Feel easy about the ad, wiggs, because members are allowed to list non-Paso items here now. I wish I was closer to help, but all I can do is wish you the very best of luck. You'll sell the Hog if you want to. What kind of work are you in, anyway?

And I haven't forgotten about the GTS ...

hi skins and jake,
20 yrs ago when i was in wellington i was a mechanic on a marine seismic ship. i quit that in '89 and built cold heading machines for 10 yrs. (bolt makers) and another 2 yrs in machine repair for the same company until they closed up. spent a year and a half in a steel mill as a millwright but that was a temporary job. my last gig was at a feed mill (mechanic) 5 miles from here but it wasn't for me. i don't like rats,dead or alive.yikes!
the interview tomorrow is a machine repair job at a crank mfg. company. i interviewed there some yrs ago and turned the job down at that time because i just got promoted to machine repair at the cold heading mfg and didn't really want to job hop.at that time the national machinery had been in business for 120 some yrs so who woulda thought that for christmas they would close the doors and screw 550 people out of their jobs! that was after they already laid-off 200-250 people.
so to answer your question i guess i'm a mechanic of some sorts,kind of a jack of all trades but a master of none. before all that did machining for 5-6 yrs and do like that but really don't want to do it full time. i hope to someday have a milling machine and a lathe in the garage but i seem to keep buying motorcycles instead of machine tools!?!?!?!
and jake,i think you know i really don't want to sell the gts very badly. i did give it to christian even tho i bought it with some doe i had set aside for just this occasion,her college. thats why i figure to sell the davidson, they cranked out 300 thousand of them in '03 for the anniversary. i figure when she's through school if i want another h.d. i'll buy one then.they haven't made any bevel drive ducks for some time and not that many of them when they did. i always hated the 860 gt styling and loved the gts.when i bought the 860 and fixed the ignition and rode it is when i really appreciated what a civilized bike it is and it found a place in my heart. as for the 900 gts it still has the ignition problem but i'm in no hurry to get to it.christian is going to school in kansas and she has a rebuilt '66 r60 that's hers also to ride when she's here.
bought an avonaire fairing for the r69 and am playing with that and just bought a sidecar (steib s500) last week in arkansas and am playing with that also. that was a 1,500 miles in 28 hrs trip in itself. it's a bear being a hillbilly with an obsessive-compulsive disorder that's easily distracted!
the davidson is paid for from the steel mill doe so i figure that will pay for some school,shingles for the house this summer and maybe alittle left over to spend on parts for projects. i'm pretty sure the days of selling a h.d and making money are gone as dealers seem to have new one's sitting on the floor now, but then why would i want to make money on a bike? that just wouldn't be me!!!!!!!
enjoy my friends and thanks.

Yeah, I remember you were in Wellington on a ship, Wiggs. I think you mentioned Flannagans, and something about the barmaids shoe? And she rode a Guzzi? You didn't mention it was a seismic ship. That's a research ship, eh? Interesting.

I think I remember you've had something to do with bike shops, too.

Good luck for that job interview. It sounds to me they'd be crazy to turn you down.

Hey Wiggs good luck for the interview! Hopefully you wont have to sell the hog, no man should ever have to sell a bike they love, but that is what we do for our kids & that earns you a lot of respect in my books. I am sure your daughter appreciates it! :thumbup:

Well said, cuz.

Hey Wiggs, I've been thinking about making a Paso belt buckle.

But I'm used to working in solid silver and gold, mostly cold-forming and hard soldering, which is like brazing, at 600 to 800 degrees C, and mostly much smaller stuff - rings, etc. The buckle I have in mind is the word 'Paso', as it looks in the decal on the panel below the seat, about 35m by 100mm, with both leather ends fastening behind. That would be much bigger than my usual work, and I really don't think precious metal is called for.

The most suitable processes would be what you must be familiar with. I would prefer forging to casting. It would be good to make a hundred or more, unless I can figure out a way to make them cost-effectively in a suitable material one at a time.

I've only just started to thing about this. I can picture it, and I'd love to have one myself. What do you think?

[quote="Skins"].....I really don't think precious metal is called for.....

.....It would be good to make a hundred or more..... [quote]


Hey Skins, fantastic idea! :lick: but no gold or silver, is that because the Paso is precious metal enough .

I love the idea & if you are taking orders put me down for one :thumbup:

hi skin and everyone else,
at the national machinery we built cold headers but they also used to build warm and hot forming machines also.cold heading machines typically take a spool of wire up to 1 1/4 inch in diameter and spits out bolts to be fed into a threader (which we also built) for the threads to be rolled on the bolt. we also built ball and roller headers to make bearings. the smaller ball headers made about 900 balls per minute.those things would fly! they also made more complex parts that were used in alternators.i'm sure you would like it and find it interesting.
belt buckles eh!? i don't think a heading machine will be cost effective but... another of my "get rich quick schemes" was emblems for the side of /5 bmw that go on the engine. i had bavarian motor werks only in german, like on the steering head, machined out of aluminum and sold to replace the original. i wanted to sell about 30 (15 pairs) and give the rest out to friends who have a bmw for christmas. well i sold 1 set and did give the rest away.this was not one of my better ideas as it cost me about 500 bucks.
to make a short story long i found a guy who does this sort of thing and i see on his business card that he does buckles also. he does cad/cam and cnc design and machining. joe kenny jkenny@swva.net maybe he can be of help for you.
there's also tom rolland on the bevelheads list who is a clever little fart,says so on his web thing. he makes ducati buckles out of silver and brass(i think). do a google search for him and i think you will find him. if not let me know and i'll dig alittle deeper. you may get some ideas for your buckles from his site. i think the silver one's are about 100 bucks (usd) and the brass somewhat more affordable. he has them cast and finishes them by hand. sounds like what you want moreso than something machined although kenny did do a nice job for me on the emblems.
the job interview went good but i won't know if they want me till they call or worse yet i get a letter. sounds like i could work 8 days a week 12 hrs a day if it goes thru.that would be steel mill hrs again but the saying is "if ya want ta play ya gotta pay" or something like that.
what a great bunch of guys ya'll are and i sincerely mean it. i wish everyone could come to mid-ohio for vintage days as i'd buy everyone a beer.remember,i live about 45 miles from the track.
best regards to all, wiggs

i almost forgot while peckin' out the last book. hey faster,i just finished christians bike last year about this time. i was a 5 year project. i would buy parts when i had the doe and did the paint work when i found the time or inspiration. the exhaust alone was almost a grand but is stainless and should last her a lifetime.
my buddy called yesterday and said there is(was) a 250 ducati scrambler in michigan for $550. i was tempted because i think it could be worth more than that. when i bought the 860 gt the guy also had a 350 desmo for 200 bucks that i loaded up also but sold it to a buddy in s carolina for what i paid. there are affordable classics out there.
all i'm saying jake ,it's never too early to start on a bike for her. my daughter learned to ride on another '66 r60 and then onto a ducati 125 bronco.gawd,i'm very lucky the bronco and her didn't get banged up when she dumped the clutch and pulled a wheelie heading straight for the snow plow on the willie wagon.to this day i don't know how she missed that and the jeep pickup,she went right between them.
enjoy life my friends,we only get 1 ride on it that i know of.

Thanks wiggs,

good solid information to start me off. I'm really slow, so it'll probably take a good while. That engineering stuff sounded very interesting, but heavy work, eh?

I was particularly interested to read you remember that bloke making silver buckles, and the price. I don't think silver is entirely out of the question for accessories to the Ducati marque, especially for the Paso, eh what, old chap? And USD100? If I could make them in silver (very soft and easy to work, and I have a good friend from the Velo days - he now has a KSS to look after in his workshop - and he can do good milling to make a die) I could probably sell them for almost half that.

Anyway, we'll see. Thanks.
Erskine.