Pete Wall http://blog.petewall.net/ Pete's blog. en-us Copyright 2010, Pagemill RSS, Pete Wall Pagemill RSS http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss webmaster@petewall.net (PeteWall.net webmaster) webmaster@petewall.net (PeteWall.net webmaster) The most important tech products of 2010 http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=333 Inspried by a list by Kevin Rose, I made my own list of tech products that would be the hardest to give up*. I'd like to do this every year, and see how things change. Here's the list for 2010: * I'm not going to say "that I can't live without". Thankfully, my life does not depend on these things. Pete computers,internet,myth,personal,technology,tv,videogames http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=333#comment1 Wed, 24 Mar 2010 13:37:04 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=333 Pagemill RSS Creative solutions http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=332 We just finished our upstairs bathroom renovations and it looks amazing. One thing we did to give us more storage space was to add a recessed vanity. It has some unusual nooks that could lead to a lot of wasted space. A little creativity goes a long way...
Toothbrush rack Toothbrush rack
 Pete home http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=332#comment1 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:57:42 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=332 Pagemill RSS Coming back http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=331 I'll be posting more stuff again. Stay tuned. Pete website http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=331#comment1 Sun, 31 Jan 2010 10:53:02 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=331 Pagemill RSS 4 years of awesome http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=330 ASCII Love Pete family,personal http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=330#comment1 Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:51:38 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=330 Pagemill RSS New Tank Bag http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=329
Tank Bag Rapid Transit Bradley Strap Mount Tank Bag
 Pete motorcycles http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=329#comment1 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 21:55:17 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=329 Pagemill RSS Fairing repair http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=328 ABS Cement So, since I got my motorcycle around October last fall, I didn't have much time to ride before winter hit Minnesota. It's already been a long winter, but I've been keeping myself busy with some winter projects. One of my first projects was to fix the various cracks and warps in the fairings. To do so, I used the ABS cement trick described in the Ninja 250 FAQ. I picked up a cheap soldering iron from Radio Shack and I had some ABS cement on hand. The process is simple:
  1. Find the crack
  2. Sand down the rough edges
  3. Use the soldering iron along the crack to melt the fairing back together
  4. After it cools, sand down the crack again
  5. Add ABS cement to fill in the gaps
  6. Sand the outside face until smooth
  7. Repeath steps 5 and 6 as needed
You can just solder the inside face, which would make it hard to notice from the outside. That also has the advantage that you might not have to repaint, which you would if you sanded both sides. I knew I was going to repaint, so I did sand both sides. Here are some pictures of my fixes.
Lower fairing 1 This is a crack in lower fairingOutside sanded The outside is sanded
Inside sanded The inside is cleaned and sandedOutside sanded The crack is soldered from the inside
Outside sanded ABS cement is added to strengthen the jointOutside sanded Here's the result from the outside.
I had two cases that took a lot more than one pass to completely fix. The first was on the upper fairing, which you can see from an earlier post, a pink streak by the front-left turn signal. That was a large crack that a previous owner filled in with Bondo. Bondo is great for filling in dents or other divots, but I don't think it's the right tool for joining cracks. I sanded that down until the original crack was exposed, and then soldered it together. It took several (probably 8 - 10) cycles with adding the cement and sanding down until it was smooth and there were no bumps. The rear fairing had a crack that made a small ripple. That one also was a matter of sanding off the hills and filling in the valleys.
Upper fairing The upper fairing's Bondo streakRear fairing The rear fairing a few cycles into the process
It took a while, but they're smooth now. I'm now in the process of painting, and that's very satisfying. Pete motorcycles http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=328#comment1 Tue, 24 Feb 2009 22:40:42 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=328 Pagemill RSS Olive likes riding in the car http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=327
Olive
 Pete family http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=327#comment1 Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:15:03 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=327 Pagemill RSS The tale of the puffy face http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=326 We normally let Olive run around outside with just the "sparkle" (shock) collar on. She enjoys it, and we get to stay inside. Win-win. However, that doesn't keep her from getting into stuff. A few days ago, she came back in and after a while, I noticed her poor face puffing up. Either she ate something she was allergic to, or got stung by something... we may never know. Our sweet little puppy is a trooper, though. Even at her worst, she still wanted to play with her toys. I had to put her in her crate to keep her still. Some peanut butter flavored "puppy crack" with a sliver of Benadryl, and a few hours later, she was feeling, and looking, better.
Puffy face Oh, Puffy Face!Normal face Feeling better
 Pete family http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=326#comment1 Sun, 22 Feb 2009 11:04:29 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=326 Pagemill RSS Olive's day of destruction http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=325 Apparently, the door to Olive's crate wasn't fully locked, so she had a day with free reign of the house. Here's the casualties:
Total Loss: 3 Apple earbuds 2 pens 1 cactus and plastic pot from IKEA 1 *brand new and unused* yellow purse Partial loss: WeightWatchers book (cover chewed off) Calendar for Betsy Wall Photography (edges "rounded") 1 shirt (belonging to Ann. Sorry sister) 1 document Things she surprisingly missed: The table full of my winter motorcycle projects (wires, small plugs, etc...) iPod USB cables Apple laptop charger (she has a reputation, since she's chewed three of these in the past) 1 bottle of body wash (thankfully) Any of the numerous power cords around (again, she has a reputation) Bundles and bundles of yarn Things she unsurprisingly missed: Her food Her toys
Olive This is how I found herAftermath This was pretty much all of the chaos
Earbuds Earbuds...Pens Pens...
Cactus One unfortunate cactusPurse Brand new purse...
Jack Headphone jack...Address book Address book...
Flower pot Flower pot...Bad dog Bad dog!
 Pete family,personal http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=325#comment1 Sat, 31 Jan 2009 16:36:03 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=325 Pagemill RSS I got new pants! http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=324
Pants!
 Pete motorcycles http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=324#comment1 Fri, 23 Jan 2009 07:36:52 CST http://blog.petewall.net/pagemill.cgi?post=324 Pagemill RSS