dave's blog

My Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter 1500 motorcycle has always run rich, was cranky to start, and never felt “right” until it was warmed up; today I discovered why. Apparently, one of the four spark plugs wasn’t installed correctly when the motorcycle was originally assembled. It was close enough that the machine ran, but with ongoing side effects:

• Cold hearted beast – until it was warm, it didn’t run smoothly
• Very rich – it has always run rich
• Hard starting – was often difficult to start, particularly in cold weather

After cleaning up the residual goo in the offending spark plug socket, I completed installing four new plugs – being careful to cinch them down just enough to crush the washers into place. I also cleaned out the throttle body with a toothbrush and some Seafoam.  The tooth brush turned incredibly black – I kept rinsing it with Seafoam, then scrubbing more – careful to clean the throttle body and the butterfly valve.

I pushed the starter and the bike roared to life. I immediately noticed that the idle sounded different – as if it were hunting for the right spot; it was idling too fast, so I backed off the idle adjustment and everything settled down. I quickly realized that the bike was idling smoothly, with the engine cold, with no encouragement from me… this is a new experience for me.

Rolling on the throttle brought a very smooth, even response from the engine. In fact, I found myself grinning and grabbing way more throttle than I should have. I’m going to need to keep a close eye on the speedometer until I’m used to the new performance. I think I'll put the GPS on the bike tomorrow for my ride to work - as a reminder.

Two odd side-effects from this maintenance: it appears that the amount of deceleration during full throttle-off is less (I’ll need to use my brakes a bit more), and I’m getting some popping in my exhaust. I think I have the fresh air injection system blocked (to eliminate popping), but perhaps one of the marbles(!) slipped? I’ll have to check it.

I’m really looking forward to getting a few miles on the bike now - I wonder what might happen to my mileage? I recently achieved 46 mpg around town - quite good for a 1500.
 

In my ongoing fight to be safe on the motorcycle, I recently modified the LED lighting surrounding my license plate. While I only have the "after" picture, I think the description may be enough to inform the curious. The license plate frame was purchased from Signal Dynamics. The LEDs will show in dim and bright - mapping to running lights and brake lights. The frame is made of steel (powder coated black) and the LEDs are pretty bright.

After observing various LED installations on cars, I realized that the less interference from daytime ambient light, the more effective the LEDs became. The LED housing on the motorcycle frame extends past the frame about 1/2 inch and is made of the same red, transparent plastic all around. To reduce how much ambient light competes with the LEDs, I've recently painted the outside edges of the housing so that only the rear section is clear.

I don't have any empirical data to report, just my subject review; the most obvious difference to my eyes: each of the LEDs now appears as a distinct "dot" against a much darker background, and the difference between running light and brake light seems more pronounced. I certainly haven't lost any functionality and the modification appears "stock." Would I recommend this simple modification to others with similar set-ups? You betcha.

I'm a sucker for technology and time pieces. I also enjoy an art form called, "Steam Punk." Take something old, sneak in something new, and you have classic coolness. In this case, the something old is Nixie tubes. Nixie tubes are vacuum tubes (similar to those from old TVs and radio sets) that use their cathode to provide a digital character representation - typically a number. They were used in digital clocks and counters beginning in the early 60's. Now someone has mated 60's Nixie tubes with a GPS heart to create an incredibly accurate digital clock with old school warmth and style. It's not cheap ($400), but still very cool.

One of my greatest joys is building teams at work who function more like families; they care for each other on a personal level, discovering depths of commonality that were unanticipated, and building very satisfying job environments for every other team they touch.

There are many team members who have kept in touch over the years. They sometimes reach out through a quick instant message, an email, or a comment on my Facebook page. It’s a tremendous encouragement to me that the family link remains long after the day-to-day exposure ends.

Sometimes, when jobs are challenging, they still seek out an opportunity to vent, discover solutions, or talk about how they’ve solved issues. I do my best to encourage them to find ways to connect with the people they work with on very human terms. Some people don't want to share the human connection - but, in my experience, most people relish having a friend at work.

In a world filled with high-stress jobs, high unemployment, and ever increasing demands on our time, it’s sometimes very difficult to remember that the people we work with a humans too. Having a challenge at work? Try to share some personal time with someone and share in each other’s worlds… a cup of coffee can be a great excuse…

When we purchased our home in 2005, I envisioned a place in the three car garage where I could perform maintenance and upgrades on computers. With the addition of a refrigerator, leather couch, recliner, microwave, pegboard, and now a workbench, it has begun to earn its moniker: Man World. Today Ken and I ran a connection from the telephone system punch-down block to the workbench. My old rotary telephone is now in service again – thanks Ira! Completed tasks include the aforementioned telephone line, gigabit computer network connection, work light, workbench assembly, drawer lining and population, plus the assembly of one computer workstation and one surplus notebook from spare parts. There still plenty to do (dedicated power circuit, shop flooring, etc.), but the bench is quite usable now – no more kitchen counter computer sessions!