50 to go pick it up and deliver it to work the next day.

The bike was filthy after having spent the entire Bush administration hiding out in a barn. It looked like a basket case, but I pulled off the flywheel cover and turned the flywheel and it sounded and felt perfect. The stator was super clean, and the odometer had 1300 miles on it. The gas tank is clean, with absolutely no rust. Once the bike is cleaned up I don't think it will look bad at all.

It's a 1.5 HP, but some simple work should fix that. It has a really restrictive air box, a plug in the 14mm intake reducing it down to about 7 or 8mms, one of the tiniest bing jets i've ever seen, a 13 tooth sprocket, probably restrictors in the pipe, and probably also a really thick head gasket.

An hour's worth of work and I had it running. Drained the old gas, threaded in a fresh spark plug, adjusted the clutch cable, cleaned the carb and adjusted the float. Adjusting the float, and troubleshooting a bad spark plug boot took the longest.

The bike is still here at work. This morning I put air in the tires (we'll see if it holds). Later today I'll install some brake cables that I hobo'ed together from spare parts in the garage. After that it should be ready for it's maiden (albeit slow) voyage home.

2009-01-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

chipped piston

2009-01-17T13:19:00.001-08:00

drunker ciao

2008-12-10T17:21:00.001-08:00

more vespa carnage

2008-07-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

2008-07-13T13:31:00.001-07:00

vespa carnage.

2008-06-04T15:08:00.001-07:00

Started hacking into the cylinder last night. Took about an hour to get one transfer port semi-done.

And about a half hour to widen out the exhaust port. I plan on doing more work to the exhaust as I want to widen the port. I've been told I can go as wide as 25mm in the cylinder, but I need to measure where the edge of the ring travels in the cylinder.

I also need more Dremel bits...

TIP: Make sure you stuff the cylinder with a rag while doing port work. There were a couple of times where my Dremel slipped and if I hadn't had the rag in place I would have gouged the inner wall of the cylinder.

2008-06-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here are marks for some of the porting to be done to the cylinder.

I can't widen the transfers quite as much as marked, but I can take out quite a bit. The TCCD kit bulges out on the sides to have enough room for the huge transfer ports.

I can really take out a lot of the material on the exhaust port, but need to be careful to maintain the ramp as that helps draw the charge back in to scavenge the cylinder of fuel.

And here's the mark for cutting the sleeve.

2008-06-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

Port job. Matched to a TCCD 50cc kit. Started with a Dremel high speed cutting bit to take out most of the meat. Moved to a slim stone grinding bit to even out the ramp. Next some hand sanding with 180 grit sand paper, and finished off with some 400 grit sand paper to smooth out the finish.

Results look good.

2008-05-27T20:36:00.000-07:00

The Boss pipe came. I have to do some major grinding on the header to get it to seat properly within the recesses on the cylinder.

I also did some Dremel grinding to flatten out a couple of manufacturing flaws on the header's mating surface, followed by some wet sanding with 180 grit on a small piece of bathroom tile to further flush the header surface. I rounded it out with some 400 grit, and now it looks to be an even surface.

I cracked the case yesterday and installed new bearings and seals. Next is to case match to the ports on the TCCD 50 kit.

2008-05-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Going to try out a digital bicycle speedo on the Puch. This should help figure out the fine tuning aspects better while I'm trying to dial in the bike.

CatEye Enduro 8

With an 8lb rare earth magnet.

Should do the trick.

2008-05-14T15:36:00.000-07:00

Need to build a cafe fairing. I'm thinking if I can find a rigid plastic bucket sort of thing that's rounded on one end, I can cut the shape out similar to the picture. A few mounting brackets on the handlebars and a quick paint job, and I'll be ready to go.

2008-05-12T10:10:00.001-07:00

Tecno Boss pipe is what I need. The Estoril is nice, but is really limiting in the high RPMs and it seems to have a ceiling around 45mph, I'm having a hard time pushing the Puch beyond that. Shaw uses these almost exclusively on 60mph bikes. And at $60 a pipe, it's a bargain. Hopefully Benji has one left in stock...

2008-05-08T14:03:00.000-07:00

First blueprint.

2008-05-08T12:35:00.001-07:00

New parts for the rebuild:

Stock #3 cylinder
Matching piston
New rings
38 tooth rear sprocket
Three-shoe clutch w/ Paz springs
Replacement points
16mm Dellorto PHBG carb
Custom 16.5mm "Naz" intake
Malossi velocity stack air filter (no foam packing)
Replacement main gear
Drop bars
Sava M11 2.25" semi-slick tires
All new bearings, seals and gaskets

2008-05-08T10:59:00.000-07:00

I've got a used #3 stock cylinder and matching piston on the way from Jon, one of the general forum users. I'll pick up a new set of rings from Dean, at Seattle Mopeds. And Benji from Treats is shipping out a 38 tooth rear sprocket.

One of the race rules is that you must use a stock cylinder, but can modify it anyway you'd like. The #3 is what I had on the bike, originally. I broke the exhaust studs, and a couple of fins from my original cylinder, so I've decided to replace it with the same thing. The #3s are nice since they have larger ports. The new rings should ensure solid high compression.

I'm concerned about using the 38 tooth sprocket. Currently the 41 tooth helps get me up to higher speeds, but takes at least a block or two to reach full speed. My concern is that, while the 38 will increase top speed, it'll take me even longer to get up to my potential. And in a racing situation, with only a 1.7 mile drag, it could cause me to fall behind and my top speed not giving me enough to catch up.

The BMX freewheel allows me to pedal up to about 18mph very quickly. I need to tune my clutch springs to engage, conservatively, at about 15mph. I may set the grab even lower for the race and go for an instant grab, even though it puts a lot of stress on the clutch and bell. I'm hoping a stock cylinder will give me more of a low end advantage than the TCCD kit (which is notorious for lack of low-end power). Although I may have better luck tuning the clutch to the Estoril's power band, and having them both kick at the same time, allowing for a noticeable power boost at around 25mph.

2008-05-08T10:39:00.001-07:00

This blog is, more than anything, simply a way for me to document the performance work I do to my Puch Maxi moped. It's been a labor of love since 2005, and I've continued to modify the bike over the past several years. This current incarnation will be to change the bike from a 50cc kitted moped into a stock-modified racer. I'll be testing my tuning mettle in an upcoming race between Puddle Cutters and Mosquito Fleet.

Current set up:

TCCD 50cc kit
Slightly milled hi-comp head
1 head gasket
1 base gasket
15mm Bing w/ 82 jet
Carb needle position set at bottom notch (rich)
K&N-style foam filter
15mm intake
Rito stuffed race crank
Two shoe clutch with orange Paz springs
17 x 41 gearing
Tecno Estoril pipe
BMX 17 tooth freewheel on pedal side