Been playing around with rapid prototyping lately. The prices have come down enough that it's often less expensive to just have the part printed than to do any machining. I've been using Shapeways.com and you just pay for the volume of material used. As a first test I printed a reed manifold that I had started designing in 2005 for the Unstealth.

After day 3 I didn't have much interest in posting anything public about the cannonball. The big challenge on day 3 was 40 miles of dirt that passed through the Capital Reef and down to Lake Powel. The morning had been one of sensory overload. Every time you thought it had reached a crescendo you came around a corner and found it was even more stunning. The pictures are representative but only just. I decided that I could either experience it or record it and I chose to experience it.

When the dirt started I took it relatively slow at first. I left the passenger pegs on the SYM specifically for this section. I moved my feet back and stood up to be able to absorb the bumps better. I've ridden scooters in dirt before but wanted to get a feel for things before opening it up. That and I wanted to leave some attention free for taking in the views. By the time I hit the switch-backs I was feeling pretty good about the way the bike handled so I opened it up a bit when I hit the flats. The first turn convinced me to slow it back down a bit but I could still maintain a good pace. I reached the lake with 20 min to spare till the next ferry left.

As others reached the ferry I found out that several had crashed in the dirt and one was hurt pretty bad. From that point on I was worried about everyone finishing each day. The rides were still gorgeous and enjoyable but it was a huge relief each day when everyone was accounted for. Not that any of the riders needed me worrying over them, everyone was great, but I worried anyway.

The SYM handled the whole trip with almost no maintenance. I checked the oil each day, added a bit a few times to keep it at the full line. I pulled the belt cover off twice to inspect things but there was no need to change the belt or rollers. The duct-tape covered cardboard I used to make the seat more aerodynamic was showing some wear by the end of the trip but that's to be expected. The rear tier is squared off and down to the wear bars but still has tread left. Below is the mileage on the first 9 days. I didn't fill it up after day 10 so I don't have values for the last day. When it get's back to San Francisco I'll give it a complete service and note any wear items.

day 1	day 2	day 3	day 4	day 5	day 6	day 7	day 8	day 9
62 mpg	64 mpg	64 mpg	68 mpg	69 mpg	67 mpg	63 mpg	69 mpg	53 mpg*

* I think I left the fuel pump on at one point and over filled the main tank causing some of it to spill :(

the on line tracking thing is not working, oh well. The SYM is running great (knock on wood) and other than a broken kickstand yesterday I've had no issues. Finished the day about 10min behind Jess, but I think I got more pictures. Nevada was really beautiful but also fast. Spent most the day tucked in but the bike is not really ergonomic for that style riding.

got most of the points up for the day and the system is working out ok.

Not really ready to go yet but I'm ready to get away from work.

I'll have a SPOT with me to track my location, SPOT OopsClunkThud. I'll be testing it out over the next few days to be sure it's working ok. I'm also trying something different with the GPS. I found a way to put the official route in as a fixed line on the map in addition to routing from checkpoint to checkpoint. This will let me choose to stick to the route or not and have the GPS not get confused with too many points in the route.

The SYM is mostly ready, still need to put tools together and load the bike. Also need to measure one last time how much fuel I can hold. I've been getting 68mpg so if I can hold the full 5 gal I'll have a range of 340 miles.

Picked up the UnStealth from First Kick today and drove around a bit. Tomorrow I'm having pictures done and then I can wash it. In the meantime here's a before and after picture.

I use to hate electricals. I finally determined that i hated it because I didn't understand it and took some classes. now electrical systems are no big deal and I kind of like them.

Now sorting out the jetting in a carburetor is a bit of an art and you have to practice to get good at it. given that the UnStealth is the first engine I've built in 12 years and the first engine I've jetted in 8, I don't get a lot of practice. I make up for it by keeping very careful notes and only changing one thing at a time

At least that's the plan. Today I had some free time before 10 and I figured I'd do a trial run of 'get up at 6, be ready to ride in leathers by 7'. i'd go for a short ride to finish the 1 hr run in. But before riding I wanted to make a few adjustments. I changed the spark plug to a cooler one, and I moved the needle to a richer position.

got to the bottom of the hill and the scoot ran like crap. pushed it home, changed it from richer to leaner, got to the bottom of the hill, still bad, pushed it home, changed it back to the way it had been before I started and got to the bottom of the hill, still the same. then I notice I'm out of fuel. oops!

After getting fuel it was still the same problem so i figured it was something with the fuel pump. I have been having issues with the fuel pump anyhow so redid the tubing for the fuel pump and it still ran like crap. then I had to go to work and stuff.

After having some time to think about the fuel pump problems I had a plan to solve it. well, it made the fuel delivery nice and steady but the scoot still ran like crap. cleaned the carb, dropped the main jet a size and it still ran like crap. I gave up. And then an image of the needle setting came to my mind. I had it set to notch 2 yesterday, counting from the top. currently it was in notch 2 counting from the bottom. oops!

now it runs fine again. should be done with run in on friday morning and get the final jetting sorted friday afternoon. then I can put it on the dyno on Sat. I'm expecting 14HP.

The UnStealth is finally done.

there is a lot of fine tuning to do but everything is together, hooked up, connected... Having some fuel delivery issues at the moment. think there's some muck in the float needle.

Well it took quite a bit longer to finish the engine than I thought but it's finally done and in the scoot.

I'm still a bit worried about the clutch but we will know soon enough if it's a problem. next step is to hook up the wiring and then check the timing or I could connect the cables. Still quite a bit to do.

The UnStealth is coming along. got the fuel line and the tank mounted.

Heather helped me with the wiring harness and I finished it today and got it in the scoot. that was the last thing I needed before I could put the headset on so that's done too.

Tomorrow the two halves of the engine go together and the engine goes into the bike.

The paint is done. went with Earl Scheib as I was running out of time and they could do it quickly. it's not perfect but it's not bad either. Started putting it all together.

on friday Heather is helping me build the wiring harness. then she will know the secrets of scooter wiring. she can't see what's so hard about it but then neither can I. most people treat it like voodoo and just connect stuff at random till it kind of work. we've got a plan and measurements for all the wires so it should go smoothly.

So I've started the final build on my scooter for the cannonball. So far I've got the engine half built but I'm waiting on a main bearing and maybe a new shifting cross to finish it. The bearings in this half went in beautifully but the final drive bearing on the other case half was a pain.

I've also finished building the forks with the disc break and Paioli shock. Lots of little modifications here as these parts were not intended to go together.

could not resist picking up a new scooter in Vegas. A 1965 Rabbit Superflow 601, 200cc, automatic. Always thought they were way cool and this one is in great shape.

I just got my custom tail light lens for the UnStealth. This was made by ClaussStudios.com and it came out really nice.

So this is a really bad picture I took with my phone but it shows it's coming together. Need to machine some brackets for the rearsets and the 3.5 gallon tank. then I think the body is done.

Finished the LED tail light last night. still have some work to do in it and need to cut the housing to fit it but I can see the light output now. It's setup to run at 1/3 power for the tail light and then go to full for brake. full power is only 1.4W compared to 15W for the stock lamp.

I also lowered the hesdset by 25mm but burnt up my dremel tool in the process. I'm having some clearance issues with the rear shock and need to lower the back a bit to fix it.