Thread: What are you working on?

Freddie that's great strop! I really like it. Sadly they tossed an entire fire hose at work and another guy beat me to it. Or I'd have a pile of the stuff.

Originally Posted by ejmolitor37

Glad you got things squared away on the Heritage Roy. Safe is best especially with brakes. And especially those old single piston calipers, and since the front brake takes a majority of the braking, have it top shape.

Man, I have a local cycle shop and it's the ONLY cycle shop where I am smiling as I leave.
Every other one I have stepped into I was holding my ass as I walked-out.
Betcha there is a whole aftermarket setup which will smoke those 50 year old designs?
Perhaps for the same money?

Harly dealers. Everything list price. Like a 20 dollar aspirin at the hospital!

Originally Posted by MisterClean

Got it, thanks Rez, I'll try it and get back to you. Kind of like a shoe shine boy, right?

Dirtiest Job In Town---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX7qpR4Mr-I

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Man, I have a local cycle shop and it's the ONLY cycle shop where I am smiling as I leave.
Every other one I have stepped into I was holding my ass as I walked-out.
Betcha there is a whole aftermarket setup which will smoke those 50 year old designs?
Perhaps for the same money?

Harly dealers. Everything list price. Like a 20 dollar aspirin at the hospital!

When I worked there Tom, I got everything at cost plus 10%. That was then, this is now.............

A Harley is not a very economical thing, it would seem.
Then, neither is my old Triumph.
Even when you can do the labor yourself, it's like fixing the car...Or more.

Originally Posted by sharptonn

A Harley is not a very economical thing, it would seem. Then, neither is my old Triumph either.
Even when you can do the labor yourself, it's like fixing the car...Or more.

Yep! You are so right, Triumph's, Norton's, BSA's all those English scooters weren't cheap to work on. I have a c-clamp in my tool box with a 1/8" thick piece of rubber on it for some of those brake calipers & I also had one of those K&D tools which I couldn't find but it was very similar to this one:

Capri Tools Brake Pad Spreader and Piston Compressor Tool | eBay

The Harley's like the one I have that was totaled have a 4 piston caliper & the brake pads could be replaced w/o pulling the caliper off by using a stiff putty knife between the disc & old pads & prying the pistons in & the pads would fall out when pulling the pins out. That was the way they showed us at Harley. You just had to make sure you pushed the pistons all the way in but it wasn't hard. Then on the ones with dual disc brakes, the pistons would sometimes stick some, so I would blow all that old dust out of there, spray brake cleaner on them, blow that off & spray some lube on the pistons & push them in. I would then pump the front brakes until the pistons came out again & would repeat until all 4 pistons were working again. People loved it, then my dealership started charging them for it.

Back to razor's..................

Originally Posted by RezDog

Hey Freddie, I had apiece of hemp that seemed a tad too rough for my liking so I clamped a piece of black iron pipe in my vice, too some sandpaper and thoroughly cleaned a section of it and then buffed it like crazy going back and forth with my hemp strop. That broke it in nicely. It is one of my favourite second material strops now. It might be worth a try, I'm sure you have pipe clamps in your shop.

So I took your idea but instead of pipe, I used a coffee cup in my guitar vise. Thanks again, Freddie

Originally Posted by MisterClean

So I took your idea but instead of pipe, I used a coffee cup in my guitar vise. Thanks again, Freddie

I think yer being too gentle again, Freddie! It's not a guitar! Needs to be abused a bit!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

I think yer being too gentle again, Freddie! It's not a guitar! Needs to be abused a bit!

Yeah like Jimi Hendix or The Who would do on stage & trash their instruments!!!