2014-10-05 Cruiser Bike

This thing is supposedly a La Jolla Street Cruiser. Truthfully it is a bike shaped object with all that entails. Fortunately some people value such things, when priced suitably.

2014-10-04 Cub Cadet Snowblower

What an interesting device. This Cub Cadet 528 SWE 10hp snowblower showed up in the back of the a pickup and the two discarders said it did not run and there was a problem with the oil. A quick pull test indicated it seems to turn over with the appropriate resistance at presumably appropriate times. We grabbed it.

Update: Further inspection, oil level was way high. We dumped that and tossed the right amount of new oil in. Plug was dry, no fouling. Fuel in the tank, nothing really seems wrong. Started first pull once we figured out the safety key triggering mechanism, which was a little dismembered by some previous half assed attempt to diagnose things.

Runs all funny though and the throttle is a bit weird so tuneup required and we are fine with that.

2014-10-03 Schwinn Collegiate

This Schwinn Collegiate bike had dry rotted tyres and some general brake misconfiguration. Not so hard to remedy, and a quick clean made it into quite an attractive device, as you might see from the picture. It shall be sold as soon as we find somebody who appreciates said attraction.

2014-09-27 Appliances

One random vacuum cleaner and one random drill. Vacuum works, drill does not.

These gathered for a friend who wishes to do more electrical tinkering. We have access to fodder for that.

2014-09-06 Dog Bowl

This random stainless steel dog bowl showed up a little dirty but we cleaned it and left it with a dog owner friend.

Note, we know it is a dog bowl because of the bones around the rim. This is clearly a signal to the dog that what is in the bowl is for canine consumption.

2014-08-23 Frankenbike

This bike showed up as a hashed up fixie conversion. Salient points included:

• No brakes.
• Stupid hipster drop bars.
• Fixed gear on a dedicated hub (i.e. not seemingly possibly to make it just single speed).
• Bent up and broken single speed chain.
• Bald rear tire.
• No pedals.
• Single front chainring.
• Front quick release cranked down by turning the lever side, not by using the lever.
• Weird non-matching chunky forks with threadless steerer.

The frame is a pretty nice thing so I found a possible owner for it.

It needed a bunch of stuff to get it in the state seen above. Specifically

• Cool old adjustable centering Dia Compe 500 brakes with later hooded aero levers.
• Modern alu bars.
• A couple of non-matching BMX pedals.
• Shimano 600 derailleur.
• Special frankenchain pieced together from some leftover bits of chain I had.
• Random 6-speed rear wheel, new old stock, with nice Michelin tyre.
• Some cleanliness.

It is now a great ride, really quick and agile. Maybe too nice. If the prospective new owner likes it I will finish off things like bar tape and other bits and pieces.

2014-08-16 Instep Jogger

A random Instep Ultra double jogger in perfectly usable condition. No apparent reason for discard. Certainly needs a quick clean (note it is already soaking wet as part of that process) but will be good to go soon.