Blog

Wishing everyone out there a happy, healthy and prosperous new year!

"I'm very pleased with the pro 1200 lift I purchased, I'd recommend it to anyone, well built, sturdy strong, very professional for any shop or home mechanic." -Robert

Reposted from http://mceventscalendar.com (Or How To Get Invited To Go Riding Again) By Chuck Hawks Riding on a motorcycle with a friend is one of the most fun things you can do. It can be an even more enjoyable experience if the passenger understands and follows a few simple rules. To be the kind of passenger riders want to ride with, remember the following: 1. Wear clothing that will give you some protection in the unlikely event of a spill. As a minimum, you should wear the following to protect yourself: Footwear that protects your feet and your ankles (hiking boots are good). Durable pants–leather is best; lacking leather, you will have to make do with jeans, work pants, or something similar. An abrasion resistant jacket that zips or buttons up close to the neck (again, leather is best if you have it; a nylon flight jacket or parka are satisfactory, and a Levis-type jacket will do in a pinch). Durable gloves. Eye protection–ideally, the helmet you borrow or own should have a face shield for comfort as well as protection. If it does not, goggles are good, and glasses (dark or prescription) will do. 2. You should also attempt to dress appropriately for the weather. If you have not ridden very much, you probably do not realize how hot or how cold it can be on a motorcycle. If it is hot, it will feel a lot hotter while you are riding; if it is cold, it will feel a lot colder while you are riding. Ask the rider for advice about dressing for the anticipated conditions, but don’t compromise your minimum level of protection as described above. On hot sunny days, one trick is to wear an extra large white shirt over your jacket. It will reflect a lot of heat and help keep you cool. In general, it is easier to dress safely and comfortably for a cool day than for a hot one. Lastly, don’t wear anything loose and floppy (like a long scarf or bell bottom pants) that could get caught in the rear wheel, sprockets, drive chain or belt, or any other moving part of the motorcycle. You could injure yourself, and might cause an accident. 3. Wear a securely fastened helmet that fits properly. Most riders have extra helmets and will be glad to loan you one. A helmet should be a snug fit; it should not be possible to twist it around on your head. The strap should be pulled as tight as you can get it. You can test for fit, and to see if the strap is tight, like this: grasp the chinbar of a full coverage helmet, or the edge of an open face helmet directly over your forehead, and try to pull the helmet backwards off your head. If the helmet winds up on the back of your head, tighten the strap or get a helmet that fits. The rider can show you how to put on your helmet properly and easily (you kind of roll it onto your head from the front). If you ride often, you will eventually want to buy your own helmet. Just about any motorcycle shop can help you pick out a suitable helmet that fits you correctly. 4. Before you attempt to mount the motorcycle, make sure that the passenger footpegs are down. (They fold up when not in use, and it is easy for the rider to forget to put them down for you.) If you don’t know where the footpegs are, have the rider point them out to you. Also, beware of the hot exhaust pipes. Make sure you know where they are, and don’t let your leg or any part of your body touch them as you mount or dismount the motorcycle. They can give you a severe burn right through the heaviest pants. 5. It is customary to get on or off the motorcycle from the left side. Always wait for the rider to tell you it’s okay to mount or dismount. If you start to clamber on (or off) when the rider does not expect it, the sudden motion of the motorcycle will be disconcerting. You could even pull the motorcycle over, a big no-no. 6. Here is the best way to get on a motorcycle, and the method almost all passengers should use: extend your right leg over the seat, and then slide gently up onto the seat.Put your feet on the footpegs and you are onboard! If you are not able to do that because you are a tiny person or a child, this will work: put your left foot on the left passenger foot peg, lean your body way over the motorcycle, and gently step up until you can swing your right leg over the seat and ease yourself down. You must keep your body low and lean over the motorcycle as much as possible while you get on, to help the rider keep the motorcycle balanced. The weight of your body, if it is too far out of line with the weight of the motorcycle, could pull the bike over, still a big no-no. A person reasonably close to normal size (male or female) should not need to use this method to mount a motorcycle, and a heavy person should not attempt it under any circumstances. It is all a question of balance; the rider is not strong enough to force a big motorcycle to stay upright if you cause it to get out of balance. To dismount, just reverse the process you used to get on. With a little practice, getting on and off will become second nature. 7. Once you are on the motorcycle, plant your feet on the passenger footpegs and keep them there. You absolutely do not want to bring your foot into contact with the rear wheel, drive chain or belt, or the hot muffler. Never attempt to help the rider hold the bike upright when it is stopped. Keep your feet safe by keeping them on the foot pegs at all times. 8. Place your hands on the rider’s hips. That is the best way to hold on to the rider, and it keeps you in touch with the rider’s movements. Keep your weight centered over the motorcycle. Try not to move around any more than is necessary, particularly when the motorcycle is stopped, as it affects the balance of the motorcycle. 9. Motorcycles turn by leaning (banking like an airplane), not by steering like a car. So don’t be alarmed when the motorcycle leans over to go around a corner. To position yourself perfectly for a turn, just look over the rider’s shoulder in the direction of the turn. If the motorcycle is turning right, look over the rider’s right shoulder; if it is turning left, look over the rider’s left shoulder. You don’t have to do anything else; looking naturally over the rider’s inside shoulder will automatically put your weight right where it belongs in a turn. Keep your body in line with the rider’s body to prevent the motorcycle from leaning more than the rider intends. (When going straight, it doesn’t matter which shoulder you look over.) Never lean out of a turn; you could cause an accident that way, which is another big no-no. 10. When the rider puts on the brakes, it causes a forward weight transfer. If the rider is forced to break hard, as in an emergency, this forward weight transfer is very apparent; you will be forced against the rider, and you will start to slide forward on the seat. Don’t panic. Try to keep back, away from the rider. Resist sliding forward by pressing your feet against the footpegs; use your thigh muscles to control your position on the seat. If you slide forward, you force the rider forward, reducing the rider’s control over the motorcycle. It also moves the weight distribution of the motorcycle forward, reducing the weight on the rear tire and therefore the traction of the rear tire, making it more likely that the back tire will start to skid. Obviously, none of this is desirable. 11. You can be an active participant in the ride by staying alert and being prepared. Help the rider look for potential danger, and be prepared to hang on and hold yourself back if you anticipate a need for sudden braking. Likewise, if the rider is forced to swerve the motorcycle to avoid a hazard in the road, you need to be prepared for the sudden lean and change of direction. You can also help the rider scan for animals that may run into the road. Dogs and deer are particularly unpredictable, and you may see a deer on a hillside above the road, or a dog in somebody’s front yard, before the rider. (After all, the rider is concentrating primarily on the road.) If you spot a hazard of any sort that you think the rider is unaware of, rap the rider on the appropriate shoulder, and point at the hazard in a way that brings it to the rider’s attention.

So, the Pro 1200 Motorcycle Lift has really taken off! We introduced this new lift in August and we've been really pleased with the response. Incidentally, if you've purchased one from us, we'd be grateful for a review on our website! Reviews really guide customers (as they should!) and we've gotten an incredible amount of positive feedback (a big thank you to all of you who took the time to call us and let us know!). Our introductory deal to the public brought us sales that truly surpassed our expectations. If you called in and placed an order with Clark, and are interested in leaving feedback about this lift, we'd be so grateful! It is a VERY quick process! Simply visit our home page, click the "Register" link in the top right-hand corner, and fill out the name and address field, then set up a password...and that's it! You now have credentials to log in and leave feedback for the PRO 1200 Motorcycle Lift. We thank you so very much for taking the time to do this. Since we've had such HUGE response to our Pro 1200 motorcycle lift offer this summer (we've taken a considerable amount of orders, as our next shipment is due to arrive in October), we've decided to add a new package to make shopping a little easier for someone who needs to work on their ATV, Tractor, or Snowmobile...So we've packaged the PRO 1200 Power Equipment Lift kit, which includes side rails, loading ramp and pneumatic foot pedal. A 1 year warranty and your choice of black and orange or black and red color schemes complete the package. Call Clark Heintz Tools & Equipment LLC to find out more about the PRO 1200 Power Equipment Lift.

Reposted from eastwood.com

Although many metals are TIG welded, the metal most frequently associated with the TIG-welding process is aluminum, especially with metals of a smaller thickness. Any other processes, of course, can join aluminum, but in the lighter gauges, the most acceptable process is TIG. The popularity of aluminum in automotive applications has brought TIG welding to a new golden age. Mechanically strong and visually appealing, TIG Welding is the #1 process chosen by professional welders for professional racing teams, auto enthusiast, and hobbyists.

That Confusing Thing About Aluminum The process is well-suited for aluminum, but there are a few character issues of the metal that bring up points that must be considered if this material is to be welded with consistent ease and quality. The pure metal has a melting point less than 1200°F and does not exhibit the color changes before melting so characteristic of most metals. For this reason, aluminum does not tell you when it is hot or ready to melt. The oxide or “skin” that forms so rapidly on its surface has a melting point almost three times as high (3200°+F). To add to this confusion, aluminum even boils at a lower temperature (2880°F) than this oxide melts. The oxide is also heavier than aluminum and, when melted, tends to sink or be trapped in the molten aluminum. For these reasons, it is easy to see why as much as possible of this oxide “skin” must be removed before welding. Luckily, the reverse polarity half of the AC arc does an outstanding job of clearing off quantities of this oxide ahead of the weld! That Aluminum is Hot! Aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat. It requires a large amount of heat when welding is begun, since much heat is lost in heating the surrounding base metal. After welding has progressed a while, much of this heat has moved ahead of the arc and pre-heated the base metal to a temperature requiring less welding current than the original cold plate. If the weld is continued farther on to the end of the two plates where there is nowhere for this pre-heat to go, it can pile up to such a degree as to make welding difficult unless the current is decreased. This explains why a foot or hand Amptrol™ (current control) is recommended with your Square Wave TIG 175 or Square Wave TIG 275 – it enables you to easily change the current while simultaneously welding. Some aluminum alloys exhibit “hot short” tendencies and are crack-sensitive. This means that at the range of temperatures where the liquid alloy is slushy (part solid and part liquid) or just turned solid, it has not quite enough tensile strength to resist the shrinkage stresses that are occurring from cooling and transformation. The proper choice of filler metal and welding procedures, along with smaller beads, can help eliminate many problems of this kind. Some experts recommend backstepping the first inch or so of each aluminum weld before finishing in the normal direction. Filling the Gap The metal produced in the weld pool is a combination of metals that must have the strength, ductility, freedom from cracking, and the corrosion resistance required by the application. Correct choice of filler alloys minimizes the presence of intermetallic compounds and brittleness in aluminum fusion welds. See table below for recommended filler metals for various aluminum alloys. Maximum rate of deposition is obtained with filler wire or rod of the largest practical diameter while welding at the maximum practical welding current. The wire diameter best suited for a specific application depends upon the current that can be used to make the weld. In turn, the current is governed by the available power supply, joint design, alloy type and thickness, and the welding position.

The K22 Motorized wheel balancer has a fixed shaft, enabling the wheel to rotate freely on its own bearings. This simulates the assembly of the wheel on the motorcycle and eliminates all the assembly inaccuracies which are inevitable with traditional balancing machines for car wheels, where the adapter is put in rotation with the wheel. Improvements have been made to the K22 include electronic sensors, which automatically detect the wheel diameter and offset. Entering wheel dimensions is now super-fast and error-free with the K22. It has an unbelievably fast set-up and balance time due to the advances in mounting simplicity and updated electronics. The “Fixed Shaft” allows the motorcycle wheel to spin on its own bearings, exactly reproducing the conditions of the wheel when it’s on the bike. Balancing is much more accurate; wheel bearing defects can be detected and putting wheels on the balancer is far quicker and easier than converted automotive balancers. The K22 will handle wheels up to the 240/250 size right out of the box, and an adaptor is available to balance 280’s, 300’s & 330’s. Balancing wheels from singled sided swing-arms is accomplished by the Universal Adaptor for bearing-less wheels. Features of the CEMB K22 Motorcycle Wheel Balancer BALANCING BOTH PLANES: Static (regular) and Dynamic (wider than 4") ULTRA-FAST SETUP: Stationary shaft. (No adapter drive forks/arms to adjust) DIAGNOSE WHEEL BEARINGS: Stationary shaft allows tech to hear noisy bearings DETECT OUT-OF-ROUNDNESS: Abnormal vibrations are felt through control lever FREEDOM FROM ERRORS: Digital electronics guarantee accuracy and reliability Specifications of the CEMB K22 Motorcycle Wheel Balancer RIM DIAMETER: 10" to 24" DISTANCE BETWEEN WHEEL BEARINGS: Phone for Current Specifications POWER REQUIREMENTS: 120V, 1 phase; or 12V DC ULTIMATE ACCURACY: ±1 gram, 1/10oz.