trouble with the duke

Rode 15 miles yesterday without a hitch, full tank of gas topped up, on my way to ride with Shon, who's in South San Francisco. Suddenly, while doin' 80 in the #1 lane, the duke coughs and dies like it ran out of gas. I pull over, not switching to reserve since I just topped up the tank. Couldn't get it started until switching to reserve which was really strange. Idled just fine, but wouldn't rev over 3000rpm on the dot, without instantly dying. I screwed around and killed it and started it so many times that the battery died. Didn't have any tools to do carb surgery on the side of 280N just outside of Cupertino so I gave up and got a tow home.

Pulled the carb, checked everything out, no obvious problems. carb looks like brand new inside since i recently rebuilt it. I went back to a 165 main jet from 162.5, and went to needle clip 3rd from top, changing from 4th from top. Put in a new spark plug and renewed a few fuel lines. started right up easier than ever tonight. revs above 3000rpm no prob. I have no idea what that was. Maybe heat soak and not enough oil? I just replaced the oil, but noticed I didn't quite add enough. I'll have to do 15 miles of circles around my house this time instead of getting so far out.

I'm thinking I'm going to pull the tank back off, pull the petcock and examine for any weirdness, before I get back on the road with it...

Brunswick Chair

Found this here chair in a dumpster. Took it home, waxed the fiberglass, polished the aluminum, painted the underneath matte black, and installed new casters from coolcasters.com.

It's very comfortable and is my new computer chair.

Oak table refinishing

I finally finished refinishing the family kitchen table that I grew up eating at. Much thanks and appreciation to Gary Riddell for custom making the new solid oak top and leaves, and to Jerry Larson for coordinating and covering the costs. Thanks for the good turn, you guys. I hope I've been able do good by you on the job. I really like the 3 different shades of the planks on top. This works great with the different types of oak on the rest of the table.
And thanks, Dad, for giving me this great table and for the refinishing tips. I've ended following in your footsteps with the furniture refinishing knack.

Final product:





There were two previous finishes on this table, the first was dark walnut stain, the second was a painted whitewash. Both were deep in the grain and required extensive sanding to remove. Paint stripper didn't touch it, unfortunately. I ended up sand blasting it out on some of the tougher pieces. I used 220 red garnet sand at the TechShop, and baking soda blasting at home.
Process:
I sanded 60, 80, 100 grit with a random orbital.
Hand sanded 120, 220, 320 and even 600 on the top. I only went to 320 on the other pieces.
Apply danish oil - natural and also fruitwood. I used a mix of the two depending on how it pulled out the color and grain.
Wait at least 72 hours for the danish oil to fully cure.
Then I applied General Finishes water based poly urethane, satin finish. Minimum three coats, sanding with 220/320 between coats.

Here's the before photos: